The Atypical Family (JTBC)
Lee Heewon: You might have dreamed of having superpowers, like traveling through time, seeing the future in your dreams, and flying through the air. This one family actually has them but can’t use them. Bok Gwi-ju (Jang Ki-yong) who has the ability to go back in time to when he was happy suffers from depression. His mother Bok Man-hm (Go Doo shim) who has clairvoyant dreams suffers from insomnia. The daughter Bok Dong-hee (Claudia Kim) who has the ability to fly is overweight. Do Da-hae (Chun Woo-hee), unaware of the family’s secret, approaches this family with the goal of robbing them, but instead ends up saving them.
Gwi-ju needs Da-hae more than any one of his family. He regains his superpower as soon as he lays his eyes on Da-hae, but he can only return to the time he met her, and this time he can even touch her. Gwi-ju is unable to touch anyone he meets on his time travels, and therefore cannot change anything in the past. But when he returns to the past when he is with Da-hae, he can hold her hand, and change the past for the better. Gwi-ju had been feeling helpless and considered his power a curse because he wasn’t able to help anyone with it, until he met Da-hae. Her very existence was a ray of hope and salvation. “What do I do? I’m afraid I’m going to have to save you. You see, I’m an arrogant superhero.” Gwi-ju is no hero who is meant to save the world, but he is determined to be Da-hae’s personal hero. Da-hae who has no superpower of her own ends up saving Gwi-ju with her very existence. They exist because of one another, and they’ve unknowingly saved each other. This show is about two people playing the hero for one another in a “mutual salvation”—the narrative isn’t new, but it is always appealing.
When Gwi-ju travels back in time, everything is in black and white except Da-hae. Ordinary people with no superpowers might have experienced one person standing out to them from the masses. This series describes this inexplicable moment of love through the concept of time travel.
The Taste of Things
Jeong Seohui (Cinema Journalist): This isn’t a movie for the palate, nor about being treated at the table. It’s a movie for the kitchen and an ode to dedication that goes into the dish before it reaches our mouths. Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel partnered for the first time in over 20 years since their divorce as an early 20th century cook Eugénie and gourmet Dodin Bouffant. Eugénie starts off her morning by picking fresh vegetables from the garden, skillfully sautéing, boiling and grilling in the kitchen. The sound of food cooking, and the rhythmic camera work is in itself music to the senses. Dodin, who is a serious gourmet, has been a long-time admirer of Eugénie, who is hard working, a natural artist, and realizes her intuitions. However, to a woman who loves the summer sun and the way it burns hasn’t cooled down one bit—not nearly enough to become the wife of a man who considers being middle aged the autumn of a man’s life. The two are also partners who dedicate themselves to things that will soon disappear. The process of cooking, the short moment of appreciation with their eyes, and the joy of enjoying the dish, all come together into food, a true delight. It’s difficult to define a relationship that is based on sharing the process of reaching beauty. Daudin who wanted to serve a Eurasian prince pot-au-feu, and Eugénie who understands his sentiments can be likened to the spirit that was portrayed in Ratatouille (2007). Daudin prepares dinner, not for a nobleman but for Eugénie who will never fade away and waits for her. This cuisine is also the final pages to their long chapter: “The Taste of Things was a reconciliation for Benoît and I. We told each other that we loved one another through the dialogue.”
Ringo Sheena (椎名 林檎) - Carnival (放生会)
Hwang Sunup (Music Critic): I was in complete shock when I first heard “as a human (人間として)” —the scale of the orchestral backing is beyond what was ordinarily seen in pop music. It is the theme song of the series entitled Destiny starring Satomi Ishihara, which aired its finale recently. It makes me wonder how far Ringo Sheena can take her musical prowess. And how did the production company come to choose such a niche style for their theme song? I was barely able to ponder over these questions when she dropped another album. She refused to stay within the limits of pop, while cementing her own world of music. The chaos built from a mixed concoction of pop, rock, classic, jazz, and tango perfectly lining up with the seven female musicians’ aura feeds on the slight awkwardness and rawness in a completely new level of pop.
Ringo challenged the more seasoned musicians with all her might in her previous album triviṣa-itihāsa which mainly consisted of duets with male musicians, but in her new album, she takes a softer approach, absorbing her colleagues’ ways, and creating something new. Her collaborations with Hikaru Utada, who is, in all intents and purposes, her career partner, and ATARASHII GAKKO! who recently gained global popularity are interesting, yes. But her work with NOCCHi of Perfume who debuted as a solo singer is the most notable, where NOCCHi's crystal clear voice was allowed to break free from the effectors. The two musician’s silhouette as they perform the technical disco based on a concrete rhythm emits a dazzling light more dazzling than a mirror ball. She places her identity as a producer at the fore and highlights her sense of solidarity. How much more will Ringo Sheena grow? How long will she keep up her incredible work?
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Kim Boksung (Writer): The year is… well, hundreds of years from now. The place? A moon, orbiting an unknown planet, where robots have gained sentience and run away. You’d be forgiven for hearing this description of author Becky Chambers’ novella A Psalm for the Wild-Built and expecting the story of a bleak cyberpunk future, but the world in this book is actually a utopia. There is a catch, however: Sibling Dex, the protagonist and our narrator, may live in a perfect world where they want for nothing, but they nevertheless feel unfulfilled.
Dex’s existential uncertainty occupies the majority of the book’s sparse plot, giving readers a sci-fi story that has little to do with grand adventure and almost everything to do with discussing the meaning of life with a robot. While Chambers’ novel is unlikely to appeal to those looking for a superhero story, its philosophical exploration is never overbearing and always easy to digest. In fact, the entire point of the story, as the author implies, is to put a brief pause on modern madness and let the reader bask in a future where conflict seems to have been rooted out entirely.
Whether you need an escape from your hectic daily life or can relate to the emptiness that sometimes rewards you at the finish line, this first book in the short Monk & Robot series is here to remind you that it’s okay to just “be.”