20 April 2023 - Can't Forget the Birthdays

It feels a bit weird to be posting things in celebration so soon after Moonbin's passing, especially when the funeral isn't until Saturday and I'm still feeling so sad about it. But life goes on for everyone, and as Korean time starts at 1600 UK time, we're already 2 days on, so let's say Happy Birthday to some people with birthdays on the 20th before it's too late.

First up, is Lu Han, who really doesn't need any introduction if you've read my previous posts, especially recently, as I've been getting back into his music of late. He is an ex-member of EXO, an actor, and solo artist, who is extremely popular in China. With the huge decrease in Twitter posts related to K-pop in deference to the sad situation, almost every post on my timeline seemed to be related to him today. 

Luhan and friend

Next up, is Dojoon, the main vocalist and keyboard player from The Rose.

Dojoon 🌹

Also celebrating today is Jehyun from Omega X. 

Jehyun

Finally, Hong Jinho, the cellist from the wonderful, yet now sadly defunct Hoppipolla.

Hong Jinho

As I was so sad last night, and really not in the mood for music, I decided to try to distract myself with a drama. The one I chose was Perfect and Casual, a Chinese romantic comedy from 2020, that I've had on my watch list for a while now. 

I still might not have got around to it for a while longer, but I really needed something light that I didn't need to think too hard about, and it's been just about perfect as there isn't anything in the way of heavy drama, just the general ups and downs of relationships. It's also short, both in terms of episode number (only 24, which is about half the usual number for Chinese dramas) and in length, with each episode running to about 40 minutes including starting and ending song.

If there is a criticism, it's that the lead female is just a little too good to be true. She is pretty, kind, and genuinely helpful to everyone, albeit not the cleverest person, which is made clear several times. She flunks graduating college (thanks to the future lead male), which should make her unemployable, but still eventually ends up with a great job working in a law office - which she naturally excels at, despite having had no prior training. Then, thanks to meeting the boss of the company through work, she gets to move into a new role drawing online comic strips, beating better-qualified professional artists for the post, when she's done nothing more than draw a few cartoons in her diary.

However, the chemistry between her and the lead male (who is the typical cold, aloof-seeming yet secretly warm and loving man from a lot of these types of dramas) is spot on, and he does diverge from the trope slightly by being helpful and supportive, always assisting her to succeed and better herself rather than being the domineering partner.  

Also, the two side relationships are both entertaining, while never dominating or overshadowing the main couple, which is good, as this ruined A Romance of the Little Forest from last year. Obviously, it's not the most creative drama ever produced and so far there isn't anything you couldn't guess at in advance, but for what it's there to provide it's doing it pretty well, and is a solid drama. It'll be interesting to see how it ends - happily, I'm assuming, but for just one or all three couples?