August and September 2023 Reviews

Miraculous Brothers

This drama is about a writer Yook Dong-Ju (Jung-Woo) who has a talent for writing but can’t seem to make a living out of it. Things change for him when a teenager Lee Kang San (Bae Hyun-Sung) suddenly appears in front of his car causing an accident. When Kang San wakes up he doesn’t remember who he is and seemed to develop a mysterious ability where he can feel other people’s pain and be able to communicate other people’s hearts. Jung-Woo steps in as his caregiver and the two of them go on and try to figure out where Kang San came from and the mysteries that are following him.

I thought this drama was going to be more focused on the relationship that Kang-San was going to make and helping people but instead it seemed overly focused on this mysterious deaths that the police are following. I found myself losing a lot of focus watching this drama at times especially with all the cold case stuff and I couldn’t even keep the stories straight of how or why they have died. I did understand the basic plot but I didn’t follow some of the nitty gritty stuff with the deaths. I wanted to like the drama but found the main character Dong-Ju annoying his acting default when he got emotional was basically shouting and I didn’t really enjoy his character at all. I also didn’t enjoy his last work in Mental Coach Jegal so that might be why I still having the negative lingering feelings towards him.

I was also disappointed with the ending, I just feel like more should have happened with Kang San and his ability which totally gets pushed aside about half way through the drama. There was so much more that they could have done with his story line but they pretty much let it fall flat. I don’t know if living in the present would have been the best way to end this drama? I feel like he should have been able to go back where he came from or something. Also the whole older woman being his classmate felt somewhat creepy and unnerving to some degree, I think they should have gone with a male classmate rather than someone having romantic feelings for one another. The drama does not have any romance or love lines so it was kinda odd. I think this drama had a lot of potential and it started off with some excitement but half way through it was starting to fall flat for me, it had exciting moments throughout so I could make it to the end nevertheless it many boring moments.

What I did like about this drama was the friendship between the Dong-Ju and Kang-San and sometimes just friendship stories makes you feel good. They both are connected to each other and in the end become attached and have built a good relationship to each other, it is an interesting dynamic to watch. The mystery is interesting at times and you have to try and piece together what happened, it is a bit slow but it does make you think.

I would recommend if you like crime dramas mixed with some fantasy!

Longing For You

This drama is about Detective Oh Jin-Sung (Na In-Woo) who lives in the city of Woojin and experiences a murder that is apart of a serial case. He joins the investigation team in Seoul and then finds his brother Oh Jin Woo (Ren) is found to be a suspect and works tirelessly to prove his brother’s innocence. The team including his childhood friend prosecutor Go Young-Joo (Kim Ji-Eun) finds the killer and his brother is proven innocent but not long after his brother is killed and Jin-Sung has to work to find out who the killer truly is and why he would kill his innocent brother.

This again was a drama really focused on the police investigation mystery and less of the personal lives of the characters that was the focus of the drama. I was really annoyed with the main character Jin-Sung as he was so hot-headed and reacted in every situation with yelling and violence. His character really started grating on my nerves especially with his violence there is no way with the things that he did to people that he wouldn’t have been fired. It was so unprofessional and I couldn’t understand how he wasn’t reprimanded and fired with the way he acted. I didn’t really care for his acting but it may have been how the director wanted him to act as I have not seem him in any other drama. Also the romance/love lines were again strange in this drama, I couldn’t figure out if they were trying to have romance or not? Even in the ending they had focused so little on their personal feeling and love lines that it was just strange to throw it in at the end.

I get that they are trying to do a serious drama with crime and mystery but you still have to build characters and focus on their feelings and thoughts or else the audience feels very disconnected to the characters. The female lead Young-Joo had no presence in my mind, she was kinda of a blah character and even at the end when she was presenting the case in court, it should have been more exciting and thrilling but it just kinda fell flat and nothing really stayed with me. I think I enjoyed the character dynamic between Ki-Young and Young-Woon the most in the drama as there was true emotion and personality with their story. Some of the logic at the end like setting up Jin Woo to go to jail to keep him safe was just absurd as anyone would know that jail is more dangerous and this logic actually made me mad. I also really hated the old people romance in the drama with the doctor and the mothers, eww like what in the world where they thinking with promoting poly amorous it was disturbing and they really committed to it even to the ending. Not sure what was the point of doing that at all but I would just skip over their parts.

It did have some interesting mystery aspects of this drama that was entertaining but again I was disappointed with this drama.

My Lovely Liar

This drama stars Mok Sol-Hee (Kim So-Hyun) who has a special ability that she can hear when people are lying and has created a whole career getting paid to detect lies in people undercover. She struggles with relationships as she can detects every time people lie to her and finds it hard to trust other people until she meets Kim Do-Ha (Minhyun) and finds him to a person that doesn’t lie but then finds out he is a murder suspect and has to decide for herself if she is going to trust him.

This is a cute drama and I think it is because Do-Ha is such a wholesome and honest and cute character and really compliments Sol-Hee in this drama. I think this drama did a good job of building a relationship and also having a murder mystery in the midst of it. It has light moments and then it has darker moments and definite shocker moments. Overall I think it was a well-paced drama that is engaging and keep you interested until the end.

I didn’t care for all the tarot card stuff but I realize it was just a cover for her ability. I also kinda thought they could have done more story line with her ability. I think she could have worked for the police as a lie detector technician and be able to read if the suspect is lying despite what the machine would be saying. Especially because she does get somewhat involved with the murder case. I really think they could have done more with her ability and I feel like they let that part kinda fall flat with the possibilities they could have taken it. I for some reason also felt a lacking in their chemistry, like I don’t exactly buy them as a couple they didn’t really seem to have any passion for each other but it was still very cute. The shocker at the end for the motive just was weird and really unnecessary, I really wish they wouldn’t go there.

Overall it was decent drama and kept me engaged and interested.

Cheer Up

This drama is about Do Hae-Yi (Han Ji-Hyun) is a poor university student at Yonhee University. She is always trying to make money because of her family’s financial problems and doesn’t have time to date or have fun like a normal student. She get offered money to join Theia the university cheering squad and she accepts and starts to really enjoy it despite her difficulties. It also stars Park Jung Woo (Bae In-Hyuk) who is the Captain of the cheering squad and is very strict and upright and Hae-Yi and him butt heads from the get-go. It also stars Jin Sun-Ho (Kim Hyun-Jin) who starts to have a crush on Hae-Yi and follows her into the cheering squad.

I had never heard of cheering squads so it was really interesting me to watch their routines and all the things that go with it. I really enjoyed Do Hae-Yi’s character and how bright and funny she is, she was just enjoyable to watch. I know lots of people got second lead syndrome in this drama but I don’t mind the push and pull because it keeps it interesting and it is not always so obvious of who is going to end up with who. I also feel like I would have preferred the different lead that ends up with Hae-Yi because I feel like they had more chemistry between each other but that could just be because he was vulnerable with Hae-Yi and you feel bad for him and his situation. Realistically in real life I feel like Hae-Yi is with the person that compliments her and makes sense for her and how she needs someone like that in her life. I also thought the mystery within the drama was interesting and kept us interested and had lots of highs and lows. I thought it was a pretty good drama about young love and just the young university type of love and discovering what you should be doing. I feel like I could connect with the characters and even just the problems you have between friends and making decisions.

What I didn’t like about the drama was I guess the characters could be immature at times but I mean it makes sense because they are in university so I didn’t really bother me but other seemed to be upset with the drama. I thought it was a decent drama that kept me entertained without frustrating me that much!

I would recommend if you like the young love, confusing times of growing up type drama!

Upcoming Dramas

Ceo-Dol Mart

This drama is about a retired K-pop group called Thunder Boys that quit before they became famous. They end up getting a struggling supermarket and they decide that they will take on the challenge on managing the shop.

Battle For Happiness

This drama is about wealthy mother’s that are social influencers that appear to be friends but after a murder it is clear that they are anything but friends. They use everything around husbands, kids, money, and status to compete with each other.

Twinkling Watermelon

It is about a high school student that goes back into time and meets his Father and finds him having a crush on a girl that isn’t his Mother and has to find a way to bring his future parents back together.