Rant on Ao Haru Ride

Hey, I haven't posted on this blog in a while. I'm back because I felt tempted to rant about one of the mangas I'm reading; it's called Ao Haru Ride. I'm too lazy to write up a nice summary about the manga, so hopefully those of you who are curious will be able to find nice summaries of it somewhere online.

Oh yeah, this will include spoilers as I've read up to the most recent chapter (Chapter 34), so if you don't want me spoiling anything for you, stop reading now. Yea. Ok. Here I go.

So okay. I was really enjoying this manga up until the point after Kou and Futaba have a really nice kiss scene. Everything after that started going wrong and I started getting frustrated with where the manga was headed. Kou learns that Narumi is actually going through a lot of tough stuff right now, with her father's death and her being rejected by her mom and her boyfriend and all (correct me if I'm wrong here, because I don't really remember the details anymore at this point). And then this kid decides he should stay by Narumi's side, and then this shit happens:

the moment I lost faith in my otp

 I would've actually felt sorry for Narumi if she hadn't pulled the "Oh you know that kiss didn't mean anything" and dropped the hint that she and Kou had already supposedly kissed before (like are we just gonna skip over this, dear author?? Kou did admit that they kissed, but how did this come about? Are we gonna be kept in the dark for this? I mean Narumi did ruin Kou and Futaba's kiss scene just by mentioning it...if you get what I'm referring to here).

And Touma isn't any better either. He did the same as Narumi did by telling Futaba to just think of that accidental kiss as meaningless. Oh hush, you don't have any say in whether the kiss was meaningless or not, Futaba and Kou do because they're the ones that were directly affected by it, not you or Narumi.

what the actual fuck Kou

And so because Kou feels bad for Narumi, he decides to concentrate on supporting her and attempting to abandoning his feelings for Futaba. Okay, this would've been fine if Narumi had actually just leaned against Kou as a friend and tried to get her life together at the same time, but no we know that Narumi does not actually put in any effort whatsoever and just decides to lean on Kou, and only him alone. And moreover, she pretends that she doesn't have any feelings for him and wants him to be with her as a friend when she actually wants him to be there because she has romantic feelings for him??? She's just manipulating him, even though she clearly knows that he actually has feelings for someone else??? I wish I could feel sorry for Narumi, I wish I could. Because I know I would be totally lost if I had no family around me to support and love me. I would be totally lost if I was in a completely new environment at that, too. And she's only in high school at that. She's gone through something traumatizing at a young age, just like Kou did. But Narumi is just so unlikeable that it's hard to do that, I'm sorry, Narumi.

I love how Kou doesn't give him the answer Touma wants
I don't even know at this point whether he asked this for Futaba anymore
from what I've read so far, Touma seems like he's done everything so far just to get Futaba

So okay, now that I've skimmed through the chapters again up to this point, I've got to give credit to Kou in terms of caring more about Futaba than Touma does. I can clearly tell now that Touma mainly does all this shit for himself and not for Futaba, whereas we see Kou going out of his way to protect Futaba and his brother back in the principal's office. Yeah okay sure, I guess Touma does care for Futaba somewhat, I mean, he does like her and wants to be nice to her, but not to the extent that Kou does. Fuck, thinking about this just makes me so mad, Touma makes me so mad, he doesn't deserve Futaba at all to be honest. Even with the efforts he put into making her like him and stuff that follows, I still don't believe that he deserves her. I'll rant more about this later on.

haha loser

Lol but again, just because I gave credit to Kou for caring more about Futaba than Touma does, it doesn't mean that I forgave him for what he did - he hurt Futaba's feelings for this certain responsibility he feels for Narumi. I guess that it's much more complicated for Kou, and I understand that it's not something he can easily find the solution to, but still. He deserves it because he hurt Futaba and made Futaba reach a conclusion that Kou does not like her. All in all, I'm on Futaba's side, really.

I thought it was cute that Kou was holding onto Futaba, but then again, what horrible timing can he have. Now that he's realized that he should break off the commitment he's made with Narumi, and now that he sees that there's a high possibility that Futaba will lose feelings for him - he now holds onto Futaba. Haha, horrible timing indeed, especially when Futaba's already trying her best to forget Kou after he rejected her. I'm so glad that Futaba clearly tells him what Kou is doing is disrespectful and selfish, and that she definitely isn't an idiot who would just like Kou forever. You go, girl. I love how she knows when to strongly state her opinion.

this manipulative little bitch

good bye I hate everyone

ok hold the fuck up you little piece of shit

TOUMA MAKES ME SO MAD HOLY SHIT. OK HOLD UP YOU IMPATIENT YOUNG MAN, I get that you're desperate for the girl, but why the fuck do you have to push the girl into being in a relationship with you, and make her like you? If you really cared about her, then I don't know, maybe you would give her some time and space for her to get over what was possibly a rather painful heartbreak? Why can't Futaba just let time heal her wounds and make herself happy? Why does she need another guy to make her happy, especially when she doesn't even like him back?? This is just gonna be some sort of a rebound relationship (did I use the term correctly) and is bound to not last very long.

Okay, I get that Touma is sort of rushing into this because he sees hints of Kou trying to get Futaba back, and since there's still a possibility that Futaba might want to start actively pursuing Kou again, he wants her to be his asap. But then again, that's all he fucking wants. He just wants Futaba to be his, regardless of how Futaba feels. She fucking feels bad okay for Touma and doesn't want to hurt his feelings, she clearly states that, but no, Touma's like I don't care I just want you to be mine.

Why is Touma the one speaking for Futaba, why is he the one who takes back Futaba's belonging, like just WHY. Is this his own way of saying to Kou, "Futaba's mine now, you have to speak to me before you attempt to make any advances on her"?? I don't know. But it wouldn't be surprising if he does feel somewhat superior over Kou that he has the girl he wants and Kou doesn't.

And maybe Futaba's scared to directly face Kou because her feelings for him are still there, lingering in one corner of her heart.



Ugh, as you can tell, I really do not like Touma. I'm sorry for anyone who actually likes Touma or the Touma-Futaba pairing and read through this. It's fine if you make advances on the girl you like since she's single, but I don't think it's fine to push her to be in a relationship with you, when she feels uncomfortable hurting your feelings. If you really did care about the girl, you wouldn't do that. But since you did push her into being in a relationship with you, I don't believe that you care about the girl, and that you're just a selfish person. Please don't pull that "I won't make you feel insecure and make you cry" shit, it doesn't justify your actions whatsoever. I'll just bring up Andou from Strobe Edge as an example. He made multiple confessions to Ninako and tried really hard so that Ninako will like him back, but whenever she rejected him, he tried to make advances on her again. But I don't remember him ever pushing her to be in a relationship with him. Or I guess I should also give Ninako credit, but Ninako made it firm that she couldn't go out with him when she didn't like him back, and Andou also gets a gold star because he didn't insist on it even after she said so. Granted, these characters are in different situations, so I guess they have their own reasons for acting like such as they did, but at the end of the day, I still won't like Touma lol.

What I want from this manga is, for now, is that Kou tries hard to get the girl back. Although that's not the most respectful thing to do considering that he rejected her and she's already in a relationship, I'd like to see Kou put himself in Futaba's shoes and feel what she felt. Kou also has problems because he prioritized his feelings and didn't really see things from Futaba's point of view, so it's time for him to care more about her feelings than his. Man do I sound like I don't make any sense? Because I don't think I make any sense anymore I'm just really hungry because I haven't had a proper meal yet today haha. I might sound biased with Kou but I just really cannot forget how much chemistry Kou had with Futaba, and I can't help myself but compare it with the chemistry Touma and Futaba has, which is by the way, equal to zero. I just want to see some character development in Kou first, and see how the story goes from there. I guess. I'm just hungry and tired really but I felt like incoherently ranting about my feelings for this manga. So I'm sorry if I didn't make any sense and if there are any inaccuracies in how I analyzed the manga...I didn't mean to offend anyone though, this rant was mainly for me to just let out all the feelings (that are mainly negative at this point lol) I have for the manga. Yeah.

If anyone read this rant from the beginning to the end, you receive a gold star. And I hope you have a wonderful day. Yup.

My current wishlist

Mostly stuff I wish I could buy without fussing over how much they cost.

Game consoles/Games

Nintendo 3DS LL(XL) - Mint White
Probably only sold in Japan so I can probably only get it off the internet
but shipping fees though
and the sad thing is it apparently can only play japanese games
until the day a us version gets released~

Nintendo 3DS XL - Pink White
And if I really can't afford the mint colored one I could go with either this color or plain old white

Animal Crossing - New Leaf (3DS)
If I can't get Wild World then I really must get New Leaf

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Gates to Infinity (3DS)
I really want this too *cries a pool of tears*
But not too sure now because of the bad reviews of the game

Pokemon X, Y (3DS)
(Is this the official box art I'm not even sure)I am one of the many fans excited for the new Pokemon games that are set to be released this October!
I haven't decided on whether I want X or Y yet, but since I'm leaning more towards Yvetal (did I spell its name right),
I may probably buy Y
But Xerneas is so...pretty though
Idk man

Others

Suspender skirt
Preferably in pastel color like the mint colored one here
I actually found something like this in a store in Korea but
there was only one and it was too small for me

Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Polaroid CameraI've been wanting one ever since I've first seen it on the internet
But I have a feeling I won't use it often thus I cannot bring myself to pay so much money to buy one
But if I were to buy one, I think I would choose either the blue or the yellow one

And those are the stuff I can think off the top of my head. Bye for now~

I Hear Your Voice: Episodes 15 ~ 16 Comments

As much as this extension did slow down the pace of this drama, you've got to admit that there has been some nice things we got to see before having to go back to worrying about Min Joon Gook again. We got a chance to see more of Soo Ha and Hye Sung being lovey dovey, plus the whole case of Hwang Dal Joong and Do Yeon and all...so it's okay. Sometimes, it's better to take a break from the whole intense life-or-death situation involving Min Joon Gook, you know?

I don't really feel like putting up as many screenshots as I did in the last IHYV post, so I'll only post a few for episode 15, and a little more for episode 16. 

Episode 15

wait what this detective and cha byun knows each other?
yes i'm slow i didn't know ok
anywaaay haha cha byun using his aegyo to make the detective hyung help him out

I seriously love all the overlaps in this drama. It's interesting how two characters, who have barely interacted with one another, end up having something in common now (even if only one side knows of the common characteristic).

and now hye sung's words just stab soo ha right in the heart:
"that means she's the exact same as her father"
=
soo ha is the exact same as his father for refusing to face the truth that pains him so much

hah. gotta love hye sung.
soo ha: "it doesn't suit your outfit at all!"
hye sung: "i don't care"

while soo ha is being all serious and such...

...turns out his speech is just making her heart pound wildly
lmfao her expression when soo ha reads her thoughts
and then later on soo ha tries to kiss her but the visor prevents that very
nice moment from happening
then hye sung realizes what he tried to do so she just bonks her visor into his forehead
hah very cute

"99.9999997%!!"
hahaha

my heart broke watching her cry like that ;___;
this entire episode made me feel really, really sorry for her.

Episode 16

choong ki's pretty fingernails lol

Hwang Dal Joong goes free! While he himself and Lawyer Shin break down in tears, Hye Sung and Soo Ha exchange smiles.

a rather huge, meaningful moment for these two.
do yeon sincerely apologizes for the fireworks incident 11 years ago,
and hye sung accepts her apology calmly w/o exerting her "see i told you so i was right" attitude

This was such a touching moment. And another overlapping moment at that, too. Hwang Dal Joong forgives Seo Dae Suk, because he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life hating on him - especially when he's going to die soon. Hye Sung is reminded of her mom's last words - "Do not spend your life on hating someone" - and a tear rolls down her face.

at least his wife is on do yeon's side, thank god.
i love how he remains in denial of the fact that he did something morally wrong.

Wow, how many times is this drama gonna make me cry. I'm surprised at how Do Yeon came to accept Hwang Dal Joong as her father - yes, she did go out of her way to make sure HDJ would go free by withdrawing the case from the prosecutor's side, but I didn't actually expect her to spend time with him as his daughter. 

Ok, another incredibly touching moment. How does Cha Byun always manages to find the right words to cheer up or inspire someone? Sigh. He's awesome.

wow fuck why do we have to have such an unpleasant dream
BECAUSE SOMEONE'S GOING TO DIE SOON ISN'T IT
watch me bawl my eyes out next week man

oh dear lord. now i have a much better idea of min joon gook's past -
how much he lost, and how he must have felt like his whole world was breaking down -
now i feel really sorry for him.
and it sort of breaks my heart that he turned into such a monster...
i wish he could spent the rest of his life in peace, but of course he won't allow himself to rest until he gets his revenge .___.

why hello isn't it ahn yeong mi!! haha
i always enjoy watching her on snl korea

ohmygod it was this moment that especially made me realize
that this was the "present that will never be delivered".

ohmygod
i'm dying

"I was waiting for this call, Park Soo Ha. Are you looking for Jang Hye Sung?"
AW. SHIT. FUCK. HOLY. NO.
"July 26th 2013, 3:10PM. She was kidnapped by Min Joon Gook.
And then 2 hours 30 minutes later, our relationship of 11 years came to an end."

YEAH. I was suspicious when Soo Ha's phone went missing - his wallet's there, his present's there, but his phone's gone? That's weird. But now I get it - Min Joon Gook must've taken his phone out and called out Hye Sung using the phone. God damn it.

I was desperately hoping for Hye Sung to live through this, but I'm starting to think she didn't - especially not when Soo Ha's narration says everything ended within 2 hours 30 minutes. There's no way they could've found Hye Sung and saved her within such a short time frame, right? And plus, since it's Soo Ha narrating that everything ended in 2 hours 30 minutes, that probably means he lived to see the end, right?

As much as it hurts my heart to see characters die, especially Hye Sung, I think it sort of makes sense for her to die...Min Joon Gook won't stop until he at least kills her off (of course he will fully be at ease if he kills off Soo Ha too, but I highly doubt that he managed to do that), and Soo Ha won't ever be at peace unless Min Joon Gook stops. Plus, if you think about each of the three characters' lives, only Hye Sung was able to live out a relatively positive life, while the other two have lived as very lonely and heartbroken people. One of them managed to turn into a monster, and one of them managed to live through as a human being just for one person. I just want both of them to be happy, okay. Both of them suffered way too much. I think Min Joon Gook will probably die - I mean, there's really no future for him anyway - as much as he deserves happiness, it makes more sense for him to die. And Soo Ha probably will grow up to be an amazing police officer? And then later on be promoted to being a detective? Yeah.

Wow, can't wait to see myself bawling my eyes out and lie in a pool of tears next week.

I Hear Your Voice: Episode 14 - Comments

I'm back with these drama comment posts~ This time around,  it's for I Hear Your Voice. It's sort of sad how now there's only 4 episodes left before this drama comes to an end...It's been a while since I've watched a drama as good as this one.

I apologize if my screenshots are too Soo Ha-biased - if you watch the show, then you'll definitely understand why I tend to care for this character a little too much. And yes, oh right. Spoiler alert? I'm not too sure whether the eng subs are up yet or not so...

the parallels between the past and the present
very nicely done
sigh whenever the show brings up little soo ha, my heart just hurts ):

are we not going to let hye sung know about what min joon gook told you? oh ok...
but i think this might hurt her later once she knows
not just because the whole thing started because of your father, but also because you lied again
and didn't tell her everything you were hiding from her ):
sigh if this love line doesn't work out because of this, then...ughughugh

The bus scene. Just downright funny and cute.

i love how he keeps his word and is scared to hurt her by reading her mind again...
so that he immediately avoids her eyes, and says "I-I didn't see your eyes, ok?"
awwwwww

her confession!
"I like you, Soo Ha. As a friend, as a dongsaeng...and as a man."
can i just say i love how she places her hands on his face such that he will look her in the eyes

i'm dying at his expressions

i'm glad hye sung didn't let their relationship turn awkward and told him that
they should look at each other when needed, and laugh with each other when needed.
ok i love how honest she is now ok
her denying her feelings for him through her mouth and her saying the exact opposite through her mind
in the last ep was funny.
now speaking in relevance with the screenshot,
dear lord smiling soo ha is the best thing ever.

this adorable kiss scene happened too quickly and i'm pretty sure i was squealing inside
but kept quiet on the outside because uh, i watch this drama with my parents all the time and yeah.
gotta suppress the fangirl spirit in me sometimes, you know?
and so since the kiss scene happened too quickly this was the best screenshot i could get lol i'm sorry
but it was really cute ok
my dad's comment: "there are too many yeonsang-yeonha couples these days"
*yeonsang-yeonha: yeonsang - older, yeonha - younger
and dad's right tho, for quite a few celeb couples, the gf is older and the bf is younger
e.g. ki sung yong + han hye jin couple who recently got married

the three judges gossiping (?) about how hye sung decided to claim hwang dal joong as not guilty
and that she's being ridiculous and risky again.
the two judges other than judge kim know better once they see hye sung right there,
that they should prob stop the gossip

but it takes a while for judge kim to realize that the very person they were gossiping about is right behind him. lol.
question though, why does he always have a bandage of some sort on his nose?
i first thought it was plastic surgery but i don't think he would get it that often? i don't know.
on a side note, i absolutely love how i can see this actor in almost any drama
i've been a fan of him ever since his "the secret of keke-island" ("크크섬의 비밀") days
i loved that sitcom it was hilarious

do we finally have more reliable cops now protecting our main characters? good.

seo dae suk, the worst person ever in this drama (even worse than min joon gook man srsly)
finds the hospital hwang dal joong's wife is in, and finds out that she is in
a critical condition and that they're not sure whether she'll wake up.
upon hearing this news, he proceeds to smirk as he heads out.
you ass.

after hearing the news of min joon gook injuring cha byun, hye sung can't help but
get really mad at min joon gook for all the horrible things he has done.
so she proceeds to go into another room to curse out the villain as much as she can so that she feels better
love how lawyer shin gets a little scared and asks her to confirm that he hasn't done anything wrong to her lol

after reading his mind earlier in the morning, soo ha decides to confront cha byun about what he heard from min joon gook
not sure why cha byun took his glasses off, is taking off his glasses now gonna be a indication of
when he switches from the cheery side to the serious side??

then he proceeds to tell soo ha to never let hye sung know about what his father did.
"There are some truths in the world that you don't need to go out of your way to tell."

soo ha gets pissed at cha byun's unexpected reaction
just before the confrontation he was worrying about whether he should beg him to not tell hye sung
and here cha byun is, telling him firmly not to tell hye sung
cha byun telling soo ha what to do all the time prob just makes soo ha feel like a little kid
and wow look at how poorly the screenshot is taken
i'm sorry jong suk

choi yoon (actor kim min jong) from a gentleman's dignity!!
ahhh i love how they connected the two dramas ok.
plus, when he got a phone call from meahri and smiled - that was really cute
and sort of made me miss that drama.

hwang dal joong waking up due to an attack that forces him to gulp down some pills.
after he's calmed down a bit, he proceeds to take out a notepad and write sth in it...
what are you writing there tho

another short cameo by um ki joon.
turns out he's the one who came out as first for the public defendant interview.
but it also turns out that he won't carry out his job as a lawyer if he won't get all the money he spent on
his clients (which includes taxi fees lol wt) back as his paycheck or sth
he quits his job, and in comes cha byun~
welcome back i guess

choong ki gets mad seeing soo ha not doing anything to turn sung bin's feelings down
and thinks some rly mean shit which of course can be read by soo ha.
ugh you asshole i was starting to like you but all that nice shit you did for soo ha
when he lost his memories was because of pity wow ok
don't make me lose faith in this friendship goddamn it

SEE YOU HURT SOO HA WITH YOUR THOUGHTS
CHOONG KI YOU ASS

hye sung runs into cha byun and decides to have lunch with him and even helps him eat
because he can't use his right arm. it's pretty cute really.
cha byun turns out was offered by his choi sunbae (kim min jong) to join his law firm
but he declined and decided to go back to being a public defendant
hye sung asks him why and cha byun says he'd rather choose the option that's 1% more right
so that he won't regret not having chosen that option later on.

and with cha byun's inspiring words, hye sung puts them right into play,
starting off with being lovey dovey with soo ha in public.
ooh i like this. i might die of cuteness overload though.

and with cha byun's inspiring words (again), hye sung decides to confront seo dae suk and do yeon about the truth.
as expected, seo dae suk has no thoughts of apologizing to hwang dal joong for what he did in the past.
i love how hye sung uses the very own words he used against hye sung when she was younger, for the fireworks incident,
to make him spill the beans, or at least feel angered somewhat.
also love how hye sung then leaves, praising herself for what she did just now. lol.

while hye sung goes off to meet do yeon next, soo ha enters a shopping mall (?) or wtv better word to describe it,
and takes off his headphones. he listens to a couple of ppl talk (whether through their mouths or minds)
and thinks:
"Most of the time, what keeps the world and relationships peaceful are the lies more than the truths.
Lies can temporarily hold down conflicts, and put anxieties to sleep.
Because truths are more uncomfortable than lies are, most people prefer to look away from the truths.
I also am that kind of person."

"Telling the truth is always painful. That's why I sometimes close my eyes from the truth."

and the episode ends with hye sung finally telling do yeon the truth
the truth that she is actually hwang dal joong's daughter
soo ha (voiceover): "However, before I knew, my jjang d'arc had been chasing the truth even more
than me who always sees the truth."