Tokyo Juliet: how shoujo should be
Sep. 3rd, 2006 12:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI am watching ep 9 of Tokyo Juliet and So. Much. Love. This is really what shoujo should be. This is no masterpiece necessarily, but it's probably the best example of a fluffy romantic feel good dorama I've come across. With just that soupcon of delicious melodramatic angst. It is perfect light romantic shoujo. It's no Mars (to compare it with another dorama where the couple gets established early on); the relationship in Mars is obviously more complex and deeper (as is the show itself), but Mars (despite adorable fluffy moments) is ultimately a serious, even heart-wrenching dorama. This is just the opposite: its romance is sugar-spun.
The thing that I like the most is the fact that TJ avoids doing something that almost every American show does that drives me crazy. In those shows, if the characters are an OTP, either the show is going to take much too long to get them together until I lose interest (if they can't get their act together in 9 years, maybe they shouldn't. See X-files) or the couple is going to play musical chairs, with couple breaking up for long stretches to get back together in time for sweeps and then breaking up again etc etc (Veronica Mars, if you split Logan and Veronica again in S3, I am looking at you). Here, Liang and Sui, fall in love, get together early, and *gasp* stay together. True, there are various highs and lows in their relationship, but they don't last for long. Because, OMG, they talk to each other and find out what's going on. For example, in the beginning of 9, she sees him drinking in a bar with an older woman, and when she approaches her, he tells her to leave. Of course, he is actually trying to butter up the woman in order to help Sui for complicated plot reasons (hell, if he took me out for drinks, I'd give him keys to the office too), but Sui doesn't know that. And yeah, angst. He looks heart-broken and when she runs outside, she is angsting too (and the thing is, the reactions are realistic. When she is sitting there, repeating 'It's all right' and thinking 'if you say it 100 times, it'll be OK' and then she says out loud 'He didn't run after me.' Oh, girl. So been there, done that.)
But next morning it all gets fixed. It doesn't drag out. Liang's friend brings her what Liang 'acted' to get his hands on (her design that was stolen). And he tells her that the reason Liang didn't bring it himself is because he is jealous (of a guy she treats as a younger brother who is rooming in her house) and that it's up to her to make the first move. And you know what? She does. She goes to Liang's house and they make up. I love that whole scene, where he is jealous and he is sulking but he doesn't want to let her know it and she is teasing him. And he pretends to work. And then she tells him 'if it bothers you this much, I'll tell him to move out' and he goes 'OK.' And she just starts laughing and when he asks her why, she says she is laughing at herself, because she has a boyfriend who is 'jealous but also adorable' and he starts grinning too and then there is more adorableness.
And she tells Guang Xi to leave and he does. Normal. And later when Liang sees Guang Xi make a pronouncement on TV that he is in love with Sui, he goes and finds Sui and takes her away, saying he is her boyfriend (OMG, he is so hot mad).
That is so refreshingly normal. I love it.
And the obstacles they face to their relationship are external (his evil father, various oddballs who fall for her, etc etc), but the relationship itself is perfectly normal. I really buy them as a couple and can see them, once the melodrama is over, living happily together, working together, being amazingly compatible. The actors have great chemistry, but I also love the way their scenes are done. The scene after he takes her to his place after Guang Xi declared his feelings and she is all giddy about what happened and is laughing, telling him he was so cool in front of the reporters, saying 'She is my gf" and is all 'let's re-enact it' and imitates him and he starts laughing and saying 'can't you let me be mad longer?' And then he tells her he is going to keep her under house arrest and no way she can leave his place, and she tells him OK, he can keep her under house arrest (well, girl, he does have those handcuffs and you've already used them :P). And she says she is moving in then, and even if he tells her to leave, she won't.
And scarily cute scene follows, where you only hear their voices (hmmmm, gee, I wonder if they are in bed? This show has the most refreshingly natural approach to college romantic relationships: they got together and had good sex early on, and they are clearly doing it since (one of the earlier eps has Sui blushing when checking out what to buy in the condoms section of the local grocery store) and it's part of their life and part of the relationship, no more no less). And she is quibbling with having to use a pink toothbrush when he has a blue one so he tells her, as a trade-off, she can use the green towel and he'll use the pink). And you see her wake up in the morning in his bed, all deliciously refreshed, and she ends up going upstairs, where his working area is and he told her not to. And she finds there a wedding dress he's been making for her (did I mention Liang is my fictional boyfriend? A straight designer is a rara avis but it seems it pays). And he comes up behind her and he is not mad but tells her that he swore never to design women's clothes, but he will for her. And he hopes she will wear this for him one day. And she just runs into his arms. And she tells him she is thinking that if she doesn't become a designer, if she won't defeat Chu Xing, it doesn't matter, as long as she has him. Because as long as she has him, her world is perfect. EEEEEE! And then there is some severe making-out kissing.
And it makes me grin from ear to ear. Also, pretty please, I want a Liang of my own. Ahhhh, Liang. One of the things I find most refreshing about him is that he actually is rooting for Sui's career and whenever she gets ahead, he gets as pleased as when he succeeds in his own career. In the often sexist world of doramas, this is great. Actually, I think every straight girl is entitled to a Liang. In fact, based on this, I am so delighted Wu Zun is going to be Sano in the Hana Kimi adaptation, because he is going to be perfect at it. Yes.
Of course, I am only 2/3 through ep and it all can go haywire, but for now? Love. I can't watch too much TJ at a stretch (just like eating jam) but for now...yum.
And tomorrow, I must must MUST watch the subbed ep 5 of Silence (I wanted to be half-awake at least when I did). And I've dled all 14 available eps and am going to watch and rewatch the Wei Yi/Shen Shen scenes even though have no bloody clue what they are talking about as my Mandarin is nil. But the hot! And the romance! And the angst!
The thing that I like the most is the fact that TJ avoids doing something that almost every American show does that drives me crazy. In those shows, if the characters are an OTP, either the show is going to take much too long to get them together until I lose interest (if they can't get their act together in 9 years, maybe they shouldn't. See X-files) or the couple is going to play musical chairs, with couple breaking up for long stretches to get back together in time for sweeps and then breaking up again etc etc (Veronica Mars, if you split Logan and Veronica again in S3, I am looking at you). Here, Liang and Sui, fall in love, get together early, and *gasp* stay together. True, there are various highs and lows in their relationship, but they don't last for long. Because, OMG, they talk to each other and find out what's going on. For example, in the beginning of 9, she sees him drinking in a bar with an older woman, and when she approaches her, he tells her to leave. Of course, he is actually trying to butter up the woman in order to help Sui for complicated plot reasons (hell, if he took me out for drinks, I'd give him keys to the office too), but Sui doesn't know that. And yeah, angst. He looks heart-broken and when she runs outside, she is angsting too (and the thing is, the reactions are realistic. When she is sitting there, repeating 'It's all right' and thinking 'if you say it 100 times, it'll be OK' and then she says out loud 'He didn't run after me.' Oh, girl. So been there, done that.)
But next morning it all gets fixed. It doesn't drag out. Liang's friend brings her what Liang 'acted' to get his hands on (her design that was stolen). And he tells her that the reason Liang didn't bring it himself is because he is jealous (of a guy she treats as a younger brother who is rooming in her house) and that it's up to her to make the first move. And you know what? She does. She goes to Liang's house and they make up. I love that whole scene, where he is jealous and he is sulking but he doesn't want to let her know it and she is teasing him. And he pretends to work. And then she tells him 'if it bothers you this much, I'll tell him to move out' and he goes 'OK.' And she just starts laughing and when he asks her why, she says she is laughing at herself, because she has a boyfriend who is 'jealous but also adorable' and he starts grinning too and then there is more adorableness.
And she tells Guang Xi to leave and he does. Normal. And later when Liang sees Guang Xi make a pronouncement on TV that he is in love with Sui, he goes and finds Sui and takes her away, saying he is her boyfriend (OMG, he is so hot mad).
That is so refreshingly normal. I love it.
And the obstacles they face to their relationship are external (his evil father, various oddballs who fall for her, etc etc), but the relationship itself is perfectly normal. I really buy them as a couple and can see them, once the melodrama is over, living happily together, working together, being amazingly compatible. The actors have great chemistry, but I also love the way their scenes are done. The scene after he takes her to his place after Guang Xi declared his feelings and she is all giddy about what happened and is laughing, telling him he was so cool in front of the reporters, saying 'She is my gf" and is all 'let's re-enact it' and imitates him and he starts laughing and saying 'can't you let me be mad longer?' And then he tells her he is going to keep her under house arrest and no way she can leave his place, and she tells him OK, he can keep her under house arrest (well, girl, he does have those handcuffs and you've already used them :P). And she says she is moving in then, and even if he tells her to leave, she won't.
And scarily cute scene follows, where you only hear their voices (hmmmm, gee, I wonder if they are in bed? This show has the most refreshingly natural approach to college romantic relationships: they got together and had good sex early on, and they are clearly doing it since (one of the earlier eps has Sui blushing when checking out what to buy in the condoms section of the local grocery store) and it's part of their life and part of the relationship, no more no less). And she is quibbling with having to use a pink toothbrush when he has a blue one so he tells her, as a trade-off, she can use the green towel and he'll use the pink). And you see her wake up in the morning in his bed, all deliciously refreshed, and she ends up going upstairs, where his working area is and he told her not to. And she finds there a wedding dress he's been making for her (did I mention Liang is my fictional boyfriend? A straight designer is a rara avis but it seems it pays). And he comes up behind her and he is not mad but tells her that he swore never to design women's clothes, but he will for her. And he hopes she will wear this for him one day. And she just runs into his arms. And she tells him she is thinking that if she doesn't become a designer, if she won't defeat Chu Xing, it doesn't matter, as long as she has him. Because as long as she has him, her world is perfect. EEEEEE! And then there is some severe making-out kissing.
And it makes me grin from ear to ear. Also, pretty please, I want a Liang of my own. Ahhhh, Liang. One of the things I find most refreshing about him is that he actually is rooting for Sui's career and whenever she gets ahead, he gets as pleased as when he succeeds in his own career. In the often sexist world of doramas, this is great. Actually, I think every straight girl is entitled to a Liang. In fact, based on this, I am so delighted Wu Zun is going to be Sano in the Hana Kimi adaptation, because he is going to be perfect at it. Yes.
Of course, I am only 2/3 through ep and it all can go haywire, but for now? Love. I can't watch too much TJ at a stretch (just like eating jam) but for now...yum.
And tomorrow, I must must MUST watch the subbed ep 5 of Silence (I wanted to be half-awake at least when I did). And I've dled all 14 available eps and am going to watch and rewatch the Wei Yi/Shen Shen scenes even though have no bloody clue what they are talking about as my Mandarin is nil. But the hot! And the romance! And the angst!
