Musings of the Obsessive Kind

1. Watched eps 2-4 of Love Shuffle with filmi_girl, and honestly, such a perfect drama. One of the few I rewatch regularly. For some reason, on this rewatch, it's Yuki that's getting to me the most. I just want to adopt and cuddle him (I am shocked that this is the only drama DAIGO has done other than a couple of cameos - he's excellent in the role and I would have never guessed he was a newbie). Also, I don't think I realized this before, but that scene with Kairi on the bridge is the first time we see Ojiro open up to anyone. He's excellent at getting to the core of others' innermost selves but he kept every single private thing about himself closed off and you don't realize until he opens up to Kairi. A suicide-obsessive and an adrenaline junkie who may or may not have a deathwish - kinda perfect. Psychiatrist is freaking me out even more this time, and nobody is going to convince me that a major chunk of his plan wasn't ( spoilers for the whole enchilada )

2. Because I am some sort of a masochist, I feel like rewatching Matsujun's Smile, an amazing, underrated drama that broke me. We'll see. Have a MV:



I think Smile is my favorite Matsujun drama. Yes, even above *gasp* Hanadan.

3. I am pre-obsessed with Kingyo Club which looks like a teen angsty love story per my precise specs. He saves her from bullying! Awwwwww. Have a MV:



4. Have I mentioned how ridiculously awesome the cast of Taira no Kiyomori is? Because OMG. I am watching that baby raw.

1. Watched eps 2-4 of Love Shuffle with filmi_girl, and honestly, such a perfect drama. One of the few I rewatch regularly. For some reason, on this rewatch, it's Yuki that's getting to me the most. I just want to adopt and cuddle him (I am shocked that this is the only drama DAITO has done other than a couple of cameos - he's excellent in the role and I would have never guessed he was a newbie). Also, I don't think I realized this before, but that scene with Kairi on the bridge is the first time we see Ojiro open up to anyone. He's excellent at getting to the core of others' innermost selves but he kept every single private thing about himself closed off and you don't realize until he opens up to Kairi. A suicide-obsessive and an adrenaline junkie who may or may not have a deathwish - kinda perfect. Psychiatrist is freaking me out even more this time, and nobody is going to convince me that a major chunk of his plan wasn't ( spoilers for the whole enchilada )

2. Because I am some sort of a masochist, I feel like rewatching Matsujun's Smile, an amazing, underrated drama that broke me. We'll see. Have a MV:



I think Smile is my favorite Matsujun drama. Yes, even above *gasp* Hanadan.

3. I am pre-obsessed with Kingyo Club which looks like a teen angsty love story per my precise specs. He saves her from bullying! Awwwwww. Have a MV:



4. Have I mentioned how ridiculously awesome the cast of Taira no Kiyomori is? Because OMG. I am watching that baby raw.

filmi_girl came over and we were watching Love Shuffle, still my favorite jdrama of all time.

So now I am craving jdramas like nobody's business and am getting my hands on (for tomorrow's binge)

* Arakawa Under the Bridge (inspired insanity)
* Ima, Ai Ni Yukimasu (for romantic angst)
* Taira No Kiyomori (for the amazing cast and historical epic)
* Rebound (fluffy cuteness)
* Kingyo Club (school stuff)
* Tokyo Wankei (melo)
* Saigo No Koi (ditto)
* Waterboys (Yamada Takayuki)

I see a week-long binge ahead :)

I have checked out the first half of the currently airing jdrama Sunao ni Narenakute and I am madly in love, you guys! The kind of love I haven't felt since Love Shuffle.

SnN's story starts when five 20-something Tokyoites who follow each other on twitter decide to meet in real life. I am going to be using their screennames for ease.

They are "Haru" (Ueno Juri), a new school teacher, still on probation, a little clumsy but very grounded and forthright (I am madly in love with her already).



"Nakaji" (Eita), a professional photographer who it is hinted has a "past," and is someone who looks up to his dead father, a war photographer.



"Peach" (Seki Megumi) is Haru's best friend who is popular with men but is more troubled than Haru will ever be - she cuts herself and has also just discovered she is pregnant and the father wants nothing to do with her.



"Linda" (Tamayama Tetsuji) is an editor blackmailed for sexual favors by his chief editor.



"Doctor" (Hero Jaejoong) is a Korean who pretends he's a doctor on twitter but in reality is a medical equipment tech struggling to take care of his troubled sister and looked down upon because of his ethnicity.



And now their lives are going to intersect.

In some ways, the drama really reminds me of Love Shuffle, even though the plots are completely different - it has the same fresh, crisp colors and fast-paced vibe, the same ability to have mutiple main stories at once (as opposed to one main one and a few secondaries), it also deals with wounded 20-something urban professionals with secrets. It also gives me a wonderful OTP with warmth and genuine chemistry and great scenes together (including a piggy-back ride), something jdramas are normally not great on but this is (just as LS was). Oh, and it also has a sexy photographer, just like LS :P (Side note, this is the first time in my life I've found Eita sexy :P)

( A few caps of awesomeness from first half with comments )

I have checked out the first half of the currently airing jdrama Sunao ni Narenakute and I am madly in love, you guys! The kind of love I haven't felt since Love Shuffle.

SnN's story starts when five 20-something Tokyoites who follow each other on twitter decide to meet in real life. I am going to be using their screennames for ease.

They are "Haru" (Ueno Juri), a new school teacher, still on probation, a little clumsy but very grounded and forthright (I am madly in love with her already).



"Nakaji" (Eita), a professional photographer who it is hinted has a "past," and is someone who looks up to his dead father, a war photographer.



"Peach" (Seki Megumi) is Haru's best friend who is popular with men but is more troubled than Haru will ever be - she cuts herself and has also just discovered she is pregnant and the father wants nothing to do with her.



"Linda" (Tamayama Tetsuji) is an editor blackmailed for sexual favors by his chief editor.



"Doctor" (Hero Jaejoong) is a Korean who pretends he's a doctor on twitter but in reality is a medical equipment tech struggling to take care of his troubled sister and looked down upon because of his ethnicity.



And now their lives are going to intersect.

In some ways, the drama really reminds me of Love Shuffle, even though the plots are completely different - it has the same fresh, crisp colors and fast-paced vibe, the same ability to have mutiple main stories at once (as opposed to one main one and a few secondaries), it also deals with wounded 20-something urban professionals with secrets. It also gives me a wonderful OTP with warmth and genuine chemistry and great scenes together (including a piggy-back ride), something jdramas are normally not great on but this is (just as LS was). Oh, and it also has a sexy photographer, just like LS :P (Side note, this is the first time in my life I've found Eita sexy :P)

( A few caps of awesomeness from first half with comments )

So, year 2009 has been very good for me OTP-wise, providing many a drama OTP for me to swoon over.

But let's see how I did in the "happy ending for the OTP" stakes - do I go for the tragic ones that break my heart or fluffiness?

( Here - obviously spoilers for endings of dramas in my tags )


Hmmm. 11/20 happy

My recent resurgence of interest in jdramas (after it being dormant for over a year) can be attributed to incredibly high-minded motives:



Far removed from any shallow considerations, I watch them for purely intellectual reasons only:



Ahhhh, I feel enlightened.

Please direct me to more such intensely cerebral endeavors, thanks.

My recent resurgence of interest in jdramas (after it being dormant for over a year) can be attributed to incredibly high-minded motives:



Far removed from any shallow considerations, I watch them for purely intellectual reasons only:



Ahhhh, I feel enlightened.

Please direct me to more such intensely cerebral endeavors, thanks.

"I will protect you forever. Or something like that."

The rest of this post is brought to you by dangermousie's ghost.

You have no idea how hard it was to find a nonspoilery cap for above the cut.



( Livebloggy thoughts on and caps of ep 10 )

This drama is going on the list of my all-time favorite dramas and Kairi/Ojiro on my list of all-time OTPs.

I would so kill for some after-the-end fic! And I want to rewatch it all again and wake up my husband and tell him I love him and volunteer at a soup kitchen and and and and...

Seriously. There are no words for how much I adored this.

ETA: I just realized I skipped capping ep 9. Too much crying on my part to cap. Hmmm...

Once I finish Love Shuffle tonight, it's off to watch Tokyo Dogs. Let's see how good it is. I don't care for Mitzushima Hiro as an actor (though I think he is awesome in real life - bizarre, I know) but I adore Oguri Shun to bits. Plus, sexy cops are always good. Also, Strawberry on Shortcake because it's written (as I just found out) by the Pride/Love Shuffle/Bara No Nai Hanaya guy. All that and Takizawa Hideaki and Fukada Kyoko as stepsiblings who might like each other and an ensemble cast? I am set. (I also want to see if Utsukushii Hito by the same writer has been subbed - it's about a plastic surgeon who makes a woman who asks for any new face to hide from her abusive husband into a dead ringer for his beloved dead wife - right up my alley).

I think my viewing of You're Beautiful is on-hold indefinitely. I was getting more and more fed-up with the heroine already and then Love Shuffle put the final nail in the coffin - having to go from a story with four different, compelling, strong in diverse ways women to a story with a moronic helpless heroine is just - I can't do it. Maybe I'll finish it some other time.

As of 9 eps into Love Shuffle, the characters I love (in no order except that Kei is my favorite) are Kei, Airu, Ojiro, Kairi and Yukichi. I like Mei and Reiko. As for Masato - I am not telling because I am worried if I do he'll come for me at night :)

Oh, and apparently Wallflower is going to be made into a jdrama. I am skeptical of the outcome seeing the only shoujo manga adaptation jdrama I ever liked was Hanadan, but we live in hope...