March and April 2024 Drama Reviews May 1, 2024

March and April 2024 Drama Reviews

Wedding Impossible

This drama is about A-Jeong (Jun Jong-Seo) who has been working as a extra in dramas and movies for many years and has been waiting for her big break without much success. She has a friend Lee Do-Han (Kim Do-Wan) who she has known since high school and he is a son of the LJ Group and his grandfather wants him to take over the company and to get married. Lee Do-Han doesn’t want to get married and asks his friend A-Jeong to take on the role of his wife and help disrupt his grandfather’s plans. The one problem is Do-Han’s brother Lee Ji-Han who wants his brother to take over the company so she tries to disrupt the marriage between his brother and A-Jeong.

I didn’t like this drama and found it to feel illogical and boring most of the time. The only parts of the drama that were entertaining and interesting was when A-Jeong was working as a extra on different sets and was using her special skills to do the roles. It was just weird Lee Do-Han has this big secret that he doesn’t want anyone to know and because of this he doesn’t to take over the company and really all he had to do was tell his secret to his grandfather and it would have solved the problem. It felt like most of the plot was unnecessary and superfluous and it wasn’t fun or exciting either. I did not find the love story to be interesting or compelling and I didn’t really feel the chemistry between the characters either. They would just randomly follow each other around and even the characters motivation and thoughts didn’t really feel like they made sense or felt right.

I feel like just because a webtoon does well doesn’t mean that if they decide to make it into a drama will automatically mean success especially if they aren’t following the webtoon closely. They seem to think as long as they have the support from the webtoon they can just do whatever they want and people will watch it. I haven’t read the webtoon but I am assuming they didn’t follow the webtoon closely. I feel like even though dramas will have the same type of tropes like the rich guy/poor girl story lines for example it was still enjoyable to watch. This somehow couldn’t even bring met the simple joys of watching fun tv tropes. The script was bad and the acting was much better so I wouldn’t recommend this drama.

Branding in Seongsu

It is about a woman who is a marketing team leader and is a cold woman that excels in her job and after an incident she clashes with her intern who is the opposite of her and they end up switching bodies. I had to quit this drama after a few episodes it was just too much for me when they started working on s*x toys. They really were trying to be liberal with this drama and that might be because it is a online streaming service but it was gross to me. I can have tolerance for cheesy acting or storylines but when it gets perverted I am going to drop the drama. Also the story line was really boring like they have so much to work with and funny scenarios of switching bodies and for some reason they made it so bland. I didn’t like anything in this drama from the few episodes that I watched. I do not recommend!

Don’t Dare to Dream/ Jealousy Incarnate

I watched this drama even though it was an older drama from 2016. It stars Pyo Na-Ri (Kong Hyo-Jin) who is a weather caster that wants to take her last chance of becoming an anchor and she runs into her old crush Lee Hwa-Shin (Cho Jung-Seok) who has come back from abroad and will be back at the station again. They meet in the hospital and she helps him through his health crisis and in the process she meets his rich and caring friend Ko Jung-Won (Ko Kyoung-Pyo) who she starts to date. Even though this is an older drama it was so entertaining and interesting that it is still worth watching. It felt like a refreshing drama to watch since it has an interesting love triangle that is full of comedy and interesting characters. I never got bored with this drama even though it had 24 episodes.

The only thing that is a bit hard was Lee Hwa-Shin’s character is very much a jerk at the beginning of the drama and it is a bit hard to understand his character and I have hard time rooting for his character. I feel like he could have matured a bit more in this drama but he does mature somewhat throughout this drama. I also love the friendship between Hwa-Shin and Jung-Won and how the immaturity between each other also leads to growth by the end of the drama. The love triangle felt a bit fresh then most dramas and how they dealt with it and I found it entertaining.

I think it is important to note that people can grow but that doesn’t always mean that they can completely change into what you want. I think growth and helping someone to grow isn’t the same as trying to change someone into someone that you need. I really loved the comedy in this drama it is hard to find good romantic comedies that are actually funny. All the characters are interesting and add a lot to the drama. I would highly recommend this drama and I don’t really have anything bad to say about this drama.

My Dearest 1 and 2

This drama is about the Qing invasion during Joseon period that happened in 1637. It stars Yoo Gil-Chae (Ahn Eun-Jin) who is a carefree young noblewoman that has all the confidence in the world and even though all the men in the village think she is beautiful the one man she wants she cannot have as he is engaged to her friend. She meets Lee Jang-Hyun (Namkoong Min) a unique man that comes to their village and wants to settle down here for a while. Soon enough the invasion starts happening and Jang-Hyun may be the only man that Gil-Chae is able to rely on to get her through this tumultuous period.

The first episode or so I was not getting why this drama was so popular as the characters seemed somewhat obnoxious to me but I realized this drama is going to be about growth. They had to start somewhere with the characters so we can realize how they are going to change. Also there was talk about how the drama was somewhat based on Gone with the Wind. So the drama starts off with the typical type of drama but when the invasion happens the drama takes a sharp turn and they have to deal with terrible circumstances and everything starts to feel more meaningful and interesting. Emotions and feelings become heightened and this is where we start to see growth and leadership and it gets interesting.

This is an epic type of drama that has many twists and turns throughout and has many exciting and touching moments and many heart breaking ones. I think this is one of best dramas that I have seen in a long time. I think though the ending felt a bit drawn out I think they could have just given us a happy ending sooner. I can’t say I really have much for complaints I think it was a great drama that I would highly recommend.

Three Dads

This is a Japanese drama that seems to be based on 3 men and a baby. It is about three men that live together as roommates and one day someone leaves a baby and a note saying to take care of him that he is the father. None of them know who the father could be so they decide to just take care of the baby in the meantime hoping the Mother will come back. It is a simple and silly drama that is more light hearted and cute with only 10 episodes. Honestly it doesn’t really make sense that they don’t do a paternity test immediately because I think in reality you would have done it right away. Also they do a weird documentary style with this drama which doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense but you can tell they aren’t taking it super seriously. I mean there are some serious moments within the drama and the baby is adorable. The ending is pretty decent and I was still surprised with how it all ends so it a interesting, easy going type of drama. Not really the best drama but it was somewhat entertaining.

My Boss

This is a Chinese drama about Cheng Yao who is a new lawyer and gets an amazing job at a top lawyer firm and when she moves into her new apartment she finds out that the apartment has also been rented out to her new boss Qian Heng. She is trying her hardest at work and then has to come home and deal with a stubborn and hard to deal boss at home. I typically don’t really love modern Chinese dramas because they aren’t that well done but this one had some charm that made me want to keep watching. It is a typical love story that doesn’t really have anything that different or new but I guess I enjoyed watching the two leads. I have to say the character Cheng Yao I felt was somewhat annoying especially I found it hard to believe that she was professional lawyer most of the time. I wish they could have portrayed her as a more intelligent and professional because it felt like she seemed too childish at times. I think it a nice fluffy type of drama but I also wasn’t expecting much from this drama and thought it was decent for a Chinese modern style of drama.

Amidst a Snowstorm of Love

This is another Chinese drama that was getting quite a bit of hype so I thought I would also check out another modern drama. It is about Yin Guo who is a professional billiards player that decided to join a tournament in Hel and goes with her brother. In the middle of snowstorm she meets Lin Yi Yang who lives there helps them get a taxi and they make a connection with each other. As they spend more time with each other it is discovered that Lin Yi Yang has a deep history with billiards and is considered a genius in the sport.

This drama has a totally different feel then the typical modern Chinese drama and I think this is why it was getting a lot of attention. I think this drama at times is more about what is not being said between the characters and focuses more on the chemistry of the characters. I think that is what keeps the mystery and intrigue of the characters because they don’t talk much and it feels mysterious. You have to pay attention to the looks and body language and picking up silent cues. I mean at times I was so frustrated watching them on the screen because I’m like just say something to him. He will ask her if she has any questions and she never asks them and I am screaming like just ask him anything. Please just even ask what he is studying in college. So I found it somewhat unrealistic because it is hard to have a relationship if you don’t talk and the awkwardness would just kill me.

I also really wished they would have explained the different rules of the billiards games. I don’t know anything about billiards and I found it confusing at times when watching the matches. Also the show is definitely slow going and the amount of naps that they have are actually crazy, they really should have cut down on episodes if they were just going to nap alone or together every episode. Yin Guo’s character also made me frustrated at times especially when they are dating and he tries to be affectionate with her and always turns her head when he tries to kiss her. I like how they tried to do something different but I think it could have definitely been improved upon with the script but I think it is worth checking out.

Upcoming Dramas

Lovely Runner

This drama is about a woman who goes back in time after her favorite kpop star has committed suicide. She goes back to when they were still in school and wants to do her best to help make sure that the accidents don’t happen and she wants to be able to change the future.

Missing Crown Prince

This drama is a historical drama about the crown prince that gets kidnapped by his future wife. They have to go on the run and they do so together and love will blossom between each other.

Hide

This drama is about a lawyer who’s husband goes missing and she is left with many questions in his stead and has to pick up the pieces that he left behind. She starts to question every aspect of her life that she shared with her husband.

February and March 2024 Drama Reviews March 13, 2024

February and March 2024 Drama Reviews

My Happy Ending

This drama is about Seo Jae-Won (Jang Na-Ra) who is a CEO of a successful furniture company and quite well known by the media. She really has a perfect life with her husband Heo Soon Young (Son Ho-Jun) who is so patient and understanding and their little girl. She works very hard at building her company that she even has a stalker and things start taking a dark turn when she starts getting attacked and doesn’t know who to trust anymore.

This drama started out so good and was so thrilling for the first half of the drama and it really made you think about who is betraying her and trying to ruin her. There are a few leads that you have to think about and I really loved how exciting and it just kept you somewhat confused with the different leads. I really wanted the drama to continue in the same fashion, but unfortunately, I guess they had to reveal things slowly and I feel like it really started to lose some of the freshness and excitement the drama had earlier. I really did not like who they made the mastermind of it at the end because the motive was pretty convoluted. It just didn’t make sense for this person to take things this far. It just seems like jealousy was a pretty weak angle that this person would do these things and it just didn’t line up in my head. Again this drama probably had too many episodes so they just kinda ran out of material and had to keep adding different scenarios.

I have to say that they did try to delve a bit into mental illness with this drama which I thought was interesting. I like that they did try to normalize going to get therapy and being on medication that is prescribed by a doctor. I feel like this is a touchy subject especially in South Korea and I liked they tried to show an individual that needs help, but yet can still function well with some support. It wasn’t a perfect portrayal, but I admire they tried to bring this subject to the forefront of the drama. It also shows that mental illness can be caused by trauma and things that are out of our control and that it is okay to go and speak to someone about your past and things that happened to you.

I thought this drama started out strong, got a bit lost, but was still a decent thriller drama!

Love Song For Illusion

The drama is about a crown prince Sajo Hyun (Park Ji-Hoon) who has an oppressive father who he watched kill a whole family so that he could become King. He has a hard time dealing with being the son that his Father wants and developed a second personality who he calls an evil spirit Ak-Hee. He gets switched with his personality every time he sleeps so he often avoids going to sleep as long as he can. It also stars Yeon Wol (Hong Ye-Ji) who is the sole survivor from her family that the current King exterminated. Her sole focus in life is to go and kill the king and avenge her family’s death. She comes across the Crown Prince and meets both personalities and Ak-Hee falls in love with her.

I thought this could be a fun drama about a man with two personalities, but unfortunately I did not find as fun as I thought it could be. It also really delved into the whole spiritual side of it being an evil spirit so I skipped over those parts quite a bit and yet funnily it seemed to have little impact in understanding the story line. I personally see the 2^nd personality as a version of Sajo Hyun that is brought out because he couldn’t deal with the trauma that his Father causes. It was a way to protect himself, he created his own protector. Honestly over time it was confusing who we were supposed to be cheering for because at times Sajo Hyun gets tiring and Ak-Hee seems so refreshing and it all gets mixed up over time. I would have preferred them acknowledging that Ak-Hee was just a part of Sajo and that it was okay for Yeon Wol to care about him as well. This drama was also just too long and they really dragged it out for the ending.

One good thing is that it a good ending, even though it seems like a rushed ending. It was strange because they had so much time to end it properly but for some reason didn’t want to do that. I feel like they should give us more time when the couple gets together at the end it also just seems to end before we can even see them together. Also it seemed a bit weird that the main lead had a wife and its kinda weird because it just seems to be somewhat ignored. As long as they don’t have a kid together and he ignores her then it is okay.

This is just a mediocre fantasy/romcom drama.

Kissing The Ring Finger

This is a Japanese drama about Ayaka Haneda (Kanna Hashimoto) who is considered to be a beautiful woman that men seem to all fall in love with but she comes from a large but poor family. Because all the men fall in love with her she struggles to keep a job for a long period of time as it causes problems in her workplace. She is newly hired as a wedding planner and meets Togo Nitta (Ryosuke Yamada) the CEO of her company and he proposes marriage to her.

So this is a typical drama where it is a contract marriage and of course they promise not to fall in love with each other, but we all know what is going to happen. There isn’t anything really that unique or different in this type of drama, but yet it is still a fun ride and it doesn’t get boring since there is only 10 episodes. I have to say the exaggerated acting that is common in Japanese dramas doesn’t seem to be too much in this drama. There was nothing super mind blowing about this drama but it a decent easy going watch!

Plus-Sized Misadventures in Love!

This is a Japanese drama that is about Yumeko who almost dies in accident and when she awakens she has no memories from her life and instead has a bubbly and happy personality. She has struggled with her looks and was bullied and when she loses her memory she is able to become happy to be herself and is bursting with confidence. I was a bit hesitant to watch this drama because I wasn’t sure if they were going to be making fun of her looks in this drama but I am glad I did check this drama out because it is so quirky and endearing!

I love Yumeko’s personality so much in this drama and she is just so lovely that you can’t help but just love her! It is so much fun to watch her and see how she approaches tough situations. It was short again with 10 episodes and I wish it was longer or they would make another season. It did have some dark moments as it touches on suicide and the struggles she faced with being bullied for her looks. The one thing was it has a bit of overacting in this drama but yet it somewhat seems to fit her character at times. I found this drama to be pretty heart warming and really enjoyed this short drama!

Derailment

This is a Chinese drama that is about Jian Xiao Yuan who finds herself stuck in a parallel universe. In her world she was from a rich family that didn’t lack anything and now has come to a place where she has absolutely nothing and when she tries to phone her Father she calls Qi Lian who seems to know who she is in this world. Qi Lian is looking for a friend that disappeared from this current world and figures Xiao Yuan is connected to this. I thought this was a interesting drama that really held my attention almost all the way through the 30 episodes. I find that it was a bit too long with too many flashbacks that I tend to fast forward through anyway.

I really enjoyed the actress that played Xiao Yuan and her performance and found the story to be really interesting how she always strives to do her best and figure out her problems. Even though it has the fantasy element I also enjoyed just watching the ordinary things like trying to excel in her job and I like how the main leads don’t really get together until later on. I find it gets so boring when the main leads get together to early and then there isn’t really anywhere to go, there is no tension.

So the ending and the truth is not what I expected and seems really different but I love the journey that you go on with the drama. I like dramas that make you think or have good plot twists and it feels that way because you spend so much time believing one thing about the characters and then the truth comes out and it is completely different and makes you look at the characters and something completely different. Sure there is some things that weren’t perfect in this drama but I thought it was a decent drama that kept me engaged until the end. I would recommend this drama if you like a good psychological drama with plot twists!

The Autumn Ballad

This is a Chinese, Historical drama that is about a young girl Qiu Yan who gets married and the groom dies before they even finish the ceremony and her life is being threatened that she caused his death and should be buried with him. She has to rely on a cold man who is a Duke named Lian Yi who is crafty and always has a motive for everything he does. Qiu Yan is a very interesting character as she is very smart and seems to be able to get herself out of situation using her brain. She meets Lian Yi who is able to see through all her clever schemes and the way she can manipulate the people around her. It is really a match of their wits and often they have to work together to both achieve their goals.

Watching the dynamics of them two is enough of a reason to check out this drama. This drama also never stops moving at a fast pace and I keep thinking things can’t get worse for the female lead and things just keep getting worse. This drama would surprise me all the time and the plot twists keep coming all the time. I really enjoyed the ride of this drama. Even with 34 episodes it didn’t really feel that long and I kept wanting to keep watching more of this drama. One thing I didn’t like was the ending, I get they are trying to make her a strong female lead that doesn’t really believe in love, but I really craved a good ending for the main leads. I wished they would have given us time with them as a couple. I would say it was a great drama except for the ending. I really thought there was great chemistry between the main leads and I thought this was a very good drama.

Upcoming Dramas

Wedding Impossible

This drama is about an actress that has worked as a extra for a long time without being recognized in the industry and is having a tough time. Her friend is back in town and he doesn’t want to get married to the woman that chaebol family picked out for him and doesn’t want to inherit the company so he wants to hire her to be his wife. His brother wants him to inherit the company so he wants to stop this marriage from happening.

Branding in Seongsu

It is about a woman who is a marketing team leader and is a cold woman that excels in her job and after an incident she clashes with her intern who is the opposite of her and they end up switching bodies.

February, March and April Drama Reviews April 13, 2023

February, March, and April Drama Reviews 2023

Strangers Again

This drama is about Oh Ha-Ra (Kang So-Ra) who is a divorce lawyer but is also divorced herself. Her ex-husband Ku Eun-Beom (Jang Seung-Jo) wants to come and work at her law firm even though he was the one that cheated on her and why they got divorced. They are forced to work together and work through their past whether they want to or not. Things get very heated and also between the other lawyers in the office.

I think this drama had good acting and chemistry between the actors and I think the plot was interesting and the cases they work on are definitely unique. I think this drama had a lot of shock value and the problems they get themselves into was a fun ride to watch. I really liked watching the relationships and characters and just watch them work things out. I think it was a fun drama to watch and it felt somewhat different then the typical meet cute, fall in love scenario. Things are messy and emotions are conflicted and it just felt there was a lot that could have been done with growth of the characters. I feel like it had a realistic vibe where the characters have damage/trauma that they can’t really get over with the power of love. It also delved into the topics of having kids and what do you need to be fulfilled in this life. I think the drama had a lot of potential to be a really good one.

Unfortunately the biggest problem with the drama is the ending. I would say it is not a happy ending and feels somewhat rushed compared to the rest of the drama. I know that a lot of people were upset about the ending and it erred on the too realistic to how relationships end up. I just decided that I was going to leave it with an open ending and that they will likely end up together eventually but that was how I going to leave it in my mind. I didn’t find myself being as upset as other people as I still enjoyed the drama despite the ending. I think they should have had Eun-Beom get help earlier then he did in the drama and have them work through their problems instead of doing that easy way out ending. Other than the ending, I don’t really have anything that I disliked about it, it was entertaining and it felt a bit more unique vibe with their cases and themes in the drama. I really did enjoy it and would say check it out if you are interested but don’t be expecting too much out of the ending!

Poong, The Joseon Psychiatrist 2

This drama is a sequel to Poong, The Joseon Psychiatrist and I think it would be hard to watch the second series without having watched the first season. So it is the continuation of the story of Yoo Se-Poong (Kim Min Jae) who is a royal physician who can’t do acupuncture because of a traumatic experience he had and he continues to fix people especially those that need help with their heart and mind. It starts off with an unusual case in the royal palace and Poong has to fight against the royal physicians to figure out the case. Eun-Woo has been separated from the clinic living with her parents but she has continued to write letters to everyone and is going to come back to visit. They continue to solve cases and struggle with their feelings for each other as she is a widow and because of social customs it makes it hard for them to be together.

I think it was enjoyable drama even though it seemed to lack a bit of story with the main characters. The drama also doesn’t really explain why a widow isn’t allowed to marry and it would get frustrating because they focused a lot of time and energy on this problem in this drama. They just take turns self-sacrificing for each other trope. I didn’t mind the new and different cases that were done but it didn’t feel justified to do a second season. I really find it strange since there are many dramas that people have longed to have a second season for but I doubt anyone would have really demanded a second season of this show.

It was a decent heart warming tale but I didn’t really feel or were touched with some heart fluttering moments. I just didn’t feel the love between the two of the leads and it just felt somewhat forced. I found the side stories more interesting and the people that they met and their mysteries to be the reason to keep watching this drama. It is a decent drama with a happy ending that will leave you satisfied. There were interesting elements in this drama but as a whole it still felt like there was something missing.

I would say it is very similar to the first season and if you enjoyed that, I would definitely watch the second season.

Our Blooming Youth

Warning this may contain spoilers

This drama is about Min Jae-Yi (Jeon So-Nee) who is framed for the murders of her entire family and she finds her way to Crown Prince Lee Hwan (Park Hyung-Sik) who has been sent a ghost letter cursing him. Jae-Yi begs him to help her and he agrees after she tells him that she will help him with the mysterious letter as she is very smart and helps him solve some suspicious things going on around him.

I did enjoy this drama but I think I had high hopes for this drama and was a bit disappointed with the drama. It had a lot of episodes so I was also kinda sad the way that they wrapped up the ending so quickly, they had plenty of time they could have given us more than crumbs for the ending. I also am unhappy with how they just skipped over the whole Jae-Yi’s family murders and didn’t really flesh out well the reason for the murders. I don’t know if I am just confused about it, but the whole gravestone being such a great clue seemed silly to me. A gravestone of some names doesn’t really seem worthy of killing an entire family over, first of all people can change their names and how are you going to really prove it. Secondly, why not just get rid of the evidence instead of killing a whole family, I feel that will draw more attention to this problem then anything. So overall I found the reasons somewhat confusing and the ending felt rushed and things or rules just change so suddenly. Also they try to explain all the supernatural things but the whole hair turning white overnight because they got hypnotized was just so bizarre and the weird fish was a little bit over the top in ridiculousness. Of course with all palace dramas the old men trying to steal power from the king trope is been done to death in dramas.

I enjoyed the drama and characters and enjoyed the effort into trying to make a more interesting political palace drama. I found the romance to be cute and I wish there would have been more of love triangle with the Sargent and that he would have found her earlier but overall it was good. I also appreciate a happy ending and it was satisfying to win against evil. Overall it was a decent drama but I don’t feel it as anything really new or exciting that would make it an unique drama. It also really gave me love in the moonlight vibes with the Jae-Yi dressing as a eunuch for most of the drama. It felt like a mish mash of different historical type dramas but nothing really stand out for me. People also felt like it was a very slow-moving drama which I don’t always mind but it did seem slow at times. I still did enjoy it even if there was problems.

It was a decent drama and I would recommend if you love historical dramas!

Fanletter, Please

This drama is a short drama with only 4 episodes, I would say it felt more like a movie. It stars Han Gang-Hee (Sooyoung) who is a an actress and is facing a crisis because of rumors and her image plummets. It also stars Bang Jung-Seok (Yoon Park) who has a daughter who has cancer and is a huge fan of Gang-Hee and sends her a fan letter and it ends up helping Gang-Hee.

This is a cute drama and I can appreciate it more because it was fast-paced and they get right to the point because of time. The acting is good, the kids are cute and it was pretty decent for such a short drama. I enjoyed it, it was interesting and was a fun watch. The one complaint is they never explain what happened to the mother of the child. I don’t know why they don’t make it clear because I thought we would get an explanation at the end but it was never explained. The drama doesn’t go really that deep and kinda skim over the trauma that the characters face but I understand they don’t have time.

It was a cute short drama that is easy to watch!

Bad Prosecutor

I also decided to watch this drama it stars Jin Jung (Do Kyung-Soo) who has a strong sense of justice and has no problems doing what he thinks is right to solve the case as a prosecutor. This drama felt unique and felt somewhat refreshing for a law drama as I felt like there have been many in the last while. I liked how Jin Jung approached things differently and just tackled them head on even though it may not always the best method but he really got things done and was decisive. I thought I may get bored with the subject matter but yet the cases were always interesting and was always action packed. I was pretty impressed with this drama, I loved the twists and turns and shocking reveals. It really feels like it needs a second season but there has been no news released about that. I liked the side characters as well and how they get into trouble for Jin Jung.

At times it felt really unrealistic like Jin Jung being blamed for the murders and evading capture and then the next day it could all just disappear and the way he beat up people. I don’t think you have the authority for that even if you are a prosecutor. There isn’t any romance in this drama, not that it is needed but there was a bit of flirtation so that felt like a loose end. I think overall though this is a fun ride and pretty entertaining to watch Jin Jung go after the bad guys!

I would recommend this drama for anyone that loves the unconventional hero !

Catch Up My Prince

I watched this Chinese drama about Lu Ran Ran who is an intern doctor and is told to join this game by one of her patients and she gets trapped in the game. She has to finish one of the routes to be able to leave the game and her life could be in jeopardy if anything happens to her in the game. She is a laundry maid and has to find a way for one of the main characters which are princes to fall in love with her. She falls for one of the princes but can’t seem to get his love score up.

I thought it was a fun drama with many characters and just the rules of the game really made it interesting if she has to finish a different quest and it just felt more unique than a typical love story. I have to say it really sucked me into the story at times and found it to be refreshing and interesting way to approach a drama.

I did find the ending to be kinda of a let down since they don’t spend much time in the real life and how to move past the game. Also the reason for things going wrong is due to the “bad guy” and his reasoning is a bit silly and his motives are kinda convoluted. I think they could have a done a better job of building up the story and given it a stronger base and ending.

Overall it was a fun drama that was easy to watch and one I didn’t take too seriously.

Upcoming Dramas

Oasis

During the 1980’s in the Jeolla Province Lee doo Hak and Choi Cheol Woong are friends in high school that are looking for fun when they meet Oh Jung Shin who recently transferred and they both have a crush on her. A death causes the world to change for Doo-Hak and Cheol Woong and one of them is sent to prison.

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse

It is about a young woman running a guesthouse and she and the other renters try and figure out where a missing royal has been so she can save her home!

December and January Korean Drama Reviews 2023 February 12, 2023

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.

Sigh I Love Kdramas June 21, 2022

April May and June 2022 Korean Drama Reviews

The first drama that I finished was My Liberation Diary/ My Liberation Notes. This is a very interesting and unusual drama. It is about one family with adult siblings who live far from where they work in Seoul and have to spend a lot of time commuting. Gi Jeong (Lee El) is the oldest daughter and she is exhausted with her life and wants some romance. Chang-Hee (Lee Min-Ki) is the middle child and wants to live a better life and has dreams but feels crushed by the people around him. The youngest is Mi-Jeong who is introverted and doesn’t really like dealing with people but has a rich inner world that she doesn’t share with anyone. At work she is forced to join a club but instead with a couple of other people she makes her own club Liberation Club to help liberate each other from the things they want liberation from. It also stars Mr. Gu (Son Suk-Ku) who appears one day in Sanpo Village and starts to work for their dad. He never talks and is a known alcoholic that drinks everyday. Mi-Jeong decides to include him in her life and they find relief from life with each other.

This is a hard drama to explain because a lot of times it gives you a lot of feelings without even using a lot of words. This drama can feel monotonous because that is what is trying to be portrayed. It feels so relatable that it hurts at times and sometimes feels like it punches you in the gut with the truths that are revealed in the story. You feel the frustration, anger and sadness with the characters. At times there are silences when the family eats together and it actually would drive me bonkers, you just want them to communicate better with each other. When it focuses on the character of Mi-Jeong because she doesn’t talk much it would actually get frustrating because you just wanted her to speak her truth and what was on her mind. I just felt it was such a compelling drama even though it wasn’t action-packed or had a huge plot line. I like that it wasn’t a typical drama that was so predictable and always the same tropes. The acting is very good as well, they were able to convey deep emotions without even much dialogue at times.

What I didn’t like was the romance story line, I honestly feel that Mi-Jeong deserved someone better to love than someone that was an alcoholic. I would never encourage a friend or loved one to enter into a relationship with someone that had an addiction. I just can’t imagine it being healthy no matter and also being in love or having a loved one cannot be your savior, even though that was what the drama was hinting at. The drama didn’t really take it that far but the ending gave me hope for their relationship to be better. I also didn’t really love the love relationship for Gi-Jeong I thought she had better chemistry with another person in the drama then the one that she ended up with but it is fine. Chang-Hee’s ending is different but I mostly feel bad for him.

This is a great and well made drama! I would highly recommend if you like dramas that are more thought-provoking on the human condition.

The second drama that I finished was Our Blues. It is about a group of people living in a small village on Jeju Island. It focuses on one character for a couple of episodes and then moves onto another character. It had a large cast and no one was completely the main character as they would move on from a newcomer Lee Yeong-Ok (Han Ji-Min) who starts working as a haenyeo (female diver) and has a lot of secrets and is frustrating to the other people she works with. To Jung Eun-Hui who runs a fishing store and other businesses and focuses on the relationships that she has from the past and trying to figure out how to keep her friendship. To a teenage couple that gets themselves in trouble and their Dad’s have a grudge which makes it hard for them to solve their problem. This drama focuses on the hardest and best times of our lives and shows that they are often intermingled. Sadness and happiness are not really something you feel separately it is intermingled and can change quickly and suddenly but you can’t deny either of them. It is about family, friends and relationships and the struggle to keep them and understand the feelings of other people in your life. It is really a heart breaking and heart warming drama all at the same time.

I really was sucked into this drama and wanted to know what was the story between the different feuds and friendships and all the secrets between them. I also liked that there was a large cast so there was variety in the story telling. I think some of the best acting came from the oldest and youngest actors. The little girl Eun-Gi was so good at acting it was shocking. I thought it was really interesting that they were addressing Depression and how it can affect someone’s life. It was good they were talking about it but I’m not sure that they really gave good examples to deal with this disease. She didn’t really go and get help and was almost just supposed to overcome it with her own strength and friendship. I don’t know but that won’t work well for just anyone. I also thought it was good that they highlighted different disabilities in this drama as I think it is good to bring awareness to different issues that lots of people don’t have experience with and this drama seems to help bring understanding and showing how people are different.

What I didn’t like was I didn’t really care for Han-Su story line with Eun-Hui, it was honestly just weird and awkward and then the fact he leaves and doesn’t live there is just like why did we waste that much time on someone that doesn’t live there. It was also hard to watch Eun-Gi’s grandma treat her the way so roughly when she is just a little kid that needed some reassurance. I would never treat kids like that, I honestly couldn’t figure out why she was so harsh on a young child. I would have liked some more resolution on some of the story lines but overall I think they did a good job of wrapping up the loose ends.

I really think this is a worthwhile drama that has something in there for everyone as it covers a lot of ground and age groups.

The last drama that I finished was Love All Play which is about Park Tae-Yang (Park Ju-Hyun) is a badminton athlete and is returning to a professional team after a 3 year break after an incident. She was a contender to a star but because of her break she has to build back her abilities and strength. It also stars Park Tae-Joon (Chae Jong-Hyeop) who also decides to join the same team as Tae-Yang he feels like he is scared to actually know his true potential that if he actually tries his best he won’t measure up. He tries to act like he doesn’t care and it becomes his character.

I thought that this drama would have more badminton playing in it but found it was more focused on the characters and the drama between them. It also focuses on Park Tae-Yang’s guilt about the incident that she was involved in and that she feels guilty to even play badminton. It gets somewhat tiring and I didn’t feel like this drama was that unique or different then the typical drama. Two characters want to be together but because of other people around them they should be the last people that should be together. I kinda got frustrated in the drama and actually wished they would play more sports and I am not the type to like watching sports! Some characters were just the worst like basically all of Tae-Joon’s family and I really wished he would have told them off at some point but he doesn’t really and treats his mom way too well for the way she acted. He treated them all too well and at some point would have just wanted Tae-Joon and Tae-Yang to just be together and excommunicate his family. I don’t really mean it, but I was so frustrated by the situation at times.

I also found Tae-Yang’s character to get on my nerves at times, I don’t know why but I found her annoying at times. Also they have some weird romance moment that was kinda disturbing to me and just skipped over because it seemed so wrong on so many levels, the whole taking advantage of someone that is emotionally traumatized and weak. It just really gave off the wrong message and feel they should not have put that in.

The drama still kept me interested though in how it was going to turn out and was happy that it wasn’t a sad ending and there was some healing that happened. I wish they would have given a better ending of like who won the game at the end, which I thought was weird they didn’t put in there. I wish they would have given us more time with the ending instead of spending so much time with the characters being depressed and moping. It just felt tiring at some point.

Overall it wasn’t the greatest sports drama that I have watched but it was decent.

I just want to highlight a Chinese drama called Reset. It is about a college student Li Shiquing and a video game designer Xiao Heyun who are stuck in a time loop. They are stuck riding a bus that is about to explode and after they die, they wake up in the bus again. They have to find a way to stop the bus from exploding to escape from this endless time loop. I really thought this was a well done drama that actually made a time traveling drama that makes sense and doesn’t just turn into nonsense. It kept me on the edge of my seat a lot of time. They keep working out different simulations to try to stop the explosion. Each time they do a loop they get more and more information and discover the secrets behind the disaster. It really keeps you engaged the whole time and you want to binge it to find out the secrets. I don’t want to say too much in case I give away any of the clues but I highly recommend this drama if you like time traveling dramas.