Welcome to my weekly blog post where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching but not recapping.
This week I posted my final thoughts on the Thai slice-of-life BL Moonlight Chicken and started recapping Old Fashioned Cupcake. Next week I’m starting recaps of another show, which I will announce on Monday.
This week I started:
My Roommate Is a Detective – 民国奇探 – 2020 (Pictured)
A Chinese comedy mystery series, I’m at 19 out of 36 episodes.
A lazy, cash-poor finance guy is enlisted to help a former gangster-turned-inspector solve crimes in 1920s China. Also, there’s a woman reporter.
A random pick because I wanted something that wouldn’t kick me too hard in the feels. I was interested because I’ve never watched a drama from this time period in China and it has Hu Yi Tian and Bromance, but I wasn’t drawn in at first. The cases were convoluted and at times ridiculous, the English dialogue (and there is a fair amount) terribly written and dubbed and incorrectly subbed, and the comedy often boring rather than funny. Then there’s the woman reporter.
But the further into the show I got the more it sucked me in, until suddenly I was at episode 19 and confused how I’d gotten there. For the record, the cases are still convoluted and ridiculous, the English dialogue still terrible, and the humor still often boring. And there’s the woman reporter.
Actually, she doesn’t bother me that much though I see why she’s the main complaint about the show. She’s poorly written and there to keep the show from BL censorship. Still, there are moments where I like the sisterly dynamic she adds to the trio (though I dread the romance I know it will become). It helps that I stopped thinking seriously about anything she says or does because it would be infuriating.
Speaking of not taking things seriously, the mysteries are more like puzzles that our main characters get excited to solve than anything realistic. They come and go fast, and there’s some feeling and pathos to them, but if you cared too much about those involved then the glee with which the main characters approached the violent deaths that constantly occur around them would be disturbing.
As the show goes on, the mysteries are starting to come together into a larger narrative of crime and politics that has me intrigued. Our male leads, whose chemistry is the main draw of the show, have grown closer. Our jaded gangster with his hard past feels like he’s protecting the brilliant but naive rich-boy because he likes him now, rather than just needs him. I’m ready for some bad things to happen to both of them so I can see where it takes their relationship.
From Me To You – 君に届け – 2023
A recently aired Japanese high school drama, I’m at 5 of 12 episodes.
A socially awkward young woman gets help from a friendly classmate and starts to interact more and make friends.
I’m not familiar with the anime or manga versions, so have no expectations based on them.
So far this is a sweet show, with all the unavoidable tropes of a High School drama: new friends, old friends, romance, broken hearts, cruel rumors. The tone is realistic rather than dramatic, with characters that feel like they fit into a larger world and have their own larger stories, revealed through natural-sounding conversations and actions. The one character that sticks out is the teacher, who has the inappropriately-involved-in-his-students’s-lives feel of a classic high school manga.
I really like that the socially awkward one is our main female lead. Dramaland is littered with friendless male leads that are brilliant and can’t communicate and are secretly nice. Socially awkward women deserve love and friendship too though, I say that as one myself.
The male lead was the second male lead in Silent, thankfully styled more attractively here. He’s a considerate dream guy so far, and I’m hoping more about him will be revealed in the next seven episodes.
This is the kind of show to watch when all your life or your other shows are too dark and stressful and you need something calming and reassuring.