From Five to Nine Ep 1-7

So I have been wanting to watch this drama since a long time ago but never got to watch it because the subs take forever. But now that the subs are out I marathoned it in one seating ><

The good:

1. This drama is hilarious. I especially love those scenes where usually the family members/ Takane rattle on and Junko has to keep denying whatever they are saying.
2.  I love all the mini love storylines. The show started off hinting at a 5 way love triangle( maybe even a 6 way if you include yuki chan)  but I am glad that was all that was, just a hint and I am glad each of them now has their own mini storyline even for yuki chan.
3. My jaw literally dropped when they revealed that yuki was a male. I was totally not expecting a cross dresser. The show kept hinting that she (he?) is a gay.
4. The premise of ELA is a nice touch. Initially I questioned the choice of Junko’s career. I mean, why make her and by extension, half the characters english teachers and make us listen to their half baked english which if not for the drama’s other strong points is enough to make me drop this drama. But after a while I realised the importance of her choice of career. As an english teacher, the only way for Junko to advance is to move to NY, which she has been earnestly saving up for and working towards. They prevents a real conflict for the couple as putting such a long distance between them would prevent any further development. And this provided the central conflict for the first 3 to 4 eps, which was imo, very well done.

The bad

1. Yuki Furukawa. He looks way too young to be playing an office worker. Maybe this is an side effect from itzunara kiss but whatever the case, he is just not a suitable actor for the role. And to make matters worse, when his character kissed Junko, the whole time I was imagining a high schooler kissing Junko and the whole thing just felt wrong. It’s a good thing he got dropped from the battle (for Junko) not long after that but still to have witnessed that was enough damage done.
2. Some parts of the story was not explained well. Like for example, when Junko and her colleagues stayed over at the temple, they were trying to hide Junko from Tanake’s grandmother. But when Tanake’s grandmother eventually did see Junko there was no reaction? So why were they hiding her exactly? This is just one of the few instances (cant rmb the rest). It’s pretty minor actually and doesnt really affect the story overall but it did bother me at that point of time.

Overall, this is drama is really good. I am really enjoying Satomi Ishihara’s performance. She’s a very good comedic actress and plus she looks really pretty, I love her make up haha. Other than that the story is really good too, I only tuned in to watch this coz of the premise: a monk falling in love. And true to that the show did not disappoint. I love seeing all the hilariousness that occurs due to Takane’s ignorance but also cant help marvel at his endless talents and kind heart.

 

他来了请闭眼 Love Me, If You Dare Ep 13-14

Ep 13-14 marks a turning point in the drama where our main leads FINALLY become a couple. It is also the start of the whole “Moriarty” storyline.

I am super happy that BJY and  JY got together but I am also disappointed at the same time. Mainly because it was too jarring. From ep 1 to ep 12, you give up this premise that both BJY and JY are very new at this love game so when they get together as a couple you expect them to be very innocent and the most they will ever do is hold hands. Which I am fine with and actually looking forward to actually (this makes their kisses even more precious) But no, the drama chose to  destroy this image by implying that they made love on the very night they became a couple. I understand the director was just following the book closely. But in the book, the love making did not happen immediately after they got together , so even in the book there was a built up.(the book translations are here) I get that the director also has his restrictions (ie he has to cut down a lot of the romance in order to properly explain the crime bits). But I feel it would have been much wiser to stray away from the book for at least this part. It just totally dampened my mood, especially since I was so looking forward to them as a couple.

Now about the non romance parts. OMG. The entire time I was so freaking worried for XR like holy freaking shit he cannot die! He lost his love to BJY and now he has to die young ?!?!! (side note: I am kinda shipping him with JY’s sister haha they look cute together) I literally held my breadth the entire time, until I saw the preview and saw that he was just taken away by the villain. Wahh, if the show really decides to kill him off I really dont know what I will do ><

I really really like the plot twist with BJY’s sister. Like woah she dated FZY like woah. And she might be the villain’s assistant? Woahhh things just got 10 0000 times more complicated and interesting 🙂  haha and i hope FZY gets together with her after this whole thing blows over He deserves someone too. Speaking of FZY, how badass was he with all his techy skills. At one point when they were trying to uncode the harddisk I was expecting his computer to explode or just be taken over by virus but no nothing happened and that just cemented my respect for this guy.

And I am still waiting for JY to be useful to the investigations. No doubt she has gotten better. But whatever she deduced, BJY has already figured out. So, professionally, she is still not very useful. I especially hated her in the last part of ep 14, during the confrontation with BJY’s sister. I keep waiting for her to say smth since she was the one who insisted that she tag along in the first place. However, till the last moment, she was the last to leave the room, and had a brief private moment with BJY’s sister, but still she did not say anything and just left the room. So yup, to me, JY still has not proven her worth professionally.

(So sorry this came so late and is not as comprehensive as the other eps, I have been a bit busy lately, but I did this w/0 watching the new eps so that my views of these eps wont be tainted 🙂 Now I am off to watch the new eps! eeps so excited for the “Moriarty” storyline!)