Tag: paper girls

Week in Review (Jan 10 – 16, 2021)

~ colourfulgranny ~ Leave a comment

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

Lovestruck in the City (2020) – Ep 5-8

We seem to have gotten more insight into Jae-won (Ji Chang-wook) the past couple of weeks, while Lee Eun-oh (Kim Ji-won) continues to be a mystery. While I do believe that she was being genuine while she was with him, there’s so much about her motivations that is still unclear. We don’t know why she left the city two years ago, we don’t know why she adopted a different personality and didn’t tell anyone from her life about it, and we don’t know why she came back either. Hopefully now that the two have finally met in the present, we can start getting some insight into Eun-oh’s thought process. But honestly, I’m not holding my breath, considering the pace that things have been moving at. 

The other characters have started to get fleshed out a fair bit too, although some of them would have been fine without some of the stranger quirks – like Seon-yeong’s (Han Ji-eun) bizarre need to reclaim all the things she gave her boyfriends when they break up, and Jae-won’s alcoholism. They seem like plot devices more than character development.

While I’m enjoying the snappy editing and crisp dialogue, I am still a bit confused by the framing device of the mockumentary format. While we have seen the occasional camera or other characters filming in the background, there seems to be a disparity in those moments where characters are clearly by themselves, or during events that happened in the past. My current theory is that this is some kind of reenactment, but that seems a little too farfetched even for this writer’s style.

Graphic Novels

Paper Girls (Issue #21-25)

As things start to get wrapped up, all the disparate narrative threads are slowly coming together, and we’re starting to see the bigger picture. The girls landed in the future, and as they try to figure out how to get home they are also each on their own personal missions. Mac’s seems the most pressing, as she thinks the cure to her future illness can be found in the future, only to learn the hard truth that the reason she’ll even become sick is because of the time-travelling in the first place. Mac also helps KJ come to terms with her own internal struggles. As her prophetic visions come to a head, and she finds it difficult to open up to Mac, not sure if she can trust her to be understanding and accepting of her. Ultimately, their friendship wins out, and the girls not only reconcile but also take their relationship to a romantic place.

The other half of the group have similar levels of success and failure. When Erin finally realises that the Old-Timers are being headed by the very same prehistoric people they helped rescue, she and the Tiffanies immediately make their way to find Wari, who somehow managed to survive and travel to the future with Jahpo and Dr. Qanta. What ensues is a mess of trying to decipher Wari’s amnesia-riddled memories, and consequently trying to return to their own time. Ultimately, the older Tiffany has to sacrifice herself so that the girls can return, which comes as a shock to all the girls. They barely have time to recover from all this before they are once again faced with their final difficulty, Erin’s clone, who ends up scattering the girls through time so that they won’t be able to cause any more havoc.

As all this happens, I really do wonder why all these events have been taking place. We still don’t fully know the reason for Stony Stream’s or the girls’ importance to the time stream, and I hope that we get answers in the final stretch of the comic. Every time I think I’ve figured out people’s motivations, new things are added to the mix just to muddy everything up again. Can we please get some answers, Mr. Vaughan?

Week in Review (Dec 27, 2020 – Jan 2, 2021)

~ colourfulgranny ~ 1 Comment

Happy New Year! This past year has been an eventful year filled with lots of new show, movies and books. I’m hoping to be able to have just as much fun this year with lots of new media and hopefully some good insights, too.

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

Lovestruck in the City (2020) – Ep 1-4

Lovestruck in the City is a strange take on the mockumentary format, blending interview footage with flashbacks and cutting clips in a way that makes it seem like the characters are having conversations with one another despite being in different locations and perhaps shooting at different times. It also seems like at moments we get to see the characters inner thoughts, and it seems unlikely that there would be a camera around in those situations. I feel like the show is going to slowly diverge away from having the mockumentary style, and eventually we’re only going to be left with a few remnants of interview footage.

As far as the characters are concerned, I’m finding it a bit difficult to connect to them. I picked this show up as a fan of Kim Ji-won, who I loved in The Heirs and was fascinated with in Decendants of the Sun. However, Lee Eun-oh doesn’t seem to have been written with as much depth. Her leading man Jae-won (Ji Chang-wook), isn’t much different. I’d been hearing people rave about Ji as an actor, but his performance here is a little underwhelming. I’m not sure if it’s an issue with the portrayal or the writing, but as things stand, I don’t understand the appeal.

To be fair, the story is only now starting to find its feet, in Episode 4, and I hope we’re going to start to see the it develop more clearly now that the set-up is done – and hopefully pick up the pace too. I’m curious how everyone is going to come together, and what the previous connection between all the character will mean for them going forward.

Graphic Novels

Paper Girls (Issue #16-20)

It’s exposition time! We got a lot of dialogue in these five issues, and the motivations of both sides are becoming clearer, if not more logical. Y2K madness was sweeping the town of Stony Stream, as they arrive on New Year’s Day 2000. Not only are the local citizens panicking, but this is also the time where the Old-timers and the Teenagers have decided to have a robot death-battle. The girls get caught in the cross-fire and as usual have to navigate through the danger until they can find a way out; either to the future, or back home to the past.

I was rather surprised to find out that the Grand Father that seems to be running the show was Jahpo, the child that the girls ended up saving in prehistoric times, and I’m looking forward to his story unfolding as we understand the circumstances that led him to where he is now. I’m also curious how Future Tiffany is going to tie into the group, now that they’ve brought her along for the ride, and if that’s going to affect her timeline as a child.

There are a lot of question that still remain unanswered, and I’m hoping that we’ll see them covered in the final third of the series.

Week in Review (Dec 20 – 26, 2020)

~ colourfulgranny ~ Leave a comment

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

SKY Castle (2018) – Ep 1-5

SKY Castle is such a dynamic blend of political intrigue, sageuk hierarchies and makjang twists and turns. At yet, it falls into none of these genres. It is ultimately a drama set in an idyllic suburb – or so it seems. The universe that has been set up is so intricately laid out, and all the players are following their parts, but there is always a sense that something is brewing just below the surface. 

The Kang family started out in the best position when we were introduced to them. The patriarch of the family, Joon-sang (Jung Joon-ho) is a rising star at his hospital, his wife Seo-jin (Yum Jung-ah) is the ideal housewife and mother, and they have two bright children. But with the departure of the Park family, we see them slowly start falling apart, leaving a gaping hole in the community where Seo-jin thought her family should fill, but is now having doubts about.

The other contender for this spot is Cha Min-hyuk (Kim Byung-chul). He is the most involved of all the fathers in his children lives, and his methods leave a lot to be desired. However, he doesn’t seem to catch on that no-one in the community particularly likes him, his own family included, and just seems to charge ahead without any thought of the harm he’s doing. It was great to see his wife finally stand up to him in Episode 5, and I feel like Seung-hye (Yoon Se-ah) is on the path to reclaiming her place in both her children’s lives and her marriage. It was so satisfying seeing Min-hyuk knocked down a few pegs.

This was of course through the gentle prodding of the community’s newest resident, Lee Soo-im (Lee Tae-ran). Her childhood relationship with Seo-jin is still a bit of mystery, but she clearly isn’t as mild-mannered as she appears on the surface. She’s willing to stand up for herself, and it’s great to know that she gets all the support she needs from her family. I’m looking forward to see how her small actions continue to cause waves among the rest of the families.

It’s also due to her that we see the breakdown between Seo-jin and Jin-hee’s (Oh Na-ra) relationship starting. Because Seo-jin can’t reveal her true past to Jin-hee, she’s becoming more and more untrusting of her closest friend, and added to the tense relationship between their husbands, I feel like they’re on the path to becoming rivals more than friends.

The show has an over-the-top-ness that I’m finding very fun to watch, and I’m glad that the acting is supporting the intense storylines of the show. Kim Byung-chul in particular is a favourite of mine, and he’s getting such an interesting arc that I’m so excited for. All the families have so much invested in succeeding, and it seems like they are willing to go to any lengths to achieve it.

Graphic Novels

Paper Girls (Issue #11-15)

The girls go through some life changing events, as the things around them become more and more crazy. These five issues focused particularly on KJ, who was reunited with the other girls in prehistoric times. Not only does she experience a crisis of identity, she also has to now deal with the consequences of having killed someone in order to defend her companion. It seemed like everything was happening to her all at once. In Y: The Last Man, Vaughan usually managed to balance out the topic relating to women over all his female characters. However, in Paper Girls, even though he has a wealth of women to write for, it seems like one is getting the brunt of the social commentary in her story arc. 

We also encountered two new women, one from the time the girls got stranded in, and one who claims she invented time-travel. Wari, our prehistoric mother, seems to only have one thing on her mind: Keep her son safe from the mysterious three men. The other, Qanta, seems to be on a reconnaissance mission in the past, and accidentally gets herself into trouble with these same mystery men. Both end up being put in distress and have to fight their way out, with the help of our paper girls.

The visual style of the comic seems to getting more conventional as the story gets more fantastical; gone is the vibrant colour palette and everything seems to be in much more muted earth colours. The pacing also seems to be much slower, and I miss the action of the earlier issues that don’t seem to have followed the girls into the past. I hope the story returns to that original pacing of the earlier issues going forward.

Week in Review (Dec 13 – 19, 2020)

~ colourfulgranny ~ Leave a comment

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

Misaeng (2014)

I’ll be quite frank, Misaeng was a gruelling watch, but it was so worth it. There’s something innately relatable about how mundanely the show represents office life and I found myself rooting for these character to get their project proposals approved and their presentations to go well.

Jang Geu-rae (Im Si-wan) is the heart of the show, and is our guide through the crazy world of office politics as he learns to navigate it himself. He’s such an easygoing and good-natured young man that I almost wanted to see how he might react when pushed far enough. Lucky for him, he had a supportive group of fellow newbies and they all learnt to survive by learning and helping one another. All four of them have difficult upward climbs in their respective teams, whether it’s dealing with misogyny, realising that you aren’t as smart as you might think, constantly having the threat of being fired looming, or being belittled by your superiors at every turn.

As much as the newbies suffer, we also see the struggles of middle- and upper-management in the show. While there are clearly good and bad choice, the show doesn’t always paint the people who make them in such binary tones. Oh Sang-sik’s (Lee Sung-min) strong moral compass is what ultimately causes his team to suffer, and Director Choi (Lee Kyoung-young) shows remorse for his decisions knowing he deserved what he got in the end. 

The show was actually quite good about being true to life in that sense, and I liked that it didn’t take place over the course of a few short months as a lot of dramas tend to. We got to spend two years with these characters, seeing them growing and evolving as people, and the long-form storytelling fit well with the slow pace of the show. Han Seok-yul’s (Byun Yo-han) arc in particular was really well teased out, going from having a reputation of a lecherous dog to being genuinely loved by his colleagues. His lively personality was what won me over, as I’m sure it did the others, and Byun deserves a huge amount of credit for turning his character around like that.

Finally, I’m glad that the show didn’t give us neatly tied up storylines. Life is messy, and Misaeng shows us that grimness in all its glory, living up to its name. This life is incomplete, and therefore it has time to change and evolve into something beautiful and unique. The most we can do is try our damnedest to be better. YES? YES!

Graphic Novels

Paper Girls (Issue #6-10)

Wow, things really took a turn in these five issues. Erin encountered not one but two different versions of herself, and not only does she have to contend with the fact that the older version of her isn’t the ideal future she would have imagined for herself, but her clone also turned out to be evil! 

The girls were reunited at the end of Issue #10, but not after some major trials and Mac also learned a hard truth about her future. Mac in particular is a wild card, but all the girls seems to be showing the volatile traits that come with the territory of being a teenage girl; that strange combination of untrusting, overconfident, self-doubting – and it’s all amplified by the fantastical scenario they’re in.

The artwork continues to be a delight, the colour palette in particular setting the tone and complimenting the writing perfectly. Now that the papergirls have been reunited, I’m curious to see how things move forward. It’s most likely going to test loyalties, but I have faith that the girls will make it through to the other side intact.

Week in Review (Dec 6 – 12, 2020)

~ colourfulgranny ~ 1 Comment

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

Start-Up (2020)

Even just the opening title of Start-Up got me in the right mood to watch the show, old-school music mixing with modern imagery, and I loved that the show blended two dichotomies into one constantly, showing that even when things may clash, they eventually need to find a harmony with one another in order for true progress to happen. Nature and technology, tradition and innovation have to learn to occupy the same space, and that’s where Start-Up does its best.

Han Ji-pyeong (Kim Seon-ho) and Harmoni (Kim Hae-sook) highlight one of many such contrasting ideas that blended into one another. The letters were always a creation born of both Harmoni’s traditionalist views and Ji-pyeong modern sensibilities, and that was probably a large part of the appeal of the made up Do-San for Seo Dal-mi (Bae Suzy). Not only was this invented man chivalrous and old-fashioned in the best of ways, he was also forward thinking and had an unsurpassable drive for success and change. Of course no one else could hold a candle to him! 

When the real Nam Do-san (Nam Joo-hyuk) enters the scene, he’s such a change from the original that he has to reinvent himself entirely, but because he’s only receiving guidance from half of the original duo, his character seems incomplete. It’s only when moments of his true self are allowed to shine through that he became a fully realised entity, and it’s no wonder that it’s in these moments when the true magic between them happens. Even though Do-san is extremely insecure of himself, Dal-mi’s unconditional trust in him is what gives him the strength to push to his full potential. 

Another motif of the show is in finding one’s true place in the world, and not following what is expected or wanted of us. Where Do-san failed as CEO of Samsan Tech, having Dal-mi at the helm allowed the team to channel themselves where they would have the maximum impact. In-jae (Kang Han-na) also similarly realised that she would always be unappreciated at her step-father’s company and decided to unshackle herself from them and forge her own path instead.

Although the show is played largely as a traditional romance, it was in this aspect that I found the show to be most lacking. The primary triangle set up between Dal-mi, Do-san and Ji-pyeong never really held my attention, and Ji-pyeong never seemed like a true contender for Dal-mi’s affection. The irony of this is – of course – not lost on me, since in the beginning it is Ji-pyeon’s story that we follow, and it is he that gets the cliche childhood friendship and subsequent coincidental reunion, a trope that is commonly used in several drama pairings. There also seems to be a sense of completeness to the pairing of Do-san and Dal-mi, and a third party seems almost irrelevant (not that that has stopped writers before).

Ji-pyeong’s story feels much more complete alongside Harmoni. Both actors lend such a raw realness to their characters that they feel lived in and a true part of the universe. When Ji-pyeong has his heartbreaking epiphany and Harmoni holds him as he sobs in her arms was equal parts satisfying and tearjerking. The other storyline that left a strong emotional impact on me was that of Dal-mi’s father (played by the omnipresent Kim Joo-hun). Even in his brief appearance, I felt a strong connection to him, and understood his passion and drive. You feel a sense of him throughout the lives of the women he left behind, shaping and moulding the way they view the world in the same way that they made him the man he was.

Lastly, I do want to mention the actors that played the younger counterparts to our main trio. Ho Jung-eun in particular is always a delight to watch and the two boys knocked it out of the park. We can see how closely these younger selves shapes the older versions we eventually see. I also particularly liked our more underrated Sans. Yoo Soo-Bin has a comedic brilliance about him and was a delight to have on my screen. Kim Do-wan played the strong silent type, but when the team was looking for insight he was often there to provide it.

While Start-Up may not be the most groundbreaking show, it does have a sense of appeal in the story it was trying to tell. I particularly like the backdrop of the start-up world and although we didn’t get to fully explore it over the course of the show, it has peaked my interest enough for me to want to learn more about it independently. I’m glad I got to be along for the ride as these characters experienced ups and downs, rooting for them through their hardships and celebrating with them when they ultimately found their successes.

Graphic Novels

Paper Girls (Issue #1-5)

Brian K. Vaughan has been one of my favourite writers since I first read Y: The Last Man almost a decade ago. His latest series, Paper Girls, is just as thrilling and these first five issues have piqued my interest. The universe he has created, paired with the artwork by Cliff Chiang immerses you in the world inhabited by our four intrepid paper delivery girls as they try to uncover the mysteries of their town. 

So far, it’s mostly been about establishing the conditions that sets our characters off on their journey, but I’m looking forward to seeing where the time-travel adventures lead our gang and how this will help shape them in this formative time of their lives. Issue #6, here I come! 

Miscellaneous

Disney Investor Day 2020

It seems a bit strange to be reviewing what is essentially a financial statement, but Disney’s Investor Day of 2020 was a fascinating blend of corporate structure and creative output. The theme of the day was “storytelling” and I think I heard the word used at least a dozen times over the course of the 4-hour presentation. The launch of Disney+ has worked largely in their favour in the present times, and this is reflected right out of the gate with their subscription count. Both Disney+ and ESPN+ have reached their 2024 targets just within a single year with Hulu not far behind, and Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business is striving under the current pandemic. Of the 105 titles announced during the Investor Day, 80% of them are planned for a DTC launch. This is extremely telling of Disney’s strategy with regards to their streaming services going forward. 

When it comes to those titles, the highlights for me were the Star Wars and the Marvel titles. Both seem to have shifted to more long-form storytelling and have an extensive slate of upcoming TV series, each of which tie in intricately within their respective universes. Disney and Pixar on the other hand seem to be sticking to their strength with their feature films. Raya and the Last Dragon and Soul are their next two releases. However, Disney will still be taking advantage of the Disney+ platform by having simultaneous release with Premium Access. 

It always surprises me how many companies fall under the Disney umbrella. With their recent acquisitions of STAR and 20th Century Fox, as well as their ownership of FX, it seems like Disney have a finger in every pie. However, it seems like Disney’s plan to roll out STAR is all over the place, sometimes quite literally. Every region seems to be getting its own version with some having it as an individual tile integrated into Disney+, while in others, it will be its own independent streaming service called STAR+. The biggest revolution that seems to have come out of this though, is in the way they are handling live sports. From the presentation, the UI seems to a very clean synergistic look to it with everything available at a glance or the touch of a button. 

Overall, I’m quite excited about the new titles that Disney announced. However, like most things that concern Disney, I will be taking it with a grain of salt, and will try to manage my expectations because you never know when something might look pretty on the surface, but turn out to be a massive disaster (I’m looking at you, Mulan!).