Bridal Mask - initial impressions

So, the first episode of Bridal Mask (also known as Gaksital and Doll Mask) is out. It was my most anticipated of the year, even narrowly edging out Song Ji Na's Faith. When I started watching the first episode, I literally muttered a quasi-prayer under my breath for it not to be bad.



An episode in and I am giddy with anticipation for more - I haven't felt that same inner buzz since Shut Up Flower Boy Band or, more aptly, City Hunter.

First off, a word or two of warning because I believe in putting my biases out there in plain sight so anyone can have an easier time making up their mind if my rave means they will give it a chance. I love the (too few) dramas set during the Japanese occupation of Korea, I love superhero/masked avenger stories, and I love Joo Won. So I am already more predisposed towards it than someone who is neutral or negative on any of these three. Plus, I would love this drama if for no other reason than it's about the undisputable bad guy slowly becoming the hero.

( Further thoughts and caps. Not really spoilery )

Bridal Mask - initial impressions

So, the first episode of Bridal Mask (also known as Gaksital and Doll Mask) is out. It was my most anticipated of the year, even narrowly edging out Song Ji Na's Faith. When I started watching the first episode, I literally muttered a quasi-prayer under my breath for it not to be bad.



An episode in and I am giddy with anticipation for more - I haven't felt that same inner buzz since Shut Up Flower Boy Band or, more aptly, City Hunter.

First off, a word or two of warning because I believe in putting my biases out there in plain sight so anyone can have an easier time making up their mind if my rave means they will give it a chance. I love the (too few) dramas set during the Japanese occupation of Korea, I love superhero/masked avenger stories, and I love Joo Won. So I am already more predisposed towards it than someone who is neutral or negative on any of these three. Plus, I would love this drama if for no other reason than it's about the undisputable bad guy slowly becoming the hero.

( Further thoughts and caps. Not really spoilery )

Bridal Mask - initial impressions

So, the first episode of Bridal Mask (also known as Gaksital and Doll Mask) is out. It was my most anticipated of the year, even narrowly edging out Song Ji Na's Faith. When I started watching the first episode, I literally muttered a quasi-prayer under my breath for it not to be bad.



An episode in and I am giddy with anticipation for more - I haven't felt that same inner buzz since Shut Up Flower Boy Band or, more aptly, City Hunter.

First off, a word or two of warning because I believe in putting my biases out there in plain sight so anyone can have an easier time making up their mind if my rave means they will give it a chance. I love the (too few) dramas set during the Japanese occupation of Korea, I love superhero/masked avenger stories, and I love Joo Won. So I am already more predisposed towards it than someone who is neutral or negative on any of these three. Plus, I would love this drama if for no other reason than it's about the undisputable bad guy slowly becoming the hero.

( Further thoughts and caps. Not really spoilery )

Kinda sorta spoiler for Bridal Mask

( find out what has got Mousie salivating )

Kinda sorta spoiler for Bridal Mask

( find out what has got Mousie salivating )

Kinda sorta spoiler for Bridal Mask

( find out what has got Mousie salivating )

Various...

I tried Ghost. It could have become spectacular after the first ten minutes, but I will never know because I simply had to switch it off by then. Soooooo bad. Not just "procedural ergo not my thing" or "kinda dull" but epically epically bad. I confess to starting to laugh like a maniac the moment So Ji Sub had an epic breakdown over shutting down computers, the one normally reserved for finding your relatives massacred by the aliens. It's both OTT and boring - I can be fine with OTT (I mean, I am enjoying Dr. Jin, so I clearly don't require my dramas to be high art) but this is utterly ridiculous and utterly dull at the same time, thus there is no way I can persevere. Plus, let's face it, cybercrime is not a sexy topic - it's highly technical and complicated but rather bloodless to watch on-screen. It doesn't arouse the human interest the way someone mugging an elderly lady would. Also, the amount of errors about cybercrime they managed to cram into the first ten minutes made my hair stand on end. Leaving aside the jurisdictional issues in their little proposed action (I doubt Japan or China would let Korean cops operate on their soil, though they might send their own squads in a coordinated effort), I literally lost it when So Ji Sub exclaimed with incredible gravity that you will lose all the valuable data if the bad guys will try to destroy the computer (FALSE. Unless you burn the hard drive, you can almost always recover something, even if the computer gets thrown out the window) or if the bad guys turn the power off. Ahahahahaha. Nice to know I wipe my computer clean every time I shut it down and unplug it.

So bad. So very very bad.

SKIP.

The teaser for Big gave me ulcers, so I am staying away, which I 90% knew before the trailer anyway. By now, Hong Sisters and I are sort of like a dysfunctional relationship. We used to be great (Hong Gil Dong and anything prior) but it slowly went sour and now I hate everything about it but breaking up is hard but finally a really egregious incident (Best Love) enabled me to make a clean break :)

I also figured out why I really dislike most younger man-older woman romances outside of some hardcore dramatic set-up a la Majo No Jouken or Loveholic. It's because immaturity is my penultimate turn-off in a hero, right after lack of competence, and obviously when the hero is much younger than the heroine, both these traits are very much in evidence.

Finally, something non-gripey. Have this adorable MV from A Gentleman's Dignity:

Oh, I am too brain-dead to watch more Gaksital today so it will have to wait until the weekend.

Various...

I tried Ghost. It could have become spectacular after the first ten minutes, but I will never know because I simply had to switch it off by then. Soooooo bad. Not just "procedural ergo not my thing" or "kinda dull" but epically epically bad. I confess to starting to laugh like a maniac the moment So Ji Sub had an epic breakdown over shutting down computers, the one normally reserved for finding your relatives massacred by the aliens. It's both OTT and boring - I can be fine with OTT (I mean, I am enjoying Dr. Jin, so I clearly don't require my dramas to be high art) but this is utterly ridiculous and utterly dull at the same time, thus there is no way I can persevere. Plus, let's face it, cybercrime is not a sexy topic - it's highly technical and complicated but rather bloodless to watch on-screen. It doesn't arouse the human interest the way someone mugging an elderly lady would. Also, the amount of errors about cybercrime they managed to cram into the first ten minutes made my hair stand on end. Leaving aside the jurisdictional issues in their little proposed action (I doubt Japan or China would let Korean cops operate on their soil, though they might send their own squads in a coordinated effort), I literally lost it when So Ji Sub exclaimed with incredible gravity that you will lose all the valuable data if the bad guys will try to destroy the computer (FALSE. Unless you burn the hard drive, you can almost always recover something, even if the computer gets thrown out the window) or if the bad guys turn the power off. Ahahahahaha. Nice to know I wipe my computer clean every time I shut it down and unplug it.

So bad. So very very bad.

SKIP.

The teaser for Big gave me ulcers, so I am staying away, which I 90% knew before the trailer anyway. By now, Hong Sisters and I are sort of like a dysfunctional relationship. We used to be great (Hong Gil Dong and anything prior) but it slowly went sour and now I hate everything about it but breaking up is hard but finally a really egregious incident (Best Love) enabled me to make a clean break :)

I also figured out why I really dislike most younger man-older woman romances outside of some hardcore dramatic set-up a la Majo No Jouken or Loveholic. It's because immaturity is my penultimate turn-off in a hero, right after lack of competence, and obviously when the hero is much younger than the heroine, both these traits are very much in evidence.

Finally, something non-gripey. Have this adorable MV from A Gentleman's Dignity:

Oh, I am too brain-dead to watch more Gaksital today so it will have to wait until the weekend.

Various...

I tried Ghost. It could have become spectacular after the first ten minutes, but I will never know because I simply had to switch it off by then. Soooooo bad. Not just "procedural ergo not my thing" or "kinda dull" but epically epically bad. I confess to starting to laugh like a maniac the moment So Ji Sub had an epic breakdown over shutting down computers, the one normally reserved for finding your relatives massacred by the aliens. It's both OTT and boring - I can be fine with OTT (I mean, I am enjoying Dr. Jin, so I clearly don't require my dramas to be high art) but this is utterly ridiculous and utterly dull at the same time, thus there is no way I can persevere. Plus, let's face it, cybercrime is not a sexy topic - it's highly technical and complicated but rather bloodless to watch on-screen. It doesn't arouse the human interest the way someone mugging an elderly lady would. Also, the amount of errors about cybercrime they managed to cram into the first ten minutes made my hair stand on end. Leaving aside the jurisdictional issues in their little proposed action (I doubt Japan or China would let Korean cops operate on their soil, though they might send their own squads in a coordinated effort), I literally lost it when So Ji Sub exclaimed with incredible gravity that you will lose all the valuable data if the bad guys will try to destroy the computer (FALSE. Unless you burn the hard drive, you can almost always recover something, even if the computer gets thrown out the window) or if the bad guys turn the power off. Ahahahahaha. Nice to know I wipe my computer clean every time I shut it down and unplug it.

So bad. So very very bad.

SKIP.

The teaser for Big gave me ulcers, so I am staying away, which I 90% knew before the trailer anyway. By now, Hong Sisters and I are sort of like a dysfunctional relationship. We used to be great (Hong Gil Dong and anything prior) but it slowly went sour and now I hate everything about it but breaking up is hard but finally a really egregious incident (Best Love) enabled me to make a clean break :)

I also figured out why I really dislike most younger man-older woman romances outside of some hardcore dramatic set-up a la Majo No Jouken or Loveholic. It's because immaturity is my penultimate turn-off in a hero, right after lack of competence, and obviously when the hero is much younger than the heroine, both these traits are very much in evidence.

Finally, something non-gripey. Have this adorable MV from A Gentleman's Dignity:

Oh, I am too brain-dead to watch more Gaksital today so it will have to wait until the weekend.