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.

July Drama Reviews 2023 July 23, 2023

July Drama Reviews 2023

Queen of Masks

This drama is about 4 women who are friends. Jae-Yi (Kim Sun-A) who is a human rights lawyer and has her eyes set on becoming a mayor. It also stars Go Yoo-No (Oh Yoon-Ah) who comes back after 10 years and being framed for a murder case to try and find her daughter. This drama is about a murder case that happens to 4 women who used to all be friends but one of them gets framed for the murder. It is 10 years later and Go Yoo-Na (Oh Yoon-Ah) the woman framed for the murder is back and she is trying to find her daughter. She goes to her old friends Jae-Yi (Kim Sun-A) who is a human rights lawyer to try and get their help to get her daughter back. It also stars Ju Yu-Jeong (Shin Eun-Jung) who is a chairwoman of an arts foundation and is just getting her life back on track with the new man in her life. The other friend is Yoon Hae-Mi (Yoo-Sun) who is a vice president of Mariana Hotel and is trying to climb the ladder to success as well. Jae-Yi is also trying to climb the ladder to success to try and find the man who sexually assaulted her the night of the murder and has to decide what is more important her friends or justice.

So this drama is very much a melodramatic drama and I don’t think I have watched this genre before or anything at least this extreme. I keep thinking whether I should continue watching it or not because it felt like a soap opera and I didn’t know if it was going to get really bad. I was kinda surprised about the drugs mentioned in the drama as I feel like I never really seen drama go to that area and I have to say I didn’t care for one of the characters struggling with drugs. The writing of the characters didn’t really make sense to me most of the time. Jae-Yi is supposed to be this lawyer but she does some of the dumbest things in the drama. She gets the mask with blood on it and they act like this is true evidence of something and try to use it to get the perpetrator to do what they want when clearly this doesn’t mean a thing and wouldn’t change anything. A lot of the reasoning and technical stuff just doesn’t even make sense at times. They make a lot of stupid decisions in the drama that frustrated me. One of the characters buries some video files instead of looking at them or handing them into the police, just sheer stupidity is witnessed throughout this drama.

This drama did not need 16 episodes and even went over an hour with each one, it should have been shorter and more consistent with the characters and made them smarter. The ending did seem a bit anticlimactic after the build up but at least it was a decent ending, at least for the majority of the characters.This drama wasn’t all bad it still was interesting to see how the mystery played out and to get to know each of the characters more and I have to say the perpetrator did some good acting despite him being the bad guy. It was also kinda nice to see a cast of older women instead of teenagers and give them an opportunity to tell a story.

If you could get past some of the frustrating parts of the drama it was still an interesting drama that kept me guessing at times and had some decent twists and turns to keep you invested. It wasn’t a great drama but it wasn’t a horrible drama either it was just an okay drama.

All That We Loved

This drama is about two high-schoolers Go Yoo (Sehun) who loves basketball and is a outgoing personality who is very protective of his friend who is like a brother to him Go Joon-Hee (Jo Joon-Young) who is a quiet and is always studying and does well in school. They both meet Han So-Yeon (Jang Yeo-Bin) and they both start to have feelings for her but she likes to keep people at a distance from her because of her own secret.

This drama was pretty good until the ending, I thought it was building up well and it was interesting flipping from the present to the past but unfortunately the ending was super disappointing. Super important things in the story are not explained at all and the love line in the drama was also super weak. I think if they had more time to properly tell the story it could have been a really good drama and the build up in the drama and pacing was good but the just needed more time. I don’t know if they just couldn’t figure out an explanation and got lazy or if they just needed the time to wrap it up properly. Also some of the medical conditions seemed sketchy and really unbelievable but I was willing to go along with it until they gave us the lackluster ending.

I did like the acting and was impressed and even though I didn’t like the ending I still found it interesting and compelling and would still watch again. It is a shorter drama with less time and episodes so it is not like you wasted too many hours to get a crappy ending. I would still watch it again because I still enjoyed the ride even though it felt like there was too many loose ends and unanswered questions at the end. It has some interesting concepts with how people can change and how other people can affect you. I still thought it was interesting and would still say check it out but be warned your questions won’t all be answered at the end.

Oh! Young Sim

This drama is about Oh Young Sim (Song Ha-Yoon) who is a struggling TV variety show PD who keeps getting her show cancelled due to low popularity. She casts a popular new start up company CEO Mark Wang (Lee Dong-Hae) in a dating pilot program. She finds out that he is her childhood friend that had a crush on her and their friendship ended on bad terms.

So this is a short drama felt more like a webtoon so again it felt like the writers had to speed things up and I found that to cause a lot of elements to feel like it was lacking. They don’t build out the characters and the romance as well as they could and it was somewhat disappointing. The ending was super rushed and felt kinda weird, it just didn’t feel like I had an emotional investment in this drama. It wasn’t very funny either. Some of the writing seemed sloppy especially for the action type of scene in the drama. Also I am getting really sick of the childhood unrequited love trope in all dramas. It just feels like they threw this drama together really fast and felt kind of cheap. At least it was short then so you didn’t waste too much of your time.

I think the drama had potential but it just totally missed the mark!

A Warmed Up Love

This is a Japanese Drama where Kiki Inoue (Mori Nana) who is a part-timer at a convenience store and she also is a social media reviewer of sweets and is very good at understanding what sweets will be popular. She meets the new CEO Takumi Asaba (Tomoya Nakamura) of the convenience store chain and he eventually finds out about her reviews and decides to enlist her help to create a new dessert for the store.

I enjoyed this drama it was an interesting concept of developing a dessert for a convenience store and how they are developed and the problems that go along with it. It was also interesting because of the different relationships and how two similar people aren’t always the best match in love. It felt somewhat fresh and I like that they didn’t spend the whole time forcing love and making someone a couple from the first episode. I think it was interesting because it showed different types of loves not just the chemical reaction of love. It showed the mature type of love where you fit together because you have the same mindset and then the more immature type of love, where you are safe to be silly and play with each other. It somehow finds the middle ground in the drama and it has a good ending where I was satisfied. I also like that it was a more ambiguous type of love story where you kinda had moments where you were guessing who was going to end up with each other.

The only thing I didn’t like about this drama was maybe how Kiki was somewhat immature at times and it felt somewhat concerning with the age gap that was in this drama. I wasn’t that bothered but at times felt a little bit weird.

I would recommend if you like a cute, short romantic drama!

Lies Hidden In My Garden

This drama is about Moon Joo-Ran (Kim Tae-Hee) is a traumatized woman that is living as a housewife to her husband Jae-Ho (Kim Sung-Oh) who is a doctor. They live in a nice house in a rich neighborhood. Joo-Ran starts noticing a foul smell coming from her garden and her husband tries to dismiss her concerns. It also stars Chu Sang-Eun (Lim Ji-Yeon) who is struggling to live with an abusive husband while being pregnant. The women’s live intersect when Sang-Eun’s husband winds up dead.

I did not like this drama at all, it felt very dark and depressing through the whole eight episodes and thank goodness they only had eight of them. I know it was supposed to have all these plot twists and turns but it just didn’t feel that shocking while watching it. I hated the ambience of the drama, it felt like a cheap thriller movie all the time where there is always someone bad lurking around the corner. It felt really obvious and the motives of the people just weren’t convincing to me at all. The cinematography was honestly annoying with the artsy type shots and the super long pauses in the dialogue. I fast forwarded a lot while watching and started to get annoyed while watching, they could have spent more time building the character. The silence just didn’t have meaning to me, there are some dramas that utilize this technique well but it just didn’t have a good effect to me for this one. I think I was most annoyed with Moon Joo-Ran’s character and what she was thinking because it felt like I couldn’t get a good grasp on her ideas and motives for this story. She is weak and bothered by her sister’s death which I still don’t understand what happened there and why the whole world seems to blame her for the death, which is absurd?? They spent so much time in this drama focusing on her sister’s death and it doesn’t even get explained at the end was highly disappointing to me. I guess they were just using it as an excuse for her husband to gaslight her I suppose.

Honestly the last two episodes just seemed like bizarre behavior, I don’t understand why Joo-Ran wouldn’t get the police involved in the situation instead of doing the crazy stuff she did at the end. It just seemed like there was no redeeming qualities in any of the characters in this drama and I just couldn’t wrap my head around their behaviors. I just want to say this allowed murder is wrong and bad but self-defense is a completely different idea. It is strange because normally when you watch a mystery type drama you find yourself curious but somehow I just wasn’t that curious, maybe because every character on this drama seemed to be bad and evil what they do wasn’t surprising at all. If they showed a completely different personality and then found out they did something evil, it would be more shocking. It also seemed to give the message that men are evil and will abuse their wives which can happen in real life but every character was giving this message.

If I could say anything good about this drama is that acting was well done, at times I had to skip over because it was just too hard to watch some scenes.

I personally did not like this drama and wouldn’t recommend unless you like thriller dramas that are dark and depressing!

Upcoming Dramas

Miraculous Brothers

It is about a failed writer that is down on his luck and he runs into a young man and they are involved in an accident. When the young man wakes up he doesn’t have his memories and has developed some abilities to read people’s minds and feel their feelings. The writer decides to help care for him.

Longing For You

This drama is about a detective that is trying to solve a murder case when his brother becomes one of the suspects and he works tirelessly to solve the case and bring his brother justice. It all ends in tragedy and he has to solve his brother’s murder case.

My Lovely Liar

It is about a young woman who is able to hear people’s thoughts and she meets her neighbor who is a successful music producer and finds out she can’t use her power on him. He is involved in a murder scandal and is in hiding when they meet.

Korean Drama Reviews January 2018 February 7, 2018

So I finished some dramas and the first one I want to talk about is Meloholic which is an older drama since it aired in November/December but I just didn’t have time for it then. It is a shorter drama from OCN and it ran for 10 episodes. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to check this one out because I tend to not like shorter dramas but I thought it could be a lighthearted drama but then I forgot it was an OCN drama. They tend not to have light-hearted dramas but this is one of the lighter ones that I have seen although they of course you can’t forget the murder, I don’t think they could do a drama without murder. It is based on a webtoon so I thought it would be an interesting drama to check out. It stars U-Know Yunho which I am sorry but is a silly name to choose and he is of course from TVXQ(DBSK). It also stars Kyung Soo-Jin who I haven’t watched before. So the story is that Yunho was in an accident and he develops the ability to read minds. He one day meets Han Ye-Ri and he reads her mind and discovers that she has another personality. He is able to use his unique skill to help her and unravel a mystery that surrounds the both of them.

This drama has an interesting plot in theory about the split personality and the psychology around the ability to mind read. I did enjoy the acting of Kyung Soo-Jin and the ability to become a different person with just her acting. I mean I think this drama could be compared to Kill Me, Heal Me because of the split personalities and not be able to win against the acting in that one. But I think her acting was still strong with changing the personalities. I have to say some episodes really drew me in with the mystery and plot twists. The story is pretty solid and by the end I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure it all out but I have to say the last episode felt like it had diverted from the rest of the story and felt like a plot device and didn’t care for since it was so rushed. I also thought the villain did a good job in portraying his role and I really thought he was crazy. I thought they did a good job of delving into past problem that Ye-Ri had and did an interesting way of showing it to Yunho.

I did have some problems with this drama for some reason I didn’t care that much for Yunho’s acting I don’t know why but when he was trying to woo Ye-Ri it just felt kinda fake and like he was being too sweet. I don’t know this just might be my personal preference but I don’t really care for his acting. I feel like this drama was unrealistic with how to deal with a split personality I mean they are psychology majors and even their professor didn’t suggest that Ye-Ri go to counseling to deal with her split personality. To me that seems really bizarre like split personality would disrupt your life and would be something that you would have to work on to even like a semi normal life. I don’t think this drama did any favours to Korean society by basically saying you need to fix your psychological problems on your own or meet the right person that will be able to fix you.

I thought it was an okay drama I wasn’t especially excited about it or upset about it either.It is nice if you just need a short drama to tide you over until the one you are waiting for is airing.

The next drama that I finished was Dr. Storks/Kounodori 2 which is a Japanese Drama. I was so surprised that they had made a second season of this drama since the first season aired in 2015 and I had not heard that they were doing a second season. The drama is set two years after the first season which is what happened in real life. The story is about Sakura Konotori who is a obstetrician that is also secretly a famous piano player. The story follows him and the other doctors and midwives that work at the hospital. This time the story focuses on the growth of the doctors and the struggles of the ordinary person getting pregnant, staying pregnant, having babies, and caring for babies basically all issues around pregnancy.

I really like this drama I feel like I even learn when I watch it and find it an interesting and unique topic that is not often highlighted in a drama. I really like all the characters and how they are learning and growing. I find myself finding something to be tearing about in every episode either because of the sadness or warmheartedness of the drama. I think it an inspiring drama and the way they cheer others and each other on that I just feel happy. It is a more serious drama and it more focused on the individual cases that come in every episode or so.

Some things that I wished I could change was that there was a real lack of love lines in this drama which I get they are more focused on working together but I really want to so see Sakura Konotori have some personal growth in the romantic lines it wouldn’t have to be much I just want him to be to have some happiness and maybe some of them could have their own babies and enjoy it as much as the people that they see everyday with babies. I also didn’t care for an episode where a couple gets an abortion, but again that is just how I personally feel and it made me feel really sad.

I really hope that this drama will get a third season but from the feeling of it ending it seemed like it really was the ending which is sad but I recommend this drama if you like medical dramas that are heart warming!

 

Jugglers was another drama that finished in January which about  Yoon-Yi (Baek Jin-Hee) who is a secretary and a very good one that that. She becomes a scandal and her job is taken away from her and is put on a waiting list realizing that the company is trying to get rid of her. Chi-Won (Daniel Choi) who gets a new job as managing director in the video business department at YB Ad department. He is need of a secretary even though he doesn’t realize it and Yoon-Yi becomes the women for the job and they learn how to work together.

So this drama is really more of a cute and silly drama that is supposed to be light-hearted. I have to say that I have never watched a secretary and boss love story. I feel like I should have but I don’t know any other ones, maybe I have avoided them or it just feels cliche so they haven’t aired dramas like that for a while. I found it was sweet and interesting most of the time and I really like their characters and how different they are from each other and yet they make it work together. It is interesting because they do with the idea of divorce which I think is not often addressed in a drama. I also liked the dynamic of Lee Won-Geun (Hwangbo Yool) and Kang Hye-Jung (Wang Jung-Ae) as secretary and boss in this drama which I found to be cute. This drama has a lot of interesting characters and I never found myself bored watching it. I really like that it kept with the silliness even thought there are more than a few serious moments but it didn’t take away from the lightheartedness of the drama. I thought it was really cute and the acting was well done!

I do have some issues with this drama though, I really don’t like how they brushed off Chi-Won’s mental distress and that his fears would just go away with Yoon-Yi around him which is not accurate of people’s traumas that they face in their lives and that is was just the easiest fix. I think it sends a bad message to people that are struggling with their fears that again all they need to do is find the right person and all your traumas will just go away on their own. I just feel like that is false idea that can affect people’s perception of their own problems. I also feel like this drama makes women seem like there only role can be is serving men and that they need to be a certain age and have a certain look to be important. It would have been more ideal if Yoon-Yi would have moved up in the company and been able to get a job that allowed her to use her skills that she has learned and work as a peer instead of a secretary.

Overall it is a cute drama that is more light-hearted but it doesn’t go to deep and stays on the surface of love.

 

The next drama that I watched was Just Between Lovers which stars Lee Gang Doo (Lee Joon-Ho) from 2pm who was in a  accident of a mall collapsing and lives with the mental and physical pain of the accident as an adult and is just trying to get by on his own strength. It also stars Ha Moon-So (Won Jin-A) who has also survived the same accident and makes architecture models she suffers the guilt from surviving the accident and her younger sister didn’t she lives suppressing the accident and things start to change when she meets Lee Gang Doo and she starts opening herself up to him. They both start working for the company that is going to rebuild on the land and they both get caught up with other characters that were affected by the collapse of the mall.

So this drama is very emotional I think I probably cried in most of the episodes it is just so heartbreaking dealing with the aftermath of such a tragic event that changes everyone’s life. I found it a really realistic portrayal of how people deal with grief and that is not always a pretty picture. I could find myself within these characters and it really spoke to me. I really like Won Jin-A I have not watched her before but I found her to be a character that was more relatable. She wasn’t the typical heroine who had the bright personality that can fix all problems either relationally or emotionally. She is just a person and not a over the top kind of girl which I found refreshing in a lead. I thought Lee Joon-Ho did amazing in this drama as I don’t think he was done too much acting and really found him to be a realistic character. I appreciate a drama that was made that dealt with this type of subject matter because not many want to deal with the idea of grief and what it means to live on in midst of a disaster in such an honest way. The ending was almost too much to handle but I am satisfied with how everything turned out.

There were some issues that I found was that it didn’t feel quite complete because we never get to see the remembrance garden that they spend most of their time working on in this drama that I think would have tied the ending together for me. I also found it hard to be convinced that Sang-Man was socially or mentally disabled, he seemed like he understood everything. I am not sure what was supposed to be wrong with him but he seemed almost normal to me. I also didn’t really like Seo Joo-Won character story line in this drama I feel like they were going strong with his story and then in the middle they just kinda dropped him and it just felt unfinished and even his connection to Moon-So felt somewhat weak and not that believable that he liked her. Also they drama plays on your heart strings and I think at times it felt really depressing but I still felt like it was a worthwhile story being told.

I really thought this drama was underrated and I felt like it was an important story that was being told and at times it wasn’t always comfortable but that it had a lot of realistic moments and will have some honest truths about dealing with grief. There were some loose ends at the end of the drama but nothing that really took away from the story.

 

The fifth drama that I finished was “I’m not a robot” which stars Min-Kyu (Yoo Seung-Ho) who is the largest shareholder of a finance company but is unable to be around any people because he has a human allergy. His life becomes in danger if he comes into contact with any person. It also stars Ji-A (Chae Soo-Bin) who works as a personal shopper and is an aspiring inventor and her life becomes involved with Min-Kyu’s because Ji-A’s ex-boyfriend invented a robot that he shaped after her and after an accident he needs Ji-A to pretend to be his robot for a short time so he doesn’t lose his investment money.

I first thought this is not going to be a very good drama because I had just finished watching Borg Mom which is about a robot and I did not enjoy it very much and thought it was going to be similarly cheesy. I was pleasantly surprised and found that it was much better than I thought it was going to be. The characters were well developed and the actors were pretty good and I starting becoming attached to all of them. I think it was an interesting story because Ji-A had to pretend to be a robot and all the things that could go wrong were pretty fun. Min-Kyu is such a loveable character because he is so pure and unaware that it was hard not to smile while watching this drama. I thought it did a good job finishing the drama as well since there have been dramas this year that do not know how to finish the story.

The one thing that bothered me about this drama was the way Min-Kyu treated Ji-A after he found out that she wasn’t a robot. I don’t think I would be able to withstand the way he treated her even though it is true she did something wrong I found it a bit harsh. I just think is this how he is going to act every time he gets angry and I would feel uneasy. Also the robot was not terribly realistic since not much changed when she pretended to be the robot vs Aji 3.

Overall this was a pretty good drama and I was impressed with it more than I thought and I am happy that I watched this drama.

The last thing I want to talk about is a korean variety show called “Hyori’s Bed and Breakfast/ Hyori’s Homestay”. I just finished watching the first season and this might be old news to everyone but it aired in summertime but I am a little behind and finally finished the first season. Just as I winding down this month I found out that they are filming the second season and will probably be airing pretty soon which has made me very happy. So this variety show is about Lee Hyori who started out in a girl group Fin.K.L but has been a solo artist for a while now. I watched her previously in Family Outing which is one the most hilarious variety shows to ever be aired! I loved her in that, her personality is just so great so I knew I had to watch her in this show. She is married to a a guitarist Lee Sang-Soon, which I don’t really too much about but they live in Jeju Island and they opened their house up to guests and turned it into a bed and breakfast.

I thought it was crazy because their house doesn’t seem to be that terribly suited to having guests since it has one master bedroom and I was like okay they are just having one set of guests but it was crazy and had multiple groups staying at their house. It really made me think differently about life and how they just opened there home and life up to the world. There house just seems to be full of love and especially because they have a good variety of cats and dogs it just makes me want to smile. It is such a positive show as you watch Hyori interact with her guests and she tries to help them as they seem so willing to open up to her as she tries to teach them about yoga. I also realized how Hyori has such a wonderful husband that loves her so much that I really found it to be inspiring. Also IU comes and joins the cast as she becomes their worker that helps clean and cook for the guests.

I always thought IU was cute but this candid show of IU made me think she is so adorable with her funny fashion sense and how Hyori teases her. Not much happens in the show and yet it feels so rich and full of inner hidden gems. I am excited for the next season where Yoona joins them as the worker and I am sure that will be filled with lovely moments again.

 

The Dramas I am Planning to Watch Next:

1. Radio Romance: This drama is about a struggling radio program writer and obviously must have romance in it

2. Mother: This is about a girl who is abused and her temporary teacher finds out about the abuse and decides to become the girls mother.

3.Eulachacha Waikiki/Laughter in Waikiki: This is about 3 men who run a guest house in Itaewon and are facing bankruptcy and then a new guest with a baby appear.

4. Cross: Which is about a man who becomes a doctor in order to avenge his father who was brutally murdered 15 years ago and so he volunteers at a prison medical office to get at the murderer.

 

 

March Korean Drama Reviews 2016 March 25, 2016

So I finally finished Bromance a Taiwanese Drama that only got aired once a week so it takes a lot longer to finish as a drama. I was pleasantly surprised with this drama because for one thing I usually find that they are far too long and things get dragged out, which did happen a bit but not to the extent with some other dramas. I was really shocked at the chemistry in this drama and there are a few steamy scenes that caught me really off guard because it was so unexpected. I thought that it was actually really well done and the storyline pretty much made sense except for the whole part of her dressing like a man because a quack fortune teller told them to do so! At times I really thought Pi Yanou could have been a man with the way she looked and at other times it wasn’t super believable but overall they did a good job with the gender bender theme! I think this was a really enjoyable drama that has a lot of fun in it, although I wished she changed back into a girl a lot earlier in the drama.

I also finished My Little Lover which is a Japanese Drama and had a hard time with finding subs for this drama. Thankfully Viki did sub it and so if you want to watch it, that is a good place. Well this drama was not the best, I really didn’t think it would be as it seemed a bit gimmicky. A girl turning into the one inch princess. It wasn’t terrible but I had a hard time getting myself to finish the series. Again I wish she would have gone back to normal earlier in the drama and found it got a bit repetitive of the problems she faced while being small. I just thought it would be an interesting drama but I found myself feeling disappointed with this drama.

The third drama I finished was Remember. This was a crazy drama and it did have some problems as the number of episodes kept changing. Boy this is a roller coaster of a drama, I never knew that I could feel so depressed and on edge after watching some episodes in this drama. Honestly this drama had so many problems with the storyline especially his dad with Alzheimer’s being sent to jail and the problems with the lack of evidence and everything. Despite that it was a fun drama to watch and the drama and intrigue was interesting. Also I don’t love Lawyer dramas but I have to say for the first time I think I learned something about court. I didn’t connect that great with the main loveline and didn’t really have a whole lot of interest in them and didn’t feel like I connected with their emotions. I seriously loved Park Dong-Ho the most, I loved his accent in this drama and he just so charismatic in this drama. Also another great reason to watch this drama is to check out Nam Goong Min acting in this drama, I loved watching him in We Got Married and he is seriously a crazy good actor in this drama. I didn’t think I would even enjoy this drama that much and it turns out I was wrong. It not the best lawyer drama out there but it sure is interesting!

I just finished Cheese In The Trap. Honestly I had such high hopes for this drama since I have been following the Webcomic for a while and was actually really surprised they were going to make a drama of it. I was worried about the ending since I knew the webcomic hasn’t been finished. Seriously though why do they pick up comics and manga as a show and the story isn’t even completed, like it is the worst idea. So the ending will disappoint you, no matter how you look at it. You become so invested in every decision that the characters make and the ending just feels like they wrote it off and it feels like a mess. It would be different if they would continue to do another series of it when the comic would finish the story but we will never get to see anymore and that is why it is so frustrating. I mean always having all endings wrapped up may seem cliche and not realistic or edgy or something but I still find it really disappointing. I think this drama needed more episodes and it just felt so wrong! At least we still have the webcomic that is continuing to make up for it!

I also just finished Moorim School. Now they at least gave us an ending that wouldn’t leave us feeling so unsatisfied. This drama really wasn’t that great but I think what saved this drama was the good looking boys, and it had Hong-Bin from Vixx, so fans probably supported it. This drama too was supposed to have more episodes but it got shortened. I found the storyline to be somewhat redundant and silly at times. Frankly this drama had way too many flashbacks and a lot of cliche moments. I didn’t hate it but I wasn’t that good at all. It was a bit strange with the secret powers and chintamani key or something. It was not well written at all but if you don’t mind things like that you might enjoy it.

The dramas that I am checking out next are Goodbye Mr. Black which is supposed to be about a man who is in the Navy and goes through some friend’s betrayal and is supposed to be a bit like the count of monte cristo which is a movie that I love! and He has to go into a fake marriage to hide his identity. Sounds like it could be a great drama if it is done properly!! Here’s hoping!

The second drama I am going to check out is Jackpot starring Jang Keun-Suk so I pretty much have to watch it now! This is of course a period drama which genre I don’t think I have watched before! So the story is that he is a gambler and a prince and is forced to live as a commoner so he wants to take revenge of the King by using his gambling skills. I hope that it will be interesting enough to watch 24 episodes worth of!!!

The third drama I will be watching is Refresh Man which of course stars Aaron Yan who has been the star in so many of the Taiwanese Dramas that I have watched. I hope I will not find it redundant because I have watched so much of him but I sure hope it will be good. The storyline is that Aaron has a childhood friend Yu Tang who competed with him in school and always did better than him. When grows up the tables are turned and he becomes a CEO and she becomes his secretary. Then tension between the two of them sounds pretty exciting! I hope this will be a fun drama!!

November Dramas 2015 November 21, 2015

I finished She Was Pretty and I have to say it was an awesome drama! It was my favorite one this fall. It has twists and turns and I have to say was pretty fulfilling. I would really suggest if you watch any drama this fall or winter to watch She Was Pretty! It was so much fun and I have to say that Si Won really surprised me with his acting skills! It is worth it just to watch him act!

I also finished Sassy Go Go or Cheer Up. I liked this drama as well even though it was pretty much a typical high school drama but I was okay with that. I am a little tired of Eun Ji playing those type of roles I would like to see her doing other things. All I can say is I really hope that students don’t have to be living like that and dealing with those things in high school!

I am currently watching Because It’s The First Time. It is about a group of friends that live in the same neighborhood and are at college age. Tae-Oh as Min Ho is the lead and is in love with his childhood friend Song-Yi and he doesn’t want to believe it and so is pushing his feelings down. It is a bright drama with interesting characters and it is only on once a week and is shorter than other dramas. I enjoy the interactions between the characters and have been pleasantly surprised by this drama. I think it may have a more realistic bent on relationships and hardships of being a twenty year old.

The second drama I am watching is Bubblegum with Dong-Wook as the lead Ri-Hwan. I have to say I wanted to watch this drama because of him since I loved him a lot in Roommates. It is about Ri-Hwan who is an eastern doctor and his childhood friend Haeng-Ah who grew up with him like a sister because her parents died. It is a struggle to discover their true feelings with others getting in the way. This drama is a bit slower but hopefully it will pick up. I find Dong-Wook’s character not as lovable as I would like but it’s okay. I don’t think this will be the most exciting story and may be a bit more typical but I think it will still be enjoyable.

The third drama I picked up is Reply 1988, I have only watched one episode so far, so I am still unsure if I will like this drama. The drama is about five families that live on the same street. The focus seems to be on the Seoul Olympics this year and a bit of a tribute to that year. It seems like this will be an interesting drama because there is a lot of people that the storyline can focus on. It seems like the main focus will be on the kids from the families but there is still a lot of focus on the parents too. Maybe it would strike more a chord if you grew up in the 80’s and also have been from Korea. I will keep sticking with this drama because it seems like it will be heartwarming.

The fourth drama I am watching is a Taiwanese Drama called Bromance. The storyline is about Pi Ya Nuo who when she was born was told her fortune and that since she was born a girl she would not survive childhood unless she would live a as a boy for the next 25 years. So now that she is going to be 26 she has to decide whether she will continue as a boy or change to a girl. She also saves Zi Feng who is a powerful man and becomes his sworn brother which complicates her life. So this a typical girl dressed up a boy drama to some extent. I have to say all that craziness is still fun no matter how many times it has been done. Again since it is a Taiwanese drama there is some overacting that is involved. I hope it will not be dragged out too long as I find some of their dramas have the tendency to do so. I am pleasantly surprised by this drama and Ya Nuo actually seems pretty convincing as a boy compared to other girls. It is a fun drama and I am enjoying the fun of it.

 

I am also checking out a Japanese Drama  My Little Lover. Again I have only watched the first episode but it looks like an amusing drama. It is about Horikiri a girl who has a childhood friend who is her neighbor Minami. They are in high school and have grown apart and one day when she is upset about this she wishes she could go back to when they were friends. Instead she becomes 15 cm tall and is found by Minami. It looks like a fun drama but it seems a bit cheesy and unrealistic but that is what makes it a charming drama. I feel like Jdramas don’t get as much love so I hope everyone can check this drama out!