#i love yi sang's character development

[dalandan012]

Someone hit me in the head with a chair I THINK IM STARTING TO FIXATE ON LIMBUS COMPANY TOO MUCH I ACNT STOP THINKING ABOUT THEM OH MY LORD

BAHH!!!! NO WONDER PEOPLE ARE HOMOPHOBIC, THIS SHIT SCARY AF!!!!

[dykealloy]

Rec list please ✍️🏻

(with tropes and just a smidge of reason why the media is recommended <- both very optional of course)

oh boy. okay. Confession time, I've watched a ridiculous number of shows out of east Asia so this is a good opportunity to share some faves from recent memory. If there's going to be one running through-line with these recs it's that I love character-driven narratives which explore interesting interpersonal relationships (socio-cultural commentary is a plus).

In no ranked order, here's my top ten:

Hamster running the emotional gamut wheel (well-written stories about grief, closure and family)

Move to Heaven (2021) Korea, 10 episodes, Netflix Summary: Han Geu-ru is an autistic 20-year-old who works for his father’s business “Move To Heaven”, a company that specializes in crime scene cleanup, where they collect and arrange items left by the deceased and deliver them to the bereaved family. When Geu-ru's father dies, his guardianship passes to his uncle, ex-convict and underground MMA fighter Cho Sang-gu. Per the father's will, Sang-gu must care for and work with Geu-ru for three months to gain full guardianship and claim the inheritance. Eying money, Sang-gu agrees to the conditions and moves in.

This show knows exactly what it is and executes with excellent writing and characterisation. While it does have an overarching narrative, Move to Heaven is structured so that you're exploring a different person's story each episode, so it has a lot of flexibility to explore themes of grief and closure through different lives and relationships, and when I tell you this show can hit emotional beats... (<- may or may not have cried through most episodes on my first watch-through. Emotional terrorism). These stories are really beautifully portrayed and though there are effective comedic beats, there's this clear authenticity in not needing to undercut or distance oneself from the vulnerability of the subject matter.

Geu-ru and his uncle (Sang-gu) add a lot of needed levity, with Geu-ru's need for consistent, structured, methodical routines constantly clashing with Sang-gu's chaotic and combative approach to life. Sang-gu's character arc (though predictable) is just so satisfying. It's kinda hilarious seeing Geu-ru (and his father by extension) inadvertently poke more and more holes in Sang-gu's initial plan of "take the money and run" the deeper he incorporates himself into the space and purpose that his brother once took up, and it's very heartwarming to see these polar opposites slowly develop a respect and appreciation for one another.

Tropes: reluctant to responsible parental figure, tear-jerker

Oh No! Here Comes Trouble (2023) Taiwan, 12 episodes, GTV and iQIYI Summary: Pu Yi-yong was a typical 17-year-old student with a passion for drawing and a hereditary talent for calligraphy. After he wakes up from a bus accident that claimed his father's life and left him in a coma for two years, a 19-year-old Yi-yong must now find his place in the world again. This becomes more complicated when spirits begin approaching him and asking for his help.

This show actually has a lot of similarities to Move to Heaven e.g. exploring different side-stories each episode, focus on victims forgotten by society (the lonely, the homeless, the outcasts and the minorities), themes of grief and closure, polar opposite characters learning to work together, breaking me emotionally at some point. But Oh No! Here Comes Trouble differs in tone (distinct directing style), quirky humour (Taiwanese comedic style is just different and I love it in this show) and presentation (urban fantasy/mystery).

Yi-yong might be one of my all time favourite characters in media. From the outset he presents as this classic, one-dimensional, grumpy delinquent teen (e.g. resting-bitch-face syndrome, scrappy mullet, academically behind, no social grace and a tendency to accidentally hit people in the face with softballs). As fun as that is, the more you watch, the more this show challenges these assumptions. Yi-yong's mum (also an A+ character, god I love her) is a hairdresser, and often uses Yi-yong as her stylistic guinea pig. Yi-yong's not super intelligent, but he's compassionate (albeit at times reluctantly so). He really listens when people talk to him, whether they're trying to comfort him, give him advice, or asking him for assistance (though he often questions and expresses frustrations about his own ability to help other people). There's a humble gentleness to him.

Yi-yong was already struggling to juggle his dreams of becoming a comic artist with the practicalities of his life before he fell into a coma, then he woke up two years later, having completely missed the perceived "pivotal juncture" associated with the transition from youth to adulthood. Time moved on, and so have his peers, leaving an almost 20-year-old Yi-yong lost at sea with no paddle, no map and grieving the loss of his father. And now he has supernatural beings approaching him and insisting that he is the key to settling their unfinished business. To Yi-yong (and to popular east-asian social standards), Yi-yong is a loser. He's academically unintelligent, has no clear aspirations or discipline or future prospects, his family is far from wealthy, he's got zero social status, smarts or rank. Yi-yong is just as much of a forgotten outcast to society as these spirits are.

He does eventually get assistance in the form of Chen Chuying - a junior police officer (helping substantially with the mystery investigation side of things) and Cao Guangyan - former one-sided rival schoolmate and current med student who coincidentally moves next door (initially maintains the outsider perspective of Yi-yong as a hooligan until they get to know each other a little better, by which point Guangyan is already helping Yi-yong get back on his feet) who form a very well-rounded, loveable cast.

I wish I could talk more about this show, I am very fond of it. Please do watch it and if anyone wants to discuss it my dms are open.

Tropes: ragtag trio of idiots, urban fantasy, mystery, tear-jerker, reluctant hero

Get your pussy up get your money up (life is giving lemons and survival is the name of the game)

Honourable mentions here: Yeon Sang-ho popped off with Train to Busan in 2016 and South Korea has been throwing bangers into one of my favourite genre pools ever since. If you're interested in more zombie series I would strongly recommend checking out All of Us are Dead (2022), Happiness (2021), Sweet Home (2020) and Kingdom (2019).

A Shop for Killers (2024) Korea, 8 episodes, Netflix Summary: Jeong Ji-An tragically loses her parents as a young girl. Her reserved and mysterious estranged uncle, Jeong Jinman, acts as her sole guardian and care-taker, raising her with tough love and a survivalist mindset until she leaves for university. One day, Jung Ji-An hears that her uncle has suddenly passed away, and returns home, where she learns the truth behind her uncle's business and by extension, her past.

Ji-An is locked inside a building with no communication with the outside world, nowhere to go, and with assassins after her head (not ideal). Unbeknownst to Ji-An though, her late uncle Jinman prepared a thorough defense system for this very event, setting her up with home-terf advantage and a very dangerous fortress against this army.

Ji-An and Jinman's story is told mainly through flashbacks as Ji-An attempts to survive the raid on their home. Their dynamic is definitely a repeat of the stoic, initially cold father-figure type "I am neither your mum or your dad, and I can never be" to the orphan child that we've been seeing more recently of late. I'm not mad about it. It's a good formula. I won't go into the type of person Jinman is, or the nature of his work/business. Going in blind and slowly figuring this out with Ji-An was a big plus in terms of the viewing experience for me.

Tropes: reluctant parental figure, home alone antics

D.P. (2021) Korea, 12 episodes, Netflix Summary: Ahn Junho is enlisted to serve in the South Korean Army as part of his national service obligations. He eventually goes to the Army's Military Police. While getting used to life in the MP, Junho's street smarts lands him in the D.P. (Deserter Pursuit) unit. Junho is assigned with Corporeal Han Hoyeol to capture deserters, revealing the painful reality endured by each enlistee during their compulsory duty.

imo D.P.'s is at its most enjoyable when Junho and Hoyeol are working as detectives with limited time and resources. Hoyeol's presence especially adds needed levity. He's like the show's own eccentric little court jester (at least until season 2, where he becomes the show's own tortured little court jester). You don't know how much you're missing Hanyeol until he shows up and you're finally given some space to breathe.

This show's gotten a lot of praise for its realistic social commentary around the vicious cycle of bullying, hazing practices, corruption and abuse within the South Korean military. It's well written and fast-paced, and it definitely doesn't pull its punches. I probably wouldn't recommend this show were it not for the quality of its writing, its ability to balance the depressing subject matter with pockets of dark comedy and everyone's favourite dynamic duo Junho and Han Hoyeol. All the content warnings for this one.

Tropes: ptsd, abuse, brotherhood, idk man straight up not having a good time

Weak Hero Class (2022) Korea, 8 episodes, Viki Summary: Straight-A student and loner Yoon Sieun utilizes his wits and tools to defend himself from a boys school full of shit-heads. He slowly warms up to Ahn Sooho, the school's strongest fighter, and Oh Beomseuk, the new transfer Student.

Sieun is here to answer the age-old philosophical question: "Aren't you tired of being nice? Don't you just want to go apeshit?" Even though Sieun is physically lacking, he's very capable of baring his teeth and using his smarts to fight like hell. It's so cathartic to finally see a short, weak, bullied protagonist willing to go violently feral upon provocation.

This show's tone can get pretty dark and surprisingly violent. The true core behind why a lot of people love this show is Sieun and Sooho's friendship. Sieun starts off as a grumpy, glaring, withdrawn hermit with no interest in anything that isn't studying (honestly idk how Sieun keeps finding himself in these situations like. All the kid ever wanted was to hit the books). I won't spoil too much, but watching as Sooho slowly peels away that protective shell Sieun encases around himself is a thing of beauty. I strongly recommend you give the first episode a go (free on youtube).

Tropes: angst, bromance, badass bookworm, adults are useless, abusive parents

Detectives smashing you over the head repeatedly with gay subtext (not explicitly gay but if you have a brain and any semblance of a gaydar that thing is going to be going off like a geiger counter next to the elephant foot)

The Devil judge (2021) Korea, 16 episodes, Netflix and Viki Summary: Set in a dystopian version of present-day South Korea, the world is bereft of law and order and the court justice process has become like a reality tv show. Head Trial Judge Kang Yohan mercilessly punishes the guilty and corrupt, earning him the "Devil Judge" monicker. As bitter rivalry takes shape between Yohan and the highly ambitious Jung Sun-ah, who has risen from poverty to become a corporate social responsibility foundation director. Into this turbulent world enter two childhood friends on a mission for true justice and determined to discover the secret Yohan is hiding: rookie judge Kim Gaon and detective Yoon Su-hyun.

The Devil Judge tackles the concept of the anti-hero (battling evil with evil) and questions why these figures are idolized by the public. It also challenges the naive faith in the rule of law and whether or not the established systems should be upheld or not. The screenwriter has however made it very clear that he focused way more on the relationship between the characters than conveying his own message and boy oh boy is that reflected in whatever Yohan and Gaon have got going on (serious come-hither eyes, gratuitous physical touch, themes of power, justice and corruption, Yohan pressing Gaon up against the nearest hard surface on at least four separate occasions, etc.).

Kang Yohan, the titular anti-hero/main protagonist operates within a failed state and a corrupted judiciary. To a certain extent he knows the self-destructive path he walks is doomed to fail, but to right the system and take revenge, he's on the lookout for a someone that can out him as the Devil and become the messiah that Yohan himself cannot be. It does come off as very "anime" at times (theatrical presentation, tragic backstories, bad writing when it comes to women, naive characters and overly dramatic tone) but hey, if you have very few qualms with that, chances are you're going to have a blast.

Also the OST for this show absolutely fucks. It has no right being this good. Jung Se Rin really popped off. I have Enemy of Truth as a staple in a lot of my playlists.

Tropes: idealist vs jerkass pragmatist, anti-hero/vigilante, whump

The Worst of Evil (2023) Korea, 12 episodes Summary: Set in the 1990s, a former DJ starts selling a new powerful drug. Since the police know little about its origin, rural police officer Park Junmo is assigned to go undercover and infiltrate the criminal empire responsible for the drug trade between Korea, Japan, and China. Junmo later discovers that his wife, Yoo Euijung, also a detective, has volunteered to participate in this dangerous mission and seems to have a past with the underground drug king (and Junmo's boss), Jung Gicheul. The deeper Junmo entrenches himself as Gicheul's subordinate, the more unrecognisable he becomes to those closest to him.

Junmo could have let Gicheul die or slip away like several times in a row, indicates he has zero idea why he does this, then says the line verbatim "I look up to him and I like him and my body follows my heart". What am I supposed to take away from this. This show has everything. Early 90s homoerotic cigarette lighting, sodomy, incredible cinematography, betrayal, close-ups of Junmo's bloody face squished up against Gicheul's thigh. There's some scenes where Junmo is looking at both his wife and Gicheul framed in the same shot like the goddamn camera is daring you to question who he is more jealous of. My biggest complaint is that there was quite literally no need for a wife-stealing plot - the most compelling, messiest gay situationship was right there for the taking.

In episode 9 post-gang war hallway-slaughter, a blood-soaked Junmo hops up onto a table on all fours with a knife between his teeth, locks eyes with Gicheul then proceeds to slash a man's achilles tendon and if you listen closely enough you'll hear me in the background screaming YOU HAVE BECOME HIS DOG. 10/10 watch this show.

Tropes: mafia, undercover, bodyguard, make him worse, devotion and loyalty gone bad gone nuclear, maybe if they fucked nasty about it we wouldnt be in this mess

Beyond evil (2021) would also go here and has similar vibes to the above two, but I personally don't have much to say about it. Unhinged slutty old man, gay stuff going on over there, etc, etc. Citrinekay sums it up nicely here. Guardian (2018) would probably also go here. Definitely check these out if you enjoy/like the sound of these shows.

Lighthearted fun romance (I am not escaping the lesbian fujoshi accusations)

Cherry Magic (2020) Japan, 12 episodes Summary: Adachi is a salaryman with low confidence and a tendency for self-deprecation, resulting in him often acting awkward around others, not being sure how to assert himself in the workplace, and constantly comparing himself to the company's golden boy - Kurosawa. Things become further complicated when Adachi finds out after his thirtieth birthday that he has suddenly gained the magical power to hear people's thoughts if he touches them. Adachi struggles with his newfound touch telepathy when he accidentally discovers Kurosawa is in love with him.

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard!? (Yes that is the full title, Japan you are killing me) is very sweet and wholesome and the humour hits and I believe in Kurosawa Yuichi supremacy. I know self-deprecating characters can be a downer for some people but Adachi comes off as very relatable and seeing him slowly gain more confidence in himself and his abilities is heartwarming. Great serotonin-booster. If you find this show's premise interesting there's a high likelihood you will enjoy it.

I didn't care so much for the second couple but if you're like me it's easy to skip through these scenes (you won't be missing anything).

Tropes: office romance, telepathy, pining

Semantic Error (2022) Korea, 8 episodes, Viki and Netflix (region-dependent) Summary: Cho Sangwoo is the epitome of an inflexible and strict rule-abiding person. When talented graphic design major Jaeyoung discovers Sangwoo is the cause for his delayed university graduation, he sets out to take revenge (by becoming Sangwoo's biggest, brightest daily annoyance). Jaeyoung finds himself in hot water when he inadvertently develops a crush, and junior computer science major Sangwoo is about to encounter some serious errors in his usual programming.

This is a classic polar opposites attract story, with Jaeyoung the loud, extroverted, brash foil to Sangwoo's reserved, withdrawn, morally black-and-white, logic-first persona. As much fun as it is to see Sangwoo's ordered world thrown into chaos, it's equally enjoyable to witness Jaeyoung jump from being obsessively committed to annoying Sangwoo, to being whipped for him (and the subsequent difficulties this causes for Jaeyoung - a popular, attractive, talented, bi artist used to getting his way - in trying to pursue a highly irritated and emotionally closed-off Sangwoo, who is being challenged with a side of himself he hasn't had to grapple with up until now). Also Jaeyoung has an incredibly hot lesbian best friend which was great. for me specifically.

An entertaining, cohesive story with great actors who have fantastic chemistry. What more can you ask for?

Tropes: enemies to lovers, opposites attract, university, pulling pigtails

Old Fashion Cupcake (2022) Japan, 5 episodes Summary: At the critical juncture of a mid-life crisis, Nozue, a 39-year-old office worker, is stuck in the dull, mundane grind of wake, work, sleep. But due to his age, he's convinced he's well past the point he can take risks by trying something new. As such, he continues to decline promotions at his job and romantic advances from potential partners. He confides one day in his 29-year-old subordinate, Togawa, making an off-hand comment about a desire to be like a young girl - capable of feeling excitement and joy in life again. In an attempt to inspire him to move forward, Togawa suggests an "anti-aging experiment" and the two of them go on a journey together to help Nozue feel young again.

First things first - a large portion of Togawa's proposed "ant-aging technique" involves frequenting dessert cafes and restaurants that are catered towards a younger female demographic and fuck me the food in this show always looks so goddamn good.

The boss/employee thing might turn people away from giving this a shot but what I really love about this show is that despite being Nozue's subordinate (and younger than him - which is a bigger deal in Japan), Togawa is extremely blunt and unafraid to tell Nozue exactly what he thinks (so long as Togawa believes it will ultimately benefit Nozue in the long run), and it's very clear that he does this because he has a strong sense of respect for Nozue (and because spoilers - Togawa is so down bad for his boss like okay boy DAMN. Go get your esoteric old man). This show is also great at conveying emotion and inner conflict without dialogue (I've enjoyed coming back for a re-watch and picking up on little nuisances in Togawa and Nozue's behaviour that I missed the first time around).

Overall this is a very cute, very wholesome coming of age/queerness story that reminds you that it's never too late to pursue what interests you, try something new, and enjoy life while you're at it.

Tropes: fingers in his mouth friday, pining, age gap, office romance, food as a love language

That's it! If you want more recs from a genre hit up my inbox, I had a fun time pulling this together and have many more in the chamber where that came from.

[offshore-brinicle]

Other misc things:

- Chains of others gets the Gloom effect rather than Pride when Meur uses it in story. Given how he says outright he wishes to protect Heathcliff and how the idea of an unfair judgement [from Erlking judging that all Heathcliffs must die to the court in his novel] is a theme they both share.

- In the end scene, Rodya is at the back of the bus and seemingly in deep thought, can't remember her saying much in the later parts of the Canto either. Something must've hit her hard.

- Is the river under the Heights something connected to the 'stream of human consciousness' [paraphrased] that I believe was mentioned in lobcorp?

- We know boughs can be destroyed, but I wonder if one can be 'reactivated'. The one Dante hold onto in Pass On is charred black but still intact.

- To add to the parallels, Heath n Yi Sang both get stabbed in the heart by a bough, one by their own volition in an act of love, and another by someone else.

- Why does Demian remember Cathy. It's probably something to due to the stars but half the time I'm fairly certain he's just standing invisible somewhere during the story given how much he knows. But given the body and coffin were both still there, I doubt ctrl alt deleting someone fully erases them from everything.

OK answering one by one:

I LOVED THAT MOMENT SO MUCH. In general it was such a surprise and treat to see how much more active Meursault was in this Canto and I was wondering about the Gloom change unless I was just misremembering the color since Pride is also blue but thanks for confirming. Meursault......... It's also so so cool to see the EGOs being used for practical uses like restraining someone like Meursault does, it makes me wonder what it can be do with some of the others like for example Ishmael's anchoring with Snagharpoon or Yi Sang's teleportation in Crow's Eye View

Actually good point though she actually spoke quite a bit I think, mainly in the first part about the resentments she has towards the rich, and the moment she has when they're approaching the mansion that brings up her dark side to the others in full force even if just for a second. Since apparently she's gonna be the focus of next Intervallo I hope it means she's getting more character development...

I say "yes, most likely" as I talked in my previous answer, taking in count Hermann has an interest in it and finding "the prime form of humanity" and The Well they talk about is the origin of everything in the world and humanity itself and responsible for The Light and EGO and everything, it's not the first time there's been a physical entrance to it somehow, the other most notable one is the Black Forest in the Outskirts that comes up more in-depth in Ruina.

Yeah I wonder how it can even get "burnt up" in the first place and what they're even gonna do with it since getting the charred Bough is treated as a grey area of sorts between success and failure. I wonder just How it lost its power and how it can be reactivated though taking in count it's basically magic

I SEND AN ASK TO MY FRIEND ABOUT THIS TOO, the other party involved for each Heathcliff and Yi Sang's cases are also the two most important women to them and great symbols for their own nostalgia and overall arcs, and they are connected to them through flowers that carry symbolic meaning and are tied to their homelands. Heathcliff stabbing himself as an act of showing his love to Catherine is also interesting because Dongbaek's reason for stabbing Yi Sang could also be interpreted as being a form of love, but...marred with heartbreak and hatred and resentment for what happened to the League like in the original Wuthering Heights [edit cuz I forgor: this is something amplified by the fact that when she stabs Yi Sang she quotes the line from The Camellias where the protagonists fall in love together both physically and metaphorically], specially since she was so overwhelmed seeing him she went for him when she was going to initially attack Dongrang derailing her plans. How she talks about it when questioned adds to it too since she kind of justifies herself saying that Yi Sang wanted to die too and isn't spiteful like she is towards Dongrang even being calm seeing he was just fine despite her murder attempt (but also the fact that she was unphased by that still gets me. She's really got no sanity left), and she was correct in claiming Yi Sang was longing for death even if the moment left a big emotional scar on him, much like Heathcliff's heart was broken by Catherine and so he breaks it in a literal sense for her.

Honestly Demian is just Demian. He's a weird little guy and probably exists out of time or something tying to his star. It's probably for the same justification as to why Heathcliff and Dante remembered Cathy, and she's def not truly "gone" since they couldn't really erase the consequences of her actions and presence. Hindley and Linton are still dead because of her.

[strangefellows]

I’ve been shouting about it on Twitter for the past two days, so I’m going to put it here too:

CANTO IV PART 3 SPOILERS! Or, why the Yi Sang and Ayin parallels in this chapter got me extremely fucked up.

Like. Dear sweet absolute FUCK, I was getting the parallels already from the basics and the fact that both Fourth Match Flame Yi Sang (the outfit) and Spicebush Yi Sang (the eyes) make him look incredibly similar to Ayin, more than he already does with the exhaustion and similar dark hair. But then the dungeon came out and hit me like a warp train.

Like. Okay. There’s a lab. A group of people with like minds that came together to better the city and make people happy, even if it’s just in small ways, under the leadership of someone they all looked up to. Little by little, it begins to crack and crumble apart...and then it is betrayed, raided by City officials. Some people die. Some kill themselves. Some give up and let themselves be caught. Some flee. Some fight back tooth and nail til the very end. But in the end, two people are left alive...one of them completely, utterly broken; the one who had always had trouble expressing themselves and their feelings towards others, but who cared deeply for them.

That broken person ends up in a room, trapped there by their own misery, working on their project, their dream, given in part to them by the person they looked up to-- to the point they’re wasting away little by little, drowning in despair and depression, wishing for the people they loved and the place they felt they belonged. There is a person, the other survivor, who had only ever been there for their sake in the first place, that wants to keep them there forever. There is their other self, who at turns seems to want to help them and seems to want to take advantage of their pain.

Who am I talking about?

Then there is the script-- the scripts Yi Sang left for the others to read, to play out what happened.

Then there is the fact that the dungeon backgrounds are an exaggerated, overlarge tableau of the lab-office in Yi Sang’s memories, similar in no small part to the Keter Suppression’s office background -- and how that white room looks very similar to the white room of the final day in Lobcorp.

Then there is the finale of the fight with Dongrang (who spoke to Carmen by name and whose mechanic, though this is reaching, involves seeds) -- where he has one final conversation with that other self, who encourages him and comforts him and who guides him to the beautiful finale of self-realization: wings made of shimmering light. This reminded me so much of Day 50 in Lobcorp that I almost cried just thinking about it again today.

Then there is the last little bit, that final narration, the last letter from Yi Sang, where he says of the Sinners, paraphrased “I would like to consider them my friends, even if I don’t know how they feel about me”. Maybe a bit of a reach, again, but I feel as if it mirrors how Ayin feels about the Sephirah, though it might be conjecture here.

I’d even venture to point out how this whole canto has Yi Sang’s narration take forefront even over Dante’s in some places, similar to Ayin narrating his own flashbacks. 

There’s just so much there that it’s impossible not to notice after a point. I really appreciate all of it among the insane lore drops about the City and the wonderful character development of the other Sinners beyond Yi Sang, who the chapter stands on its own for without thinking about the parallels and who is now firmly one of my favorite characters in the game. 

(Not to mention the hints about Dante, which considering all of this just solidifies my theory that they’re Ayin, but that’s a whole other post.)

Nonetheless, whether or not my theory is true, this is so good, and what I feel like is just the start of them giving Ayin’s character more room to breathe and context for Lobcorp he never got before.

[cyborg-squid]

Limbus Company... Shouldn't Have Been A Gacha

For a couple big reasons, and I say this as someone who loves Limbus Company (it was actually my entry into PMoons stuff).

The First is that I feel PMoon kinda bit off more than it could chew with making a gacha because those tend to attract much broader audiences, due to their ostensibly 'free' nature, and with that wider audience come baked in expectations. There's the korean incel drama, yes, and on a much smaller level (and a more personally annoying one) you have the waifu-brained Redditor types.

There's also the fact that, early on in Limbus' release, there were a lot of hasty patches and running around fixing things, as well as Uptie 4 feeling tacked on and not fully developed. Which isn't unexpected, per se, and it's good to be attentive on the issues, but I feel like live-service games tend to be held to a higher standard, which Limbus didn't initially meet, and I feel that that bar could've been lower if that game was instead in Early Access or '1.0'. * And I think I speak for not only myself but a lot of Limbus fans when I say I'd rather pay a one time price, aka buying the game, than have a 'free' gacha game whose gacha system feels disconnected from parts of the game?

*(I don't know a lot about PMoons development history, but I think that was the case with Library of Ruina? I don't know if you'd called it a live-service game, but it did have a gradual release and progression, didn't it?)

And this brings me to the Second, which is that, while the lore reasonings behind the Identity system make sense, the majority of the Identities you're rolling for don't actually appear in the story? Many Identities are the Sinners in [blank] Corporation or [blank] Association or [blank] gang, but you don't actually see those 'characters' in the story itself, due to how the Identities operate in basically AUs.

Many other gacha games, for better and for wor Okay, I had this whole long thing written out but that doesn't matter, the point is: In Limbus, you're not rolling for new characters, you're rolling for the Sinners dressed up as interesting characters/concepts. Which ends up straddling this weird line between: the Identities offering insight into both the Sinners and the other character, but also not being enough of either? Some are better, or feel more complete, or more tied in with their Cantos, than others (N-Corp Sinclair, Spicebush Yi Sang, Pequod Heathcliff) but that fact remains that, for example, N-Corp Faust is not Kromer, and at no point in the main story or Canto does Faust appear as such.

I personally don't believe that, in other gacha games, every NPC should be playable (some things are better because they are unattainable), but I feel like the Limbus players currently don't have 'access' to some of the more interesting NPCs, ones that in other gachas they might be able to roll for, and the ones we do have, like Fixer Yuri and Kromer, aren't even the ones we see in the story, it's them met halfway by a Sinner.

I don't really know where I was going with. I just feel that PMoon kinda shot itself in the foot by making a gacha game instead of a different sort of live-service or continuous updated game, and that the gacha system it went with isn't particularly effective.

[kc-drama-fanatic]

No Gain, No Love (2024)

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Main Actors: Shin Min Ah, Kim Young Dae, Han Ji Hyun, Lee Sang Yi

Plot: Tired of only giving money to acquaintance's weddings and discriminated against her single status at work, Son Haeyeon decides to find a groom who will agree to a contract relationship (time: one day). Kim Ji Wook, Haeyeon's neighbourhood nemesis and convenience store clerk, is somehow the only one available who agrees to her impulsive plan. Months later, the fake couple reunite and have to navigate workplace shenanigans, friends and their identity mishaps, and falling in love with each other. (9/10)

Relationship: The main leads were very nice together. The romance was slow and gradual, and the development was natural. The friendships/sisterhood between the 3 main female characters was heartwarming. I'm incredibly excited and impatient for the spin-off sequel focusing on the second lead couple, who had such a touching yet hilarious story. There was of course the last-minute incredibly unfortunate reveal of a big secret that had impulsive reactions and repurcussions, but no big, implausible drama just for drama's sake, which I really appreciated. (8.5/10)

Characters: The characters and their individualities, without their romantic/familial relationships considered, are funny, flawed, interesting people that I really enjoyed watching in this. (8.8/10)

Favourite Quote/Scene: The 2nd lead finding out what his mother reads. This poor man would combust if he knew about fanfiction. or tumblr.

Final Thoughts: At 12 1-hour episodes, this was a (now-)average length drama, yet it seemed to fly by. The comedy, romance, and drama all mixed together perfectly, making this a solidly interesting, funny, well-done drama. (8.5/10)

[calitsnow]

Canto IV part 3 spoilers.

I just finished Chapter IV and my god what an emotional journey, I think this is my favorite Canto so far. I'm still so emotional that I need to share the details that stood out to me the most or touched me the most:

Something else; I'm sure the role each sinner held in Yi Sang's memories was not a coincidence, kind of as if depending on each sinner's affinity; the most appropriate role had been assigned to them and therefore a lot of things to analyze if this is the case.

I didn't think I was going to see or needed the Hong Lu / Yi Sang friendship but my god their interactions were so cute and touching I really liked this development between the two. The ending image was really the cherry on the cake when I saw that Hong Lu was the one who came to keep Yi Sang company. In short, I love their friendships and I can't help but think of this very funny meme that illustrated the two visions of nihilism using the characters lmao, two opposites that attract each other. Wholesome.

This is why I immediately want to emphasize the role of Outis in the memories: she was not the traitor in Yi Sang's memories since Dongrang was there and therefore played his role, but I still find it suspicious that 'she was the only one of the sinners (apart from Yi Sang but these are his memories) to have dialogue when the traitor is revealed.

The final boss song is just extraordinary, not to mention the OST which was just to die for but the end song! Mili has really surpassed herself.

I HATE Gubo because even though he "protected" (and again this is a big word) Yi Sang and seems to care about him, I only see that as manipulation and a way to exploit Yi Sang by taking advantage of his unstable mental state for his own benefit. Worst of all he locked Yi Sang up to work while putting him on drugs. It's really awful.

Speaking of the captivity and role of Yi Sang I can’t help but think that Yi Sang and Yosano from Bungou Stray Dogs look alike — in the sense that they are born prodigies (Yi Sang because of his genius and Yosano because of her gift) who have been exploited for their talent and kept at one point in a white room)

Speaking of genius I wonder if the lyrics in the song Lament “If you wanted me to carry on our dreams. Why’d you curse me with “you’re a natural born genius” refers directly to Yi Sang? Because it fits him so much.

But fortunately Yi Sang has found a new home. And oh boy I smile so much when Yi Sang admitted the bus and the Sinners were his new home and mates. It’s so touching seeing that Yi Sang walked without goal in mind or a place to return to, he just walked until he finds a new place where to belong and it happens to be the bus I am so emotional right now because it’s screaming found family and I love that!

In Conclusion awesome Canto I can’t wait for the next one!

Side note: Rodya, Don and Sinclair are so cute together on the end credit image! She looks so much like their mom.

+ I am sorry but at the end Dante is such a parent commenting on how the sinners are eating.

[obey-me-headquarters]

I've started playing Limbus Company and omg it's SO good!! The art is fucking fantastic, like no joke the best art I've seen in a mobile game in a LONG time!! Wtf Project Moon where did you get the money for this??

Anyway, I'm not too far in. I'm in the first dungeon. I really vibe with the characters! There's kind of a lot of them, so it's hard to have hard opinions about any of them. But I know that my favorite character is Dante!!

God Dante is PEAK character design! Before I played the game I saw a sceneshot of Dante sitting in a character and thought they were like, the final boss or some important character because their design fucks so hard. But nope!! You get to play as them!! Aren't we so luckily!!

God, their aesthetic? Amazing. The ticking click, the bright red suit, etc. I really love how gender neutral they are too! Besides using they/them pronouns they're build is also very androgynous which I appreciate!

The story is also really really good, from what I've seen so far.

The only downside or criticism I have of the game is the constant battles. There's not a good battle to story ratio, and I often end up feeling frustrated when I get like 5 lines before being thrown into another battle. I feel like the developers could have taken out half the battles and there would still be a lot. You can't even do all the battles in one go and then go back to read the story like in Obey Me. I found myself on multiple occasions stopping playing just because I got so fed up with how many battles there are.

Anyway, really like the characters! I feel like the developers kinda had a set plan and story for each character, which I really like! There's also lots of characters to choose from! My favorite so far are of course, my darling Dante. Vergilius is also so baby girl coded. Like, he's an old tired man looking after a group of rambunctious adults, how could I not love him?!? I also caught the reference to Dante's inferno, very clever.

I also really like Faust! She's amazing, adore her. And omg Outis!! You're so straight laced! I found myself liking her more and more as time goes on. She's the only one who respects Dante's "authority" and I love that. I also really like Gregor, my other baby girl. I love how he tries to be nice but it's obvious he's kinda out of practice.

I love Meursault, even though I haven't seen much of him. Idk, I just love stoic characters! (I wanna overwhelm him with pleasure. Make him cry for it.) And Don is just adorable. Like her energy. I also just love the look of Yi Sang, even though I haven't seen much of him in game yet. Idk, I think it's the tired eyes that makes me want to take care of him.

Anyway, as yall can probably tell I love a lot these characters I lot. We I get further into the game I might write some smut for them.

[consumeronionbulletin]

Our Beloved Summer (2021-22)

A well written second chance romance that just feels real. I enjoyed the characters and just loved spending time with them, even when they were clearly going through it.

What Worked

The writing was top notch, but the two leads made this show come alive. The actors all put in the work to make sure all of the layers shown through with these characters. Every episode lets you see a new faucet to all of the characters and their relationships. It feels almost like an adaptation to a much larger story, which is an amazing trick to pull off in any drama.

Also, I normally hate love triangles, but the way this show did it worked. Mainly because it never felt like a dramatic love triangle, it just felt like a bunch of people in a mess because of their feelings. And that's always more interesting.

What Didn't Work

I don't think there were any major missteps, but there were choices that some people like and others won't. This is a slow, slice of life show that tries to ground itself in real life. For some people, like me, this is going to hit them right away. For other people, it'll seem boring, or hard to get into, and that's okay.

The Performances

Choi Woo-shik as ("the artist") Choi Ung. If you've seen him in Parasite, you already know he's a darn good actor. He makes a character that's kind of a loser (especially at the start of the show) seem instantly appealing, because you can tell there's more to him than you see on the surface. Fun to watch in every scene, and the way the character subtlety changes over the series is just fascinating.

Kim Da-mi as ("grumpy overachiever") Kook Yeon-soo. I loved this performance. The character is portrayed as this uptight, stuck-up person (even in High School), but (like Choi Woo-shik's performance), you can tell there's more going on under the surface. While Choi Ung's character has a hidden strength and charm, with Yeon-soo, it's the vulnerability and compassion that's hidden, and it's so good to watch these layers get uncovered over the series.

Kim Sung-cheol as ("side character") Kim Ji-ung. He played a similar quiet character in Do You Like Brahms? and he did an even better job of making him seem layered and interesting (it helps that the writing overall is better). This performance will probably shine on rewatches when you get his entire story and can see where things were hinted at early on. Fun to watch, even when he was a little mopey.

Roh Jeong-eui as ("super idol") NJ. I loved this performance too. The actor did a great job of playing someone who was forced to have feelings and care about people, even though she was way too cool for any of them. I liked how she interacted with Choi Ung, and pretty much all of the other characters as well. Just fun and interesting in every scene.

Park Won-sang as Choi Ho / Choi Ung's father. and Seo Jeong-yeon as Lee Yeon-ok / Choi Ung's mother. These actors were delightful. Just brought warmth whenever they were on screen.

Cha Mi-kyung as Kang Ja-kyung / Kook Yeon-soo's grandma. I loved the scenes we got with her, especially with Yeon-soo.

Park Jin-joo as Lee Sol-yi. I always like seeing this actor. The character work was solid, but the writing for her scenes (and so her performance) was a little uneven. She was funny and great to watch with Yeon-soo and sometimes with other characters, but the stuff with her and Eun-ho was kind of hit and miss.

Ahn Dong-goo as ("manager buddy") Gu Eun-ho. His performance wasn't exactly weak, just not nearly as good as the other people he had to share a scene with. Might have been improved by giving the character more depth, but I would still rather have an additional scene learning more about any other character, which is why he never got that.

The documentary team. The side characters (Ji-ung's boss, writer-nim, Ji-ung's junior, and the intern) were all well developed and it was nice when they got screentime. A good example of how this show treated even minor characters pretty well.

RUN Company people. I feel like this group was a little weaker, especially Yeon-soo's boss and the gossipy coworkers. At the start, they felt a little tropey and mostly interchangeable. By the end of the show, they were in a good place, but it took a long time for them to get interesting.

TL; DR:

A hard hitting romance drama that's not afraid to take its time. Definitely worth a try if you're even a little interested in this.

[upvotem]

hiii what are your thoughts on the sinners also have u played lobcorp or ruina?

hii maddie i did finally beat lobcorp a few days ago after MONTHS and i'm planning on playing ruina too! idk if you wanted my opinion on all of the sinners but *smirks*

i'll skip donqi and heath since i already talked about them but as for the other guys

yi sang! i like your funny words magic man. he is a fun autism guy i'll admit i don't have a lot to say about him and he's probably the sinner i'm the least interested in BUT i still like him a lot and he gets really cool fanart on twitter

faust! my friend faustie waustie. i love her to bits i initially thought she would be my favorite because i tend to like the main girls even if this is an ensemble cast and she's still in my top 5 definitely. i think her being super arrogant is cutieful and the "faust only knows what faust knows" line was really funny. i'm definitely looking forward to seeing how much she actually is aware of she is so mysterious and pretty

DON QUIXOTE!!! already said it but the loml

ryoshu! I LOVE HER she's really really awesome i love her sangria thing and she was really funny in hell's chicken. love crazy insane sadistic characters love her design love her fixation with gore she is the best ever

meursalt! i actually didn't care for him much at first, i thought his personality was too similar to yi sang and i didn't really like his design (i like twinks mb) but i've warmed up to him a lot mostly because of the fanart with him and don quixote i think they are a funny duo. and i think he's neat too he's just got that autistic swag

hong lu! well first of all she's a trans woman to me so jot that down. i honestly don't have a ton of thoughts on hong lu yet but she is very cutieful sweetieful and has a sick design and i'm looking forward to learning more about her

HEATHCLIFF!!! also the loml

ishmael! she is so funky i love her hair and her cute little bows and i adore her personality, how she seems down to earth and reasonable but is willing to fight with heathcliff to the death over nothing it's awesome. looking forward to her chapter i love ocean symbolism and imagery GRAHHHH also she has the best egos

rodya! YAY RODYA she is so pretty and such an intriguing character. i really love the dynamics she has with the others especially gregor and sinclair and i love her personality being someone who wants to be something important and i wish she got more focus in canto ii but hopefully she will get more development down the line in future chapters focusing on her

sinclair! she is also a woman to me. like literally her icon is an egg cracking LIKE... one of my faves tbh i forgot to mention her i really love characters who are meek but have berserk buttons where they go crazy violet insane ballistic like it's one of my favorite character tropes and she was awesome in canto iii go queen

outis! she's seriously awesome a queen... i don't have too much to say about her so far unfortunately but she's really pretty and i love that people draw her kind of milfy like so true. i think her being a suck up to dante is really funny and idk i jsut think she's neat

gregor! REALLY awesome guy i love his laidback personality compared to the others and i love his quips and his story so far is really good he's a really interesting and well written character za za za zamuza

idk if you wanted me to talk about dante, vergil and charon but i'm tired so i won't BUT I LOVE THOSE THREE TWO THEYRE AWESOME

[thecountesstribe]

WHY HER REVIEW AND SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

So WhyHer?/Why Oh Soo Jae? ended today and I could honestly say I'm happy with it. I didn't expect it to get so heavy but it was great nonetheless. Plot was a solid 8/10, pacing was a 8/10, characters were a 9/10 and the cast was a 10/10. The actors and actresses really drove the plot and characters home for me. SEO HYUN JIN DESERVES SOME AWARDS FOR HER PERFORMANCE. Let's not kid ourselves here, she took the character Oh Soo Jae and did it absolute justice. Hwang In Youp also did Gong Chan justice. KUDOS TO THEM!!!

Gong Chan honestly has my heart😭. Some people said Choi Tae Guk went out to easy and I could see why they said that but honestly no, he absolutely suffered. He trampled over people's lives without remorse or simply just because, for his own personal glory, gain, amusement and vindication and he went out absolutely pitiful. It was so satisfying to watch how everything he worked for crumble around him. His goal was within grasp and to watch the rug be pulled out from under him left him absolutely tormented. He couldn't face it. His death was fickle and satisfying. Juwan and his buddies are most likely suffering and in jail for what they did to Eunseo and it is deserved. The assemblyman and the Ceo of Hansu are also in the dumps. Couldn't have ended better. No doubt they're also in jail. I didn't have a problem with the romance aspect of the show either. When I read the genre of drama and saw who the male lead and female lead were I put two and two together. Besides I've seen enough older man/younger woman tropes, I was kinda glad to see it reversed for a change. Plus Gong Chan had his life together and he was pursing her so it was a win for me. I don't go into a show with romance as a tag and then complain about it, I knew what I signed up for. It would've been weird if he was fresh out of high school but that wasn't the case. He's 28 if I remember correctly and she's 37. Two adults so it didn't bother me.

The legal clinic is honestly squad goals and the found family trope for Soo Jae with them, Gong Chan brothers, Song Mi Rim and Doc Joon Hee is honestly *chef's kiss*. She got people who would have her back regardless. Yoon Sang was being a little shit but he came through in the end, I hope he's happy.

Y'all look at the material 😭😭😭😭. They're healing, happy, healthy, together and thriving and that's honestly all I wanted. Some viewers were disappointed with the lack of the "I love you" scene but in my opinion it would've been cliche and over-rated. Gong Chan has been declaring his love for her since the beginning and she returned the favor in episode 9. Besides I think "I'll always be by your side no matter what", "you could hate me just don't go anywhere" and "the same goes for you too, don't go anywhere" is so much better than "I love you". It wasn't an opening ending which I'm also grateful for cause those two, with everything they've been through, deserve a win. Safe to assume they've been together for the entire 6 month period timeskip. I'm glad Oh Soo Jae is happier. Her character development was stellar. She was never a cold character, it was just the environment and the people she was around. My only complaint is the way they did Jae Yi. I have never and I mean never sobbed like that for a character that had less than 15 minutes of screen time. It literally came out of nowhere!! I was expecting Chan to die cause he was so damn protective of Soo Jae, was mentally preparing myself for it then the writer took the kid. I was flabbergasted!

Anyways the show gets a 9/10 from me and I would watch again (just not episode 11, 12, 13, definitely 14 and maybe the first half of 15) cause I'm gonna protect my peace🤣🤣😭😭. I'll miss them! Also this calls for celebration HWANG IN YOUP CHARACTER FINALLLYYYYYYY GOT THE GIRL😭😭😭😭.

[rye-views]

Extraordinary Attorney Woo. 이상한 변호사 우영우. 8/10

I would recommend this drama to my friends. I would rewatch this drama.

I love all the familiar faces from Hospital Playlist, Yumi's Cells, Vincenzo, Big Mouth, Hometown Cha Cha, etc. Lee Bong Ryun was casted perfectly for her character. I love the illustrations at the end of each episode. I love Geurami's smirk when Junho asks about Young Woo for the first time. I love Su Yeon's reaction to being called Spring Sunshine. I also love Young Woo for observing the kind acts done for her like that. I love how Su Yeon develops in her care for Young Woo. Such a tough love deep care. The meeting room view is beautiful. omg the girls who support girls vibe in the gender discrimination trial. I love it.

LMaoo at one of the moms of the kidnapped children thinking about their kid wanting to go to law school. How real. Lmao at Jun ho's reaction to Young Woo's confessions. Lmao at Young Woo understanding dad jokes. Lmao at Young Woo mentioning her kissing troubles in the elevator. Young Woo and her dad first discussing kissing is so amusing to me.

Young Woo and Jun Ho's soft moments together make my heart flutter.

It saddened me to see the hakwon students getting the convenience store food and so late.

Wow the recap at the end shows me how much has happened. It is amazing that when Young Woo went off about aquariums being bad, Junho just immediately said that he didn't know, instead of getting defensive.

Kim Hierora is pretty. Ha Yoon Kyung has always been pretty. Young Woo is so cute for being herself. Her mannerisms are so cute to me. Hwa Yeong is like Shin Se Kyung and Lee Yeon Hee look vibes. Jung Suk Yong, Kang Ki Young, and Lee Sang Yi give me similar vibes.

This drama makes me quite emotional in terms of empathy. Your child has never spoken but all of a sudden, she memorized law. Imagine how that must feel for the dad. Young Woo calming down with whale sounds on the train is represented so well to relieve even my anxiety. Geurami rebelling in school is actually way more badass than how I see Americans rebelling. Min Woo and Su Yeon arguing over the treatment of Woo Young is interesting because they have valid arguments. It's amusing to have Young Woo's whale sound hearing to be like a That's so Raven moment. The constant undermining, being overlooked, and abuse are themes I understand. Another job Young Woo can have is a quiz show host.

When it's mentioned that Young Woo is really smart in some aspects and not in others, it's interesting that we even have to categorize it like that. She's smart to an extreme with the law, so it makes her stand out while in other ways, she stands out to the other extreme for not being capable. If we lessen the extreme, every person is like that. Good and bad at things. Why should the other characters feel the conflict of wanting to help her or not?

[offshore-brinicle]

Ishmael going from hitting Dante's head to try and get them working again in the April fools day cutscene to telling Outis not to talk about them like they're a machine in 5.5-2. I love character development.

Also! The image that briefly flashes during their 5.5-2 overheating is the same as the one in the AFD cutscene - though it stays longer and is much more visible. Given it appeared when their internals - specifically the mirror, given how they see glimpses of different mirror worlds - were being messed with, that has some interesting implications about if it was really Dante speaking during that moment of 5.5-2.

WELL DAMN I ACTUALLY WAS THINKING ABOUT HOW WE'RE GOING TO BE CLOSE TO APRIL FOOLS

Honestly this isn't the first time that what initially seems as an offhand joke ended up being foreshadowing, Sinclair's maracas dance and Yi Sang's potato also counting. In regards of if it was Dante really talking, my friend has brought up before that it likely has to do with the concentration of Golden Boughs means they are becoming more attuned to Carmen, the source of the Distortion and the Light, so it might have actually been Carmen herself speaking

[lycheesqueeze]

5 Non-Romance Kdramas

I know. I know. Everyone wants sweet romance scenes. But every now and then we need to give other Dramas space. Dramas that shine with a good plot, interesting themes or storylines, diverse characters or thrilling vibes. I love to watch romance series, that's without a doubt, but I also really enjoy action, thriller or horror Dramas.

With that being said, I collected a few of my personal non-romance Kdramas, that focus on different genres and non-romantic storylines (but still offer some relationships between the characters).

Let me know what you think about them and if you have other suggestions!

- Sweet Home [스위트홈] // 2020 by Lee Eung-Bok & Jang Young-Woo // 10 Episodes

If you haven't watche Sweet Home yet, are you even a Kdrama Fan? It is based on the same name Webtoon and tells the story about the occupants of Green Home Building Compelx who get locked up inside as strange things start to happening outside. People start to turn into monsters of every sort, starting with heavy nosebleeding and fainting. There are many main characters in this story but it mostly evolves around Cha Hyun-Su who is a Hikikomori ( a loner, or a person who never leaves the house) and mobbing victim. As the story moves on many more interesting characters are introduced such as Lee Eun-Hyuk a medical student who becomes the leader of the group, the mysterious hitman Pyeon Sang-Wook or the charismatic firefighter Seo Yi-Kyeong.

It is definitely a horro series so if you can't watch things like that I don't recommend it. It has some jump scares as well as bloody scenes so if you are sensitive towards these pictures please refer from watching. It also needs a trigger warning because mental health problems are shown. But if you can handle these type of storylines than you will love Sweet Home!

Main Actresses and Actors: Song Kang as Cha Hyun-Su // Lee Do-Hyun as Lee Eun-Hyuk // Lee Si-Young as Seo Yi-Kyeong // Lee Jin-Wook as Pyeon Sang-Wook

- Vagabond [배가본드] // 2019 by Yoo In-Sik // 16 Episodes

Now this one remains one of the most thrilling and interesting Kdramas I have ever watched. The story evolves around a mysterious plane crash, terror organizations and bribed politicians. The main hero of this series Cha Dal-Gun (played by the incredible Lee Seung-Ri) wants to get revenge for his little nephew and with the help of Go Hae-Ri who works for the Korean National Intelligence Service he tries to discover the people who are behind the plane crash. It's a Drama which definitely has action movie vibes to it.

This Drama is extremely suitable for binge watching so be aware!

Main Actresses and Actors: Lee Seung-Gi as Cha Dal-Gun // Bae Suzy as Go Hae-Ri // Shin Sung-Rok as Gi Tae-Ung

- Save Me [구해줘] // 2017 by Kim Sung-Soo // 16 Episodes

This Drama is about a young girl who moves with her family from Seoul to the suburbs of Daegu. After the death of her younger brother, her parents get dragged into a religious cult and she becomes the main target of the cult leader who wants to form her into his own 'spiritual mother'. As her father gets completely brain washed Sang-Mi is unable to escape. Han Sang-Hwan (a former school mate) and his friends eventually try to save her from the cult.

I think I never saw a similar plot before so this one is really interesting to watch. It has a lot of untypical style choice, the area it plays in is rarely seen in other Kdramas. Most of the characters have the typical Satori (사투리) Dialect which is also rare. It is thrilling and has excellent cliffhangers so this one as well has binge watching potential.

Main Actresses and Actors: Ok Taec-Yeon as Han Sang-Hwan // Seo Yea-Ji as Im Sang-Mi // Woo Do-Hwan as Suk Dong-Chul

- The School Nurse Files [보건교사 안은영 ] // 2020 by Lee Kyoung-Mi // 6 Episodes

The School Nurse Files is about a woman who is able to see 'Jellies' (which are human desires, spirits and feelings) that appear in the school she is working at. Her job is to keep the students safe and try to discover the source of those 'Jellies'. She befriends the son of the founder of that school Hong In-Pyo who has a magic protection shield against those creatures. Along her way she meets many other new friends. This Drama is so weird that you just can't stop watching it. It's plotline, characters and features are totally unique and everything but normal. It feels like a different universe which it totally is.

I highly recommend this one if you need a quick pause from your usual Kdrama Storylines. Because it has only 6 episodes it doesn't take away much time but is still really worthy to watch.

Main Actresses and Actors: Jung Yu-Mi as Ahn Eun-Young // Nam Joo-Hyuk as Hong In-Pyo

- Extra Curricular [인간수업] // 2020 by Kim Jin-Min // 10 Episodes

The last one on this list is a short Drama as well. It tells the story about a highschooler named Oh Ji-Soo who is an unpopular kid in his school and without parents. As he needs to make money (and he wants to make a lot) he runs a highly controversial business. His secret gets discovered by his class mate Bae Gyu-Ri and he is forced to work together with her in order to silence her. As the story develops both of them get into dangerous situations and their secret business is about to get exposed.

This Drama in my opinion is a bit controversial but still worth a watch. As it tells a story we normally don't hear and also talks about serious topics without glorifying them it can have the potential to make people think. If you have no problems watching violent scenes and if you are not sensitive about themes like prostitution you should definitely give it a try.

Main Actress and Actor: Kim Dong-Hee as Oh Ji-Soo // Park Joo-Hyun as Bae Gyu-Ri // Jung Da-Bin as Seo Min-Hee

[drivingsideways]

Kdrama women I love (Part 2)

 Part 1 (here)

Sorry, not sorry, I just can’t stop thinking about them!

Cha Soo-hyun from Signal: Imagine having a powerhouse like Kim Hye-soo on your cast and then saddling her with an awkward/tragic workplace romance in lieu of idk actual character development that happens ON SCREEN as opposed to off it. I mean, Signal is excellently made, but there’s no denying that Cha Soo-hyun got a raw-ish deal. I would have loved to see her grow into the badass cop she is when we meet her first, but most of her time onscreen is spent reacting to events set in motion by The Men, and just, like, why. In my head, the perfect fic for Cha Soo-hyun would cover the years after Lee Jae-han’s disappearance and before Park Hae-young’s entry; so much of her struggle in the early years was to be taken seriously as a cop, and I want to see her doing that without Lee Jae-han’s help. I would also NOT be opposed to a post canon OT3; it could be incredibly fun to write the tangled dynamics of that, especially now that Cha Soo-hyun isn’t the wide eyed rookie that Lee Jae-han knew, and Park Hae-young’s YEARNING to belong would neatly fold into what his sunbaes could offer. 

Ahn Young-yi from Misaeng: My god, this woman suffered in Misaeng. I just want the fic in which she lets herself be angry. I fully understand her choices in Misaeng- the tightrope that she’s walking in the hopes of survival- but I won’t deny that I felt robbed of the satisfaction of seeing her hurl a rock or three at the heads of her misogynist colleagues and boss. There’s probably a fic out there about how Young-yi starts to build her networks with the other women at One International, and how she climbs the ladder to power. I want this to be a story about women making space for the ones after them, and pulling them up with them. It’s the story she deserves, along with all the other women in that series, whose stories were sidelined to make space for The Men. 

Yoon Hee-soo from Into The Ring: That woman is going to be President in ten years and nobody will convince me otherwise. Love her pragmatism, her wicked, trollish sense of humour, her ambition and the fact that she cares deeply but isn’t performative about it. She’s the one I would trust to Get Things Done, just as I would trust Goo Se-ra to rock the comfortable status-quo. Together (and with the intrepid Gong-myung) they will CHANGE THE WORLD. Where’s the fic, world, where??? ( side-eyes self) ps. I hear there’s a season 2 in the works and if it doesn’t give me some version of this fic, I shall be very sad. 

Jang Ro-sa from Hospital Playlist : WHERE is the 70 episode show about the Life of Jang Ro-sa? I loved her from the first episode where she’s so matter-of-fact about her marriage of convenience; how on earth did she manage to raise a bunch of kids who ALL fell in love with God first and forever? Why didn’t she become a pianist? What are she and Jeong-su doing on that pilgrimage/ road trip ? I just want to know ALL of it. Someone write it * puppy face *

Kim Sang-sook from Into the Ring- Jang Hye-jin brings so much sparkling charm to her role as Se-ra’s mom, I just fell crazily in love with her. I just love how much she’s just herself and unfazed by other people’s opinions of her; i love that she fucks up on the regular but with STYLE. I think that’s a lovely trait that she’s passed on to her daughter- one that will carry her through her chosen life of MAKING THE WORLD BETTER. Anyways, where’s the fic where Sang-sook gets involved in some pyramid marketing scheme and Gong-myung has to bail her out of it and they both have to keep it secret from Se-ra and her dad? I demand this be put in my eyeballs AT ONCE. 

Do Hae-won from Beyond Evil: My god, a villain’s villain. Gil Hae-yeon puts the fear of the devil into you every time she slithers onto the screen with her weaponized cloying, subservient femininity. She seems so brittle, but beneath it is the hard rock of years of bitterness. The show doesn’t bother to do more than hint at the reasons why- because of course, female villains are never afforded the interiority of their male counterparts, or even chance for understanding- but I think Gil Hae-yeon manages to convey both her resentment at this world ruled by men and their rules. and her contempt for them as a class in every scene. I wonder how things would have been different- if they would have been- if she’d had a daughter, instead of a son. Anyways, an absolutely riveting performance, and I think that’s the only reason I am sort of tempted to contemplate a post canon fic for her. How does she survive jail? What does she do after? Who’s going to write it for me? (SIGH.)

Jung Geum-ja from Hyena- I don’t think a lot needs to be said about why Jung Geum-ja is literally one of the best female characters ever to be written in a kdrama. Kim Hye-soo is in her element in her role as this half-gangster/ half- vengeful angel, 100% unforgettable woman. Love to see sexpot Ju Ji-hoon fold like a pack of cards in the face of that unbearably sexy combination of wit, grit and panache; but ALSO love watching every woman in a radius of 5 kms faint from lust and longing to be her and be with her at the same time. Luckily for me, I don’t have to write any of the fic, everyone who’s watched the show just head over to Gin’s AO3 page and treat yourself. 

[sarangkstars]

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha

It is a charming, engaging and healing drama and it entertains us, makes us passionate and makes us reflect. It has great characters, all well build and develop. It was always a pleasure to enter that tiny shore town and watch every quirky people that populate there, know their stories and support each one of them. You will love the cozy warm feeling and the sense of healing and appreciation of life.

Shin Mina as Yoon Hye-jin - I am so happy to see a romantic comedy with her again. She is one of my favourite actresses and I love watching her be adorable and cute. The character is strong and independent. She appears to be a cold and arrogant person but she has a huge heart and a good sense of justice.

Kim Seon-ho as Hong Du-shik - The character is passionate. Who doesn't like someone who can do everything is charismatic and attractive on top of that? 😂

The dimples couple - the chemistry between them is excellent and it was a delight to be able to watch the sweet and confident way they showed their love. And the final happy ending was so complete and satisfying.

Lee Sang-yi as Ji Seong-hyun - What I loved about Seung-hyun is that despite being part of the love triangle and being the character with unrequited love, he is a loving and nice person throughout the whole drama. And he is so beautiful just to look at. 😂