February 25, 2021

January and February 2021 Korean Dramas Review

The first drama that I finished watching was Please Don’t Date Him and is about a woman Seo-Ji-Sung who is a programmer at an appliance company. She is working on a AI fridge that can give people suggestions about the next meal they should make but somehow the fridge is able to dig up information and she helps women find out the truth about the men in their lives. She gets involved with a firefighter who is the exact opposite of her and doesn’t even use his cell phone. She has two friends that are also having issues with the men in their lives. One friend is unsure about her marriage and whether there is something wrong with her husband and the other friend gets in and out of relationships too easily.

This is a fun lighthearted comedy drama that I thought was going to be somewhat cheesy but actually wasn’t that bad. It has a lot of fun and at times deals with very serious issues and somehow strikes a good balance. It has different side characters that keeps it fun and interesting and I was unexpectedly hooked on this drama.

The only thing that I thought there needed some improvement is the whole mystery of the computer chip in the fridge that appears and disappears it seemed silly that it would happen. The logic behind this was somewhat missing but the drama was supposed to be more of a comedy so it didn’t really bother me that much.

I would recommend this drama if you just want something lighthearted and just fun!

The second drama that I finished was True Beauty. This drama is based off of a webtoon with the same name and I have to say it is very loosely based off of the webtoon. I am currently reading the webtoon so I was excited for this drama but I knew that the drama would be different from the webtoon since it always seems to be changed quite a bit. I wasn’t expecting it to be changed to this extent though! It felt like a completely different story and I really didn’t know how things were going to happen. So if you have been reading the webtoon don’t expect the plot to be similar in the drama. I am still unsure if I like the webtoon or drama version better. Most often I would always say the webtoon or book is better but in this case I thought the drama actually did better.

The drama is about Im Ju-Kyung (Mun Ka-Young) is a high school student and who has a big heart but has been bullied because of her looks. So learns how to become beautiful through makeup so she reinvents herself when she move to a new high school. A boy at school Lee Soo-Ho (Cha Eun-Woo) learns of her secret and she begs him not to share her secret.

I was really shocked in how they portrayed Ju-Kyung as ugly, when obviously the actress is really pretty, they just gave her some fake acne and glasses. I was like if that is ugly then every regular person is going to be considered ugly. I thought it was a really poor portrayal of someone that struggles with their appearance. I let it go because I wanted to enjoy the drama but that really bothered me! Also Han Seo-Jun character really got the the raw end of the deal and was really disappointing to how he was portrayed in the webtoon. I have to say that this drama had many cheesy moments especially at the beginning when Ju-Kyung would fall into Soo-Ho’s arms and was so clumsy always falling on him. It got to be a lot and was worried that the drama was going to be too over the top. Eventually it calmed down but give it a couple of episodes before giving up because of the cheesiness, it does get better. It is funny though when you find out so many characters are in their late 20’s and 30’s playing high school characters! I know that is normal in acting but it still sometimes better not to look at their ages! lol

I really liked how Ju-Kyung was able to grow in the drama and I feel like the webtoon lacks the same feeling. I didn’t mind the love story in the drama as well even though it really sucked for Seo-Jun I could still appreciate the love story that was portrayed in the drama. I understand that sometimes they have to change things for the drama because the webtoon has more time to tell a story. Ju-Kyung is just a really endearing character in the drama and you can’t help but just think that she is lovely and kind. I really like the sweet moments that the drama showed and then balanced with the comedy scenes. I really like these kind of dramas and I thought it was really a fun ride. I was concerned about the ending because the webtoon hasn’t been completed at least into english and I don’t know the ending so I was worried they would leave it really open ended but thankfully they did a good job at properly ending the drama. The drama really satisfied me even though it did feel like parts that the webtoon had were missing but overall if I had never read the webtoon I would have thought nothing was really missing but I am good with it either way.

I would recommend this drama if you want a feel-good, cheesy, light-hearted drama.

The third drama that I completed was Royal Secret Agent/ Secret Royal Inspector: Joseon Secret. It is about Sung Yi-Gyeom (Kim Myung-Soo) is given the job of Royal Secret Inspector and he has to go investigate public officers and secretly find out their crimes with the help of his servant Park Chun-Sam (Lee Yi-Kyung) and with the help of Hong Da-In (Kwon Na-Ra) who is a female inspector. It is a drama about dealing with corruption of the officials and full of comedy as well.

Chun-Sam is 100% the comedic relief in this drama and I mainly wanted to watch this drama because of the actor Lee Yi-Kyung since I always like his work but it was sad that he wasn’t given the main role. I thought this drama was going to be boring since historical dramas always focus on the rich man that is full of corruption and stealing money from the poor and then taking over the court. Actually it is about this problem but it was more interesting because they would go to different areas of the country and see the different ways in which corruption was happening and how it ties in but is still a separate issue. I was surprised that it actually kept my attention but they have different backstories and they also meet Yi-Gyeom’s half brother and how he is involved. It had an full and interesting story to tell and all the pickles the characters get themselves into and how they get out of them was interesting. It also good comedic moments that kept it more light-hearted at times. Also when bad guys get punished it really feels satisfying. There is a lack of romance in this drama, it does happen but it feels somewhat unresolved in the drama. I am not sure if they want to save it for a second season or if they didn’t want that to be the focus of the drama, either way I was fine with it but the chemistry was a bit lacking because of it though.

What I didn’t like was the corruption aspect got a little old hat after a while and I lost interest especially towards the end. I didn’t really like the last two episodes with the corruption problem it just felt tiring but it still ended well. Also I have never heard of the Secret Royal Inspector job before and thought it was kinda funny when they would announce it and these men would always appear to apprehend the bad guy.

I thought it was decent drama dealing with the corruption of officials even though the topic has been overused a lot, this drama still had an interesting story to tell and I found it was fun!

The last drama that I finished was Run On. This drama starred Ki Seon-Gyeom (Im Si-Wan) who is a runner and is a national sprinter and due to the unfairness happening within the team he retires from running despite his father’s disapproval. It also stars Oh Mi-Joo (Shin Se-Kyung) who is a subtitle translator for movies but also works as a translator. She meets Seon-Gyeom and is drawn to him but also feels she needs to help him. It also about Seo Dan-A (Sooyoung) a CEO of a sports agency that also is a part of the family that runs the Seomyung Group and feels she needs to be strong and always be in competition within her family especially because of her gender. Lee Young-Hwa (Kang Tae-Oh) is a university student that is studying art and Dan-A sees his art and wants him to paint for her and is drawn to his art.

I was a little worried that this drama may be boring and just be about running and sports and I was also worried because of Shin Se-Kyung because some of her dramas were not as good as I wished. I have to say this was a lot more interesting than what I thought. The dialogue was different with the characters and the way they acted seemed different than the average drama. It wasn’t really I need a man to complete me but it would be nice to have a partner to just make our lives better or fuller. It was also about growing as a character and admitting you were wrong and taking steps to becoming better. I was kinda drawn to these characters and especially to Seon-Gyeom, he didn’t really know what he wanted or who he was but it was okay to slowly find out with some encouragement. I think parents and the world have definitely told us we need to be obedient all the time that we push ourselves down and try to always be concerned with others and their needs but you can’t figure out who you are when you live that way. I also thought he was interesting because he was very blunt and honest with what he said but at the same time he was very kind and concerned about others. I think that is a good combo of a person they are honest but they aren’t mean so even when they are blunt it is to never be mean. It was just a refreshing type of character in a drama.

Oh Mi-Joo wasn’t a damsel in distress that needed to be rescued she does need help but it isn’t a one-way kind of help and she is fully capable of taking care of herself. She isn’t annoying type character and is able to keep her cool but I think Seon-Gyeom is the star of this drama. I also really like Dan-A’s character she is strong and honestly I love that she always wore runners, I wish that was normalized in society. I really hate heels and the idea that you are only pretty or trendy if you wear them just feels wrong and I like that she wore normal shoes. The men show more vulnerability in this drama and the women were more fierce, it seemed they were trying to flip the roles a bit but it did feel refreshing to have more variety of types of characters.

What I didn’t like was the chemistry was a bit lacking in the drama when the Seon-Gyeom and Mi-Joo were together it felt like there was a bit of disconnect. For example when he picks her up after running the marathon I was expecting a bigger reaction and something more romantic but I found it lacking. They do have moments where I can see the chemistry but at times I was expecting more and just didn’t feel like I was buying the romance between them. I feel like they didn’t always act like a couple but they did have their moments that I did think were good like when he came to her when she was sick. Another thing I thought was weird was in the last episode when Yeong-Hwa and Dan-A can’t be together but then later then it was fine they were together. I don’t know if she just needed some time to accomplish her job and getting the title that it was okay but it wasn’t really clear. They focused a lot of time on their relationship and then they just rushed it at the end, I thought they could have done a better job of telling that story. Also Seon-Gyeom’s dad was horrible I don’t think he deserved to be forgiven that easily at the end, he should have suffered some more!

I thought this was an interesting drama, good ending and pretty satisfying overall.

UPCOMING DRAMAS

Hello? It’s Me

A single woman who is struggling in life to work and romance gets a visit from her 17 year old self who is the opposite of her currently and helps her in her current state.

Sisyphus: The Myth

A genius engineer who wants to uncover the truth behind his brother’s death and the help of time traveler who travels back in time to help him. I guess they are still doing time traveler dramas, I guess I will check this one out too!

Dear. M

University students lives are affected when anonymous person M confesses on a student forum and everyone tries to find them. It seems to be about friendship and youth.