hello its me – Colourful Granny

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

Hello? It’s Me! (2021) – Ep 9-16

Just as I expected, Hello? It’s me! didn’t make any huge strides in terms of their storytelling, but it was an easy fun watch.

The standout relationship on the show was that between the young Ha-ni (Lee Re) and Anthony (Eum Moon-suk). Anthony started his journey as an actor with the intent to find his first love, and in a way he did. Young Ha-ni also made him realize that he can be a better person than what anyone thinks of him, himself included, and she helps him get back on the right path to do so. The bullying storyline felt like it had been grabbed from the headlines. Although the show didn’t go too in-depth with it, at least it showed that Anthony was willing to accept the consequences of the past while still showing that he has become a significantly different person than he was 20 years prior, or even from the start of the show.

My second favourite pairing was the father-son duo of Han Ji-man (Yun Ju-sang) and Han Yu-hyeon (Kim Young Kwang). Ji-man’s condition was a lot less dire than the terminal illness I was expecting the show to throw at us. However, it was still a big change for the family, and while his sister and nephew were willing to take advantage of the situation, I liked that it actually brought Yu-hyeon closer to him and strengthened their bond (as if it needed strengthening) and made them understand one another better.

The way that various reveals on the show were done did seem a bit forced at times, but that was pretty much as I expected of the show. The one element I wasn’t expecting was that there was no way to save Ha-ni’s father. The older Ha-ni (Choi Gang-hee) had lived with the guilt of his death on her shoulders for the last 20 years, and although her family eventually absolved her of some of it, knowing that the younger version going back and not being able to save him because of some supposed bad consequences felt a bit like a cop-out. I also thought that we could have done without the shadow of death following Young Ha-ni around, especially since she had the old phone to count down the days for her. If only that had been developed more clearly and concisely.

While it wasn’t the most concise ending, there wasn’t anything particularly off-putting about it. Additionally, almost everyone managed to resolve their problems by the end, including Ji-man and his sister paving the way towards reconciliation. It was nice seeing everyone returning to their rightful places, and at least about that, I can’t complain.

Oh! Master (2021) – Ep 1-4

After having throughly enjoyed Nana is her last role, and in need of some fluffy viewing, I decided to pick up Oh! Master (also titled Oh My Ladylord, but how ridiculous is that title). I have absolutely no regrets so far, since I am in love with Oh Joo-in’ bubbly personality and her equally grumpy counterpart in Han Bi-soo (Lee Min-ki).

The show has already set up some rather high stakes, with Joo-in’s mother suffering from Alzheimer’s and her feeling a strong sense of responsibility towards slowing down its progress, and Bi-soo’s mother having some mysterious (potentially terminal?) illness. Add to that an unhinged stalker and a strained father-son relationship and you have more than enough elements for peak drama.

While all of that spells doom and gloom for our main duo, there are also plenty of lighthearted elements to the show. Both assistants instant attraction to one another was hilariously cute, and seeing Bi-soo’s mom connect with her past friends was also satisfying.

But by far, the tension that is being built between Joo-in and Bi-soo is what I’m going to be watching for. I can’t wait till we start getting proper housemate hijinks, and we’ve already started to see how intense they are with one another, whether they are being angry, earnest or flustered. While I haven’t yet seen what the aftermath of Joo-in’s stalker’s actions are, I know it’s going to cause a shift in their relationship. I’m also curious into how Jung Yoo-jin (Kang Min-hyuk) will fit into this dynamic since he’s already displayed several hints of interest in Joo-in.

The biggest shocker, of course, was the Truck of Doom. I actually laughed out of shock when that happened and I’m not sure what this ticking clock is going to mean for Bi-soo, both career- and relationships-wise.

Overall, there are a lot of elements to keep me interested at the moment, and I’m looking forward to see where it goes.

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

Movies

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney’s latest feature, boasted a lot of potential. The first film featuring the Southeast Asian region (or at least a fictional version of it), a largely female cast, and rich universe to explore. However, I found myself constantly wanting for more from the film: A uniqueness to the animation style, one that featured the regional artistic style; More dimension to the characters; A slightly less predictable plot.

While the film did have moments that made me genuinely laugh, I found the plot to be a bit meandering most of the time. Conflicts were resolved a little too easily, travel seemed to happen too conveniently and everything was wrapped up in a neat bow at the end. Yes, this is a Disney film, and that sounds like par for the course by their standards, but it’s been a while since one of their films actually grabbed my attention. It felt a lot like they had a checklist of requisite components and were just going down the list and ticking all the boxes.

Tangled was probably the last time they made large strides in changing up their animation style, and that film came out over a decade ago. While the animation of the dragons was interesting, it wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, since we have seen similar things in Frozen, Tangled, Moana and a number of other features before this one.

The one thing I did enjoy about this film is how they showed the history of Kumandra and each of its regions. Each had a unique identity, and even if it may not have been explicitly featured, I could tell that someone on the research team had made the effort to show the diversity of each land by showing how its people lived. Whether it was the floating houses of Talon or the frozen wastelands of Spine, there was detail in the outfits and houses to show how people adapted to their unique environment.

Ultimately though, that isn’t enough to build an entire film around. Perhaps they were trying to do too much, and ended up sacrificing depth for breadth in the story. Or maybe they were trying to keep it simple and ended up with too little to make the film substantial. Either way, Raya felt like a bit flat, and left a lot to be desired.

TV

Hello? It’s Me! (2021) – Ep 1-8

Hello? It’s Me! has almost all the same issue as Raya, but strangely enough I’m actually compelled to keep watching it. I was initially drawn to the show for its sci-fi plot elements. A 37-year-old woman who has fallen a long way from the confident, beautiful popular girl she was 20 years ago, suddenly encounter that very same 17-year-old version herself. In practice, the show is filled with all the tropes they could possibly cram into an episode.

As annoying as the young Bahn Ha-ni is, Lee Re is so fun to watch. Seeing her take childish glee from pulling pranks and long for her family feel so real that she seems like the character come to life. And she’s also the driving force of the show. I find it funny that she actively frustrates all the people around her, from her (older) self to the guys that supposedly fell in love with that exact version of her. The older Ha-ni (Choi Gang-hee), however seems to be attracting those same people back into her life as the new and reformed version of herself. By working together, they seem to find the best traits to bring out in one another, both the ones that existed in past Ha-ni’s idyllic world and the ones that the current Ha-ni learnt through the tough life she’s had to lead so far.

While the the younger Ha-ni is focused primarily on returning to her past glory, her older counterpart admitted to liking having her around. I think the more time they spend together the harder the separation is ultimately going to be, but it’s going to be even more difficult when Ha-ni ultimately tells her past self about what happened to her father on the night that she came to the future.

There are a lot of additional plot elements, from the mystery figure that’s haunting the Ha-nis’ house to Anthony (Eum Moon-Suk) and his team’s mission to get his top star status restored. But the ones that are drawing me in are Han Yu-hyeon (Kim Young-kwang) and his father’s (Yun Ju-Sang) petty back and forth (which seems to be fueled by his father’s desire to train him to take his place, since he seems to be ill) and the strained relationship between Oh Ji-eun (Kim Yu-mi) and her mother-in-law (Baek Hyun-Joo).

I’m hoping the show doesn’t drag out the reveals for too long, since I find the show does best when the characters get to put their heads together to problem-solve. The second half of the show doesn’t promise anything extraordinary or groundbreaking, but I hope that the performances continue to stay true to character, and hopefully they don’t get too bogged down in extraneous plot elements.

Tag: hello its me

Week in Review (Apr 4 – 10, 2021)

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