Keizoku: Spec 2

 

More people need to watch this drama- it’s so good and so underrated!

This drama falls under the category of: Unexpected obsession.

Unexpected because it’s a crime drama first off- which we avoid like the plague because we always work out the crime way before the leads and spend the rest of the episode shouting- HURRY UP, DUMBOS!

Second, it’s a Jdrama and well… recent Jdramas have been rubbish to put it bluntly.

Sunao ni Narenakute, Tsuki no Koibito anyone?

Spec 2: think-  Fringe meets Sherlock Holmes:

The leading lady Toma played brilliantly by Erika Toda in this case is our Sherlock Holmes- she’s an eccentric genius with no sense of social etiquette. She has an abnormal appetite (don’t they all), wears a sling and drags around a suitcase where ever she goes. As a character she is so much more than the crazy nutcase she presents. Her character has layers, a mystery surrounding her past and the more you watch, the more you can’t help but care about her and want to know what made her the way she is. 

 

Then we’ve got Sebumi played by Ryo Kase as our Doctor Watson. For us, he is the stand out star of this drama and a character that transforms this easily mediocre drama into something so much more. His character is demoted from SIT and sent to work in the Unsolved Cases department where he finds himself partnered with Toma. Although Toma is obviously damaged, it’s Sebumi’s dark, tortured character that makes him fascinating to watch. J-dramas really know how to make their characters realistic and so human- love that. Kase portrays Sebumi with such intensity that he manages to effortlessly present this really cool character that is so very appealing to watch on screen. Strange how we don’t find Kase attractive at all but his character is pretty impressive that we found ourselves looking at him differently and thinking…hello, ello Detective Sebumi. Giggles* 

Toma and Sebumi are great together. He’s stern, serious and as by the book as you can get and well she’s completely insane. Despite their differences, they accept each other for who they are. They move from minimal interaction to suddenly relying on each other. We love when odd couples are produced well and these two are great together. The drama did really well in showing the development of their relationship in really small but important actions across the series. We really like watching these two seriously damaged characters come together and find themselves forced to trust and rely on one another while solving cases that are beyond logic and nothing like anything they’ve previously seen before.

Aside the writing and directing being a stand out, this drama is visually stunning at times and the way music is used is perfect. As well as the leads, this drama has solid assembled cast of very interesting characters who are far from simply being labelled as good or bad. As we mentioned before this drama has layers and more layers and you start questioning everything and everyone- There are some actions and scenes in this drama that will literally have you gasp in utter shock/ amazement of it all. It’s brilliant!

Don’t judge this drama from the first couple episodes- give it a chance and like us you will be pleasantly surprised at how great it is. Trust us, it’s so worth it!!

Weekend Rambles

49 Days- excited!

First off- promo shots for 49 days are out and all we can say is: YES PLEASE!

Bae Soo Bin- we love you- our favourite love rival (Shining Inheritance) and that smile, those earnest eyes…sigh*

Also Death is played by Jung II Woo- yum. So pretttty. Yes we’re aware we’re being completely perverted and superficial and what? Please note we’re not hormonal 12 year old girls. We just occasionally like to act like it.

Aside from man perving, we’re really excited about the concept and how there is so much potential to be really original and move away from the traditional K-drama set up that feels so outdated and artificial.

My Princess:

We hadn’t officially acknowledged it but yes we have indeed dropped My Princess. The cut off point for us was episode 6/7 where we realised that, this drama wasn’t working for us and we better get out before we’ve invested too much time and feel obliged to complete the drama (UGH- I am Legend.)  Funny enough, we think that was a lot of peoples cut off point as the ratings dropped drastically. We have been keeping up to date with recaps and they do nothing but make us grateful for using our instincts and dropping this timewaster, seriously, our lives don’t need to be wasted with so much fluffy, confused drivel! As cute as the OTP are, there is only so many episodes that a drama can ride on the ‘cute factor’ and then after that we require some substances…like a plot that doesn’t revolve around two grownups that act like weird freaks that gasp at their hands accidently (on purpose) brushing or a OTP that go between hate and love in a space of five minutes. We were thinking about the last time we watched a half decent RomCom and for the life of us we can’t think of one.

This drama may have been good, say three years ago but now it feels so old fashioned and unoriginal. As drama viewers in 2011, we think that we’ve well and truly seen the best we’re going to get out of the RomCom genre because anything produced now will automatically be something we’ve already seen like a million times before. The reason why dramas like My Girl and My name is Kim Sam Soon are so loved is because they were the first of their kind and will hold a special place in drama viewers hearts years later but ask yourself this: If you watched either drama in 2011, would you like them as much as you did the first time? Doubt it.

Cyrano Dating Agency:

We watched Cyrano Dating Agency hoping that all the hype would suffice and  we might actually find a half decent Korean movie but sadly for us the search continues. First 10 minutes were great, funny, interesting and very fresh but after that it was so boring that we blanked out multiple times before we literally turned to each other and questioned what the hell are we watching!?

Our advice- avoid, it’s not worth the hype.

 

Dream High: 12-13

Thank you writers for keeping Emo Sam Dong to a minimum and providing us with lots of laughs and a further appreciation of how much this drama rocks!

We have a distinct feeling that all DH fans breathed a sigh of relief when our favourite country bumpkin returned from the black pits of misery where he reigned as the King of Emos with just the perfect look of tormented angst and self pity.

We missed you Sam Dong, we’re glad your back.

Although we find him rather annoying at the moment… which puts us strictly in the minority as this character has soooo much fan love that we don’t actually feel that bad about hating on him. Muhahaha.

How can Sam Dong be annoying? – We hear you scream with venom in your tone.

Okay annoying is a bit harsh, more frustrating. It was that scene with Jin Gook where he declared himself his rival and that they both needed to work hard for the ‘prize’- in this case Hye Mi. UGH!!! We’re sorry, as much as he’s a darling, we can’t tolerate love interests that describe their leading lady as a ‘prize’. Don’t objectify a leading lady that we love- she’s kick arse cool, head strong and is definitely no one’s prize! Oh Sam Dong, we’re disappointed.

We’ve discussed this issue week after week but with three episodes (+ a special?) to go, we’ve concluded the following in regards to our headache inducing love triangle.

We’re happy with whatever Hye Mi decides. It’s as simple as that. The writers have developed enough of a relationship between her and both men that whoever she ends up with is both plausible and well neither guy make us want to throw our screen out the window, so we’ll live.

In a way we wish the following would happen with Sam Dong and Hye Mi:

After Sam Dong returned from Emo land, we would have loved it if he officially gave up on Hye Mi and allowed her to fall properly in love with him. 

Sam Dong deciding to chase after her AGAIN, is more of the same and rather frustrating to watch the second time round. It’s like he doesn’t want to take her thoughts and feelings into consideration at all. He thinks that working really, really hard will suddenly make her look at him in a different light. However in our opinion that type of response isn’t like Hye Mi at all; she’s driven and generally goes for things when she wants them. How good would it have been if Sam Dong became totally awesome and cool despite his illness purely for the love of music rather than his stubborn pursuit of Hye Mi? That type of attitude change is so much more appealing and we would happily acknowledge him as Hye Mi’s OTP but his current mind-set is frankly plain annoying.

 We really appreciate the fact that guilt and pity was quickly squashed from the equation for Hye Mi and Sam Dong’s relationship and now she’s purely with him because she wants to be. However we can’t help but feel that their relationship will be too contrived if she chooses him at the end simply because he worked ‘sooo hard’ to better himself for her (and yes for himself as well). That said, this drama has never failed to surprise us in a good way, so you never know -we may love it and retract our numerous rambles over the weeks. (It wouldn’t be the first time!)

However if Jin Gook is Hye Mi’s OTP, we wish the writers would hurry up and give them more substance. What’s with their inconsistent airtime as a couple? Episode 11 had notably ZERO scenes with Hye Mi and Jin Gook, strange considering they kissed in the previous episode and then the writers made up for it by throwing in lots of adorable, sweet moments between this couple in episode 12 and back to practically no scenes together in episode 13…sort it out writers, it’s time to make a decision and stick with it!

The scene where Hye Mi congratulated Jin Gook on his number 1 single (BTW cheeeesssy song or what!?) was a perfect way of showing her lack of certainty of who she wants to be with. The scene was filled with Jin Gook and Hye Mi completely engrossed in each other, laughing and joking.  We love how they manage to share effortless chemistry together and as a couple they are believable and engaging to watch. Then suddenly when Hye Mi spots Sam Dong, she jumps and pulls away from Jin Gook as if she had done something bad, which she might think is true because she knows full well how Sam Dong feels about her or is it more….??? The best bit about her response was Jin Gook’s reaction to it, the guy never misses a thing- he’s so perceptive about everything and despite Sam Dong declarations that he knows Hye Mi best, we still think that Jin Gook does and he definitely knows that something is up.

We have no doubt that whoever Hye Mi doesn’t pick will be heartbroken and will return to Emo land where they will spend the rest of their days weeping pretty man tears and listening to Celine Dion’s ‘My heart will go on’ on a  torturous loop.

Other thoughts:

Although we never got that pervy vibe from ‘K’’s manager, we knew as soon as Beak Hee went to visit him in that outfit all alone that we were going to get trouble!

It’s shame that Jin Gook had to pay the consequences for it though. We really like his interactions with his father and was surprisingly pleased by the father and son scene in episode 13 where Jin Gook’s father tried to get the truth out of his son. We were certain that he would be furious with him and blame him for being a fool but instead we got a father that seemed to know his son better than he previously let on and aside from wanting to save his electoral campaign, he also wanted to save his son’s music career. 

We can’t wait to watch Hye Mi save the day!!! Come on, we all knew as soon as this happened that Hye Mi was going clear Jin Gook’s bad reputation and also save his father’s campaign.

 It’s rather predicable but who cares when it’s this good?!

Jason’s phone has to have a photo of Pil Sook before her diet! Please, please let it be- how utterly adorable would it be. There is only so much more we can say about this couple after awhile- they still remain completely adorable together and the added factor of jealousy makes them more entertaining to watch. Cute, cute, cute! Favourite secondary OTP in a drama by miles!

-The funniest scene has to go to Oh Hyuk’s sister and 2pm’s ChanSung/ Ma Doo Shik: – OMG how hilarious was this scene! At first we sat there wondering what the hell was happening and then suddenly it all made sense and we couldn’t believe the genius of ChanSung’s cameo. So funny. Also Director Ma is now good- she turned him straight with one drunken kiss. We got to confess that we’re going to miss crooked Director Ma, so entertaining to watch but we guess that him being ‘good’ means that he might get more airtime in the drama- which is fine with us.

How is it that Jin Man manages to steal every scene he is in?! He’s so funny and this week as Robo Teacher was no exception. Love this guy.

 

Gushed for far too long, so we’ll stop while we’re ahead.
 

Buzzer Beat- Overall thoughts

With life being rather busy and hectic of late, it was nice to sit down and tune into a drama that was so relaxed and engaging to watch. We wonder if we would have liked this drama less if we watched it at a different point in our life where possibly we may have demanded more from our drama viewing? Frankly this drama had very little going on plot wise, there were no villains, no sudden illnesses…nothing other than a simple story about two characters brought together through a  mutual desire to achieve their dreams. Naturally this being a drama- the writers threw in some love and conflicting feelings, however even that was a little on the diluted side, which isn’t uncommon for J-dramas. Now if this was a T-drama this would be a completely different type of story…but in many ways that’s probably why we enjoy tuning in to  J-dramas every once in awhile- they always manage to maintain that sense of reality that is distinctly absent in Korean and Taiwanese dramas.

Despite the drama having a very abrupt and forced happy ending, we enjoyed the drama for the small things like; the characterisation of the lead OTP aswell being engaged in their situations, thoughts and feelings.

 Riko- the leading lady was great- she wore her heart on her sleeve, she was smart, emotional and very likable. The scene where she stood up and yelled at Naoki to try harder, fulfil his potential in his basketball game was brilliant. She just couldn’t stop herself- so passionate and sincere. In many ways her actions were similar to other leading ladies we love; in particular Makino (HYD). 

Naoki- as the leading guy was one we really adored. He is a prime example of a Beta male; quiet, considerate and thoughtful. He tidied her house and made her French toast, for gawds sake!

For us, he was too considerate and thoughtful at times but then he always managed to come across as human. We like how protecting his pride was a real reason for breaking up with Natsuki and despite falling for Riko, he still found himself caring about his ex- that’s a real character and a reason why he wasn’t a 2D boring one. Plus it was really refreshing watching a nice guy as the lead, who you wouldn’t mind being your boyfriend. As much as we love leading men that are rich bastards that learn the error of their ways, it nice to see a good guy get the girl for a change.  

The actions and conversations between the main characters in this drama were so realistic that it made it easy to understand and connect with them. As we mentioned in an earlier post we really liked Mai and Riko’s depiction of friendship between two women. It was honest and sincere and the conversations were at times so realistic but ordinary that we could have had exactly the same conversation between us.

The closest thing to a villain in this drama had to be Naoki’s ex girlfriend Natsuki. She was a complete bitch and a nasty piece of work but so realistic. You can see exactly what made her tick and why she was driven to act the way she did. We love how she’s never given even the slightly bit of hope from Naoki and how she spent the majority of the drama regretting her actions. We love when Karma is used well. Although we were a little disappointed by how her character was resolved- Why did she have to get a happily ever after, we wanted her to sit in a dark corner and cry sad, depressed tears!?

 

Things that made us laugh for all the wrong reasons:

-Naoki’s dress sense and his huge arse backpack! Why Naoki, tell us that was the only bag left in the store or that a poor child gave it to you as a present and you didn’t have the heart to reject it? Why so big and PURPLE? Also what the heck was with all the random colours in your wardrobe? Pinks and oranges are a distinct NO-No.

It’s nearly bigger than him!

-Did this director just like getting multiple shots of Riko running? We have a distinct feeling that the 75 minute finale was just an excuse to show her run ALOT. Riko for some reason seemed to have an aversion to public transport that resulted in her having to run everywhere- She nearly missed the most predicable Buzzer beat in the whole drama because she chose to run all the way to the stadium!

-Naoki’s phone would be covered in a plastic cover whenever he was in the bath. Some may say that’s very practical…if you were a doctor on call or a Spy but Naoki’s was a basketball player! It just looked so random and silly watching him lie in the bathtub while holding his phone in its plastic cover! Heaven forbid he might not be able to answer a text message from Natsuki.

-Why did Riko only know one tune on her violin?

-We loved the symbolism of the wall painting which read – Love makes me strong. It was a nice example of a giant, pink elephant in the room whenever Riko and Naoki would meet. That’s fine but seriously was it necessary to have some random, can’t act to save his life guy quote it in the last episode? How unbelievably cheesy! Drama we expected more.

Okay, now it sounds like we didn’t enjoy the drama but overall we did… promise. It’s nothing groundbreaking and it doesn’t compare to J-drama greats like Pride but still it’s a pleasant enough watch…just leave your brain at the door.

How much we liked it: 7/10

How good is it technically: 6/10

A Valentine for our Drama Boyfriends

Happy Valentines to all! 

Beware this is completely self indulgent and girly. *giggles

Last year we commiserated our favourite Love rivals that failed to get the girl, but this year it’s all about our numerous drama boyfriends- old and new…a girl can dream right?

First off, something that made us want to gag and reach for the sick bucket but at the same time we couldn’t help but enjoy all the cheesiness on show. Plus when Boyfriend no.1 –Choi Siwon looks super (no pun intended) adorable in this MV, how’s a girl to resist?

  

Boyfriend no.2– Hyun Bin in Secret Garden– He literally died for her! Enough said. Okay maybe not- did we forget to mention the man tears, the intense ‘I’m going to rip your clothes off’ stares and the amazing ability to look good in a fugly sequinned tracksuit?!

Boyfriend no. 3 – Sungkyunkwan Scandal’s Crazy Horse. Please note that we don’t find Yoo Ah In attractive at all in real life but as Crazy horse we adored him completely. What’s not to love about a mask crusader who hiccups uncontrollably around females? We loved him.

 

Boyfriend no. 4 – TOP (Big Bang and Iris) – TOP is strictly and possessively loved by Shams. Her fan girl ways are embarrassing and irrational when it comes to this guy- who loves to glare and occasional have really bad silver hair. (wtf is that about TOP? Shams may be able to forgive you but the rest of us can’t!)

 Boyfriend no. 5– Park Shi Hoo – The only drama actor alive that has managed to steal TWO leading men’s role from behind, plus look at him, he’s adorable.

Boyfriend no. 6 – Smile, You’s Jung Kyung Ho as Kang Hyun Su aka our Beta boyfriend. The perfect example of a Beta boyfriend who is at once smart, geeky and strangely attractive.

  

We mustn’t forget RoRo’s all time boyfriend – Big Bang’s Daesung. Muhahahah. What a hunk.  

Oh Drama boyfriends, we love so. *sigh.

Dream High: episode 10-11

Have you seen our happy, all dancing, all singing drama about a bunch of misfits trying to make their dreams come true, we seemed to have misplaced it?

We watched last week’s episodes super excited for more of the same but then we found ourselves tuned into emo central; where suddenly our sweet natured, charming and very lovable Sam Dong spent the majority of the episode wallowing away in misery.

First of all, what were the writers thinking giving him a degenerative hearing problem with no miracle cure insight!? We know that the later episodes in all K-drama dramas love to add the angst factor, make things difficult and get the leads to cry beautiful tears before the happily ever after BUT this is too much! It can’t just be us that feel that such a heavyweight scenario is completely and utterly out of place in this drama? What happened to the days of fake showcases to please the parents?

Despite the newfound angst being completely misplaced- we have to admit that Sam Dong’s monologue at the start of episode 11 was really heart wrenchingly good. This lovely, innocent guy has not only got his heartbroken but has found himself in possibly the lowest point in his life. We love a good hair cutting scene; we never get bored of the symbolism of cutting your hair off when you’re mourning.

Mother, you lied to me. You said that the heavens would only give me hardship I can handle. But that must not be true for me.

Frankly we were wavering in regards to our chosen OTP- naturally being the traditionalist that we are- we were all over the Jin Gook and Hye Mi OTP but if we got the SamMi pairing we wouldn’t have been completely gutted but now…we can’t help but feel that the writers have ruined the relationship by throwing in Sam Dong’s medical problem and sudden bad boy persona. Come on, you have to admit that: yes- Hye Mi likes Sam Dong to a certain degree but her ultimately choosing him over Jin Gook will be completely over shadowed by her sense of obligation and yes, we said it- pity!

Speaking of our chosen OTP- Jin gook and Hye Mi kissed! We know we are totally delayed and it is now old news but hey, life’s been busy lately and we haven’t had a chance to gush away- so forgive us.

 How many times do you think Jin Gook said the following lines?

Hye Mi let’s talk. (Insert Jin gook’s broody stare, followed swiftly by Hye Mi glaring and storming off.)

It has to be the most over used sentence in the whole drama. The poor guy is constantly misunderstood and spends the majority of his time trying to get himself heard. However finally after multiple episodes, he succeeded and got himself a kiss for his troubles (BTW totally lame-o kiss).

There is no denying the fact that Taecyeon is lacking in his acting and looks like a Ken Doll (totally stiff and plastic) whenever he’s opposite Sam Dong but still we can forgive him just because we can’t help but want to root for him. In many ways he’s more of an outsider and more pitiful than the other characters in this drama. Some of it is his doing (joining ‘K’) but the majority of it is down to outside forces backing him into a corner (Daddy dearest). There are multiple scenes where Jin Gook is simply looking from a distance at the others and you know he wants to join in but can’t. We seriously can’t resist a damaged guy with a heart of gold and Jin Gook fits the category to a perfect T.

How totally K-drama of the writers to have Sam Dong perfectly located to view Jin Gook and Hye Mi’s kiss? Yes, seeing the girl you crush on badly is sad but Sam Dong’s reaction was soooooo over the top and considering how great Kim Soo Hyun is at acting, it was cringe worthy to watch.

We have two issues with DH’s love triangle:

-If Hye Mi and Jin Gook are the OTP- surely after their kiss they should have built on their relationship and shown them united. However, strangely enough Hye Mi and Jin Gook didn’t share a single scene together in episode 11. Weird right?

-On the other hand if the writer’s end game is to make Sam Dong and Hye Mi a couple- was it really necessary to built up Jin Gook and Hye Mi’s relationship to such a degree? Writer, do you want us to hate you!?

Ahhhhh, it’s been a really long time since we’ve thought about a love triangle so much. Our head hurts but it’s so worth it.

Onto our other OTP:

Pil Sook and Jason!!! How good is their developing relationship- love them together.

Jason has got himself some matching glasses and now is striving to make himself a better person for Pil Sook- perfect. We love how the writer didn’t waste any time in transforming Jason into a better man. He went from being completely non character to being one we look forward to seeing in every episode. We loved his reaction to hearing that Pil Sook was sick- how adorable, plus his love rival Hye Mi’s teasing was hilarious to watch.

-Pil Sook’s solo in episode 10 was so heart-warming and lovely to listen to. She has such a great voice.

Other thoughts:

-Oh Hyuk is going to get some love- yay. We really like how the writers slowly but subtly developed Oh Hyuk and Kyung Jin’s relationship. Also we really like how Kyung Jin has switched sides. The scene where she gave Hye Mi and Pil Sook advice was cute. How surprised and freaked out did both girls look!

-Beak Hee is going to be redeemed isn’t she? Damn it. With two high fives in one episode, you know its coming. Plus the biscuit scene pretty made it crystal clear that the previous wannabe killer, fame hungry… bitch – we digress frenemy is going to get a happy ending as well.

-The dance off was great!

 

Buzzer Beat: 1-4 / first impressions

Yes, we’re aware that we’re a few years too late and fandom for this drama probably dried up long ago but hey better late than never, right?

As drama land appears to be a wasteland of lots of fluff or dramas which hold little interest for us eg. Korean CSI and cowboys (seriously Paradise Ranch’s promo team need to be sacked, those outfits are scary!) we decided to check out Buzzer Beat on a whim and we’re really glad we did because we’re thoroughly enjoying it and hope it remains as promising through its whole run.

The thing about J-dramas is that when they are made well- you will love them forever but when they’re not…shudder* you question the sanity and mindset of those people responsible for allowing the drama to be produced (Hotaru No Hikari 2). We love how J-dramas always manage to capture real life really well; the dialogue, the actions and consequences in dramas are so much more realistic and relatable than any Korean or Taiwanese drama out there and after you finish a good Jdrama it will stay with you for a long time and make you wish that Kimura Takuya and Yamapi were your boyfriend. Giggles*

Anyway back to BB- it’s all looking good so far… we actually like the slow, relaxed vibe from this drama, we can definitely tell that the writer also wrote My Boss My Hero (so much love for that drama) and  Natsu no Koi wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku (aka Matsumoto Jun’s latest drama). Also it’s got a distinct Pride –like vibe going for it. Which we don’t mind at all- we love conflicted man pain, bromance, team sports (especially when we get plenty of fan service!) and of course a very compelling OTP.

We adore the OTP already and we’ve only watched 4 episodes!  We love how even though they are from two different worlds  (he’s a pro basketball player and she’s a violinist) they’ve found themselves in exactly the same situation- their feelings, thoughts and insecurities mirror each other so well and watching the realisation of that connection makes it lovely viewing indeed.  

 

We love how realistic their relationship is. They’ve met in an unusual situation where they don’t really know each other but because they get each other, it’s easy to talk and vent about life…possibly because they don’t really know each other… Either way their scenes together are refreshing and really engaging to watch. The writer has done a great job of making their interactions and feelings natural but at the same time totally believable. For example the fact that they both felt strange when they realised that the other was in a relationship even though they barely knew each other. Rationally it makes little sense to feel disappointed by the news but still there was that unexpected feeling – We’ve all been there, right?

 Natsuki – Naoki’s fiancé is such an interesting character- yes, we utterly dislike her and all she represents but as a character we understand exactly where she’s coming from and what motivates her. Naoki is blatantly her safety net. He’s good, kind, reliable and perfect on paper but in reality her feelings are not enough. Giving real depth and making characters realistic is what J-dramas do best, they are so much better than some of the caricature villains and heroes Korean dramas produce. That said, poor, Naoki- she’s going to trample all over his fragile heart- the dirty tart!

 Speaking of characters that will surely get their heart broken by the end of the drama – Poor Kawasaki aka hot coach has it bad for Riko! As romantics, we love a bit of love at first sight, especially when it’s done well and we definitely approve here. We hope this isn’t another case us falling for the LR…oh that would be bad.

Finally we adore Mai and Riko together as well- how many times have we had silly, pointless conversations about absolutely nothing!? It’s such a good reflection of a real friendship between two women.

Overall verdict so far- hopeful and still very much enjoying it.

It’s okay, daddy’s girl – final thoughts

Oh drama, let us count the ways that we heart you even though we know you’re not right.

We wanted to do recaps for this drama but life is annoying at the moment so it’s difficult, plus we gobbled this drama up like the greedy obsessives that we are and so it’s harder to be precise for specific episodes. So we’ve decided to keep it simple and go on a rambling, gushing spree of obsessive proportions. Watch out- it might be scary.

Dream High: episodes 8-9

 It’s been so long since we’ve seen a K-drama where there has been such passionate support for who should be the OTP and frankly episodes 8-9 really didn’t make it any easier to work out who Hye Mi may (or should) end up with. Aigoo, our heads hurt from all the back and forth between Sam Dong and Jin Gook. Can’t she have both? If she’s struggling to decide, we’ll be happy to take one off her hands…just a suggestion. Hehe. 

Before we go into the whole love triangle debate, let’s talk about a far less complicated and possibly the sweetest OTP in this drama- Pil Sook and Jason! We love them together- which appears to be pretty much a universal feeling for everyone who has seen this adorable couple together. Although we loved the original set up of cute puppy love, we completely approve of the new dynamics in their relationship. That’s right Jason, it’s time to sit up straight and take notice- no more mister cool guy, it’s time for action. HEEE.

The whole ‘I will lose weight for you’ scenario played out so well. It could have been sticky and made Jason look like a bad guy and Pil Sook appear really pitiful but we love how it was spun to now make Jason appear as the weak link in their relationship and ultimately the one who will need to improve himself to match her. Love that.

 

Also how cute is Pil Sook now…we know she looks all lovely and thin but original Sushi girl will always have a special place in our hearts. 

 

Maybe it’s because we’re pro team Jin Gook but we really didn’t like the show down between Sam Dong and Jin Gook. Generally Sam Dong comes across as fair and good but the way he warned Jin Gook off came across as slightly darker and ugly. What happened to the days of dancing in the street together and play fighting over who wore whose underwear? Also Sam Dong’s love for Hye Mi is slightly off putting now and not just because we’re rooting for Jin Gook (seriously). He’s less obvious in front of Hye Mi but there is such a determination and possessiveness about his pursuit of Hye Mi that makes us think- wait a minute Sam Dong, have you even considered Hye Mi’s feelings in the equation? Then again, us Musthavesubs girls have always been independent and definitely don’t like guys that want to spend all their time taking care of us, which could explain another reason why Sam Dong just doesn’t appeal to us as a leading man.
We really liked how it took Hye Mi the length of 8 episodes to realise that her treatment of Beak Hee was wrong and that she actually had a long way to go. It’s more realistic than other dramas, where the leading lady learns the errors of her way after episode two and then suddenly she’s a saint that everyone loves. Hye Mi is still surly, blunt and very defensive but it’s the small shades of improvement that makes her progression week after week worth tuning in for and a character that you will love all the more by the end of it all because you will know exactly how far she’d come. After 9 episodes, we still love her- she’s such a complicated, interesting leading lady and such a pleasant surprise for a drama we had so little expectations of.

The table scene between Hye Mi and Pil Sook was so sweet and really tugged at our hearts. We love how Pil Sook is so emotionally open and expressive with her feelings, whereas Hye Mi is like a brick wall but somehow they managed to comfort each other or at least acknowledged problems with very few words.

We admit that Jin Gook’s recent behaviour was all wrong and his lack of open and honest communication with Hye Mi as friend, little lone as a potential love interest made him appear like a complete idiot that needed a good kick but we couldn’t bring ourselves to hate him too much because we know his motives and his heart. Also the fact that he must have tried like a millions to speak to Hye Mi really didn’t help- especially with Sam Dong playing the role of guard dog to an emotionally stunted Hye Mi.

Although he didn’t apologise in words for his actions, we have to say that him leaving her his helmet and his headphones was his saving grace- how utterly sweet! He knew that he caused her pain and the fact that his words were not being heard made him appear like a tool but if you’re going to do gestures, do them well and this one was perfect! This guy knows her so well.

Other quick thoughts:

-Noooo, Mr Kang can’t get sacked, we love him!

-Poor Jin Gook, how sad was the scene where he said his final goodbyes to his father? Imagine loving a man that thought so little of you and being completely aware of it? Oh, Jin Gook…sob*

 

– Yes, we’re enjoying Beak Hee’s deflated ego and general misery. Muhaha.

-According K-drama law Jin Gook should get the girl because in episodes 8-9 alone we got:

A wrist grab, a back hug and despite the fact that they had little airtime, their scenes together were hot!

Finally- how hilarious was Jin Man’s dance routine? Classic.