[J-Drama]: Atashinchi no Danshi & Mei-Chan No Shitsuji

Hey everyone! Well I've been gone a while haven't I? That's basically because I was in Korea for 3 weeks (I still haven't decided if I'm going to blog about that or not) and I decided that I would catch up with all the dramas that I've missed since being away. 

What I watched in the past week and a half: 

-Last episode of Dr. Jin (I didn't watch any other episodes only read the recaps ... and it was decent I guess? I didn't expect much from it due to the messed up plot of the rest of the drama.) 

-Last episode of A Gentleman's Dignity: IT WAS AWESOME. It actually made me want to go back and watch the entire series... but from reading the recaps I knew that I would be slugging through the middle, so maybe I'll save that for a rainy day. 

-Goong: This is obviously a re-watch, but I realized that it's been so long since the last time I watched this drama that I had already forgotten most of it. I still loved it and now I'm pumped for Five Fingers :) 

And now to what this blog post is about: 

Atashinchi no Danshi 

So, I actually don't have a lot of experience with J-dramas and everything that I have watched has been drama adaptations. I'm more of a Taiwanese and Korean drama kinda girl which doesn't really make sense since I've enjoyed the J-dramas that I have watched. I've watched Absolute boyfriend (tried to get through the Taiwanese version and failed miserably) but even thinking about the J-drama still makes me want to cry. WHY WAS THERE EVEN A SPECIAL IN THE FIRST PLACE? JUST TO FUCK WITH MY FEELINGS AND MAKE ME GO INTO A EMO STATE AGAIN?!?! Ouran High School host club which I actually really liked as a fan of the manga except the drama made me ship Haruhi and Kyoya so much. Like seriously BEST. CHEMISTRY. EVARRRRR. Please please please let there be a FTAK live starring these two! Hana Yori Dango, enjoyed it but the Taiwanese drama will always be the best for me just because it was the first drama I ever watched in its entirety in my life. And Nodame Cantible, GYABOOO CHIAKI-SEMPAIIIII!!!! <3 <3  

Okay... so maybe I have watched quite a few J-dramas but compared to the amount of T-dramas and K-dramas I've watched, this is like nothing. 

So anyways, while in Korea I decided I was going to watch a J-drama (yea I know it's weird. Maybe there was just too much korean-ness happening around me so I had to counteract it with something lol) and I decided that I would watch Atashinchi no Danshi after looking up good J-dramas. And WOW am I happy that I did!~ 

The basic plot is that a girl named Chisato is homelesse and living in like this park while also using the facilities of a net cafe because she's running from the debt collectors that are trying to get the money from a loan that Chisato's dad was the cosigner for. One day while running from the debt collectors, she's saved by Okura Shinzo who offers to repay her debt as long as she marries him because he only has 3 months left to live. Chisato agrees but after Shinzo's death realizes that she also promised to be the mother of his 6 adopted sons. Hijinks ensues. 

Well, this drama was actually SO CUTE. I love all of the sons so much! (Even you poopy face Fuu!) 

My favourite brothers are probably Tamaki (Yamamoto Yusuke playing Okura Masaru though he'll always be Tamaki in my mind lol) Takeru (Okada Yoshinori), Satoru (Seto Koji) and of course SHO! (Mukai Osamu)... so basically everyone but Fuu and Akira lol. But I still love those two too! Maybe it's just because I thought Fuu was evil for most of the drama and Akira's a kid so I he doesn't carry the sex appeal part that makes me love characters lol. But seriously all the brothers are SO AWESOME. They're all so different but they work so well together as a family. 

[SPOILERS AHEAD!] Just scroll really fast to Mei-Chan if you don't want to be spoiled lol. 

One of my biggest problems with J-dramas would be the lack of romance. Maybe I've been spoiled by K and T dramas but I would really love it if the main couple within a drama would actually yunno... GET TOGETHER. Lol. 

Your kisses aren't enough for me! Chisato and Sho WHY DIDN'T YOU ACTUALLY GET TOGETHER IN THE END!?!? WHAT IS THIS, "Chisato, I have something to tell you later." CRAP?!? 

But I know by now that most J-dramas do not put the focus on romance and instead choose to focus on the connections between all the characters and focus on family and friend relations more. I think this has to do a lot with the fact that because most of the drama's I've watched are made from successful dramas which have gone on for years meaning the mangakas were able to create a huge ensemble cast and give them all their moment to shine somewhere in the manga so the drama also tries to emulate this which then takes screen time away from the main couple. This is kind of devastating for me someone who lives on the romantic scenes because Japan actually does sweet innocent romance SO FREAKING WELL. 

But this drama really isn't one to be missed because even if there isn't enough romance for me, there's still plenty of BROMANCE <3 <3 

Mei-Chan No Shitsuji

I decided to watch Mei-Chan after enjoying Atashinchi No Danshi so much only to realize after finishing Mei-Chan that Atashinchi no Danshi was that drama that aired right after Mei-Chan in the same timelot lol. 

Oh Hai there Mukai Osamu, I totally saw you there what with it seeming like you decided to take a bath in bleach before filming this drama! So like... I actually have no idea why my cutie is albino in this drama and people in the comments on youtube also wondered why, but it was sadly never explained :( 

The plot of Mei-Chan is that one day Shinonomei Mei's parents die in an accident, which is when a mysterious man comes and introduces himself ad Mei's butler. He explains to Mei that she is actually the grand daughter of Hongo Kintaro, head of Japan's richest family. For Mei to become to successor of the Hongo family, she needs to attend St. Lucia's academy which is tailored to educate high class ladies, at St. Lucia's every student is given a butler to serve their every command. The story follows Mei as she finds what it truly means to become a high class lady and how important her butler, Shibata Rihito is to her. 

So I had two moments in this drama when I felt really stupid. The first was when realized why the hell Rihito looked so familiar, he's MIZUSHIMA HITO! aka second male lead from Absolute Boyfriend! Lol. It took me the longest time to realize but wow, being a leading man is good for him. Too bad he quit acting to take care of his wife Ayaka (who coincidentally also sang Okaeri the theme for Absolute Boyfriend which is one of my favourite japanese songs... except for the fact that I like cry like a little baby whenever I hear that song and think  about how the drama ended). 

The second stupid moment what when I didn't realized till the end of episode 1 why the plot felt so familiar, IT'S BECAUSE I ALREADY READ THE FREAKING MANGA. LOL. I seriously had no idea probably because I read so many shojou mangas that sometimes they all become a blur unless I really like them. 

So anyways, once again this drama doesn't really have that much romance and it's more of a story per episode drama much like how Atashinchi no Danshi and Ouran were compared to a drama that had a more linear plot like Absolute Boyfriend. It also allowed for many of the master+butler pairs to have their own episode to shine but all along the way we could see that the relationship between the two leads was developing into something more than a simply professional relationship. 

I mean just look at them, AREN'T THEY SO ADORABLE ?!?! This drama ends with a kiss (but I can't find a picture! D;<) but the relationship this still kinda murky, butler and master... or something more? 

One thing that I love and hate about this drama is that it actually has a real villain. It's great because who doesn't love a good villain to up the stakes and get some forward motion in the plot? It's bad because... err.... the villain in this drama is absolutely bat shit crazy. And not even that bat shit crazy that's kinda interesting and entertaining to watch, the bat shit crazy that really just makes you want to institutionalize this woman. 

Oh Osamu, how did you get stuck with this kind of character? Crazy and creepy... oh well at least you're still pretty :) 

__________________________________________________________________________

So yea. Those were the two dramas that I've been loving recently and I just wanted to share them ^^ If anyone's curious the dramas that I plan on watching are: 

-Episode 10&11 of Golden Time 

-Arang and The Magistrate

-Five Fingers

-Faith (LEE MIN HOOOO <3 <3 <3 )

-Rich Man, Poor Woman 

-Miss Rose (maybe... not sure about this one yet) 

-To The Beautiful You (Or maybe the Japanese version of Hana Kimi. I watched the Taiwan version and hated the plot but finished it for the cast which I love to bits.) 

[K-Drama]: Golden Time First Impressions

Mr. Voice! Welcome back to dramaland baby! I'm not sure many of you actually understand just how much love I have for Lee Seung Gyun. He amazed me in Coffee Prince ( I was actually second lead shipping for a while until I realized that it would be the death of me and jumped back onto the Gong Yoo ship) and made me want to become a pasta chef (I mean chep-nim!) in Pasta. And because of my love for him, I obviously have been waiting for this drama since the news hit that Mr. Voice was going to be starring in it. 


There seemed to be a lot of hype before it aired but once it did the ratings kinda flopped. It opened with a 8.7 which isn't great, but there have been worse ratings for a first episode, but then they dropped to 7.8 [AGB Neilsen] the second episode, so things aren't looking to great for this drama. I can understand the ratings but I for one will be sure to keep watching this drama. 

I mean Lee Seung Gyun, Lee Seung Min and Kwon Suk Jang all reuniting for a drama? Count me in! I loved Pasta to bits and I'm hoping that these three can bring back the magic. Looking back at the ratings, Pasta didn't start out that great either, hovering around 12~13 but it ended  near 20! Lee Seung Min totally stole my heart in TK2H so I'm hoping that he'll get some more story + back story as the show progresses. 


I can't say much about Hwang Jung Eum since... I actually haven't seen her in anything, but she seems nice enough so I guess I'll waiting until later on in the drama to talk about her. 

There was quite a lot of hype for this drama before it began but for some reasons I haven't been able to find many reviews / recaps on this drama since it began to air. So I decided that I would write a post about my first impressions of this drama ^^

So, the basic plot. The story follows Lee Min Woo (Lee Seung Gyun), a doctor who has a medical license but has never done a residency at a hospital. He works at a traditional medicine clinic, using his license to order test like MRIs and CAT scans for the patients of the other doctors. He only goes into work 3 days a week but easily makes a six figure salary. One day he is subbing in for a friend at the ER of a small town hospital that rarely has any patients when a young girl with asthma comes in. Unable to successfully intubate her, the girl dies and makes Min Woo think about what he has been doing with his life. He makes the decision to start as an intern at a big hospital in Seoul. Kang Jae In (Hwang Jung Eum), is the successor of said hospital (among many) and also begins to do her residency there while hiding her identity. Jae In is Min Woo's best friend's girlfriend and Min Woo and Jae In begin their residency working together. Choi In Hyuk (Lee Seung Min) is the head of the ER and a trauma specialist who seems to do nothing but work, early on he takes an interest in Min Woo. 

The drama sure started with a bang. Min Woo was driving Jae In into Seoul as a favour to his friend when he got cut off by a car that was weaving through the streets. Min Woo then pursues the car with some fancy driving of his own only to follow the car onto the site of a multi car pile up but is able to avoid being hit. This scene already shows us a lot about the characters. The moment Jae In sees what has happened she is out of the car and ready to help, where as Min Woo is just looking around at the scene and taking pictures of everything. He's reluctant to help even though he's a doctor and continuously tries to talk Jae In into just leaving the scene for the paramedics to arrive. 

It's obvious that they had different reasons for getting their medical licenses. Jae In sincerely wants to help people (though she probably was influenced by the fact that she's an heiress to a few hospitals) and Min Woo is in it for the money. They follow a boy and his seriously injured mother to a hospital where it seems that Min Woo has his first encounter with what a real ER looks like when it's in an emergency situation. He's completely fascinated with everything that's going around him and is also able to identify the problems that a lot of the patients have. (He has excellent observation skills honed by watching many american medical dramas) 

It is after this encounter that he decides to do his friend a favour by working the graveyard shift at a small hospitals ER. There are no other doctors there because of a storm and when a little girl suffering from a severe asthma attack comes in Min Woo is the only one available. He attempts to intubate but is unable to because the they don't have the right size tube and because the girl's throat has closed up due to the wound from a previous throat surgery healing wrongly and closing up the throat. The girl dies there, but Min Woo cannot come to terms with this and so he continues to administer CPR while asking the parents to drive them to the hospital that Min Woo visited after the car accident. It is there that In Hyuk tells Min Woo that the girl had been dead for a long time and In Hyuk learns that Min Woo doesn't know how to announce time of death. 


Min Woo emotionally scarred by this and won't leave the villa that he is sharing with his friend for days. Jae In visits him on the request of her boyfriend and they talk about what it means to be a doctor and why they both decided to be doctors. This leads Min Woo to go to apply for residency at Haeundae Sejong Hospital: the place where he saw doctors doing something worthwhile and saving lives. He finds that both he and Jae In are able to pass the interview and become residents at the hospital. 

Once they enter the hospital Min Woo seems to be the one who is more inept at handling cases though his observation skills help him save the life of one of their patients. Throughout the second episode we are introduced to a lot of hospital politics which consists of the different departments fighting for OR space and power over other departments. In the middle of this dispute is In Hyuk who is constantly fighting with others because he needs ORs for his emergency patients which doesn't bode well with the doctors who have scheduled their surgeries long beforehand...Though this made me wonder if their overbooking their ORs. Shouldn't they have free ORs open for the trauma department anyways? Why would In Hyuk even be in the place where he needs to go around begging other surgeons for an OR when his patient is dying? 

The second episode ended with a MAJOR cliffhanger with one of the patients that Min Woo was taking care of going into heart failure and I seriously can't wait for the next episode to air so that I can watch it.

So here's where I'll talk about some of the characters that I didn't really mention in my semi-recap of the first two episodes. First of all, because I just ended up with the ending about the dying guy. The surgeon that was in charge of him ... the douchebag ortho guy, what is up with him? How can someone with such an inflated ego even be a doctor? He calls himself a god and then won't accept the praises of a lowly intern because they aren't even at a place where they can judge him? Seriously dude, get off your pedestal and go do something productive instead of drinking yourself silly. Sure he may have skills, but what does that matter when he doesn't even have the proper work ethic? He won't do surgery for patients that he thinks won't make it. Seriously... this guy just annoyed me so much! 

Amd then there is Min Woo's friend who is also Jae In's boyfriend who is also an asshole but for different reasons lol. Basically he's a player who's probably dating Jae In because she's rich and graduated from Seoul University. At the same time he's also dating a plethora of different girls. Jae In is so invested in the relationship though and thinks that things are starting to get serious though the friend is only playing around with her and thinking of ending things because she's too clingly. I didn't even bother to remember/look up his name because this guy is so freaking annoying. Good riddance that we saw him enter the hospital because of a wound in the teaser for episode 3. 

I haven't watched any other Korean medical dramas (other than Thank You... but I don't think that really counts), so I don't have anything to compare it to. But I HAVE watched every episode of Grey's anatomy that has ever aired ... twice ... some up to three or four times ... so even with my limited experience with the genre I'm still enjoying the show. If this goes well I'll probably find to time to watch White Tower (which is apparently really famous and also has Mr. Voice, though apparently it has no romance which I live on >.>) and Brain and OBGYN. 

All in all this was a pretty good start for a drama and I'll for sure be tuning in (well actually maybe not next week since I'll be busy) to see how it progresses! 

[C-Drama]: Bu Bu Jing Xin

So... I just finished Bu Bu Jing Xin like literally just a couple of hours ago. And I just need to say that it was AWESOME. I went into this drama not expecting much, I had seen that a lot of people had watched it and liked it and my dad had also finished the whole thing (which now looking at the drama as a whole... doesn't really seem like this thing but ehh) so with nothing much to do I decided I would give it a try. Frankly I'm not one for period dramas... (disregard the fact that I was a crazy raving fangirl during the time TMTETS was airing >.>) and the last Chinese period drama I watched was ... okay so I can't even remember the title since it was too long ago. All I remember is having fond memories of being in Hong Kong and getting up really early in the morning so that I could go to the library and watch it with two of my friends that summer. All I remember about it now is there was that gu gu who could fly? I'm pretty sure it's one of those classic dramas, so if anyone actually knows the title of it I hope that they kindly point me in that direction. 

But anyway, back to BBJX. Like I said, didn't expect to like the drama at all. But after getting through the second episode, I was hooked. I marathoned the drama like crazy and finished it in about 4 days. I would have finished it had I not started in the middle of the night on monday and then after watching episode 32... I had a feeling that things were going to go downhill from there so I abstained from watching it for like half of today until I finally gave in. So before I get into the spoilery goodness here's a synopsis of the drama.

A girl from the 21st century, Zhang Xiao, gets into a car accident (this scene actually almost turned me off of the drama. Like seriously she just gets bumped by the car but goes FLYING into the billboard??) and finds herself in the body of Maertai Ruoxi a daughter of a general during the early Qing Dynasty. For whatever reason (I think she was a drama addict) Zhang Xiao has an extensive knowledge of the time period that she has landed in and knows how everything will end for the people that she has gotten to know as Ruoxi. Even knowing how everything ends, Ruoxi becomes entangled in the lives of the princes vying for the position of King and finds herself at the center of many political plots and struggles the the feelings that she develops for two of the princes. 

**And I know that it's an Emperor that they have but... I want to call it a King so I will x3** 

(MAJOR SPOILER AREA BEGINS HERE.)

Okay, so the moment Ruoxi saw 4th and called him a iceblock... I knew that he would be the second half of our OTP. Like after watching a number of dramas, you can tell what's going to happen and the moment she laid eyes on him you just knew that they would be endgame.... well at least as endgame as you get in this drama. This was another one of the reasons I almost stopped watching this drama. I saw Nicky Wu's face and was basically like "NO NO NO NO. NOT HIM. WHY HIM?" but his character seriously won me over. I swoon whenever I think about the 4th prince and all the things he did for Ruoxi. 

I'm sorry Nicky... I love you now and you're a phenomenal actor and all... but almost everyone else in the drama was hotter than you. 

I loved the early episodes to bits though, they were filled with fun happy times and she seemed to develop relationships with everyone so naturally. Even knowing that Ruoxi was going to end up with 4th when I saw her interactions with 10th in the beginning, I was totally on their non-existent ship. 10th was just SO. FREAKING. CUTE. I find myself always falling for the bumbling idiot types, and this drama was no different. 

And maybe this is just me... but I never actually boarded the Ruoxi-8th prince ship. I'm not sure why... but something just seemed off about them. I couldn't get invested into their relationship, it just didn't seem like it was something that was going to work out. Now this is without thinking about how 4th was going to be endgame. Their relationship just seemed shallow to me, I kept asking myself HOW and WHY the even fell in love. 

Okay dude. I know you're hot and I'm usually super vain and fall for the hot guy no matter what... but by the second half of the drama I couldn't stand seeing your face. Every time you appeared on my screen I actually yelled out "BEGONE YOU DEVIL MAN" like a freak. So yea I hope I never have to hear anything about the 8th prince... like ever again.

Like I get the whole love at first sight thing (as 8th described it... except shouldn't that mean that he was in love with her even before the drama started? The actual Maertai Ruoxi had already been at his estate for a few months before Zhang Xiao came in a snatched that body... ) This is a problem for me in many dramas. All of a sudden a couple (and sometimes even the OTP) will just be "HEY VIEWERS. WE'RE IN LOVE. YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE IT BECAUSE WE SAY IT'S TRUE." It doesn't even seem to matter that there was no buildup to the relationship. I don't care how many scenes you guys have in the snow, or frolicking in fields (which by the way she totally did that with 4th first). I just don't and never will buy that they had real feelings for each other. 

But put Ruoxi, 4th prince and a horse in any place together and I'm sold. Who wants rolling kisses in the grass when you can have moonlit forced kisses? (Okay that came out kinda wrong bu you get my point). 

YUM.

The relationship that Ruoxi and 4th had made me swoon left right and center. Their love was just so right and beautiful. I can't even really find the words to describe the relationship that occurred between Ruoxi and 4th. He fits into the archetype of cold guy with a warm and snuggly center but I'm not sure what it is, but Nicky Wu made him so much more. 

I'm already here so lets do some character breakdowns: 

What better place to start then with the main character? So Ruoxi... or Zhang Xiao... whatever you feel like calling her, was a pretty complex character. She dealt with the problems that all of our time travelling heroes so far have, trying to live in the time that she has been sent to without making any changes to history. Ruoxi also had to deal with the same dilemma that Boong Do from QIHM did once he returned to his time from the future "should you still live in a time where you already know how everything will happen? When you already know how all you're loved ones are going to die?" and though Ruoxi didn't really have the choice of going back to 2011, she could probably could have just spent her time in the palace without gaining any attention and not making the ties that she did with the doomed princes. 

That's one of the things that about Rouxi that confuses me. She resigns herself to fate again and again saying how she can't change what has already happened, but then she goes ahead and does whatever she wants. But then one could argue that whole time is a circle thing, so the future that Zhang Xiao lived in was due to the decisions that she as Ruoxi had made so no matter what she was always meant to go into the time and make the decisions that she did. 

But lets put away the mechanisms of her time travel and I found that this was way more like a regular traditional drama compared to anything else. Ruoxi is able to fit into the life in the Qing Dynasty so well that many times I would forget that she was from 2011. One of her biggest assets was her ability to conform with the time frame and then live accordingly. Sure she fought for what she thought was right and got into trouble for it, but she was also able to act in a way that gained her respect by being orderly and acting in a way that was acceptable according to the palace rules. 

I love her because of her loyalty. Ruoxi was one of those people who would fight fiercely and even sacrifice herself for her loved ones.

And then there's my darling 4th prince. Oh how much I love you. Some people said he was cold and uncaring... which frankly speaking is true. Unless you're in his inner circle of trusted people, which actually only consisted of Ruoxi and 13th prince... you'll probably never know what he's thinking. I actually felt really bad for his wife whenever she appeared.... cause like yea she ended up as queen and everything, but he never really felt anything towards her. Bless her for being so kindhearted and sweet. 

Once you get past hat cold-hearted exterior you find an adorable guy who will call the girls he likes a fluffy white puppy and then make her a snuff box with that picture. So what if he's actually a secret creeper during the night? When he does it, he does it well! (Okay this is kinda an aside... but how was Ruoxi not surprised whenever one of the princes would suddenly appear behind her? I mean she's from the present... people don't usually just creep behind you and stand there. If it were me I would've been killed for seriously damaging one of the princes that creeped behind me.) 

He loved Ruoxi so much and was willing to share so much of himself with her. He even showed her his special place in the lake: the place he went when he didn't want to see anyone else, but he shared it with her. He also made that pact that they would always tell each other truth which meant that he didn't have anything that he wanted to hide from her. (Though that kinda flew out of the window once he became King....) 

The only problem with his character was his inferiority complex which led to his greed to become the King. His mother loved 14th prince more and made it well known to just about everyone she could. He had thought that once he became King, his mother would finally see him instead of his brother, but that didn't happen. What resulted was him becoming corrupted by the power that he had gained from the crown and the eventual change in his actions that destroyed the relationship between him and Ruoxi. But even though his actions changed, I don't think that 4th as a person did, as Ruoxi had said, even though he had become the King, she was still the 4th prince that she had always known and I feel the same way. 

Ahh Lao Ba... would you kindly get off my screen? No? And I have to talk about you? Well fine then, but it's not going to be pretty. 

8th prince was the character that I hated the most in this drama. I've already talked about how i never thought that he really loved Ruoxi and to extrapolate on this, he was basically a really horny guy who would chase whoever happened to pass him by. I'm positive that he never truly loved anyone during the course of his life. He wanted Ruolan because she was the thing that he couldn't have, he didn't want his Difujin because she was the one person who was wholly devoted to him, and he wanted Ruoxi because she was just so different from everyone else. 

The fact that 8th was able to make Ming Hui into such a sympathetic character speaks volumes about his own character. By the end I felt myself hurting for Ming Hui because she just fell in love with the wrong person. All she wanted was to be loved by her husband, and when she couldn't get that, she lashed out against the person who did get his affections. I'm not happy about what she did, but I understand it. 

Sure sure, he learned his lesson by the end of the show and 'redeemed' himself by helping Ruoxi get out of the palace by revealing their past relationship and he finally realized how lucky he had to have had someone like his wife by his side and he wanted to be buried with her and blah blah blah.... too little too late dude. I don't even want to waste any more words on you. 

Okay so now onto my favourite characters (apart from the OTP that is)  the 10th, 13th and 14th princes. Even though they were on different sides of the battle for the crown, they did everything they could to help Ruoxi and I absolutely love them for that, and for just being the people that they were. 

I've already said how much I love 10th prince. He was just like a little kid and his crush on Ruoxi was absolutely adorable. I kind of feel that he got shafted for the rest of the series though, once he had his arc and got married to Ming Yu he just faded away. He was the comedic relief in the drama and would show up whenever needed but I feel like there could have been so much more done with his character if he had stayed in the palace once 4th had come into power. But I get it, his character was a typical side character and he played his part and then ended up making happy babies with his wife. I just feel sad thinking about how much he could have done for Ruoxi when she was going through everything that she did (especially after the miscarriage). 

'Death-seeking' 13th prince, I loved whenever you were with you're 'Death-seeking sister'. I just said that I had hoped that 10th could have stayed in the palace as Ruoxi's ally, and I feel the exact same way with 13. The relationship that Ruoxi and 13th had was like they were really siblings, they would bicker and fight, but they were always there for each other. They drowned their sorrows together with wine and were able to tell each other everything no matter how big or small the news was. It makes sense that Ruoxi felt so horrible once she realized that it was partly her fault that 13 had ended up having to serve 10 years in isolation. Here was someone that she loved like a brother, who had been forced to face a decade that left him losing the love of his life and with a weakened body that would never heal. But even after everything, he never blamed her for anything. He just loved her like a sister and was always there to try and protect her. 

14th prince... you made me love you by the end, but I would be lying if I said that it wasn't a long and hard road to get to that point of loving you. Let's admit it, you were a total asshole during the days when all you would do was run around Ruoxi telling her how she didn't understand how much 8th loved her and how if she knew anything she should just get married to him. And you weren't nice about it. At All. But then you went to that excursion dressed as a mongol and realized what all the hype about Ruoxi truly started getting to know her. Even when 14th was feeling wronged for having the throne stolen from him by 4th, he didn't really blame Ruoxi and still wanted to help and protect her when something went wrong. I'm not even sure at what point he fell in love with her but his love grew the most organically compared to all the other brothers who had a crush on Ruoxi (even 4th!). But even though he did love her, he never forced her to love him, even when he married her it was for the right reasons and that kind of self sacrificing love gets me every time. 

Oddly enough, it felt so right that she died in his arms. And it completely killed me. 14th said that he realized he loved Ruoxi during the days that they were married and he was the one who was willing to sacrifice everything to be with her, so it fit that she died while with him. The way he was grasping to her ashes and talking to her as if she was still there made me turn into a blubbering pile of tears... actually just thinking about it now is making me kind of teary too. DAMN YOU 14! HOW DID YOU MAKE ME LOVE YOU SO MUCH EVEN THOUGH I HATED YOU IN THE BEGINNING?!?!? He was just so broken by her death and his reaction made her death so much worse. 

About the rumours that BBJX2 is going to be about Ruo Xi and 14th's second chance at love... made me scratch my head. Like the fully showed modern Nicky at the end of the show, what are they gonna do? Get that trolley that hit Ruo Xi at the beginning of the show to make a comeback and then hit Nicky so that he's out of the way? I mean BBJX was so obviously Ruoxi and 4th's story so I don't see why 14 and Ruoxi would get a second chance when Ruoxi didn't even get her happy ending with 4. If BBJX2 actually ends up happening I'll probably watch it because hey, I love 14th too, but the OTP in my heart will always be Ruoxi and 4th. (I'm just REALLY REALLY happy that Kevin Cheng won't be rearing his ugly [okay that's a lie he's not but his character is still horrible] to come out and ruin another couple) 

But yea... I loved this drama. So. Much. Even though it turned me into a crying mess from 33 on. I didn't think that Ruo Xi was going to die in 34 but that just made everything worse because we had to see what she left behind. That scene where 4th is looking out onto his palace after 13th's death saying that he's now lost everything was just... yea... something worse than horrible. 

So if you've stayed with me though this entire post about BBJX but haven't watched it yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO GO GO! 

I'll sign off with some cute OTP screen shots <3 

[K-Drama]: I Do, I Do

Okay, so I totally thought that my first real post would be a book review, but as it turns out, my reading of White Queen has declined to a snail's pace. I'm close to completing it, but not quite in the reading mood these days, hopefully that'll change soon enough. 


But something that is working out for me this summer is my drama watching, well at least for this drama. Currently my drama watching/ reading recap schedule is working out like this:


Reading:
-Dr. Jin (and I don't plan to watch it any time soon considering how dramabeans continues to talk about how bad the directing is... maybe it'll happen once it's over and I have nothing better to do.)


-Big (Which I am also watching ... but kind of slowly, I don't sit on the edge of my seat waiting for the subs to be complete so that I can watch it.)


Watching: 
-My Sweet City: My love for Ji Hyun Woo (QIHM I will re-watch you once you have been fully subbed on viki oh how you're so wonderfully cracktastic that I even lived through really horrible quality to watch you!)  has made me want to look back on his older dramas. And considering this drama also has Choi Kang Hee and My darling Mr. Voice, well there was no way I wasn't going to watch it. It's amusing enough, but not really that special so far. (I'm currently on episode 8) 


-I Do, I Do : 
So this is what led me to post in the first place. I just finished episode 9 (and when I write just, I mean I literally just finished it like not even 10 minutes ago) when I decided that I just HAD to talk about the love I have for this drama somewhere. I had been happily enjoying the fluff and laughter until this episode 9 cemented for me that this is probably going to be my crack drama until the end of it's run. 


I can't for the life of me understand why the ratings for this drama are so dismal, the nationwide ratings hovering at around 9% while the seoul ratings are only around 10%. I know that those aren't horrible, but considering Kim Sun Ah -who is usually able to hold at least a steady 15% average in her past two projects- is headlining the whole she-bang... these ratings are kind of sad. 


Maybe it's the fame factor, Lee Jang Woo, no matter how cute he is, isn't a Cha Seung Won or Lee Dong Wook, but I would've thought that he would have brought in the younger crowd and the WGM viewers (though frankly WGM seems to be a sinking ship these days ratings wise). But I just can't seem to see why. It's the perfect, fluffy summer drama. Though a lot of people my disagree, I find this drama much more interesting than Big (which is what the internet seems to be completely fawning over these days). 


But if I'm going to blame something for this wonderful drama failing, then I guess it has to be Gaksital, which is doing so well that they're thinking of extending it's already 24 episodes. If things continue the way they're going, I DID is sadly going to be overlooked for the entirety of it's run. I guess this summer just isn't going to go so great for MBC which I guess is fine for them since they were such a giant in the previous two dramas in I DID's timeslot, TMTETS and K2H which were both amazing. Seriously this timeslot on MBC has been magic for me so far, so I can't wait to see what's going to happen after I DID. 


Well enough about why I DID isn't doing well... Now I'm going to show you why it SHOULD be doing well. 

Lee Jang Woo in drag. Like seriously. I laughed out loud the moment he came out onto the screen like this. This is after I had already seen these pictures online but once I saw him in motion I just couldn't stop myself. I DID is wonderful with it's comedy, it's typically pretty slapstick, but it also has those quieter funny parts that aren't so in your face, but still work well with you're overall tone. Like the entire character of Eun Sung, he's shouldn't be so funny, but almost everything he does has me dying with laughter. (Oh Mascara man, I know that some people are annoyed with you. But I love you just the way you are. Please keep massaging your man boobs in public places!)

This in no way means that I DID isn't serious when it needs to be though. Kim Sun Ah is obviously killing it in her role as Hwang Ji An, the (not so) cold executive shoe designer whose life has been entirely changed by one stupid mistake. Ji An is so lovable because even though she seems like a cold city woman, she's actually someone who really cares about all the people around her, especially her estranged parents and her unborn baby. It would be so easy for her, with all her success and money to just let the relationship that she has with her parents drift away and have an abortion of a child that she hasn't even met, but she's choosing to work on both of those relationships and try to make them work. Ji An is someone that you can't not root for. 

Lee Jang Woo is also doing quite well as Park Tae Kang, a young underdog trying to make it in the world of shoe design with nothing but a high school diploma and a lot of spunk. (And the added plus of being Ji An's baby daddy... though he doesn't actually know that the baby is his at the moment). His comedic timing is great and he's perfectly serviceable in his role. It helps that Tae Kang should naturally fall into the background in his scenes with Ji An due to the age gap and the manager/worker relationship they're in. But he's just so freaking earnest in his one sided love for Ji An that I can't stop rooting for his adorable puppy love. (Though is it still puppy love if he's willing to take care of her child?! But then again, he still needs still needs someone to take care of him >.>) 

And did I mention how hilarious Park Gun Hyun is as Jo Eun Sung? Been there, done that? Well let me say it again. I LOVE THIS MAN. His character is just as adorable as Tae Kang is in his own love for Ji An, and he's currently mulling over taking responsibility for her life. His anger when he learned about her pregnancy was completely warranted and now that he's calmed down he's willing to do so much for her. Ethical medicine practices be damned, he can be her doctor if he wants to be! Just look at that face! How can you not love him?!?! 

The script is superb and the directing is pretty, so I'm really hoping for ratings to go up soon. We're already well past the half-way point (only 7 more episodes *SOB*)  but I'm hoping that the ratings get a little better (or at least stay this same! I will not be able to comprehend why there would be any reason for the ratings to drop lower than they already are). But then again, ratings aren't everything right? I'm still enjoying every moment of the show, I just wish there were more people who also love it as much is me! ^^  Anyone who's looking for a light and fluffy drama to watch should really try this drama out! 

A Fresh Start!

Hi all,

Well frankly, I've been meaning to start a blog for a while now but never really got around to it till now. Basically I'm going to be using this blog as a tool to spazz about or review the things that I really love in life. Currently my obsessions are books, k-pop and k-dramas so expect a lot of drama reviews in the near future!

I also wanted to start this blog to share an experience that I'm going to have in the near future so anyone's who reading this should be looking out for that ;) I actually don't have much to write about right at this moment but I will be back soon, hopefully with a book review of The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory once I finish it.

Kat