Cheesetastic but Expected Finale for Itazura na Kiss Love in Tokyo

I admit, episode 16 made me cringe on multiple occasions. Third time around for this story was a bit excessive, and I had to force myself to sit through all the dramatics (the rain! the angsty looks!) that preceded the grand confession. I do appreciate that the schizo camera finally settled down at this point, allowing us to for once just watch the moment rather than get jostled around side-to-side in-and-out (seriously, please fire the director who did this crap. Worst filmed drama ever, not to mention one of the worst camera qualities).

I Hear Your Voice: Post-episode 12 Thoughts

That's right, time to happily reflect on the latest offering from IHYV in anticipation of this week's episodes. Thank goodness for the upward swing after the almost painfully predictable 9-10. I'm so ready for normal Soo Ha to be back and for things to get moving without the cliche of amnesia or the lack of mind-reading.

Why I'm Dropping Heartless City: Post-episode 14 Thoughts

Two weeks ago I was equally enthralled by both Heartless City and I Hear Your Voice. Since then, my love for HC has faded dramatically while IHYV has revived and is managing to hook me in as thoroughly as ever. The only reason I was so invested in HC was because of the expectation of forbidden romance and the intriguing lead man. But rather than putting more focus on that, the show's become a literal swamp pit of talking heads and hammy, overdramatic "love" scenes. By contrast, IHYV knows exactly what it's audience loves, and its relationships and characters feel more real by the minute. I really wish HC had taken the latter's approach, but that's clearly not going to be the case.

Food Network Star: Episodes 1-6 Thoughts

I enjoy reality competition shows. They’re a fun way to learn a little about what you should (and shouldn’t) do via watching other people’s mistakes. Adding food in just makes it all the more appealing, and there’s something nicely down-to-earth about Food Network Star that makes it my favorite of the bunch. My only question is, have any of the previously selected finalists actually made it to stardom (aside from Guy Fieri)? I personally have never followed any of their shows or careers after the competition ends. That said, I will with 99% certainty not be following any of the contestants from this season. There must have been a shortage of qualified applicants, cause I’ve never seen such a large mix of sheer incompetency.

Warm Bodies: Book Review

There's two fiction trends I'm really hoping we're about the see the last of. The first is the dystopian world, and the second is the supernatural romance. It becomes a repetitive chore and a testament to our collective unoriginality when almost all bestsellers of the past 5 years fall into one of these two categories.

Reflections on Reincarnation Endings

Even though I stopped watching Gu Family Book long ago, news of its ending spread like a furious wave, so I had to look into it. The fact that its final moments were dissatisfying and filled with WTF-ery honestly shouldn't be surprising considering this writer. But to be honest, I rather liked it (from my disconnected, non-following point of view). I'll admit that I'm a bigger fan of reincarnation endings than most viewers, for no other reason than I just like the idea of them. A reincarnation ending is what I wanted for most of the time-travel stories that aired last year, but unfortunately none of the ones I've seen so far have quite managed to make it work. Here's a quick dive into what I've seen that made me either consider or critique this plot device (spoilers ahead):