rosdrise: (guc - scrabble)
1. Moving suuuuuuucks. Especially when it's in the raaaaaain. But now I'm all settled and enjoying my much bigger residence. Still haven't unpacked my bedroom, but the kitchen, living room, and bathrooms (BATH AND A HALF, WHAT WHAT) are all set up. Plus I have cable and internet. It was a little dicey for a couple days. No serious withdrawal symptoms, but it still wasn't pleasant.

The cats adjusted to the move fairly quickly. First, I traumatized them by removing all the furniture from my old places leaving then with nothing but doors to take cover behind. Then I shoved them in the half bath while the house was being put together. But after yelling at me for a while and constantly walking up and down the hallway for an entire day they seem to have taken to the house. At least they haven't peed on anything yet.

2. Job hunting suuuuuuucks. Period. I have an interview Friday for a job I don't want at a place I used to work, but I think it'll be good practice. I haven't interviewed in years, so this will be a chance to shake the rust off and ~*~sparkle~*~ at an interview I actually care about.

3. I decided to drop Brighthouse and get AT&T Uverse, because everyone I know that has it is pleased PLUS I get free DVR and free HBO and Showtime for a few months. This works out perfectly since I plan on watching Game of Thrones (please to be fixing the rampant misogyny, HBO? *is eternally hopeful*) and I also wanted to check out The Borgias. I don't know anything about the Borgia familiy, so I'm taking in all kinds of altered history, but it's a lot of fun. And Lucrezia/Cesare! ...I'm going to hell!

4. Anime! After watching the Kimi ni Todoke movie it spurred me to watch the second season of the anime which was, of course, like all things Kimi ni Todoke, completely lovely. I'd read that far in the manga so I knew what was going to happen, but it was still very enjoyable. It's not as strong a story as the first season, but if you like KnT, it's not going to be for the plot, it's for the characters. And they are all wonderful, though it could have done with more Kurumi imho. Now I have several chapters of the manga to read! Excitement!

5. More anime! [livejournal.com profile] jennekohan suggested I check out Hanasaku Iroha, so I did, and I quite liked it. Our heroine is Ohana who, after her mom decides to run off with her boyfriend when he gives loan sharks their address, is sent to live with her estranged, onsen-running grandmother. Of course, her grandmother puts her to work immediately and her coworkers are less than enthused about her presence. But Ohana herself is hardworking and independent and when she stumbles she does her best to set things right. She's not all pure-hearted like so many anime/drama heroines. She's got a temper, holds grudges, and is fairly jaded beneath her smiling face, but I think she's great. I'm excited to see where the show goes and even if it just remains a simple coming of age story I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it. The animation is nice and fluid and I'm really enjoying the muted color palette they're using.




6. It's been a bit of a dry spell in the drama world for me. There were two shows I initially though I'd check out (Midas and 49 Days) but never did, and now I doubt I ever will. I just haven't seen enough response in the drama community to spur me to get started. It actually worked out well, because with the move I haven't had a lot of free time.

But, that's about to change. Today is the premiere of Manny and I'm not sure why but I'm actually pretty psyched about this show. It's not the actors, since the only one I know is Choi Jung Yoon from her as the sour-turned-fairly-cool older sister in Smile, You. I guess it's the (partial) role reversal. I'm hoping it will be an Oh! My Lady done right.

The next Hong Sisters drama is shaping up to be pretty awesome. Despite not having seen her in anything else, I've managed to not hold Hello, My Teacher against Gong Hyo Jin. I suppose it's only fair since I gave Gong Yoo a pass for that disaster as well. I'm excited to finally see Cha Seung Won in something since I STILL haven't managed to watch City Hall.

Then there is Lie to Me which I'll watch regardless if it's a complete train wreck or not. I'm just hoping that Kang Ji Hwan isn't a complete prick in it. I could barely stand his character in Coffee House.

I... honestly don't know what's airing in Japan. Anyone hear of something good? I think I remember wanting to check out the getsu9 drama but I don't remember what it was called. The plot wasn't anything that intriguing but the cast was pretty sweet: Katori Shingo, Kuroki Meisa, Fujiki Naohito, and Naka Risa. I should probably look it up if I want to tag this entry... Shiawase ni Narou yo. And it starts next week! I hope someone is subbing it!
Finally got around to this



Following the cut you will find a ranking of my least to most favorite of the dramas (Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese) that I finished this year.

I think the whole this is pretty safe, though I do make a few allusions to plot points. So, I'm just going to cover my bases and say potential spoilers for Coffee House, Dal Ja's Spring, Fantasy Couple, Gumiho: Tale of the Fox's Child, Hotaru no Hikari 2, Iris, Kekkon Dekinai Otoko, Liar Game 2, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, Natsu no Koi wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku, Oh My Lady, Playful Kiss, Prosecutor Princess, Shokojo Seira, Smile You, Smiling Pasta, Something Happened in Bali, Sunao ni Narenakute, Tsuki no Koibito, and Yankee-kun to Megane-chan.

It's one big ol' image. JSYK )

Final Thoughts: I have to say, 2010 was a bit of a disappointment for me on the drama front. Nothing I watched this year merited a five star ranking on my own personal Drama Rankings. Maybe I'm just getting bitter in my old age, because my top two dramas I adored yet just couldn't bring myself to call them nearly perfect. But honestly, I wonder if I rewatched some of those 5 star dramas if I wouldn't demote them now. I watched them when the world of dramas was still mostly shiny, new, and wonderful. I thought everything was great back then. AH WELL.

What I can say is that there was a crop of excellent female characters, it's just too bad they were stuck in such middling (Eun Young, Coffee House) or straight-up awful (Maemi, Tsuki no Koibito) dramas.

Here is hoping for better results next year! I'm going to start 2011 off by finishing up Joseon X-Files and then either Chuno, Secret Garden, Story of a Man, or City Hall.

yawn

May. 18th, 2010 12:22 pm
So far this week has been the polar opposite of last.  Work is chill and I don't feel the need to murder people.  I would have to say things are looking up.  Though I just right back into it next week with travel and events and deadlines; so I'll just enjoy this calm right now.

ACen was fun, if very abbreviated.  24 hours is a far cry from the three days I'm used to.  I almost feel like I didn't have enough time to truly enjoy it.  I arrived and once I had unwound from the last 5 days it was time to go home again.  And it made me sad.  I did love getting to see everyone, I just wanted to see MORE of you.

One thing is for sure: I'm done with the Artist's Alley.  I just don't have the time or desire to put more energy into making things when they just aren't going to be received well by the patrons.  I thought I would give it a shot this year since the economy had calmed down a little, but it went about as well as last year.  There are just other vendors who are more creative and have better resources... and it's just not where my interest lie.

Having said that, I definitely want to get back into the cosplay game.  It's been about 2 years since I last cosplayed and I miss it.  The problem I have is that the (very small amount of) anime I watch isn't really cosplay material.  I pretty much stick to simple shoujo stories like Fruits Basket and Kimi ni Todoke... and there really isn't anything that interesting to choose from.  So, cosplay buddies, let me know your plans so I can play along.

Finished Oh My Lady! and it was very cute if unremarkable.  There were elements there for something but it just never stepped up its game.  The majority of the episodes just seemed to involve a lot of pivoting and not much plot.  Things picked up in the end, but it felt to me like the writer woke up from a nap and realized "Crap, we better finish this".  Because while I can see Min Woo falling for Gae Hwa, I wish we could have seen the same from her.  Granted, it's the ending I wanted, but it didn't feel earned.

Now I need to catch up on Personal Taste, which kind of bores me actually but I feel committed since I'm on ep 11.  It's never really clicked with me and I don't really like any of the characters so I don't know why I'm still watching.  There are some fun moments, but it really just kind of drags for me.  And Prosecutor Princess, which given the whispers on my flist gets really good?!  :D  I was loosing steam on that one too.  I think I'm on ep 7?

Sunao ni Narenakute continues to be very engaging.  I'm enjoying it and it's slightly ridiculous storylines very much.  It doesn't hurt that I love all the characters.  Though I think Peach and Linda are at the top of my list at the moment.  I like Haru, but they could spend a little less time on her since she really didn't have anything meaty until the rooftop confrontation.

The first episode of Tsuki no Koibito didn't disappoint.  Though it's going to be hard to root for Kimura since his character is a GIANT dick.  I kind of just want Maemi and Shu Mei to go off and be bffs and leave him in their dust.

let me out.

Apr. 1st, 2010 01:55 pm
WHAT A GORGEOUS DAY. It's days like this that I really miss college and sitting on the front lawn of my house pretending to study. Now I'm stuck inside staring at a computer screen all day D: Too bad I have to spend this evening cleaning as my family is coming in for the Easter weekend. I'd much rather sit on my porch and read. Though, I need to pick up a new book. Something fun, since the last thing I finished was A Thousand Splendid Suns and that was heartbreaking.

Not that I don't like looking at the computer screen since that means I'm watching dramas. Speaking of which, I think I'll talk about them right now.

I'm currently through 10 episodes of Kekkon Dekinai Otoko and I'm really enjoying it. It's got great writing that's funny and sharp and a wonderful cast of characters. Though I am suprised it took me so long to realize just how similar it is to the movie As Good As It Gets. It didn't hit me until episode 8 when Kuwano dog-sits Ken. They are pretty much the exact same story about a man who is fantastically bad at interacting with the world around him and consistently insults his OTP. They even both have neighbors with (adorable) dogs. This isn't a slight on KDO, because As Good As It Gets is a great movie and the jdrama is very much an extended version of a great movie.

This is a show I would recommend to anyone because it is just a lot of fun. Plus, Abe Hiroshi does a great job of playing the odd duck Kuwano. I only wish people didn't talk about marriage in EVERY episode. I just finished Dal Ja's Spring. I'm sick of hearing about how marriage is the end all and be all of happiness.

I'm also watching Oh My Lady and I don't know... it's taking it's time to pull me in. Maybe because the characters in KDO are so crisply drawn everyone in OML just pales in comparison. I kind of hate to admit this, but I'm with dramabeans in not really feeling any emotional connection to any of the characters. Mostly I just feel really sorry for the two little girls that keep getting shafted. Though, episode 4 showed more promise than the previous 3. Here's hoping things start picking up since all the pieces seem to be in place now.

Also, it looks like I'm going to have to check out Cinderella Unni which I hadn't planned on since everyone seems to like it so much.

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