October and November 2023

October and November 2023 Drama Reviews

CEO-dol Mart

This drama is about a former idol boy group called Thunder Boys that after a tragedy got disbanded and they find out years later that they were given Boram Mart and they all come together after not keeping in contact and have to decide whether they are going to sell the mart or try and make it work and run a mart. It stars Choi Ho-Rang (Lee Sin-Young) who is the leader of Thunder Boys and is always trying his best to take care of everyone. It also stars Shin Tae-Ho (Xiumin) who is often causing problems and is considered immature. The 5 members also need help in running the mart and Oh Ye-Rim (Choi Jung-Woon) a former employee also joins them to help them out as she is struggling to land a job.

It is a short drama with 10 episodes and so it doesn’t really get too far with the story line and it is more of a feel-good, heart warming story of friendship and working together. I didn’t really have high hopes for this drama because it just didn’t look like a big budget drama but I surprisingly enjoyed the moments of the drama even though it is a bit on the cheesier side. You want to root for them to be able to work together and find happiness but it ends really quickly and they didn’t really get time to develop the characters or even a love line. It definitely felt like a rushed ending and with the possibility that there could be a new season but I highly doubt that it will continue on. It had some awkward acting and unrealistic elements to this drama but I just enjoyed the happy silly mood of the drama, it didn’t bother me too much. Also if you are fans of the idols in the drama it would make sense to watch it!

If you just want to watch a simple, feel-good drama I would recommend.

Battle For Happiness

This drama is about Oh Yoo-Jin (Park Hyo-Joo) who is a mother and social media influencer, she is running the show at her children’s kindergarten and among the parents. She is fierce and keeps all the other Mother’s in check while looking perfect on social media. Jang Mi-Ho (Lee El) works in the marketing department for a bank and comes across Oh Yoo-Jin’s applicant for a contest and is reminded of their past with each other. She gets back in contact with her and wants to work out the differences they had in the past with each other but is unable to do so as Yoo-Jin doesn’t want to cooperate and before she can fix the problem there is a murder that happens and Mi-Ho has to try and figure out what happened.

I think this drama started out strong and had a lot of potential to be one of intrigue and suspense but the writing got worse as the episodes went on and not to mention this drama has 16 episodes that just seemed too long! What was the most tiring was Mi-Ho’s character, she would just run headlong into situations and not even develop a plan or do anything smart! In real life she would have been killed after a few times of trying that out. I mean if you think someone was the murderer you shouldn’t just outright accuse them, I mean develop a plan and watch them or try to befriend them and check them out. Honestly Yoo-Jin’s character would have been way better at figuring out the mystery and much less frustrating even though she wasn’t really a good character. The way Mi-Ho acted around the real murderer was so stupid in the last episodes and it was like she lacked all common sense. Even I watched all the episodes I still don’t really get the feud between Mi-Ho and Yoo-Jin which if you made the central part of the drama, you would think the writer would make it very clear and it would have been portrayed better how they were each wrong. I still don’t get what Mi-Ho really did to Yoo-Jin and why she needs to be apologetic towards Yoo-Jin? It just didn’t feel like Yoo-Jin had enough conviction to hate Mi-Ho. Yoo-Jin made her own decisions and how she ended up was her own fault. It was also a little much that all the men portrayed in this drama was pretty much evil and garbage human beings, it reminds me of the Queen of Masks and how all the men were portrayed in the same way and has the same type of themes.

I think it was interesting for the first couple of episodes but the only reason I hung in there was it was fun to see her taking care of the two little girls and becoming a better person because she had someone to take care of. I still felt compelled to watch the show because you want to figure out what happened and that is the only reason to keep watching. I still I’m not sure what the moral of the story of this drama was? Yoo-Jin tried to have the perfect family but it was completely fake ? I feel like the person that needed to learn the lesson died so it just feels unsatisfactory? This story just seemed to be convoluted and there seemed to be loose ends at the ending that don’t get cleaned up.

It is definitely a melodrama and not the best one out there but it does take you on a ride.

Twinkling Watermelon

This drama is about a high school student Eun Gyeol (Ryeo Un) who is struggling as a child of parents that are deaf. He really wants to play music but he doesn’t want his Father to know because he doesn’t think he will understand. He then mysteriously travels back in time when his parents are teenagers and He meets his father Han Yi-Chan (Choi Hyun-Wook) and the girl that his father has a crush on Choi Se-Kyung (Seol In-A). His Father is in love with a girl that isn’t his Mother so he needs to fix this problem and make sure his Father and Mother meet.

This is a really fun drama about youth and trying to understand your parents, how fun would it be if you could go back in time and meet your parents when they were young, innocent and hopeful. How much would you be able to connect and empathize if you knew them from a different era of their lives. I really love the concept behind this drama because Eun-Gyeol is really trying to carry the burden of the whole family by being the only hearing person in the family and this time travel trip allows him to understand his Father better. The focus on the drama is not just a typical love story in fact that is such a small part of the story it really delves into what is friendship and family. I really liked the mystery of it all and loved that it had plot twists throughout the drama. It had a good flow and was well-written and really kept you guessing on how the future was going to be changed by Eun-Gyeol’s decisions and actions in the past. I also found it really interesting in having a storyline with characters that were deaf and being able to see the world through their eyes and the challenges they face was eye-opening. I really loved the love and story line of Eun-Gyeol’s parents, the love and overcoming challenges was really great.

The only problem I had with the drama was the ending, it was too rushed and they could have done so much more with it and given it more time to really dig into a good ending. It just felt too sudden and didn’t feel very authenticate to what Eun-Gyeol had been through. Also they didn’t revisit Se-Kyung’s family in the future so it felt like we are missing so much information and even what happened with the grandpa from the music shop, if his future had changed at all.

So overall it was a great drama even if the ending was somewhat lacking a in depth conclusion.

Upcoming Dramas

A Good Day To Be A Dog

This drama is about a woman that turns into a dog when she kisses someone and the only way to stop the curse is to have the man kiss her again in her dog form. Unfortunately she accidentally kisses a man that she doesn’t like and she is pretty sure he doesn’t like her either and has to somehow get him to kiss her as a dog. This drama is based on a Manhwa.

Perfect Marriage Revenge

This drama is about a adopted woman into a wealthy family that is mistreated and ends up being killed and she is able to go back in time and change her past. She enlists a wealthy CEO to help her by marrying her and help her bring revenge on those that have hurt her in the past.

The Matchmakers

This drama is about a young widow from a wealthy family that believes it is her gift to match make couples so she sneaks out and pretends to be a normal matchmaker and does very well at her job. She gets enlisted by a widowed Prince to help him become a matchmaker for some sisters that have not married yet and she wants to help them find some good matches instead of being forced into any random marriage.