ice University: It ended nicely. It was a sweet drama, a bit predictable, but sweet.

Lovers of the Red Sky: Our leads continue to be adorable. The fantasy aspect continues to not make sense. I am not sure who Hwancha is, I don’t understand why the mountain spirit can stop Ma Wang, I just don’t understand. Lol. It is okay because I shall continue to watch.

High Class: So Danny’s very obvious crush on Yeo Wool is kind of hilarious. The fact the Ji-Yong is alive was easily predictable. Why, he is up to his shenanigans is the question. Why is Doctor Lee poisoning folks? I’m not sure but I do like this drama.

Dali and the cocky Prince: I really like this drama and it 100% because of Da Li. I like the fact that she seems composed in everything she does, but with Woo Tak you see the real her. She gives glimpses of it to Moo Hak, but not too much. She likes him, but she has more important things to worry about so she focuses on that, her character is so refreshing. I also like that she tries not to let misunderstandings linger.

Hometown: Hmmm. So the guru has somehow managed to use rudimentary psychology and hypnosis to get people to forget even the worst of the things they do. Maybe in the back six we will actually learn about Kyung Ho and how he became the guru.

The veil: Nam Goong Min, I say this with love, the drama is very bland and I am watching it solely for you. Ha

One the Woman: Hopefully she finds out who she is these next couple of episodes. The close calls are getting annoying.

Lost: Our leads are back together again. Hopefully they will make each other lighter again. They both really need it. What is the shape of love? Whatever shape fits you.

Hometown Cha Cha Cha: So the angst is coming because it is inevitable, sigh, the cute was wonderful while it lasted.

The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim: What an adorable drama. Nam Da Reum's turn as a lead is off to a great start.

ONGOING
Hometown Cha-cha-cha - Violence against your BF is not funny writer-nim. Still both episodes had some cute and laugh-out-loud moments. The resolution of the love triangle was also beautiful. But MVP was Chicken Ajusshi for getting Eun-cheol and Miseon together at last.

Lovers of the Red Sky - I was pleasantly surprised by Ha-ram not indulging in noble idiocy because of the Ma-wang thing. But Yul is super annoying - the exact kind of second lead I hate and what a contrast to the HomCha SL.

Dali and Gamjatang - This show is like watching a 'down-on-luck heiress' Hallmark rom-com mixed with a makjang drama. This week was a difficult watch for multiple reasons not just the violence. The acting of JMH's family and Dali's cousin is so over the top it's unbearable, especially all the shouting. I fast-forwarded through most of the two episodes. But the leads (and second leads) are doing so well that I'm continuing to stick with it.

COMPLETED
The Great Shaman Ga Doo-shim - The 'big fight' ended up being not very big. I seriously think this show was undermined by its episode length. Even 30 minute episodes would have made the show seem less abrupt in its editing and the way storylines were resolved. Hyun-soo's story in particular was sadly short-changed. Still the leads were very good with what they were given. Looking forward to more from both.

C-DRAMAS
Dropped Cute Programmer and Fall in Love With a Scientist - the MLs were truly intolerable. Paused A Female Student Arrives at the Imperial College because it's kind of…boring.

I got sick (some ordinary autumn cold), thus Romantic Seaside was perfect with its nothing much happening 😆 (some parts even looked like a TV advertisement 😄). I didn't like much the direct or indirect (=shopping) violence of Hyejin against Dushik, but I loved Sunghyun (and his trigonometry speech 🙂)... and yes, timing IS important.
Hwajung's story was the only serious element and... ouch... (that socks scene made me teary).

I then watched few episodes of Dream Family and the first episode of a funny cdrama Dear Diary... and finally got a bit better to be able to follow Dali and Muhak and gosh, I loooooove Dali! 😍 I love how she speaks, how she carries herself, her grace, I love her laughs and her sadness... and her badassness and vulnerability... and I also love her hair 😁 (that Audrey Hepburn comparison is spot on). I like Dali's conversations with Muhak and I also like their cliffhangers, so rich in emotions. And I generally like how the show can combine comedy and melancholy... and mourning. (I also fully admit I'm speeding through the rest... except Brother...and Taejin... sometimes.)

Yumi’s Cells: I have so much secondhand embarrassment for the characters while watching each week. If it weren’t for the cells, Yumi would sometimes exasperate me. They keep things like the trip fiasco and wedding fiasco relatable and fun. Ahn Bo-hyun has been so unexpectedly great as Woong, I'm not excited about the Jinyoung era.

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha: Filler week but I was happy to get the lovey dovey moments. Hye-jin’s rejection of Sung-hyun was beautiful and bittersweet. I felt so bad for Hwa-jung when we learned the reason for the divorce. Chicken guy for the win!

Dali and Cocky Prince: I think this week was the last for me. The mystery storyline is weak, the gallery workers annoying, and Moo-hak kind of bothers me. His crush is sweet, but I don’t like how he has inserted himself into gallery business to be close to Dali. I did agree with him about the trash “art.”

Non-kdramas
Maid: Excellent series. Well-written, acted and directed.

JAPAN - Lot of Cinema and tv dramas. new season has started and there are some that interesting. Time to add new rules for Japanese media too.

Gohoubi Gohan - 4/10 - sakurai hinako in another manga to tv drama. 23 minute episodes. food genre. As i ahev said many times before this kind of media never translates well into a visual media aka tv drama.
Same here.
Main problem with food dramas is them trying too hard to make characters appreciate and enjoy the food and those expressions and feelings that are blatantly false and fake.
Most shows and dramas build around food pay too much attention on the guest and so called actors-idol aka plastic faces that they completely miss the main subject, yes, the food.
Who is interested in watching plastic faces fake enjoying food and making those fake moans and then giving those fake praises?
There are dramas that bring in ingrediants as well as cooking in between to turn thes into your typical cookery shows but in the hands of these beadutiful idols and again miss the point of food shows.

Food is that n that won't satisfy anyone, different angles of food - won't. camera effects and use of software won't make the food appealing. You can do makeup as much you want, it won't have significant impact on audience unless you are real.

Yumi's Cells (Episode 5-6) - Mood: C
Introducing conflicts into a relationship that has sailed is almost a necessary evil in shows which have plots focused on the romance, but what separates good from bad is where these conflicts originate from. External points of tension tend to be pretty cliche as opposed to internal ones: Sae Yi’s doomed to be a big negative for the show unless her character magically gets a transplant, but Woong’s tendency to tell white lies and Yumi’s persistence in keeping her face give the plot a better chance at succeeding if they want to explain why the OTP might break up later (yes, I saw some spoilers).

High Class (Episode 9-10) - Mood: C-
Of all the characters in the show, why has the writer got to do Yi Chan dirty like that? Sure, he might be shocked due to his dad’s reappearance but why hide that fact from his mom to the extent of denial when she’s desperate for the truth? Honestly, the real twist was Ji Yong being actually dead at this point: sure, maybe he planned his escape from the boat but it’s so much more interesting if things went astray as opposed to him lurking around all this time? Most of the other main characters are just annoying or useless as far as plot’s concerned. At least the new soundtrack sounds very nice!

Dal-li and Gamjatang (Episode 3-6) - Mood: D+ / D+
It’s a good thing that I could binge watch 4 episodes at once as last week’s episodes weren’t good to say the least: the (presumably) manipulative Tae Jin isn’t good news (neither is Moo Hak’s friend: she feels iffy too!) and both leads have conniving family members who aren’t up to any good. This week’s episodes also had Moo Hak (and Tae Jin, smh!) grab Da Li’s hand and breach her personal boundary: yes (both of) you may have had moments of intimacy with her but she certainly isn’t close to (both of) you. And of course, more useless antagonistic characters in the reporter and politician.

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (Episode 11-12) - Mood: D+
Good on the show for ending the love triangle well and not having the annoying third-quarter breakup trope, but it feels like the show is holding onto the trauma cards for the penultimate week conflict, which will definitely be more annoying. It’s probably just me not being in the right mood to watch but it seems like things are overly predictable: Sung Hyun will miss the writer and get paired up with her, the policeman is the lottery winner and cue surprised faces, divorced couple will make up and remarry. It’s not strictly lame but this show clearly wasn’t going for slice of life vibes and it feels lame.

Also watched:
- One The Woman (Episode 5-6) - Mood: C-, Whose side is the housekeeper on? The real Mi Na’s? Or herself?
- Lovers of the Red Sky (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D, A new deity? A new shaman? Random confessions? Just no.
- The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim (Episode 12): Not the best project for both leads.

watching Dali I knew this moment would become the thumbnail of what we are watching.. this show has great moments to grab the attention.
My watching list..
1. Lovers of Red Sky.. absolutely beautiful show. OTP is The Gold together and their interaction funny/serious are soo beautiful.
And then "Catch Ma Wang if you can and Seal only if you dare" plot is soo interesting and gripping.

2. Dali and Gamjatang - LAUGHTER RIOT.
Dali and her confidence was at peak in epi 6 and she rocked the world. And Moo Haks flying at the end was the best thing he could ever do. Now waiting for Moo Hak and Won Tak loud yet entertaining encounters.

3. Homecha.. going ok just lost its charm or may be cause it took so much time to reveal Hong Banjang's past life and its still hidden from us and Hye Jin. not going well with me.

4. Yumi's cell - Dropped.
It's fun and entertainment quotient is not consistent for me. It goes up then down then up n down.. and I couldn't continue.

THE VEIL (Ep 5 & 6): Han Ji-Hyuk’s mind is playing tricks on him, but the writer is playing even more tricks on the viewers. In the jumbled madness of these episodes, we really don’t know what to believe, what is fake, and what is the “accepted” truth. The feud between domestic and foreign intelligence departments has gone from childish to brutal. Adding another secret organization with no morality to the mix seems like overkill, but that is the main theme of the show. We do see that there a few characters that really cannot be trusted.

HIGH CLASS (Ep 9 & 10): The enormous amount of money Ji Yong stole/lost/hid (in the hundreds of millions of dollars) makes every investor a suspect in trying to put Yeo Wool through hell. The school CFO being Ji Yong’s “agent” seems to be a bait and switch move because the clues are now clear that Ji Yong faked his death to avoid his creditors. Instead of keeping Yeo Wool safe, his plan apparently continues to use her, confuse her and make her take the fall in order to maintain his escape. The Episode 10 plant twist really confirms it.

The great shaman Ga Doo Shim. Waiting for subs for last episode.

Hometown Chachacha. This drama sort of reminds me of WWWSK. Nothing really is happening but the OTP being super cute together. Not complaining, though.

The Veil. Haven’t watched yesterday’s episode, so commenting on last week’s. I never liked nor totally trusted JeYi, I don’t buy that innocent rookie agent look (after all, she’s been years collecting intelligence, she know much better). I really hope SooYeon is not dead, and I’m pretty sure JiHyeok is not as innocent as we want to believe.

I finished yesterday episode 7 of Lost / Human Disqualification and I’m totally in love with the drama. I know it can be everybody’s cup of tea, but this is my kind of drama: nothing really happens. The acting is superb and the music is another level.

Lovers of the Red Sky. So now everybody knows that MaWang is inside HaRam. I liked the fact that HaRam told CheonGi the truth and proposed a plan for her to get away, not using noble idiocy which would have been the usual trope to use, bit instead he treats CheonGi as an equal and as someone he really loves, not patronizing her. The scene where she was painting his portrait (that I assume will be essential later in the plot) was filmed so beautifully it felt like a fairy tale. Someone give all the awards on the world to the Art Director of this drama. Also, I feel we are losing our playful Prince Yangmyung, the way he said “I always get what I want” saddened me, as if what was love turned now into possessiveness.

Confession (2019). I’m finding the last episodes surprisingly entertaining (only 15¬16 left), but this is another drama in which the 16 episode rule didn’t really make sense. I have to let myself go into he suspension of disbelief, specially on everything trial related, but even so, I’m enjoying. The best of the drama is the beautiful relation between DoHyun and YuRi. When Junho and Shin Hyun Bin share time on screen it’s just another level.

The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim👻👧(12/12): Third Bean! The ending felt a bit abrupt, is that the short episode length or is it me? To all the wise Beanies who waited: you can binge now!😆

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha🌊🦷(12/16):🎵Lalalalalalalalala, Romantic Weeeekeeend🎵 The soundtrack explains it all. The third quarter was the final countdown to and establishment of our OTP.😊 Unfortunately, the cute quickly became boring for many reasons. First of all, our rotisserie couple also went steady!🥳 Secondly, it is about time to find out how much of my Doo-Sik theories are either spot on or waaaaay off. Finally, my major SLS will not allow it. I asked for a nice Lee Sang-Yi character and he delivered! His past with Hye-Jin makes for an unexpected and beautiful story about first loves, and everyone deserves a Sung-Hyun by their side. Especially whenever they feel they are at their lowest.❤️

Lovers of the Red Sky🖌️🦋👁️(8/16): Episodes 7 and 8 were not as interesting, but I choose to blame that on being spoilt rotten in episode 6. Episodes 9 and 10 promise more romance, so I can forgive the slight dip.🤭 I did speed through episodes 6-7-8 last weekend, so it could be possible that the Chuseok break detached some Beanies temporarily.🧐

Dal-li-and-Gamjatang 🖼️🐖(4/16): Kim Min-Jae, ladies and gentlemen.👍We were both K-drama rookies in Second 20’s. Time has flown, but fortunately that voice has not changed.🥰 Until now he often played characters who were either shy, calculating, brooding,… in short emotionally repressed. Loud and bold Jin Moo-Hak is a pleasant surprise and Min-Jae is giving it his all and he is loving every second of it. Speaking of loud: I salute him for his fashion sense.😉His secretary and his father were hilarious in other dramas, so I anticipate a lot of comical chemistry between them and our male lead. Of course I cannot talk about chemistry without mentioning Dalri. I love our OTP already and I aspire to become as classy as our female lead in the face of opposition.💪

I am forced to think about Dali's father. Why did he leave his daughter in so much debt and danger? Anyways this rom-com is much better than other rom-com out there. About cha cha cha I have realised in early episodes that this drama lack backbone for sure hehe.

Police UniversityIt's over.

Lovers of the Red Sky More painting less demon, please!

Dal-li and Gamjatang I was disapointed by the last 2 episodes. I love Da-Li and found Moo Hak super nosy and loud. My favourite scenes were Da-Li and her puppy friend, I like their friendship.

Hometown I think my brain is not ready for this one. I'm so lost...

The Veil I'm disapointed. They put all their budget in the action scenes and forget the scenario. NGM is good but was better in Awaken.

Human Disqualification Another one that is loosing me, the story lacks a spine.

Yumi's Cells Wedding? Really Yumi?

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha After this one and Yumi's Cell, it looks like dating in Korea looks more like an obstacle course. Guys have so many tasks to do to make their girlfriend happy :p I kinda pity them.

Great Shaman It was a cute drama. Not sure about the choice of format and one episode by week on the other side...

Yumi's Cells: 8.0 Not a huge fan of the bathroom humor, lies about wedding plans, etc., but the sullen royal was great. Yumi has a Samsung vacuum that is Not Dyson™ !

The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim: 8.0 Decent show, bland ending.

One the Woman: 7.5

The Veil: 7.5 Holds my attention, but depends too much on twists.

Hometown Cha Cha Cha: 5.0 Show is a big nothing for those (few?) of us who don't care about dimples.

Police University: 5.0 for the week, which was mostly pointless wind-down, including the mandatory Subway meal and two time skips. Must. Not. Forget. Time. Skips. 7.0 for the series.

Lovers of the Red Sky: 5.5

So I Married an Anti-Fan: 3.0 (day 11)

Dal-li and Gamjatang: 7.9

Hometown: 4.0 Silly me. I started this hoping that an exuberant Lee Re might brighten my day like in Hello Me!, but instead... Let's just say no form of "bright" comes to mind, despite all the candles. How much money are they spending on candles?

Lost: I like Kangjae and Bu-jeong and even the husband, and that there's no specific trauma behind Kangjae's depression (so far, from what I've seen) because that's also very possible and real. I like the show overall, but somehow I'm still stuck on episode nine.

Dali and Gamja: I watched the first ep earlier this week and this is one of the current shows that I'd most likely continue. Moohak's outfits are delightfully ridiculous, and Dali as a character is a breath of fresh air.

On the k-variety-ish side — Hosplay's spinoff Wise Mountain Village Playlist aka Three Meals a Day: Doctors started last night! Jung Kyung-ho is a treasure that must be protected. What a gem. I've only seen clips and am currently fumbling through Viu's site to find the episode, ha ha ha...

1. Darli and Darli: I changed the name of the show a little bit because all I'm seeing is this lovely FL. I love her sense of fashion, the way she deals with people and everything. There were times when wanted her not to be that humble because some people just didn't deserve that kind of gesture, but oh well -she is and that's still fine. I love her refined taste and find her speech about the credit card and her love for luxurious items very true to her character and entertaining: she knows what she likes, but I don't think she's senseless as to spend money on luxurious items using Won Tak's hard-eared cash. That brought me to respect her more. I didn't like the ML in the first episodes, but I can see how some of his "knowledge" is exactly what Darli lacks.

I don't care much about side characters, but these are some thoughts on them and the execution of the show:
- The SML has good/great chemistry with both the FL and the SFL: with the FL, there is that undercurrent chemistry every time both of them share the screen; with the SFL, I think both complement each other well. Whereas one seems cold and the other hot-headed, they fight for what they want regardless of anything. They are also both possessive and self-centered.
- That the setting is in galleries is enough to have me sold. It's so nice to see all those beautiful paintings and the world of the "riches".
- I love it when the show makes certain scenes resemble some oil-on-canvas paintings. With great ost, the show seems magical at times.

2. 2D1N: The episodes about the Heirs are a little bit on the boring side, but that also remind us all that if we don't preserve what we have, those things will disappear through time and that is such a sad loss for humanity. Until now, I still think that the Super Heroes episodes where they had 3 guests are the best and the most hilarious. I wish there were more episodes like those ones.

3. 18 Again: I think I'm at ep 8. The show seems to drag a little, and I am a bit annoyed at how the ML didn't do anything to IMPROVE himself. He is nice in the sense that he always takes care them, but you SHOULD also take care of yourself and your future self by doing something that your future self will be thankful for. The show has heart though and that will keep me going. The FL is again, love. She is just that kind of woman who is mentally strong, kind, and can take very good care of herself and people around her.

Imperial Coroner: Despite a rather abrupt ending, I really enjoyed this - it's an excellent example of how to create a solid show with a limited budget and a young cast. Also, while the "opposites attract" trope can be fun, it was nice to see a couple bond over their mutual love of forensic science - sometimes two "cold", rational geniuses are better than one.

Dali and Gamjatang: Was in the mood for something fun, and this is fitting the bill so far. I can see it spiraling off the rails into second lead shenanigans, but I hope it keeps the off-beat humor and focus on the blind spots, absurdities, and petty hierarchies of wealth and class.

It's been ages since I watched an ongoing K-drama - this time, I am watching "One The Woman" and loving it! Started watching ep 1 last week, then I binge-watched the next three episodes and have now caught up. Waiting for Eng subs for tonight's ep 8. Female lead Honey Lee is killing it - she's simply hilarious!

This week has been good for me.

Completed Police University.

Currently Watching:
1. Lovers of the Red Sky: I don't like the Grand prince and how he reacts to things.

2. Dali and the Cocky Prince: Enjoying every bit of it.

3. A gentleman and a young woman: I am enjoying this family drama but I don't like the step mother at all. She just has no shame. Dandan and her family are both making sure they do something in order to earn money but the step mum 😑😑😑😑. She is just so lazy and what gave her the right to tell Dandan to leave the job. I am so angry with her.

4. Hometown ChaChaCha: Interesting but i didn't like the Violence of the FL.

Cdrama
Falling into your smile: Indeed I fell in love with the drama. My heart skipped while watching this drama. I am currently rewatching it. Been a long time I fell in love with a drama.

Hometown Cha Cha Cha: I think it suffers from going over an hour in length. It makes the lack of story progression more painful. I really don't need that much fluff. Also, I wish k-drama would stop showing small town/countryside citizens in such a cliche manner. This drama's main couple don't have enough going on so the drama really relies on the ensemble cast. One of the less painful love triangles I must say.

DaLi & Gamjatang: I love this show. I know many are bothered by the ML yelling and, yes, it is a stereotype of someone brash and uncultured with "new money". I mean to not even know who di Vinci is seems a bridge too far. Regardless, the drama is doing well showing he might have some of the street smarts to blend with FL's book smarts. Oh, and i love the gal's hairstyle.

Lovers of the Red Sky: Enjoy it. Don't know if it makes much sense and don't care. I seem to have no trouble zipping through an episode.

The Veil: On Hold. I will continue to read reviews and see if it is worth jumping back in. Besides ML's performance, I saw nothing that I haven't seen before.

Great Shaman: I need to jump back in. I will finish but don't seem to enjoy as much as many others.

Dali: Right now this is my favorite. I love our leads. I like them so much that I'm finding the side characters who are working against them even more annoying than usual.
I pray to the drama gods that Won Tak has absolutely no romantic feelings for Dali at all. They both need family, so please let it stay there. I could of done without our heroine being assaulted. Really could of done with out that.

Yumi's Cells: Also could do without Yumi always embarrassing herself. The second hand embarrassment is starting to be a bit much. I won't mind if this second half has Yumi learning not to care too much about what others think and to put herself at the top of her lists. I've read spoilers about the webtoon so .........
......... *spoiler* *spoiler* *spoiler*
I wonder if after the Yoo Babi arc, if the show gives them a romance, that the show will circle back to Woong being end game. That they will basically merge his story into the final act of the webtoon instead of staying completely true to the story.

Hometown Cha Cha: I really did not like Hye jin hurting Du-shik to cover their romance, it just wasn't funny. I have no problems with this show being more about the daily interactions of the town and the blossoming of a romance, but those last two eps where just ......odd. Why are they sending these two back to Highschool basically? They can be sweet and flirty without being childish. I'm not putting down aegyo, but this was too over the top.

Great British Baking Show: just comfort watching at its finest. Only two eps in so do not have any strong favorites amongst the bakers yet. Besides seeing what everyone will bake, it is also fun for me to hear the different accents.

I want go get back to My Fated Boy this week and also start You Are My Spring.

I finished A Piece of your Mind this week and I was surprised by how much I loved it. I know many were put off by the AI but that was honestly one of my favourite part of the drama. I just loved the inclusion of science fiction into this kind of melodrama. It made the story unique.

What I loved most about this drama was its tone, themes, cinematography and soundtrack. It was soothing and beautiful. I enjoyed the comparisons drawn between unrequited love, grief, and break up. In each cases, you eventually have to let the person go and move on.

I know it might be an unpopular opinion since I completely understand why someone would not like this drama but I consider it an underrated gem. Jung Haein was great and I got to rediscover Chae Soobin. I hope to see her in more dramas soon. Kim Sunggyu was also great in this role.

Yumi's Cells
I binged the 6 available episodes. I have mixed feelings about this one. It's cute and I enjoy how they blend the live action with the animation but it feels to me like the story is missing something. I'm also not a fan of having all the main male characters friends but all the main female characters enemies competing for a man's attention...It does not help that both Ruby and Saeyi are quite annoying and unlikable characters.

However, I hope it stays true to the Webtoon unlike that other Webtoon adaptation...you know the one on Netflix with butterflies.

Squid Game
I am enjoying this more than I thought. Mostly, I was not expecting to find its dark humour so amusing... I only have 4 episodes to go and I am curious to see how this end. I understand the hype now.

Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung
I started this sageuk this morning and I have to say that I really like Hae Ryung's character. Her no nonsense attitude is funny. I'm only on episode 2 but I really hope the story is ending in the direction that I want it to take.

Looking forward to finishing The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim once the subtitles are done.

Dali and the Cocky Prince The only thing I don't love about this show is the nasty step-brother plot. I intensely dislike the scenes with him, his mom and the dad. So bad. Other than that - it's love. Dali is a great character, played beautifully by Park Gyu-young. She has such elegance and grace. Kim Min-jae, well I've been smitten with him since Do You Like Brahams, and nothing has changed. I think there is a subtlety in his performance, given the loud, brash nature of his character. I loved the scene with his secretary where she said, "didn't you plan that all, for her to expose herself and get views" and he asks her (and himself really) "Am I that garbage of a person?" My one worry is that Won-Tak will be a third love interest. Ugh, I hope not. And how refreshing to have no "fated since childhood" trope so far with our OTP. I can't wait to see what happens next.
The Veil Here for it until the end. Love all the plot twists, the unreliable narrator, waiting for the takedown of some of the villians. Namkoong Min is glorious. It's silly, for sure. If you can say that about such a violent show.
Lovers of the Red Sky I've been enjoying this for the most part. Not really fond of the "you must leave town" /"you must stay away from him "plot. Why is it so hard for kdrama writers to write a male character who says "I'm worried about you - can I help?" Noble idiocy gets so tiring.
Human Disqualification Favorite drama of the year for me so far. So many stellar scenes and performances in the last four episodes. That scene in the elevator with Bu-jeong and Jung-soo about why it's been a year since they visited her dad together - fire. I felt I got this critical point about her disappointment with her husband - he can only say he's sorry but his apology has no real meaning because he owns up to his mom but not to his wife. And he won't stand up to her. Not that she makes it easy, she doesn't, but I can see how she lost respect for him. And to see her show her anger to him. She's waking up, at last. And Gang-jae - the face he shows to his friends - "nothing wrong here, I'm so cool" and what he shows to Bu-yeong and his voiceovers to his dad - I can so relate to those two selves. And Ah-ran's scenes with the director and then the actual aftermath of the violence - stunning. My heart was in my throat. I am getting worried that this is going to have a terrible ending, though.
Hometown CCC Done. It's just too much nothing. I'd rather have a show about Chief Hong and the PD and their bromance.

Hospital Playlist S1/S2: Just finished rewatching both seasons of this gem. I just love this drama so much. I love the characters, the different relationships, and the different patient stories. I know I will be rewatching this again in the future. 10/10
Yumi's Cells: After 5 episodes, I like and dislike this drama. There are cute scenes, but so much frustration. I want to like Yumi more, but I do struggle with her actions (or lack of). I am going to keep going, but not looking forward to the obvious plot line coming. 7/10
Falling Into Your Smile (C-Drama). I just finished this drama. It is cute and fun, but the FL can be a bit annoying. And C-dramas have a terrible habit of dressing their FL like little girls. 9/10
The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim. Just started with episode 1. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to watching the rest of it. Since I have only watched one episode I am not going to rate it yet.

I'm surprised so few beanies are watching One The Woman. It offered me a dose of recreation every time I tuned into it during these dreary cloudy rainy days, and I just get can't get enough of Honey Lee and her convincing double portrayal of corrupt (maybe?) prosecutor and haughty chaebol twin (maybe?) sister. And of course all the hijinks. I wish the episodes were shorter to condense the humor and all that chaebol game of thrones. I wish they emphasized the romance more, it's like they are still dipping the toes in that area, and it comes across unconvincing. As always in k-dramas, the villain comes off cartoonish.
But. The writing on that show has been stellar. If you listen to the dialogue, that quick and hilarious repartee between the characters, it comes of as "excellently hilarious" and I just can't get enough!
Another show I'm watching right now, the Veil, has got to be the most interesting and inventive K-dramas I've seen in years, and whoa, in a long time have I had a please to simul-watch two k-dramas. What a treat.
I'm going to binge watch next week, Yumi, Squid, Shaman and Disqualification. I'm kinda skip-watching Cha-Cha now. Likely to simul-watch Cocky based on all the "it's fun and zany!" reviews from Beanies.

DALI AND GAMJATANG definitely held our interest this week. Many of the pieces of the mystery were revealed in episodes 5 and 6 but I also noted that both of our characters are showing real growth. By the end of episode six Moo-hak is starting to moderate his voice at times- and is showing signs of his very real intelligence as he realized that something or somethings are going on behind the seen as it were. Meanwhile Dali is learning to swallow her pride to some extent and even turns her supposed scandal into a promotional opportunity for her museum’s upcoming exhibition- which suggests that she may have begun to see things a bit more from Moo-hak’s perspective. And the very ending scene was wonderful as she gives Moo-hak a back-hug- in a successful attempt to keep him from killing the thug who had hurt and robbed her. Back hugs are a staple of Asian rom-coms but this has to have been the most unique one of all time. Both Kim Min-jae and Park Gyu-young are giving great performances in this drama. I was struck by Quirkycase’s comment - this is indeed like a Hollywood rom-com from the late 1930’s: in fact it has some of the elements of THE LADY EEV.

We definitely love LOVERS OF THE RED SKY. In the recent episodes we saw much more involvement by the Mountain God- and an interesting sit down conversation between her and the goddess Sam Shin- with Mountain God clearly not buying what Sam Shin is selling. The plot moved forward but over all I had the sense that the plotting people have no idea who and what they are really messing with, although the Shaman Lady seems to be sensing an unforeseen danger. The story definitely got more interesting this week.

My wife has now caught up on the most receent episodes of the Chinese costume drama JUN JIU LING, which is really good and is also watching the Chinese costume mystery/fantasy drama CHONG MING WEI which she finds good but also exhausting- after watching a few episodes she simply has to stop for a while. For lighter fare at that point she watched season 2, 3 and for of the Hallmark Channel series CHESAPEAKE SHORES.

The story of our main leads in HOMETOWN CHA CHA CHA also moved forward this week- as did the delightful secondary romance. We are still really enjoing this show. I agree with Missvictrix that Hye-jin has n ot changed- other than her gradual reaization that perhaps she has foound her place in the world and it wasn’t Seoul. But remember that this show was adapted from a single two hour movie and so the central story is not that expandable, while we can get much more of our side stories. Indeed, my only complaint is that we could have used a little less couple cute and spent a little more time time on the side characters- particularly Eunchal and Mi-seon. Mi-seon has in fact grown a lot precisely because she finds that she is not really willing to give up on Eun-chul. After being stuck in a rut for a decade she is in fact moving forward in life again, although it is...

COFFEE PRINCE: I finally broke down and signed up for VIki and now I get to finally watch this and other wonderful dramas. I'm really surprised by the very open and frank dialogue and situations in this 2010 show that I don't see much of in more recent dramas, like joking about private body parts, or whether or not to marry after pregnancy, or homosexuality. Have things become more conservative since then? Anyway, this drama is a breath of fresh air in my life at the moment, and looking forward to many more on Viki. P.S The subtitles are great, except when they forget to translate on-screen writing. Not a big deal.

POLICE UNIVERSITY wrapped up ok. It was a nice drama for the beginning of a week, but not exactly memorable.

Still very much enjoying ONE THE WOMAN and the way FL is dealing with the horrible in laws and husband. Thank goodness she is not the often seen, suffering doormat.

DALI and PRINCE are still watchable too. Loved the junk art mix up! Surely most people secretly want to do what Moo Hak did - clean it up. Lovely cameo of the artist. I really like Dali and even her hairstyle.

Still watching THE VEIL, but I am not making much of an effort to try to solve the mystery - I am confident Namgoong will do it for me in time, after wrecking a few more cars and lots of (fake) blood.

RED SKY LOVERS are meant to be, we are told, even if I do not really feel the attraction. Is it because ML is supposed to be blind and there is no point in looking up lovingly to him? I do not really care about all the spirits, but I like the mountain/tiger spirit. The art works are what keeps me watching.

HUMAN DISQUALIFICATION and HOMETOWN CHA CHA are dramas at the opposite ends of the spectrum. One is so slow, full of feeling, exploring deep and difficult, sad emotions, the other is so shallow and boring and looking at the world through unbelievably rose tinted glasses. Not even the rejected love interest is allowed to be really unhappy. All hey have in common is a total lack of humour.

Lots of humour luckily in YUMI'S CELLS. King Sullen was wonderful! What is the point of a toilet with glass walls!?

I finished MAD FOR EACH OTHER and found it an interesting drama, although I felt the romance part was equally redundant and unnecessary.

DINNER MATE: Kim Hye-kyeong is the most wholesome and mentally secure character I've seen in any drama, like, ever. I really don't like the second leads, although Lee Ji-hoon is as compelling as he is creepy.

Watched the two first episodes of MINE, and gosh, what a spectacle. By this point, it feels really predictable but the two leads are amazing so I'm gonna keep watching.

Also couldn't help myself but to check out the first episode of DALI AND GAMJATANG. The FL is amazing and the actress does a great job. Kim Min Jae, on the other hand, seems a bit awkward in this loud persona. Dali seems like such a capable young lady.

And I'm really, really looking forward to The Red Sleeve Cuff!

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha: Still watching just to see Du-sik's mysterious past and the great sceneries. The different side plots are great, with memorable lines & lessons but am just not fully invested in the main couple. At first I was, but not sure why, but it went... 🙄

Lovers of the Red Sky: Been a while since my last Sageuk & Fantasy drama so this was enjoyable, with both genres. Plus, was waiting for Ahn Hyo Seop's comeback drama since Dr Romantic 2. Love the intro music, by the way.

One the Woman: This is such a breath of fresh air, with just the right amount of comedy, mystery and... well maybe a bit too much of the "evil" in-laws! 😂 But still, love this.

Halfway with I'm not a robot. Fun and super sweet! I love FL

Backstreet Rookie (6/16): The funniest comedy of the year. FL is really beautiful.

It's okay to not be okay (15/16). The first part is more beautiful, but still essential for kdrama lovers. I would have preferred more comedy and less dark.

Love is Blind (brasil): Every now and then I indulge in a bit of trashy TV :) I'd be curious to see the Korean version. However, one of the most enjoyable reality show of recent years.

Hometown Cha Cha Cha: Smiling and cringing (LOL the honeymoon period of a relationship) throughout. It's the perfect weekend drama. After a busy week, it's like sitting back and having a meal and drinks with a friend who lives nearby. Nothing particularly special but enjoyable.

Lovers of the Red Sky: Squeee! Camera angles and music to provide the prettiest and most romantic of vibes. Great balance of fantasy, romance, warm pseudo-family relationships for the female lead, and humor. And no ministers and officials going "jeeeonnnha" all the time. Mad at the royal family for doing a crap job with the Ma Wang stuff.

Cocky Prince and Dali (up to ep 5): A drama that I feel is really carried by the OTP and their sweet chemistry. Scenes of them apart and scenes with the other characters are too boring to watch even though it has a number of likable actors.

Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim (up to ep 11): So short. *sigh* I hope there will be a season 2 since Doo Shim and Woo Soo now have allies in the fight.

Behind on Yumi's Cells. Started ep 5 though. I think the cells are adorable and the drama is really well done, but I also find it sort of stressful.

Dali and the Cocky Prince : Kim Min Jae as Jin Moo Hak reminds me of Kim Ji Suk as Yoo Ja Sung in Monthly Magazine Home, which I loved except for that horrendous ending.

One The Woman: Honey Lee is so charming and funny, I love her!

Yumi’s Cells: I love everything about this show, well except for SaeYi.

HomeCha: I’ve put in on hold after being annoyed at ep 11 and have decided to binge watch everything on the final week. Shame coz I love the first few eps but now I don’t know…

3Cha - Sticking around to confirm the mysteries and see what the side characters are up to.

Lost - Everyone's decision to stay quiet about the job situation frustrated me but it led me to wonder if they had stated that they knew to Bu-jung, would that have changed anything for her? As much as I wish being told that there was no shame to the situation would elevate some of the load on her shoulders... would she end up feeling more embarrassed because she is embarrassed about it? Perhaps I'm overthinking it.
Kang-jae's new bangs are kinda interesting. Some shots show them well and he looks quite good. There are other shots where I think they are quite ugly, haha.

The Veil - The jokes on me. I had hoped the start of Ep7 would have rounded out an interesting gotcha-moment set up by Ep6. Instead I can only manage to recommend the abs.

Dali & Bluster - Half of this show is really awesome and delightful. The other half I'm happily skipping as much of it as I can.

Dal-Li and Gamjatang : Episode 5 was hard to watch. I felt as if my heart sank with Dal-Li's never ending challenges.. I cried for her.

Episode 6 was a relief. Even though the robbery is scary and terrifying and I guess if I'm at her spot; I'd still have so much trauma; she managed to turn the traumatic moment into something that'll be helping her gallery.

This episode shows that this show is mostly about Dal-Li and how she managed to solve her own problems without the help of the men who like her.

I love seeing Moo Hak's puppy sweet love. But I wish he has more roles in this show other than chasing Dal-Li around.

I don't mind him being loud, because seeing his background, it's understandable.

I have some friends in real life who are loud but with very kind heart.

Save Me : Been putting this series in my "watch list" since I watched Seo Ye Ji in It's Okay Not to Be Okay. But because of the cult thing, I'm not brave enough to watch it.

Later I learnt that Woo Do Hwan was also in this show, so I give it a try.

To be honest, this series would have been bland without Dong Chul's involvement. It repetitively show how Sang Mi was abused/ tortured at Goseonwon.

I had to read spoilers to get through each terrifying episode, until Dong Chul came more often into scene, it's a bit bearable to watch.

I wish at the end of the series, Sang Mi's dad will be awaken from his 'undivided loyalty' although I know it'll be a hard thing to do.

But, no, he's not. It's frustrating...

Police University : I love this show until I'm not sure starting which episode, that I think the loveline between Sun Ho and Kang Hee are just not necessary, or didn't blend well.

The ending is okay.

Watching Lost

Watching old movies , music videos, audio books

Rewatched The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Started rewatching Jewel In The Palace | Dae Jang Geum

YouTube suggests music/videos to watch, I ignore many, though some have been pleasant surprises.

It's October and that means our annual rewatch of the great Korean feminist masterpiece, I'm Not a Robot. To be honest, since this is year four I was wondering if we should watch the show again but now we're into it, I realise why I still love it so much.

Even four years later it's still so refreshing to have a Korean drama that's so unapologetically feminist and doesn't pander to outdated stereotypes of male and female behaviour.

It's hard to choose one thing I love the most about INAR - and it changes with every rewatch as I also change and grow. But it's probably its critique of objectification and the way it canvasses female autonomy through its many, varied, strong female characters.

I still feel like INAR marked a turning point in how kdrama portrays women - their wants, needs, aspirations, and agency. And I'm still impressed with how intelligently it portrays the issue of objectification and social ownership of the female body, not just through the robot but the other female characters as well.

Also... it's just a damn good drama.

Happy OctobINAR!

Dalli and Gamjatang
This one continues to be fun and lovely. I love Dalli and 3 boys. I just wish this romcom doesn't too many villains.

Hometown ChaChaCha
I have stopped watching after episode 8. I love Kim Seonho in 2D1N, but I can't seem to connect with him in the drama.

2D1N
The only variety show that I have been religiously following for over 10yrs. S3 is still the best for me, but I love how Jongmin is the center in S4 and everyone adores him, specially Ravi.

Hometown (Ep 5&6) - This week episodes felt like fillers for me as the story reveal is something that I've guessed earlier on. I think we'll get to know more about Uhm Tae-goo's Jo Kyung-ho character next. Pretty sure the welfare home that both Kyung-ho & Jung-hyun was housed before being adopted is a sinister organization.....

The Veil (Ep 7&8) - I'm not sure why but I kept thinking that Soo-yeon is not really dead :P.....anyway it's still about trusting no one this week (I think it's going to be like that till the end of the show). The feeds that Ji-hyuk is sending to himself made me think that he actually shot dead his 2 colleagues in that fateful mission. Not sure who is the rat among them but probably due to the trauma he concocted a plan to wipe out his memory and try to piece everything back from scratch to catch the main culprit as in the one who gave the instructions to kill.

as always the universal things everyone agrees to love are off putting to me:-(
but I wont say it. just, another character whose charm is a mystery for me.

After the late summer drought of Kdramas I feel guilty for not enjoying the current deluge. Not intrigued enough to continue with YUMI'S Cells or The VEIL.
Catching up with LOVERS of the RED SKY but it is irritating me a Lois L'Amour way. Once on a camping trip we escaped constant rain in a cheesy motel. In the drawer was a novel by this author who mostly wrote cowboy themed series. Every action was heavily fore-shadowed and, most annoying, every chapter was summarized at its end. I'm noticing this tendency in LOTRS and wondering why since the plot is not all that convoluted.
Still enjoying Hometown Cha Cha although I steeled myself for the inevitable angsty eps. As others have observed, the writers and actors are very self aware and are making a bit of hay with the tropes while ticking them off one by one. After a tough week, this show is a lovely escape. My hope is that our OTP visits his shrink for a bit of couples therapy. Both are so clueless about how to keep a relationship strong.
Re-watching HOTEL del LUNA with hubby this time, who has developed a crush on IU (who can blame him?). I may leverage this into a re-watch of My Ahjussi!
Looks like I will have to check out ONE the WOMAN because I'm needing some laughs and so many Beanies are enjoying it.