Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching
by DB Staff
So, what are we all watching this week?
What kept you reaching for more (or agonizing when there was no more), and what made you want to throw your remote through the screen? Time to weigh in…
javabeans
Let’s Eat 3: I’ve missed Yoon Doo-joon, and this season has managed to re-create the same spirit of light-hearted, food-related fun anchored in character relationships that we’ve come to expect of this franchise. And it’s quite a feat to do that while swapping out all the characters minus one… but those swaps aren’t without their downsides, either. I’m not sure if revealing what happened to Seo Hyun-jin will kill the fun for me, because that just seemed like an extra kick in the pants that I’m not sure we really needed. I am so conflicted and the season has barely just begun.
Mr. Sunshine: Okay, I’ve seen enough to feel like I get what vibe the drama’s going for, and it just isn’t one that grips me. There are a lot of elements about this show I find very compelling, but it just doesn’t feel like an organic, character-driven show, and my emotions are having a hard time being engaged. It sort of feels like the show was built the opposite of the way I prefer — setpieces and overreaching arc first, then back-filling in with character moments, rather than starting with characters and building out from there. I do enjoy the addition of Byun Yo-han into the mix (he’s a welcome dose of lightness amidst all that manly dolor), and I find myself drawn to Kim Tae-ri and Yoo Yeon-seok’s tangled connection the most, which is mainly what I’m watching for.
Meteor Garden: I know we don’t generally cover non-Korean dramas here, but I figure this brand-new version of Meteor Garden earns a shout-out for all those Boys Over Flowers fans out there. Is the show — as per the usual M.O. — juvenile? Is the acting green? Does the story still make me cringe in moments? Yes, of course, and absolutely — but there must be something magical about this setup/story/franchise, because despite all that, I’m stupidly hooked on this show. The lead actress is one of the better versions of the character (not quite as great as the Japanese Tsukushi, but a distinct step up from the K-drama Jan-di), but it’s this new Daoming Si who’s got me obsessed with his adorable, idiotic, childlike ways. (He’s sweeter than the Japanese Doumyouji and less abusive than Lee Min-ho’s version, which means he just may become my favorite iteration of this character. We’ll see.) I may be groaning often at the defanged conflicts and lack of true stakes and the acting, but I’m also totally haunting the internet for new episodes and may have the release dates for every episode penciled into my planner.
girlfriday
Mr. Sunshine: Now that the introductions are out of the way, our cast of players is intersecting in really interesting ways, setting us up for multiple overlapping love triangles (or is it just one really big love pentagon?), which is certainly more exciting than a string of backstory vignettes. The Lee Byung-heon/Byun Yo-han revenge rivalry is classic, though nothing is better than the tense Yoo Yeon-seok/Kim Tae-ri scenes. I know my heart is doomed, and that there’s nothing to be done about it. I lived through Chilbongie. I know what lies there, and yet, here I am.
What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim: Granted, there wasn’t a whole lot of conflict in this series to begin with, but this week felt especially void of purpose. The couple is happy, in love, and on the same page about pretty much everything, which doesn’t leave a whole lot for them to do, other than hug and kiss. Okay, so it’s not like I’m going to complain about the hugging and kissing. I just thought we were leading up to this big change in the heroine’s life, where she goes off to find herself outside of her identity as Secretary Kim, no? Maybe I was expecting too much. Let’s just enjoy the smoochies.
Let’s Eat 3: Uhh… I know I’m always complaining about Yoon Doo-joon being a playboy in this series, but that wasn’t a request to do THAT to him! I was all geared up for a peppy round of food worship and throwback references, but now I’m crying into my noodles while rewatching the second season. I need a hug.
odilettante
Currently recapping: Let’s Eat 3
Your House Helper: I only really started this because the production team and some of the cast were involved with Strongest Deliveryman, and I was hoping this show would be similar. And it kinda is! Not just because of the cast (including the squee-worthy Kim Sun-ho cameo), but because it deals with everyday people who are struggling to get by, hoping to finally catch a break. The theme of three friends down on their luck who end up banding together also reminds me of Radiant Office, but maybe that’s because Ha Suk-jin is playing, well, the kind of character he always plays. There’s also a dash of Age of Youth due to the emphasis on all the female friendships, but now I’m probably pandering in a desperate attempt to get more people watching this underrated gem.
To. Jenny: A sweet two-episode drama that was pleasant if not exactly unique or demanding. It hit all the right notes for me (pun intended!), particularly my love for indie music, musical dramas, painfully anxious and shy people redeeming themselves, and Kim Sung-chul. I could listen to him sing all day, every day. I’ll probably remember this mini-drama more for the soundtrack than anything else, which isn’t really a complaint.
RELATED POSTS
- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (July 14, 2018)
- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (July 7, 2018)
- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (June 30, 2018)
- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (June 23, 2018)
- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (June 16, 2018)
- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (June 9, 2018)
Tags: Let's Eat 3, Mr. Sunshine, What We're Watching, What's Wrong With Secretary Kim, Your House Helper
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76 abalyn
July 21, 2018 at 7:25 PM
I totally got hooked on Meteor Garden too! I agree that Daoming Si is adorable!
I tried out House Helpers after last week's What We're Watching and am really enjoying it.
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77 rochinipark
July 21, 2018 at 8:10 PM
My liked comments showed it has been a month since I last posted on Dramabeans. #reallife and #gettingmarried takes up alot of writing time.
Watching What's Up with Secretary Kim and like some I see she has everything she needs to build and know herself I guess that is why she does not see the need to leave the position. But once they get married etc surely that position will be harder to maintain. I still think she needs a holiday or some other hobby as she worked crazy non stop in her 20s.
Also concluded Partners for Justice aka Investigative Couple. Looks like another show made to have another seasom with that obvious ending credit "To be continued".Liked the story and 5mins later with no conclusion in sight for the lawyer's death I knew there would be continuation.
Haven't continue on Come and Hug and and Handsome Guy and Jung eum. I may be the very few ones watching the latter.Looking forward to concluding both these dramas.
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bong-soo
July 22, 2018 at 6:19 AM
Hi @rochinipark. If congratulations are in order
(re #gettingmarried) then CONGRATULATIONS!
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78 Meheartisamusicbox
July 21, 2018 at 8:16 PM
What I am watching:
Mr. Sunshine, albeit absent-mindedly unless there is more of yys/yys-ktr intense, conflicting moments, my mind just drifted away in the remainings... agree with @javabeans I am watching this with my mind simutaneously playing it the opposite way my eyes are seeing it.
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79 ahjummadd
July 21, 2018 at 10:35 PM
Currently watching:
- Legend of Fuyao
- Let's Eat - the first season. Really loving the way they eat and describe the food.
- Are you human too - looking forward to the next episodes to see what will happen between Shin and Shin III.
I am really glad Javabeans mentioned Meteor Garden 2018. It's on my watchlist on Netflix. Like Javabeans I am so drawn to this franchise I just have to check it out.
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80 Cha_JN
July 21, 2018 at 10:57 PM
Watched To.Jenny's episode 1 at around 1AM and I did not regret it! Too bad its just only 2 episodes. I want MOOOOOORRRREEE......
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81 Fatcat007 (Kitty 💜)
July 22, 2018 at 12:52 AM
221 comments later..... XD
LoM : so good rn!
AYHT: shinnabong alone supports the whole show
WWWSK: Let's just see it to the end since I came this far
To.Jenny: 2-shot eps are waaaay better than long one. What a lovely drama, I hope we get more such light, mood-lifting short dramas in future ^^
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82 Arrowbelle
July 22, 2018 at 1:06 AM
Re: Meteror Garden
Spot on with the comments for me! I normally cringe when it comes to watching C- Dramas because of the dubbing/ cliches / green acting but this version of MG has me hooked (also loving the fact theres 8 eps a week to watch on Netflix). The lead actress is my fav version out of the other remakes so far, same goes for Daomingsi~ And love the fact they got Xiao S to be the big sister :)
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83 Lilium
July 22, 2018 at 5:31 AM
Comment was deleted
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84 Kairoskat is on LUCY Island 🏝
July 22, 2018 at 8:00 AM
I watched signal over the weekend and got so confused. I cant grasp the mechanics of the walkie talkie and how it changes the past and the future. I hoped bro survived in the end, but sadly he died. I liked the earlier half, when it started to delve into the injoo case it got too confusing and i started to loose interest and wanted the case to be solved quickly 😅
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85 RLD
July 22, 2018 at 8:02 AM
Watching:
1) Are You Human Too. It's become one of my all time favorites, up there w/You From Another Star and Goblin.
2)Mr. Sunshine (on NETFLIX). This is great! It's not your typical episodic KDrama, the visuals are epic, really stunning.
This noble Gunner Girl has 3 guys interested in her, her late to the party Fiancee (my least favorite) the deeply scared Gang leader (interesting man) and the Marine, who I do favor because they are equals, and he knows it. I think it's slowly dawning on her. The dirty, piercing looks she gives her fiancee crack me up. She's made it apparent that while he was in Japan, she not only grew up to be very pretty, but, also, very smart.
3)Legend of Fuyao. Very entertaining. OMG, the character of C.Prince Wu Ji, what a Romeo! Wu Ji, Wu Ji, where for art thou Wu Ji.
4)What's Wrong W/Secretary Kim. It's a cute show, some episodes make you laugh more than others. The main couple are so cute, actually the 2 office couple's are very funny too. The whole kidnap/trauma/brother discord plot is very wonky. The parents get an award for the two stupidest parents in the world. It's too bad they haven't done more w/the brother, he's sincere in what little of the show they gave this character. It's a cute show, with some unfortunate flaws, that I will watch til the end, but, it could have been better.
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86 Connie
July 22, 2018 at 11:32 AM
OMG, i was gonna give this version of Meteor Garden a skip, but I might have to start watching it!
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87 ajewell
July 22, 2018 at 12:23 PM
Thank you soooo much for bringing the new Meteor Garden to my attention!! The original was the first drama I ever watched, and was responsible for getting me interested in Asian Dramas in the first place, so it's always held a special place in my heart. Since then, I've watched every single adaptation ever made (even the ridiculously short-lived American version, lol) so I'm beyond thrilled to check out this latest one - even more so, since it's apparently really good!! ^_^
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88 fay17
July 22, 2018 at 12:51 PM
Omg I'm only reading this now, JB watching Meteor garden/ talking about a non-Korean show here isn't the thing I assumed I would be so excited about lol.
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89 amy_hamidah
July 22, 2018 at 4:05 PM
The only show I was watching these past few weeks was What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (WWWSK) but I did read somewhere that most fans prefer Park Seo Joon's acting in Fight My Way (FMY) so I decided to give Fight My Way a go...I'm glad that I did as I definitely loved him in FMY where I truly believed he's in his true elements there...It also didn't hurt that I love Kim Ji Won's Choi Ae Ra character as the spunky girl who is loyal to a fault...All in all, it was a good week, Park Seo Joon as Ko Dong Man, I am forever a fan...
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90 Pei
July 22, 2018 at 8:33 PM
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim:
Mi-Soo Dad reasoning over his objection is hilarious! When he said to Mi-Soo that it was for her own good, Young-Joon will be more determined to have her and will treat her well because it's not an easy winning. I'm sure he just put an act at the end of ep 14, Young-Joon will eventually gain his approval. Looking forward to this week finale and feeling sad because I will need to find other drama to fill in the empty slot.
Come And Hug Me:
I like how they end the show, embracing their younger version and finally make peace with their hurtful past. YHJ end up back to his solitary cell and learned that his family was no longer his. YHJ has been raving "I will eliminate anything that makes you weak" to Na-Moo, but he failed to realize that Na-Moo is his weakness. When Na-Moo stood up for everyone he loves and refused to become his psycho dad alter ego, YHJ world is crumbling. In the end, he was all alone.
Are You Human?:
I'm way behind in this, just finished watching ep. 12. Try to catch up with the rest but very sloooooowwwww >.<
Produce 48
I can see why rumors about rigging the vote result are open in the air. Let say that some group are not that good, to begin with, and totally slaughter the choice song performance, but the vote result is against the odd. I guess this is about popularity contest rather than talent.
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91 Nico Ishk
July 22, 2018 at 10:11 PM
Ratings section hasn't been updated since the nixon administration.
Was looking for ratings on "Strongest deliveryman" and "While you were sleeping", 2 dramas from Last year.
Recaps are nice, but if you want to get an overall feel without too many spoilers, Ratings is where to go... but it's not been updated in a loooong while.
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bong-soo
July 23, 2018 at 8:28 AM
Hi @nico-ishk. If it is viewer ratings you are talking about I really have missed the RATINGS REPORT (drama viewership ratings) feature. I believe the last post was for the week of Dec. 25-31, 2017. Here are a couple suggestions:
1. My go to site for drama ratings is here:
http://inkinews.com/
(Inkinews.com archives go back to March 2107. You can get both dramas' ratings by using the search feature.)
2. My experience is that the wiki pages for kdramas carry a ratings section. Here for SD and WYWS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strongest_Deliveryman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/While_You_Were_Sleeping_(2017_TV_series)
Btw I enjoyed both those dramas.
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Virginia
July 23, 2018 at 10:50 AM
I usually just go to the show's wikipedia site for ratings too!
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Nico Ishk
July 25, 2018 at 6:16 PM
Thank you very much, I will follow your advice :)
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92 Virginia
July 23, 2018 at 10:49 AM
Let's Eat 2: finished the first 3 episodes on my flight (thanks to the DL option on Netflix) and will continue to binge this week so I can start watching Let's Eat 3. I know I'm still early in the season but as of ep3, I think I was more hooked and into season 1's storyline. It probably doesn't help that I already know what happens to Seo Hyun Jin's character so I'm kinda bummed about that as well.
Come and Hug Me: another drama where I've only watched the first 3 episodes. Will also need to binge on this one to catch up. I've been reading recaps and everyone's comments though and am excited to finish this show because of the happy ending.
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim: binged and caught up on this drama this past week. I am loving Mi So's sense of style- her stylist gets an A+ from me! I am also enjoying all the kissing scenes. It actually looks like 2 adults kissing for real unlike a lot of other dramas where the kisses fall flat. Can't wait to see the last 2 episodes this week!
Life on Mars, Your House Helper & Are You Human Too: haven't started watching these shows yet but they are on my list. Everyone's comments about Life on Mars has me super excited and looking forward to this show. As for the latter two... I like the 2 main leads so I'll give it a shot and hope that the storyline is enough to keep me wanting more.
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93 abalyn
July 24, 2018 at 9:04 PM
Speaking of C-dramas, I watched all of The Love Knot: His Excellency's First Love Monday (as an excuse--I was not feeling well, and shorter episodes, plus five minutes of intro and outro you can skip). While it has the common C-drama ailment of an obnoxious lead female, it was otherwise really great. It did SO much better at gods from another world than Bride of the Water God, and the ending was better than Hwayugi (not that that's hard). The side characters and side plots were great--the best friend baker and her two fox buddies was the best part of all.
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abalyn
July 24, 2018 at 9:07 PM
Also, WHY does the best friend type never end up as main female lead? You know, the one who has her own bakery/nail salon/restaurant, emotionally stable, has her own philosophies about life, has her eccentricities, but is still open to change and new relationships. That seems so much more what most women I know are like rather than the Cinderella character.
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94 empressblue
July 25, 2018 at 9:28 AM
While watching the Chinese version, I really feel that the best version of Meteor Garden/ Boys Over Flowers for me is still the Japanese version - best Doumyouji character, best Tsukushi character, best story line, best ending. It's hailed one of the best dramas in my long list of dramas.
The 2018 Chinese version is easy to watch and fun to laugh at, but it doesn't tug any heartstrings for me. I think it's one of the dramas I could easily forget about after watching the whole series. But still, it's something I look forward to while waiting for new episodes of Are You Human Too?.
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95 MikeyD signed up
July 25, 2018 at 2:38 PM
There's a new series out named 'Thirty but Seventeen' (Drama Fever title) that frankly doesn't look very good. But it does have Ye Ji-won in it making some delightfully wacky acting choices. I had just finished binge-watching her in "This week, my wife is having an affair". I loved her in "Another Oh Hae-young" from the same year.
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96 tex
August 3, 2018 at 11:37 PM
I am curious about Meteor Garden 2018 also. Hana Yori Dango 2005 is good!
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97 rochinipark
August 19, 2018 at 1:08 AM
Watching Familiar Wife and I am loving it. Joo Hyuk did not look like an impulsive person during his university days to want to go back in time and dramatically change his life. Seeing a lively Woo Jin in this timeline and his new wife Hye Won being just a cello lecturer who is living off her rich family may just show he is somehow holding them back. In previous timeline,Hye won was a successful cello player in an orchestra. Cannot wait weekly for its new episodes.
Also 30 but 17 is just so lovely. A really nice slice of life warm drama. Hope they let her meet her old friend who has been loyally visiting her at the hospice. Also, I think maybe Jennifer may also been in that accident with Seo Ri and lost her baby.
Dear Judge I am watching for Yoon shi yoon aka Dong gu.Getting overwhelmed by all these legal and chaebol shenanigans.
Lovely Horribly will be a funny summer horror romcom.
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