#hOWEVER THIS IS WAY TOO DUMB OF A DECISION MY GURL GET IT TOGETHER

[thewhizzyhead]

catching up with slocg and um very important question is whitney on drugs or some shit because why would she backslide from a good rich guy to a bum who cheated on her with one of her best friends-

[idontwanttowhy]

Review: Holiday Love ホリデイラブ (2018)

A frustrating Fatal-Attraction-esque jdrama

Synopsis

Takamori Azu (Riisa Naka) has been leading a seemingly perfect life with her husband, Takamori Junpei (Takashi Tsukamoto) and their daughter Nanaka. However, her world crumbles when she is told that Junpei has been cheating on her with a part-time co-worker, Izutsu Rina (Matsumoto Marika)--by Rina's husband, Izutsu Wataru (Nakamura Tomoya) no less. To make matters worse, she discovers that Rina won't let go of Junpei and is doing everything in her power to destroy their relationship. A rollercoaster of betrayal, mistakes, and obsession ensues.

AC Overall: 8/10, be prepared to be mad

So this drama is about people being unfaithful in their marriages and the tolls that takes on themselves, their relationships, and their families--and ultimately how they dealt with it all. I was very frustrated throughout the drama, partially because of the cheating and partially because of how everything panned out. But what kept me watching was the mistress, Rina's, plans to be with Junpei, despite both his wife's efforts and her husband's efforts to separate them. Be prepared for Fatal Attraction-level obsession. Matsumoto Marika did a great job playing the obsessed, unstable mistress. Give it a watch for the mess of it all, from will-they-won't-they get back together drama and possible revenge cheating, to unhealthy obsessions and extreme ~moves~ because of it. Some of it was predictable, but the execution was creative at times. And it's pretty short, good for a binge.

AC Review (Spoilers, and very long)

Ngl, this drama had me Fuh-RUS-TRA-TED practically the whole time. Bc I 1) could not understand Junpei for cheating and 2) tbh still don't understand how and why Junpei had two women who wanted to be with him. But I digress. Actually no, this whole review is going to be a digression. First ep we see Junpei fucking some other woman and they talking about "I wish I had married you" and love and blah blah blah. Which makes it decidedly not an "I fucked up and my dick slipped" situation. Not that the latter is better bc they're both shit. Idk if it's better if someone "slips up" because of a lack of control, or a strong love towards someone else. Jury's still out. But Junpei whispered sweet-apparently-nothings into this woman's ear for a YEAR, and dead acted like nothing was going on at home. And then had Rina assed out in front of his wife and her husband talking about "I didn't say all that" like suuure want receipts? So ultimately everything was his damn fault. Anyway. My girl Azu, blessherheart, was completely blindsided when Rina's (very attractive though also very abusive but very attractive and why would you want Junpei over him but yeah he's abusive so I get it but if he wasn't then...) husband showed up with a beat-up Junpei talking 'bout "he's fucking my wife, what are we going to do?". And poor Nanaka! The children in both marriages suffered the most bc they really were just innocent bystanders who got caught up in the bull and will probably have some trauma because of it. Like Nanaka was such a happy spirit but got depressed when she lost all her friends! My heart really went out to her.

Anyway anyway. So my girl Azu did the right thing at first--had Junpei's ass sleeping in the car and everything, which I loved, and was determined to divorce him. But then she got tricked into (almost) sleeping with a Japanese Micheal Cera (simultaneously old- and young-looking somehow) by a client-like gurl. I was proud that she stopped it (and he didn't continue without consent) but like, her sister and best friend's response was like "how could you (almost) fuck a stranger" and I'm sitting here like "she was drunk? he was blackmailed into this? she thought she knew him at least a little? and she realized she didn't want to and didn't actually have sex with him? and where was this energy when they found out about Junpei??". And then the best friend proceeded to give shit advice, talking about "don't tell Junpei, it'll ruin his ego" when realistically, she shoulda just told him the minute she decided she wanted to be with him still (which I'll discuss later) bc they were split up at the time, and he did (arguably, though maybe not, still depends on the person's pov) worse. But no, he found out through the mistress (of course!) and thus put Azu in purgatory. Her flip in the decision to be with him again was because he had always been there...which I get (prob bc of my scorpio sun) but ughhh I wish she hadn't welcomed him back so easily. Like yeah, say you still want to be with him, sure, but make him sweat at least a little more? Make him beg? act different? idk. She made him feel too comfortable too quick, which made him feel more entitled to being upset about her and JMichael Cera talking about "I know I shouldn't be mad, kedo..." and making my girl Azu sad, which leads me to...

THE MISTRESS. with her baby voice. wtf. And Junpei couldn't keep his dick in his pants even after all the shit. I mean, they didn't fuck but dude was acting sus again around her, which was just more fodder for her in the end. (His only other female co-worker watching and knowing everything was me the whole time. Like, you dumb, dumb man). He was waaay too nice after all the shit, letting her into his dorm and letting her do him favors so he felt guilty and letting her try to talk him into leaving his wife. I was sooo mad that after all the mess, Junpei still didn't grow any balls to say to her, point-blank, "I'm not leaving my wife, please leave" until way too late for me. And she really, and i mean REALLY, went out of her way to get Azu to cheat and molded him like putty. I had no faith in Junpei. Throughout the whole thing. Dude is spineless. And...so was Wataru, but in the macho-man kind of way. Controlling to hide his insecurities. Violent for no reason (did we need the r. scene? fuck) But in the end, he was the one that caved the least when it came to the cheating, trying to figure out what happened, and taking concrete steps rather than the wishy-washy moves Azu and Junpei were making. And then he grew as a father after kicking Rina out, because then he spent time with the kids (after his mom said she had a life lol) and they ultimately chose him in Tokyo which was super interesting and redeeming...wait wait wait but he was still very abusive and there is no excuse for that. I really had to stop myself--whenever he wasn't yelling at grown ass adults and breaking shit--from thinking that he was a good person. The struggle. But this man really said everyone's dumb, and I low-key agree. I could understand him the most (though it doesn't excuse anything, ik ik). But I would've changed the locks too.

We gotta talk about the best friend too. I watched on viki with the comments, so throughout the show people were like "oh they should be together" and shit, which had me kinda tight because I really appreciate when shows allow for platonic friendship between a cishet- man and woman? Esp without one professing their ever-present love to the other. Dude gave shit advice but ultimately was the only one thinking straight and suspecting Rina was behind it all. And then actually doing the groundwork to prove it. And he sent her new clients when the news of the affair broke and everything. And and he had Nanaka's approval. Honestly there wasn't anything to dislike (except the shit advice...).

The ending tho, was the kicker. Homegirl put on a whole play for the company and really sought to end his life. I expected something, bc how could someone as obsessed as she was just back off? (and he deserved it bc Junpei didn't sacrifice enough for me, got around everyone knowing about his affair but had his wife's business out on the street, didn't have to lose his job like he was supposed to, etc...) but I didn't expect a performance. The flair. A1.

This show didn't necessarily have me gasping (except for that scene)--more like "wow I saw that coming but wow they really did that". Good stuff. And I learned that in Japan if a spouse cheats or otherwise does something that's cause for divorce, they have to pay a compensation fee! Wild.

If you made it to the end of this rant, I appreciate you ;

[niuxita21]

I told myself I wasn’t gonna do this every time I watched an episode of El Embarcadero because this isn’t my Livejournal in the late 00s and early 10s and no one wants to be subjected to my word vomit on every scene, but the reveal at the end of episode 2 had me SHOOKETH and also, more importantly, today I found out I may have been exposed to The Unmentionable so, you know what, life’s too short.

DUDE. DUUUUUUUUUUUDE. The decision to end the episode on Alex kissing Verónica as some sort of shocking reveal? *chef’s kiss* doesn’t even BEGIN to cover it OMG. Let’s break it down, shall we?

1) First of all, just the notion that the relationship between those two is deemed significant enough that the reveal that they kissed, this time under no false pretenses on either side and each one knowing exactly who the other is (unlike the last time), is considered powerful enough to end an episode on is just... wow. They really are betting on the audience being this invested in them because, if they aren’t, then the ending completely falls flat because who cares. That’s INSANE (in a very good way).

2) Obviously I’m not super crazy about the idea that Alex had to have sex with Conrado, but therein lies the true beauty of the aforementioned timey-wimey storytelling on this show. If it had been told in a linear fashion, it would have gone something like this (taking into account only the footage that was shown): Alex kisses Verónica, the viewer loses their shit thinking their ship is finally canon, then cut to other stuff and the next time we see Alex she’s back at home thinking about Conrado (?) and what Verónica said about people fucking the way they eat. Then she leaves the house and one automatically assumes, oh fuck, she’s really going for it, she’s gonna show up at Verónica’s hoping to have sex with her! How did we get so lucky?? Only to find out that, nope, Alex actually went to see Conrado and have sex with him, and the episode ends there, in a complete and utter disappointment because we finally thought we were getting somewhere with this couple and it just seems like a very cruel bait-and-switch.

3) Now, the way it ACTUALLY played out with the non-linear narration paints a completely different picture: The last time we see Alex she was running away from Verónica flirtily recording her on her phone and then she’s suddenly back at home thinking about Conrado (?) and what Verónica said about people fucking the way they eat. Then she leaves the house and this time you think, OK, I guess she’s finally gonna give him that signal that he’s been begging for, I mean, the whole episode had pretty much telegraphed it. It’s disappointing but she’s a grown woman who can fuck whoever she wants and there’s clearly still nothing going on with Verónica beyond friendship so, hey. So the sex goes pretty much the way one would expect, save for a couple of interesting details: Alex’s “I wanted to see what it was like to have sex with someone who wants me that much”. Once again, gurl, whaaaaa? That is one of the LEAST heterosexual reasons to have heterosexual sex I have EVER heard lmao, wow. In retrospect, that should have been a sign. Then when she’s sitting on Conrado’s bike and he’s rambling about how he hasn’t had sex in so long and she just tells him to shut up. Again, I’m not sure, but I think that’s gotta be some kind of TV Trope code for “I’m having sex with you for reasons other than being attracted to you so if you stay silent I can forget who it is I’m actually fucking”. At least, that’s how I’m interpreting it because I am the queen of digging for crumbs. 

ANYWAY, so in the midst of the sex scene, it starts being intercut with footage from earlier in the day/episode, and we actually get to see what it is that Verónica recorded of Alex after she went out the door of her house earlier, when we thought it was the end of their screentime together for the episode. I mean, it’s all very insignificant and flirty and SO SO DUMB that it makes my heart sing, BUT the sole fact that we start seeing it at exactly this moment completely changes our perception of Alex and Conrado’s sex scene. On the one hand, the constant intercutting between Alex having sex with him and Alex straight-up fucking BEAMING at Verónica while she records her with the most ridiculous hearteyes I think we have ever seen her with kinda gives the impression that Alex is thinking about that while she fucks Conrado, which is pretty big in itself but still just an interpretation. However, then comes the REAL kicker. In the flashback, Alex says “I think I’m starting to feel what Óscar felt” (whatever THAT means ????) and then... she makes Verónica put the phone down and fucking KISSES HER RIGHT THERE AND JUST AS IT’S GETTING GOOD THE EPISODE ENDS AND I AM LOSING MY FUCKING SHIT MAN.

But anyway, I just love that it comes across as, like, the TWISTIEST OF TWISTS and I can’t really articulate why. It’s just a kiss that we could have probably seen coming and yet, somehow, it feels earth-shattering? Like we were working on the assumption that she really wanted to have sex with Conrado for her own personal reasons and in the end it turns out that perhaps there was something more complex at play that is going to complicate her relationship with BOTH Verónica and Conrado. And also, it’s much more hopeful than the disappointing punch in the gut it would have been if we’d seen Alex go fuck Conrado knowing that she’d kissed Verónica earlier that day. As a fan of non-linear narration and how effective it can be, I am just GEEKING OUT about this. The GENIUS of it all, I can’t stand it.

4) Another thing that I think is super cool about this because I am a nerd is that, after Alex kissed Verónica the first time, while Verónica still thought her name was Martina, I was so disappointed in the erratic camera work that didn’t let me see shit (as you know) that I consoled myself thinking that at least I had another “first kiss” to look forward to, their first kiss as Alex and Verónica and not Martina and Verónica. However, I conceded that the show probably wouldn’t deem it as important a milestone in their journey as I had and it was entirely possible that it wouldn’t be given the deference it deserved. But LO AND BEHOLD, the show thought it was actually SO IMPORTANT that it made it a shocking reveal ending for an episode instead of tossing it in the middle and then having it ruined by the Alex/Conrado sex scene. I’m just... do you know how RARE it is to find a show that seems to be on my same wavelength regarding the importance of the narrative beats of romantic couple? This ain’t my first rodeo, I’ve shipped tons of stuff under the sun and I don’t think I have ever felt so seen, lmao.

5) Lastly, a honourable mention to the scene where Verónica starts recording Alex. First of all, Verónica being SUPER FLIRTY and teasing Alex about being uptight and thinking things too much and calling her “Ms. Architect” and djghkjhskjh I can’t believe this show is being so good to me so soon. However, I think my favourite thing is how, as Verónica starts approaching Alex while saying all this, Alex gets this wide-eyed look on her face, like her whole body is vibrating at the prospect of Verónica getting close to her. And then this:

LORD, the way she’s so hyperaware of the fact that Verónica is touching her and how she follows the trajectory of her hand even after she takes it away. I just fucking love that little attention to detail. AND THEN, as Verónica gets her face reaaaaally close to her, you can totally see Alex’s eyes darting downwards towards her lips three times, by my count, looking SO FUCKING SMITTEN I wanna claw my face off so that little smile of hers is the last thing I see. 

And towards the end she isn’t even smiling anymore, she just looks ready for Verónica to kiss her whenever she wants (which she actually does, even if it’s a chaste, almost “friendly” peck just to tease her because that’s how Vero rolls and that’s why we love her). I just fucking love this entire sequence because smitten!Alex is something I didn’t know I needed in my life and, tbh, it’s also the reason why in the end I couldn’t care less about the sex scene with Conrado, because she has never (and probably will never) been shown looking at him like that. We just keep winning!

I also love how, after that, she casually takes the apple from Verónica’s hand and starts eating it, in that same easy intimacy that we’ve been seeing between them since last season, like when Verónica automatically poured her a wine glass while “Martina” was dicing peppers (I think?) for dinner or when Alex poured one for herself and Verónica came in and drank from it and then they just shared it back and forth. Their chemistry is just astounding.

Anyway, to think that, after watching it for the first time, I was actually kinda disappointed in that, after the goldmine that was episode 1, this episode was sorely lacking in interactions between these two and Alex spent the majority of the time with Conrado (*yawn*), plus the fact that the episode was only 42 minutes long and we lost a good chunk of it to dudes talking about Óscar’s dirty businesszzZZz. But upon reflection, this scene and the twist ending continued to give me things in my wishlist wrt these two: a flirty scene where Alex smiles at Verónica in the most smitten way possible and a first real kiss. If I’m being honest, I don’t think I would have added anything except making the kiss at the end go on for a bit longer and not be cut so abruptly, because even that was shot exactly how I wanted (LMAO I’m so anal, but I have such trauma from poorly shot f/f kisses and I have zero tolerance for that shit). Other than that? Utter perfection. I’m genuinely starting to worry about when things will start to go downhill but shhh, let’s enjoy this while it lasts.