Not entirely a sexy romantic romp

WARNING: If you are looking for a light and fluffy sex-romp. THIS IS NOT IT.

I admit, I can be shallow. I came here at the prospect of seeing "more" of Chris Wu (Wu Kang Ren). Also, because I love Alice Ko (Ko Chia Yen). I must admit I do like the prospect of finding love later in life. And sure, this is a show about sex, and it IS hilarious, all the way through. BUT don't be taken in by the trailers: the very clear themes of this show, are loss, abandonment, grief and trauma, and as the episodes progress, if you invest, you will find yourself crying as much as laughing.

The story centres around Mei-Mei and her two adult daughters, Ruo-Rong and Ruo-Min. Both daughters are seemingly failing in their lives, because they are unmarried. And as the trailer will tell you, Mei-Mei believes marriage is a woman's purpose.

Mei-Mei decides to find a man to try to fill the gap left by the sudden passing of her husband Guang Hui Chen (played by Johnny Kou/Kou Hsi Shun). Ruo-Rong is a cheap romance novelist, working as a high school teacher, to pay the bills, whilst collecting stories from her uninhibited best friend, Kate (played by Vicky Tseng). Ruo-Min is a chicken shop manager, who is unable to let go of anything from the past, including an unapologetically cheating ex-boyfriend, whose smell reminds her of her father. Circumstances bring the three women together in the one house. Chaos ensues as they try to find a balance between their differing values, and their individual traumas.

The editing of the show is very sharp and sudden, and at first can be off-putting and confusing; however it becomes evident in later episodes that it was done this way for a reason. It also contributes to the sense of confusion and bewilderment the characters are experiencing, after the sudden loss of their husband/father.

Mei-Mei swings from spoiled teenage princess (quite a feat for an older woman to pull off - props to Billie who plays it with conviction), to desperately grieving widow. But as the show progresses, it shows us who she truly is - loving, supportive and desperately optimistic in her pursuit of LIFE! And with her progression, we also witness the subtle growth of both of her daughters.

Alyssa Chia plays a compellingly complex Ru Rong but I can't say I was satisfied with her conclusion, even if I'm meant to believe that she was, and even if the whole "telling" of the story is essentially hers. And whilst we do see substantial growth from Ruo Min, played with beautiful subtlety by Alice Ko, I still felt like I had to fill in the majority of the story with my own imagination. Admittedly, I usually like shows like this - that assume you are smart and can figure the story out for yourself. But this time, for me, the characters were not explored enough. I was left wanting more, hence my lower "story' rating. The show admits to its limitations in telling the stories of the support roles - especially Xioa Cha , Ruo-Min's cheating boyfriend, played with gleeful charm, by Austin Lin. We get almost nothing about the true character played by Chris Wu. The lack of character name in the MDL page is a giveaway, but he is only ever referred to as '"Senior". I could have watched a whole drama about Jin (Shen Hairong) and Lu Yi (Wasir Chou). And don't get me started about the side characters like "The Live Streamer" (played with an endlessly photo ready smile, by Chole Xiang) and "The Pokemon Grandpa". All of this makes the "re-watch" value high for me, as I feel like there is so much subtlety I have missed.

The acting was fantastic. Even when there was potential for it to become pantomimic and melodramatic, it continued to be very realistic. My one area of disconnect was, the scenes in Australia. Robert's (played by John Henry Richardson) accent slips. A LOT. But we (being Australian) have a long and storied history of famous actors, getting the Australian accent WRONG. The supporting cast in Oz, don't even attempt an 'Aussie' accent. But if you accept that Australia is in reality multicultural, varied accents are perfectly ok and quite realistic. The travel scenes however, are HILARIOUSLY unrealistic. I took it as a tribute rather than an attempt at fact.

With all of that, I still rate this a 9 overall. It took me by surprise and probably caught me at a good time, to cry and laugh through the grief and mayhem.

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Your heart is more important than your appearance

There's so much about this show to love and is refreshing for an SK show.
It's short, sweet and has awesome chemistry amongst the entire cast, with a satisfyingly happy ending. It starts as a perfectly played slapstick-leaning comedy, but builds pathos as it progresses.
Shows like this are worthwhile in being a gentle challenge to our world view.
Issues that were played naturally without being made into a trope: (though not a comprehensive list)
●Diversity in the casting
●The problematic nature of being expected to present a mask to society.
●Single parenting and single parent dating
●Middle aged romance
●Realistic work friendships
●Burnout
And the absolutely lovely underlying message: Your heart is more important than your appearance (in all its permutations)
Don't hide your emotions. Don't hide your true self. Tell people you like and love them. It will mean the people around you can do the same.

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A surprisingly trope free drama of painful growth.

Highly recommended viewing. Expect to be moved, but not in ways you normally expect!

Slight spoilers (but no plot giveaways) ahead...

A group of university friends meet for an 8 year reunion (since graduation). They are all 30. For many, this is a stage of transition - career progression, marriage, children. And strangely enough this seems to be an age where events happen amongst friendship groups, to challenge us - divorce, deaths, career crises. Situations that challenge our relationships and loyalties. This drama avoids using any of the traditional tropes we expect of dramaland. It fails to completely tick any specific box and thus keeps you anticipating and guessing throughout.

This is not really a romance drama, in any traditional sense, but it is about romantic love. It's not a family drama, but it is a drama about found family. And IMO it is an exceptional 'slice of life' drama, capturing that stage in your 20s, 30s or even 40s: A moment in your 'adult' life, where something happens amongst 'your people', to test your "adulthood". A rite of passage, if you will.

The nitty gritty:
Acting is exceptional. Across the whole group 10/10
The story is unusual and frustrating and challenging. It moves you! To anger, frustration, grief, relief. 10/10
The music is perfect. I have been introduced to Papun Band amongst others. 10/10
Overall 10/10 To quote from ep 9 I think
"...If you can fall in love wholeheartedly, to your heart's content...it's very worth it". No regrets!

Adulthood doesn't just happen when you reach a certain age. Making good decisions, behaving appropriately in every situation? NO-ONE is capable of that ALL of the time! The accumulation of experiences and the mistakes you make along the way, along with the personality traits you were born with, all combine to inform who you become each day.

This drama is a very satisfying example of this character growth. They each experience enormous, life-changing, but truly average and typical events, that form their growth.
"Loyalty between friends is complicated to define, especially in terms of support. Is it necessarily a good thing. For example, if I break the law, would it be more loyal to cover for me, or persuade me to turn myself in? [The answer to this would depend on whether you believed the other person was capable of making their own decisions.]...what is the meaning of life then?...Maybe life isn't that meaningful.... but for the sake of one person, that is why we strive to live." (Ep7)

The ML character, based on comments during airing, IMO is one of the most misunderstood characters in dramaland. In Ep10 he gives us a very direct insight "Maybe life forced me to change. Like...I always had to change myself, so that I could keep up with others...I wanted to become more assertive and stop being indecisive." Unlike most viewers, (based on comments here on MDL) I felt a connection to the ML, whilst the FL annoyed the heck out of me. But in the way of great writing and amazing acting, I STILL empathised with and wanted good for her. And the character arcs I found very satisfying. And the found family group 'The Nine Suns', are ALL you could want; human, humane, real, hilarious and moving.

I LOVE this drama. It is for me, THE best of 2022 so far ('Reset' being my 21/22 favourite

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Inside the lives of female actors...

I am a massive Taiwanese Drama fan because I find them to be particularly naturalistic. By that I mean that the ACTING is rarely visible. The characters are played as true to life, rather that as tropey stereotypes or parodies of real people. There is an interest in telling true to life stories, regardless of the chaotic settings. Don’t get me wrong, there is still a whole lot of over the top stuff coming out of Taiwan - I’m looking at you Trick or Love! But even the OTT shows tend towards realism in the supporting characters. And this show, Born For the Spotlight, is a great example of the more naturalistic style, that I have come to love Taiwan for.
The gist of this is the real lives of female actors, be it washed up wunderkind or newbie wannabe. The story is set around the production of a couple of a tv shows and finally a movie, starring all of the female actors we follow. But the shows and the movie are background to the day-to-day interactions and relationships of these women.
Each episode manages to balance the perfect mix of comedy and pathos, in the typically realistic way, that I find TW-Dramas deliver. I personally, found no particular overall message or moral, for me, in this drama. But, despite the fact that their lives are completely removed from my reality, I found each of the characters VERY relatable. Angst, fear, despair, triumph, joy, and all of the day to day moments that each of us experience in whatever we are pursuing, are all laid bare, with each of these women. It is a satisfying watch from start to end.


*** Spoiler ahead***
My one irksome point is the undertone of portraying the youngest of the group as a kind of Lolita type. She uses her seemingly innocent sexuality to gain position and power. I do find this quite problematic. AS with any proper reading of Lolita as a character, we should be very aware of the power differences between Shih Ai-Ma (Emma) and those she interacts with. The power imbalance could have been more openly acknowledged, to make the portrayal more fair, BUT the positive here is that the assumption is; the audience is smart enough to figure this out for themselves.
Definitely worth a view! Highly recommended.

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Why I dropped Yumi's Cells. My unpopular opinion...

Based upon the reviews and the ongoing comments section, I hold a very unpopular opinion. I did not like Yumi's Cells Season 1. I had very high hopes, wholly and solely for the cast. I hadn't read the manwha and my adhd brain doesn't do well with the mixed mediums of anime and reality, but that cast! *chefs kiss*. I came in with fully open eyes and no specific expectations, but I was rapidly dis-engaged.

My first point of question - am I watching the same characters as everybody else?! [If anyone here has watched "Sex Education", a show made in Britain, streamed on Netflix. I feel like I had the same disconnect with other viewers watching it, as I have had here. At the end of Season 3, everyone seemed to be angry with Otis (the main lead) for dumping Ruby - where-as I found Ruby to be a horrible person, terrible for Otis' self-esteem and personal identity... but I digress]
I don't understand why anyone would want Yumi and Woong to stay together! We as the omniscient audience, are privy to Woong's thoughts, as he deals with both Yumi and his female workmate, Sae Yi. It is very clear that he was lying to Yumi from the outset, and also that he is keeping Sae-Yi on a string, by avoiding being direct with her. Maybe you consider them white lies to, in Woogi's opinion, spare people's feelings. I see them as lies, to spare his own feelings of vulnerability or discomfort, to manipulate other people's behaviour and opinions. He consistently states that he likes to be straightforward and honest, but he fails to actually be so (he doth protest too much!). He is the epitome of the "I am a good guy" manipulator - he believes he's a good guy, and wants everyone else to believe it, but his actions are not those of a good person. Maybe I have PTSD in this regard, but this kind of person is the WORST to me! Props to the writer for characterising him so well, and props to Ahn Bo Hyun, for portraying it so convincingly, but that, was my first cause for pause. My heart, being ABH shaped, I was relieved to read that he, at least (unlike the seeming majority of the audience), was very aware that Woong is problematic.
Ahn Bo Hyun revealed that his resemblance with Goo
Woong in this area is “close to zero.” “Unlike Goo
Woong, I don’t do things that could cause someone to
become angry or to misunderstand,” he said. “I know all too well that it won’t do me any good.” (Soompi Nov 7 2021)

Now to my second stick in the throat: It comes very early in the series; Yumi's dealings with her workmate, Chae Ugi. He thinks they're close friends. Yumi has a crush on him, but sadly it is amplified, by her need to one-up another workmate Ruby. In this whole game, Ugi is a victim - he bares his truth (it's strongly insinuated he is gay, without overtly stating it) to Yumi, and she promptly excuses herself from the conversation, to go have a sook/cry/wallow, with no thought whatsoever for Chae Ugi's very difficult situation.
In a country that continues to have no functioning anti-discrimination legislation, (https:///news/2021/11/11/national-assembly-south-korea-should-act-swiftly-enact-anti-discrimination) admitting, at work, that you are gay, is exposing yourself to not only public shaming and the vitriol of netizens, but also being sacked from your job (in one of the most difficult job markets in the world) with absolutely no recourse. Yumi is supposed to be a woman in her late 20s, but her behaviour is this scene is very teen-brain. *"OH woe is me, he doesn't like me!"* Boo!. Hoo! He just fully exposed himself and his life to you, and you promptly excused yourself. What the, what!?!

So all of that would've been ok for me to swallow if I could see the possibility of growth. But when I posted my concerns in this forum, I was battered down, told I was wrong, and given multiple re-tellings of ALL of Yumi's feelings (as if they're not right there, perfectly illustrated and animated as Yumi's Cells FFS!) as if they were a justification for her questionable behaviour.
At this point, I just lost hope, that it was a story I could engage with, seeing as I definitely couldn't engage with the audience. So I dropped.

I may watch season 2, in the expectation that Yumi has evolved a bit as a person. And without concern that she is compromising herself, with an "I'm a good guy!" liar Woong. I don't care how you justify or rationalise it, he is NOT a good guy, he's a lying LIAR!

Just to clarify, my music rating is a pass, and no more because I cannot recall any of it. This means it wasn't intrusive enough to be annoying (fail) nor great enough to be memorable. All other ratings are reflected in my opinions above.

Addendum Oct 2022...I just found my notes/musings, whilst I was watching the epsiodes during airing, so I'm posting them now:
There are disturbing examples of inherent misogyny (misogynistic inherent bias) as well as toxic masculinity, in the cells of Yumi's Cells
This show has started to go south for me, at the appearance of a cell called Hysterius.
Hysterius dwells in the unconscious and brews poisons... hysteria means of the womb, ergo if you have a womb, you will naturally be brewing poison somewhere in the deep dark recesses of your unconscious. Ergo ALL WOMEN ARE TOXIC!Hysteria is a hugely problematic word; originally used to describe mental illness specificlly in women.
[Coined by the likes of Freud, who it turns out, was treating a whole bunch of young women who were victims of incest, but their father's and brothers were fine, and those girls just had penis envy!]
Much like 'lunatic' (mental illness due to the full moon), it's not a term in current use unless you intend to be extremely misogynistic and derogatory.

Yumi responds like a spoiled child, completely lacking in sensitivity or compassion, when her crush confides in her that he is gay (she walks out with little explanation to wallow in self-pity in the bathroom)

Naughtysarus vs naughty cell: seriously?! A man's sex drive is represented by an out of control monster, whilst a woman's sex drive is represented by a small mildly cheeky, tree rutting MALE cell in tighty-whiteys!?!? In other words a woman doesn't actually have HER own innate sex-drive because it's a masculine trait. How did we ever populate the planet?! Oh that's right, RAPE. The out of control monster just has his way with her.

Woo Gi's female friend Sae-Yi tells him all women of a certain age are only interested in marriage. This ties in with SK's ever repeated mantra - men and women can't be friends. Why not? Because only sex exists between men and women. No other relationship is possible? Or as 'naughtysaurus' suggests; confronted with an 'attractive' woman in any situation, a man will lose his self control? Or men and women have nothing in common that would actually allow friendship, because of the ROLES we are required to play. Confucius was a fracking Narcissist! (So is my mother)

The character Sae-yi is an anti-feminist character and a stereotype that is common in Hollywood as well. I call this stereotype "The Ally". Undermining other women with her generalisations (about all women Yumi's age wanting to marry...all women but not me. I'm not like other women...is implied). She competes for control of Woo Gi, despite not wanting to date him (that men, in this instance, are commoddities; to be owned and controlled; is implied). And her and Yumi can't be friends either, but rather, competitors for Woo Gi. If you were his real friend you wouldn't reveal to his girlfriend that you chose her gift, not him.
IMO Woo Gi is a bad guy, the stereotypical "I'm a good guy!" Wolf in sheep's clothing. He tells Yumi, from their first date and then repetitively "I don't lie", when we can see from his cells that he is constantly lying by omission. But based upon audience response and comments, that's ok!? He's just a poor communicator, trying to protect Yumi's feelings! GAAAAAAHHH it makes my skin crawl to think that people find this endearing and ship their love!
Woo Gi is also very aware that Sae-Yi is problematic. He controls the information he gives to both her and Yumi. The dinner where he avoids Sae-Yi's advances rather than, I don't know, being direct and telling Sae-Yi how much he likes Yumi. Honestly to me it looks like he's keeping Sae-Yi on a line, in case things go south with Yumi

A cell called "Sensitivity,"?! I want to know the direct translation of this cell, because the cell's behaviour does not match the actual meaning of sensitivity. Maybe Hyper-sensitivity, Insensitivity or Reactivity would have been less ambiguous, but I guess this would have made Yumi's immaturity much more obvious to an audience that clearly doesn't want to relate to her as such. Yumi does not display any sensitivity, but rather self-absorption. I think the audience is relating to it as VULNERABILITY, which is much more palatable than IMMATURITY.

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