December and January Korean Drama Reviews 2023

Curtain Call

The first drama is Curtain Call it is about Yoo Jae-Heon (Kang Ha-Neul) who is a theatre actor who come from a humble background but is passionate about acting taking up odd jobs. He gets an offer to play the long lost grandson of Ja Geum Soon. It also stars Park Se-Yeon (Ha Ji-Won) who is the granddaughter of Ja Geum Soon who is the founder of the successful Nakwon Hotel chain. Se-Yeon wants to save the hotel from being sold as it represents who her grandmother’s dreams of waiting like a lighthouse for her husband that got separated in 1930 when the Korean War broke out and she came to South Korea and her husband and child were stuck in North Korea.

I think the plot of this drama was really interesting and heartfelt at times, it was fun to watch them act and get caught in different kinds of moments that they had to act their way out of to keep it going. I thought it had good pacing and was exciting and when you thought it was getting slow it would pick up again. I would say this was a decently entertaining drama. It has a good ending and most questions are answered. The story is so heartbreaking of the grandmother and her family that it really created a memorable feelings when watching the drama. It is a slower drama but I liked watching Jae-Heon be accepted by a family and seeing him want to tell the truth and just try to become a better person.

The only thing was the romance story line was pretty weak and not really adding much to the story. It was also a strange idea because he is paying to act as her cousin and blood related so in my mind it was an awkward thought to make it a romance. I would have preferred if the romance happened between Jae-Heon and his fake wife rather this his supposed cousin. At the same time it doesn’t really going there into romance since it is an awkward relationship so they just kinda introduce it more at the ending. I also found it strange the relationships between the siblings and grandparents and even the later reunion it felt a bit lacking, I was expecting a bit more warmth and love but it was a more strained feeling to me. Also I found the characters to be a one dimensional, they don’t really get to the heart of the matter. Also with the one brother that wants to see the hotel they don’t really get down to the reason why he wants to see. I mean I understand but I don’t really see the emotions that he is feeling and feel they could have done more deep dive into the characters and motives. I feel they could have given the real grandson more screen time and more into his character since he seemed to be the most interesting one of the whole drama.

It was decent drama that may be a bit anti climatic but has a decent ride!

Summer Strike

The second drama that I finished was Summer Strike. It stars Lee Yeo-Reum (Seol Hyun) who goes through major life changes and decides to quit her job and go live somewhere out of the city for a year with her savings. She ends up in a small village and meets the local librarian An Dae-Beom (Im Si-Wan) who doesn’t like talking to people and is shy around new people but is a very kind person. Yeo-Reum ends up renting a building that used to be a billiard business and it in poor shape she struggles with fitting in this small community and others want her to leave. Dae-Beom helps her and eventually she is able to help him as well.

This drama was my favorite this time around, it is quirky and interesting and just has the right mood and feeling. It has really good pacing the drama gives you something super sweet and then will hit you with some darkness and unhappiness and then hits you with some sweet again. All the characters are flawed and really imperfect there is no sugar coating any of them. The grandmother is not doing a good job of dealing with her alcoholic son and the way the characters treat Yeo-Reum especially at the beginning really shows their flaws, yes it does get better over time and this feels like a realistic way of showing characters.

Dae-Beom and Yeo-Reum tend to be taken advantage of since they are nice and helpful they are used by people with motives and agendas. It doesn’t matter if Yeo-Reum leaves her job and comes to a small community essentially she is met with the same problems. Even if you think you can run away it isn’t really possible since the same issues with plague you anyway. I think when they meet each other they are similar and are able to treat each other the way they would like to be treated. They can find some healing within themselves by being in each other’s company. It really hits me in all the feels and really like the feel of the drama and the way they interact with each other just seem like a warm blanket, I would say for me this was a comfort drama. Yes the world is a dark and scary place but it also can be a warm and beautiful at the same time.

My only complaint is that the drama is too short it only has 12 episodes and it really could have had more to share the story. I feel like I need more at the ending and it feels too rushed to have a strong conclusion, it just leaves you wanting more.

I highly recommend if you like mystery, slice of life and quirky love story dramas!

Reborn Rich

The third drama that I finished was Reborn Rich. It stars Hyeon-Woo (Song Joong-Ki) who has worked for the Soongyang Group for more than 10 years and has been treated like a servant to the family and it has been abusive. He then gets falsely accused of embezzlement and is shot while his is on a business trip overseas for the family. When he wakes up he is Soongyang family’s youngest grandson Jin Do-Jun and he decides that he is going to take revenge on the family and take the Soongyang Group for himself and to ruin the recent of the family.

This drama seemed to be getting a lot of hype so I decided to watch it even though for some reason I am not a fan of Joong-Ki, I don’t know why I feel this way but I tend to avoid his dramas. I started watching this one and it was interesting for the first couple of episodes but I felt it had a lot of boring business talk in this drama that I found hard to follow. I got the gist of what was happening but it had a lot of focus on business more than I was expecting. I think it was also hard because we never really knew what Hyeon-Woo’s plan really was or really got into his head to understand him better. I don’t really even get exactly what revenge he wanted other than being the owner of Soongyang Group. The love story was also really weird and neglected in this drama it seemed somewhat unnecessary since it was such a flat and boring relationship. I just found Hyeon-Woo’s character to be somewhat flat and just didn’t leave much of an impression on me. I also thought it was really weird that he didn’t try and do anything for his original family in that timeline. He could have supplied them with all the money that they needed through some anonymous means but he does practically nothing. Then with the current family he seems so disconnected and seems somewhat guilty with them. He acts so blah in his relationship with the love interest as well. It kinda seems like who are you doing this revenge for? Himself? Does he only really love himself? Somehow he becomes more unlikable to me as the drama goes on. The ending feel like there is plot holes and just anticlimactic and somewhat confusing. It kinda feels like what was the point of this drama.

I did like some of the plot of the story that was interesting when he is battling against the family. The family had some really great moments when they are fighting against each other and Hyeon-Woo pulling the strings. When things don’t work out for the family it feels somewhat satisfying and the best relationship to watch was the grandfather and Hyeon-Woo and to see if he was going to be accepted. It was a decent drama to watch but there the ending feels pretty anticlimactic and not really one that I was excited about.

Check it out if you like business dramas where the small guy fights against the big guy in the business world!

New Life Begins

I watched a Chinese drama called New Life Begins which is about a fictional kingdom of Xinchuan and it is about a Li Wei who is forced to come to XinChuan for marriage selection and she tries to get out of it by not being the most elegant or educated but she still get chosen by Yin Zheng who is the 6^th prince. The 6^th Prince keeps a low profile and doesn’t want a wife that will give him power or strength, he wants to do it with his own ability. They end up together and she has hopes that she will be able to leave soon and go back to her hometown.

This is a pretty fun drama that has some interesting themes of getting women more rights and has a somewhat feminist feel to the themes. It has some cute funny moments but there is also some sprinkled dark moments that come with the problems between the princes. It is really interesting because they travel to different parts of the kingdom and there is different rules there regarding women and their rights in different places. It is about Li Wei trying with the help of her friends bring about real change and Yin Zheng being able to help her along the way and work together. Honestly I think their relationship is one of the healthiest ones that I have seen in a long while. I have a lot of good feelings when I think about this drama.

At times it did have some draggy moments but it would usually pick up again so I think that is the only thing that bothered me about this drama.

I really enjoyed this drama, it felt consistent and well paced. I loved the humor and silliness along with the warmth. I recommend this drama if you like romantic comedies!

Upcoming Dramas

Strangers Again

This drama is about two lawyers that are divorced but are starting to work at the same firm together. They are familiar with each other but also don’t get along and yet make a good team when working on cases.

Poong, The Joseon Psychiatrist 2

So this is a second season of Poong and he is still unable to do acupuncture and he gets reunited with the same crew to solve some more psychology based cases where they learn to heal the heart and body. He has to fight against the Royal Medical Academy because he is a threat to them.

Our Blooming Youth

It is about the Crown Prince who thinks he is under some kind of curse and there is plots against to make him seem incapable of being crown prince. He meets Jae Yi who is from a prominent family that gets murdered and pinned onto her. She goes to the Crown Prince to help prove her innocence.