Monstar 07

This was the first episode I felt anything for SC, at precisely this scene:

It's pretty obvious he's got chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome, but this was the first time I see it gnawing at him, and it's so sad!  Poor boy!  Whereas his problem had always been "I'm made to feel horrible" it finally became "I made the girl feel horrible."  Yay for human decency progress.  It's like I finally see him as someone more than a self-centered brat, who may or may not have had troubles, but self-centered regardless.

And then… yup… my babies:

Well, SW's my baby, and I kinda adopted Nana for his sake.  From the very beginning it's pretty obvious who the OTP is… so I admit I'm only a SW shipper.  I.e. I ship him with whomever/whatever makes him happy.  But his crush on SY is so adorbs and heartfelt I had to board the ship knowing very well I'd need a lifeboat on this one.  And if there's anything I preach ceaselessly it's steadfast love.  What's the point of liking someone if you're going to change your mind in a span of 16 episodes, 20 chapters, or whatever unit of story you're going by?  That's why part of me wants him to keep pursuing SY.  But a triangle is only compelling when both options are alive and kicking.  And that triangle ain't compelling no more.  They basically killed SW off with how unaffected SY is by him and how affected she is by SC (only Lord knows why… I kid).  And then they started to give me a full-contact collision and saving the princess from the dungeon?  To hell with first love, I say!

They continued to rock the performances.  Though I must say… what's up with SY's lack of talent in this episode?  Girl could sing before.  She was belching out a song in ep 01 so powerfully.  Why suddenly make her average only for NN to shine?  They coulda made SY have a cold or something geez.

In other news… I'm now watching four dramas plus a tennis tournament.  Expect Pillow Book in a week maybe >_<

Monstar 06

*inhales* I love his voice!  Again, this ep cemented my love for SW.  It's just a no-brainer for me when I have to choose between the punk vs. the gentleman.  I get the little connections they're trying to do with SY & SC, and those are the things I lap up like a dog anyway, but I think I'm past that age where I can feel any sort of attraction for a bratty punk who is emotionally stunted.  I find him hilarious, and I'm okay narratively that he ends up with the girl (who is also emotionally stunted), but SW has my noona vote.  I know you're singing for SY right now, but I so hope to god you'll be singing to the girl sitting behind you soon.  Psst, she's the one!

In this ep we also get to see little SW & SC.  They were so tiny and cute.  Please go back to the way that was.  Here SW was asking SC to come along with him to meet SY and her dad.  Of course SC was a know-it-all back then too, calling SW out on his pathetic crush.

But he went along anyway to show brotherly support lolol.  Too cute.

Aww Nana liked SW at first sight.  In the preview they made a big deal out of SW and SY's date but I didn't think it was going to be a prologue to Nana's story.  If anything I expected it to be another device for SC to get his feelings up to date.  It was so sad to see her cry in karaoke, but this was also the most random cheesy scene ever.  I kinda ROFLOL for a moment there with the billowing curtains and everything… esp since the song of choice was also really painful in a 90's OTT sorta way lol.  But I get u Nana, I get u.  We'd all glaze over like dat too if he was anywhere near our vicinity.

Drama Sum-up

ItaKiss is… losing me.  I know, I'm inwardly groaning too.  Is there going to be a drama that stays awesome from start to end this year at all?  At first I thought Kotoko was the cutest slice of pie.  Her 4D quirks were unself-conscious and adorbs.  But they're getting more and more OTT and jarring, esp when juxtaposed against how normal Naoki and Girl 2 are.

On top of that, ep 09 had been largely pointless.  Naoki moved out.  Kotoko had to come to terms with the fact their lives might never be on the same orbit.  But her acceptance of said fact is rendered moot at the end.  With just one word from him, she was back to her fangirl ways… Ok, I don't remember the manga much.  It's sitting on my shelf looking pretty atm.  This is probably what happened in the original plotline.  But… wth?  Girl, move on.  Four years in HS was enough.  Continue your crush?  Fine.  Stalking him relentlessly despite his continued disdain of you?  Hell no.  He's made so little progress, so very little!  That means you back the hell off for both your own and his good.

I don't ask for a lot in my dramas.  Sure, I appreciate ingenuity when it happens, but I'm the type that prefers wholesome breezy fares anyway.  So as long as it's competent, heartfelt, and not dawdling along, I'm a happy camper.  Surprise, surprise, nothing this year had filled those three meager criteria.  I don't know why.  Don't ask me why.  Now, Monstar OTOH is rocking it.  There are only 3 eps as yet so who knows how long I'll be singing this tune.  I saw gif's on tumblr on my vacation weeks ago so I thought I'd have a stash to watch by the time I came back.  But the show only airs 1 ep per week.  Not cool, Mnet!

I don't know what it is about these school dramas.  Lord know I'm too old for them.  But there it is.  Transfer student, underdogs, pretty music for my ears, and all of a sudden I'm in.  I love how not only is Heroine able to defend herself, there's a fierceness in her to boot.  Like, cross her, and you'll die.

Love triangle is a v.v. typical set-up.  Guy 1 is a swaggering brat, Guy 2 is Prince Charming.  And guess who predictable Hamster has her heart set on?  Damn right, the one with the smoldering eyes.

It's almost tragic how I always choose 'em.  I'll go ahead and admit it now, but in 香蜜沉沉燼如霜 I was team 夜神 the entire time.  Maybe their capacity for empathy is a bit questionable, but there's a world of hurt underneath their quiet unspoken facades too, which makes it doubly sad that the girls don't stay for them.  And okay, so Little Fishy got twisted for a while there, but I blame the author for that.  So please, don't spoil Sunwoo's character just to justify the OTP's ending.

(disclaimer: caps from me, gif's from tumblr/soompi)