I have zero knowledge nor interest in baseball but I decided to binge the first five episodes of Stove League on New Year's Eve and it was the best last-minute decision I've ever made in 2019. As soon as I finished the first five episodes, I wanted more. Stove League gives off a 90's sports anime vibe and I love it. Episode 6 highlighted the Baek Brothers, Young-soo's past, and how he decided to overcome his disability. The latest episode may not be as intense as the previous ones but the heart it has made this my favorite episode so far. Can't wait to watch episode 7!

It was fun to see Dong-shik's growth in this week's episodes of Psychopath Diary because he is really good at "acting as a psychopath." Who would've thought that In-woo would fall victim to the person he was trying to shape and frame as a monster? Also, Chil-sung is the best sidekick.

Although last week's episodes of No Second Chances was slow and there was no Baby Yeol-mu on sight, I still loved the episodes due to Hae-joon's significant growth. I totally did not expect the confession scene, but seeing that we're halfway already, I think the writers know that we need to have the Bak-Hae couple cuteness ASAP. I screamed so loud when Hae-joon was finally going against his mother but when Hae-joon was looking at his family photo with Yeol-mu and Bak-ha while smiling, I screamed even harder.

Black Dog may be a slow-burn show, but I love how it not only shows us Ha-neul's journey into becoming a teacher but it also dives deep into the teaching system in SK, the teachers in it, and how faulty it is. I love it whenever Ha-neul was interacting with the College Advisory Group, with Ji-sun (who I really miss), with Teacher Yoon, and with her student Yoo-ra. While Hae-won and Ha-neul mirror each other's situations, Ha-neul is the only one growing and doing the right things not just for other people, but also for herself. We must protect Ha-neul at all costs.

2020 starts with Cricket

JAPAN

Follow Saretara Owari - 7.5 out of 10. 15min entertaining episodes. This i call social friends. Though they act like they are such good friends.

Eat and sleep at Camp - 8 out of 10. title and high rating tells everything.

KOREA

Diary of a Prosecutor - 7.5 for 2 weeks. eagerly waiting for upcoming ones.

Hot Stove League - 7 for 3rd week. Many issues with this show(from story to plot to characters) but still better than average. kdrama

Trash Land - 4/10. headache in its own right.

MOVIES -

Until i meet September's Love - 7/10 Only a naive person would be affected by these kind of movies. rightly aimed at teenage audience craving corny romance.

Hot Gimmick - 3/10 shoujo manga to live-action - Shoujo trash to live-action. It makes me furious how resources are wasted on such a trash media. This kind of media causes heartburn. It amuses me how come shoujo aime at teenage female audience keeps on producing this kind of trash for years.

Farewell Song - 6/10 - half watched - Nana Komatsu. meh. less interested. gonna skip watch.

Black Dog (Episode 5-6)
I have a theory about Teacher Ji: given that he used to be under Sung Soon’s group, he may have realised how relaxed they were and thought that they weren’t able to help him aggressively push for the permanent teacher spot, hence, he decided to try his luck out with Teacher Song but then met another obstacle in Teacher Moon, which led to his passive aggressive moves currently with Ha Neul. But maybe given how he held a grudge against her by association (also now the advanced class thingy) he probably doesn’t deserve much sympathy for the hostile school environment he’s under.

Crash Landing on You (Episode 1-6)
I wasn’t really interested in this drama at first until I saw some comedic clips online. My thought was: oh maybe it’s not that grim with the North Korea setting and it’s a parody of the stereotypes that we’ve seen online. I even wondered if it was all a coma-like dream after the tornado disaster and the experience being stuck in North Korea would be cathartic for Se Ri. Of course, that was too good to be true, as the introduction presented family and army politics at one go and is now going into the same-old love triangle and denial phases. I will still watch it, albeit with the fast-forward buttons.

Chocolate (Episode 9-10)
And the drama trope strikes again with some terminal illness that befalls our female lead! On top of that, the hospice is now threatened by the rich family (even if wicked Grandma dies, there’s still the others), but I have hope in that Jun will step up to help Kang in defending it. His bickering dynamic with the nurse was a breath of fresh air from him having to resolve family fights and you can see how he can smile genuinely at the hospice despite the tension with Kang (no love triangle please). Cha Young’s brother was a surprise this week with the genuine concern: will he now be chaotic good?

Psychopath Diary (Episode 13-14)
Even though I’m glad that the trash has taken itself out once more this week (last week being Daddy Killer summoning a Truck of Doom for Corrupt Cop and this week being In Woo shooting Daddy Killer), it’s so frustrating to see the writer randomly bring back In Woo’s stepbrother just to advance the plot. In fact, it feels like the writer suddenly remembered the supporting characters and scrambled to give them some screen-time to fulfil the contract they had signed. I find it also rather laughable that the leads suddenly became so smart but yeah penultimate week magic yadda yadda yadda.

Happy New Year, everybody, whenever and wherever you celebrate it! May 2020 bring you good dramas and better real life moments! Been away for New Year's Eve, so drama watching was pretty much limited to sneaking some late night episodes on Viki using my phone... Which I used to watch 11 episodes of ENCOUNTER/ BOYFRIEND!
Random thoughts:
-What a beautiful idealised Cuba! Want to go there!
-Park Bo Gum is the sweetest lovey-dovey puppy, already knew it, but it's always nice to watch him, bonus point for drunk Bogummy
-Secretary Jang and Daechan are delightful
- This drama isn't exactly reinventing the wheel, but it's such a soothing watch, it feels like self-care.
Since I came back, I watched PEOPLE WITH FLAWS, episodes 11-12. Episode 11 was super sweet, I don't care much about the OTP, but the cast ensemble is great, the older brothers rule and Mikyung is my new girlcrush

With no Hyun bin in Crash Landing on You to distract me, I have started many new dramas this week. ;) I had to say I never really liked him in Secret Garden, tolerated him in Rampant and MoA. But he has simply stolen my heart as Captain Ri, I mean yes I do eye rolls on the troupes and some scenes (Paragliding I am looking at you) but Captain Ri has silently crept up my heart. Maybe it's the stoic face which can turn to a pouting boy in an instant. Damn the capitalistic heart.

With the slow week, I binged Chocolate, I didn't know that this show will break my heart this much. each and every story in the hospice is poignant. The slow-burn romance, even though not prioritised in initial episodes, I am currently looking forward to finding it progressing.

Hot Stove League and Black Dog are the other ones I binged this week. and I have to say I am hooked. Hopefully, all TV dramas will finish satisfactorily.

Family + traveling = not much time for dramas. Luckily some didn't air this week 😆
Still enjoying Crash Landing, Never Twice and People with Flaws.
And on Monday... Kim Sabu 2 is coming!! 😍 (Hopefully @michykdrama will join with her fantastic medicaps!!! 💕)

I literally started the new year rewatching The Mummy, a classic among my friends. Apparently I did not remember my first watch because I blocked out the scarabs. I hope I can spend the rest of the year trauma free, because I have had more than my share of it in the first two hours of 2020. I probably might have liked it more if I was not such a scaredy cat. Kudos to Beni Gabor and Jonathan, now I understand why we love weasels and scoundrels! 😆

I am stuck on episode 17 of No Second Chances. I had hoped for a mini Christmas holiday binge, but it has been a lot busier around here than I first anticipated. However, I am giving myself a well-deserved break tonight and maybe tomorrow as well, so I might catch up a bit...or not, I cannot predict my future self. 😀

Stove League has my interest. I read Ep 6 got 14% rating. It must be good. I can't wait to watch it later, together with ep 7 😆.

Still on kdrama slump.

I'm watching Netflix's Messiah this week. I liked the terrorism/CIA aspect of the first few episodes, along with the holy miraculous things . But now they are currently in Texas, and it turned into normal family drama. I am still struggling with the message that Messiah is trying to impart on the audience, but I will continue watching.

I finished Disney's The Mandalorian last week. I love the season 1 ending. It ties loose ends the way I wanted it to. Had an excellent visual effects and slick action sequences. And Baby Yoda lives!! Yehey!

First WWW of the year! 🥳🥳

HOT STOVE LEAGUE: I really like it now, especially the latest episodes that addressed military service.

CRASH LANDING ON YOU: Waiting for the next episodes. I need more ducklings scenes.

PSYCHOPATH DIARY: I was bored so I randomly started this. And behold, this scaredy cat has already watched 4 episodes. I don’t think I’d watch it if Yoon Shi Yoon wasn’t the lead though.

STOVE LEAGUE - totally surprised me with such heart-tugging scenes between the main lead and his disabled brother. Its so uplifting to watch the characters rise above their disabilities if only they are given the chance. I love this show.
PHYCHOPATH'S DIARY - I feel the show is being rushed now that it is on its 14th epi. In Woo has now openly become the evil person that he is. My favorite character remains to be the side kick of The fake killer.
CRASH LANDING ON YOU - I remain mesmerized by Captain Pouty and his ducklings.
BE MELODRAMATIC - Started this because of the raves. I love the music, the script and light banter between the characters. I am watching just because some of the shows I am currently watching have not been subbed yet.
I am not sure if I will be putting some in the back burner. Too early to say, and too late for some.

Half my shows are cancelled this week, but here we go anyway~

Diary of a Prosecutor: It's fairly average at the moment, but I can only see the ways in which it will improve. If the last four episodes set the story and the conflicts up, then from now on I expect a satisfying follow through!

Black Dog: There's just so much heart in this one. The cast is so great that they make the more mundane moments of life in a school engaging. It's a slow burn, but a rewarding one.

Crash Landing of Love: This week I really felt that the story had come together, and predictably that was all thanks to Kim Jung-hyun. When all the main characters can play off each other, this drama sings. Even if the plot is complete nonsense.

Crash landing on you: There's depth to the story, enough to keep me. But I gotta say I'm not enjoying this as much.

Black Dog: This show is a gem. I love Haneul.

Diary of a prosecutor: I enjoy our clashing leads and the humour is right up my alley! There were no episodes this week tho!

Stove league: We need more episodes!!

Never twice: I fell in love with park se wan and kwak dong yeon here. With every episode Bak Ha and Hae Joon's screen time has been increasing so I find myself forwarding fewer scenes or is it that other cast members have grown on me!?

Just Dance: Another gem. Binged watched in 2 days!. There's so much heart here and jang dong yeon and park se wan's chemistry was great! My takeaway: happiness isn't necessarily found in your dreams! It's found in relationships and it really is on you, if you want to find happiness you'll find it anywhere!
I have one question thou, what about Hye Jin!?

In my mind I keep referring to it at stovetop league. Clearly I know zilch about baseball. Yet I’m loving this show. Is nam goong min determined not to take romantic lead roles though??? This one doesn’t seem to have a romance angle

With no CLOY & finishing VIP ; I’ve started Stove League (It’s good so far), Designated survivor (Excellent. It’s a bit complicated for me so I have to take some time to figure out what is going on. But I really really Ike it. I haven’t seen the original but this is great. Also Son Seok Goo ♥️ I can’t wait to see what he does next 😍 ) & Go back couple (I picked it up to balance DS thinking it was gonna be light & fluffy but JNR keeps making me cry, so far so good.

@quirkycase Your comments regarding both shows are spot on. Regarding Robert-hopefully it will be answered in the next episode. I haven't watched it yet so I don't know (I was busy watching the last few epsiodes of dance sports girl🙈)

9.9 BILLION WON WOMAN: Everybody knows about the toxic money but not about its true owner. I see a real twist coming up as FL is reverting to her street-wise past.
HOT STOVE LEAGUE: The writer is beginning to peel back the barrier layers for Min's character which is interesting since the owner is about to strangle his ability to make the club successful.
CHOCOLATE: Throwing in a random birth secret into family politics does not help the real true, slow moving plot line of CY and Kang deep connection which is like watching cheese melt on toast. The show has really hit a chord on how food holds personal memories.
CRASH LANDING ON YOU: Of course there had to be a dramatic (and anticipated hero moment) to keep Seri from leaving NK and the good Captain.

On New Year's I traditionally watch an anime. This year I watched "The Garden of Words", a 2013 Japanese anime drama film written, directed and edited by Makoto Shinkai. It is a short film which has a very simple plot but show's Shinkai's remarkable skills as a realistic animator.

I also started to binge watch "Fun Restaurant" variety series. Celebrity food porn competition show.

Psychopath Diary - ep 13 and 14. The two episodes flew by this week. The drama has been full of twists and turns, thrills, laughs, and heart and often all in the same scene. Dong Shik calling in that threat was simultaneously spit-take hilarious and heartmelting. Dong Shik won't beat In-woo just because he's freakishly lucky sometimes. It would be because his goodness has won the love and affection of all the people around him, and they will go to bat for him.

Chocolate - ep 10 and 11. I think this drama benefits from timing. It's the perfect Friday/Saturday evening in the wintertime drama. End of the week is also the perfect time to cry over that South Korean+Vietnamese couple last week, Cha Young's description of what chocolate means to her, and Kang's flashback to Fisherman Uncle. Sometimes the drama has moments that don't make that much more sense than stumbling into Hyun Bin's doppelganger in North Korea, but it's got all these other little moments that feel so real and tangible.

Story of Yanxi Palace - up to ep 8. Started this to watch with my mom. It's 70 episodes, so may watch a batch every so often. It's stressful sometimes watching so many of these ladies scheme, but the heroine knows how to scheme right back. She knows when to quietly set things in motion so that the villains tie the nooses around themselves (so delicious to watch!) and when to make an outright threat.

Instead of Tipsy Why Not Get Drunk - up to ep 22. Continues to be cute with a sprinkle of thrill. Also surprisingly well-paced. Like it seems like it makes sense that it is a 25 episode (each 40 minutes) drama.

Black Dog This drama is really good! I love the College Advisory Team. They really care about each other and about their students. They're not afraid to confront their colleagues to say the truth.

No Second Chances I liked how Hae-joon confronted his mum. He's brave because it must be difficult to see that your own mum is not a good person.

Stove League I really liked how Baek Seung-Soo says simple things but they always are true. Lee Se-Young is learning from him very fast :D

Chocolate I need happiness... just a little bit...please...

Crash Landing on You This drama is really fun to watch. The humor, the characters, the plot, all is very well balanced.

Crash Landing on You: 8.4

Stove League: 8.2 Day 5 was their best yet -- it seemed like a bit of a convoluted trick to get a Korean guy for the team instead of a genuine foreigner, but I guess wee should welcome any trick that means less screen time for the lame foreign actors that we see in other kdramas. Day 6 was more typical-kdrama-ish, and I don't mean that in a good way.

Kpopalypse’s 30 favourite k-pop songs of 2019: 6.0 If I actually cared much about music this might rate a 10.0 if I agreed with him, or 0.0 otherwise. As a temp replacement for shows that took the week off it's better than watching paint dry.

Veronica Mars: 9.5 Finished season 2 rewatch. There's a good Trump line in the final episode.

Crash Landing: I miss it this week. A couple times in the previous eps when they're on the train or in the hotel reminded me a little of 30/40s movies. The only thing is the show is really setting us up for heartbreak isn't it? It is spending so much time on the N. Korean ducklings and Ajummas that it is going to hurt to separate again.

Chocolate: Kang is going back!! It's because of a sad reason (of course) but he is going back! And cooking?

Stove League: this is reminding me of how sad I was that Pitch was canceled. I dont follow sports but the stories surrounding a sport team can be so heart tugging and/or thrilling, especially if the action is filmed well. I haven't got there yet but I can see dodging the military being a HUGE deal. I think there are even Korean/American idols who have chosen to serve even though they didn't have to?

Never Twice: oh, I like seeing the guests at the inn slowly turn into a family. I wonder by the end how many people our heroine will have headbutted? And is it bad I want to cheer when the Chaebols get beaten up?

My Fellow Citizens: I had forgotten all about this show until the Dramas Over Flowers Year End Yak. I said it last night but this show is delightful. Fast paced, like the editing, great use of music, and interesting characters. I know Siwon's character will have the main arc, but I love our badass FL (so good) and our Michael Corleone inspired baddie.....I had to look at her age like 5 times because sometimes she looks like a schoolgirl which works for this character. Oh, and his family and neighbors?? The fake war stories? So fun.

My Strange Hero: I think show finally hooked me when Bok soo went back to school. I'm a bit more interested in his relationship with his nephew than the romance at this point, but I dont dislike the heroine which I was worried about. I do think I connect with the actress more in her younger storyline than in her present one, but hope that changes.
It makes me laugh that Kim Mi-Kyung is Bok soo's mom, because everytime they do a close up of his eyes it reminds me of her character in Oh Hae Young. When as the mom she gets mad at Eric's character and tells him basically to always look down because his cow eyes are a lie.

Special Labor Inspector, Mr Jo: I'm still in the beginning eps, but I'm falling for our hero. His former student and daughter expect so much from him it makes me wonder who he used to be. I didnt know if he was going to make it up those stairs but when he saved the kid from doing something irrevocable I think i cheered out loud, though that CEO would of deserved it.

1 Reply 1988
--- Been hearing great reviews as the best of the Reply Series.
--- Did not binge-watch because I do not want to start the year crying .. but already cried at Ep 2 😭
--- It did remind me a lot about the 80s (yes, I was already alive in the 80s 😂)

2 Chocolate
--- A bit slow but still watching for the male leads'' storyline

3 Crash Landing on You
--- Dreading the upcoming serious plots

I finally finished "A Little Thing Called First Love. Overall, a cute, light drama that I enjoyed. As a frequent watcher of family dramas, I wasn't upset with the drama clocking in at 36 episodes but wouldn't have had a problem with them deleting some of the secondary romances (especially the one between the 2 teachers that didn't really go anywhere) and creating a shorter drama. I also didn't mind the green acting by the male lead (Edward Lai) as his adorable smiles more than made up for his acting shortcomings. I also never suffered from Second Male Lead syndrome as I found the second lead (Lin KaiTuo) to be way too broody and high maintenance (poor He Xin). I'm finding that I much prefer Chinese youth dramas over Korean as they generally lack the focus on nasty (borderline psychotic) characters that the Korean youth dramas seem to have.

Since I am busy with real life of kids last two days of vacation and my grandmother is in hospital. She is better but we do not know when she go home. I am trying to catch up with Chinese dramas and Crash Landing to you. Have a great weekend.