Will Yumi ever be happy?

I’m thoroughly enjoying this show, bur poor Yumi—so full of anxiety and chatter from those darn cells. Will she ever be able to show us a genuine Kim Go Eun smile?Considering how it took me almost the entire season 1 to not be annoyed by the cells, I’m actually watching (instead of fast forwarding) Cells 2. To me it’s like our constant brain chatter. At times one part of us seems lost, like reason when we want that 3rd mochi we shouldn’t have. At times we’re lost in romance and love and need the other cells to balance us. I think this unique combination of drama and animation is working well. The script is good, but I think acting veteran Kim Go Eun is the real anchor of this show.

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When to Cha Cha Cha and when Not to: Reading the room in Gongjin Style

In the currently airing Hometown Cha Cha Cha, the nine-year-old son of the fish restaurant owner and the civil servant is an extremely bright child. We met him in Episode 1 when his tooth got knocked out by his best friend, Bora, when she swung her shoe bag in his direction. The bag accidentally swiped his face and knocked out a loose baby tooth. Bora was feeling awful and the dentist managed to console her and treat Yi Jun’s bleeding.As the story develops and layers are peeled away to reveal multi-dimensionality in each character, we learn that Jang Yi Jun loves studying Chinese characters and is thoroughly immersed in historical traditions. Setting up the ritual for the grandmother’s annual ceremony for honoring a deceased family member, he knows exactly what goes into each of the north, south, east, and west positions. He becomes the director as mom proudly looks on. Mom adds a rolled cake which her own mom loved, and her son re-positions this non-traditional item to fit the best way possible. Yi Jun is also excellent in math, taking top honors at school. But he also has good “nunchi” and knows how to read a room. He even has a level of maturity that I’ve seen in children who’ve faced some challenges early in life (the opposite can also be true: immaturity and late development). Yi Jun tells his parents when they gather for his birthday that next year they don’t need to celebrate this together any more. He sees how hard his parents are trying to be parents, gritting their teeth as they want to tear each other apart. The adults have, so far, done a fairly good job of keeping their anger towards each other over the divorce private: they only spat when Yi Jun is not around. Of course, we only have six episodes to gnaw on so far, and it will be interesting to see how Yi Jun navigates having his homeroom teacher be his dad’s first love and one of his mom’s good friends. I bet the writers will provide him with something to say about that love/hate triangle. It’s possible that his words may even be the catalyst for pushing the relationships in one direction or another. After all, so far, he’s been nothing but the model student, son, and friend. I do love this show and want to say one more thing about nunchi. Dr. Yoon sure started out doing a poor job of reading the village life and the tone of how people act in the village vs in the city. Compare her actions to the two local women who own restaurants and real estate and are friendly rivals. They know when to join hands and when to pick a spat or put each other in their places. Hye-jin is beginning to see that, bit by bit. On the flipside, Doo Shik-i certainly knows how to read a room and adapt to many situations. He’s far more than a handyman in that small town; he’s the glue that holds in all the loose screws.

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