Flower Boy Ramyun Shop Ep 14

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop continues to execute all the romantic cliches unapologetically and with such style.  It's a drama that doesn't suck me in, but every episode puts a smile on my face--a light diversion.  Even when it delves into more serious or angsty subjects, it quickly returns to the more comfortable grounds of humour or romance.  It's a light and happy drama with just enough plot to keep it from falling into the pit of "pointless & meaningless".

Summary:
Show Summary...although honestly, does enough happen in an episode of FBRS to warrant a summary? ^___^;;

Type out spoiler here In episode 14, we begin to see the plot progress a bit more quickly, as it is approaching the end.  Eun Bi learns that Chi Soo and Kang Hyuk are half-brothers and she begins to meditate on how she's tearing a family apart (even if they didn't know they were family prior to falling for her).  Before she can mull too much over her troubles, a neighborhood ahjumma breaks the tension with a joke about her living situation among the boys, essentially saying: "You'd think the next rumor would be that two brothers have fallen for you!"

Chi Soo defies his father even more than before, moving into the Ramyun Shop house, despite sacrificing all his beloved luxuries (his bed, his bidet, his car, his phone, his credit cards, etc.) in the process.  He stands firm, but meanwhile, Chi Soo's father has diabolical plans in the works.  Eun Bi wonders why there were no customers throughout the day, and finds that the Chasung food company is offering free Ramyun nearby, a pointed attack at their business.  Kang Hyuk also meets with President Cha and learns that there are two options for the Chasung redevelopment of their area: if Chi Soo stays with  Eun Bi and the ramyun shop, their shop will be wiped out; if Chi Soo returns to his father, the ramyun shop will be preserved and development will proceed around rather than through their business.

The overall romantic direction of this episode appears to be that Eun Bi's feelings are skewing toward Chi Soo, but she's thinking seriously about the consequences of their relationship, while Chi Soo is selfishly thinking of the short term.  He complains loudly about what he's sacrificed to be with her, and Eun Bi questions whether he's thought through that this amount of sacrifice would only be the beginning.  Kang Hyuk also gets the feeling that Eun Bi's feelings are warmer toward Chi Soo and it seems he may begin distancing himself.

Scenes of Note:
The highlight of the episode is when Eun Bi is sick and responsible Hyun Woo orders Chi Soo and Kang Hyuk to stay out of her room to let her rest.  Naturally, Chi Soo and Kang Hyuk end up sleeping on either side of Eun Bi.  When Eun Bi calls for help, Hyun Woo and later Ba Wool both end up sleeping alongside the other two.  Sick and crowded between four beautiful men, she grumpily asks what country she saved in a past life to deserve all this.

Bridal Mask Ep1

The start of Bridal Mask lives up to the hype.  It feels like a movie, more than a drama, which isn't unusual for high-budget historical dramas.  Rather than one more Joseon-era drama, it's set in the 1930's, during the Japanese invasion.  The cars, guns and fashions on display reinforce just how high-budget this series will be.

The relative recentness of events makes the injustices and corruption seem more real and offensive.  Happening only 80 years go, it's harder to brush off an injust death sentence or needless death as just "the way things were".

The first episode does a lovely job making you care about the characters.  Already, I have strong feelings about many of them; although, I'm sure some of my feelings will become confused as people fall into their respective hero and villain roles.  Currently, some of these good/bad assignments are in limbo.

Summary:
Show text

The series begins with the funeral procession for a "patriot" who in reality had been a corrupt judge who had sold out his Korean countrymen at any opportunity.  The funeral is interrupted by the title character and vigilante, Bridal Mask.  We are also introduced to a few key characters--the girl who assists Bridal Mask, Boon Yi/Esther; and two officers who are trying to capture Bridal Mask: mean-spirited officer, Kimura Kenji and the main character (who so far is certainly not acting the part of a hero), Lee Kang To.

The story then jumps back in time to when Lee Kang To was promoted to his current rank.  They make a big deal about how he's Korean-born but still getting promoted.  We then jump to his mother and his mentally challenged older brother in the town marketplace, being harassed because Kang To had sold out to be a "dog of the Japanese".  Kang To arrives, tries to give his mother money, gets berrated by his mother, packs his bags and leaves.  We see a flashback to when Kang To was younger and learn that his brother had once been strong of body and mind, but had been tortured, leading to his current state.

We then jump to a school building, where a kindly Kimura Shunji is teaching his young class.  Lee Kang To stops by after the class and the two spar with wooden swords.  The crazy-complicated web of relationships begin to build as we learn that: kind-hearted school teacher Shunji and mean-spirited officer Kenji are brothers; Shunji and Kang To appear to have a strong friendshpi, and Shunji previously had a close (master-and-servant? friends?) relationship with the acrobatic vigilante-girl Boon Yi/Esther.

A little later, at the courthouse, Dam Sa Ri, an independence fighter, is on trial and sentenced to death along with his four compatriots.  Kang To, as the arresting officer, is at the trial.  Boon Yi/Esther bursts in on the trial and beats up the majority of the officers because apparently Dam Sa Ri is her father.  When she's in trouble, Bridal Mask shows up and Boon Yi/Esther is able to escape with her father.  Chaos and wonderfully choreographed fight scenes ensue and ultimately the judge is killed by Bridal Mask.

With this, we jump forward again to the corrupt judge's funeral and the aftermath where various higher-ups are throwing around the blame.  Kenji is taken off of the hunt for Bridal Mask, instead it's assigned to Kang To.

We learn that the judge was part of a shady underground organization that's controlling the police and other positions of power.  Bridal Mask is targeting their members, but the organization also feels threatened by Kang To.  Kimura Kenji is a member and he arranges for Kang To to be killed in a way they would never be suspected for.  While Kang To is taking some paperwork out to his car, Bridal Mask shows up and points a gun at his head.

Scenes of Note:
Fighting with his mom about being a dog of the Japanese.
The fight scene in the courtroom, mid-episode.

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta Ep 1 & 2

This series has much greater intensity than I expected.  For the longest time, the uber-dorky promo picture had turned me off from this series, even though I knew I wanted to see it.  So far, I'm nervous the entire time I'm watching it.  I'm rooting for Miura Haruma and don't want to see bad things happen to his character, even if he's partially at fault.

It definitely has some of the appeal of Akai Ito and Koizora, for their similar focus on teenage sexuality and the anticipation of bad things happending to the characters (and maybe they deserve it a little, but you still root for them).  It has less similarity with Majo no Jouken, even though they both focus on teacher-student relationships.  In Majo no Jouken the teacher-student couple was the one to root for and this is definitely not the case here.

Summary:
Show Summary

The basic premise is that Kashiwagi Shuji (played by Miura Haruma) is a young high school teacher.  He's popular with students, parents and other teachers.  He's currently engaged to another teacher, Uemura Natsumi (played by Toda Erika) to complete his ho-hum perfect life.  The series starts with Kashiwagi waking up late on the first day of school, with no memories of the night before, and finding a strange girl in his bed.  He gives her a key to lock up after herself, with instructions to leave the key in the mail box (this apparently is the choice way to handle a one night stand in Japan according to all the dramas I've seen).

At school, he starts his first day of class and soon finds that the girl he slept with is a student, Saeki Hikari (played by Takei Emi).  Throughout the episode we learn she's sort of obsessed with Kashiwagi and she starts to get close to his fiance, Uemura, by joining the basketball team where Uemura is the coach.  Saeki isn't at all secretive about her dislike for Uemura--she says things like "I adore you and want to destroy you" and tosses a basketball at Uemura's face.  She's further developed as the villain by her blackmail material--a photo of Kashiwagi sleeping from the morning-after on her cell phone and has held onto the key that she was supposed to lock up with and leave in the mail box.  Saeki also has a mysterious illness that apparently requires taking medication at school and frequent trips to the gynecology department of a hospital.

Kashiwagi goes through his days feeling horrendously guilty and hypocritical.  He tries to continue as a strong role model to his homeroom and even has to give a mini-lecture on teenaged sex.  He emphasizes the importance of not sleeping with someone casually and how sex will change you and your relationships, feeling like a hypocrit the entire time.  Kashiwagi is paranoid that someone will find out throughout the episodes, and rightly so, as by the end of the second episode Saeki has emailed Uemura the sleeping blackmail photo.

As a side note, we learn about some of the individual students who are facing problems such as working part-time at a maid cafe due to their parents debt and a high school couple who is adjusting to their relationship becoming more serious and intimate.  We also learn that Uemura's roommate, who is planning their wedding, is a childhood friend of both Uemura and Kashiwagi and was previously in love with Kashiwagi.  Kashiwagi's brother also appears to hold some grudge against the couple.

Scenes of Note:

• The first few minutes of the first episode, where Kashiwagi finds an unknown girl in his bed.
• The middle of the first episode, where Kashiwagi has a nightmare that Saeki announces the affair in class.
• The end of the first episode, where Kashiwagi gives a lecture on teenage sex.
• The end of the first episode, where Saeki confronts him, asking "did you change after you had sex with me?"
• The beginning of the second epsiode, which sums up the first episode.
• The scene toward the beginning of the second episode, where Kashiwagi freaks out, "Why are the woman I'm marrying and the woman I slept with playing catch!" and then Saeki confronts him in his lab.

Rich Man, Poor Woman Episode 9

*Flail* *Flail* *Flail*  My love for this series continues to grow.  I'm going to be so sad to see this series end.

They do a fantastic job almost-but-not touching in this episode.  It suits their evolving, not-quite-romantic relationship really well.  There's a lot more focus on romance, but I suspect from the ending that the next episode will veer back into the business-y side of things.  I actually appreciated the introduction of some typical cliches to advance and explore the characters' romantic feelings.  The romantic tension hit a level where a typical big misunderstanding felt almost necessary.  Overall, each of the cliches were well executed and didn't drag out unnecessarily.  In fact, I think each one was wrapped up within minutes of its introduction.  If only K-dramas knew how to do this...

Summary:
Show text

In this episode, you find out that the majority of Hyuga's posessions were in Next Innovation's name, so he's lost them.  He'd also already rented a small office space, expecting the Three-Amigo-Programmers to follow him to start a new company, so that has left him well and truly broke (he has $1,500 to his name).  He shows up at Sawaki's doorstep with all his worldly possessions (which includes his precious Roomba, how cute) and asks to live with her.  I'm surprisingly fine with the way they handled that "poor-man-moves-in-and-romance-blossoms" cliche.  But of course, I'm even happier that they didn't follow through on it.  He comes to his senses and is presumably staying at the shrine or at the rented office--they don't really go into it.

Hyuga and Sawaki kill time at the rented office, not really having anything to do, while we see Asahina succumbing to pressure to lower implementation costs of the stolen Personal File project.  He agrees to change the interface, showcasing a wretched, government-website like design and thoroughly disappointing their important business-champion, Secretary Fujikawa.  Fujikawa stealthily takes her concerns and the data to Sawaki, offering Hyuga the opportunity to take another (cheaper) crack at the interface through a sub-contractor.

Before Sawaki has the opportunity to share this good news with Hyuga, she receives mysterious bonus money form Next Innovation.  She meets up with Asahina in order to return the money to him but Yoko (Asahina's sister and Sawaki's rival for Hyuga's attention) coordinates things so that Hyuga sees the two together and is hurt.  This is the first time that Yoko's jealousy really overpowers her sense of decency, but the misunderstanding isn't overdone and she is human enough to pretty quickly feel remorse.

The confrontation afterward leads to Hyuga and Sawaki parting ways, but before she leaves, Sawaki posts dozens of dorky memos on the walls with the details of the new interface project.  After discovering the notes, Hyuga's feelings clearly change and he sets to work on the project.  Once his interface is completed (within 3 days, magic) Sawaki and Hyuga reunite adorably.  The Three-Amigo-Programmers are also won over by the interface and the 5 happily set up shop together.  The episode ends on a cliff hanger with a news bulletin showing Asahina being arrested for the previous personal data leak and insider trading.

Scenes of Note:
It's such a shame this is too far in the series to clip for panels.  My favorites were the almost-kiss, Sawaki trying to link arms with Hyuga and being brushed off, and Hyuga cornering her in the storage room at the end of the episode.  I'm frankly disappointed there was no kiss scene to follow, but I have high expectations for the next two episodes.

Switch Girl (Japan, 2011, High School Romance)

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Switch_Girl!!

This is a super short drama, best summed up as a whole bunch of simple adjectives: dumb, light, fluffy, fun, and completely lacking in deeper meaning.  Based off the manga of the same name, it's an enjoyable super manga-like high school romantic comedy.

The heroine is a "switch girl", meaning she has an "on" mode (her popular and beautiful persona at school and among her friends) and an "off" mode (her true personality, most akin to that of a dirty old man).  She happens to fall in love with a transfer student who has the opposite "switch" modes.  He's a dweeby, coke-bottle glasses-wearing boy at school and a fashionable and popular ikemen in his time off.

Pros:

• Good high school chemistry.
• Quick watch.
• An aggressive heroine.

Cons:

• Not much substance to the series.
• Cliches abound. 

Scenes to clip: TBD

Rich Man, Poor Woman Ep 8

It's been a while since a series has pumped me up like this one does.  It's a wonderful combination of romance and business drama.  It's refreshing to have intensity without wanting to climb the walls in frustration and rip out some characters hair...

The episodes keep getting better.  This episode shows the most clear mutual feelings between the hero and heroine so far. Even their physical closeness is stepped up a notch.

The dialogue in this episode was some of the most intense in any romantic drama I've seen. The characters started exposing their true colors, there was a lot of shouting--both angry and loving. I have so much love for this episode and this series.

Show Slightly More Detailed/Spoiler-y Summary

I love that Sawaki has grown a backbone--we saw evidence of it developing earlier series, but she really comes into her own in this episode.  She manages to talk back, stand up for herself, and come out with some biting remarks without losing her extremely well-educated politeness.  That said, I almost wanted her to make a scene when Hyuga was having his fit in front of the office.

The betrayal scenario was a bit over-done, I feel.  In the real world, I like to think that such an obvious usurper would face at least some backlash.  I also think it's unlikely that the hero would fall into such extreme and sudden poverty.  It would have been more believable if he were either entirely bankrupted or if he remained with at least a few thousand dollars to his name. Leaving him with $50 to his name is just a bit too conveniently close to broke.

Ghost, Episode 3

So... Before the Episode 3 recap... A few things that came to mind after thinking about the first two episodes:

A pondering Marielle + Recap

- How he looks after reconstructive surgery is kind of unrealistic. I mean his whole body was CHARRED. And after a year, he looks perfectly fine and only with a few scars...?

- Funny how even his voice became different... ^_^; I wonder if they were the same height too?

- I didn't type this in my last recap because it was only supposed to be a basic one, but while Ki Young was in the hospital, the guy who tried to kill both him and Woo Hyun sneaked into the hospital and tried to kill him again by stealing him away and almost gave him lethal injection. ANYWAY..... After Kang Mi takes him away and saves him... Why doesn't he try to go back and kill him? I think I might have missed something, but maybe he was told by a higher power to stay back? No idea... But I would think that since he's up and walking again, then he would be in danger of being killed again as well....

Anyway, on to Episode 3. The episode starts off with a girl (who was scared crapless by a mysterious Phantom hacker at the end of ep 2) waking up, turning the lights on in her bathroom, and seeing "Remember the sin made by your hands" written in lipstick on the mirror. Then on her forehead, "Go die" is also written. This creeped me out SO much. What an awful way to start the morning. >_<

Next, we see Kang Mi try to help Ki Young be as "Woo Hyun"-y as possible. She shows him pictures of people he would work with and what their relationship is with Woo Hyun. She also tells him what's "Woo Hyun"-like and not very "Woo Hyun"-like - Like how he never drank beer, so Ki Young shouldn't be drinking beer either. That'd be too strange. Also, he has to be aloof at work because that's how Woo Hyun is like. If he's greeted, just greet back politely and don't smile. That sort of thing.

He gets back to work and finds out, unfortunately, he'd been demoted from Team Leader. The new Team Leader is Kwon Hyuk Joo, who was the crimes chief in charge of the investigation (also, he knows almost nothing about computers, but he's very good with crime scenes).

A surprise welcome back party is also thrown for him. Aww....

Anyway, 2 other women besides the girl in the beginning of the episode are also cyber stalked and die. And the girl at the beginning dies too. In each case, the cyber team finds the women in their apartments with scary writings on the walls saying stuff like "Die Die Die!", and the deaths made to look like suicides. They find out that the things that tie them all together is that the writings on their walls are actually comments that they had made as netizens being all anti-Hyo Jung when she was going through her sex scandal. News starts to spread... Hyo Jung haters are dying for saying bad things about her? It turns out that the cyber stalker who killed these girls is NOT the one who killed Hyo Jung... But Ki Young determines that he must know Hyo Jung's killer... since he saw a half-pic of the killer on cyber stalker's hard drive after hacking into it.

They realize that another connection between the 3 women is that they all saw the same musical and all received an email to get a VIP ticket to the show. The musical is called "A Magician's Dream". When investigating the theatre and talking to the worker at the front desk, they find out that all VIP tickets are to the same seat - that is D7. So, whoever is stalked and murdered.... must have also sat in that same seat. Are they all connected or is it just a coincidence? Hmmm...

They are about to leave when Ki Young's assistant at the online newspaper he used to work at - Seung Yoon - shows up and claims that she received an email for a VIP ticket. Uh oh.

Seung Yoon and Kang Mi end up switching seats to see what would happen... The show starts, and it's two stories about couples falling in love, with the help of a mysterious "Phantom" who does magic tricks (to make the scenes more romantic, I guess).

In the meantime Hyuk Joo is interrogating a man named Seung Jae, who is suspect #1 as Hyo Jung's killer, because he was the boyfriend of one of the women who died. Also, he used to be Hyo Jung's manager until 2 months before she died. He claims he did not kill her, and his girlfriend was not the one who wrote those hateful comments online - He did. He also mentions that it all started with that musical - And actually, he was the one who received the VIP ticket to the show. He just forwarded it to his girlfriend so she could watch it...

Back at the musical, the couples on stage end up with happy endings. The Phantom asks who will accept his love, and the spotlight shines down on seat D7 - on Kang Mi! The theatre lights go off, and when they go back on again, Kang Mi is gone...

Episode 3 was just as interesting as the last two. I read a comment online that says that the portrayal of hacking is so creepy, it kind of makes me want to not check my email ever again. ^_^;; Overall this episode was very good. Very suspenseful, and the whole hacking thing is creeping me out. I thought it was very nice that certain character traits are being channeled (not going to say specifically what since this part of my post isn't hidden ^_^;), but it's nice to see some emotion in our main male lead.

Also, there was a scene where The Stare is given between our main male and our main female, and I SO hope that doesn't mean that they're going to unnecessarily add romance in this drama. >_< At least, romance that is so out of place and prevents our female lead from making rational decisions.

Scenes of note: There's a good hacking/cyber team running around trying to catch the bad guy scene. I'll have to time it later on, but it's a good scene that shows both the hacking and police aspect. Could be used for both the Police and Suspense category if we choose to keep them.