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thedramafilesblog-blog · 7 years

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Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Eps 1 & 2

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether the Yamapi God x Makoto bromance is better than the Goblin x Grim Reaper bromance

Whether the rival (Sadaoka Mitsukuni) is actually creepy and annoying

Whether the “fate” aspect of this drama is believable

The Rule(s):

Yes, yes, yes! The Yamapi God x Makoto bickerings are hilarious.

Yes. Total creep vibe and annoying.

Yes, it is quite believable.

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: Only two episodes have aired, yet I’m already totally invested in this drama! I’ve been seeking a light-hearted rom com for a while and luckily, this drama has fulfilled that wish of mine so far! In dramas, we always have that annoying 2nd lead girl trying to steal the 1st lead guy, but in this case we have a lead guy, Masaki Makoto, trying to marry his “fated” girl, Kogetsu Haruko, to have a child that will eventually save Earth! (Finally, it’s the guy doing the heavy lifting for once in dramas.) Yes, that premise sounds completely far-fetched and silly, but I think the first episode did a great job convincing us and Makoto that Yamapi God (I don’t think he’s named yet) is right: There is something called fate. Yamapi God goes through a list of meetings/encounters/events that have occurred that prove that Makoto and Haruko are destined to be together and that God has kept trying to pair them together. Now it’s up to Makoto to take action! It also helps that Makoto is really a pure-hearted, honest guy who truly believes in love! Then you have Haruko who has a complete outlook on love; she doesn’t believe in it anymore after getting into several bad relationships in the past. Throw in a guy rival, Sadaoka Mitsukuni, who beat Makoto at a baseball game even though that game was the only one that Mitsukuni had played all season. Then you have an interesting fate vs choice romance. The encounters/chances that Makoto and Haruko have are based on fate, whereas those that Mitsukuni and Haruko face are based on choice. The question is . . . will she pick a fated love or one of her choice? Or was there even a choice in the end?

Love triangle . . .

The final highlight for me, of course, is the bromance between Yamapi God x Makoto! We’ve seen the duo in Nobuta wa Produce and it’s great to see them again! They have awesome bromance chemistry. The two of them do great for comedy too!

(A side note: This review will be our first Japanese drama review! I watch a lot of Japanese dramas too, but for the past year or so, I didn’t find any that really motivated me to review it. This one did! We’ll likely be reviewing movies or other Asian dramas in the future.)

Issue 1: Whether the Yamapi God x Makoto bromance is better than the Goblin x Grim Reaper bromance

Jubiemon J: Yes! I pick the Yamapi God x Makoto bromance over the one in Goblin. Sorry Goblin fans. I enjoy the Yamapi God x Makoto bromance far more. Why? I much prefer the playfulness that comes with this bromance and this type of bickering between the two. In Goblin, we had two grown-ass who have lived for thousands of years . . . playing really childish pranks. Sure you can say that that’s why it’s funny! The difference in expectation and reality . . . but those little moments can only last a bit until they’d get old. Somehow I didn’t laugh so much when the two quarrelled.

Look at the cute dance song they did for the ending credits! So adorbs!

In this drama, on the other hand, I sincerely laugh whenever Yamapi God unexpectedly pops into Makoto’s house and starts chatting to Makoto who is dead ass tired from work. Yamapi God also has an awesome and far more interesting personality compared to Goblin. Yamapi God is super chill, dresses like a trendy guy in a bomber jacket, and likes to mess with Makoto’s head. Goblin, on the other hand, is . . . I honestly couldn’t get a good feel of his personality. At times, he was uptight, but then Grim Reaper embodied that super uptight, serious personality far better. Then Goblin would be like a 10-year-old for love and turn all moody. His character was just all over for me. (I was a fan of Grim Reaper.) Yamapi God’s personality contrasts Makoto super well. Makoto is way too serious, not in the Grim Reaper way where he’s dead pan, but the sort that would follow the rules from A to Z and never lie or cheat his way through life. Makoto also admitted to Haruko’s father that people say that he can’t really get jokes because he takes things too literally. When you have an innocent, pure-hearted, hardworking guy with Yamapi God who is a prankster . . . the bromance is just fabulous! The evidence is below!

Look at these moments when Yamapi God pranks Makoto!

When you’re just chilling after a long day of work . . .

and then Yamapi God pops up under your sofa! Ha!

Freaking out b/c of his room’s appearance changing

Just Yamapi God decorating his place with some vintage stuff and Japanese traditional goods to set a “romantic” vibe

And the bickering scenes!

Yamapi God giving love advice

Yamapi God: What’d you think would win Haruko over?

Makoto: Love and passion. (Side note: so pure hearted!)

Yamapi God: No. Money!

Then Yamapi God teases him after they chat some more: With your savings account, you can’t even buy socks!

Makoto: Huh?! Aren’t socks bought cheaply?

Yamapi God: You really think you are in a position to argue with me? Do you want me to tell you how much is in your savings account now?

Yamapi God: Haruko is sleeping with your rival right now!

Makoto: No way! Stop lying to me! It’s a lie!

Makoto: Whose side are you on exactly?!

Next scene shows Mitsukuni sleeping . . . by the bar. Yamapi God doesn’t lie, just likes to mess with Makoto’s brain.

Yamapi God: It’s a joke, a joke, a classical joke!

Just Yamapi God decorating Makoto’s place to have a romantice vibe. LOL!

Issue 2: Whether the rival (Sadaoka Mitsukuni) is actually creepy and annoying

Jubiemon J: Yes! I think Mitsukuni is the type that seems like the perfect guy–nice, handsome, charming, rich, intelligent, and responsible. However, I don’t think he is completely that. When he is interacting with Makoto, he was kind of a jerk in a passive aggressive way. He kept pretending that he knew who Makoto was but kept calling him the wrong name. Rude. Not just that, when Makoto said that he thought Mitsukuni played well during the baseball game, Mitsukuni said that it was just by luck and that it was the first time he had officially played. If he did that once, it wouldn’t be so bad, but Mitsukuni kept emphasizing how his teammates were all saying how he was so lucky. Obviously that actually made Makoto look really bad because Makoto had trained a lot to be the pitcher and then this batter who just swung once won against him. Awful.

Fake ass trying to be all friendly like “Hey, I remember you!!” Pfft. *rolls eyes*

Then there was the part where he was creeping on Haruko from the other building that he works in. Yuck. Don’t creep like that. Ugh. No!

Issue 3: Whether the “fate” aspect of this drama is believable

Jubiemon J: I think the “fate” aspect of this drama is believable. I’m slightly biased too because I’ve always been a believer in fate for some things, like why you end up meeting some people and not others, why you sometimes keep meeting the same people coincidently, why a certain city ended up being your hometown rather than any other one, etc. Some things you really can’t choose. I think this drama does a good job portraying fate and choice in relationships. Of course, the fate part is exaggerated a bit more like the number of times Makoto and Haruko have passed by one another’s lives like how they actually met when they were five and played together at some beach, how she encouraged him when he lost his baseball game, how they ended up being office neighbours, and more. What makes these events/encounters believable are two things: (i) Makoto and Haruko’s reactions to them; and (ii) the natural feeling to these events.

Haruko complaining to her bff about Makoto

(i) Makoto and Haruko weren’t believers in fate

Jubiemon J: Makoto was totally unconvinced that Haruko was his soulmate until Yamapi God proved to him how they kept meeting each other. Haruko is also still not persuaded that she should date Makoto. I mean, if a guy kept saying that he’s your soulmate one day, that’d be kind of scary, right? I’m glad that she has been rejecting Makoto’s advances, meaning that Makoto has to try to make her fall for him slowly. I think that’s more realistic than her agreeing that he’s the one instantly. I also wouldn’t say that Makoto is a stalker. He still doesn’t have Haruko’s number yet and it’s not like he purposely stakes her out and follows her home etc. He’s still working hard at his job to try to get the bonus to eventually have a date with her.

Makoto’s emotional speech about why he thinks she’s the one . . . and then she goes . . . NO. (I admit . . . my heart broke a bit.)

(ii) These events come as a surprise

Jubiemon J: Although Yamapi God does give Makoto hints as to what he needs to anticipate, what he should do or what his rival has done, Yamapi God also doesn’t say the ending or reward Makoto out of the blue. Makoto still had to work his ass off to get the bonus. He was working way harder than all of his co-workers and they were even saying that he might have been going overboard. Then the sad part was? He did get the money after making a sale, yet he had to treat his reward to his coworkers! Poor guy!

Cash prize!!

Going door to door to sell water fountains!!

Let’s all go BBQ with YOUR REWARD! TEAM EFFORT . . . not.

No . . . bye money . . . :'(

The positive side was that through Makoto’s hard work, he somehow met Haruko’s father and sold him some water fountains. Plus, the Dad really liked Makoto! At least the Dad is on his side.

There was also one part where you’d think a childhood promise was sappy and unrealistic, yet it was fulfilled in a creative way. Makoto said that ever since the two shared that moment where they looked at a rainbow together, he would always try to race that rainbow to get to the end. If he did, then he could be with her. (I forget the exact wording, but it was something like that.) You’d think that would never happen, yet somehow . . . on her birthday, the two meet coincidentally and he came out of this convenience store with a rainbow as its logo. So . . . he did fulfill his promise.

Jubiemon J sidebar: Makoto was also seriously so adorable waving and jumping up and down with that umbrella! So cute.

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed.

Rating: 5! KYAH! (Is this the first five I’ve given? I think so. This is how much I’ve enjoyed the drama! Can’t wait for more.)

File no: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-desu-Eps-1-&-2 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Eps 1 & 2 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

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limowlee7389 · 7 years

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2017 Dramas in Review.

Hello Everyone! I just wanted to do something a little different to exhibit the drama year of 2017. Feel free to take this and give your own answers! I would love to see your own responses, so please let me know!! Happy Holidays!!!!

Summary:

Number of Dramas Completed: 72

Number of 2017 Dramas Completed: 27 // 21 (Korean), 6 (Japanese)

Best Dramas: Because This is My First Life. Save Me. Million Yen Women.

Worst Dramas: Black. Bride of Habaek. My Secret Romance.

Best Actor: Lee Min Ki as Nam Se Hee in Because This is My First Life

Best Actress: Seo Ye Ji as Im Sang Mi in Save Me

Best Couple: Nam Se Hee and Yoon Ji Ho in Because This is My First Life

List of 2017 Dramas:

KOREAN

Completed.

1. Black (2017)(4/10)

2. Mad Dog (2017)(7/10)

3. Witch’s Court (2017)(7/10)

4. Because This is My First Life (2017)(10/10)

5. Temperature of Love (2017)(5/10)

6. While You Were Sleeping (2017)(8/10)

7. Save Me (2017)(10/10)

8. Bride of the Water God (2017)(5/10)

9. Lookout (2017)(8/10)

10. Fight for My Way (2017)(7/10)

11. Suspicious Partner (2017)(8/10)

12. Chicago Typewriter (2017)(10/10)

13. Man to Man (2017)(7/10)

14. Tunnel (2017)(10/10)

15. My Secret Romance (2017)(4/10)

16. Queen of the Ring (2017)(6/10)

17. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (2017)(7/10)

18. Chief Kim (2017)(8/10)

19. Goblin (2016)(8/10)

20. Legend of the Blue Sea (2016)(5/10)

21. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (2016)(8/10)

* BTS Comeback Stage (9/10)

Dropped:

1. Revolutionary Love (2017)

2. 20th Century Girl and Boy (2017)

3. Judge vs Judge (2017)

4. Jugglers (2017)

JAPANESE

Completed.

1. Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (2017)(9/10)

2. Code Blue 3 (2017)(7/10)

3. Million Yen Women (2017)(10/10)

4. Boku, Unmei no Hito Desu (2017)(8/10)

5. Totsuzen Desu ga, Ashita Kekkon Shimasu (2017)(6/10)

6. Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu (2016)(8/10)

#drama status #2017 dramas in review #year in review

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minhamaniac · 7 years

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Dramas of 2017 That I Dropped

(dramas of 2017 meaning: dramas that started airing in 2017)

+ short commentary on the reason(s) why

Defendant (after EP 1) - I was just not in the mood for a revenge drama and I was tired of the wife and daughter dying in ep 1.

Rakuen (after EP 3) - If I had enough time, I would have probably finished it. But it had to make way for better dramas.

Tunnel (after EP 1) - Disliked the main character. After Voice, I just couldn’t stand another round of crime drama with lots of women dying, violent police officers and just one woman around a bunch of man in the team. I was really tired of all the similar and exchangeable crime dramas at that moment.

Whisper (mid EP 2) - Couldn’t get over the female lead sexually assaulting the male lead and everything that’s wrong with how the writer portrayed it.

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (after EP 11) - Ugh. Where do I start? I loved the actors and the leads’ chemistry but I hated the writing. I would have had dropped this sooner if I cared more for myself. lol I’ll leave it at that. If I listed all the things I hated about this show, this paragraph would end up being too long for “short commentary”.

Chief Kim (after EP 11) - I wanted to binge-watch it but it’s just not a drama that I can have more than one episode a day. Entertaining but not entertaining enough. Again, my time is scarce, so it had to make way for more entertaining dramas.

Man to Man (mid EP 1) - I was so bored the first 30 minutes that I decided to drop this right away without even finishing the episode. Additionally, I dislike Park Hae Jin. I thought I could deal with it but I was so tired of his character and his face after just 5 minutes...

Chicago Typewriter (after EP 5) - Not having enough time might sound like an excuse because I’m stating it as reason again. But sacre time and a lot of interesting dramas just means that I have to pick one good drama over a “just okay drama” sometimes.

Boku Unmei no Hito desu (mid EP 1) - It rubbed me off the wrong way right from the beginning. And I had no sympathy for the oh so poor lead who was only approached by “weird” women in his life so far. That was rather annoying, unnecessary and had my eyes rolling so much that I had to drop the show.

Ruler: Master of the Mask (mid EP 2) - I just can’t with historical dramas. They’re too boring for me. I’m sad dropping this, though. Because Yoo Seung Ho.

Frankenstein no Koi (mid EP 2) - Episode 1 was okay but meh at keeping me interested. Same with the first half of episode 2, so I just decided to drop it.

Duel (after EP 3) - Except for the last 10 minutes of ep 2, the first two episodes failed to keep me interested. I gave it a second chance but after ep 3, I noticed that, although it’s not boring, I don’t really care about this drama. And if I don’t care, it doesn’t make sense to continue. On top of that, I’m not a fan of Jung Jae Young and there are not enough ladies in this.

Bad Thief Good Thief (after EP 14) - I have to admit that among all of the listed dramas here so far, it hurt the most to drop BTGT. I enjoyed watching it but when the male lead started falling for the female lead, his jealous behaviour just made me angry. On top of that, I was so disappointed when they lulled me into the strong friendship between the two female leads, just to announce that the second female lead is a “sly fox” and doesn’t care about their friendship. I still liked the second female lead for being ambitious and beeing sly to get what she wants. But I so wanted this friendship between them :((((

My Only Love Song (after EP 2) - Too much (I guess intended) exaggeration in acting and the story-telling itself. Not my kind of humour at the moment.

Falsify (after EP2) - Nam Goong Min is playing the same type of character again. The comedic scenes in between the overall serious atmosphere were a throw-off for me.

Criminal Minds (after EP 6) - Too much TALKING about the profiling process instead of SHOWING how the characters are profiling. Right at the beginning of the show, one case after another involved the team members or their family/friends as victims. I didn’t even have time to let the characters grow on me and they wanted me to care about them ...? Didn’t work. // Video review of episode 1 + 2

Strongest Deliveryman (mid Ep 5) - I had high expectations for Lee Dan Ah but ended up being really disappointed because she seemed transphobic and blackmailed somebody for crossdressing. I initially was all about the secondary couple but somehow started to loose interest in all of the characters pretty quickly. // Video review of episode 1 + 2

Mad Dog (mid Ep 2) - First episode didn’t spark my interest. I just didn’t care about the plot at all after watching episode 1.

Black (after Ep 3) - Maybe I’m just too dump or the writing/directing was bad but the first episodes were highly confusing to me.

I’m Not a Robot (after Ep 5) - I tried my best for Yoo Seung Ho (again) but it all just weired me out a bit.

Judge vs Judge (after Ep 2) - Expected it to be more serious and less comedic. I was disappointed in how they wrote the female lead (clumsy, unprofessional etc), mainly because I had completely different expectations for her.

Jugglers (after Ep 6) - Even though I love the female lead, I just don’t ship her with the male lead. Mainly because I disliked the male lead from the beginning. His “leeway comment” in ep 6 was the final straw. I’ve heard that he apologizes later on. But main point of the show will be the romance between the leads and because I don’t ship them, it doesn’t make sense for me to continue watching. Additionally, I'm worried what the female lead will have to go through when they become a couple. I know myself, I would just end up being frustrated.

Girls’ Generation 1979 (after Ep 4) - It’s a beautiful show. I just had this on hold for too long and now there are too many other dramas I’m more interested in.

#2017 review #dramaland #ramblings

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thedramafilesblog-blog · 7 years

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Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 8

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether Yamapi God is kind of a jerk

Whether Haruko’s father getting mad at Makoto is reasonable

Whether the underdog theory really works

The Rule(s):

Yes.

Not really.

People generally do root for the underdog, but in this scenario, the theory isn’t linked well to the drama’s plot.

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: Unfortunately, I have to say that this episode was another lacklustre one. I sort of anticipated that it’d feel like a filler/boring episode and sadly, I turned out to be right.

Co-worker forces Makoto out to ask for some love advice

Boss voicing his opinion

Haruko’s dad happens to come by the restaurant and then hears about Makoto’s gossip

Makoto trying to explain things

Too pissed so walks out . . . -0-‘

Makoto’s ex love interest -> Beautiful woman’s ploy, gets caught again. 9 men were scammed 100 millions of yen.

Haruko’s father finds out that Makoto fell for this con artist woman and thought that she was the one. Then he gets super pissed at Makoto, so mad at him that he even fights with Haruko. Haruko and her father has this long period of no talking. Her father even throws out that water fountain and puts it in the backyard. Here we have this totally unreasonable fit of anger coming from Haruko’s father when he was the one that was totally rooting for Makoto to be with Haruko before. Ugh…

Yamapi God’s suggestion for Makoto to win over Haruko’s father again doesn’t make much sense to me. I even watched his explanation twice to see if I got anything wrong and did some research about a Japanese word he used. His theory is that an underdog aiming for his/her dream would lead to more success and seem more fabulous than the typical person realizing his/her dream.

Yamapi God gives an example of someone who strayed from the right path and then turned into the boss of some company or the hot, seemingly dumb girl would go to the best university in Japan, Tokyo University. Makoto would be like an underdog too and his striving to win over Haruko’s father’s respect would reap greater results. I just don’t think this theory is that profound or funny. In fact, Makoto goes off and practices how to play golf by himself because Haruko’s father likes golf and Mitsue was able to win over Haruko’s father respect by being on a golf poster and playing golf. (Somehow playing golf = a serious, honest person . . . right.)

Mitsue talking about how Haruko’s dad used to hate her.

The two of them listening to what Mitsue did to win over Haruko’s father’s trust

“Well I was this model for this golf poster”

Mitsue being a cute golfer

“Then her father thought I wasn’t that bad..”

Lol . . . Remember Mitsukuni’s poster? Chasing after Mitsue now? lol!

Makoto trying to learn golf by himself . . . without taking any lessons . . .-0-‘ (doesn’t really work that way – I know from personal experience.)

Golfing and golfing

Troll Mitsukuni joins in on the fun and goes off being weird. lol.

Then the drama writers throw in this clear underdog. He’s one of the employees working at Haruko’s father’s workplace. He is trying to win some boxing tournament to prove to himself that he’s good enough. He’s definitely not fit compared to the other boxers, but he tries super hard. Still, he fails which is expected and Makoto steps in to try to convince the boxer’s coach to let the guy box. Haruko’s father overhears this conversation and then thinks Makoto is still a good guy. The issue I have with this whole segment . . . I think this drama has already overused the underdog theory in the first place; we always see Makoto working hard. In this case, I just am not really touched or don’t think the scenes of Makoto working hard are funny/interesting. Plus the random underdog co-worker story . . . felt weird and out of place. How does that have to do with Makoto being an underdog and winning over Haruko’s father?

The preview for the next episode wasn’t that interesting as well. There’s some mystery about Yamapi God. I get the feeling that he’s not actually a God. He’s probably Haruko and Makoto’s kid from the future. Maybe his parents are splitting up and he doesn’t want them to split up. Perhaps, he’s just Makoto or Haruko’s kid and the two actually never really got together, but Makoto/Haruko still loves the other.

I’m really disappointed in this drama. There was just so much potential . . . but things just dragged on. Sigh.

Issue 1: Whether Yamapi God is kind of a jerk

Jubiemon J: I actually think he has always been a jerk, but since he’s funny (and doesn’t hurt that he’s good looking), he can get away with his bad attitude. I immediately thought he was a jerk when Makoto asked if he should go ask Mitsukuni for advice. Then Yamapi God was like “nope” and then he said that Mitsukuni was useless now and an empty shell.

Yamapi God: Mitch is useless, an empty shell.

Mitsukuni getting all excited and then Yamapi God ….

One episode back, he was being all “bromance-like” with Mitsukuni. Remember how I said Mitsukuni was super annoying in the first few episodes when he was fighting for Haruko’s love? I honestly take that back when you see him being super genuine and friendly with both Yamapi God and Makoto. Whenever Makoto has needed help later, Mitsukuni helps him immediately. I felt so, so bad for Mitsukuni because he was so eager to have a 3 people golf game. Yamapi God agreed at first, but then as soon as Makoto said he wasn’t going, Yamapi God immediately rejected Mitsukuni’s offer in a harsh way. Poor Mitsukuni . . .

Look at poor Mitch . . . being all sad when Yamapi God rejects him.. 😥 My little heart goes out to Mitch..

Issue 2: Whether Haruko’s father getting mad at Makoto is reasonable

Jubiemon J: No. I’ve said in the beginning how I thought Haruko’s father was getting mad for no reason. Makoto wasn’t even in the wrong. It’s not as if Makoto was dating the con artist girl AND Haruko. Makoto wasn’t even dating the con artist girl; he almost dated her. I think the fact that Makoto was deceived by the con artist girl just shows how “innocent” and “pure” he is. He’s pretty much the type that’ll believe in people’s words. I mean, in the start of this drama, Haruko’s dad was super supportive of the two of them and then in this episode, he did a whole 180 degree change. Ugh.

Besides this, I have to echo again how I think this whole madness was resolved was really weird too. The random underdog boxer and then the golfing? I just can’t push any deep theories out of this at all. And although I’ve said I liked how this drama plays on fate vs choice, I really thought sticking in the scene where Haruko’s father and Makoto was at the boxing match was just . . . a bit over. When Makoto said he knew what to do to win Haruko’s father back and then the scene went to Makoto going to to watch the tournament, I thought that meant that Makoto knew that Haruko’s father would be there. That’s why he went to support the underdog. To my surprise, Makoto acted super shocked that he saw Haruko’s father there…..-0-” Yeah . . . no.

Issue 3: Whether the underdog theory really works

Jubiemon J: I think we do like underdogs–seeing how a poor, weak guy gets his revenge over the evil boss, how a delinquent gets his/her act together or a small band becoming huge makes us root for them. However, I just don’t see how the underdog theory is particularly relevant to convince Haruko’s father to trust Makoto again. I don’t think Haruko’s father is seeing Makoto as some underdog and rooting for him. Just . . .doesn’t work.

Haruko’s father asking Haruko to bring Makoto over for dinner

Reconciliation dinner – Man . . . look at that yummy tempura!

Nervous Makoto~

File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-desu-Ep-8 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 8 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

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thedramafilesblog-blog · 7 years

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It has been a year since Jubiemon and I decided to start The Drama Files! Time has flown by so fast! So much so that it feels like just yesterday we were getting all set up for this blog. We thought about what we wanted to do for a special “One Year Anniversary Post” and we decided to write about our Kdrama blogging journey. It has been quite an experience and some strange things have happened to us in this virtual reality since starting this blog ranging from getting hated on on Twitter for our “unpopular” opinions to discovering that fangirls come in all kind of shapes and sizes and can be found in the unlikeliest of places! So, we decided to answer some questions about what this year of blogging has been like for us.

Actual footage of Jubiemon and RedRosette making plans

Why did we start this blog?

RedRosette J: This is such a funny question to me. This blog was born out of Jubiemon and I’s constant bitching and complaining about how awful Scarlet Heart Ryeo was. We found ourselves with so many thoughts and opinions about it that we felt maybe others would share and decided to start a “drama review blog”. We really wanted it to be a unique blog where we didn’t filter our opinions and thoughts to please the masses. We wanted it to be real and uncensored opinions about dramas by real people. We decided on a “law-themed” reviewing system because we are law students and live and breathe these structures everyday. It was definitely more fun to apply these techniques that we were learning in school to reviewing dramas than it was to doing actual school work!

Jubiemon J: I think we were sitting in a boring class as well when we were complaining about Scarlet Heart Ryeo. Then we suddenly went, “Why don’t we blog about this but make it a bit more interesting by taking it through a legal writing point of view?” Obviously, we comforted ourselves by saying that we were practicing our writing. Hahaha. Ironically, I think it did push us to be more concise and to focus on areas where we were lacking. Later, we wanted to point out some issues in legal dramas so people aren’t misinformed. Sadly, there haven’t been any interesting legal dramas going on nowadays. We’re still waiting for the next hit legal drama!

Us thinking about blogging like…

What expectations did we have about blogging?

RedRosette J: I have blogged sporadically before so I wasn’t a complete newbie to blogging but I did have certain expectations of what blogging would be like. I thought it would be quick and take up little time. I mean how hard is it to type stuff up on a page and hit publish right? I also thought that doing screenshots of dramas takes little to no time and that I would have tons of time left. All in all, in my head, blogging seemed like an afterthought rather than an actual thing that you do as a hobby.

Jubiemon J: I had a few blogs here and there; however, I was never committed to any of them. I got bored of them very easily and found that other parts of my life took over. Oddly, this blog has kept going. I think it’s because RedRosette is there too so it’s easier when there’s two of us! Two = better than one!

I don’t think I’ve ever had expectations for any of the projects that I’ve been through. I’ve always been the sort to jump into it and do things!

RedRosette J: I agree with Jubiemon. Doing this blog together really makes a difference!

Us thinking that blogging would be a piece of cake

What was the reality of blogging like?

RedRosette J: The reality of blogging is so different from my expectations of what blogging is actually like. I spent an obscene amount of time take screenshots while watching dramas. Sometimes I’d end up spending about 2 hours on a 45 minute drama! It took even longer to edit the screenshots. I was not expecting that. I was also not expecting to spend so much time writing. Although we have been a bit slow with posts in the past few months, mostly because a) Jubiemon and I had real life commitments and b) the dramas have been such crap and not worth writing about, at the beginning of the blog, getting used to writing all the time took a really long time. I was spending most of my downtime during school writing for The Drama Files. It became my hobby and turned into something totally fun to do when I wasn’t worrying about school!

Us trying to balance school and blogging like…

Jubiemon J: The reality of blogging . . . is a lot more hard work and dedication than I thought like RedRosette mentioned.

It’s funny. I never time my posts, probably because I’d freak out on how long it takes me to complete a post. I think, generally, it takes a good one to three hours to pump out a post; this doesn’t include taking screenshots and watching the clip. If RedRosette is there to help out with the post, then the time gets reduced. If the post has a lot of deep/philosophical concepts, then sometimes I might dedicate at least half a day to three days to the post (i.e. the Boku no Unmei no Hito desu posts and the BTS posts).

I think the toughest posts I’ve made have been related to BTS’s “Blood, Sweat & Tears” Japanese MV because I had to not only read “Demian” and scholarly articles about the concepts within “Demian“, but also think about how all the past BTS MVs relate to “Blood, Sweat & Tears”. I even had a little diagram I made to figure out what each character represented.

What I didn’t expect was how I worked, in terms of blogging. I end up being the sort that would have to sit down and plough through everything in one go without any breaks. If I take a break, then I lose my train of thought and then I get lazy and don’t feel like writing.

Us when we finish reviewing a drama

Why did we decide to branch out to reviewing Kpop?

RedRosette J: If you guys follow us you will know that the only Kpop we review is related to BTS. I think its because a) we (and by that I mostly mean Jubiemon ;)) are huge fans and b) BTS has content in their music that is most of the time not shallow, pretty philosophical and engages with issues that impact young adults. On an intellectual level, BTS provides excellent blogging fodder!

Jubiemon J: The other backstory was that for the “Spring Day” post (our first BTS review), RedRosette and I both felt that this song was about reminiscing a friend who had disappeared/committed suicide, but then we didn’t see any theories about this. RedRosette suggested that I could start a post, so I did. That post surprisingly . . . led to far more views than I expected and I had a lot of fun analyzing the song and the MV.

Yes, we’re both fans of BTS because of their music, talent, and personalities. I love anything that makes my brain work and like RedRosette mentioned, BTS’ music and MVs intellectually stimulate us.

What impact has Kdrama blogging had on our real lives?

RedRosette J: I think for me, it became an outlet to share my thoughts about the dramas that I was watching and that I really enjoyed. My close friends (with the exception of Jubiemon) and family do not watch dramas, so for me, it was a nice way to talk about what I enjoyed with others who like dramas as well. It is also very nice to have a hobby that is completely unrelated to the things you do in real life in most ways LOL!

Jubiemon J: I grew up in a household where I watched dramas as a hobby. It’d be the reward my mom would let me have after I finished homework. I started off watching mostly J-dramas and Chinese dramas. Later, I started watching K-dramas too. However, we never really talked about the dramas in detail, so blogging became a good outlet!

Us, pre-Drama Files

Has blogging changed our perception of Kdramas?

RedRosette J: I think it has. After starting the blog, I realized that I was looking for themes and content in dramas more than I had before. I was also constantly looking for cute shots that I could capture for screenshots for the blog, even if we weren’t reviewing the drama LOL! In the grand scheme of things, my thoughts about Kdramas haven’t really changed though. I still love makjang dramas even though they are absolute trash and I could rip them to shreds in a blog post. I do however feel often that I don’t want to review a drama that I enjoy watching because I find that if I had to review it, I’d end up taking it apart and nit-picking and end up not liking it as much. So in that sense, dramas changed for me.

Jubiemon J: I think nowadays, Redrosette and I will always think . . . is this new drama going to be something that we’d review? Like Redrosette, I’d always think more about themes and symbols now.

Us, trying to think of themes 10 seconds into a drama

Why did we decide to branch out to J-dramas?

Jubiemon J: I was watching Boku no Unmei no Hito desu and I remembered telling RedRosette how great this drama was and how I’d love to review it. RedRosette encouraged me to do a review and I just went all out. This was also the first time I did a drama series review by myself, so I realized how much dedication and time RedRosette has put into screen shotting. (She usually takes care of screenshots when the two of us review and generally, I’m the one that starts the post and adds the tags.)

What drama did you enjoy reviewing?

Jubiemon J: I really, really enjoyed reviewing Boku Unmei no Hito desu, even when the ending was kind of disappointing. The drama had a lot of interesting symbols and themes, which I loved analyzing.

RedRosette J: I really enjoyed reviewing The K2. Mostly because it was an absolute shit show (ramen dancing, underground super computers and incessant running) and awesomely fun to review. It was also the first drama that I reviewed on my own so it was fun to learn about blogging through this drama.

Sidenote: I also really enjoyed reviewing Shopping King Louie because I loved how every 10 seconds was something super cute. I remember constantly whining to Jubiemon about how I had way too many screenshots for this drama LOL!

What do we hope to do in the future on the Drama Files?

RedRosette J: We want to keep reviewing dramas and BTS Kpop and we hope that people will continue to read out mish-mashed thoughts on it. Although time has become an issue this year, we hope to review as many dramas as we can in our available time. Huge thanks to everyone who has been following us and reading our posts too! ❤

Jubiemon J: I’m hoping to review a few more J-dramas if I find one that really captures my attention. I’ve been thinking about doing movie reviews as well, but not sure when that’ll happen. Of course, I will continue on reviewing the BTS MVs and albums!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DRAMA FILES!

THE DRAMA FILES CELEBRATES ONE YEAR! It has been a year since Jubiemon and I decided to start The Drama Files! Time has flown by so fast!

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thedramafilesblog-blog · 7 years

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Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 10

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether the ending fell flat

Whether it was necessary for Ichiro to show up

Whether the idea of fate was well-portrayed

The Rule(s):

Yes!

Ugh, really debatable. The last episode really messed things up.

Yes if it’s based on the narration and the previous episodes.

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: I have such mixed feelings about this episode. I think overall, this drama had a lot of potential in the beginning, fell flat in the middle, bounced back, and now fell flat again. I was expecting some emotional moment/parting for this episode, yet Makoto forgot about everything and will never remember Ichiro. Only Mitsukuni will remember Ichiro. Okay . . . Let’s just dive to the analysis because I think I’m going to rant a lot. Be prepared.

Issue 1: Whether the ending fell flat

Jubiemon J: Although I like the happy endings like Mitsukuni and Mitsue are going to get married and Haruko and Makoto too will get married, I still can’t accept how Makoto seems completely fine without Ichiro. Okay, I also like the little narration we have from Haruko and Makoto about their thoughts on fate. Let me just jump back to Makoto being okay without Ichiro.

Sure, Makoto gets into a string of bad luck scenarios where he isn’t able to catch this balloon for this little girl who happens to be the sales associate’s daughter, someone spills tea over his ring receipt, someone decides not to buy fountains from him and more.

Excessive symbol 1 – painting separating the two

Mishap 2: Makoto upset that he couldn’t go to Osaka b/c the flight got cancelled

Mishap 3: Missing toppings from a bento he bought

How to resolve it then? Makoto goes to the “root of the problem” which he identifies as not getting the girl’s balloon. The girl specifically cares about the pink balloon because it was distributed by this mascot which she likes.

It’s later hinted that the guy who distributes balloons is very likely Ichiro. That may suggest that Makoto still needs Ichiro, but honestly . . . I just don’t feel like I get much of a deep heartfelt moment from knowing that Ichiro is the probably the one who handed Makoto the pink balloon (i.e. like always, Icihiro saves the day).

I will be very excited to see your performance 30 years later – message from Ichiro

Throughout this whole episode, we have other people telling Makoto how he did this and that back then and Makoto is completely oblivious. It’s like some car hit him and his memory of Ichiro disappears. We all know that Ichiro zapped away Makoto’s memory of him. Ichiro should have also zapped away Mitsukuni’s memory of him. I don’t get why Makoto’s memory has to disappear, yet Mitsukuni’s is allowed to stay.

Makoto not remembering about the carrots x boss thing.

Sure, people should likely not know about the future, but I was hoping for Makoto to have had more of a reaction to Ichiro’s disappearance. Like something or rather, someone, is missing in his life. He doesn’t know what, but he just feels empty. Nope. Makoto just keeps saying he doesn’t recall this and that happening. At most, he says I think . . . there may be God and he’s kind of arrogant. Seriously . . . that’s not enough when Ichiro is his son.

Though I did enjoy Ichiro bonding with Mitsukuni at the end, what also bugs me is how Mitsukuni just accepts that he’ll see Ichiro 30 years later. Okay . . . usually when people leave to work, they don’t say . . . let’s see each other 30 years later. Mitsukuni should have asked why?

Saying hi to Mitch! Lol at his t-shirt!

Happy Mitch!

Ichiro: Let’s play kick the can! I’ve never played that before.

Mitch: Okay. That’s fine.

Mitch promising not to mention Ichiro in front of Makoto

Promise continued – see you 30 years later says Ichiro!

And there are so many unresolved thing with Ichiro and Makoto. Why does Ichiro say he never got the chance to play kick the can when he was a kid? Why was Ichiro so keen on being friends with Makoto? Was Makoto a strict dad? Did Makoto die earlier? Why did it seem like Ichiro and Makoto had a cold relationship in the future? So many questions . . . no answers.

We just have Makoto with amnesia. Great. Why’d we go through all that bromance to have this? Ugh. Rolls eyes!

And this message at the end?!?!?

Translation of message: Congrats on the wedding! Can’t believe you did it Makoto!

Issue 2: Whether it was necessary for Ichiro to show up

Jubiemon J: It really depends. Sure, Ichiro was there to speed Makoto and Haruko’s relationship up, but was he THAT instrumental? Nope. Ichiro mentioned before that regardless of what happened, Makoto and Haruko would end up together. We see that Makoto is completely okay with Ichiro being gone. His proposal is a success. Like I mentioned before, sure that balloon guy likely is Ichiro passing the balloon to Makoto, but having a sad kid who loses her balloon ruin Makoto’s chances of marrying Haruko is just silly. Some of you might think that this is symbolic. I agree that the “balloon” is probably meant to be symbolic, but is this symbol effective in this case?

Nope and here’s why. In this episode, we have an overload of symbols. Nearly every other scene contains a symbol. Perhaps the director wanted to jog our memory about what happened before and show us again that this is fate, but I really think the director did too much. Too much of something is not wonderful; it’s just as terrible as someone wearing all the extravagant accessories he/she has on his/her body. So when we have all these symbols grouped one after another, the pink balloon seems insignificant. I’m also trying to be profound and think of something that the balloon could symbolize. Makoto losing grasp of his fated love? Yes, I guess that may be.

Even if that were the case, I don’t think the whole “must go to the root of the problem” solution works. To make sure that Makoto is able to grasp his fated love, he has to give another pink balloon to the little girl. After doing that, he gets rewarded by the girl’s mother with some tickets to that concert, which is where Makoto and Haruko met accidentally. The root of the problem . . . honestly seems too superficial, in my opinion. I don’t get laughter from it or a touching feeling from it either. If you compare this revelation with the small twist Ichiro played for last episode, this episode’s twist is just . . . pointless.

Did we really need Ichiro here to pass that balloon to Makoto to save the day? Ugh . . . no. Another guy in a costume could have done that. Lol. Did we really need Ichiro to even come to Makoto’s time? I don’t think so. There’s no answer from Ichiro saying that the world is saved or that he found a solution. Was it also necessary for Ichiro to come back to develop a friendship with Makoto,? Nope. Makoto forgot about him. Makoto just thinks there’s fate. Hooray for forgetting father-son bonds. -0-‘

Issue 3: Whether the idea of fate was well-portrayed

Jubiemon J: I’m going to end with a positive note. Generally speaking, the idea of fate was well-portrayed in this drama. There are many coincidences that play out and the two leads share many encounters. As I mentioned before, I really enjoyed the narrations by the two leads. They share their thoughts about fate.

Makoto says on one of his saddest days, Haruko randomly talks to him and encourages him. Then Haruko thinks back to the day when she was super sad and Makoto spontaneously speaks to her. Makoto admits that at first, he thought fate was useless, but then he tried to believe in it. Haruko confesses that at first, the idea of fate made her disgusted, but she was afraid to believe in fate. Makoto says that after believing in fate, a series of unexpected events happened. For Haruko, the unexpected events made her slowly open her heart. Makoto concludes that “fate” is for those that will never give up on hope and continue to believe in it and as a result, occasionally reaps some rewards from all the hard work a person has put into it. On the other hand, Haruko believes that “fate” is a hidden treasure that arises from something that you believe is a coincidence and don’t think too deeply about it. The two both admit that they never used to think there was fate.

Just here b/c it’s a nice photo.

I think these two different, yet also similar beliefs about fate are interesting to think about and explore as viewers. We often associate fate with a series of coincidences. For Makoto, these coincidences come from hard work and determination. Sure, the first part of them being able to be together is that they are fated to meet. They met when they were kids and they met again during high school and later. However, even though there are these fated encounters, Makoto chooses to put in the effort to make his “fated love” happen. You can keep meeting someone or passing by someone, but if you don’t put in the additional effort and just expect everything to happen, nothing will arise. Conversely, we see Haruko riding the waves of fate. If you think about it, she hasn’t put in that much effort compared to Makoto to start this relationship. Haruko has always been on the receiving end and so it’s reasonable for her to see fate as something that comes out of these coincidences that you don’t initially think much about. I think the lesson here is someone has to make the effort for that “fated love” to happen. You need some balance from the two views about fate to be able to have this “fated love”.

Conclusion: Appeal Dismissed.

Rating: 2 = Yell At The Cast (Sorry I just hate how the bromance b/t Makoto and Ichiro disappeared and the huge overplay of symbols. Ugh. It’s like someone vomited symbols in 45 minutes. No.)

File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-Desu-Ep-10 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 10 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

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thedramafilesblog-blog · 7 years

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Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 7

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether it is reasonable for Yamapi God to befriend Mitsukuni

Whether having a crush on someone brings some colour to one’s life

Whether getting two rings in two months is reasonable

The Rule(s):

Totally! The trio (Yamapi God x Makoto x Mitsukuni) are hilarious!

It can be, depending on one’s perspective.

It’s debatable.

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: I have to be frank here. Though I anticipated that there’d be some mission Makoto would be have to do and some other things would happen that would throw a twist on his mission, I think this episode falls flat to deliver that surprise or to highlight deeper meanings.

Here’s a brief recap. Yamapi God tells Makoto that Makoto should buy Haruko a ring as a belated birthday gift and to present that gift as a surprise. Giving her a plain, white umbrella for her birthday isn’t enough.

(Side note: I agree . . . somehow it doesn’t seem like such a great gift for a birthday. I don’t think giving an umbrella is taboo in Japanese culture; I tried to research if it was, nothing came up. In Chinese culture, umbrellas should not be given as gifts. The word for umbrella is 傘 (sǎn) . It sounds like 散 (sǎn), which means to scatter or part. White is also associated with death.)

Yamapi God teaching Makoto how to put the ring on Haruko’s hand!

Yamapi God hugging Makoto as a demo

Makoto is like . . . nope! Back off.

Because it must be a surprise, Makoto has to learn how to estimate someone’s ring size without asking. To do that, he goes through some training with Mitsukuni (no surprises there).

Makoto freaking out his boss by asking to measure his boss’ finger

Boss freaking out

The training begins!

What’s the size?!

Asparagus = best way to estimate ring sizes Lol!

Now tell me the size!

Buying asparagus just to guess the ring sizes lol

Go! What size?!

Yamapi God shows up during his training session with Mitsukuni and freaks Makoto out. The three of them become buddies and Mitsukuni and Yamapi God help Makoto train.

Makoto invites Haruko for a movie and tries to slip that ring during a movie scene. He misses his chance, so he asks her to go karaoke.

Even though she can’t sing, she still agrees. Makoto has another failed attempt at slipping the ring on her finger, so he invites her to bowling. It’s only when she’s about to bowl to try to get a third strike does he manage to put the ring on her finger. She’s shocked, but later she tells him she’s very happy and loves the design.

So . . . anything deep to get out of this? Not that I can think of. This episode felt a bit like a filler episode where there was nothing but sugar to the relationship. It’s definitely nice to see them be so sweet and cute; however, the plot itself hasn’t really advanced. I’m half looking forward to the next episode where Haruko’s father doesn’t want Haruko and Makoto to be together because he learns that Makoto’s ex-girlfriend is a con artist. (I already don’t think it’s Makoto’s fault that his ex was a con-artist. Makoto had no idea until she got caught, so my first instinct is that Haruko’s father is being unreasonable. I get this feeling that the script writer might be running out of ideas once Haruko and Makoto have started to date.)

Oddly, for this episode, I was completely not used to Haruko giving those loving looks at Makoto. She also seemed so . . . subservient to Makoto, which made it seem different from the Haruko we’ve always known. She was just so . . . so . . . agreeable like it seemed as if anything Makoto asked, she’d just say yes. Her sudden increase in admiration and love for Makoto doesn’t seem too realistic to me. Sure they did have that heartfelt moment last episode, but it just feels off seeing her looking at Makoto with such lovey dovey eyes. She went from -40 degrees Celsius of love to a boiling 100 degrees Celsius of passion/love. Mmm…

1. Whether it is reasonable for Yamapi God to befriend Mitsukuni

Jubiemon J: Yes! I think this was one of the highlights of this episode–Yamapi God crashing Makoto’s training session with Mitsukuni! I loved the pun that Yamapi God used. He came in, holding a porcelain turtle figurine, and announced: “I’m Kami, no, I’m Kame.” Kami is the word for God. Kame is the word for turtle. Then, the other hilarious parts are how Makoto panics like crazy and tries to get Yamapi God to go away and how Mitsukuni is so easily accepts Yamapi God. I’m looking forward to see what this trio will do in the next few episodes! Yes to the bromance!

Kami being a kame Hehe.

Turtle time~

Makoto freaking out that Yamapi God is here

Yamapi God: Why don’t we smoke a cigar?

Makoto: Why don’t we just get Mitsukuni to estimate Haruko’s ring size? The boys: . . . . NO.

Makoto getting pissed at Yamapi God so here goes a human kick!

Makoto bitching at Yamapi God

Yamapi God saying that Haruko cares about his hard work and is the type to like him for that so he must do the ring estimation by himself

2. Whether having a crush on someone brings some colour to one’s life

Jubiemon J: I think this really depends on your perspective. When you have a crush on someone, you get all excited around that person and look forward to seeing him/her when you can. However, there’s also those moments where you’re unsure whether he/she likes you back or where you miss them. In this case, Haruko’s boss, Hatozaki Sumire, thanks Makoto’s boss, Torita Shokichi, for bringing some colour to her life and letting her want to try falling in love again! Her sudden change in thought is a bit abrupt, in my opinion, and sort of dealt with off-screen. In the beginning, she is super mad at Shokichi for not wearing a wedding ring and saying stuff about how their coincidences are like fate. Later, she suddenly says how she isn’t actually mad at him for not wearing a wedding ring and thanks him. Mm.

3. Whether getting two rings in two months is reasonable

Jubiemon J: I do think Yamapi God was right in that Makoto should get something that’s more meaningful than an umbrella for Haruko’s birthday. What I don’t really agree with is that it needs to be a ring. Yamapi God says Makoto should give her a ring for her birthday and then a month later, give her another ring for her wedding. Personally, I think it’s a bit redundant and wasteful to give two rings in a span of two months. I don’t really think Haruko would be the type to really love the idea of getting two rings. She seems to be more of the frugal sort. Thus, I wasn’t really sold on the two rings in two months idea.

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed.

Rating: 3 = MM. Okay. Fine. (I did get kind of bored during this episode, but I do like the new bromance we’re seeing with Makoto, Mitsukuni, and Yamapi God.)

File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-desu-Ep-7 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 7 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

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thedramafilesblog-blog · 7 years

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Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 3

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether Mitsukuni is one of the worst second lead males

Whether Yotsuya Mitsue’s love ideology (hexagon) is correct

Whether Yamapi God is the best roommate ever

Whether the co-workers give the best comedic relief

Whether it was reasonable for Makoto to take such a long time to ask for her number

The Rule(s):

No!

It depends.

Totally! He’s so fun, hilarious, and so jokes.

Definitely!

Kind of. He was lucky that fate was on his side.

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: I really enjoyed this episode as well! I loved how different aspects of fate were played again. This time, this drama mostly used classical music as a way to hint what’s to come. When the rival came, they played a classical song that resembled the Devil. When Makoto and Haruko shared a cute phone call where they both saw the moon, Claude DeBussy’s Claire de Lune played. They played the wedding song when Mitsukuni proposed to Haruko. They picked pieces that most people would be familiar with, so that made the scenes even more hilarious or relatable. Plus, we had a co-worker who talked about how she thinks she met her fated one. There were the coincidental meetings between Makoto and Haruko and the boss’s dinner party that led to Makoto bumping into Mitsukuni (the rival). Finally there was that baseball scene with the kids whose surnames were “Akai” and “Ito” and the scoreboard ended up being Makoto’s phone number.

Makoto for the top part and Akai Ito for the bottom – Scoreboard = half of his phone number

Side note: Akai Ito = Red string of fate. It’s an East Asian belief that the Gods tie a red string to two people to string them together. In Japan, they usually believe that the red string is tied to the pinky finger.

Kids looking like . . . biotch plz, we are helping u!!! We did u a favour and played baseball with u!

I also liked the contrast shown between fate and choice, which is definitely a predominant theme throughout this drama. There’s Mitsukuni who is very aggressive and a total go-getter. Then there’s Makoto who is shown again as someone who is very passive and agreeable. Makoto is the one relying mostly on fate, while Mitsukuni carves his own path. Mitsukuni finds it super easy to ask for Haruko’s number. He also proposed to her in this episode; before in high school, he confessed to her and got rejected. Meanwhile, Makoto struggles to even get her number! During a group setting where we have Mitsukuni, Haruko, Mitsue, and himself, he is very quiet and doesn’t really serve the people. Makoto also does a huge roundabout when trying to ask for Haruko’s number. He doesn’t directly tell her; instead, he tells her that he’ll prove to her that they have fate via the baseball scoreboard. If he can get his full number on the scoreboard, then they’re fated to be together. (This is the final moment when he has the courage to actually try to tell her his number. I’ll get to the details about this later.) Before this scene, Makoto definitely had so many missed opportunities. I do like those because they show that it’s not just fate that’s important. You have to make the choice to act on fate.

Mitsukune telling Makoto he’s gonna propose to Haruko. Makoto: P-P-Propose?!

Makoto finally getting the guts to ask Haruko out ~

Other highlights of this episode would be Yamapi God love advice as well as the minor characters’ comedic relief. The co-workers are hilarious! I laughed a lot when they showed up. Yamapi God’s love advice was great too.

Yamapi God: Crisis! Crisis!

Yamapi God: Crisis! Crisis! Crisis! What are you gonna do? Crisis!

Yamapi God: It’s your own fault. You didn’t even get her number nor did you give her yours. Someone like you has no right to be with her!

Issue 1: Whether Mitsukuni is one of the worst second lead males

Jubiemon J: Yes! I really, really disliked how Mitsukuni was such a jerk and kept trying to make Makoto look terrible in front of the girls. Okay, I get he is the rival, but he totally doesn’t play fair at all. I haven’t met such an annoying second lead male till now. I usually root for the second lead male; I tend to suffer from the second lead male syndrome. However, this time I’m totally for Makoto. Mitsukuni definitely reminded me of those stereotypical sly Wall Street bankers or those stereotypical sleazy car sales people. Ugh! He purposely suggested that Makoto and Mitsue should date because they shared similar tastes in food. There were just two similarities: they preferred not to dip some meat in sauce and they liked dipping French fries in ketchup. Okay, just because they liked to do that doesn’t mean that they should date! Of course Makoto was completely shocked and said no way. Then Mitsue got all annoyed because she believed he was rude for rejecting her like that. (To be honest, I’m like Makoto, so I get his frustration. He’s a very straightforward guy and isn’t super sensitive to how his reactions would affect other people’s feelings.)

I totally blame Mitsukuni for making the whole atmosphere awkward. If he hadn’t made that “joke”, Makoto wouldn’t have been put in a tough spot. If he said yes or hinted that, then he’d be making a go at Mitsue. However, if he outright denied that, she’d get hurt. There was just no good way to save himself. Mitsukuni . . . sly guy. -0-

I also really didn’t like how Mitsukuni was super aggressive. He only had like one or two outings with Haruko and then he wanted to propose to her. Like what? Sure they’ve known each other since high school, but I really think he was forcing her to accepting him far too quickly. Plus I really hated how Mitsukuni thinks way too much/tries way too hard to get Haruko. That scene where he came out in cosplay as a singer and played a song with his guitar was so cringey and cheesy! Yuck!

The F is this?!?!?! Who does that a restaurant?!?!?! How’d he get his wig too? -0-

Makoto: … (Me too. Me too.)

Okay, so Makoto does try to ask her out too and seems to pop here really often, but I find Makoto’s actions to be reasonable. He hasn’t forced marriage on her. He only wanted to ask her out to dinner.

Even worse, Mitsukuni was a total jerk towards Makoto’s co-workers. They asked Makoto if he wanted to join their dinner party. Sure, they were interested in chilling with some hot co-workers that Mitsukuni was with, but Mitsukuni denied them. Okay, he had like 6-7 girls chilling with him and he seemed very happy about it. How is that being dedicated to Haruko? -0-”

Sleaze ball with his gals =___= . . . loyal my ass.

Makoto’s co-workers: If you want us to kill him, we will gladly do so. LOL!

Issue 2: Whether Yotsuya Mitsue’s love ideology (hexagon) is correct

Jubiemon J: Mitsue and Haruko started off the episode with a presentation she did for her company. They were researching on what women consider the ideal marriage partner. The two presented this hexagon that showed the six points that are the most important for women when finding the ideal guy: (1) personality; (2) appearance; (3) income; (4) outlook on life; (5) humour; and (6) dependability. Mitsue stressed that because Mitsukuni is above average in all six aspects, he would be the ideal guy for Haruko. Of course, these points seem to be quite reasonable for a marriage partner, but I think Mitsue’s love ideology (hexagon) is flawed in a few ways.

Not everyone would weight each point equally, so even though Mitsukuni would average out to be above average in all areas, there could be a few points where he scores very low. Those low points could be what Haruko really values. Moreover, not everyone would have all of those six points down as what makes their ideal marriage partner. Another point of consideration is as Haruko subtly mentioned: sometimes the points could be too sharp and cause pain. Let’s take “appearance”. Scoring high in appearance could result in the guy having more female pursuers or potentially being too narcissistic.

Although this love hexagon might be kind of flawed, I did like how the writer decided to throw in this other POV towards finding the right marriage partner. I think this balances out the heavy emphasis on “fated love” and also hints that love sometimes might not be as “logical” as some people might make it out to be.

Side note: The kanji for marriage is 結婚. This is the same in Mandarin as well. In Mandarin, when you take the second character, 婚, you will notice that it’s made up of two other words which are woman (女) and dizziness (昏). To get married, your mind must have been “dizzy” (ie you weren’t thinking that clearly). Love blinds you. If you wanted to take it a step further by combining the woman and dizziness together, you could potentially say that the woman needs to have been blinded by love. I prefer thinking that both partners need to have some sort of irrationality to choose marriage.

Issue 3: Whether Yamapi God is the best roommate ever

Jubiemon J: Yes! Yamapi God is perfect as a roommate. He gives the best love advice and shows up in the funniest ways like appearing in Makoto’s closet. Yamapi God constantly bitched at Makoto for being too passive, yet when Makoto finally had the courage to ask Haruko out, Yamapi God celebrated the win by drinking beer with Makoto.

Yamapi God: Yellow Card! Why’d you creep her office huh? If you had asked her number, you wouldn’t have need to have done that.

Cheers to asking her out! (So cute these two!)

Yamapi God doesn’t baby Makoto and pushes him to go for love. I think Yamapi God is really motivating Makoto to be less passive in life. Makoto is too easygoing and sort of lets things slide by, so Yamapi God often has to lecture him to “Yolo”. I seriously love how “God” here doesn’t just reward you for nothing. You actually have to work for something to get some reward. He made Makoto memorize 100 classical pieces which would allow Makoto to share a similar hobby as Haruko and to know what was to come. (I’ve talked before about how music was a foreshadowing of what would happen.)

Yamapi God: Happiness isn’t gonna come to someone who doesn’t love music. (Word.)

In addition, Yamapi God also didn’t constantly interfere with Makoto’s actions and wasn’t always all forgiving. Yamapi God would remind Makoto of his last chance to ask Haruko out since Mitsukune was going to propose to Haruko the next day. After Makoto still failed to ask her out the Nth time, Yamapi God got disappointed in him and disappeared for a while. Some tough love here . . . but it was necessary to push Makoto to do something!

Yamapi God: It’s your own fault. You didn’t even get her number nor did you give her yours. Someone like you has no right to be with her!

Yamapi God: Stop giving me this ugly face! You were looking for me all this time. Makoto: Do you even know how I feel right now?!?!? He’s gonna propose to her..

Yamapi God: This is your last chance! Go!

Issue 4: Whether the co-workers give the best comedic relief

Jubiemon J: Gosh the duo can be so annoying, yet so hilarious at the same time! They bothered Makoto about his love life. They bitched at Makoto for not letting them crash at some drinking party when Makoto went out with the “Goddess” ie Mitsue. According to the co-workers, if they were able to ride the elevator with Mitsue then they’d get the best luck for the day. Lol!

Not to mention, I laughed pretty hard when the co-workers were so excited to be able to drink with the other company since Mitsue worked there. The next scene then showed them drinking with the 1 older female boss and their faces were hilarious! Honestly without these two, the humour for this drama wouldn’t be complete, so I’m totally looking forward to what more they have to offer!

Issue 5: Whether it was reasonable for Makoto to take such a long time to ask for her number

Jubiemon J: Kind of. I get that Makoto is a shy type of guy and Haruko has a colder type of personality, the sort that’d outright say “No” to someone. Therefore it does make sense that Makoto would be more hesitant to ask her out. No one wants to be rejected. However, I think I got a bit impatient waiting for him to make a move. I was totally on Yamapi God’s side when he lectured Makoto. Makoto is super lucky that he has fate on his side to remind him to do this or that. If there wasn’t that scoreboard or the kids to ask him to play baseball, I doubt Makoto would have had the courage to ask Haruko out in the end. Plus, the part where he was trying to interrupt Mitsukune asking Makoto to marry him was so pitiful. Makoto was telling her he needed her opinion as to where the water fountain could be installed at this spot at her family’s house!

Even though what he did was cringing, I still liked how he tried his best. I also did like how when Makoto did tell her his number or at least half of it, he did that directly! That was good because he finally was putting in 100% of his efforts.

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed.

Rating: 4. I’ll give you a cookie! (I was getting impatient waiting for Makoto to ask for her number . . . > _ <)

File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-desu-Ep-3 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 3 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

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thedramafilesblog-blog · 7 years

Text

Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 3

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether Mitsukuni is one of the worst second lead males

Whether Yotsuya Mitsue’s love ideology (hexagon) is correct

Whether Yamapi God is the best roommate ever

Whether the co-workers give the best comedic relief

Whether it was reasonable for Makoto to take such a long time to ask for her number

The Rule(s):

No!

It depends.

Totally! He’s so fun, hilarious, and so jokes.

Definitely!

Kind of. He was lucky that fate was on his side.

Analysis:

Makoto for the top part and Akai Ito for the bottom – Scoreboard = half of his phone number

Kids looking like . . . biotch plz, we are helping u!!! We did u a favour and played baseball with u!

Mitsukune telling Makoto he’s gonna propose to Haruko. Makoto: P-P-Propose?!

Makoto finally getting the guts to ask Haruko out ~

Yamapi God: Crisis! Crisis!

Yamapi God: Crisis! Crisis! Crisis! What are you gonna do? Crisis!

Yamapi God: It’s your own fault. You didn’t even get her number nor did you give her yours. Someone like you has no right to be with her!

Issue 1: Whether Mitsukuni is one of the worst second lead males

The F is this?!?!?! Who does that a restaurant?!?!?! How’d he get his wig too? -0-

Makoto: … (Me too. Me too.)

Sleaze ball with his gals =___= . . . loyal my ass.

Makoto’s co-workers: If you want us to kill him, we will gladly do so. LOL!

Issue 2: Whether Yotsuya Mitsue’s love ideology (hexagon) is correct

Issue 3: Whether Yamapi God is the best roommate ever

Yamapi God: Yellow Card! Why’d you creep her office huh? If you had asked her number, you wouldn’t have need to have done that.

Cheers to asking her out! (So cute these two!)

Yamapi God: Happiness isn’t gonna come to someone who doesn’t love music. (Word.)

Yamapi God: It’s your own fault. You didn’t even get her number nor did you give her yours. Someone like you has no right to be with her!

Yamapi God: Stop giving me this ugly face! You were looking for me all this time. Makoto: Do you even know how I feel right now?!?!? He’s gonna propose to her..

Yamapi God: This is your last chance! Go!

Issue 4: Whether the co-workers give the best comedic relief

Issue 5: Whether it was reasonable for Makoto to take such a long time to ask for her number

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed.

Rating: 4. I’ll give you a cookie! (I was getting impatient waiting for Makoto to ask for her number . . . > _ <)

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thedramafilesblog-blog · 7 years

Text

Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 9

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether the highlight of this drama has actually been Ichiro and Makoto’s relationship

Whether a couple going on a vacation is the ultimate test of their relationship

Whether the “message” was a good spin

The Rule(s):

Totally!

It can be!

Yes!

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: I was pleasantly surprised about this episode! I thought all was lost, but this episode reminded me why I enjoyed this drama in the first place. I really liked how the focus was actually more on Ichirō (who I used to call Yamapi God) and Makoto’s father-son relationship than Makoto and Haruko’s relationship. The twist about the message was great at the end too! There was no unnecessary drama that popped up, just plain, old good comedy and bromance. None of that forced, weird mission like from episode 8! Hooray! Now I’m hoping the finale will finish on a high note. I kind of want Haruko to meet Ichirō too. I would love to see her reaction to him. Hahaha!

Issue 1: Whether the highlight of this drama has actually been Ichiro and Makoto’s relationship

Jubiemon J: The highlight of this drama is definitely the bromance. I can just watch them bicker all the time! This time, Ichirō tells Makoto that he has to succeed in sleeping with Haruko during their onsen trip in order to be able to make sure that he is born earlier. Ichirō also admits to Makoto that he is his son and the two of them engage in a hilarious conversation. The way that Ichirō confesses that he’s Makoto and Haruko’s son is cute and funny! Ichirō asks what would Makoto name his future kid as and Makoto says he doesn’t know. Off of the top of his head, Makoto just decides on “Ichirō” (一朗) because Makoto likes the famous baseball player, Suzuki Ichirō. Makoto also makes sure to emphasize that it’s not going to be the katakana form of spelling Ichirō – イチロー. That’s what the baseball player is often called.

Ichirō buying baby clothes for Makoto and Haruko! Lol!

Ichirō: What’d you name your kid?

Ichirō: You sure that’s your final answer? Ichirō?

Ichirō: CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE RIGHT!

Ichirō: I’m your son.

Makoto going the heck?!

Ichirō proving that he’s Makoto’s son with a driver’s license

Mini-sized driver’s license (side note: Look at the precision! The year! The name! The address!)

Because Makoto says he’ll name his kid, Ichirō, Ichirō gets all excited and announces that he is Makoto’s son. Makoto clearly is unconvinced and thinks Ichirō is joking. Ichirō is always sort of joking and playing around anyway. As a result, Ichirō shows Makoto his driver’s license. Lol! Makoto only seems to care that it’s super, super small compared to the current Japanese driver’s license. Makoto keeps prompting Ichirō to explain how he knows so much about the current world if he’s from the future. Ichirō says he has nothing to do all day so he just watches TV and cleans Makoto’s house with a vacuum. Makoto comments how that’s why the electricity bill is so high this month, but then still says he should thank Ichirō for cleaning. Lol!

M: Even if you were my son, you shouldn’t have revealed your identity to me! Defies all the time travel rules!

I: Can’t believe that’s what you care the most about!

I: Huh? You never thought I was God?

M: Just thought you were a weirdo that liked to call himself “God”!

I: Then why’d you listen to me all this time?

M: Because you knew stuff that normal people wouldn’t have known!

I: Tell me how you felt after hearing that I’m your son!

M: Honestly? Can’t believe the driver’s licenses in the future are soooo small! Lol!

Sidenote: Ichirō bitches at Makoto for calling him Ichirō. My first instinct was that this name is probably not that popular or kind of old school/antiquated (ie. Mary, John, Betty, William, Robert, George, Margaret etc – those are still nice names, but more popular in the 1920s). I did a bit of research and the 2016 popular baby names don’t include Ichirō (See here). The top boy names include Ren, Hiroto, Haruto, Minato. Notice how the kanji characters don’t include any of the ones from Ichirō. Then I looked at other websites (See here ; there was no Ichirō. Later, I found this, which shows that in the 1910s, Ichirō was a very popular name. It’s consistently in the top 10.

Another site also proves that Ichirō is more of a historically popular name. If you scroll down that website, it talks about how having 3 kanji characters was prevalent in the olden days and different variations of X-taro or Y-ichirō would arise. The article then suggests some appealing variations of those endings like Kouichirō or Ryuichirō. Given all this information, it makes sense that Ichirō would bitch at his father, Makoto, for half-assing in naming him and giving him a more-or-less plain name.

Suggested variations of Y-ichiro like Ryuichirou)

Ichirō explains that a God told him to time travel to this era to make sure that Makoto and Haruko get married earlier and give birth to him earlier. Makoto gets annoyed because if he and Haruko would get married anyway, there was no need for Ichirō to show up. Ichirō says that Makoto would move at a snail’s pace and then Ichirō wouldn’t be able to finish his research in time to save the world. Makoto is still in denial that he’s his son and asks why Ichirō can teleport and disappear when guests show up. Ichirō says he invented this teleportation device. Lol!

Ichirō also describes what God looks like (old, bearded, long hair type) and Makoto believes him and says that’s what he thought God would be like. Ichirō teases and says no wonder they’re father-son. Ha! Makoto argues that if Ichirō is his son, he wouldn’t be so disrespectful towards Makoto and call him by his name “Makoto, Makoto”. Ichirō retorts that this won’t change after he’s born too. (Lol . . . Makoto the pushover . . . lol.) Makoto says that if he succeeds in the mission, Ichirō will have to call him “Dad” in a respectful way. Ichirō kind of ignores him. LOL!

I think I can probably watch Ichirō and Makoto banter all day. There’s probably more that the two said for that scene, but I can’t recall for now. They’re just hilarious! What I do remember is that Ichirō tells Makoto that he must drain out the onsen’s water to see the writing at the bottom of the pool. If he sees the writing, that’ll lead him to succeed in doing it with Haruko. We get trolled like Makoto because Makoto literally drains out the onsen water.

Seeing the little dialogue on the bottom of this box!

Female: Zutto watashi no “soba” ni ite ne. (Translation: Always stay by my side. ずっと私のそばにいて. Pun: Soba = type of noodles)

Male: “s��su”ne – (Translation: That’s right (informal). そうっすね/Sōssu ne. Pun: sōsu = sauce.))

Then we think that the writing is from the box that’s holding the soba (a type of noodle). There’s also a cute pun! (Look at the captions in the photos for an explanation of the pun.)

In reality, the writing is from Ichirō. Makoto finds the writing on his bathtub. (Leave it to him to write it in black PERMANENT MARKER.) It’s a cute, touching speech, pretty much saying how much he enjoyed spending time with Makoto and watching Makoto try so hard. (He starts the letter by calling Makoto as Makoto and not Dad. Lol!)

This makes me wonder whether Makoto and Ichirō never really had a chance to bond in the future. It’d be kind of touching, yet sad if Makoto actually passed away when Ichirō was really young. I think in a way, that’d make sense because that’d also explain why Ichirō would really want to come back to the past and would treat Makoto like a friend. Based on the previews, though, it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case. The preview indicates that Makoto will feel lost and confused after Ichirō ‘s departure. Makoto has lost his memories about Ichirō because Ichirō erases them, but Makoto will likely feel like something has been missing in his life. I get a feeling we’ll get a time lapse and we’ll see Ichirō again or Ichirō will pop by again to surprise Makoto in the past. Haha!

Issue 2: Whether a couple going on a vacation is the ultimate test of their relationship

Jubiemon J: I definitely think that whenever a couple goes on a vacation together (not just a day trip), they are put to a test. There’s a difference between dating someone and travelling with them. Living with someone for a few days or more can be a challenge. Like Makoto’s boss mentions, there’s the difference in sleeping habits (i.e. one person might like to sleep with a lamp on and the other wouldn’t). I agree with Ichirō saying that this is Makoto’s final test. Besides having the two become roommates, there isn’t much else to test their relationship on. (Look at them being all cute here.)

Luckily, Makoto and Haruko are very agreeable and share similar lifestyle habits. They had a smooth vacation! And the bed scene was hilarious!! The two of them had visions from their friends preaching at them. Lol!

Issue 3: Whether the “message” was a good spin

Jubiemon J: I think the message was nicely done as a good-bye letter from Ichirō. I hadn’t expected him to say good-bye that way. Like I mentioned before, we would have expected the message to have ended with that cute little pun from the soba container. I really thought it was pretty sad when Ichirō just said goodbye casually and then Makoto was left scrubbing the bathtub while reading the letter! Kame does a great job expressing his sorrow.

Crying Makoto . . . so sad!

Conclusion: Appeal Dismissed.

Rating: 4 = I’ll Give You A Cookie (What a relief. A bounce back from last ep’s horrific writing. Phew. Yamapi x Kame saved the day.)

File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-desu-Ep-9 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 9 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

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thedramafilesblog-blog · 7 years

Text

Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 6

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether Yamapi God’s suggestion for Makoto to be like 亭主関白 is right

Whether it is reasonable for Haruko to a while to accept Makoto

The Rule(s):

Nope. Feels antiquated.

Yes. (This issue was brought up before but given that we know Haruko’s full story about her painful past, I thought it’d be best to look at the issue further.)

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: As much as I really like this drama and I still enjoyed this episode, there were a few parts that didn’t make that much sense to me. I don’t agree with Yamapi God’s suggestion for Makoto to aim to be like this: 亭主関白（ていしゅかんぱく). This phrase means that the wife would have to listen to the husband and the husband is the one ruling the household. Feel free to read my side note for more explanation. I’ll explain further in the issue as to why I don’t think that’s right.

Goal is to be 亭主関白

To achieve that goal, Yamapi God suggests that Makoto must only reply to Haruko in 4 words or less. I, like Makoto, hated that challenge, but Makoto still listens.

All 4 of them are at the dinner and Haruko starts asking Makoto a question

Haruko: What kind of help was Mitsukuni providing?

Makoto counting the number of words he’d use for the reply.. lol!

Helping . . . me . . . work . . . out. Lol!

Haruko: Why’d u wanna work out?

Makoto: …. Betsuni. (Nothing in particular.)

Haruko asks what fish Makoto wants.. out of the two that were suggested

Makoto picks a random fish (not suggested by the chef) that’s 3 words long. Lmfao!

Makoto is gonna pay for them all but Haruko wants to split the pay.

Makoto: Let me pay. Haruko: But.. Makoto: My treat.

Haruko ignores and goes to get her wallet.

Makoto in a ruder way of saying things: Don’t bother.

Haruko: Eh? Makoto repeats the phrase.

Later Yamapi God says if Makoto wanted to change a challenge, he could. Then Makoto ends up doing a wooden carving of two words: Osho.

Makoto rolling around the floor saying: No, impossible, never! It’s never gonna work. (for the 4 words challenge)

Though watching him struggle to complete the challenges is hilarious, at the end of the day, I didn’t really see the point of it unlike in previous episodes where I felt the challenges led to something ingenious. In this case . . . it falls flat and the deeper message within this challenge doesn’t seem to exist unless the drama is advocating that a traditional household where the male dominates the family is ideal. I honestly hope not! (Sure I’ve heard in Japan from Japanese friends that there’s still power imbalances between males and females that exist, but to propose that there should be more power given to males . . . No.)

I guess the whole idea of Yamapi God suggesting 亭主関白 bugs me because he is supposed to be a modern type of God. Look at the way he dresses, how he acts around Makoto, and how he has made seemingly silly suggestions that end up being important to Makoto. Even if he wants to push Makoto to be more assertive in an extreme way, I still don’t like this. He could have used some sort of other way of portraying this like keep the Osho as being a winner for all of them and not relate it to 亭主関白.

I still really find it hard to believe that the writer would make him suggest this outdated form of a family situation. Heck, when I googled that phrase, other words that followed were divorce, psychology, dislike, etc. There’s even some association for this which is completely mind-boggling.

Google search results – first phrase on the first column to the left is 亭主関白 boyfriend. Below that is 亭主関白 psychology. Second row first word is 亭主関白 divorce. First column last row is 亭主関白 dislike.

What I do like is Makoto’s response to Yamapi God’s suggestion about 亭主関白. Although Makoto did promise to be that way, we see that he isn’t comfortable being like that. He’s not that controlling, aggressive type that doesn’t think about Haruko’s thoughts. He has always treated Haruko as someone equal to him and admires her. He confesses that he doesn’t feel comfortable saying words in a harsher tone which Yamapi God suggests to do. He also gives up on the 4 word limit too because he just doesn’t like acting that way. We see him roll on the ground saying it’s impossible. Plus, if he keeps giving Haruko the cold shoulder, she’d probably end up disliking him. It’s not to say that Makoto is weak; he still shows his bravery when he confesses that he likes her in this episode and is super adamant towards proving that he isn’t living with a girl in his apartment. I’ve never seen him this determined before. I think it’s just Makoto is the peaceful, gentle type, but when he does see a need to stand his ground, he will.

Yamapi God: Thought u did good job being manly.

Makoto: No! It’s my first time saying something so harsh and rude like don’t bother…

Yamapi God: And you said the phrase twice! Thought you liked that feeling..

Makoto: No! It’s all your fault that people think something’s wrong with me in the head!

Makoto: Stop making me do missions!

Yamapi God: Go make a wooden carving.

What I also enjoy in this episode is the emphasis on fate. During one of the dinner parties between the two companies, we see fate being played out as other co-workers find out that they have similar interests or one even follows another’s cooking blog. Contrast that with the female boss who thinks that there’s fate because the male boss and she keep having many coincidences (ie eating lunch at the same place and ordering the same dish, meeting at the elevators often, etc). Then we learn that the male boss actually has a wife and a daughter. What a surprise! In the previous episodes we were led to believe that there could be something going on between them due to fate and then this episode that whole premise is demolished! It’s a twist to fate, I think. Sometimes you have fated moments, but it doesn’t mean that you’re fated to be with that someone. The timing might be off etc.

Overall, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this episode. I love the comedic scenes and the two parts I mentioned. I like how Mitsukuni and Makoto really have become friends and have no hard feelings between each other. I still enjoy the banter between Makoto and Yamapi God even though how this drama advances is getting a bit predictable in the grand scheme of things (ie. Makoto has to complete a mission, we think something will happen but it doesn’t and something else happens, we realize the whole point of his mission, and then the cycle starts again.)

Yamapi God wanting to give Makoto a “God Punch”. Lol!

Yamapi God being a prankster and saying that if she had seen the apron, things would have been even worse! Hahaha!

I also really like how the drama continues to slip in symbols throughout the drama like the blue t-shirt’s idiom and the rice that starts spilling. Throwing rice at a wedding is a tradition. This action symbolizes giving fertility (Read more here.) It’s cute how Makoto is all dreamy and sees how this is a sign for them to be fated together while Haruko is super practical and just wants to stop the rice spillage.

However, the message behind the 亭主関白 mission still bugs me. Sigh. Not going to repeat myself here…

(Side note: I’ve been on the hunt for the meaning of this Japanese phrase because I felt the translations of the episode I saw gave the wrong meaning. The translator translated that phrase to mean “to be a man of his word”. However, as I watched the drama, I just felt like . . . that wasn’t what that phrase meant. I decided to do some searching myself and came across several different translations.

This website translates the phrase as the “husband who rules the roost/domineering husband”. This one also gave a similar answer: “he rules his wife”. The translator also explained how it’s hard to translate a Japanese idiom (4 words) into an English equivalent without providing a longer explanation. English tends to be wordier. This other website translated the Japanese phrase into a Chinese one and said that it was male chauvinism. This meant that a woman must listen to the man; the man’s words are final. I actually looked into more websites, but they all came up with the exact translation/similar phrases. When you break the Japanese idiom into two parts, 亭主 and 関白 and examine their meanings, the meaning from the three translations are equivalent to what the two parts represent. 亭主 has a few meanings but here it means husband. 関白 is the chief advisor/senior regent to the Emperor and sometimes even wielded more actual power than the Emperor. A family that was famous for being kampaku was the Fujiwara clan. Now you put the two together and everything sort of falls into place: husband and chief advisor to the Emperor. The husband rules the household.

Then I skimmed some Japanese articles explaining the signs of a man who exhibits 亭主関白 and some included “being the eldest son in the family”, “refusing to do household work”, “calling the girl by ‘omae’ ie you”, “controlling guy”, “believing that women should look after the children instead of working” etc. I’ve only linked one article because other ones I’ve found list similar signs.

All of these prove to me that this phrase is all about the traditional household we’ve seen in the past where the male dominates the household and the female stays at home to work. The male makes all the decisions and the woman just listens to him.)

Issue 1: Whether Yamapi God’s suggestion for Makoto to be like 亭主関白 is right

Jubiemon J: No! Absolutely not. I don’t think Makoto should aim to be the man of the household to get Haruko to go to his place. I’m not even sure if inviting a girl over . . . is really necessary? They haven’t even had a few nice dates so potentially sleeping over at a guy’s place might not be the best…

Yamapi God sharing the plans

Although I agree with Yamapi God that Makoto sometimes lacks the initiative to ask a girl out and needs to be less shy about it, I disagree with the approach that Yamapi God advocates. I watched the scene where Yamapi God proposes to Makoto to aim to be like a 亭主関白 guy in order to get Haruko to go to his apartment. Yamapi God first says to look at Mitsukuni who got Mitsue to his apartment; the two didn’t sleep with each other and Mitsukuni brought her over because she got really drunk at the bar and was sleeping. Mitsukuni didn’t want to wake her up so he decided it’d be best for her to sleep over at his place. Yamapi God then says that what Makoto seriously lacks is the manly attitude to keep forcing her to go forward and therefore if Makoto aims to be a 亭主関白 guy then he’ll be able to advance their relationship. Yamapi God also adds that instead of using long words, it’s better to use shorter, direct words to win a girl’s heart; this advice is fine and I agree with it.

I just don’t think advocating to aim to be a 亭主関白 guy is right. That’s backwards thinking which I’ve mentioned before. I don’t think that sends out the right message to society–males should dominate females. No. I think we’re at the stage where we are still striving for gender equality. Let’s not go back to the early days. Sure, Makoto is more passive when it comes to dating and does need a push, but there’s no need for him to be forceful as Yamapi God suggests. Yamapi God says a 亭主関白 guy only uses two words to command what he wants from the girl and in this case, all Makoto needs to say is: “Come here. My place.” I admit that the way the dialogue is delivered in the drama is funny, but after learning more about what it means to really be a 亭主関白 guy, I really dislike Yamapi God’s approach in this case.

Makoto: Can you please not talk to me while I’m carving?

Yamapi God: Don’t talk to me is more like what a man of the household would say. (Ugh. No.)

Pissed Makoto shouts in a ruder tone: You! Shut your mouth! You’re so noisy!

I also don’t see 亭主関白 working out for Makoto and Haruko as a couple. Makoto has a gentle, honest personality that’s quite innocent and dreamlike. Haruko is more practical and grounded. She is also honest; we see her telling him how upset she was when her ex boyfriend told her he was married. She is more cautious because she has been hurt in the past and she just seems like the type that would not take a lot of risks. She admitted before that she can’t see herself being with Mitsukuni who we all know is someone that is more self-centered and aggressive compared to Makoto. I just can’t picture Haruko being okay with 亭主関白 and Makoto being comfortable with that either.

Yamapi God: A house with a King and a God … don’t u think miracles can happen? (King in this case refers to . . . Makoto probably.)

Makoto: Nope. Absolutely not.

Though I’m glad that the four-word replies stopped, I don’t like how Makoto still carved out the words 王将 (ōshō/winner/king general) if it’s supposed to be a replacement for how to embody 亭主関白. Oshō is the winner of a shogi tournament and also the piece that’s called king general. It feels like Makoto wants to be the King of the household, meaning the highest rank out of the other pieces. That implies that Haruko is below him if they place it in their future household which Makoto says he would do. Ugh.

However, I do see how the ōshō part also works to signify that Haruko is a winner in life. This interpretation is something that I prefer. When Haruko tells Makoto about the day where she learned that her ex-boyfriend had a wife and that he dumped her. On that day, there was also a soccer tournament (Japan vs some country). Makoto and his co-workers went out drinking to watch the game and they were interviewed by a reporter after the game ended. Japan had lost this game.

Look! Haruko is behind him in the interview!

Haruko felt like the world went crashing on her on that day and it just so happened that the drunk Makoto came up to her and mistook her as a fan that was depressed that Japan lost. Makoto told her not to be upset and to keep her head high to move on. Haruko felt offended that he mistook her as a sports fan just because she was wearing blue and white that day.

She also was kind of annoyed at his t-shirt’s text which said “When it rains, it pours.”

The English idiom has the same meaning as the Japanese one. 弱り目に祟り目 ( yowari-me ni tatari-me; よわりめにたたりめ) means misfortunes never come singly. Another Japanese equivalent idiom would be 泣き面に蜂 = Nakitsura ni hachi. She felt like the text was mocking her situation which she found kind of pitifully hilarious and sad too. She even used that phrase as her new email address.

At the end of her story, she asks Makoto: “Will I win?” That’s a hint for Makoto to confirm that their relationship will be fine. Her asking that shows that she wants to be able to get out the negative impact that her past relationship left her with and wants to succeed in love. Of course, Makoto confirms that she’ll win. It’s fitting then for the wooden carving to have the winner phrase if that’s implying that the two will have a successful relationship and that Haruko will win. Unfortunately, if it really is the case that this is what the script writer meant, I think that message is lost due to the emphasis on 亭主関白. I wished that Makoto had more adamantly voiced that he didn’t like 亭主関白 and not perhaps shown through his personality/actions that 亭主関白 is not what’s ideal for him and Haruko. I think he only said it once or twice that he didn’t want to continue being 亭主関白, yet he still goes through with the missions.

(Side note: In case you’re wondering what the song Yamapi was talking about, it’s this one 王将 – 村田英雄 (“ōshō” by Murata Hideo).)

Issue 2: Whether it is reasonable for Haruko to a while to accept Makoto

Jubiemon J: After hearing Haruko’s in-depth story and seeing how upset she was about her ex-boyfriend dumping her and saying that he was already married, I think it is reasonable for Haruko to take a while to accept Makoto. Plus, Makoto said that he thinks they’re going at a good speed; only a month and a half has passed before she decided to date him! Unfortunately, this is a drama where we need some conflict to speed things up, so Yamapi God states that Makoto only has one more month left to marry Haruko before the world will die.

Yamapi God: No time to waste!

We also are starting to know Haruko more as the episodes progress. She started off as a seemingly cold, nonchalant, and unfriendly female character, but slowly, we see that that’s an armour she has built up over the years due to failed relationships. We’ve seen her fan girl over a sumo wrestler, meaning that she also has a childish, cute side to her. (I think everyone has their cute moments of course. Hehe.) We’ve seen her reveal more emotions to Makoto as the episodes progress as well. In this episode, she smiles a lot more at Makoto during the dinners that involve Makoto and she also seems more curious about what Makoto’s interests. She even asks him what type of fish he wants or why he got interested in working out with Mitsukuni. Now in this episode, we see her break down in front of Makoto and explain why she has been so scared of getting into a relationship again.

Smiley Haruko!

I think overall Kimura Fumino has done a good job with portraying Haruko. However, she and the drama production team didn’t really deliver the emotional crying scene that well. Sure, I know the scene was there to make us understand Haruko more, but the way Fumino was reading her lines almost felt robotic. I understand that Haruko is more of a practical, analytical, logical type, but even with really emotional scenes, these types of people arguably would break down even more. They’re generally so used to bottling up their feelings or putting up a front to act like they’re okay because they know that they should move on. As a result, when they do end up crying, they’d probably feel confused, ashamed, silly, and perhaps foolish. They’d choke up much more and maybe even ask why they’re still crying over something that’s probably trivial in other people’s eyes. (Look at the screenshots below. She’s not even trying to wipe away her tears out of embarrassment or hide her face. I think this would have been a wonderful opportunity for her character to have kept having an overflow of tears while trying her best to restrain them. Then she’d give up and they’d all keep flowing down and down. Nope. She only lowers her head slightly and like two tears roll down…)

Even the script for that scene was too straightforward. She was narrating her story without a huge climax where she’d break down and choke on her words. Moreover, when she was saying how rude Makoto was when she met him that night, I really couldn’t feel her anger or frustration. The lines that she read to explain why she felt he had been rude wasn’t very convincing as well. The premise of him being rude that night was understandable–a drunk guy came up to her, mistook her as a soccer fan, and started lecturing at her to stop crying and to move on because the team will win next time. Yes, having a random drunk guy come up to you is freaky and annoying. I just think the script writer missed the chance to write that part in a more convincing manner and Fumino didn’t seem to voice Haruko’s frustrations that well. Haruko ended up with the line: “Will I win?” I understand that that’s supposed to tie with the soccer tournament that was going on and likely the osho wooden carving. However, that line just seemed so so . . . forced.

Will I win?

I think what also made this crying scene less emotional was that we also had an explanation from Mitsue before about Haruko being lied to by her boyfriend who was actually married. Therefore, this scene wasn’t so…touching and felt kind of repetitive. I honestly felt like I was actually more touched by Kame’s crying even though as Makoto, he has cried like N times in this drama. Makoto was crying in one of the previous episodes when the sumo wrestler was talking about his mother. I felt teary at that time too. Even when he cried this time after Haruko accepted him, I was convinced with that emotional scene. We’ve seen how hard he has tried to get Haruko to give him a shot like the scene before they got to his apartment. He was saying how he has to prove his innocence by showing his apartment to her. We’ve always seen Makoto as a sincere, honest guy, so seeing him cry out of happiness matches his character. (See below to take a look at Kame’s crying scenes. Kame goes from being surprised about her saying that she likes him too to being overwhelmed with happiness in the end. That’s convincing.)

Shock due to hearing her say that she likes him too

Realization of what she just said so he cries

Can’t stop the crying…

Too grateful so he bows down and says thank you. (Look at how nervous he has been all this time. He hasn’t even taken off his backpack!!!)

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed.

Rating: 3 = MM. Okay. Fine. (I still like this drama of course, but the flaws in this episode bother me.)

File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-desu-Ep-6 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 6 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

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