Friday, January 26, 2018

TV Review: Heartstrings

                                                          Heartstrings Review
Heartstrings is about a girl named Lee Gyu-won a traditional music who goes to a performing arts college and she ends up challenging Lee Shin a popular male student who is lead singer and guitarist of a band that is very popular at their school especially among the female students. Gyu-won thinks that Shin is a jerk because he's overly harsh when he rejects girls and can come across as quite arrogant when it comes to his music but after the two of them actually have to spend time together they both do end up developing feelings for each other as they get a better understanding of each other as people.

Another one of the main plots of the series revolve around the 100th anniversary performance that the school is having and pretty much all the important characters are working on the show in one way or another. Gyu-won ends up in the running to play the female lead despite having no experience in acting or dancing and very little experience in actual singing which is something that upsets a lot of her fellow students but since the director of the 100th anniversary performance is oddly fixated on Gyu-won she's in the running for the role despite lacking the skills and experience that such a role would require.

One of the students that wants to be the female lead the most is Han Hee-joo who is an extremely hardworking student who has been working on dancing, acting and singing through out her time at the school and is the daughter of the head of school who most people don't like since she's often mean to her classmates because she doesn't want to appear weak in front of them. Another subplot in this series is about how a nerdy drummer named Yeo Joon-hee ends up falling in love with Hee-joo basically at first sight and she ends up falling for him as well because of how he's kind to her and always there for her even after she tells him to go away.

Overall I liked this series a lot I liked the lead characters and most of the supporting characters expect for the director and Gyu-won's grandpa, and I was happily surprised by how well Gyu-won and Shin worked as a couple once they got together and I found them to be very sweet together. I thought that the music in this series was good but since there was a limited amount of songs I felt like the music could become a bit repetitive at times but still enjoyable. Please tell me your thoughts on this series.

TV Review: Shadowhunters: A Door Into the Dark(2.02)

                              Shadowhunters: A Door Into the Dark(2.02)Review
  • I find it a bit disturbing how Valentine has been right about how the Clave is very good at doing their jobs which is why that vampire den was able to survive as long as it did.
  • I like that Jace is clinging to the law now that he is with Valentine because while he hasn't been all that respectful of the law in the past back then he was sure of what the right thing to do was while now he isn't sure of anything anymore.
  • I dislike how Aldtree seems to let Lydia be the head of the institute when something goes wrong simply because he doesn't want to deal with the fact that something could go wrong on his watch.
  • I liked that when Clary and Jocelyn were fighting that Simon tried to keep the peace between the two of them.
  • I like that Clary is mad at her mom for trying to kill Jace and for still keeping things from her even though she had just promised to not do that anymore. I like that Clary doesn't buy Jocelyn's explanation that Jace is evil because he has demon blood because Clary knows good downworlders.
  • I really don't get how Jocelyn believed her child is evil because he made some flowers shrivel up because he was a baby with uncontrollable powers back then who had no idea what he was doing.
  • I dislike how Aldtree tries to get Simon to find out about how that vampire den came to be and threatened him to find out about it and report back to him.
  • I like that Clary tried to check with Alec was okay but I really think she should've known that Alec would lash out at her because he's upset, already dislikes her most of the time and her mom did just try to kill Jace.
  • I think that Alec was right when he pointed out that he has known Jace for way longer than Clary has and that he really doesn't know anything about her so he doesn't really have a whole lot of reasons to trust her but I think that he was way too hard on Clary when he told her that she didn't belong here with them and she never will, I also like that Izzy tried to get Alec to stop but it didn't really help.
  • I think it makes a lot of sense that Valentine is taking people who have already proven themselves as fighters to become shadowhunters.
  • I feel bad for Clary when she wasn't allowed to help out with the mission because she is too inexperienced and too close to the situation and I felt even worse for her when after she tried to join Izzy and Alec that Alec once again told her that she didn't have a place with them.
  • I felt bad for Clary when she told Izzy that Alec's right she doesn't really belong here and she's not really a shadowhunter like they are and I like that Izzy told her that wasn't true and that no matter what happens she'll always belong with her.
  • I really dislike how much Luke's pack is against Simon staying near their places because it's so clear he has no where else to go and he hasn't hurt them in anyway so I just don't get why they dislike him so much.
  • I understand why Raphael is mad that Simon accidently got him in trouble with Clave because Simon implied that the higher ups among the vampires would know about the den and that the Clave blames him now while Camille is the one who is actually responsible for it. I dislike that Raphael is making Simon find Camille but I understand why he thinks that Simon should be the one to bring her in.
  • I like that when Jace saw another young shadowhunter on Valentine's ship that he assumed that he wasn't there willingly and that when it became apparent that he believed in Valentine it's clear that Jace just can't understand why he would choose to be here.
  • I like that Jace refuses to join Valentine's hunt for innocent downworlders because he knows that he's wrong about them.
  • I liked that when some guy tries to flirt with Izzy that Alec tells him that it's funny he thinks he has a chance with her and that he was willing to fight that guy to defend Izzy's honor but I liked it even more when Izzy fought the guy herself and totally kicked his ass while Alec just watched her looking really proud her.
  • I liked how Simon went to Magnus for help with tracking down Camille since he's the only person Simon knows that knows Camille as well as Raphael does and I like that Magnus points out that he knows her better than Raphael does.
  • I like that Magnus tells Simon that trying to find Camille is a bad idea and that one of Camille's favorite things to do is to hold grudges.
  • I find it creepy how Valentine's followers are so devoted to him that if they are captured they will kill themselves rather than answer questions about him.
  • I like that when Clary left the institute she went back to the art school she was accepted into because she wanted to feel normal again.
  • I like that Luke told Jocelyn that she should've been honest with Clary in the first place and that she should've been honest with him as well.
  • I like how Jocelyn tells Luke that she needs him to talk to Clary for her because she believes that she's more likely to listen to him than she is to her.
  • I liked that when Magnus is at Camille's place that he keeps finding things that are his and collecting them to take back home with him.
  • I like that when Magnus tells Simon to deal with Camille on his own that Simon then sarcastically says why would you need a powerful warlock when you have a scrappy nerd from Brooklyn, I just find the line to be quite funny.
  • I like that Magnus told Simon that he shouldn't be so afraid because as a vampire he's a lot stronger than he thinks he is.
  • I like how Clary tells her mom and Luke how she doesn't really feel like she belongs anywhere anymore because she's not a mundane and she isn't really a shadowhunter either.
  • I was very happy to see that Dot was still alive but I'm sad that she has been forced to work with Valentine.
  • I find it funny how Alec suggests to Izzy that they just take a ship out and see if they run into anything as a way to find Valentine.
  • I like that when Jocelyn comes up with a way to find Jace that Alec doesn't trust her at first because he doesn't really have a reason to but agrees to it because they don't really have a better way at tracking Jace.
  • I liked that when Clary first appears that Jace doesn't trust that it's really her and that she has to tell him a memory that only she would have in order to prove it's really her.
  • I like that Jace only agreed to go on the hunt with Valentine in order to makes sure that Clary didn't go on it in his place.
  • I liked that when Izzy finds out that Alec could die from the using the stone to track Jace that she tried to convince him not do because in her mind it's not worth risking his life but Alec believes that he can't live without Jace so he doesn't mind risking his life to find him.
  • I like that Simon was finally able to use his encanto against a fire breathing snake that Magnus thinks of as his baby.
  • I like that Clary was able to convince Dot to help her and Jace escape from Valentine while using their past relationship to connect with her.
  • I like that Magnus told Simon that since he was alone when he had to figure out the downworld that he vowed to himself that he would help anyone who was in a similar position and that he tells Simon that he'll try and help him out.
  • I was glad that Clary was able to get through to Jace and that the two of them escape thanks to Dot helping them.
  • I was very worried about Alec when he went too deep when trying to track Jace and is now convulsing because of it.
Please tell me your thoughts on this episode.

Friday, January 12, 2018

TV Review: Because This is My First Life

                                            Because This is My First Life Review
Because This is My First Life is about Yoon Ji ho a thirty year old who is still working as an assistant drama writer who finds herself forced out of the apartment that she shares with her brother that has paid the down payment for when she discovers that he has gotten married to girl who he got pregnant during the time Ji ho was off working on the last drama she was helping to write. Around the same time Nam See hee a man who likes his life to be as uneventfully as possible and seems to care about maintaining a sense of order and his cat above all else, has had to kick out his most recent tenant because said tenant not only didn't take care of the recycling and feeding his cat when he worked late like was agreed upon when the tenant moved in but he also caused some property damaged after coming home drunk. It ends up that Ji hoo needs to find a new place to live but discovers that pretty much anywhere that she can afford to live is not really somewhere one should live so she ends up moving in Se hee's apartment without her knowing that she moved in with a guy and Se hee is also unaware that his new roommate is a girl but despite going about a week living together without meeting each other he thinks Ji hoo is the best tenant he has ever had and she quite fond of him as well as landlord both because of the affordable price for the room and because of how nice the apartment is.

After Ji hoo and Se hee realize that they are living with each other they at first find it awkward but after awhile they decide that since it's unlikely they would have romantic feelings for each other it's okay that they live together and that goes well for awhile until Se hee's mother discovers that her son's roommate is a woman and while ee hee is fine with just ignoring his mother's feelings on the subject Ji hoo isn't so she moves out. Later on something happens in the place that Ji hoo is staying that makes her feel unsafe there and so she ends up back at Se hee's apartment again and shortly after that the two decide to set up a contract marriage and well as time goes on the line between being fake married and just being married starts to blur.

The subplots in the series have to do with how one of Ji hoo's closest friend Yang Ho rang wants nothing more than to get married to Sim Won seok ,her boyfriend of seven years while he wasn't even thinking about marriage even though he does love her and wants to be with her forever. The two of them have very different expectations for their relationship and they spend the series figuring out whether or not their love for each other means more to them than having the futures that they picture themselves having even if they aren't with each other. The other main subplot is about the unusual relationship between independent business woman Woo Su ji  and dorky Ma Sang goo who at first seem to be mostly about they hooked up one time in the past and Su ji doesn't remember it while Sang goo does and therefore he wants to hook up with her again to leave a more lasting impression but after Su ji tells Sang goo that she has never dated anyone despite having hooked up with many men he starts to look at her differently and this leads to him wanting be therefore as someone who supports and cares for her in a way that no one has before. I ended up likely the relationship between Su ji and Sang goo much more than I thought I would mainly because of the shift that happened in the relationship early on that changed what the relationship was about and turned it into something unexpectedly sweet.
Overall I really love this series it had a cast of great characters that I couldn't help but invest myself in and I really loved all the relationships in this series and not just the romantic ones(although those were great) but also the platonic ones, my favorite of those was the friendship between Ji hoo, Ho rang and Su ji. This series had a lot of good things to say both about relationships and finding your place in the world and at the same time it was a lot of fun to watch as well. Please tell me your thoughts on this series in the comment section below.

Book Review: I Believe in a Thing Called Love

                                          I Believe in a Thing Called Love Review
I Believe in a Thing Called Love is about an overachieving high school senior named Desi Lee who seems to have everything in her life all planed out and going smoothly expect for her love life. Desi has never had a boyfriend because she gets nervous and makes a fool out of herself in front of any boy she likes. After developing a big crush on a new student named Lucas and finally watching some Korean dramas with her dad Desi comes up with the idea of using Kdrama tropes as a way to win Lucas over because she realizes that quite a few Kdramas start off with the heroine embarrassing herself in front of her love interest and still getting her happy ending, so Desi things that she can study the common tropes that appear in Kdramas and making a list of them and finding a way to make them happen so that she can get her happy ending with Lucas.

The character of Desi was one that I really enjoyed because of how she was both very headstrong and smart yet also insecure and nervous about the things in which she can't control in her life. Desi was a character that was likable yet frustrating with how it was obvious to the readers that Lucas like Desi without her having to force them into situations that are similar to ones that occur in dramas yet she didn't give up on her plan because she couldn't just trust that being herself was enough to get Lucas to like her. I liked that we saw quite a bit of the friendships that Desi had as well and I especially liked that we got see quite a bit of time spent on showing the relationship between Desi and her dad as well.

Overall I liked this book quite a bit it had an interesting main character and I really liked the premise since I'm a fan of Kdramas although I'm not sure I exactly agree with the list of tropes that Desi came up with based off of them. I thought that there were a few times that the editor really let the writer down in this book because there were a couple of times were I noticed that a word was missing were one needed to be or added were it shouldn't have been. Please tell me your thoughts on this book in the comment section below.