Nodame Cantabile

2006, 11-episode Fuji-TV JDo that starred Ueno Juri as Noda Megumi aka Nodame (Piano) and Tamaki Hiroshi as Chiaki Shinichi (Piano/Conducting).

This is based on Manga of the same premise and characters, and the two leads did terrific jobs portraying the stressed-out, uppity conductor wonna-be Chiaki, and the flaky, unrealistic kindergarten teaching hopeful, Noda.

Tamaki Hiroshi as Chiaki Shinichi

This is the fourth time I've watched the drama and the movie that followed shortly after it ended. Not a waste of time at all, either.

The reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 is because while I enjoy reading Manga and don't mind too much that it becomes live-action, it still bugs me that there aren't more novels that become that way instead.

The second reason is because of the pretentiousness with which the entire story was presented. Classical music isn't and shouldn't be portrayed as something high-brow, upper class, and worth giving up your entire life to perfect, much less pursue. It's for everyone to enjoy as well as to play and participate in.

Someone always has to be god-like as well, and I've said all I can about the way that line of thinking makes me feel.

Until now, I mistook him for Ikuta Toma. They have similar facial features but not the same voice, I think. Still, they're both hot and worth spending hours staring at and admiring. Hiroshi-kun was amazing in this drama!

Nodame Cantabile is about Chiaki-kun's journey to self-discovery in the form of learning how to grow, let go of past notions about life and career, to get along well with others, and then accept the things that come to pass without fighting against it via self-will.

He's a child prodigy who grew up in the lap of luxury and never got rid of an initial desire to conduct orchestras rather than play in one like his estranged father, a concert pianist.

He attends a music academy in Japan but wants desperately to return to Europe and study with his old master. Unfortunately, after his parents divorced when he was young, he returned to Japan with his mother and experienced a bad plane landing which resulted in his fear of flying.

Stuck on land in Japan, he stomps his way through this academy, complaining about everything he hears being played by the other students. Naturally, the chicks dig him for his looks and size, but he isn't very receptive to their advances or even the fact that the guys there would like it if he were their friend.

He keeps attempting to get into the conducting division at the academy, even knowing it's pointless since he'll never be able to reach Europe without overcoming his fear of flying. Each time he applies, though, the request is turned down.

At the apartment, he meets his neighbor, Noda Megumi. She's the complete opposite of him, and when she drags him inside her apartment, he realizes what a slob she is. Later, on his balcony, he notices a nasty smell and then watches in horror as neon purple liquid begins oozing onto his side of the wall.

Upset, he marches into Nodame's apartment and insists that she clean the place. Chiaki-kun ends up doing all the work, though.

Then he is forced to have to play a piano duet with her in a classroom setting. He's reluctant at first, but he's already heard her play before and is overly curious about her lack of control yet ability to captivate.

He's crass and rude to Noda, always shouting at her to get her act together and do the right thing while she ignores it all and continues to smile, goof off, and do everything the way she sees fit.

Everything about Nodame annoys Chiaki, and yet he's still drawn to her. Because of his desire to conduct, it's natural for him to want to help draw out the natural talent he sees in her.

She's not there to become famous or travel the world as a member of an orchestra, though. Noda has aspirations of becoming a kindergarten teacher.

I didn't get that. I had no idea why she'd spend good money at this academy if that was her goal. Do music academy's teach education classes for kindergarten students?

Regardless, for the eleven episodes, we watch how these two opposites end up in a budding relationship, spend time together, and how their personalities end up having some type of effect one over the other here and there.

At the same time, though, their personalities are such that regardless of how the two end up being sucked into the other's world, they both always return to who they are naturally.

The kotatsu episode was a case in point and hilarious as well.

The more that Nodame ends up falling for Chiaki-kun, the harder she attempts to mold herself into his ideal, and sometimes it works, sometimes not.

Every time she upset Chiaki, he'd toss her aside like a rag doll, and every time this occurred, or when he said or did something to upset her, she'd let out this word.

Funny, cute, silly stuff completely in line with the Manga.

I had issues with the subs, too. At the beginning of each episode, it stated that this was beta and would be cleaned up later. Um ... not sure how that is possible, and this is 2014 now. I've yet to find another streaming website that uses cleaned up subs.

This can't be what she said, and regardless, it makes no sense.

Another of my favorite Japanese actors starred in this one:

Eita as Mine Ryutaro (Violin)

He started out as an electric violin player intent on restructuring classical music by adding a Rock & Roll flavor that would be a definite hit with kids his age and younger.

Early on, he ends up befriending Chiaki, and not long afterward the whole gang shows up at his father's tiny restaurant to meet, eat, and drink, chat, commiserate, and plan their next move.

Loved the rainbow hair clips.

His character was a little on the spaz side, but he didn't shout a whole lot or annoy. His passion was what ended up helping Chiaki-kun realize his dream of becoming a conductor. Mine made it to a second-string orchestra, and the conductor bailed, so he and Nodame enlisted Chiaki for the job.

Mine played the cheerleader, the go-to guy, and the referee in times of conflict. He fell in love as well, and he continued to cheer on the girl after she ended up leaving for Europe and further studies.

Then there was the guy with the interesting mustache. He also sported an afro, but it didn't stick out as much as the 'stache.

Koide Keisuke as Okuyama Masumi played timpani and had a huge crush on Chiaki-kun. Every time that Nodame entered the picture, his jealousy showed to the point of mild violence.

Masumi was always there whenever another girl (or guy) tried to wile their way into Chiaki's private time, and Chiaki-kun eventually learned to appreciate him while ignoring his one-sided affection.

He liked to wear 1970's apparel to include bright colors, paisley, bell-bottoms, vests, and white lifts.

Another aspect of Nodame Cantabile that I always enjoy is the music - of course.

Here's where the pretentiousness comes in, though.

It's great to learn new things, and I like finding out stuff I didn't know before, too, but still. The way it's presented is annoying and in-your-face, making me not appreciate the effort.

Again, the subs kept making the mistake of referring to a concert as a concerto.

Concert: [kon-surt] a public musical performance in which a number of singers or instrumentalists, or both, participate.

Concerto: [kuhn-cher-toh] a composition for one or more principal instruments, with orchestral accompaniment, now usually in symphonic form.

However, I'll give them a bit of credit since there were times when the actors themselves said concert-o, which might be habit rather than misconception. They can't end any word with a consonant, but the two words are pronounced much different, so the subber's should have known better.

Anyway, I liked watching this drama a lot and I loved hearing the music, too.

It's my understanding, too, that the Korean version will finally become reality this fall. Sources report Joo Won as being the Chiaki-kun, too.

Wait and see for me. It's still too early to get excited until all the pieces are put in place.

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Nodame Cantabile SP-MOVIE

Nodame Cantabile SP (Movie)

GYABO!

The 2008 movie special released soon after the drama ended picks up where the drama left off, with Chiaki-kun and Nodame leaving for Paris together.

This is Chiaki's chance to prove himself as a conductor, and before he can meet with his life-long coach, he needs to enter and win a competition.

The pretentiousness aside, this SP turned out to be as good, if not better than, the drama from which it sprang. Fast-paced, ricochet dialogue meant to help cram a ton of stuff into less than two hours worth of film.

Takenaka Naoto as Franz Strezemann (Milch Holstein) appears at the end to drop another portent onto our unsuspecting couple, too. "Prometheus of the Desert" as he refers to this latest order.

The original cast have returned as well, though their on-screen time is very limited - relegated to Mine's father's tiny restaurant, where they meet for drinks, reminisce, and shout the ganbatte stuff again and again, esp. for their hero, Chiaki-kun.

Chiaki-kun goes up against two of the greats in conductor-dom, and he remains confident, precise, and overbearing as he behaved in the drama. He's at the top of the heap one minute, sinks to the depths of despair the next, and then with Nodame's flighty help, rises back to the top bigger and better than before.

In this movie, she's more flirtatious, evoking more of her feminine side, which is a good thing except that Chiaki-kun and his one-track mind aren't interested in anything other than winning the conductor's competition so that he can face his old Senpai with dignity, and with his head held high.

Yah! Whatever, dude. No one ever listens to me when I try to tell them that GETTING LAID helps in stressful situations. No one in Asian Dramaland cares to listen, though.

Didn't quite know what to make of Wentz Eiji as Lantoine Franz, but he wasn't on screen that often to make a fair judgement anyhow.

More important than the cute guys, this time around I felt that Ishii Masanori as Katahira Hajime nearly stole the show. He played one of the contenders for the conductor crown, and he did a great job.

Ah! And, a mystery from the drama is solved!

"...a chicken shit" but whatever. I knew something wasn't quite right with the original interpretation, so there.

Speaking of subs, they were great, then mediocre, then good, then dumb, then great again (depending on who subbed which parts, I think).

They continued to use the word Concerto, too, instead of just Concert.

Not sure how or what to say about the scenery here, either. Being fooled into thinking I'm actually there when in reality I'm not has made me a little gun shy about reporting such things in this blog. Perhaps the stills were real, and glimpses of the inside of buildings as well. Even when they visited the monuments of Paris, I got the sneaking suspicion they were filmed, but that the actual scenes were done in a Japanese studio and not on-sight.

Okay, so now on to the second part of this SP ...

Part 2 of the SP Movie ...

It's Nodame's turn to shine. Chiaki has earned his wings, isn't too afraid of airplanes now, and has signed on with Franz Strezemann as an assistant. They tour Europe and Asia, and while Strezemann does a majority of the conducting, Chiaki-kun is left to assist him.

Meanwhile, Noda is left to her own devices in Paris and finds out the hard way that kawaii doesn't always cut it in the real world. She's got a terrific ear and pitch for music and can play well when she wants to, but she hadn't applied herself too well to the technical side of the music world and now suffers in these advance classes.

However ... music wasn't her initial goal in life. She wanted to teach kindergarten, and then she met Chiaki-kun and wanted to become his wife.

It was toward the end of the drama that Chiaki-kun realized that Noda completed him, and I think this SP Movie was meant to highlight that aspect of their relationship.

One might consider this sexist, and in Japan, there is no such thing, really. In Korea it's macho, and in Japan it's about power. In both cases, men possess each while women are expected to go along for the ride.

At least Noda made her debut in one of the greatest of all European Castles (if we can believe that) - at least we got to get an outside glimpse of the place. She did great, made Chiaki-kun shed tears, and he even finally kissed her afterward.

this appeared twice, and I think the subber got it backwards. 

In this scene, she's become a little fish in a big pond.

always enjoyed and adored the goofy graphics peppered throughout the drama and the movie

case in point ...

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Faith

 신의 (信義) / Shinui / The Great Doctor (神醫)

2012 24-episode Korean Period Drama that starred Lee Min ho as Choi Young, Kim Hee sun as Yoo Eun soo, Yoo Oh sung as Gi Chul, Lee Philip as Jang Bin, Kim Soo yun as Deo Gi, Sung Hoon as Chun Eum ja, Shin Eun jung as Hwa Soo in, Jo In pyo as Goo Yang gak (Yang Sa), Choi Suk jin as Ki Won, Kim Mi kyung as Court lady Choi, and Hwang Woo yun as Ja Woon - to name a few.

Let me start by saying this is the 3rd time I've watched this drama since its release a few years ago - thus the 5 sparkling rosebud vases.

And, if anyone wants to argue with me about my dislike of Heirs, let them join in a face/off between that drama and this one first.

This is how and when Lee Min ho shines; as bright as the brightest star in all of Korea and beyond - even to Hollywood - which isn't saying much, but I'm sure a lot of you out there think that Hollywood is the greatest to ever come along and again, I'd have to disagree. It USED to be that way, but not anymore, and when people freak out over guys like Justin Bieber and Ryan Gossling ... well ... all I can say is I don't even want to waste my breath or time arguing.

Lee Min ho as Choi young

Everyone and their uncle already know what this one was all about, so I'll spare the details and sum it all up by saying it's about a young, gorgeous warrior with two things on his mind: sleep and being a warrior.

He's assigned to protect the king, of course, and the king's new bride from Yuan (China), when something goes wrong and in order to save this woman, warrior Choi luckily discovers a way to travel through time. He ends up in modern-day Seoul and tracks down a flighty plastic surgeon, dragging her back to his time and demanding she save the queen.

Before that, though, he gets into a tussle with the police and ends up stealing one of their bullet-proof shields, which doesn't disappear or disintegrate as he travels back in time, but whatever.

Polymers may have actually existed back then ... you never know.

It added some humor to the show, okay?

The second thing about this drama was the cast, which included Lee Philip and Kim Mi kyung!

Lee Philip as Jang bin

Kim Mi Kyung as Court lady Choi

Now, he might be showing his age a little, but in my book Lee Philip is still one fine looking dude and it'll be awhile before I get tired of seeing his fine face, hearing his sexy voice, and ogling his exceptional frame.

As for Madam Kim, well, she's always going to be up there with the list of greats and will likely never grow weary of entertaining the masses, right?

Philip's character played the court physician, and he spent a lot of time getting to know Yoo Eun soo, the modern-day plastic surgeon thrust into an ancient world and made to do a lot of unsavory bidding as much as she was able to walk alongside our stalwart warrior and try her best to win his stalwart heart.

Kim Hee sun as Yoo Eun soo

Despite what others had to say about her in blogs and at aznv.tv, surprise, surprise! I disagree wholeheartedly with their opinions. This woman blew me away with her acting and made me like her regardless of whatever else it is she's done or said to upset the masses.

She's beautiful and talented, and she reminded me in a way of Grace Adler (Debra Messing) from Will & Grace.

Anyway, next come the baddies; the menacing types who always arrive right on time in any period drama and attempt rather successfully at first to undo, unwind, and unload all the good being done and get away with it for a majority of the show.

Jo In Pyo as Goo Yang Gak (Yang Sa)

Shin Eun Jung as Hwa Soo In

Sung Hoon as Chun Eum Ja

My, my, my.

I even thought the old guy was nice to look at! He's the master-mind of the bad gang and possesses super-powers and an angry heart. 

His sister is very beautiful and did a great job portraying an evil woman with an evil heart who possesses the power of fire to lure and destroy men. 

Then there is our amazingly handsome baby boy with a great head of hair and an obedient heart. He possesses the power of music, or a one-note, which he extracts from his weapon of choice: the flute. The one-note has the ability to destroy the internal workings of the human body.

All three did great acting jobs, were entirely convincing in their roles, and added the right amount of flavor to the show. Their costumes, aside from the king and queen, were the best, too.

Did I mention the fact that our hero, Choi Yong, also has special powers? His arm is electrified, which runs straight to his sword, given to him by a great king. This comes in handy in battle against others with special powers - so the playing field evens out instead of being unfair.

Reason three why this was so great: the costumes, the scenery, and even the set decoration. It was simply marvelous and helped to ease the soul instead of making us sit through a lot of strife, grayness, and dismal that usually occurs when a writer and then producer send us back in time.

Treachery, deceit, and nefarious schemes always abound in a period drama - especially those from Korea - and it still amazes me how the writers take fact and twist it enough times to make fantasy seem factual, but whatever. It seems to work, so that's fine.

Reason four why Faith is a fiver for me is Lee Min ho.

Yep, that's right! I said Lee Min ho. Thinking about it some more, I've come to realize that this show has a lot to do with my unfavorable opinion of his work in The Heirs. After seeing him in Faith, and in Boys Over Flowers, it came as quite a disappointment to see the way he acted in The Heirs.

It was his chance to shine; to really step up to the plate and make a name for himself and he didn't.

In Boys, I thought he was funny, commanding, and intriguing enough to want to see more. In Faith, I started to fall in love and came to realize just what it was that had everyone else so mesmerized. Then I watched Heirs, what the rest of the world watched, and with as much dizzying anticipation, too.

What a let-down.

I know he's done more than just these three shows, and I already watched some, will watch others.

He's handsome, I agree. He's talented, too. He's got the goods, to include height, the face, the body, and the smile.

His eyes captivate the soul, and with a little work, he'd make one hell of a true lover in a modern-day or period drama if he learns how to use those eyes of his to draw out what any hetero- female wants in a man like him.

Not even the guy on the left could scene-steal or hold a candle to our Warrior Choi in Faith, though.

Who stole everyone's heart in The Heirs? Eh? It wasn't Min ho-sshi but his angry counterpart, that's who.

Like I said, he blew it for whatever reason, and I'll chalk it up to his having been either burned out or uninterested in the script and let it go at that.

Reason Five why I loved Faith so much: chemistry.

Lee Min ho's Warrior Choi and Kim Hee sun's Yoo Eun soo had great chemistry even if she does and did look a few years older than him. So what. I don't care about things like that unless it's an old, gray-haired fart trying to get with a high school girl, and then GAG.

Even the budding love story that grew between King and Queen and their onscreen performances together were like-able and believable. It was cute, too, the way she behaved both behind his back trying to help, and in his presence, standing up for her heart while making him figure it all out on his own.

There'll always be the constant reluctance to go with ones own heart in these shows, both period and modern, which annoys the heck out of me but there's nothing I can do to change that fact or make it go away, so ...

Warrior Choi spent too much time avoiding the inevitable, and even if there was a reason for it, it is still irritating to have to sit through night after night.

Okay, so that's my review of Faith. (Actually, my review of why I didn't like The Heirs - lol)

Here are a few extra images of the hot guy with the cool weapon.

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Ando Lloyd: A.I. Knows LOVE?

 安堂ロイド〜A.I. Knows LOVE?

2013 10-episode TBS J-Do starring Kimura Takuya and Shibasaki Kou as Ando Asahi, the woman he loves, wants to marry, and then needs to protect - even if it takes 100 years.

Matsushima Reiji is a genius who works at Tokyo Imperial University as a scientist (who studies worm hole theory), as does his younger sister, also a genius (perhaps more of a genius, even, than her aniki).

Ando Asahi is an upper-level employee of a software security firm, and one day she receives a request from an online player to accept his challenge at a game of Asian chess.

She accepts and loses, but because of the place where she works, she's able to track down her combatant using the tablet she's playing the game on, thus creating the first meeting between the two eventual lovers.

I'm no good at theories, math, or complex anything, and even after having watched this sci/fi thriller, I can't be of much help other than to say Reiji realized even before he met Ando that his life was in danger, and that he would need to figure out yet another complex way in which to keep her safe.

There's a death list circulating online with his name on it - and Ando's - even if she doesn't complete the circle because she isn't a rocket scientist like him. Without her or us realizing it, Reiji has been working steadily on a fool-proof way to keep Ando safe in the not-too-distant future.

Reiji-kun is what you want and expect Takuya-sama to be like on screen. Quirky, erratic, and with that unsuspecting smirk every now and then - the real reason why I adore the guy so much.

PLUS ... his hair.

Not long into this story, Reiji gets murdered (NOT a spoiler, so chill) and not too long afterward, an android with Reiji's features appears to save the heartbroken Ando from her fate: the fate Reiji knew all along was going to occur.

This robot doesn't have a street name other than 2113 II something or other, I don't remember. Anyhow, he's got no emotions because he's a robot or Android with skin and hair and blood cells but no soul or emotions.

I never get that part in these sci/fi things. I mean, in four, separate scenes, Ando Lloyd eats something. Do Android's evacuate, too? He never changed his clothes or took a shower, either. If they aren't human, then what is the point of their having blood and cells?

Ando got upset with Lloyd and kicked him, getting hurt in the process because he's 'tin man' material, and bullets either penetrated or didn't while knives were capable of penetration and producing not only blood but injury.

Whatever.

This was a great story that flowed well and had cool CGI that wasn't implausible or looked ridiculous. I liked the way they discarded defeated androids, too.

The aside characters did great jobs, but the Last Princess android was a pain in the ass.

So were the subs.

Ridiculous, stupid, lazy subs ... AGAIN.

There was even an American guy who is Japanese who worked at the lab with Reiji's younger sister. He was cute and all, but he should know better when cussing in English that sometimes it just doesn't work or isn't suitable for the context in which its being presented.

I'm not even sure if the word was uttered in Japanese but that the subber threw it in for 'effect' thinking it would be cool or something. He/She is wrong, of course, and they need to get schooled.

A majority of them do, but whatever.

The entire 10 episodes were devoted to saving Ando from a bunch of 100 years into the future robots all sent to destroy her - for a reason that was never quite made clear - and with each passing episode came each passing occurrence until our poor Lloyd has run out of juice and stamina to keep going.

Cue the ganbatte stuff!

It appeared toward the end of episode 10, and I was a little shocked and upset when it occurred, too. I thought for sure that this time it would be different and that they'd let up on it for once, but no.

The ending was a good one, though, and it hinted at a sequel, but anymore I don't hold my breath when things like that happen. I've seen it so many times now only to have nothing ever come of it, so ...

Takuya still has it going on, he's still worth watching on the big screen, and he's still my hero in the J-Do department, so that's why I tuned in. Still, the story ended up sucking me in as well, so it was a two-fer worth the time and effort to watch.

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Three Brothers

aka: 수상한 삼형제 / Susanghan Samhyungje / Suspicious Three Brothers

2009 K-Do about ... you guessed it ... 3 brothers.

The dad is a cop, the mom is from hell with fire-breathing capabilities, red eyes that glow in the dark, and talons for fingernails.

The eldest son is her pet. He's shiftless, aimless, and useless hiding his transgressions from them because even going on age 40, he's terrified of his parents (esp. his serpent-like mother). He's been divorced for a few years yet no one knows, so he hides and pretends everything is great when it isn't.

The second son is desperate for attention, affection, and acceptance. He's been money-hungry most of his life and never really applied himself to being a child, or exploring himself or the world around him, and is only concerned with making money in order to please the bitch known as his mother. He owns a spa, a gas station, and a wedding hall and does whatever his mother tells or asks of him while treating his wife like shit and ignoring her at every turn.

The youngest son is handsome and became a cop because his hero was and still is his father. The drama opens with him receiving a citation for great conduct. The undercurrent of bad blood between mother and father is evident but not in-your-face terrifying just yet.

For the next 69 episodes we watch this family grow in size due to marriages and births, then fall apart in a rather absurd yet formulaic style before things are set back to right again.

2009 ... 70 episodes ... which means day-time drama ... which means a lot of strife, agony, shouting, vindictive, evil behavior week after week until the metaphoric cannon is eventually lit and shot over our heads. In the aftermath, and when the smoke clears, we're expected to watch these characters dust themselves off and start all over again, but on the proverbial right track to 'success'.

In one part of this show, someone at the police station said that Koreans are an angry bunch (which explained all of the drunken, disorderly situations during a New Year's festival). Later, I think it was Umi who claimed it made perfect sense that the divorce rate in their country tended to go up after such holidays.

This thing didn't start out as a message-driven, preachy type of day-time drama meant to entertain every ajumma who has the time to plunk her ass down in front of a television set at the local sauna, crack a few eggs against her forehead, and 'learn something about life' by watching.

It became that way in the middle, though, before turning right around and getting back into step with the way it ran at the beginning.

Something huge happened in the middle of this one - like they swapped writers, or the actors were told they wouldn't be getting paid on time so they decided to just give up - I can't be too sure, but I do know that it threw me for a loop and confused as well as annoyed me from episodes 50-68.

It didn't hurt any to skip around while watching, either. After about 7 episodes, I was able to watch only the even numbers and didn't miss a thing because of the re-hash and flash-back's peppered inside each episode I watched. I didn't miss anything and you won't, either.

Umi was supposed to be the 'star' of this one despite it being about 3 brothers and their life lessons. She got pregnant by the middle son when they were still young, and he ran when he found out about her condition, so she sought him out and that's how they ended up together.

Ten years later is when this drama unfolds, and Umi is the family slave: cooking, cleaning, shopping, care-taking, and putting up with the caustic bullshit thrown at her by the bitch-in-law and her unaffectionate, money-hungry husband whose only concern in life is work.

The dad knows how to talk to his sons, but in a half-hearted kind of way that wasn't as helpful or insightful as it could have been. The mom is as selfish, arrogant, and hateful as they come. Stereotypical, I hope, and yet I'm never quite sure to believe it's stereotypical after seeing her in every day-time drama that's ever been released from Korea.

Whoa is me, no one loves me, you never take my side, why do you love your wife more than me, my husband is useless, he never loved me, he never listened, no one cares, let me die, why did I give birth to you ... sigh.

Every time this woman shouted "Do you want to see me die?" I was like, "Yes! Please! Die already and let everyone else around you live for a change!"

Then I felt bad for thinking that way, which ended up making me resentful of having been made to feel that way at all.

It was frightening, to be honest. The woman terrified me. She favored one son over the others, told another son she loved him more than the others, and then told another that he was actually her favorite. Absolutely mind-blowing from an American perspective. Even if you feel that way, which isn't a sin in and of itself because we're all human, but to utter the words to a child, even a close friend, is absurd.

To say her mother-in-law was a lot worse is like admitting to being beyond stupid, too.

Aside from the mother scaring me half to death a majority of the time, and then watching each of the characters fall apart, and then seeing how they slowly but surely rose back up from the ashes of self-destruction, there were the odd bits and pieces to make me even more confused.

Every time they became penniless, I worried. But, apparently this isn't something to really worry about over there in Korea land. Even without a job, they were able to shop, eat at restaurants, and buy food at the open market. The kids remained in school, and even the guy who got out of prison lived in a decent apartment, had a hand phone, took his son to an amusement park, and could eat 고기 gogi.

In the United States, if you lose your job you rely on your savings to get you through until better times, and when the savings run out, you start to do without - like driving your car because you can't fill up the gas tank, and skipping meals because there is no food in the cupboards, and then finally the utilities are shut off and the repo man arrives to take your car and/or house. You end up in a shelter or at a friend/family members place.

You starve to death and die.

What we don't do is continue to buy food, cook, pop into the neighborhood coffee shop, and get drunk enough at a karaoke bar to weep over our misfortunes - because the money isn't there to do such things.

Another thing that amazes me about these stories is the availability of jobs even when they tell us the economy is bad or it's hard for people to find work. These characters always manage to do it. They find work even under the most dire of circumstances, and to me this is beyond far-fetched; unrealistic, and a bad message if sending out messages is their aim.

At least this time, with this particular story, they didn't cram down my throat the fact that 'family' is the be-all/end-all of life. They tried, but not half as hard as some of the others I've watched. And, excuse me, but if that is any indication of family life then I want no part of it, gamsahabnida.

In my country, respect is something you earn and not a birth right based on age or sex. After the Asiana incident in California that killed so many passengers because of pilot error, and then discovering that KAL has the worst safety record as a result of that way of thinking - not being able to question or argue with anyone older than them - it stands to reason the entire country should step back and rethink the mentality.

This drama did that in a manner of speaking by having the parents of these boys fall apart, lose 'everything' (yet still manage to keep their house, the utilities were never cut, and to buy food to eat) they were also reborn, so to speak.

They ended up discovering their own personality flaws and learned how to readjust in order to live a proper, respectable life instead of the one they lived prior to having had all hell break loose.

I'm not saying being disrespectful is the answer, either. It's just as wrong and just as disgusting a behavior as lording over those beneath or younger than you are. Either way, you lose and no one really respects anyone.

Discovering the power of honey versus vinegar is the answer, and it's a lot easier to implement than the world would have us believe, too.

I'm not sorry I wasted 4 days plowing through this 70-episode melodrama filled with predictable, agonizing scenes and cringe-worthy preaching that felt embarrassingly awkward to hear and see from time to time. I'm still terrified of the mother-in-law and will likely continue to have nightmares about her, but whatever. If you like this stuff, watch and enjoy. As for me, it'll be another few years before I decide to take a stab at another round of this type of crap and agony.

I'm emotionally drained now and need to revive my spirits in order to be able to smile again.

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