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Episode 108: Happiness and The Sadness
Manage episode 393762697 series 3426320
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Oh this one is solely on me. I thought I would be smart and create a simple juxtaposition between the fluffy bunny rabbits K-Drama Happiness and The Sadness, a gore ridden Taiwanese splatterfest.
So it is my fault that I had to watch 13 hour of Happiness, getting progressively more and more incensed with the societal aspects of the show, and the annoying haves (Mr Oh Ju, the wannabe building representative and the smarmy lawyer) looking down on the have nots (basically everyone else) and turning them on the central characters Sae-Bom and Yi-Huhn. Strong female lead with a male counterpart.
13 hours over 12 episodes where the actual zombie virus story was pretty good, a drug, NEXT, that was supposed to be a mental and physical booster turned people into blood thirsty infected that had a thirst they needed to quench. But for each hour of the show you get 40 minutes of the annoying other cast members being annoying, none less so than the whiny old man who won't shut up.
Still if you persist the show is alright, despite a thoroughly explained ending or updates on half the characters.
6.5/10
I am also to blame, the blame squarely landing on my shoulders, for choosing The Sadness as a counter to Happiness. It was solely on name, you understand?
In this young lovebirds Jim and Kat, a not so strong female lead and a not so strong male foil, live in Taipei. They do their separate ways at the start of the work day and then the bloody shit hits the fan. A psycho granny melt a chef at the the cafe Jim is in with the chip fat fryer, and then peels off his skin before getting run down by a psycho driver. Jim has to run away before losing a finger or two to the Thai basil growing neighbour, whilst Kat is chased through town by a psychotic businessman who openly says he wants to f*ck her to death.
So much blood, so much gore, rape, body mutilation, and nothing nice. And then again a poor pay off at the end. Happiness we learn nothing about how we ended up where we did, and in The Sadness everyone dies. So bloody annoying.
If it your thing then give it a go, it is basically a modern version of the Crazies, made in Asia with sexual violence and a LOT of fake blood.
6/10
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