#i wish this had more episodes :( i love seojoon :((

[whomst-art-thou-whomst-whomst]

To My Star 2: We Made It Through The (vaguely rural countryside village) Wilderness

(Spoilers)

I’m glad they are splitting time between their lives. They are talking so much more openly. They are taking care of themselves. Jiwoo has an existence that doesn’t revolve around Seojoon in the village where they will retire to don’t even try me on this and Seojoon has found joy in his acting. And they didn’t do it alone. God, I love this.

More than anything else from these last episodes, I want to talk about the amazing thing the show is doing with the idea of healing from your childhood. They each have to do the work of acknowledging the issue and taking steps to care for themselves, but each helps the other to get there. They don’t fix each other, they support each other as they work on themselves. I just loved all the scenes of them communicating in a healthy way. I wish it had happened sooner, but c’est la vie. Sometimes it takes people a while to get there, and that is okay.

The sequence of Jiwoo deciding to go after Seojoon to apologize and ask for him back, being visibly panicked when he can’t find him, coupled with fears of how he would find him, and collapsing in the woods when he sees Seojoon is safe broke my heart, but between this and the crying from ep 7, we see a wakeup call has happened.

I also just think about how Jiwoo literally fainted from the relief of finding Seojoon unhurt. In the later scenes, we see his growth, his efforts to express himself clearly and openly, but here he involuntarily shows how he feels better than he could ever say.

With Seojoon’s emotional support, Jiwoo gets to cry. I loved that he comes to Seojoon at last and still asks for Seojoon to come the rest of the way to him—he wants it to be their decision together. He gets closure with his ex-girlfriend (her making them couple bracelets is an insanely sweet touch, I’m still bitter she didn’t end up with Da Kyung but I’m glad she heals through the course of the show too).

Poor baby Seojoon. I give the actor and director credit for the staging and brevity of his phone call with his dad—their conversation tells us so much about their dynamic in so few words. His parents don’t really understand his mental health issues and don’t want the “trouble” of supporting him through bad press times. Well he’s got a new family now, you pricks, protective papa bear Kim Pilhyun is probably keeping tabs on this.

In terms of what we learn about Seojoon’s child acting period: I’m sure kids are capable of taking on tough dramatic roles, but they still need the adults around them to guide them through it and look after them. At the very least, he should have had a parent or selected guardian on set, this shows he’s been in rough acting situations from the start and he just takes it because he always has had to. We finally learn about the glass breaking trigger. To repeat what I said for ep 7-8, thanks, I hate it. It makes me furious—as a human being, as an aunt, as someone who’s worked in childcare, I wanted to go hug this kid, this is gross negligence. They just left him, a child of what, maybe 8-10 years old, standing on an elevated set with no way of getting down safely, and you don’t see anyone come running when the light breaks. The sound of glass breaking triggers the trauma of that time, the memory of the glass light breaking as he stood there—he was alone, uncared for, unprotected.

These revelations support why Jiwoo’s particular form of caring helps Seojoon heal his inner child: by being present, through little actions showing that he pays attention, and—as we’ve seen from the start—through his instinctive protectiveness of Seojoon. I’m so glad that it’s implied they are having rough conversations like this one while snuggled up together in the safety of their bed. It’s meaningful too that Jiwoo narrates that glass breaking story—it must have been painful for Seojoon to tell it, even wrapped up in Jiwoo’s arms, and so Jiwoo will help him carry it (I love that even though Seojoon is always hug-tackling and cooing while Jiwoo grumbles, it’s also 9 times out of 10 that Jiwoo is enthusiastically the big spoon when they cuddle—it makes so much sense for them).

I still think the boys need therapy, but it’s good to see them taking care of themselves. The show also shows us the importance of having a strong support network: Pilhyun and Homin are fantastic, and Da Kyung, Yoo Ha and Yoon Seul are queens. They all take care of the boys when they are struggling and the ladies track down the bean-hating little shit who snitched to the news. Can we please have a rural crime-solving lesbian couple spin-off, I’m begging, just hear me out—anyway. Their intervention means Jiwoo gets to be treated as one of the villagers, his parents’ legacy is no longer tarnished, he no longer lives there as a refuge but by choice, and he’s not isolated any longer.

(—and that beautiful moment where Yoon Seul is sitting next to Jiwoo and says so softly that Seojoon is a shining person??? Bc it’s a brief moment of magic and grace between two exes who hurt each other badly but who are now at peace, her words are giving a blessing, an “I see it now, what you see in him”, and telling Jiwoo she’s happy for him without actually needing to say it, and it’s immediately and perfectly followed by Da Kyung going, “damn right, my kid is a treasure”)

We did it, folks. We survived and now I need to go watch this all over again. Give our actors and the director and the staff altogether all the awards, this was phenomenal.

[tinnchan]

I just rewatched the last scene of episode 8 (as a person who loves pain does lol) and I can’t help but notice that all the messages that seojoon sent jiwoo weren’t even a little bit mean. For a man that was left with a tiny little note, he still managed to make all the messages about jiwoo. Like, if he was ok, wishing him happy bday and a merry christmas etc. It just goes to show that seojoon always puts other peoples feelings before his. And because he’s used to people leaving, he automatically thinks that jiwoo left because he did something wrong. God it must be so sad living your whole life without feeling the love of someone and then when you do have it, boom, they leave. It’s always like that for him and I just want to hug him so tight. Now I’m sad.

IDK how you did it nonnie. I need to like...gif some angst scenes for some edits and stuff and I feel like I am not ready to screengrab those scenes yet. Choosing to live in the street-cheek-touch scene for some more time instead.

IKR?! You expect the messages to go more frantic and angry and resigned but they never do. It's just worry and care. Especially the birthday message about wanting Jiwoo to order food and not cook it himself for a day. He just wants Jiwoo to rest...this is??? WTF. That was so fcking unnecessary, show.

All Seojoon wants is for Jiwoo to be ok. There's so many layers to this. The main one is of course, that Seojoon will always put Jiwoo over his own feelings (for better or for worse, but that's another discussion).

Another layer is that this was also Seojoon's atittude vis-a-vis his parents from what we can gather in s1. He cannot resent them. All he feels for them is longing and pain. He is not angry. He is just crying over saffron risotto.

Finally, I think that Seojoon is also inherently a very empathetic person. He clocks people very easily and can recognize pain. Like we say this phrase easily for characters it's almost a cliche but he genuinely sees the best in people. You really have to fucking push him to the absolute limit for his more ruthless side to come through. This is what happened to his ex best friend-actor guy who was ready to let Seojoon take the fall for everything in s1. Seojoon had to be pushed to the very limit, kept giving him chances after chances before finally pulling the plug on that friendship.

[incandescentflower]

Another couple of emotional episodes from To My Star

I am torn because obviously it is a good drama if I can't stop thinking about it, but still, there are some choices in the story I wish were different.

I can't get past the fact that Jiwoo slept with Seojoon and then was so outright cruel to him, especially if his reasoning was simply that he thought he was holding Seojoon back and that he would fade away because he didn't value himself enough to think he could hold a long term place in Seojoon's life.

I think I could have dealt with that reasoning if not for how he has treated Seojoon in the present. But also, once Seojoon showed up and showed he still loved him and was continuing to try, what is his reasoning for pushing him away? I have turned over in my head that Jiwoo is not a reliable narrator in terms of understanding his own feelings and actions and I do wonder if this thing with his parents was part of his leaving and if not, part of him pushing Seojoon away. It seems like that whole situation would be at the forefront of his mind as he has moved back there, he had been looking for more scandals for Seojoon and the reporter said something about how Jiwoo must have known this was a possibility because he always thinks of the worst case scenario.

But if that is true, why not have Jiwoo acknowledge it in his own POV?

I do think some of the earlier pain could have been edited so that we didn't get 8 episodes full of angst, and maybe (if we are lucky) 1 episode of resolution and 1 of some happiness. I try to remind myself that two episodes is still about half of the entire first season and there is a lot to be done there.

But jeez do I need to have some serious acknowledgement from Jiwoo to feel okay about this and not feel like Seojoon is taking him back just to have him do this again when things get hard.

It's not that I don't think that his reasonings aren't realistic or empathetic. It is because when two people are in a relationship, the most important thing is how they show each other kindness. And Jiwoo didn't seem to get that for most of the season, but maybe he will now.

The reason I loved their relationship was that they were two lonely people in pain who found each other. And yeah, it is realistic that wouldn't just get glossed over by rainbows, but Jiwoo's inability to feel how he hurt Seojoon for over 7 episodes is hard to gloss over as well. I'm glad we finally got his pov, but it feels like they should have spent more time on the reconciliation and Jiwoo's pov.

But to be clear, I appreciate the flaws and imperfections they are showing in both of them. I am not out to rail on Jiwoo, more just feeling my feels and evaluating the storytelling.

[jeonjeha]

I really should stop looking at other people’s opinions on to my star 2 bc it’s making me a bit sad to see how people are talking about the show and the creator. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and no one has to like a show, but I’ve seen some kind of disrespectful statements on multiple social media platforms. Some people have been quite mean to the director and are saying she’s ruined everything and no viewers wanted what this season was and that’s just not fair (or true). Again people can have their opinions, but I wish they wouldn’t be so rude to someone who has quite clearly put a lot of effort and love into telling a very compelling, heart wrenching, and well executed show.

I do think some BL fans, may be used to the typical BLs which quite honestly still have a lot of shallowness to them due to simply lack of resources and care put into the making of them. The shows are quite simple and the issues aren’t very complex. I have also seen a growing trend in online fandoms over the past years of people being genuinely upset that fictional characters do not act in healthy logical ways, even though that’s not even how real life works and that would make for an incredibly boring story.

No one is required to like the show, or like Jiwoo, or agree with this thought process, or even want them to get back together. But I’ve felt increasingly disillusioned with online fandom for tv and movies over the past few years in particular. If a character isn’t perfect how dare you like them and want them to get a happy ending, if a pairing isn’t the wet dream of a couple’s therapist you shouldn’t want them together and it’s bad writing if they get/stay together, if a storyline doesn’t go how you want then how dare the writer/director go in that direction no one could *ever* like that writing choice and it’s ruined everything. Everything is just SO extreme and so polarized and people seemingly don’t want to just let other people enjoy things if they aren’t (and sometimes vice versa). It’s just exhausting.

Despite all that I’ve loved this season a lot, I wish we got Jiwoo’s perspective a little earlier, but I’m not too worried about pacing issues. I think these last two episodes were really well done and the last two are gonna have a running time of like 76 minutes, so I think there’s enough time for a satisfying resolution, whatever that is (I’m still rooting for them to just talk and get back together lol). I feel like it’s pretty typical to pack a lot into the tail end of any story, and can be done well and I trust this show to do it well. Looking forward to next week!

I'm with you 😔 I try to look through the tag often to reblog everyone's gifsets and support text posts, but I can't do it right now. The take I've been seeing about how this is a bad story now just because some people don't like it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. And I'm saying this as someone who really hates sad endings and will be beyond heartbroken if tms (my feel good drama!!) doesn't have a happy ending. A story isn't bad just because some people don't like it, that's not how it works. And yet.

You're absolutely right that fandom has become quite extreme. And the more I think of it, the more I'm like... tms2 isn't even that tragic. Yes, we're all suffering, but this is because we're so attached to these characters. But in reality, what's happening between jiwoo and seojoon is a very mundane story of broken people who were in a relationship before they had time to do some healing and I've seen in the same story in real life multiple times. People are acting like this suddenly became a novella with absurd and unnecessary angst which is so far removed from the truth.

Like. I get it. S1 had such good vibes and it was so light and it was such a feel good show and people are right that this is the reason we all fell in love with it. But I hate the idea that the writers owed us the exact same vibes again and, because they didn't come through with that, then they've fucked up a perfectly good story. It's objectively not true. The storytelling this season is so grounded and captivating and heart-wrenching and overall very smart. The story doesn't want to make us happy for 10 episodes, it wants to make us think and feel and that's valid. Sometimes I wish some people would just be honest and say they hate people suffering from mental health because it's what some of these posts sound like anyway.

[leesungjongg]

Fight My Way fangirl time~

But before I start, I just need to say that this drama was different than the other dramas I’ve watched... It wasn’t too dramatic, but more realistic in a way. I kind of thought it was boring at the start (and idk if I would’ve finished watching it if it weren’t for Seojoon and also the actress who played Seolhee) but as time went on, some parts of the drama kept me interested. 

hmmm... where should I start... (contains spoilers btw, if you havent finished watching it)

Choi Aera.

didn’t deserve all that heartbreak. that guy who was studying for school and cheated on her - you suck. also i hate you moobin, i actually gave you a chance, even tho u were kinda weird

and also finding out her landlady was her mom? ahhh... that’s a lot to take in, esp when she thought she wasn’t there for most of her life (she was... aera didn’t realize it, but still... it’s a lot)

breaking up with dongman for like 2 weeks or smth I CRIED dont do this to me, you guys have been through everything since forever.. i understood why aera didn’t want him to go through w/ fighting tho

not getting jobs for almost all the interviews she went for bc she didn’t have experience like how soul-crushing was that? 

Good things:

aera’s amazingly tough ability and strength to get her through her struggles, you go girl

knows how to stand up for herself and for her friends too, will protect her loved ones without hesitating

she’s got guts and now the glory because she’s an announcer AFTER ALL THIS TIME she finally got to be one im so proud :’) thanks to the person who hired her based on her skills and enthusiasm (everyone’s gotta start somewhere, right?)

finally realized her true feelings for dongman, who annoys her all the time but is always there for her (which she deserves)

friends with seolhee who has the most beautiful heart in the world

Go Dongman. 

needed guidance w/ relationships, how could he not see that he loved aera, when he’s been by her side for so many years

had enough sense to keep hyeran out of his life when she came back around

lost his senses whenever aera did something around him. this includes getting flustered around her but  also getting defensive and protecting her whenever she gets into a fight, and also lending her a shoulder to cry on

mostly a silly character but kept something inside of him for so long, 10 years to be exact

kim tak su. i hate you too. i hope u learn not to headbutt someone ever again. 

had a wonderful relationship with his dear coach, one of my favorite characters in the drama ilu coach jangho thank u for being there for dongman for 10 YEARS you are the true mvp

wanted to make his dreams come true too, but had to choose between aera and martial arts... chose martial arts... pls refer back to 1st bullet point 

then he chose aera after beating kim taksu thank goodness. after getting headbutted and temporarily losing his hearing!!  which is so terrifying, and he still wanted to fight after that... dedication

proposed in the middle of a boxing ring? oMFG WAIT SO AERA STILL GOT PROPOSED WITH A RING(??)

Baek Seolhee.

prettiest cherry blossom. i loved her wavy/curly hair, her pretty lips, her beautiful big eyes, her pink cheeks T_T i’d do anything for u seolhee, just ask 

i didn’t know she had a dream, but her dream was to be a MOM. A MOM. i didn’t even think for a second that could be anyone’s dream, but she proved me wrong.

seriously the purest person on the show, 100% an angel. she worked so hard and did things no one asked her to do but she did it solely beause she wanted to T_T im gonna go cry now

she didn’t deserve that heartbreak from jooman :(((

got stomped on by jooman’s mom/sisters, but jooman defended her every time

finally decided to do her own thing and not to live behind someone else’s shadow -> starting up her plum wine business, :’) i will support you in everything seolhee. i hope she becomes a mom in the future.

Kim Jooman.

tries his best to provide for his soon-to-be wife (of 6 years)

gets swayed by someone who is similar to seolhee when he first fell for her

seolhee is upset, but jooman doesn’t stop?

when seolhee finally breaks it off with him, he cries for days/weeks/months. serves u right.

called himself trash bc he knows how much he messed up. glad to know that he admits to what he did

does everything to bring her back to him, including getting hit by a sizzling hot piece of meat in order to protect her from getting injured. this is probably as dramatic as this drama can get

comes from rich family, but falls for the less rich girl (and can’t get over her, probably won’t ever marry anyone else if it’s not her)

takes time to rebuild relationship with seolhee after the breakup. will wait for her if she wants to date other men bc for him, it’s only her.

Overall, I wish there were more episodes. I am satisfied with the ending, but I want more on what they do in the future. Now that they have accomplished their dreams, what’s next? 

I loved their relationship with each other, and I also love how they all stayed friends since childhood, minus Jooman, who showed up 10 years later (but even so...). It was frustrating to see what Seolhee went through when Jooman kept going after the girl at his office, it was literally tearing Seolhee apart... after she broke up, then Jooman felt pain too. I’m glad Dongman and Aera got to do what they had always wanted to do, and I’m grateful that their parents had supported them alongside too (quietly, but the support was still there). I wonder if Seolhee ever became a mom, or if Jooman ever got a promotion? and got to give more to Seolhee (even if she preferred the small things). 

[fishball-and-sweet-potato]

MLQC SongFic - Sweet Night (Gavin x MC/Reader)

Hello again! Recently, I'm hooked on this song, it was sung by my precious Kim Taehyung as OST of Itaewon Class! (even though I haven't watched it, but Park Seojoon makes me consider it lol) He's already been my bias in BTS since I was still in high school 😊. Bcs TaeTae and Gavin deserve so much love from me (hehe), I made them a collab xD. Hope you like it!

Words : 1,080

Genre : fluff, comfort

Warning : cheesy af, a bit swearing, childish MC

"Boss!!!" Kiki called me, "you know what, our show's latest episode is the most trending topic in Loveland City again!"

I looked at the news and social media portals she showed me, and I couldn't help but jumped from my chair excitedly. All the crews went to a group hug.

"Are you guys free tonight? Let's have a feast..." I exclaimed. The crews hesitated a bit, oh I almost forgot it's Friday afternoon. "...at Delicioso. Count it all on me." They cheered again. Oh my, they're really something.

Thanks to Anna's car, all of us arrived safely even after encountered a quite heavy traffic. The great thing at Delicioso was, the new buffet section had just opened. Luckily, we entered at 'Happy Hour' period, you could eat as you wish without worrying about the time limit. Happy tummy, happy money.

The atmosphere was full of joy, people chit-chatted and laughed. I just eagerly ate more and more. Until some time, my stomach felt full, but only void that surrounded my head and heart. At this point, I didn't know what to do.

"You okay?" Willow asked me, bringing back my consciousness.

"Ah, yes. I'm just really full," I replied while plastering a smile on my face.

"You haven't had a good sleep last night," Minor reminded me. Oh damn it, but this show was so important, and our hard work finally paid off!

I was just about to encourage my crews to eat more, but Anna interrupted my thought first, "we need some rest, after all. This should be enough, then." All the crews nodded in agreement. I paid for the food and was driven back home. I felt grateful having them by my side.

I intended to sleep immediately, but my mind kept reminiscing about the show. I wanted a distinctive, yet meaningful approach for this episode. The theme was about self-love, and we decided to name it 'Let Yourself Shine'. I hoped after this episode had been aired, it would raise people's awareness about consequences of bullying and people didn't need to live a life that was overshadowed by others' expectations. Bringing this theme up to the surface, I finally had a courage to tell my dad in heaven that I had done well this far and his legacy were relived. I didn't realize the tears fell to my cheek. When I opened my eyes, the ginkgo bracelet was the first thing I saw. It told me about who I should thank the most.

"Does he think about me too? Does he get hurt there?" I thought. Tonight he was supposed to finish his mission. A day before his mission started, he still helped me to be this episode's guest star. I got up from my bed, looking back and forth through the door and the window, searching for hopeful answers.

On my pillow

Can’t get me tired

Sharing my fragile truth

That I still hope the door is open

’Cause the window opened one time with you and me

Now my forever’s falling down

Wondering if you’d want me now

I didn't know for how long my mind was running wild, and finally I felt gentle wind drying my tears. The person knocked my window lightly. I ran to open the window. After a moment of confirmation, we pulled each other into a warm embrace.

"Gavin! I thought there's something terrible happened to you!" I said, pouring all my emotions to hitting him softly.

Gavin only chuckled. I was worried sick of him and here he was, teasing me, "I told you, I would always come back to you, safe and sound." He looked at me, concern filled his amber eyes, "you must be sleep-deprived."

I was embarrassed he would paid attention to that, "yes, I was too ecstatic about the show. But I'm happy it becomes a big hit!"

He smiled and responded, "I'm happy for my girl."

"Also, thank you for being our guest. I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow," I said.

"No need. Tomorrow I would just have my me time with you," he said pinching my cheek. I was rubbing his forearm, suddenly shock and sadness came to me again.

"Gavin, you promised me that you won't get hurt, right?" I asked, full of doubt. I waited for a week not to see him hurt like this.

"This isn't a big deal, really. The most important thing is, I'm finally here with you anyway," he tried to assure me, but I could only cried while rubbing his wound, hoping it would fade away soon.

How could I know

One day I’d wake up feeling more

But I had already reached the shore

Guess we were ships in the night

Gavin consoled me and I finally calmed down. He told me about his mission.

"You are the only one who comes up to my mind when I thought of my purpose to finish this thing ASAP. I'm afraid that you don't look for yourself properly, you're getting sad and I'm not able to be there to comfort you... I... I'm sorry..." He hugged me, his voice full of guilt.

"I understand. But I just... can't stop worrying about you. I'm sorry for being childish earlier," I said, hugging him back.

Gavin laughed lightly, then whispered to my ear, "you're cute." He looked at the clock. "It's late, you should go to sleep."

"Fine, but can I ask you a favour?" I asked timidly. Seeing Gavin's nod, I continued, "please stay with me tonight."

"Okay, I'll be on the sofa," he answered without hesitation.

I tugged his shirt, "I mean, accompany me here," I pointed at my bed.

Gavin was confused. "Would it be alright for you?"

"I just want to hold my precious person in the world and get away from bad dreams, are you happy now?" I explained while pretending to be angry.

I’m wondering are you my best friend

Feels like a river’s rushing through my mind

I wanna ask you if this is all just in my head

My heart is pounding tonight I wonder

If you are too good to be true

And would it be alright if I

Pulled you closer

Gavin smiled brightly. We laid down facing toward each other, feeling content at last. Gavin's left hand held my body, his other hand caressed my hair as if he sang me a lullaby. I heard his steady heartbeat clearly.

"Good night, Gavin," I said shyly.

"Good night, love."

[accidentalrabbit]

TO MY STAR

(series)

Korea 2021

RANK: A

A-pairing: Seojoon x Jiwoo

Other character(s) i enjoyed: N/A

Overall review:

It's not terribly often that a show leaves me feeling more than thinking, because that's just who i am as a person, but there's something about To My Star, with its brief episodes, slick production, and uncomplicated storyline, that is hard to put into words. Let's try anyway.

The plot is basically just a strangers to roommates to lovers speedrun, with some light bribery and a dash of angst added to spice things up. Seojoon, a famous actor (and golden retriever of a human being), is now hiding from the paparazzi in a home owned by his agency's CEO, which is currently inhabited by renter and cynical chef Jiwoo.

Seojoon has an air of incautiousness, with bad habits and an incorrigible carefree attitude, immediately grating on Jiwoo's nerves. Jiwoo, for his part, does not make himself easy to get along with, seemingly always highly focused on his work and having no time for frivolous things. But (shocker, i know) the two of them slowly learn things about each other as they become more vulnerable: Seojoon has severe anxiety, and possibly PTSD from former experiences with the paparazzi, and Jiwoo recognizes when something is wrong almost immediately. Seojoon is also interested in learning more about cooking from Jiwoo, to reconnect with his childhood memories, and eventually the supposedly guarded Jiwoo is in love.

Our leads have excellent chemistry, and the actors do a great job with a story that is altogether fairly basic in terms of structure and predictability. Their relationship develops reciprocity, which i always love, and the image of Seojoon waiting for Jiwoo at the door is almost saccharine in its sweetness. Even when the relationship starts to collapse under the strain of their circumstances (Jiwoo's coworker accepts a bribe to reveal information about Seojoon, Jiwoo doesn't want to be in the spotlight, Seojoon doesn't want to hurt Jiwoo, etc.) their anguished care for one another is clear. And when they inevitably get back together, it feels like the audience has come back home, too.

Does To My Star have any deeper meaning? I don't think so, and i also don't know that it's necessary. I appreciate that all of its themes are right on the surface (the healing power of food, the trauma of fame, the relationship between past memory and present action, happiness over wealth, 'love conquers all,' etc.); it's as if the series itself has its heart on its sleeve. There is no pretense of the series being anything more than what it is. It's a comfort show.

I had a good time, but:

I wish the side characters had a bit more to them. The main couple is excellent, but when neither of them are onscreen it's hard to care about any of the people around them as more than plot elements or middling comic relief.

Character(s) entitled to financial compensation: N/A in a figurative sense, but i do think someone quite literally owes Jiwoo financial compensation? I’d need someone to run me a check before i started sharing my rented lodgings with a random celebrity. I wish a landlord would give me zero notice.

Conclusion: To My Star is very pretty television with a serviceable plot, solid lead characters, and great acting. You don't always need to reinvent the wheel; sometimes, simply doing everything well is sufficient to make a story stand out. This series is full of excellent domestic moments and just enough drama to help our boys along their path to romance. I love it. Let's see what the sequel does.

For another tale of restaurants and gay people, we'll be visiting Beef, Cupcakes and Him (2021) to ask the timeless question: If your food were more savory and affordable than your competitors', would bragging about it in an interview lead your former boss to break up your relationship?

[seoulfulcity]

July 29, 2018: As the Sun Sets - The Final Golden Hours

I like to think of this trip as parts of the day: sunrise, day, golden hour, and sunset.

The dawn of our trip began in the Middle Kingdom and its territories where the first golden rays of the sunrise peeked through our windows from behind the mountains, greeting us a wonderful morning 🌅

The Land of the Rising Sun then welcomed us to a bright sunny day throughout, where mornings were cloudy and chilly and afternoon skies were clear and endless 🌞

The golden hour reached us in Seoul, where time seemed to have stopped letting us marvel the beauty of our environment and experience. The golden hour is the most beautiful time of the day where the sun showcases its utmost beauty before night falls. The golden hour is my favorite part of the day - and it's better experienced with friends you meet throughout the day. 🌄

As we approach the sunset, there is a sudden realization how quickly the day went. From sunrise to sunset, we were just surrounded by beauty, and even though we all wish the golden hour lasted just a little longer, we were very content on all the experiences we've had and all the memories we've created throughout the day. 🌃

Our golden hour in Seoul is coming to an end, and now we try to make the most of our final sunsets together.

As the sun sets, we thank each other for being part of a beautiful day and wish that we would get to relive everything once again - some other day.

This next four blogs are about our last week in Seoul - full of bittersweet farewells as we all head back to spend the rest of the night where we are most comfortable - our homes.

안녕하세요,

Sunday, July 29, 2018: I was against studying for my oral final for my Korean class when I got back to my dorm from Busan, but I needed to practice so that was all I did until night fell, when the group planned to meet at Chunja.

Valentino notified the group about missing American foods, so the Americans met up in front of Frontier, without Matt who was probably broke sleeping at that time again, and walked to McDonald's while talking about American foods that we missed: greasy pizzas, Costco hotdogs, and authentic McNuggets. Valentino, Cara, Peter, Jordan, and I planned to catch up with our American foods when we get back home - I do love the Korean food in my Anam home, but I really just wanted a simple pepperoni pizza in lieu of kimchi, bulgogi, or potato pizza; though, I finally tried the Bulgogi McBurger, which made me miss the McDonald's in America even more. After our quick trip to America, we walked to Chunja to introduce the newcomer, Peter, to our 20+ soju-bottle Chunja nights.

We got the usual pitcher with syrup (lemon, strawberry, yogurt, melon, etc), mixed it with tonic water and soju and stirred the masterpiece that was going to be emptied within minutes. We took a quick starter shot to start the night in which Peter gasped.

"This is dangerous", the newcomer finally realized why we always end our nights in Chunja with more than 20 bottles - the concoctions were too delicious.

The usual drinkers came and initially took up three tables - Wendelyn, Florence, Valentino, Cara, Jordan, Thai, Joyce, Lina, Salli, Peter, and two of Florence's friends, Huixin and Doona and we ordered Corn Chicken, all of our personal favorite, to start the night.

We played more American drinking games than Korean games this time:

The Rock, Paper, Scissors game - people who don't have a match take a shot

Ah Sa No No - the person starting the game points at two people and the game continues with two people continuing to pick other people and the person who messes the rhythm takes a shot

Game of Death - one of my personal favorites where everybody points at two people at the same time and play the "bang" game. Whoever gets shot at after both their hands were down, takes a shot.

Noonchi (눈치) - a popular Korean game where the people participating stand and count in sequential order. The goal is to stand and shout a number without anybody else doing it with you (or you and the person/s take a shot). The last person to say the final number also takes a shot.

King's Cup, Ride the Bus - typical American games.

On the table next to us, Joyce and the other group were playing their own card games when Joyce lost and screamed. The Koreans across Chunja screamed to mimic her for fun, which led to another group of Korean students next to them screaming. The guys on the other corner of Chunja joined in the fun and screamed, and at some point, the entire Chunja had people screaming which made Joyce and our table laugh with how random and eventful that was.

Drunk Koreans are my favorite. The group of Koreans drinking next to us started talking to us and joining our table - two of them spoke with an American accent saying they're from San Francisco (Jason) and Austin (I didn't catch his name), which I called Jordan over to talk to the guy from Austin, since he's from Austin himself.

Valentino wanted to eat more McDonald's, so he, Florence, and Peter left to get himself and us staying in Chunja some fries to eat with our soju and maekju (맥주). The Chunja night ended with 17 soju bottles (disappointing, I know), though my night did not end since Salli, Peter, and I went to Chicken Bus to eat, you've guessed it, chicken! Salli offered to pay for our company, so I was more than excited to come. Peter was very tipsy (borderline drunk even), but he claimed that he was fine - no he wasn't. He vomited in the small trash bin on our table and slept just to wake up to randomly rap Blackpink's "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" and dance to Twice's "Heartshaker".

Jordan offered to get the bigger trash bin just by the counter behind us, but he knocked it over and spilled all the trash on the ground - I believed the patrons in Chicken Bus thought we were all drunk.

Monday, July 30, 2018: Meteor Garden was finally on Korean Netflix, so I stayed in to binge watch the episodes. KU ISC also emailed us the Google Doc to sign up for graduation, which I did and was surprised that we even have to since I thought it was a given that everybody would be attending. As fall semester was getting closer, I started planning what my elective classes to take - whether or not to start studying Chinese or continue studying Japanese, in which Andrea from my Korean class commented on the Instagram poll with "你得学中文。中文很有意思/Ni de xue zhongwen. Zhongwen hen youyisi." (You have to study Chinese. Chinese is fun), although more people voted for me to continue studying Japanese.

KU ISC emailed us a reminder of the video shoot that we signed up for last week and promised us free pizza and chicken. I sent the link to the group chat, and Valentino, Matt, Florence, Joyce, Jordan, and Minki-hyung (민기형) signed up fast (for the free food of course).

Before my Korean class started at 4:50 PM, I wanted to eat at the Cup Bibimbap place again, where Matt burned is mouth; this was the moment I realize this was first time I was eating on my own. Usually, I would post on the group that I would go out for a quick bite, and more than five people would come join me - but not today. It was a foreign feeling being alone in Anam.

I arrived to Woodang's Park Jong Koo's Lounge at the first floor to keep practicing for my oral exam, in which we talked about our daily Korean life and end the speech with a question and answer from the class.

Sophie messaged the group chat asking if people have read her farewell letter that was being passed around. Florence messaged me the pictures after saying I still haven't got a hold of Sophie's letter - sigh I miss Sophie. Korean class started and I was the last one to give my (horrendous) speech for the day.

After the class, we met up at the lounge again for the video shoot that Minjae (민재) invited me and Salli to be part of the week prior. The staff was surprised with how many people showed up - I supposed the sign up link wasn't meant to be shared around.

Florence, Joyce, Matt, Jordan, I, and the rest of the group were led to the Business School Main Building to film a lecture class on Neuropsychology where the professor talked about sunglasses that blocked the lights that stops the production of melatonin to fix insomnia and jet lag. Valentino did not end up showing up, but Minki-hyung (민기형) arrived late wearing a baggy shirt, a short, and flip-flops, but was later escorted out saying it was for KUISC students only.

He was upset in the group chat and decided to eat out on his own - Florence, Joyce, Matt, and I were laughing.

We were told to transfer to another lecture for two more lectures before being fed with pizza and chicken. We sat through a quantum mechanics and sociology infused lecture with the first one talking about hard and soft skills as investments to yield a revenue (whatever that meant). The final lecture was on optimization and business analytics. Maite and I were chosen to ask a question in front of the camera, but we both knew nothing about business analytics; so by the time we were asked if we were ready to ask the questions, a guy sitting next to Joyce (who people were saying was a celebrity) asked the professor a question full of business terms that I became lost after the first word.

After the lectures, we went to Dongwon Global Leadership Hall for our food - which was lacking in number since there were more people who came than planned (Thanks to me!). The staff asked us they could order more pizza and chicken if we were willing to wait half an hour more, which we gladly yelled "Yes!".

We received a Domino's pizza box with Park Seojoon's face plastered on it, a box of fried chicken, and a 2L soda. Each box had different toppings and we ended up with potato-topped pizza, so we walked around and grabbed a slice from each table: cheese, pepperoni, etc.

Balzhan, my Kazakh friend from my Korean class, joined us and we had Matt, Florence, and I read common greetings in Russian, for which Balzhan was laughing hard with how bad our accents were.

After the dinner, I went to sleep at 9 PM - the first time since I arrived in South Korea.

Tuesday, July 31, 2018: I woke up at 3 AM and texted the group chat that I couldn't sleep at 4:49 AM. To my surprise, Florence, Matt, and Thai were awake. Both Thai and Florence were studying for finals and Thai was doing laundry but the dryers didn't work from 2 AM to 6 AM, so he planned to stay up until then. Matt, on the other hand, was "reflecting on life".

I didn't get to sleep until 7 AM and woke up at 1 PM. I was planning to crash Florence, Erin, Valentino, Peter, and Cindy's Mass Media class today to see Peter's video project, that he had stayed up all night to work on even across the country in Busan; but the sun was blazing and it took me a while to get out of bed, so I did not end up attending.

I started to crave bibim-naengmyeon by 4 PM, so I ended up trying out the naengmyeon in front of the back entrance of Korea University, called Kamjatang Soondaeguk Naengmyeon (감자탕 순대국 냉면) before heading off to my Korean class to sit through the last nine oral presentations. Before finishing my bibim-naengmyeon, Valentino messages the group chat asking who wanted to eat fried chicken with him since he did not want to go alone, so I obliged and told him to meet me at the back entrance of the campus after his class. I did not want to sit through nine presentations, so I sat down Chicken and Hof with Valentino and told my Korean class group chat that I was napping and to message me when they go on break so I could sneak in.

Valentino ordered fried chicken, fries, and beer and talked about the dreaded weekend when everybody finally separates.

At 5:42 PM, my Korean class went on break and I ran to class and surprised my professor for being present (I skipped my class a lot). After the class, I spontaneously decided to go to SMTown at COEX Mall and Myeongdong to buy NCT 2018's album Empathy and iKON's Return. I could not wait until August 2 to buy iKON's new EP called Continue and wanted to get my hands on Return that day.

While taking Line 2 to Samseong Station, we passed by the Han River before entering Gangnam, which I was greeted by the beautiful Seoul sunset.

Samseong Station was plastered with posters and electronic billboards of idols - from Wanna One and Blackpink to those dedicated solely to Taemin and Kang Daniel. The entire Digital Media City Tunnel had Kang Daniel's face on ever corner.

I went in the SMTown Museum gift shop to purchase NCT 2018's Empathy, my first ever K-Pop album, while being tempted to buy the Taeyong and Ten's "Baby Don't Stop" T-Money for ₩4,000, which was very cheap since Myeongdong sells them for ₩10,000. I expected the SMTown gift shop to increase the prices, but I soon realized that I was wrong since Myeongdong was selling the same NCT 2018 album for ₩5,000 more. I did not end up buying iKON's Return because it was more expensive than Myeongdong's NCT 2018 price, so I settled going home with Empathy only. I roamed around Myeongdong alone for the rest of the humid night, taking a good look at everything before leaving knowing that would be the final time I stepped foot in my favorite area in Seoul.

I went home to study for my Korean finals for the next day - we were going to have a one-on-one oral exam partner with my professor and the written final. I was assigned with Balzhan and were given three scenarios to role play with (restaurant, supermarket, and making appointments). Though, I did not end up studying because I had popcorn and orange-flavored soju on my side and finished them instead.

Thai invited the group chat for some chicken delivery, in which the chat came alive with invites to go to the women's Frontier rooms with Lina or the 24-hour study rooms in the library with Florence and Wendelyn. Minki-hyung (민기형) asked the group if he bought chicken, would everybody gather together and enjoy them with him - Matt woke up to respond "Ya ill come".

In the end, it was late in the night and everybody was studying. My study session got more exciting when my phone lit up with a message from Peter at 1:36 AM:

I did not even understand what was going on, but I got up and changed out of my pajamas and ran downstairs outside Frontier where Darren, Peter, and Angela were sitting by the stairs and Grant was sitting alone across from us.

I hated Peter for getting my thirsty self down from my desk to outside with them within one minute, but we sat and talked until 3 AM about our plans after leaving South Korea. The three of them were going to Hong Kong together before Darren goes back to Los Angeles and Angela to Nebraska. Peter planned to fly back to his home in Beijing first and stay there for three weeks before going back to New York just in time for classes to start. Peter was going to have the room for himself that night since Grant left Frontier and climbed down the stairs into Anam.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018: It was the day of our written and one-on-one oral exams for Korean and I was assigned to Balzhan as partners to do the one-on-one role play together. We met in front of Frontier at 1 PM and headed out to Starbucks just across the intersection. On the way, we bumped into Erin and Minki-hyung (민기형), who was carrying a heavy parcel, which Erin said was forty of SF9's new EP, Sensuous. Erin was trying to win a meet and greet ticket to meet her favorite boy group - and she asked Minki-hyung (민기형) to help her carry the box up the Frontier and CJ International hills.

My Weather app said it felt like 111 degrees that Wednesday and I did no want to cross the intersection to Starbucks, so Balzhan and I settled for the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf just before the intersection where we worked on a script for all three scenarios for our role play.

Our Korean professor gave us three scenarios: ordering at a restaurant, shopping at a market, and making plans and appointments with our friends. She would give us one scenario and we have to act it while using the appropriate grammar rules and vocabulary of the designated units.

After writing and rehearsing, we agreed to eat brunch and I introduced her to the naengmyeon place Matt, Valentino, and I always eat at. Balzhan and I talked for a while, where she introduced me to Q-Pop, or Qazaq Pop, and also told me she wanted to start hanging out with Darren before he leaves back to Los Angeles.

I texted Peter as soon as she said it, and we both agreed to have her come along with us to Hongdae that night.

After eating naengmyeon, we headed to Park Jong Koo Lounge at Woodang Hall just until class starts to practice and study, when our phones buzzed at the same time showing an emergency warning regarding the heat in Seoul.

At Woodang Hall, we met with Teresa, Harley, and Rachel who were all studying and practicing for the Korean exams at the Aricafe in the first floor of the Media Hall, just one stairway across from Woodang Hall. Salli, Peter, Darren, and Angela joined us soon after.

On Instagram, Bonnie posted a story with a picture of NCT's Winwin on her T-Money card asking who he was and why he was on her card - I replied to her in all capital letters that I wanted that card.

Korean finals started on time and it was the oral exam first. Salli and Peter were two classrooms away from us and were partners for their own role play. Balzhan and I were fifth in line and somehow made it out alive after our professor gave us confusing instructions about our supermarket scenario in Korean.

Side note: I forgot what eraser and pencil case were, so that was an interesting part of the exam.

After the oral exam came the written, then we were done with the class. Our professor reminded us that there would be a fun and interesting final class tomorrow just before graduation, which I planned not to attend. The lecture was supposed to be about dialects and slang.

I went back to Frontier, showered, and changed before meeting with Peter, Cindy, Darren, Angela, and Balzhan to head out to Hongdae. We had Darren and Balzhan walk together in front of us throughout the subway ride there. I actually dropped my Rilakkuma T-Money card on the way. Sad, I know. I got that card back in May when I met with Terri and her friend Julie at Hongdae. That T-Money had a lot of stories of my time in Seoul, but I bought a new one - a cute pink shiba.

Upon arriving at Hongdae, we did not know where to eat so we settled with a kimbap restaurant Hahwetown (하회마을), which attracted our attention for having different options in their menu.

It was not a good experience though, the food was below mediocre (Peter ordered ramen and he actually got cup noodles kind of ramen).

When we left the restaurant, we bumped into Florence, Minki-hyung (민기형), Valentino, Lina, Jon, Leonard, Joyce, and Cara before we separated so they could eat food.

Peter, Cindy, and Angela wanted to shop around for clothes and souvenirs, so we stopped by multiple locations, such as Artbox, Playground Store, and Space Morris where I ended up purchasing quite a few clothes. At the Playground Store, I noticed how similar Korean clothes are, besides the whole random English words written at the front and random pictures of Pasadena, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Los Angeles at the back. English words can range from "Alaska Whales", "Paragraph", "Cheese", and "Babylonian", to full on receipt of a pizza order, instructions on how to use a washing machine, or the Wikipedia Table of Contents page on Cuba and its 15 provinces.

Korean clothes seemed to also have random minimalist images or short English words sewn on the left side of the chest.

After shopping, we went back to Hongik University Station and, once again, bumped into the rest of the group (in addition to Pong, who joined the group after touring her parents around Seoul). We all took the subway back to Anam together and headed to Chunja for another drinking night - Salli joined us later in the night.

We played the usual games of A Sa No-No, Fuck You, King's Cup, and Game of Death, with a few new games: Five-Ten and Six Shooter.

Five-Ten - it's a Chinese game of math. The players hold out both hands and can open one hand (5 fingers), both hands (10 fingers), or none (0 fingers). The goal of the game is for the main person to correctly guess the number of fingers open. If they guess it right, everybody drinks.

Six Shooter - My new favorite game. Two people compete, each with six shot glasses in front of them: 3 water and 2 soju. One person turns around while the opponent scrambles the shot glasses so the person does not know which ones are water and which ones are soju and vice versa. Starting from the right shot glass, the goal is to finish all six shots first, loser chugs a whole mug of beer.

Cara and Salli competed against each other, while Valentino made Jon chug a whole mug of beer. I also participated, but I don't remember who I was against (was it Peter? Darren?) - all I remember is that I won.

One of the culture shocks I had in Seoul is how everybody knows the choreography to any K-Pop song playing, especially Blackpink's new song "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du". Every time it plays, the people would always stop what they're doing to dance to the chorus.

"Hit you with that ddu-du ddu-du du", as the song played in Chunja, all five people on the table across from us started dancing, and it was one of the things that made me realize that I would never see these in bars in Los Angeles. It would feel different drinking back home and not seeing people getting up to dance the choreography to the songs - I was an Angeleno already preparing for culture shocks when he goes back home. I was still in Seoul and I was already missing Seoul.

Matt and Jordan came towards the end of the night and we had both of them finish the remaining pitchers. They were both out for the night and met up to join us at Chunja. We all went home together, but Bonnie, Peter, Jon, Lina and I sat in front of Frontier to smoke and talk - Bonnie's friend, Benjamin noticed us while he was going outside for some fresh air and joined us. Angela came back from Global House saying she wasn't drunk anymore and Salli joined with us before Jon, Lina, and Bonnie headed in.

I wanted to eat a doshirak lunch tray at the CU just down Frontier, and Peter, Angela, and Ben joined me. Salli drunkenly walked in and out of CU, which worried Ben.

After my meal, Angela went back up to Global, while Peter and I headed to Frontier. Salli was staying outside since she left her room key in her room and her roommate was not going to be home until later in the morning. It was five in the morning and Benjamin volunteered to accompany her until she gets back to her room.

Peter and I went back to our dorms.

This blog is the first part of the "As the Sun Sets" series, which documents my final week in Seoul. I named this blog the Golden Hour because, as mentioned at the beginning, the golden hour is the time where everybody is still gathered together, taking pictures of the sky, the vibe is fun while everybody enjoys each other's company.

It is not until when night falls that people start heading home and the circle starts diminishing.

The next blog is called "As the Sun Sets: For Graduation Night".

The sun is preparing to set and the day is almost ending, symbolizing how close the end of the program is.

Golden hour is over, and our farewells begin. It will be very bittersweet writing the next few blogs, so until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」

From left to right: Valentino, Cara, Leonard, Pong, Joyce, Peter, Florence, me, Lina, Salli, Jon, Carolina, and Angela.

[atrocitycl]

Drama Review - “Fight My Way”

(Official Trailer 2)

Lee Najeong (Director) – Fight My Way

Reviewed on September 3, 2017

I highly recommend this drama. While it is not perfect at all and does contain—in my argument—certain, significant flaws, I find that this drama is still one of the best I have ever seen. Furthermore, as I will focus on in this review, this drama’s main strength lies in how it is incredibly versatile and this reason is, perhaps, why the drama was incredibly popular—both in South Korea and even elsewhere. After all, Fight My Way arguably flourishes in the two main aspects of dramas: it appeals to a wide audience; and, it contains solid theatrical features in order to maintain said wide audience.

Personal Message: Edit: As one can tell, I intended to post this review far sooner. I am incredibly busy with university, so I hope for readers to be understanding with the lack of content lately. It has been two weeks since the prior post, but I will sincerely attempt to still be active with this blog despite how hectic my university schedule is. In fact, just finishing this review was incredibly fun and rewarding and it is moments such as these that I regret not writing every day.

Apologies for the lack of content. University has indeed started as of this sentence and thus, I will be busy with upcoming classes. I expect this semester to be by far the busiest, but I will do my best to post around six or so reviews per month. I also will still try to catch up on other reviews from the summer that I have not reviewed: GFRIEND’s “Love Whisper” and Blackpink’s “As If It’s Your Last.” But, considering there are recent comebacks that might be more relevant to review such as PRISTIN’s “We Like,” those mentioned reviews might have to unfortunately be skipped.

Regarding this review, this will be a “bonus” review: a review that still attempts to bring critical, thoughtful discussion but one that will ultimately be hindered by lack of experience. Therefore, readers should feel free to openly challenge this review’s take to the drama or at least interpret the review lightly. After all, while I do enjoy watching dramas from time to time, I am exceptionally inexperienced with the theatrical aspects that are involved. Lastly, for the remaining clarification needed, while it should be noted that there are many to praise and credit for the production of a drama, in this review I will explicitly credit and oftentimes refer to Lee Najeong—the director of Fight My Way. I have decided on doing this as, if I am correct, the directors are the ones in charge of directly guiding how each scene appears in the drama—this being akin to, say, an author of a novel. As a result, she will be who I explicitly credit but of course, in the overall scheme of creating a drama, I hope to remind readers that all staff members deserve credit.

With all of that, let us head into the review for Fight My Way.

_______________________________________________________

Recommendation: I highly recommend this drama. While it is not perfect at all and does contain—in my argument—certain, significant flaws, I find that this drama is still one of the best I have ever seen. Furthermore, as I will focus on in this review, this drama’s main strength lies in how it is incredibly versatile and this reason is, perhaps, why the drama was incredibly popular—both in South Korea and even elsewhere. After all, Fight My Way arguably flourishes in the two main aspects of dramas: it appeals to a wide audience; and, it contains solid theatrical features in order to maintain said wide audience.

Plot Summary: Summarizing this drama is a bit difficult. Overall, Fight My Way focuses on four main characters: Aera, Dongman, Seolhee, and Jooman. Rather than a singular event being the driving force of the plot, this drama differs in that it is solely minor events that move the plot. For example, the drama might focus on how Aera and Dongman are developing romantic feelings towards each other and the comedy that such brings, or it might opt for a more serious route with showcasing how the two—and even Seolhee and Jooman—constantly face failures with their careers. Ultimately, what can be most appreciated is how relatively tame the plot is and yet how deep and impacting it can be upon viewers; it truly is a drama that addresses “life” in of itself—though in a comedic, romantic, and serious manner.

_______________________________________________________

Analysis: One distinct aspect to the drama, and perhaps its strongest point, is how it manages to capture a wide audience. This is a surprising point given the typical trends of dramas: targeting a specific audience and then complying with that very audience’s desires. However, with Fight My Way, despite the drama being explicitly labeled as a romantic-comedy, Lee Najeong’s directing is not limited to fulfilling the ideas such a genre encompasses. Without spoiling too much about the drama—hopefully, that is—let us home in on a scene that perhaps best illuminates Lee Najeong’s and the drama’s versatility with genres. (I will be vague so as to not spoil moments.)

During one specific scene and episode, we find that Aera fails to acquire a certain job role due to unjust decisions. In her defeated state, she ends up running into Dongman. Fast forwarding, we find the two sitting together on a bench as Aera eventually reveals that she did not in fact get the job. After Dongman’s insightful, lingering quote of how, in summary, pretending to be fine and refusing to cry are not “cool acts,” Aera finally sheds tears—though, comically, she mentions that if anyone sees her cry, Dongman will become her murdered victim. And, for the remaining details, as avid drama watchers might predict, Dongman indeed shields Aera with his jacket before finally pulling her head into his chest for her to cry into.

Now, for what makes this scene so momentous, it is due to how well the director balances various tones and even genres if we dare go that far. Simplistically, the director could have opted to focus on one specific tone and flesh it out—a simple example being heavily emphasizing the romantic aspects to this scene. But, instead, Lee Najeong includes the three main points to the drama: seriousness, comedy, and romance. With the serious take to this scene, for example, Aera’s depicted situation is far from merely being “only in dramas”; her being rejected of that dream job had a lot of social commentary if we dare analyze Fight My Way in this lens. For what occurred, Aera lacked—or more accurately, lacks—“social capital”; she is not young nor deemed pretty, she lacks formal education via college degrees, and she lacks “experience.” The most upsetting aspect, though, is that she is skilled and has the passion and work ethics. Sadly, none of those traits matter when her overall social capital does not suffice—“capital” that is hard for a lower-classed individual to have due to their circumstances.

And so for what this reveals, Fight My Way despite being a romantic-comedy does at times become incredibly solemn—a feature that not only helps balance out the drama, but is one that attracts viewers who otherwise would be repelled away by excessive romance and comedy. Likewise, though, the director still accommodates for those who are watching primarily for the romance and comedy—such as, admittedly, in my case. Quite clearly, those aspects are also fulfilled within this very episode and scene given Aera’s remark of threatening Dongman’s life to maintain her tough persona and how Dongman does very sweetly hold her close and comforts her. All in all, this versatility is arguably why the drama does well in terms of having a very broad yet loyal audience: it simply captures the spectrum of viewers who care more for serious aspects such as social commentary (be it gender or class as the drama tended to focus on), but also for viewers who merely want to gush over the romance.

Moving on to focusing on the drama in a theatrical sense, we will transition to this point as while we understand why the audience is broad, we now need to understand why that very audience remains loyal to watching the drama. The answer, then, is we need to focus on how the drama plays out in a technical, theatrical sense.

For what initially caught my attention and perhaps many other viewers, Fight My Way’s aesthetic appeal—this ranges from the overall setting to as specific as what the actresses and actors wear—entirely goes against the average drama: it is humble. In fact, even Park Seojoon, the actor who portrays Dongman, addresses this point and embraces it as he finds that this allows the drama to focus less on sheer visual appeal and more on the actual acting that occurs. But even without the added bonus of the acting having a greater presence, there is another benefit to the drama’s lack of exquisite fashion or a setting that is luxurious: the drama unveils the beauty of “normal”—that there is, indeed, beauty to sceneries that would seldom exist in dramas. From simple t-shirts and sweatpants to smaller apartments to a roughly established rooftop hangout spot, Fight My Way boldly challenges the way many other dramas utilize their settings. In many cases, gorgeous settings are used to help viewers escape reality but with this drama, Lee Najeong seems to want viewers to see reality—to see that their own lives, to certain degrees, are reflected in the drama.

For another theatrical aspect that I do wish to cover, as with any drama, we definitely need to spend time covering the acting—the skill that brings dramas to life akin to vocalists bringing a song to life. Regarding the acting, as stale as the following will sound, I find that the actresses and actors have all done an excellent job. There were minimal—if at all any—moments where I found the acting to be far too exaggerated or simply unfitting. To perhaps best explain why the acting is quite impressive, I think we ought to look not at emotional scenes—scenes that typically are used to gauge acting—but rather we need to look at comical scenes. After all, emotional scenes are easily manipulated beyond just acting: music; mere empathy; tears on everyone; and so forth. In other words, I find that it requires much more acting to make someone laugh versus to make them cry and hence why I believe that focusing on comical scenes is important if we are to gauge the acting.

Once again to prevent spoilers, I will be extremely vague but I do wish to refer to a certain scene. There is a time where Dongman finds that Aera is dating someone, and in short, much laughter is to come. Most impressively, though, is that the humor has less to do with witty scriptwriting and more with Park Seojoon’s performance (and, of course, Lee Najeong’s directing). Through purely facial expressions for example, viewers are able to gather many details: that Dongman’s world has shattered. It is through his horrified look that viewers not only get basic comedy out of such, but it is also when viewers could start piecing together that, perhaps, Dongman does have a crush on Aera and thus we are able to laugh at Dongman’s regrets and poor decisions of being mean to Aera. Similar types of acting-based comedic scenes also occur—a notable one being when Dongman begins to finally notice how Aera is attractive to him and seems to be struggling for breath as he wonders why her legs are now pretty despite, quite obviously, Aera’s leg never physically changed at all. (And, this is even more comedic when we factor in how, in many prior episodes, Dongman was extremely repulsed at having to touch Aera’s hair.)

(That said, for a serious moment and digression, readers who know what scene I am referring to might have found it disturbing—and that is not due to sexual undertones as that was not there. Rather, I refer to Dongman controlling Aera’s fashion. In terms of what viewers need to understand, this is where viewers need to be aware of cultural context—that, indeed, Dongman’s act was less of being oppressive and more of protecting, though that can and should be openly challenged or even defended depending on one’s argument. Nevertheless, it is worth bearing in mind why such a very stereotypical drama romance scene was used there, and of course that it added the comedic element of, as explained, Dongman acting as if Aera’s leg had suddenly changed.

Ultimately, how viewers interpret that scene is up to individual ideas: one can find it disturbing and offensive and rightfully so, but equally one has to bear in mind different cultural takes and how the “fashion control” that occurs is, in the appropriate cultural context, less about a man controlling a woman and more as merely “protecting” an individual. And, overall, I hope this single scene does not entirely detract from the drama’s otherwise very positive messages about gender equality and feminism—after all, both Aera’s and Seolhee’s depicted characters offer the most balanced perspective one could ask for and I admire the drama for offering what I argue is true feminism: that a woman should behave how she wants. Aera’s character presents the typical “strong woman” that many appreciate and love when it comes instantly thinking of feminism, but Seolhee’s character also presents the side that is oftentimes forgotten: that there is nothing wrong with desiring to be a stay-at-home-Mom and that her main dream in life is “to be a mother”—though I have now arguably just spoiled a very powerful line from her as viewers who watch the drama will see. Without this tangent getting any further, I simply wish to end it with the drama’s message about feminism: that it is not just only about a “strong woman” like Aera; feminism also means giving a voice to women who do not want to be like Aera but instead are more like Seolhee. And, before men are dismissed, much is also to be appreciated for the drama showcasing that a man crying, being emotional, and showing moments of weakness is, as Dongman would say, in fact “cool.”)

On topic, now that we have covered many reasons for why the drama is a stronger one, I unfortunately cannot end the review here. I recommend Fight My Way and will claim it is by far one of the best dramas I have seen, but it would be erroneous to claim it was objectively the best. It does have, as any drama does, many flaws—some of which, I will argue, are too significant to ignore.

One prominent problem that the drama struggles to handle is that towards the last four or so episodes, the drama’s tone and genre versatility disappear. Suddenly, Lee Najeong’s impressive directing where there is a balance of seriousness, romance, and comedy becomes predominantly just serious. Much of the comedic aspects are lost, and given how central humor is in the drama, having it entirely put aside—while understandable as the drama is attempting to conclude neatly—leaves a noticeable void. Likewise, many of the romantic scenes are lost—though if heartbreak counts, then perhaps “romance” in a distorted sense does still remain. (And readers should watch the drama to understand this supposed “heartbreak” that occurs towards the last episodes. Before readers claim I spoiled the ending, I will say that is far more complicated.)

Even so, while one could indeed dismiss the prior point, I find that what ultimately prevents me from claiming that Fight My Way is the best drama is due to poor character developments that occur for non-lead characters. Many supporting characters are simply far too one-dimensional, and this does hinder the plot and complexity of the drama. One key example is Hyeran, Dongman’s ex-girlfriend. Her character exists to cause tensions between Aera and Dongman but, the infuriating part is Hyeran lacks reasoning for her heinous acts. The drama, in essence, simply did not develop her character enough for there to be understandable reasons—or at least, I personally do not count “Hyeran became divorced and now wants to go back to her first option: Dongman” as a thoroughly developed character. It would have been far more interesting as a character and plot if, for example, Hyeran was actually a typical, well-behaved human and that she had a deeper past with Dongman. Instead of relentlessly and disturbingly chasing Dongman after being divorced, what if the two were previously in a very respectful and close relationship and ended on good terms and that she now wonders if they could get back together? This route not only prevents Hyeran from being a superficial character, but it also suits with the drama’s realistic style and causes conflicts not due to, essentially, being stalked but because Dongman has feelings he needs to address if he is to understand how he truly feels about Aera. Other characters such as Moobin are also one-dimensional and positioned as antagonists merely for the sake of having antagonists. Rather than relying on generic, binary characters of “good versus evil,” the drama would have been more appealing by having actions that are centered as moral dilemmas rather than the characters themselves. A good example of what I mean is if we look at one of our leads, Jooman: a man whose heart is, without doubt, full of love and helping others. The “evil” that exists, then, is whether too much kindness can ironically become bad.

In Jooman’s case, I argue he was an example of excellent character development and of straying away from the generic, “good versus evil” archetype. For his situation, his kindness with a new co-worker, Yejin, has led to some misunderstanding with Seolhee, his partner—more so as Yejin begins developing feelings for Jooman and is unaware of his relationship with Seolhee (or at least initially). Certainly Jooman never did anything inappropriate with Yejin at all, but as Aera presented, the problem was not focused on that: “It doesn’t matter if you didn’t sleep (have sex) with her or not.” The problem was Jooman constantly lied to Seolhee when helping Yejin as he did not wish to cause mistrust or create suspicion of an affair that did not exist. Now of course, Jooman’s true mistake was simply the lack of open communications and being truthful, but if it took a lie of how he was meeting his friends in order to get an incredibly intoxicated Yejin home safely, Jooman valued doing “what was right” even if it meant having to lie to Seolhee. The main takeaway, overall, is that Jooman’s character presents a situation where he is innately a good person and yet it is his actions that prove complex. He never intended to betray Seolhee’s trust but, in difficult circumstances of wondering what is ethically right—of caring for the safety of a co-worker at the cost of having to lie—we find a character who does away with the typical “good versus evil” setup that Moobin and Hyeran and other character rely on. This level of depth in characters—even for the supporting ones—would have made the drama far more insightful and pleasing. As it stands, many non-lead characters are simply far too one-dimensional and lack convincing, realistic reasons for what we would perceive as inappropriate and cruel behavior.

In the end, I still find Fight My Way to be an incredible drama and the best I have seen. I recommend it to both those familiar with Korean dramas or for those who might be watching one for the first time. Assuming one can overlook poor character development in supporting characters and how the drama becomes excessively serious towards the final episodes, Fight My Way is easily one of the better dramas produced. For me, I personally came for the romance—and rightfully, bawled so much at the most climactic kiss scene I have yet to witness—but ended up very much embracing its serious aspects and social commentary about class and gender and even other aspects such as family. Dongman’s relationship with his father, for example, mirrored my own life: while my father and I are at times somewhat distant, we still do express our love. A particular scene that I heavily related to was despite Dongman and his father having a hefty argument, in the end both left each other gifts and realized they both are the same—and comically, Dongman’s father questioned where Dongman gets his behavior. And of course, there is always the romantic aspect to delight in—though for me, love is still distant. That said, I also feel similar to Dongman with developing a crush for someone but this is definitely far too embarrassing to elaborate on. All in all, as Fight My Way has proven, it truly is a drama about “life” and thus, many readers would most likely find it a worthy drama to watch.

_______________________________________________________

Apologies for the lack of content for the past two weeks. University is incredibly busy, and with other technical tasks I need to handle—scholarships, working as a writing tutor soon, and so on—it has become hard to find time to write reviews. Given that this review is, despite being a “bonus,” is exceptionally lengthy, the next post will come in a week or so. Song reviews will come as usual, but I ask for readers’ understanding and patience—and likewise, for those waiting for Fiestar subtitled videos.

Until then, look forward to usual song reviews and as always, thank you so much for reading or skimming this review.

[dramarambles-blog]

Hello! It’s July… Where is the time going?! Anyway, I’m going to be getting on top of this blog. I swear. I upgraded and I’m going to kick my butt into gear!

This is a  segment I am going to post every Friday and it will be an update on what I am watching and my thoughts. I would love for the comments to be a place where we can chat about dramas 🙂

So, without further ado, these are the drama’s I’m currently watching:

A Witch’s Romance!

  I love the characters and even though the plot is turning into the usual romcom, I’m interested to see what happens next. JiYeon is hilarious and I really love her strength and even though she puts on the *bitch* act a lot of the time, she is so sweet and considerate (it’s just her way of showing it doesn’t make it obvious). The main lead is beautiful, but it’s Park SeoJoon, so obvs :p I think this relationship is really cute, my only issue is that I wish the conversations went both ways. They have such emotional and mature conversations, but we haven’t found out much about DongHa yet (I’m up to episode 6).

More of my thoughts can be found here!  (*spoilers*)

I really want to keep watching, the only problem is I’m kind of addicted to Taiwanese dramas at the moment, of which I am watching two!

The Perfect Match!

I did an Episode 1 overview here and I would really recommend this drama! Tingen is such a refreshing male lead. He is an actual nice person (most of the time :p) and I just love how patient and helpful to our main lady! Overall Fenqing is a cute and passionate woman, but I just wish she wasn’t so naive. That naivety is lessening, but we spent a while for a it to happen (not to mention some passion in a wood ;P). 

At the moment I’ve watched 17 episodes and there is going to be a total of 20 episodes (and 19 are out so far I think). I’m waiting until the last episode comes out because I am a binge watcher haha ^^”

I will be doing a full review once I’ve finished the drama, both here and on my YouTube Channel (self promo haha ^^”).

Bromance!

This is one I’ve been wanting to watch for a while. I wanted to do a first thoughts video, but I started it a couple of days ago and I’m half way through already. It’s so bad, but good at the same time! I’m not even sure how to describe this drama haha. It feels as though they had a list of all known drama cliches and decided to include them all!

It has gotten a little better, but it is still pretty cringe-worthy! I have watched several scenes wondering what I did to deserve this, but I can’t stop watching!

Yanou is a young woman, who has been living her life as a boy because a fortune teller told her parents that she would not survive if she continued her life as a girl. On her 26th birthday, she is free to assume all that it means to be a woman in her eyes. In the meantime, she becomes a “sworn brother” to Zifeng, the son of an old triad boss (all I’m going to say about this scene is: prepare yourself – weird shit happens). And of course, feelings arise and mishaps happen.

On a non-Asian Drama note, I am also watching Vera and Prime Suspect with my step-mum. They are both British crime dramas and they are so good!! Vera is my favourite, she is a kooky woman in charge of murder investigations and she take no shit. I love her. We’re midway through series 4 (there are 4 episodes in a series). It also helps that Joe is super hot too haha ^^”

Prime Suspect delves in to the issues of sexism in the police force in the early nineties. It stares Helen Mirren and I swear to god, if they hadn’t been such sexist morons, they would have solved the murder case a lot quicker! We watched series 1 yesterday (it’s 2 episodes) and I was so annoyed at the men!

As I said, I will be making a post like this every Friday. If you have any suggestions (dramas or post etc.) let me know! I’d love to hear your input ^^ I’m also planning on finishing Splash Splash Love and writing up the recaps! Eventually, I want to start up recapping Go Princess Go! and potentially doing thoughts videos on Scholar Who Walks The Night and I Remember You.

Thank you for reading! I hope you have had a good drama watching week and are having a lovely day~ (It’s boiling in the UK and I hate it! I just want to lie down and not move haha ^^”).

Want to know what #asiandramas I've been watching? You're in luck! #fridayupdate Hello! It's July... Where is the time going?! Anyway, I'm going to be getting on top of this blog.