It's the Random Weekend: Written words.

Written words make me express myself more. Even if it’s cluttered, or arranged in a conventional way, my heart is always present in my writing. I have many essays, short paragraphs that contain my inner self of the past that I sometimes come across whenever I feel like digging into it. Those were written on my old mobile phone, the one I used all throughout college. What lies there were my thoughts on life, at that moment where I still have all the time, money, and new experiences that I want. I can’t help but feel different about myself. It seems that I really grew up in a span of really short years. I feel like I’ve matured enough to think that those problems and opinions that I had were not applicable to my life anymore. It’s like those words that I sincerely wrote were not of mine entirely, but just a small, unrecognizable part of me of the past.

Reel Thursday: Timer (Film, 2009)

What if, just what if, we had a chance to know who our soulmate really is? Also, what if we get to know when we'll meet that person and the timer is literally in our hands? I once saw this post on Tumblr and other people actually added their own stories based from that premise. I was amazed by how these people came up with different ideas on how to go on with the story, when suddenly someone mentioned that there is a movie based from that idea.

At first, I thought that it was a great idea, finding the one made for you. When you think of it, it's really great and all that but what if you had the timer on your wrist and it didn't tick? Or what if it did tick, and showed that you wouldn't meet your soul mate until you're like 43? Tough luck, isn't it? The two main characters in the movie called "TiMER" were the two people I'm talking about just now. It was the era of TiMERs, and almost everyone who hasn't settled down (and some who already did) have their TiMERs on their wrists and waits for that day to come when they meet their soulmate. 

What I like about this movie is that it created some idea, a great idea even, which everyone, deep inside their heart, longs for (meeting their soul mate). However, what I like in this movie even more was that it challenged its own idea of having a TiMER. There would eventually be strange instances like what the two female leads in the movie experienced, and that's where the story actually starts. The two female lead characters, who are step-sisters, upon realizing how unfortunate their situations are, wind up meeting people who they like and eventually falls in love with. The thing is, however, those people are not their soul mates according to the TiMER. This movie is somehow heartbreaking yet gives you the hope in finding your special someone.

If you've read some of my reviews way back, you'll be able to know that I'm a sucker for endings. I sometimes even judge a movie by its ending. However, I don't dislike sad endings, because as long as the ending would suit the whole premise of the story, I'll like it. This movie has an ending that I really like (albeit made me sort of dumb-founded at first), and I will definitely recommend watching this for those who like new ideas for love stories (like me). I also did a review on the movie Upside Down, which is also a science fiction romance film like this. Lastly, like what I've mentioned before, the main thing that I like about this movie was that it created its own concept, and eventually challenges it.

J-Wednesdays 水曜日だ！: Bokura ga Ita

Bokura ga Ita, when I was in high school, was just a shoujo anime series (and a manga series, which I wasn't aware of). I finished the anime in high school but never really got to know the ending because the ending of the anime was open ended. It turns out that the manga was not yet finished at that time, and so the creators of the anime didn't have material to continue the anime series. Upon entering college, I heard the news that the manga was coming to an end, and that there would be an upcoming movie version split into two parts, which will include the conclusion of the series. I didn't get to read the manga because I was too busy with other series and fandoms and of course, my priority (HAH) which was studying. And so I waited for the movie to come out and unfortunately I was not in Japan and had to wait for almost a year to have a copy of the movies. For the reason that I am facing a sort-of withdrawal from the series (back in college), I purchased some English translated manga by Shojo Beat and the last volume of the Japanese version manga.

When I already had the copy (of the movie), and had so much time in my hands, all I needed to do was watch it. I then watched both movies and boy was it satisfying. Imagine the time I had to wait for just to know the ending to this lovely story? It was in 2007 that I finished watching the half-done anime series and I was dying to know how it ends. I've read some spoilers, I admit, but it wouldn't compare to when I actually watch it. Without further ado, here comes the story of Yano Motoharu and Takahashi Nanami entitled Bokura ga Ita, or We Were There.

The movie starts with Takahashi Nanami or Nana-chan reminiscing about her first love, Yano Motoharu, in what seems to be their old high school. She's all grown-up at that time, and while looking around, she's wondering what had happened to Yano, what he's doing, or where he is.

Then the story starts. Yano and Nana met in high school. While Yano is so popular among the girls and also some of the boys, Nana is just a simple high school girl who does not excel in her studies. When Nana met Yano, she didn't like him at first but came to be somewhat attached to him. They started dating but the thing is, Yano has a huge baggage that Nana-chan didn't know about and so that greatly affected their relationship.

This girl right here is Nana-san, who is Yano's ex-girlfriend. She died in a car crash when Yano and Nana-san were still dating in middle school. Yano has heavy resentment for her because of that.

The guy beside Nana-chan is Takeuchi-kun, Yano's best friend. He will develop feelings for Nana-chan as they continue to interact with each other while Nana-chan tells Takeuchi her woes about her and Yano's relationship.

The girl in the glasses is Yamamoto-san, Nana-san's younger sister. She had an affair with Yano after Nana-san died which happened because of their remorse for Nana-san.

Even though Nana-chan and Yano's relationship will eventually work out well, a huge trial will come to them that will cause their break-up. Yano will move to Tokyo because of his mother's job, and though their relationship will not end there just yet, slowly, they will drift apart.

What I've written was the summarized version of the already summarized first part of the movie. In the anime, lots of detailed scene was shown, like how Yano and Yamamoto-san had an affair, or how Yano and Nana-chan's relationship was developed.

I don't want to spoil the second movie here, because I think that's the most important part of the story. How come the title was "We Were There?" Of course, the story is stylized as something that had happened in the past, where they fell in love, grew together, and have grown apart. The second movie will have all the answers that some of you might also have been waiting for ever since you finished the anime series. However, I will not just leave this article like this, and give some snippets of what might or might not happen in the second movie.

Yano will still contact Nana-chan after he arrives in Tokyo. They would talk everyday and send pictures to each other.

Yano's mom will quit her job, because that's the kind of woman she is, but will eventually become really sick.

Yano will meet a girl (Sengenji Akiko), the one whom she will consider a "best friend in Tokyo," whom he confides in.

Because of his mother's fickle-mindedness and illness, Yano will end up working many part-time jobs just to have money to pay for his tuition fees, daily expenses, and hospital fees of her mom.

That's just the first part of the movie. Something terrible will happen to Yano that he wouldn't be able to maintain his relationship with Nana-chan anymore and will leave her hanging. It will be a roller-coaster ride from then on, and lots of things will happen to these five characters of the story, Yano Motoharu, Takahashi Nanami, Takeuchi Masafumi, Yamamoto Yuri, and Sengenji Akiko.

Despite the bitterness and sadness that these characters will be put through in this story, I can assure you that they would eventually attain their well-deserved happy ending. It's a story anyway. Right?

Tuesday Running Man: Episode 160, Internal Rankings

Betrayals are common instinct for Running Man members when playing games. In this episode, however, the staff decided to put an end to their betrayals and hold an official game to decide upon how the Running Man members should really be ranked so that they'd act nicely towards the better ranking people. The episode start with the Running Man members already being ranked from 1 to 7, according to seniority (when they debuted in the entertainment industry).

Jae Suk was ranked first, so he gets a prince-like treatment with the butler, the CCTV, and expensive stuff like food. 2. Ji Suk Jin. 3. Kim Jong Kook. 4. Haha 5. Song Ji Hyo. 6. Gary. 7. Lee Kwang Soo. The treatment gets worse according to their rankings and so Lee Kwang Soo, getting the lowest ranking, was brought to the basement where the set-up is like a dumpster with no seat available and food offered is just yanggaeng.

They were sort-of parodying the Korean movie (with Western actors and writer) Snowpiercer, thus the concept of the elevator replaced the train in the movie. Go Dong Wan FD of course dressed up again, this time as Mason of Snowpiercer and was called "TildaGo" because the actress who played Mason in the film was Tilda Swinton. Dong Wan FD was so funny because he even posed for the camera because he's proud of what he's wearing.

There were several games played so that each of them has the chance to challenge an upper-ranking member, first of which was a 1 on 1 name tag ripping game.

The first ranking person, Yoo Jae Suk, is having fun watching all the lower-ranking members fight for their ranks.

Poor wanko hyung, his first fight was with Kim Jong Kook in a name tag ripping game. Guess who won? Yep, no question about it, it's Kim Jong Kook.

Haha won Ji Hyo because he pretended to help her fix her clothes and then slyly ripped her name tag. Imagine Ji Hyo's wrath afterwards?

One of the funniest scenes in this episode was when Jong Kook faced with Jae Suk and upon entering the highest floor, Jae Suk welcomed Jong Kook with the words, "Hi, Muscles." It's just so funny for me that they're making fun of Jong Kook's muscles yet they're afraid of him once he makes use of it.

Next game was the hand-hitting game, this time the game includes the first rank. The last rank, Gary (he lost to Kwang Soo), does not get to participate in the games anymore because in every rank-changing game, the last placed member will be out of the games.

Poor Gary. HAHAHAHA

Kim Jong Kook winds up being first after beating (almost literally) Jae Suk in the hand-hitting game. The next game is the eggs roulette, where the person who gets the raw egg smashed onto their head, loses.

Luck is with Suk Jin, as he won against Ji Hyo, and Ji Hyo was then out. The next game is putting pants on without the use of hands and with the bonus appearance of the accupressure mats for added torture.

Haha won against Kim Jong Kook, and so he became first ranked without any loss. Jong Kook then battled against Jae Suk in a table tennis match with the use of everyday items. Jong Kook chose a fan as a racket while Jae Suk chose a frying pan.

Jong Kook won against Jae Suk, so he gets to play against Haha again. The last game to determine the final rankings in this round was a table tennis ball shooting game, with the use of a table tennis racket. The one who shoots the ball to the glass first, wins. We all know that Haha is good at shooting things because little as he might be, he's good in basketball. For that reason, he won this game (but of course Kim Jong Kook also almost won) and maintained his hard-earned position.

The final rankings for this round is what's shown above. Jae Suk and Gary changed places because Haha can change the rankings of the 3rd to the 7th place. They all get gold coins depending on their ranking on each round.

1st place lunch.

2nd place lunch.

3rd place lunch

4th & 5th place lunch

7th place lunch.

There was no single shot for the 6th place lunch but it was something like a hospital food or a lame cafeteria food I assume. This time, because Haha was annoyed with Jae Suk's satisfaction with being 7th place, he changed Kwang Soo and Jae Suk's ranking and so Kwang Soo was the one who ate the onigiri (rice ball).

A Monday Couple moment right here everyone. Gary gave some of his ham to Ji Hyo since he got so many. Aww. I even heard some member say that this time Gary was like a man to Ji Hyo since in Monday Couple, Gary was usually the receiving one. Hahaha, mean.

Again, depending on their ranks, they get either awesome cameras with VJs or just film themselves. First place to 4th place got their own VJs, and the 1st  & 2nd place even got awesome cameras, but from the fifth place, they only get to film themselves. Kwang Soo was even more pitiful because he doesn't get any camera but only a phone camera from one of the concerned staff, so if there's no decent recording of him, he will not appear in the show. Poor Kwang Soo.

Again, there's a distinction in the use of cars where 1st to 3rd rank gets to use a new model car, while the 4th to 7th rank uses an old car with malfunctioning air-conditioning and poor engine. What's funny was it is summer in Korea and they had to put up with the heat inside a car.

They headed to a somewhat far place in the mudflats and played a game there, again to decide on a new ranking. Kim Jong Kook reigned the rankings.

Haha, Kwang Soo, Jae Suk, and Ji Suk Jin rode the old car once again with much regret. 

While these three rode the luxurious car with air-condition.

Teehee, Monday Couple moment right there! Ji Hyo held Gary and Jong Kook's hands for added comfort in the air, while they rode a helicopter.

These low-ranking people are even more scared to ride the helicopter.

The last game to decide a ranking was a quiz game, where they will make use of their own knowledge for questions. The asker will get to choose one member to answer their question and if the answerer gets it wrong, the asker will get his or her position. If the answerer gets it right, then they maintain the position. The catch is that they will ride a banana boat and depending on the answers, the boats will automatically take off.

After counting the gold coins that they collected all throughout the games, their final rankings were decided. 1. Ji Hyo 2. Gary 3. Haha 4. Jong Kook 5. Jae Suk 6. Suk Jin 7. Kwang Soo.

After getting their rankings, they all went in a pirate ship, only to be robbed with all their gold coins by the pirates. They stayed there over night since they were also kidnapped.

In the morning, the pirates (Shinhwa) appeared. 

What's funny was the Running Man members' reactions. They were supposed to be afraid since they were robbed by pirates yet because of the way the pirates introduced themselves (very idol-like), they laughed and told them "no, you're Shinhwa." Poor Shinhwa pirates not taken too seriously. 

Everyone praised Eric on how good looking he became and that his pirate look suited him well. I agree too, and I'm not even a fan. He's gorgeous! *squeals*

Obviously, the next episode will be the pirates (Shinhwa minus Kim Dongwan) versus the Running Man members. Looking forward to these long-time, very experienced idols battle it with the strong Running Man members!