With my apologies to Gabriel Garcia Marquez for parodying the title of his great work, “Love in the Time of Cholera.”
*****
HEHarry, one of the handful of active posters, not lurkers, on “Dr. Cutie,” wrote this:
Like the idea of rewatching this series. Will do so when I get the chance. Haven’t found any other series I really like anywhere near as much.
On one of the posts, TQ’s use of her hands was mentioned. It’s interesting that you noticed them.
To me the classic use of hands to make strong statements was the brilliant ending of the 1931 Charlie Chaplin silent film “City Lights”. It’s available on YouTube. If you haven’t seen the film and want to know what it is about, here’s a quick synopsis. The lady in the florist shop was originally blind, but has a secret rich gentleman benefactor who paid for her sight to be restored. In the ending she finds out the who the secret benefactor really is. Get the hankies ready!
Thinking of putting a review on imdb about the highly adictable Dr Cutie. Will naturally give it 10 out of 10.
Although some viewers might question the perfect score, I’d give the show high marks, too.
We all know that love is ineffable. The emotion is too profound and too great to be properly describe in words. So, the drama writers resort to demonstrating love in action by throwing the main characters in various conflicts and novel situations to test their devotion to each other. The more interesting dramas are those that depict love in an original and creative way. Dr. Cutie had a simple premise, i.e., a cross-dressing doctor hiding in a general’s household, but it delivered lots of laughs and unexpected twists.
I like romances that a) entertain me with zippy dialogues, b) meet my ethical parameters, and c) reflect my views of love. As my first-class bitch, I don’t apologize to having high standards in what I watch. I say no to:
-adultery
-alpha jerks (no matter how rich or smart they are)
-bestiality
-bondage themes (“50 Shades of Gray” is trashy.)
-cruelty to babies, children, pets and geriatrics
-lead characters (and ACTORS, side-eyeing Park Yoo-chun) with dubious morals, or no morals
-forced kisses (No means no. I’ve said this before the #metoo movement began.)
-machine-human unions
-porn, both soft and hardcore ones
-psycho females (Jun JiHyun’s “My Sassy Girl” is abusive.)
-rape-masquerading-as-seduction scenes (No to normalizing sexual aggression and violence.)
-slavery/sex trafficking
-threesomes (Bio 101: the anus isn’t made for intercourse.)
-torture
-underage romance (“My Little Bride” is a movie that didn’t age well. It’s the reason I can’t warm up to Kim RaeWon. He’ll forever be a sleazy ahjussi to me.)
Romances with these plot elements don’t float my boat.
Here are the romcoms I’m planning to rewatch during these days of self-isolation.
Major spoilers ahead.
1. Sassy Girl Chun Hyang (2005)
Episodes: 17
Cast:
Han ChaeYoung as the modern-day Chun Hyang
Jae Hee as modern-day Lee Mong Ryong
Note: first kdrama of the Hong sisters
Plot: If you want the whole plot, go to Wiki. Somebody wrote a lengthy description of the plot.
This is the Hong sisters’ adaptation of a famous Korean folk tale, “The Story of Chunhyang” with a twist. The girl is smart and virtuous; the rich guy is a bit of a buffoon. Because they’re caught in a compromising situation, they have to marry. He starts off immature and spoiled, but the girl schools him, literally. She tutors him in their senior year of high school, and he passes the college entrance exams.
Pros: This is about as makjang as I can get. It has all the necessary ingredients of a soap opera:
Marriage of convenience: check
Love quadrangle: check
Hero in love with his noona: check
Heroine chased by a successful CEO: check
Jealousy: check
Divorce: check
Angst: check
The angsty scenes, esp the Ski Trip fiasco (Ep 14?), are memorable. To me, the Ski Trip moment solidifies the Hong sisters as masters of the misunderstanding-misunderstood trope.
But there are lots of fun times too because the crazy hero likes to tease the uptight heroine.
Even back then, the Hong sisters love to twist the dialogues.
credit: fuckyeahkoreandrama-blog’s tumblr
Cons: There’s a time skip, like in most Hong sisters’ drama. The 2nd female lead, noona, has no redeeming features. Uhm Taewoon (yes, that disgraced actor) plays the second male lead. At first, his attentions are welcome but as the story develops, he becomes an obsessive ahjussi. Although the kdrama has a happy ending, the ending seems rushed.
To me, the Hong sisters tried to pack a lot of things in this 17-episode kdrama. Some of the side stories and tropes could have been reserved for future dramas. I guess the sisters might not have been sure if there would be another chance for them to write a drama, so they crammed all their good ideas here.
2. Creating Destiny (2009)
Episodes: 31
Cast:
Eugene as Han Sang Eun
Ki Tae Young as Kim Yeo Joon
Note: The main leads dated and married after doing this show.
credit: untimelymine’s tumblr
Plot: A strong-willed Aussie girl, Eugene is shipped back to Korea by her dad to be married off to the son of her dad’s best friend. Both dads of the future couple are excited because they’ve always wanted their families joined in matrimony. The dads believe it’s a good match since Eugene is a lawyer and YeoJoon is a surgeon.
But the young couple dislike each other on sight. YeoJoon thinks Eugene is too Westernized and liberal, and Eugene thinks YeoJoon is too conservative and Asian.
Pros: The stereotypes.
Thank god I still have a sense of humor. I wasn’t offended at all by the cultural stereotypes. To be honest, I’m glad the show didn’t try to sugarcoat the opinions of the older generation because then we become aware of the difficulties still facing a mixed-culture couple.
The dating culture in South Korea was also explained. This kdrama was my first introduction to a lot of the do’s and don’ts in Korean culture, especially the dating etiquette. It was funny to see that that certain “formalities” (i.e., bowing to the parents, buying gifts, etc.) can win big points for the boyfriend.
Eugene always outsmarted YeoJoon. Although she had to tone down her rebellious ways, she still managed to get around his strict, it’s-me-or-the-highway rules. She knew how to push his buttons. Also, Eugene is one of the few Korean actresses who actually speaks English in real life. Her accent doesn’t grate on my ears like the other try-hard actresses.
Cons: Since this is a weekend family show, all the side characters had a drama of their own to appeal to a wider audience. SKIP the noona romance (more on this later).
The annoying wannabe-girlfriend ever who was played by that actress Clara.
The annoying American boyfriend. Although he only appeared in two episodes, his thick accent made me grit my teeth. It was obvious that the director didn’t hire an American actor.
The most annoying one is the YeoJoon’s noona’s love story. Her unwanted pregnancy/unrequited love story was a bore. And her ex-boyfriend/her baby daddy was a flabby-face ahjussi. This couple had zero appeal.
I recommend fast-forwarding through the scenes that didn’t include the main couple.
Fun Scenes: I remember their engagement. He arrived more than hour late for their engagement party leaving her to face both his and her families alone. But she was chill. No drama because she understood that he was kept away because of a surgery. I thought that augured well.
I enjoyed watching the dating scenes. He was such a gentleman.
3. Sweet 18 (2004)
Episodes: 16
Cast:
Han Ji-Hye as Yoon Jung-sook
Lee Dong-gun (yes that Lee Dong Gun from 7-Day Queen) as Kwon Hyuk-Joon
Note: These two dated in real life.
Plot: There are major spoilers in wikipedia if you want the whole plot.
It’s an arranged marriage between an 18-year old girl who just finished high school, and a 28-year old prosecutor. What’s the difference between this one and my hated movie, “My Little Bride”? Two years. The bride here was older by two years. lol. Also, the romance in “Sweet 18” took longer to develop because the guy
Pros: Her mistakes as an immature 18-year old bride were funny, especially because her husband was the last son of this illustrious clan. His family members were the type to go around in hanboks all day. I already knew that to be a daughter-in-law of an only son was difficult. But I didn’t know that to be the daughter-in-law of the only son of some weird hanbok-wearing clan was to be pressed into slavery. lol. Stepford wives, anyone?
It was an eye-opener.
Their first night was funny, too.
The ending was lovely.
Cons: They had a 10-year age difference; she was too young to be married; she should have gone to college; this was sending a wrong message to girls, etc. Whatever.
The second female lead was a witch. She was played by Lee Dahae (before plastic surgery). In the beginning, the lead female was taken for a ride, but she learned to handle the second female lead’s jealousy and interference.
Spoilers/Highlights: She fainted when she was first kissed. It was funny because of their different reactions. The guy was mortified. He felt like a pervert who took advantage of her. Meanwhile, she was bragging about the “event” to her friends.
4. Reply 1988 (2015)
Episode: 16
Cast:
Hyeri as Deoksun
Park Bo Gum as Choi Taek
The others are side characters including Ryu Joon Yeol who played Jung Hwan.
Plot: Childhood friends turn lovers. The sassy girl waits for the neighborhood genius and baduk god to grow up and return her affections.
Pros: This is the type of noona romance I like. lol. She’s only a few months older than him, but she watches over him because he’s so absent-minded.
I know I’ve to re-post my analyses from soompi over to my blog. But if you can’t wait for my analyses, just go to soompi.
Cons: The major turn off for me was the annoying Jung Hwan/Ryu Joon Yeol fangirls. Jung Hwan lost the girl. Get over it.
Memorable moments/spoilers: The scenes I remember had mostly Taek and Deoksun interacting, like their trip to China when she had to “babysit” him, Taek winning his tournament and she witnessed the historic moment, the Christmas gift, and Taek winning another tournament and giving her the trophy (which she used as a fruit bowl or something, lol).
5. Warm and Cozy (2015)
Episode: 16
Cast:
Kang Sora as feisty, down-in-her-luck JungJoo
Yoo Yeon Seok as rich kid Gunwoo
Note: Agdr03 and I met while watching this kdrama so this is special to us.
Plot: Rich boy meets poor girl. This is supposed to be an adaptation of the Great Gatsby but Kang Sora is no helpless Daisy.
Pros: No one died. I think this is the last Hong sisters’ drama that didn’t feature death.
Sweet and short. Just right for springtime.
Cons: It’s a predictable love story.
6. Love O2O (2016)
Episode: 30
Cast:
Zheng Shuang as Bei Weiwei
Yang Yang as Xiao Nai
Note: Xiao Nai is the Best Drama Boyfriend of this blog.
Plot: It’s college romance between a smart computer science sophomore and a genius computer science senior who’s also the campus heartthrob. Their relationship began Online but developed to Offline romance, hence the title Love O2O.
Pro: No big drama with the main leads involving ex-girlfriends, in-laws, and misunderstandings. It’s a sweet and simple story.
Plus, Xiao Nai is every girl’s college crush.
Con: They say that the actress’ kissing was a problem. But here’s my rebuttal:
a. the actress and director were following the original script. In it, the heroine was timid and awkward about kissing the guy. Don’t blame the actress; blame the writer.
b. the sexual shyness of the heroine plays an important part in the finale. The reason Xiao Nai had to live like a monk for two years was because he was enrolled in Weiwei’s Department of Self-Control. If Weiwei had been kissing him with gusto, then there was no way he would have lasted as a celibate for two years. It would’ve been *painfully* frustrating for him. Duh.
c. it’s the “good girl = virgin” trope. If you have a problem with this, don’t watch this Chinese drama. Go watch Hollywood shows instead.
7. Dr Cutie (@agdr03 and I are currently rewatching)
Episode: 28
Cast:
Sun Qian as Dr. Tian Qi/Zhao’er
Huang Junjie as Ji Heng/General Ji
Plot: Orphaned girl seeking revenge disguises herself as a male doctor in General’s household.
Pro: Cute actress, handsome actor. Fluffy but well-conceived story; no plotholes. I found it interesting how to skirt around the issue of same sex attraction (Remember this is Chinese drama.)
Con: She stabbed the guy.
8. Jugglers (2017)
Episode: 16
Cast:
Baek Jin Hee as Yoonyi
Daniel Choi as Chiwon
Plot: If you have a crush on your boss, watch this. Then, you’ll have a crush on Daniel Choi instead. Seriously, the reason I’m going to rewatch this is because I don’t remember the plot, just the dating scenes. lol. I know it made me happy while I was watching it, though. This is one of those gentle dramas that ran its course without glaring plotholes.
Pro: Everything related to Daniel Choi is a plus, like:
Daniel Choi’s voice
Daniel Choi’s glasses
Daniel Choi’s height
Also, I remember lots of kissing scenes.
Cons: But I can’t remember the plot!! It must not have been anything out of the ordinary. Otherwise I would have recall the plot.
But normal is probably what I need during these stressful times.
9. My Princess (2011)
Episode: 16
Cast:
Kim Tae Hee as Lee Seol
Song Seung Heon as Park Hae Young
Song Seung Heon’s abs as his body lol.
Plot: A pretty college student finds out that she’s the last descendant of the Joseon emperor. There’s a plan to restore the Korean monarchy so she must be groomed to assume her royal duties. Teaching her the ropes is this stuck-up dude who’s also a chaebol grandson. He has the most to lose should the monarchy be reinstalled since his inheritance will be transferred over to her to help her establish her reign.
“My Fair Lady” comes to my mind when the hero teaches her proper etiquette.
Pro: Song Seung Hoon. I didn’t expect him to be funny.
Con: I was frustrated with the ending. It was a happy-ever-after, but without the wedding, babies and so on.
To me, it went downhill after Episode 14 so I won’t rewatch this all the way.
10. Tatta Hitotsu no Koi (2006)
Episodes: 10
Cast:
Ayase Haruka as Nao
Kamenashi Kazuya as Hiroto
Plot: Rich girl meets poor boy. She had leukemia and worries that it might recur.
Pros: There’s something haunting about the cinematography of this show. The director showed the nitty gritty side of being poor, but there are scenes when I believe in the fairy tale of a poor boy winning the heart of the princess.
My favorite scene is in Episode 2 (staring 28:20) when he got her the orange toy. His friends thought he would blow up upon hearing the girl’s petty demand, but he stood up to win her the toy she wanted. When he came back, he asked for her hand.
And that scene gets me. He was well aware that this girl was “untouchable,” but he was asking for her hand. lol.
I swear skinny guys who smoke aren’t my type. But every time I watch this scene, I fall in love with the actor Kame. He interpreted his character admirably. He got it. He had to act cool too because Nao was an innocent princess out of his league.
Gifs, courtesy of NamuNamuNamu.
Also this.
And
source: https://onehallyu.com/topic/651972-kame-in-tatta-hitotsu-no-koi/
There you have it. My list of 10 Asian dramas to rewatch and escape the drama of coronavirus.
@packmule3 What a great list! Just when I was sitting at home sulking alone and feeling the onset of boredom at not being able to socialize at work. Kdramas (and some Cdramas) are the perfect mood boosters!
I’ve not seen many of the old dramas here and will see where I can find them. Any ideas where to view them? I liked ‘Jugglers’ and ‘Warm and Cozy’ and can watch them again.
I am going to add one more to the ‘Love in the Time of Coronavirus’ list – ‘Because this is my First Life’. I think I’m going to watch it again this week. There’s something about that drama just makes me feel all warm inside😍
Stay safe and happy everyone!😊
Nice! I’ve seen 5 out of 10 of you’re very detailed list. 👍🏻☺️ You’re list had every information on the dramas so you can just choose from it. I liked that you included what’s a big no no in choosing your dramas to rewatch.
I’m interested in Jugglers mainly because of the kiss scenes. 😂 I think Daniel Choi is handsome too. It’s good as well because it’s on Netflix. Maybe I’ll try this first instead of Tempted.
Great points on Love O2O. 😍 That drama for me was a complete package.
You’re good as you’ve got your lists worked out already. I should think about mine, though you’re 5 is pretty awesome already. 😄
Where did you watch Tatta? I watched it and liked it but the video quality was so poor it almost ruined it. Skinny smokers with great cheekbones were definitely my type at that age (everybody then smoked and we were on average ten pounds lighter than today’s teens, early 20’s).
I have mostly the same scruples about what I’ll watch or enjoy. This was a problem for me in Goblin; she was still a high school student. There’s an ick factor no matter how good looking the male lead.
I am going to try Creating Destiny because I rarely have not even heard of a popular drama and it sounds good. But if a weekend drama I might have missed it for that reason. Thanks for the recommendation!
I’m getting a bit nervous about the virus – got a trip planned to London and Ireland coming up. Thinking about the airports mostly.
@Barbrey stay safe and healthy. Are you sure you will be able to get home after? FYI travel insurance doesn’t cover pandemics so in the event that you get sick overseas you’ll be hit with massive hospital bills.
All these will take an average of 160 hours to finish! 😛 Which should be about a good 20 days if you watch 8 hours a day. It will be past the 14 day quarantine. But because I can at most watch 1hr a day, this will take me half a year to finish. hoho. ..I’m interested in some you have recommended but time to watch is limited for me.
I am lagging behind on Reply 1988, Dr.Cutie, would love to help you translate the bts if i can, they look so fun. Now also watching Itaewon Class, Hi Bye Mama and just started on If The Weather… I feel like I am all over the place.
Hope all is well where you are, stay safe and virus free!
@nrllee, That must be for the States? Travel insurance covers me as long as bought before there were any advisories against non-essential travel, which I did, so I’ll be okay. My medical and extended covers me for the most part even without the travel insurance. But thanks for the warning. I will ask my son-in-law since he and my daughter bought me the London ticket to look into it. But I bought our flights to Dublin for a long weekend within my three week trip and didn’t buy travel insurance for that trip at all. You’ve made me think about this! The flu by all reports comes on fast with a high fever.
@Barbrey make sure you read the fine print and I would ring the travel insurance agency just to make sure.
Check with your airlines. Many carriers are waiving their penalty fee for change of flight. It’ll be possible for you to delay your trip to a later date. You won’t be the only passenger thinking of rebooking. 🙂
My niece and nephew, both college kids, went to Spain and Switzerland respectively for their spring breaks. They scrambled to get home before the US travel ban last Friday. They said airports were a mess but they had no problems changing tickets to get home early. They’re now in self-quarantine, just in case. 😅
@Packmule3, I started Creating Destiny and the acting was so bad and filming so dated! You might not get through it a second time. Delightful Girl is dated but not too bad and has a good score. Might rewatch it one day.
I was thinking about my own rewatchables and realized that it’s the ones with memorable scores that most stick with me even when the scores are cheesey! Like Full House ‘I think I love you’ or Lie to Me “Lovin’ Ice Cream’ (but of course wouldn’t watch this again), Boys Over Flowers ‘Stand By Me’, Coffee Prince ‘It’s Love’, and the great scores for Rebel and Cheese in the Trap and Scarlet Heart Ryeo,etc.
I think Coffee Prince has my vote for the one I’ll rewatch. I don’t rewatch hardly at all and find I don’t remember this one. I’ve rewatched a few episodes of most of the others. Coffee Prince was my first kdrama and I never looked back.
Tatta was on kissasian. Good video quality.
Yes, skinny smokers were in those days, weren’t they? 😍 One of my brothers was severely asthmatic. My mom had banned smoking and it was always impressed upon us as kids that our smoking was tantamount to signing a death warrant to our brother. It’s the kind of fear-mongering that other parents did if their children didn’t lick their plates clean. You know, that whole “a-starving-child-somewhere-in-the-world-would-die because you left food on your plate.
My dad who loved his Cuban cigars could only smoke in other people’s homes. 😂
Creating Destiny could be condensed with the side plots removed or shortened. The fast-forward button is your friend. 🙂
@packmule3, please feel free to delete this if you think it’s politics:
@Barbrey, do be careful. The UK has put comfort ahead of trying to flatten the infection curve. It is a case of individuals acting ahead of legislation, which is rather laudable, but not very efficient as others stick rigidly to government advice. As PM3 said, check the fine print and insurance guarantees.
Hi Packmule!
We share some common ground on romance.
My differences are as follows:
– Adultery: Okay.
– Alpha Jerk: Okay.
– Dubious morals: Okay.
– Forced Kisses: Okay.
– Psycho Females: Okay.
– Torture and Slavery: Okay (we see this in every historical drama)
In your list of dramas, I’ve only seen “Sweet18”, and that was a long, long time ago. I remember enjoying it, but it’s vague.
For “My princess,” I gave up on episode five because of cheese indigestion.
Warm and Cozy is on my list of dramas to watch. It’s already because of the writers. And then because Kang So Ra is stunningly beautiful. 😉
Other dramas might interest me, if only I had the time!
So I’m focused on new dramas rather than revising, and I want to see some great classics < 2005.
However, the next one could be "Nirvana in Fire", a historical Chinese drama without fantasy, full of political intrigues. I've only seen one Chinese drama so far, and I'm curious.
Ah, Reply 1988. Worth a rewatch for the 3 ahjummas’ drunken audition alone. And yes to memorable scores. I just listened to the entire Rebel OST and now I want to rewatch the drama.
Thanks for the good wishes and advice! I will definitely investigate better than I have done. I won’t cancel though. I’ve booked and paid for too many events, attractions and sidetrips. The UK and Canada have comparable rates of virus. We’ve got about 140 cases of the virus in Canada. I’ve got as much chance of catching it here as there. Westjet sent me a nice letter telling me all the things they are doing, hepafilters and extra disinfectants, etc. So I’m just going to be really careful in the airports. Wear a mask and gloves. And self-quarantine when I return so I don’t infect any elderly.
Hope you’re all going to be fine too in your respective countries!
@Wenchanteur, our tastes are pretty similar though I don’t find your photo guy attractive (slipped his name, the one from W – he’s also in a cdrama called Jade Lovers) so I think you will love Nirvana in Fire. You do have to pay attention. A few cdramas you might enjoy, historically-based, The Story of Ming Lan, Perfect Couple, The Prince of Lang Lin, Cruel Romance, The Disguiser, Battle of Changsha, Too Late to Say I Love You. I love Hu Ge so I also recommend his cheesy but very enjoyable fantasies: Legend of the Condor Heroes and Chinese Paladin 3.
Any readers here? The best biography/nonfiction I’ve read from any country is called Wild Swans. The writer’s grandparents were a warlord/concubine, her parents were high up communists that were then shamed during the cultural revolution, and she went through turbulent times herself. Every person I’ve lent this book to has loved it. You learn so much about China too, from an inside perspective.
Try Long Vacation starring Kimura Takuya! He was gorgeous in it!
Liked that one too, @L. I also liked the Last Cinderella.
Update: I cancelled my trip to the UK this am. I am so choked! I miss my daughter so much. But things amped up this morning to the point it seems foolhardy to go what with blocked borders and cancelled flights. I might get there but might not get back.
No one has problems with the BULLYING, as shown in The Inheritors, Love Alarm and Itaewon Class???? Am I the only one who cringes at such abuse? The bullying in the first Ep of IC was downright sadistic, and it also had violence as horrible as “Parasite.” It’s all made me question if I should keep watching. I’m holding off on subscribing to Viki, even though it seems my Netflix is running out of Kdramas to show me. (Itaewon became more interesting, and is definitely against stereotyping, but it’s sure no Misraeng.)
Thanks for the rec. I googled it and it won a lot of awards that year, Best drama, actor, actress, and so on. 🙂
Awww. I’m sorry you had to postponed for trip, @ barbrey. You were so looking forward to it.
But it was a good decision. With the unstable situation right now, you don’t want to be stranded far from your comfort zone.
@Barbrey, I hope that you can see your daughter as soon as possible. She must be missing you, too. The UK is currently using the novel theory of herd immunity to get through the illness. We’ll see where it leads. You could very well be stranded as pm3 says. I’m so sorry.
I was thinking of how great it would be for you to see attractions without the long queues and I was envious. 😑
@Barbrey: Thanks for that list of Chinese dramas. I put several on my list.
One thing I also like about them: they are the first ones not to be afraid to exploit a hitherto unseen theme on TV: e-sport.
First, let me wish everyone to stay safe and healthy wherever you are. As a person who is a caregiver for several loved ones with both age and health issues, I’m starting to feel the pressure of trying to distance myself so as not to get sick and cause others to get sick. We also still have another caregiver who comes daily to help out and she is so needed as there are 4 of them, but I worry about her too.
@Barbrey, I feel for you, dear. I know it must be so hard for both you and your daughter. I’m so sorry you had to cancel your trip, but I believe you did the right thing. God forbid you be stranded in a foreign country for who knows how long.
Thank you for this welcome post, @pm3. I see several dramas on the list that I haven’t seen before and I’ll check them out. If I didn’t have Asian dramas to help me de-stress, I don’t know how I’d be.
So, I have turned to the utter silly dramas as stress reliever, and I recommend these utter silly fluff dramas to anyone who just needs a laugh at the absurd. Bride of the Century, Drunken to Love You, Just You, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Ju. And my favorite rom com- Marriage Without Dating. All of these are available at Viki.
@Wenchanter- For older K Drama, let me recommend Beautiful Days (2001) starring Choi Ji Woo. For C Drama, I will add Story of Yanxi Palace.
Dear Ladies, First I hope you are all well.
Please be OK Ms. Barbrey. My mother is in Miami visiting my youngest sister so she will be probably delayed in her coming back to Caracas. So I know how you feel.
I decided to start again with Boccaccio’s Decameron. Nothing better than reading about a group of young people telling each other stories during what is probably the worst pandemic the history has recorded to remember the power of optimism and imagination to endure the harshness of reality.
This may sound strange, but this is a special time for all of us. The remembrance that there are things bigger than ourselves (that also dwarfs all our human achievements), and a memento mori: a feeling that our medieval ancestors knew all but very well.
As far as the things @packmule3 cites as her no-no’s, I have been desensitized about young people marrying. In the early 2010’s Hugo Chávez launched the “Misión Madres del Barrio” (Mothers of the Ghetto Mission), basically the Venezuelan State gave to the mothers registered in that mission a quinquenial stipend. Do you know what is worse than a woman marrying at 16?… a girl 16-17 y.o. going to school with a maternity uniform (brown shirt). Do you know what is even worse than that?, girls 13-15 (blue shirt) in the same situation, and even girls younger than that (white shirt). The horrible part of that is that it was so prevalent at that time, it was a fad among those young girls. When it is all around you even if you facepalm you eventually learn to live with it. It becames normalized.
At this moment I am seeing the Japanese version of “In Time with You” even if I don’t know I will stick with it, another Japanese Drama “Love Lasts Forever”, the main female lead is so cute I want to open a tuna can and give her a thread ball. I am also following Star Trek: Picard.
Hoping a good Drama comes along to have a reunion,
FGB
Thanks all. FGB4877! So glad to see you. I have never read the Decameron though I’ve read *about* it. One day. My entire life I’ve been a reader, only started watching TV with any frequency five years ago because of kdrama. So that one should definitely be on my bucket list. Have you seen Bolivar on Netflix? I was thinking of trying it because I know so little about your part of the world.
That is just rotten what they did to those girls. I get angry thinking about it.
Yes, a special time when the world needs to work together by staying apart.
There are so few Japanese love stories that aren’t highschool. Or really weird. And there is so often this submissive thing going on even when the girl is supposed to be kick ass. Also it’s the girl chasing the guy more often than not, and that just robs it of tension for me. I’m old. We girls knew how to catch without chasing. Luring, I guess would be the parallel. But social cues are all over the place these days. Anyway, I’ll check out your kitten girl in Love Lasts Forever.
I’m hoping for a drama we can all enjoy and dissect. Of course, Pkm3 can dissect anything! Rather wished you had joined us for Extraordinary You after del Luna.
Dear @Barbrey, it is my lost not to have tuned you before. Imissed out. Hope to hop on the next wagon with all of you!!! =D
Hi PM3! Nearsea here.. long long time. I visit your blog time to time just didn’t have time to write. I am doing my masters now in Germany so have been really busy.. but now I have to move to a new city and there is this stupid shitty corona so life has slowed down. God knows what will happen in future :/ .
In the amidst of it, I am enjoying your posts haha, this one was really nice, I have started watching dr. cutie after reading about it here. It’s still only the second episode and I am watching it only for the main actress, cause I saw her last in meteor garden and I remember her from there.
Apart from reply, I have also watched ‘Sassy Girl Chun Hyan’ which is one of my favorite favorite drama. IT is one of hong sisters favorite for me, as this one is without any magic or fantasy involved. I wish they made something simple and mundane like this one again.
I see that you are also following hospital playlist. Did you see the latest episode lol? Haha they have also started following the guess who game again. And it’s so stupid. I don’t know about others, but if this time again yoo yoon seok’s character doesn’t get the girl I will be super mad for him. But I do not know. Everyone has been saying jo jung seok is the lead here. But for some reason Yoo yoon seok’s character is the favorite of mine, I just love how he is the sensible, kind and humane doctor for whom patients is the first one in mind. And not to forget, him and the lady doctor really look good together haha. I will be crossing my fingers so they can be the couple hee.
Anyway, hoping you and your family are safe! Hope we can survive this. :S
I was getting ready to do a bit of spring gardening here, nearsea…. but whatever…. you FOUND ME!!!
Yes. I’m going to watch “Hospital Playlist” I hope the old gang from Reply 1988 will shop up here, too. It should be fun if we’re all here.
I hear you. Yoo Yoon Seok had better get the girl now or we’re all going to have a serious talk with his manager.
Dear Yoo Yoon Seok’s Manager,
You only have one job. ONE job: HIDE ALL THE SCRIPTS WHERE HE’S THE TOKEN LOSER. Will ya?
lol. Has YYS been crossed in love? Why is he gravitating towards this jilted/unrequited/spurned love roles? Does he need therapy to get over a break-up in real life?
I don’t care who they (who’s they? the fangirls?) pick as lead. We’re going to look at the script anyway and look for our own clues anyway. But please no more color analysis like what lovebangwon said. lol. Who started that stupid fight over the color schemes matching the color of the gates, anyway? Shaking my head. I’ll never understand the brouhaha over the colors. Thank goodness they’re all wearing med white here.
Do comment when I start writing for Hospital Playlist. I won’t ban you. 😉
Lmao hahaha the color analysis 😀 :D. Lolz remember we also did that, green dolls, blue dolls, red dolls. And now subconsciously I have started looking at their position in the posters, who is standing beside whom hahaha. These reply dramas have spoiled me forever lolz. And yeah I also hope shooastrid can join us.^^
About YYS#s roles, I was exactly going to say that! He needs to pick the roles carefully, I mean enough with these sad roles, first mr. sunshine and now this. Well hopefully not this one. :/
And yes I am very much looking forward to your post on Hospital Playlist! ^^
I’m working on it. I’m working on it.
Yes! Shooastrid!! Loved her, too. Where is she?
I wonder how her baby (a daughter, if I remember correctly) is doing now. The baby should be about three years old now.
I told you not to pay attention to the dolls. But y’all don’t listen to me. But the gate argument was the stupidest. The fans were fighting over who-owns-what-color because of the gates, for pete’s sake! Every time, somebody tried to ask me my opinion on the colors, I slowly backed out of the conversation… Buh-bye… I was outta there.
Yes. I heard about Mr. Sunshine. YYS died there again. pwahahaha. I still get notification on my tumblr for YYS and I don’t know how to turn it off.
We shall see how this drama progresses. I hear that there’s a season 2?
Lovebangwon is here and mslee, too. And a few more. I can’t keep track of them because they come and go.
Okay, back to work for me now.
@Packmule3, I was inspired by all the story writing for Phoenix’s birthday party to try my hand at Love in the Time of Coronavirus. I got other inspiration from Touch Your Heart, which I finished a few days ago.
Forty-plus years of marriage. Decades of staying home while he traveled on business. Fear of being alone at home, day and night, gradually transformed into a welcome of solitude. But a governor’s executive order changed her life overnight. For a future of unknown length, she could no longer count on his schedule whisking him away again, leaving her schedule blissfully unstructured. Her space, her agenda, her preferences…invaded. This man she thought she knew so well, who came and went, becoming at times more guest than lover, now confined in her domain: would he be friend or foe? Would this imposed togetherness build their relationship, or break it? She sat across from him at the kitchen table but didn’t look at his face, pondering what stood between them. The construct with which they’d started had risen higher, she could see, but at the price of stability. “I will prevail,” she muttered to herself. “You will be the one to tumble.” As she spoke, she rapped her fingernail on wood. Tap. Taptap. Then gently slid out the Jenga piece.
@Welmaris: I love this story too..and the ending sounded appropriately sinister! We should have such story-telling sessions more often..makes us all so creative🤩
@Welmaris, brilliant. I didn’t expect that ending.