Sakura of DOOM

Okay, this is definitely up there with Coffee Prince and Dal Ja's Spring as one of my favorite trendy dramas, and it may actually surpass them at some points (particularly the ending, since it didn't get an episode extension). It has less "awwwwww so cute" moments than CP and less hilarious-making-fun-of-drama-tropes moments than DJS, but it makes up for it by having situations that feel extremely real. And much like the above two dramas, the main romantic male leads make me want to hug them and call them Bob, and I adore the main romantic female leads.

This is the story of three 34-year-old women and their love lives and careers. There are also two older woman/younger man romances, each with a nearly ten-year age difference. I love how the drama addresses the problems with the age difference—I'm for older woman/younger man, but a 30-some-career woman dating a guy in college is going to interesting generation- and age-based issues. I also love how the second couple provides an excellent foil to the first, and the way the romantic polygon is written is brilliant. As I've noted previously, it's constructed in a way that already has so many issues and awkwardness that the writers don't have to resort to Big Misunderstandings or Big Secrets to create drama; I actually really love this drama because even though some reveals are put off a bit, all the people generally talk to each other.

( Spoilers )

Overall, this is an incredibly funny series that is also very romantic and serious about issues that feel very real for what I assume is the target demographic (middle-class working women in their 30s and 40s), and it touched on a lot of things that either I think about or that people I know think about. Highly recommended.

Very worth watching, and available on Dramafever for Canadians and USians.

( Spoilers )

( Spoilers for Coffee Prince and Dal Ja's Spring )

I like this series a lot. I'm not sure if it's replaced Coffee Prince as the kdrama of my heart, but I rank the two equally. I think Coffee Prince is more flawed, particularly the ending, but it benefits a lot from not having the jealous, scheming women that Dal Ja's Spring does. That said, though I wouldn't call Dal Ja's Spring feminist, it feels proto-feminist in a way (yes, I am totally making that word up), particularly in its emphasis on "older" women (as in, 30+, though I was pleased to see 50+ women as secondary characters), on relationships between women that don't all center around the main character (it passes the Bechdel test easily), on the role of women in the workplace, and the general focus on the women and their issues. There really isn't any Male Angst Hijacking that appears in so many other works (kdramas, manga, books, and Western tv), and I can't begin to say how pleasant that is.

Also, Tae Bong for the win! He is up there with Han Kyul and Han Sung as my favorite love interest, though much like the two shows, he doesn't have the same "OMGSQUEE!" moments, but he also is more even. Plus, if he actually existed, I would totally date him.

I should stop making comparisons with Coffee Prince, but it's very hard not to, as both shows hit the same "Awwwwww!" and "Yay good female characters!" buttons in me.

Now I want to go rewatch all my favorite bits...

I blame coffeeandink for this. I do not actually remember her original spiel, because then she told me, "The main characters are white but there is a great COC called Emerson. He is a detective! He is awesome! He KNITS GUN COZIES!" And: "Kristen Chenoweth SINGS!"

Apparently these are the things that will make me pick up a show.

Ned (the piemaker) discovered as a child that his touch could bring the dead back to life. The problem was, if the dead remained animated for over a minute, another person or animal (not sure about plants yet) would drop dead. Also, if he touched the reanimated dead, they would be permanently dead. Oh, and then there's the thing with his childhood crush who later turns up dead and is of course re-alived and how they now can't touch. And that whole thing where he helps a PI (Emerson) solve crime. And the pie place with Olive the waitress (played by Kristen Chenoweth!) who has a crush on him.

The premise is somewhat confusing. I do not care. I love this show already. It is quirky and odd and a little wry but mostly very sweet and very cute. And the writing is amazing -- possibly the themes and the characterization and the arcs, I haven't watched enough to know, but I would watch this for the dialogue alone. The visual style is also great, this blend of sixties kitsch and candy colors and everything just a little too stylized to be real, but in a way that perfectly fits the tone of the show.

I don't have good commentary on any race or gender issues yet. I think there are more than the usual number of POC extras (at least for a non-police-procedural?), and Emerson so far is awesome. I like the women, and Chuck (aforementioned childhood crush) doesn't feel like The Girl. Though Olive has the potential to create a love triangle, I suspect it will be completely unrequited, and I seriously doubt they will waste Kristen Chenoweth. Also, I cannot think critically because the pure cuteness of Ned and Chuck has demolished my brain! They are so cute! And sweet! And manage to do so in a non-sugar-shock way!

And Emerson knits! I yarn geekily note that he probably isn't knitting ribbed hats on straight needles unless he likes seaming, short rows, or more complicated hat constructions, but somehow I suspect this is an issue that only concerns me. I have already handwaved it as a short-row hat for anyone who cares to know.

In conclusion: definitely adding to my season pass. Really happy. Very anticipating watching more.

In a few episodes, I went from thinking that this show was mildly interesting but flawed to thinking it was really, really good. Why are the seasons so short? Wah!

So yes, the first few episodes are rather shaky, particularly the first four. Episode 5 is when it starts getting good, and then there are a few ok ones. Then the last four or five of the season are excellent. Nearly all of them made me cry, not out of sadness, but just out of emotion and a sort of cathartic happiness.

It's particularly interesting watching the tone shifting gradually from dark and sarcastic to somewhat sarcastic but really very heartfelt and very interested in all the characters, regular and one-time. I love watching the Reapers develop; they start out as caricatures, and gradually, as we learn more, they all start to break my heart in different ways.

I have even stopped wanting to slap Joy and Delores and started wanting to hug them, which is a miracle in and of itself.

I'm making this sound like a Serious and Artsy and Depressing Thing, but it's not. It's about all these people, both undead and alive, learning to live and move on and grieve and be happy and find joy and peace in what they do and how they live. It's a bit more tongue-in-cheek, but ultimately, this show is really reminding me of my favorite bits of Nana and Honey and Clover, which is high praise indeed.

( Spoilers for all of S1 )

Am now in NYC! Managed to brave the crowds at the airport as well, though honestly, they weren't all that crowded.

I can hear the band practicing for the Macy's parade right now.

Yay!

Guess who stayed up last night till an absolutely ungodly hour finished S2 of Scrubs? So good! My wee shippy heart squees! Also, I have S3 all downloaded and prepped for viewing for when I get back, yay!

I'm still not quite sure how the show got me hooked so very quickly! I don't know, there's something in it that makes me love all the characters and feel soft and mooshy toward them (except for Dr. Kelso and the Janitor, but then, they just crack me up). I don't know how much of this is normal for a sitcom, seeing as how I don't watch many, and how much of it is Scrubs.

One of the things that I've found I really like about the show is that the characters all have separate relationships with each other -- even while Carla dates Turk, she looks after JD, tries to be friends with Elliot despite Elliot's constant case of foot-in-mouth, and she even watches after Dr. Cox. I like that sense of friendship. Also, I was happy that Elliot and Carla get to be closer friends this season. They're not best friends like Turk and JD yet, but I like that it's there. And I like that Dr. Cox has friendships with the other residents who aren't JD as well (well... I use "friendship" loosely), and that Turk and Elliot are friends, and etc. And even the Janitor is starting to talk to non-JD people!

Another bit that I've really been liking about the show is its portrayal of relationships. Again, I'm not sure how much of this is actually special and how much of it is me being warped by experiences in the Jossverse and XF. But right now, there are two long-term couples going on in the show. ( Sort of spoilery, if one can be spoilery for this sort of thing )

Also, I like how Scrubs focuses on the small moments between couples. Like, Carla and Turk having a romantic dinner on the roof -- she brings salad for her and buffalo wings and blue cheese for him, because the thought in getting his favorite foods is more romantic than the stereotypical chocolate and roses. Or Dr. Cox getting completely irritated with Jordan and then going out to get her a hamburger and not forgetting the curly fries. I'm actually not that interested in watching the formative stages of a couple -- I see that often enough in chick flicks and read about it enough in romances. Everyone goes for the heady romance of falling in love, and I wish more shows and books would address the aftermath of building a relationship instead of going for breakup drama.

Again, I'm not sure how much of this is just Scrubs, or if most sitcoms do this or what.

It does have a little more girls-gone-wild type daydreams than I would like; I wish Elliot in particular wouldn't keep taking off her shirt. Also, I wish there were more minority characters in larger roles. Carla's Latina and Turk is black, as is Nurse Laverne. There's also Dr. Wen, the attending surgeon, who's Chinese, as is Bonnie, the star surgical resident. I feel somewhat that this is more than most shows I watch, but again... I keep wondering if the sitcom sphere is different somehow. The topic of racism and feminism comes up every so often, not in an anvilly way though. Well, they do tend to make Elliot the feminist advocate, but in her sort of neurotic Elliot way. I also like that Turk and JD are best friends, and that race isn't ignored, but it's also not a Special Issue of the Week thing. (JD: "I think it's so racist how you have that stereotype of black people yelling at the screen in horror movies!" Turk: "You just wish you could do that." JD (wistfully): "Yeah...") Ok maybe that was a bad example. It's hard to explain though.

I just get such a sense of fondness from the show! Watching the extras, I get a feeling that the actors all love the show, that the producers and the writers all love it, that everyone there is goofing around and having a really fun time. I like how John C. McGinley's interviews (he plays Dr. Cox) usually have the actresses who play Jordan and Elliot sitting around and laughing as well. It feels comfortable.

The show itself just seems so nice and squishy at heart, despite being a comedy. Even Todd the macho surgeon who goes around making penis jokes isn't offensive, amazingly, because he's so happy when he does it and he honestly doesn't mean any harm. He... just doesn't know how else to socialize or something (also, he runs after tennis balls when JD throws them). I also get a sense from all the characters (except Dr. Kelso and the Janitor, of course) that they're all trying hard, that they really want to do the right thing. Even from prickly Jordan and Dr. Cox. And oh, I am getting all squishy and sappy now, but it is so nice to watch something in which the characters are complicated but are also nice, decent people underneath.

Anyway. Someday I will stop babbling about Scrubs, but I fear you will all have to suffer some more babbling as soon as I get through S3.