May and June Drama Reviews 2023

Oasis

During the 1980’s in the Jeolla Province there is Lee Do-Hak (Jang Dong-Yoon) who comes from a poor family but is really smart and well liked person. He is friends with Choi Cheol-Woong (Choo Yeong-Woo) who comes from a rich family and they meet Oh Jung-Shin (Seol In-A) who has transferred from Seoul and they both have a crush on her. There is a death that changes their lives forever and set them on completely different paths.

I think this drama had potential to be a great drama but somehow it always seemed like something was missing to make me get really sucked into this drama. I found it strange because I tend to cry really easily in dramas and can really empathize with the characters but yet in this drama I found myself watching scenes and thinking I should be tearing up and crying and yet the tears didn’t come. The only time I teared up was at the funeral scene. I found myself not really liking any of the characters they all seemed immature and frustrating. I think Choi Cheol-Woong was one of the worst characters and he was so obsessed with attacking Do-Hak all the time I just couldn’t like him one bit and never felt sorry for him even once. I should have felt sorry for Do-Hak and yet I didn’t, maybe the way he handled things seemed so cowardly. There were so many unlikable characters in this drama and I didn’t really feel good about any of them and I just couldn’t connect to any of them. I have to say though Oh Man-Ok (Jin Yi-Han) was really the scene stealer in this drama, I think all the main characters seemed so immature to me that when Man-Ok would come on the scene he really commanded the scenes and somehow made me like him more than the main characters. I think because I had zero sympathy for Cheol-Woong so when Man-Ok was somewhat hurting him it didn’t really bother me.

I think the ending was also just strange how they just glossed over everything and they could go back to their friendship. I feel like the drama had a focus on all these other characters like Do-Hak’s sister story line was pretty useless they might as well have just not had it in there because I wasn’t sure what the point of it was and it seemed to be that way with other characters. Also they completely glossed over the resolution of what happened with the crimes that happened in the drama. It felt like I got whiplash watching the last episode and I am so confused about how everything was resolved without much explanation. Also if you think this was a romance drama you will be disappointed it does not focus much on the love triangle or at least it doesn’t really focus much on those relationships.

It was still a decent drama if you like action, criminal and gangs type themes and there is are some fun twists and turns throughout the drama. It was still pretty entertaining and interesting and it doesn’t have much of a lull it is pretty fast-paced and exciting throughout all the episodes. There are frustrating elements but overall it was a decent drama that will keep you well entertained.

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse

This drama is about Yoon Dan-Oh (Shin Ye-Eun) who is running Ihwawon Inn that isn’t doing that well and she is trying to convince scholars who are coming to take the exam to become a official. She doesn’t have much money and finds out she has an old family debt and the only way that she can to pay if off is to find Lee Sool who is the oldest son of the deposed prince. Some of her scholar guests join her in searching for this man. Kang San (Ryeo Un, Kim Shi-Yeol (Kang Hoon) and Jung Yoo-Ha (Jung Gun-Joo).

This is a entertaining and well done historical style drama with a good ending. I like there was a mystery that kept you guessing in the drama and you have to keep thinking about who is the missing prince. I am happy that they didn’t just follow the normal plot of palace politics of the old officials plotting against the king and you only really see it from the King’s perspective. This drama was different the King was evil and we were given no sympathy for the man. I like the twists and turns of the drama and thought it was a great ending. Even though it had many serious moments it also had some silly and funny moments too that was pretty fun.

The one thing that bothered me in the drama was the sister and how she acted, like her pain was the only important thing and it seemed really selfish to me. Everyone has problems and she acted like the person in her life was completely innocent and that he did nothing wrong when in reality it is much more complicated then that. I don’t think that she should have had a happy ending if she is just going to treat people badly because of her pain. The romance was cute at times but I didn’t really feel a strong chemistry from the leads though. There was some unrealistic moments in the leads love line that just seemed off to me. I also think they didn’t need that many episodes, it seemed a bit long and yet it still was pretty interesting even to the ending.

I would recommend this drama, and I think this was a well done drama especially for a historical type drama. It wasn’t just the typical drama from the point of view from the King and the nobles scheming against him.

The Law Cafe

This drama is about Kim Yoo-Ri (Lee Se-Young) who is a lawyer that likes to fight for the underdog and take on cases that seem impossible but tries her best to use the law to help those underprivileged. She starts a Law cafe where people can come in for a coffee and a consultation. It is also about Kim Jung-Ho (Lee Seung-Gi) who very intelligent and used to be a prosecutor and is currently unemployed and lives off the rent of his building that he owns. Yoo-Ri and Seung-Gi have known each other since high school and she starts to rent his building for her cafe.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch another law drama since this year there has been many but I decided to watch it anyway. I thought that they definitely did a good job in keeping the law and the cases interesting and that it didn’t get boring. There was a good balance between the personal lives of the characters and the cases that they took on so the drama didn’t get boring. There was a lot of interesting cases and heartbreaking ones. All the cases were pretty interesting and they left an impression on me and they were pretty memorable. It had a good balance of humour and seriousness in the drama and fun characters. Even the bad guys were excellent in their roles. I think the acting was very well done.

I can’t say I was super excited about the romance in this drama, I don’t know why I just couldn’t buy the chemistry of the leads. I didn’t really get any heart fluttering moments in this drama and actually found their bickering to get on my nerves sometimes. Also I get that Yoo-Ri was supposed to love fashion and being different but honestly some of her looks were distracting and seemed out of place for the context of what they were doing especially in serious moments, maybe it was just me though. I thought they would do more of a story ending with Seo Eun- Kang and was kinda disappointed that they never followed up with a love line for him.

Overall this was a decent romantic comedy with a great ending and consistent writing and acting. I would highly recommend if you love this genre!

Shooting Stars

So I finally got around to watching this drama as it has been out for a while already!

This drama is about Oh Han-Byeol (Lee Sung Kyung) who works for an entertainment company as the PR team leader and her job requires her to clean up after celebrities and the mess they get into. It also stars Gong Tae-Sung (Kim Young Dae) who is a famous actor at the same company and his favorite past time is giving Han-Byeol a hard time after she made a mistake toward him. It also focuses on the different workers at the entertainment company like the PR Team, managers, lawyers and reporters. It gives a glimpse into the world of managing celebrities.

I really liked this drama, it was easy to watch and was interesting with the large cast and had lots of side stories mixed into the drama. I really liked the humor and comedic timing in this drama and was thoroughly entertained in every episode. They had some interesting mysteries and tosses and turns though the drama that keeps you invested in the drama. This drama really has everything you want in a romantic comedy!

What I didn’t really like in the drama was at times how Tae-Sung acted towards Han-Byeol, he really treated her badly and I don’t feel like he properly apologized and made amends for the things that he did to her. I feel like it is the idea that “Oh boys will pick on you when they like you” and they say this to girls to just tolerate the behavior. I wish he would have shown some growth or maturity and properly acknowledged his poor actions towards Han-Byeol and built a relationship on something with more substance and she definitely glossed over his behavior as well. I found this dynamic to be disappointing in the drama. I also had a hard time buying the relationship between the two managers, it just didn’t seem like a romantic relationship to me and for some reason, it bothered me. Unfortunately the problem with fame and dating doesn’t really get resolved in the drama it seems like Han-Byeol has to basically suck it up and deal with the fame of dating Tae-Sung and doesn’t really offer any solutions on how she can overcome this struggle.

Overall it was a great drama that had a great ending and it feels like they tied up the loose ends. I would highly recommend this drama if you love a good romantic comedy!

Upcoming Dramas

Queen of Masks

This drama is about some women that used to be friends until a murder happens and one of them is framed for it. They come together 10 years later to figure out the mystery of what happened that fateful night and how to exact revenge.

All That We Loved

It is about two teenage boys that are the best of friends and have supported each other through the worst times. Go Yoo ends up donating his kidney to Go Joon Hee and they meet a girl that they both seem to develop feelings for.

Oh! Youngsim

This drama is about childhood friends that have misunderstandings between each other and meet up many years later and one is a CEO and the other is a PD on a dating show and end up on the show together.