shirleyddownie
Joined Sep 2022
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Reviews6
shirleyddownie's rating
First, what I loved.
The music - very well scored to the visuals. Haunting. Heart-breaking. Really, really enjoyed this aspect of the show.
The love story between Hongrang and Jae-i, Lee Jae-wook and Jo Bo-ah. I totally believed the progression of their first moments together... to their last moments together.
Now, what I didn't love. Not only didn't I love these things.. I probably really disliked them, in the deepest recesses of My heart.
Too many storylines happening concurrently. Because there were so many Baddies - not one Main one - I started losing interest about 5 episodes in.
Too much torture porn, and especially agregious using children in this way. Some of these scenes made me sick to My stomach. And sure, some folks say "It's pretend/fake/not real" I would disagree, saying my subconscious B brain sees these visuals of Real Kids and Real Adults in Real Situations. So yes: It feels very real to me.
The Mom was written a little too hatefully for my liking. I'm sure the Writers intended I feel sorry for her at the end, but nope! Zero sympathy for her specifically. I'm happy for her suffering, tbh. How she treated Mu-jin and Jae-i, in particular.
The bells ringing to incapacitate our Hero gave me serious Alchemy of Soul AKA Mu-Deok vibes, and seeing as that didn't end well for her I expected something similar for Hongrang. I did enjoy the firelight slash cave slash lovemaking scene though, so I was hoping Jae-i would get knocked up later - but alas! It wasn't in the cards loll. Bummer.
By the last episode I already knew I probably couldn't watch this show again, which I'm sad about because, again, the music is fantastic.
6/10 - overall 10/10 - music 9/10 - Love Story between the 2 lead characters.
The music - very well scored to the visuals. Haunting. Heart-breaking. Really, really enjoyed this aspect of the show.
The love story between Hongrang and Jae-i, Lee Jae-wook and Jo Bo-ah. I totally believed the progression of their first moments together... to their last moments together.
Now, what I didn't love. Not only didn't I love these things.. I probably really disliked them, in the deepest recesses of My heart.
Too many storylines happening concurrently. Because there were so many Baddies - not one Main one - I started losing interest about 5 episodes in.
Too much torture porn, and especially agregious using children in this way. Some of these scenes made me sick to My stomach. And sure, some folks say "It's pretend/fake/not real" I would disagree, saying my subconscious B brain sees these visuals of Real Kids and Real Adults in Real Situations. So yes: It feels very real to me.
The Mom was written a little too hatefully for my liking. I'm sure the Writers intended I feel sorry for her at the end, but nope! Zero sympathy for her specifically. I'm happy for her suffering, tbh. How she treated Mu-jin and Jae-i, in particular.
The bells ringing to incapacitate our Hero gave me serious Alchemy of Soul AKA Mu-Deok vibes, and seeing as that didn't end well for her I expected something similar for Hongrang. I did enjoy the firelight slash cave slash lovemaking scene though, so I was hoping Jae-i would get knocked up later - but alas! It wasn't in the cards loll. Bummer.
By the last episode I already knew I probably couldn't watch this show again, which I'm sad about because, again, the music is fantastic.
6/10 - overall 10/10 - music 9/10 - Love Story between the 2 lead characters.
Of the Emergency Broadcast System?? Noo! It's a test of My Own data - Conceptual data plus IRL Experience data - in My Own Subconscious Brain. Which makes Kobayashi Yugo an Absolute Visionary IMHO.
The phrase "growing pains" refers to - My guess, here - what happens when My SB acquires New-to-Me Conceptual data that 'changes My Own perspective.' The word that comes to My mind? MindFXXX... but in a Good way, loll.
"Why does Gaku become This Person in the space of 1 year?" Thought-provoking. But only if I set aside My Own Conceptual data for a moment & keep an open mind.[N: "Suspend My Own Disbelief"] And No, it doesn't come naturally for Me: it takes a ton of practicing loll. The Clue is found in Episode 6 FYI: It is here that Gaku suffers a psychotic break IMO.
It's My goal to piece out the Why - the relevance of this visual data, this Story being told to Me right now in this moment - but the reason I am engaged is because there are blanks in this MadLibs... and if there's one thing My SB cannot resist? Is filling in the blanks.
Why does KY give Me the data point of Gaku's Mother's death? Especially since there are no more visuals nor Character discussion about that event? The first time I watched these 10 episodes of Fermat's Cuisine? I totally missed it.
Imma guess the reason Little Gaku is so drawn to mathematics is because it offers Him a mental foundation to stand on, considering the variance in His mental data. [N: Conceptual - I have a Mom & a Dad, and IRL Experience - My Mom is Dead/gone/My Absent Parent] Gaku becomes fully Alive as a chef while creating recipes "with no solution" for the competition.
These 10 episodes fill in the Madlibs blanks. It offers a visual of moving forward through the tunnel (of Hell) and coming out on the other side.
Absolutely VISIONARY.
The phrase "growing pains" refers to - My guess, here - what happens when My SB acquires New-to-Me Conceptual data that 'changes My Own perspective.' The word that comes to My mind? MindFXXX... but in a Good way, loll.
"Why does Gaku become This Person in the space of 1 year?" Thought-provoking. But only if I set aside My Own Conceptual data for a moment & keep an open mind.[N: "Suspend My Own Disbelief"] And No, it doesn't come naturally for Me: it takes a ton of practicing loll. The Clue is found in Episode 6 FYI: It is here that Gaku suffers a psychotic break IMO.
It's My goal to piece out the Why - the relevance of this visual data, this Story being told to Me right now in this moment - but the reason I am engaged is because there are blanks in this MadLibs... and if there's one thing My SB cannot resist? Is filling in the blanks.
Why does KY give Me the data point of Gaku's Mother's death? Especially since there are no more visuals nor Character discussion about that event? The first time I watched these 10 episodes of Fermat's Cuisine? I totally missed it.
Imma guess the reason Little Gaku is so drawn to mathematics is because it offers Him a mental foundation to stand on, considering the variance in His mental data. [N: Conceptual - I have a Mom & a Dad, and IRL Experience - My Mom is Dead/gone/My Absent Parent] Gaku becomes fully Alive as a chef while creating recipes "with no solution" for the competition.
These 10 episodes fill in the Madlibs blanks. It offers a visual of moving forward through the tunnel (of Hell) and coming out on the other side.
Absolutely VISIONARY.
The best aspect of this show, IMO, is the on-screen chemistry between Park Hae-Jin & Park Sung-woong. The latter, especially, since I'm so used to watching Him in a role as "the Big Baddie"... and clearly Someone in Movie-world agreed, as these two Gentleman go on to co-star in The Killing Vote a handful of years later.
Now for the critique: The Storytelling - while having great potential - was totally bogged down with Too Many Details. I counted no less than 4 different Storylines, loosely connected by some "artifacts mission" which I still - now at episode 8 - am fuzzy on. Also, there are Too Many Bad Guys, which prevents My brain from channeling My hate towards one specific character - "when everybody's a Bad Guy, nobody's a Bad Guy" - which works against My Own engagement in the Story, as a Viewer. Finally: WTF with Do-ha's hair?!? It makes Her look like a 14-yr old, which does Kim Min-jung a disservice... I have a hard time believing Seol-woo truly 'falls in love' with Her, since He/the character is too internal with His own feelings & motivations. *More 'inside-his-head verbal chatter as He takes external/visible actions' would have helped overcome this barrier*
Lastly - and I found this to be the most triggering for Me personally - making Seol-woo verbally cut Do-ha down in terms of Her personality, characteristics, and identity when He was advancing His Own agenda was a sh#tty way to do it. I'm guessing whoever wrote these scenes figured, "it's okay - Seol-woo is a Hot Guy, so He can get away with it..." Uh, No. NO!! This is a terrible Seed to Plant for the Audience, and it perpetuates this same bad behavior to be reproduced/copied/mimicked out here in the Real World - particularly with Viewers that identify personally with Seol-woo in this Story. So, IMO? A total Rookie mistake with this writing choice.
Despite these wrinkles - and not being one to "throw the baby out with the bathwater" - Imma keep watching through to the final episode. Cheers!
Now for the critique: The Storytelling - while having great potential - was totally bogged down with Too Many Details. I counted no less than 4 different Storylines, loosely connected by some "artifacts mission" which I still - now at episode 8 - am fuzzy on. Also, there are Too Many Bad Guys, which prevents My brain from channeling My hate towards one specific character - "when everybody's a Bad Guy, nobody's a Bad Guy" - which works against My Own engagement in the Story, as a Viewer. Finally: WTF with Do-ha's hair?!? It makes Her look like a 14-yr old, which does Kim Min-jung a disservice... I have a hard time believing Seol-woo truly 'falls in love' with Her, since He/the character is too internal with His own feelings & motivations. *More 'inside-his-head verbal chatter as He takes external/visible actions' would have helped overcome this barrier*
Lastly - and I found this to be the most triggering for Me personally - making Seol-woo verbally cut Do-ha down in terms of Her personality, characteristics, and identity when He was advancing His Own agenda was a sh#tty way to do it. I'm guessing whoever wrote these scenes figured, "it's okay - Seol-woo is a Hot Guy, so He can get away with it..." Uh, No. NO!! This is a terrible Seed to Plant for the Audience, and it perpetuates this same bad behavior to be reproduced/copied/mimicked out here in the Real World - particularly with Viewers that identify personally with Seol-woo in this Story. So, IMO? A total Rookie mistake with this writing choice.
Despite these wrinkles - and not being one to "throw the baby out with the bathwater" - Imma keep watching through to the final episode. Cheers!