I'm surprisingly loving School 2021 (the dreamer's intro made me laugh 😄 ). My only tiny regret is that the rebel student really is a student and not a teacher. I was ready for a smexy leather dressed motorbike teacher... constantly being misplaced as a student 😁
The ending of episode 2 did shock me 😳

Breaking Now - this show is sometimes confusing me with its logic (like the kiss in episode 3). I'm still watching for the pretty... and the Moms.

Still watching and loving Rain God (though I'm a bit behind).

Inspector Koo: Santa, why did you have to go all creepy stalker.

Happiness: No electricity and Oh Joo-hyung putting the drug in water bottles. What could go wrong?

Work Later, Drink Now: Despite my dislike of the excessive drinking, I picked this back up. I do like the characters and their friendship. I just finished Episode 7 and the scene where So-hee cussed out the Chairman is definitely one of my favorites and Ji-goo’s story was very sad.

The King’s Affection: This is the rare drama that is more compelling to me in the second half than the first. I feel bad for the Queen. I’m pretty sure Dam-yi will come full circle with Ji-woon using his medical skills to fake her death, but the Queen will never get to marry again or have a family.

Secret Royal Inspector and Joy: I’m still waiting for subs for Episode 6 but Episode 5 was fun.

Melancholia: I hate these school uniforms. The pants don’t look good on anybody.

Reflection of You: As shameless as Hee-joo is, I find her the most realistic character in this drama. I’m ready for her and the rest of the awful characters to go up in flames.

Young Lady and Gentleman: One good thing about the amnesia arc is the ML wearing casual clothes rather than suits or those grandpa cardigans. It makes him look younger.

Busy drama-watching week!

ONGOING
Jirisan - There are too many mysteries in the show. It keeps me invested but it also makes for an even more jumpy storyline - as if 2 timelines and 2 POVs weren't enough. I do think my suspicions about the ranger/historian are going to be vindicated though.

Inspector Koo - This week was the very definition of "that escalated quickly". And something felt off with the pacing of K's breakdown post the aunt's death. At least Santa and Gyeong-su are still breathing 😓.

Chimera - The copycat criminal has made this marginally more interesting. I bet Detective Cha is going to turn out to be Chairman Seo Hyun Tae's son.

The King's Affection - PEB depicted the sheer exhaustion of the position in which she finds herself very well. But it's a little funny that evil granddad keeps leaving the people most dangerous to him alive.

Secret Royal Inspector & Joy - Hope nothing bad happens to Bo-ri 2.0.

Melancholia - Mathematical genius or not, gifting someone a secretly-taken photo of them is creepy. Don't be like Seung-yoo kids 😠. And while I can understand wanting to protect LDH from all the hurt in the world, I thought Yun-su's choices were pretty questionable too. She should have distanced herself a lot earlier. This is not to discount the concerted conspiracy but she did make it easy for the evil people. At least we are in the present timeline now.

The Red Sleeve Cuff - Tutor dude is getting creepier by the week - unsurprising given his historical equivalent. The conversations between San-Deok-im and San-Yeongjo are just riveting. Last 10 minutes of yesterday's episode were so good.

Now We Are Breaking Up - Is this what they call hate-watching? Why are these two obsessed with each other again? I'm not sure we've been given a reason for them to even LIKE each other. Forget having an over-arching plot, the show doesn't seem to have an episodic story to tell either. The scene towards the end where they just stare at each other - I think every episode has ended on a similar scene 😭.

C-DRAMAS
Still no time…

CRICKET - Pat cummins is the new captain. after a while a fast pace bowler is becoming captain. Its rare. yes yes yes. The one that can easily beat any plastic face in physical features. and those eyes.

Sexting is gong for some more spicy news this weekend. That's what you want from more drama, more action.

The King’s Affection: Well, you were going to get caught. That was silly of them to kiss in the open. Even if they assumed no one would be there, the palace has eyes, especially for the King. As for Ji Woon’s father, the way he pieced that together is impressive. From a pinprick to realizing you killed the wrong twin. Now the question is, will he own up to his failure or do his best to try to keep the King’s secret. Sir, comeuppance is a dirty business.

Secret Royal Inspector and Joy: This drama is just silly fun. The converging of everything into one giant conspiracy is super tropey, but the characters are fun enough that I can ignore it.

School 2021: I liked it. The ending of episode 2 was surprising. Also, just very sad. Poor children.

Reflection of You: We are nearly done with this terribly exhausting drama. The brother-in-law’s fall is a little late in the game, but whatever, 2 episodes and I can rest. Woo Jae’s memory coming back and him not apologizing to Hae won is not surprising. He never seemed to like her. She should have just ignored the family and lived her life with him, memory less. As for Hyeon Sung being Ho Su’s father, I am happy for him because he seems to love his kid, however I am sad he is related to his grandmother. Awful woman. Also, the fact that Hae won kidnapped a whole child and people are still talking to her is beyond me. I would have killed her and gone to jail if that was my child. I guess her comeuppance is still not being liked by Woo Jae. SMH, this show,

The Red Sleeve Cuff: I just like this drama. It seems I am fully headed for heartbreak, but our OTP have such great chemistry it is a joy to watch. Even behind a door with Deok Im reading and the prince reciting. OOOF, be still my heart. They are fantastic together. As for Deok Ro, he is frightening. I haven’t the faintest idea what is wrong with him, whether he is a psychopath or insanely loyal, all I know is he is not the healthiest.

Now we are breaking Up: This drama is mostly dumb and silly. However, I still enjoy it. JKY has the most beautiful velvety voice, so when he told Young Eun to love him, I was rooting for them. I’m not sure why she was crying, but I still kind of get it. That voice, just yummm.

Happiness: The entire sequence of events that led to Sae Bom giving blood was stupid. Why not just ask her? Also, why couldn’t they figure out that is what he wanted? He dropped enough hints and it wasn’t rocket science. That annoyed me.

One Ordinary day: A beanie said some years ago that when Kim Soo Hyun cries, she cries, and that is true for me as well. He is great in this. This is a marked departure from network fare and this drama also seems to be following the original pretty similarly. So, I look forward to the rest of it.

Chimera: I wonder when they will find out they are brothers? Also, Jae Hwan’s crush on Eugene is adorable. I can’t tell if she likes him back though, even though she seems too.

Inspector Koo: So, K...

Happiness (Episode 5-6) - Mood: C+
It’s hard to ascertain if both Penthouse Guy and Andrew have hidden motivations but they appear to be written as foils to one another which makes it more likely than not that something nefarious is up with one of them. The show does fine any time we’re seeing progress outside the apartments: Tae Seok is easily the most interesting character. Where it falls short in is the self-serving trope seen in many of the residents: it would’ve been more fascinating to watch how those in the safe zone try to resist the tricks of the infected in a display of their self-preservation instinct. Not the stupid phone!

Idol: The Coup (Episode 5-6) - Mood: C
If the palpable tension between the CEO and Ji Han (that’s what I think the writing had intended but whether the acting shows that is another story) had come from a difference in professional opinion, there was still a chance of saving both their characterisations but with this manufactured family makjang I don’t think I’ll hope for much. What a disappointing end to the first half of the show: the introduction of Bbiyong as a straight villain just cheapens the entire plot. And Mars could’ve been a successful duo instead of a boyband without much changing: a reflection of poor writing and planning.

Inspector Koo (Episode 7-8) - Mood: C-
Ko Dam’s arc was decent but I remain unoptimistic about whether the show can develop all side characters with the time left.

Let Me Be Your Knight (Episode 3) - Mood: D+
Negative points for the repetitive cliffhanger and the daddy trauma trope!

School 2021 (Episode 1-2) - Mood: D+
Imagine the potential if the drama was based on a suicide note whodunit! But instead we’ll most likely get love square, friend death trauma and antagonistic school administration nonsense.

Reflection of You (Episode 13-14) - Mood: D+
I’m surprised that Hui Ju was involved in a murder that wasn’t teased at the start but honestly at this point I don’t know whether I like the overblown melodrama or not.

Melancholia (Episode 5-6) - Mood: D
We’re finally seeing adult Lee Do Hyun! But there’s still some ground to cover in 2017 before the time skip?

The Red Sleeve Cuff (Episode 3-4) - Mood: D
Will the drama reveal who Deok Im’s brother is as quickly as they resolved the Crown Prince “tutor” identity?

Chimera (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D-
This copycat arc feels particularly draggy when it’s most likely a diversion. Also we’ve got lame parentage makjang?

The King's Affection (Episode 13-14) - Mood: D-
Stupidity #1: Shopping while on the run. Stupidity #2: Speaking so loudly that conversations are overheard. Stupidity #3: Kissing in an open space.

Now We Are Breaking Up (Episode 3-4) - Mood: D-
Did Jae Guk knowingly sought and made out with his brother’s girlfriend because of his lame “I loved her first” excuse?

Secret Royal Inspector and Joy. Drama is silly and I’m watching just with one eye, but it’s so fun. I don’t particularly find any chemistry between Taec and HyeJoon (probably because this is her first “adult” character and I see the gap difference even if in real life they are only 8 years apart). Viki is really slow with subs on this one. And yes, I love Taec!

Would you want a cup of coffee?. I love all cameos in this drama, I love all the little stories we get and I love watching Go Bi growing up and learning about life.

Reflection of you. This drama is good. It is really good. Writing, directing, acting, production, cinematography and music is superb. It is, believe me. But I just can’t like the drama because there is not a single character I don’t hate. I suppose this what the drama is looking for. All characters are so layered, they are full of lights and shadows, but mainly they are really dislikable, and unlike My Ahjussi (another drama in which I didn’t like almost no character) I can see no redemption coming. Everyone is trash but above them all WooJae is just this terrible person who breaks his promise again and again. He told Haewoon that he would apologize to her the moment he remembered but… what happened? He has remembered and being back to his past self he just doesn’t care about her, he’s learned nothing and he continues to be the self centered person that left HaeWon without a single explanation. I wish HaeWon could have her redemption, I thought she might have when she realized the story about the girl who put her heart in bottle could be about her, but I think it’s too late for her. Anyway, only two epodes left of this so very exhausting drama.

Dr. Brain. It’s only a six episode drama and it’s already too long. Why do I feel episode 4 was a filler? This could have better been a movie, sincerely. Now we are back at square one and evil doctor is back in the game.

Red Sleeve. Deok Im is growing on Prince although I’m not so sure it’s also the other way round, and I love how the drama shows this. Both Junho and Seeyoung and nailing their roles: Deok Im is still cheeky although more centered, and San… our poor San struggling to balance his fate an what he wants. The scene in episode 5 where the King enters San’s room and menaces him crying he can’t be like his father was so heartbreaking… only in last episode we saw the King’s love and concern for his grandson and now we see his rage. Learning that San has lived his life always weary of how the King would react on what he says or what he does must have been a terrible burden. I also like Deok Ro’s character a lot. I know he’s supposed to be shady, but let’s face it: we’re in 18th century Joseon, if you want to become a king as San does, he needs someone by his side like Deok Ro who would never hesitate to do what’s needed. I really love everything about this drama, and above all, I’m loving Junho’s acting!!

Jirisan. I don’t...

Red sleeve (2-5): Loving it esp the interactions between the leads. The whole library scene was hilarious. The plot is thickening fast based on the preview. The stone throwing sequence was fun. I was tempted to try it out myself when I am frustrated. Cant express how gooan actor Jun ho. That scene with the king in ep 5 was so well enacted.

Let me be your knight (3): The story is so predictable. I already thought the ML might have family trauma and it was daddy issues here. The secret girlfriend part reminded me of Chani and his relation in " imitation". I hope secret comes out soon.

Royal secret inspector & Joy (5): The episode was fun. The subs in viki are really slow. It's been already 5 days and the subtitles are still at 45% for ep 6.

King's affection (13-14): Intense episodes. And I wonder for the growth of Ha kyung once she get to know the truth. It's still an irony that JW took the risk of kissing Hwi in an open space. Anyway the show is back on pace and the tension is building up. Waiting for the next episodes !!!!

Idol: The coup (5-6): Never throught I will enjoy a petty KSY this much !!! I hope they show more this side in future episodes. Jenna is really determined and while I loved the extend she can go for the producer, the whole Troy part irked me a little. Why didnot she apologized to him any time before? Why only when she need something ? That was a bit unfair. I wonder what's the backstory with Troy and Elle.

School 2021 (1-2): Gave a lot of true beauty vibes. I enjoyed the premiere episodes.
Young Woo's long legs are too distracting.😂

Reflection of you (13-14): WJ turned out to be much worst than HJ. I expected him to atleast apologize to Hw for what he did but all he gave was an insincere apology and say let's breakup?? Wtf?? Seriously so shameless. HW seems more to be an observer now in the game she started while HJ,WJ and the husband arrow just enacting. I hope HJ and WJ get their dues in the next week.

Shadow beauty (1-3): Its 20 min and shot and good so far.

Also watching Jirisan (8-10), inspector koo (7-8) and happiness (5-6).
Also planning to watch the new episodes of melancholia and chimera for weekend.

OLDER
Ashes of Love (39-60): Finished it finally. The series is beautiful with its acting and direction and also the OST was good. But that's it. The story is seriously bad. They could have ended this in like 40 episodes but instead it got dragged. I was suppose to root for the leads but after a while their love story was too boring to watch. I felt that the weakest part of this show was the leads esp XF mainly because his character doent get any growth or backstory. The side characters have a fleshy story than him. And what divine/pure love are they even talking about? They made love when she was engaged to RY when they weren't aware of his manipulations, still went on with it without being guilty. It was so disturbing. I loved both Luo Yunxi and Chen yuqi. And even...

I´m only intensely watching Happiness.

In other news though: estonian classic Spring by Oskar Luts was just translated into korean by professor Jinseok Seo from Hanguk University Foreign Studies Institute (we are friends on Facebook and he will talk over Zoom about poetry in January on Tallinn Central Library webpage).
The Kings´ Affection is a bit messy now, kinda playing a gamble and I want to wait for it to cool down, honestly I just want to watch our OTP cuddle silently 5 hours.
everyone has some mission and I feel their agendas stealing leverage from each other, like there is no BIG agenda. The minister, the grandpa, the jerk, commander Yoon, bodyguard, queen, granny. they all have some detatched little world and it dissolves the essence of the drama.

NOW WE ARE BREAKING UP (Ep. 3-4): I think the lines about the pain of being “ghosted” rang true and sincere. But to lead her into a decade of self-loathing about herself seemed off. Jae-Koo’s delay in admitting that Yoon Soo-Wan was his brother was creepy, as well as his continuing showing up every time Young Eun is in trouble. She is a troubleshooter by trade for gosh sakes. The industry insider stories are as thin as a Victoria Secret lingerie set. The chemistry is off because of the acting: JKY is wooden and SHK is cold.

SHK did turn on the tear faucet for a moment. Episode 4’s climax did not melt the frozen acting. The idea that she was really meant for him, but he did not have the courage to meet her in the first place? The fate trope is stretched very thin here. It is not really a trope but a perceived property right. Likewise, the end of a two month relationship cripples Young Eun for 10 years?

DALI (Ep 1-16): This was a start-stop, slow-go to the finish. To me, the story seemed like a school bus fish tailing on an icy road. It started as comedy, then turned into a rom-com, then a political corruption series and then a trope filled, weak ending. I can see why people liked the main couple, but the how and why of their story was bothersome. The backbone of the story was a theme I really dislike: the rich chaebol using his power and money to force the weak or unlucky woman to fall in love with him. Tae-in used his power to try to get back something he lost, Da-Li. He triggered the events toward the gallery bankruptcy for a land deal with a little honey on the side as he continually promised to solve her issues. But Moo-Hak also used the loan as his leverage to push his way into her life under the guise of being a creditor but in reality a stealth suitor. The plot was full of misinformation about inheritance, taxes and how private businesses are run.


This is another one of those shows that could have been much better. If it would have stayed in the art world of creative, quirky personality conflicts instead of a tired corruption mystery wrapped in tired romance plot then it could have been really interesting and unique.

Film:
VOLCANO HIGH (2001): Before MTV drove itself off a cliff with reality TV shows, it had a brief transition period from music videos to corporate programming with cutting edge animation series and cult movies. VOLCANO HIGH was one of those oddities. It still stands today as a rare Korean marital arts movie. MTV dubbed it with a rapper English voice over cast. In retrospect, the Korean cast was pretty stellar: Jang Hyuk, Shin Min-A (her first movie role), Kim Soo-Ro, Kwon Sang-Woo, Gong Hyo-Jin (her first named character role), Heo Jun-Ho, and several well known character actors. It was only shown once on US TV, so it has been a white whale search to see it again. I found a used copy of it on-line and watched it. It is more typical marital arts than I remembered (basic thin plot, little character...

Currently Watching-
The King's Affection: We have a Joseon Man who came out as Pan. My queer heart spazzed a lot, and died a little.

The Red Sleeve: Still pretending Junho's face is JCW's. FL is too candy, like others have pointed out.

Mystic Pop-Up Bar: Reached midway. Seungjae is being heavily foreshadowed as the Reincarnated Prince, so I'mma say it's a red-herring, and the other dude will be the one!

Cup of Coffee: How beautiful was that vending machine episode? T_T

Melancholia: Leads & story's not cutting it for me, despite being a LDH fan! The math-nerd but non-mathematician in me finds the math fascinating; watching alone for that! ^^

Chugakusei Nikki: Since Melancholia was 'too safe', I had to turn to a j-dorama. The ML acts his socks off, and it blows my mind, CN was his debut project at 18! :O

Man in Love: T-movie remakes again! :P Tiffany's no longer a pretty Second FL, but can actually act? Roy Chiu is basically So Ji Sub's role (& look) from the k-movie Always, but a portrayal with more depth! Might have shed a tear or two! :')

Red Cuff of the Sleeve Ep 5 The palace politics is really intriguing and not tiring. The Head Court Lady's reason for committing potential treason came across as a surprise because it is valid. Also, the way the Crown Prince's mother subtly warned The Crown Prince and Deok Im of any blooming romance was interesting. Everything is so far good about this drama, from The King's daughter lighting a fire between The King and The Crown Prince to the undeniable attraction and chemistry which I could feel between The Crown Prince's and Deok Im even when they were on the opposite sides of the closed door!!

Reflection of You Ep 13-14 Another compelling watch, althought I feel the writer dramatically changed Hae Won's brilliance to a foolish girl blinded by love. Till ep 13, nothing indicated Hae Won was expecting an apology from Woo Jae, but suddenly she is more angered by his lack of sincerity. Din't she realize through all the years of misery that he never had the tiniest bit of feelings for her? This show is really good at making you pity a character for few seconds only to be hating them with more vigor. As addressed in the drama, all the characters have a disease with "addiction" that ruins them and others. Suicidal Lisa in the making is completely Hae won's fault.

Happiness Ep 7 What was that nonsense? If they were running out of plot, they should have reduced the episode count instead of having a needless tranquil induced abduction which needed a heroic resuce🤦‍♀️ However, Park Hyun Shik is killing it. His character Yi-Hyun is getting more lovable each episode.

RED SLEEVE CUFF: This is my current favorite. Although I'm also loving King's Affection, this one is more addictive and the wait between episodes feels longer. The leads are at the point where they're just starting to maybe recognize that what they're feeling is attraction and not just irritation, and their chemistry is making that discovery very addictive. The dialogue and direction are very strong in this one, too--even scenes I feel I've seen hundreds of times in saeguks before (like the one where the CP has to quickly figure out how to appease his petty, angry aunt and protect the FL at the same time) keep my attention all the way through.

HAPPINESS: These past two episodes were scarier and darker than previous ones and that's not a complaint; the story can really only go down that path without completely betraying the premise. But the tension is so ramped up something needs to give. Looks like that might happen next with FL's supposed immunity taking center stage.

MELANCHOLIA: I'm so ready for this to shift focus to the present day. The second hand embarrassment of watching a deeply troubled boy's crush implode, coupled with the frustration of seeing horrible adults with no redeeming qualities play endless power games was too much for me. The set-up was necessary, of course, yet very hard to watch. But the previews looked promising, so I'll give this one another week.

Jirisan: 5.5 If our ghostly male lead can move sticks around, can't he use one to scratch a helpful message in the dirt in front of a camera?

Happiness: 7.0 Getting tiresome. What's the Mad Person Disease equivalent of "covidiot"? And really didn't need to a show about a disease spreading all over + lockdowns + people not responding well right after hearing about that scary new Omicron variant :(

Red Sleeve Cuff: 6.0 Thru day 4. Likely drop.

Bite Sisters: 7.0

Inspector Koo: 9.0

Work Later, Drink Now: 6.5

Chimera: 6.9

Secret Royal Inspector & Joy: 7.5

King's Affection: 6.9 The inevitable succession and palace politicking didn't suck quite as much as I expected.

School 2021: __ I lasted almost 7 minutes.

Now, We Are Breaking Up - haven't seen this weeks episodes yet, last week had me desiring the ML care more about the FL's state then whether they were dating or not. The trailer made me a bit sad that the FL had to really ask her boss/friend whether she could be allowed to win.

IDOL: The Coup - Love this. The conflict chemistry between CEO and Jenna is great. I can't see them as love interests (yet) tho. Wishing Kim Min-kyu gets better at emoting.

Inspector Koo - Was not expecting to find myself liking Gyeong-su and wanting a restraining order against Santa.

Let Me Be Your Knight - Was liking everything else, so they could have done something else than the choking scene.

Paint with Love - off to a good start. Can't say no to grumpy x grumpy.

Rainless Love in a Godless Land - up to Ep 4 and really enjoying it.

Fragrance of the First Flower - the 10 minutes episodes is hard because not much gets covered and then you need to wait a week.

JIRISAN - things are picking up now that we’ve passed the halfway mark. Will watch episodes 11 and 12 tomorrow.

BEYOND EVIL - just finished episode 14! Two more episodes to go and I can’t wait to see

SECRET ROYAL INSPECTOR & JOY - it’s definitely not the best show ever but I’m just watching it for the fun and crazy antics. I wish I could just binge it all the way to the end.

RAINLESS LOVE IN A GODLESS LAND - haven’t had the chance to continue this since I’m bingeing BEYOND EVIL but will get back to it soon.

I realize I’m not super cut out for balancing different shows lol. I still prefer waiting for the show to end then bingeing them.

I can probably follow one or two and have a third show for bingeing.

The King's Affection I like how the story is still consistent after 14 episodes. Hwi finally said she wanted Ji-Woon to stay with her. They have 6 episodes to find a way now.

Idol: The Coup Jenna and the CEO are the only ones interesting.

Secret Royal Inspector and Joy There are some funny moments. But KHY and Taecyeon have more siblings vibes than lover chemistry...

School 2021 The story between the ML and the SML reminded me a lot School 2013... Without the acting...

The Red Sleeve Cuff I'm not yet convinced by LSY in this role... The tutor is scary, I'm happy she saw his real face. The King has new glasses!

Happiness Why didn't they force people to stay in their appartement and just shoot on the ones who don't respect the rules... Clearly, they're all stupid and will cause their own death...

The Red Sleeve
One thing I like about Joonho is that he's generous with his tears. He doesn't squeeze them out, they just flow out naturally. He doesn't hold back with his acting that sometimes it's hard to believe he's an idol.
The scene between San, Deok Im and the king during the confinement is intense, heartbreaking and beautiful.
Can we end the drama at the happy times and leave the rest to our imagination?
I'm not a fan of sageuk, but this one is just too good.

2D1N
How they manage to keep double digit rating is beyond me.
Been watching the show more than 10yrs and it's amazing how they survive the scandals in its each season and massive changes in TV industry.
The last 2 episodes are very entertaining. When Jongmin played Tteokbokki game, I just died 😂😂
I love how the other members keep Jongmin in the center of entertaining moments.

RED SLEEVE CUFF is my favourite at the moment. Story, dialogue, cinematography and most of all the acting of both leads, but not only of these two, is impressive. The scene between the king and locked down crown prince was so good, as was the reading of poetry through the door.

THE KINGS AFFECTION is better now than at the start. I do feel the frustration and tiredness of Dam-yi in her terrible situation.

INSPECTOR KOO is crazy, but I still enjoy it, to a large part because of K, she is deranged, but also vulnerable and Kim Hye-Jun is great in this difficult part. The other INSPECTOR JOY is crazy, too, but in a fun, silly way. A good watch.

It was so obvious that the wedding in MELANCHOLIA would not go ahead. I dislike the power games in the school so much, it is over done (parents and pupils, too). I fear that even after the 4 year time gap we will revisit this terrible school. The mathematical confession must be one of the best drama confessions ever, and the matching rejection, too. Highlight of this week's episodes.

Still in for HAPPINESS and even for JIRISAN. It must be the title music, once I hear it, I am drawn in, despite so many flaws.

Wanted to see Han Ji Min in something, so I watched her and Hyun Bin in HYDE, JECKYL, ME. What a mess they made of multiple personality disorder, as if that needed more of a mess in the first place.. And you know, I'm starting to think Hyun Bin and I may be over. Sorry, Bin. Next, wanting something lighter, I watched SHE WAS PRETTY with Hwang Jung-eum and Park Seo Jun. There were many genuinely funny scenes, but a lot of it was ruined for me by HJE jumping around manically and shreiking like a chimpanzie on meth, that older style of goodhearted airhead that I think may have at last gone out of style in Kdramaland. At least, I hope so.

I didn’t realized how many things I’ve watched in the past 2 weeks until I came to make this post.

For airing dramas, I’m only following Happiness and The Red Sleeve.
The plot of Happiness(/i> is starting to show its weaknesses by relying a bit too much on characters’ stupidity to move itself forward. Episode 7 was, in my opinion, the weakest episode so far but Hyun and Saebom still give me life. I love them so much; I am willing to overlook the flaws.
I’m liking The Red Sleeve more and more each episode. Junho is fantastic as the crown prince and Lee Seyoung is growing on me. Can someone look at me the way San looks at Deokim? He's in denial but he's got it bad.

I watched an old classic Taiwanese drama last week: Autumn’s Concerto. Unfortunately most of it has not aged well at all. However, I finished it for two reasons: it has one of my biggest guilty pleasure trope (a guy reconnecting with a child he didn’t know he had) and a cute kid.

My friend, who watched every drama I recommended him, told me to watch Mad For Each Other. So I did. I liked how the drama dealt with certain themes and issues but I didn’t love it as much as he did. The ending was a bit too rushed. I must say that Lee Suhyun is one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen. I wonder if she’ll really give acting a go now and we will be seeing her in another drama in the near future.
The dog was also cute.

I am currently watching The Good Detective. It's a typical crime drama but it does seem like a well-written one. I still have 10 episode to go so we will see. So far, I appreciate how the drama portrays police incompetence believably. Many dramas cannot differentiate between incompetence and stupidity.

Outside of dramaland, I have watched two new Netflix shows: Arcane and Cowboy Bebop. Both are adaptations of popular media. I have never played Leagues of Legends but I still enjoyed Arcane, especially its animation style. The characters were also compelling.
Cowboy Bebop is an anime that I really like so I was excited and wary to watch the live action Hollywood adaptation. Overall, I was really pleased with it; definitely one of the best anime live action adaptation that I have seen (yes I know the bar is pretty low). They absolutely nailed the casting for the main characters. However, the villain storyline dragged a lot. What made the villain effective in the anime is that we only ever got brief flashes of his backstory. The adaptation unnecessarily tried to fill in the blanks. Looking forward to season 2 nonetheless.

The Red Sleeve Cuff
Not marathoning this show was a huge mistake. As much as I like waiting for it patiently each week in anticipation, I want more after each episode.
On the Verge of Insanity
Thanks to regional restrictions I couldn't watch it when it aired. It recently became available for free in my region so I'm on it. CBS is such a great main character and the show is much lighter than I thought. Otoh HSK is such a jerk. He's exactly the kind of toxic people at office that you don't want to kill but you wish you never cross paths with them.
The Kings Affection
Let her be happy!!! Will you show??
Bite Sisters
They had more story to tell and this could become a good full length drama but underutilized in a web drama format.
Hellbound
Netflix releasing all episodes at once does the trick. I'm less likely to find faults in a show that I binge watch, give it a thought and I start noticing the loopholes. Nonetheless I still enjoyed watching it.

RED SLEEVE CUFF is our favorite show now- a sageuk done right. My wife is also enjoying THE KING’S AFFECTION and JIRISAN. This week was the penultimate episodes of THE KING’S AFFECTION and I really wonder what the final episodes will bring.

My only complaint about ROYAL INSPECTOR AND JOY is that the subtitles on Viki are slow on this drama. But the story itself is progressing nicely. It may not be the equal of RED SLEEVE but it is really fun even if some of the humor is a little flat at times.

I am trying to space out my viewing of each new episode of WOULD YOU LIKE A CUP OF COFFEE? because it is such a special show. Each episode is really a seperate story from the last so there is no need to watch as soon as possible- and this is a really good thing. You can savor each one.

The amnesia trope remains one of my least favorite but at least that story arc is being used in a dramatically useful way in the weekend family drama YOUNG LADY AND GENTLEMAN. Given that age differences are a significant question in this show - not only for our lead characters but for one of our secondary romancess as well (the woman is seven years older than the man)- the fact that our titular Gentleman thinks that he is still 22- and cannot remember the death of his father, his beloved but deceased wife or his three children creates a unique shift in perspective.

Having finished the J-drama rom-com AN INCURABLE CASE OF LOVE which I enjoyed with my wife I have now gone through five episodes of FROM FIVE TO NINE which is based upon a Manga. It is reasonably entertaining but not quite as good.

We are now nearing the end of the C-drama GO INTO LOVE. It has been a good story and we enjoyed it but as far as a story centered around the game of Go I think that HIKARU NO GO is better.

I am glad that DaebakGrits watched the Sageuk MR. SUNSHINE- probably one of the greatest of all time and the only one where the ML is actually an American (though born Korean). It is set one of the worst and saddest periods of Korean history- the final years of Joseon. I remember how moved my wife was when watching it- it really is a world-class drama. It was smart to follow that with WHAT’S WRONG WITH SECRETARY KIM? Which is one of the greatest K-drama romcoms. Part of why this show was so good was the way in which it subverted some standard tropes: For instance, our FL is definitely no Candy but rather a superbly competent professional. In addition, our chaebol family does not initially reject our poor FL but quite the opposite- they do everything they can to encourage a marriage viewing her as the ideal match for their son. I think that this willingness to subvert some common tropes is part of what made this show so good.

Red Sleeve: Not that I wasn't impressed with Junho in the prior episodes, but ep 5 really sold me 200% on his sageuk acting. Every scene is just art. Happy to see the ratings climb each week.
Also remembered Taejong Lee Bangwon is airing next week. Hopefully people won't have sageuk fatigue as they overlap on Saturdays and we could definitely use more serious historicals...

Go Back Couple – Completed episode 12. I so enjoyed this introspective gem. Funny enough, I have a bucket list of resolutions that I end up not checking when the phase is over and I make a new one and the cycle repeated itself, again. With a comedic timing so great and such a delight, it weaves the very serious moments seriously whenever it gets to be serious, and it stays serious till that phase is past. Of all the introspective k-series I’ve downed, this is one that I would most likely watch all the episodes over again ‘cause it is just too much. Looking at the couple I’m reminded of what would be my fate. Oh my God! the OST in episode 4 was wow! And Kim Mi Kyung is such a wonderful momma. I can’t get enough of her character. The goodbye scene with her mom was so emotional and tear-jerking, it opened my tear floodgates for minutes, it was painfully beautiful.

Reflection of You - So I caught up to episode 4 of this series and I’m confused. Who’s the villain, no who the bad guy and who is the good? What exact story is played on the screen. This drama does a good job of not making it clear me whom to root for cause they’ve both crossed lines. I hope An HyunSung stays good till the end; and can someone hit the husband of his sister into a coma, at least let her catch a break. All the forms of abuse she’s receiving – emotional, psychological, verbal and physical – it is just not fair. It felt good that those junior doctors appreciated her on a very high level, a level he can never attain, a level he’s jealous of. Despite Lisa’s backstory, she needs some real discipline. Why exactly was she envious of Ju-young when she won’t even sit down to have a conversation with her mother?