COMPLETED
More J-dramas because why not. Watched Black Cinderella (surprisingly okay), Only Just Married (too many silly misunderstandings), the She Was Pretty remake (okay, ML was much less of a douche), and the Midnight Runner adaptation (also okay).

ONGOING
Café Minamdang - Not a fan of the way the cops are written but I like the core Minamdang crew. As for the romance let the over-eager CEO have Han-jun, at least she's funny.

Link - I kinda think the break-up makes sense? Even though Dahyun was also a victim, she's inextricably linked with Gye-young's disappearance and they both need time to process that revelation.

Insider - Nice to see Yo-han putting his learnings to use but to me Sun-oh is still the most interesting character - Yo-han understanding him made sense.

Extraordinary Attorney - The Spring Sunshine moment was so lovely. I liked the intricacy of the legal issues at play in the Ep. 6 story. Side note - they've brought in some excellent guest stars for each episode/ case arc and it really elevates the quality of the drama.

Doctor Lawyer - I liked the boardroom scene with everything falling apart simultaneously for the evil trio. The surgery scenes made me laugh.

Why Her - Both the young guys annoy me to death. Don't know why Se-pil needed 10 whole years to do literally anything.

Alchemy of Souls - Loved the fight scenes (the scarf!). I like that the plot keeps moving and the world-building looks solid.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo: There’s always a Min-woo in the workplace. Spring Sunshine Su-yeon really is a sweetheart. I’m glad she and Young-woo are getting closer. Both cases were good this week with some good lessons for Young-woo.

Yumi’s Cells 2: Between Yumi getting back together with Babi, Woong and Babi’s pissing contest and Ruby and Control Z, this week was pretty tedious. Where are you, third guy? Come and save me. Sadly, it doesn’t look like that will happen. I only hope they have Yumi end up alone and not with Babi.

Link: Eat, Love, Kill: For once, I thought a kdrama break up actually made sense. Da-hyun is grappling with survivor’s guilt and Gye-hoon has been conditioned since childhood to say he’s fine. They need some time apart. Jin-geun was destined for that fridge. I thought the actor did a really good job playing a creepy, delusional stalker.

Alchemy of Souls: I’m glad the duel is finally over. Uk’s scarf move was pretty smooth but the whole plotline with the soul shifter went on too long. I feel like a lot of sequences go on a little too long. Uk and Mu-deok are good as partner’s in crime, but I’m not feeling any romantic vibes.

Remarriage & Desires: Episodes 1-2: I was hoping the satire would be sharper but this just feels like a typical revenge melodrama.

Insider: I was hoping for more from Yo-han and Sun-oh. I’m having a hard time buying Yo-han as a genius with these intricate plans considering what he was like in the first half of the drama. I wish he wasn’t the only good guy in the whole drama. Everyone is so evil or shady, even Soo-yeon. I keep feeling like she’s going to betray Yo-han soon.

Café Minamdang: I don’t know why I’m still watching this. It’s so dumb. Who thought it was a good idea to play the FL physically assaulting the ML for laughs? It is not funny but then neither is any of the other so-called comedy.

CRICKET - England vs. New Zealand - competitive test matches till day 3 and then England batting in ODI form took all the wins.

Here comes India - 5th Test match - same thing happens. It's funny to see ODI in Test matches. I like to see much more struggle.

New Zealand vs. Ireland - 3 matches - 9 hours each match and we got outcome in last over. woah - Ireland should have won 2 matches but they lost all 3 matches. They are a good side and surely are a weak team but gave awesome competition to Kiwis who are performing not so well for months.

The real cricket fun starts now - these next 6 months gonna have too much cricket action - the real action.

ALCHEMY OF SOULS (Ep 7-8) Episode 7 gives us some important background information on Naksu, the past conflict and resolution (which I predicted in less detail) and the powerful concept of the ice stone - - - the key to soul removal and shifting. The darkest of the dark arts was sealed away by the Jin family in a very unlikely place (but to hold onto its power it makes sense). It is interesting to note that both Uk and Cho-Yeon’s fathers have been away from Songrim for a long time, I don’t think that is a coincidence. I like the Crown Prince a little more with his interactions with Mu-deok, who unknowingly is created her own army of mages. But the “science” of the soul shifting stone is still unclear to the point of being troublesome. The idea of a love pentagon around Uk seems overwhelmingly unnecessary. The duel was short on action and impact. Master Lee is the one character that can pull the loose writing together into some logical sense. The news that after this run there is a Part 2 of 10 episodes of a different focus does not sit well.

CLEANING UP (Ep.11-12) The reveal that the Captain is a former gangster yields the motivation for his reckless behavior toward Yong Mi. At least she had the common sense to get “new” evidence to protect herself from further harm. But the naive nature of it is troublesome. The writer misapplies legal procedure to release the Captain - - since two former Presidents were charged with corruption, there a new anti-corruption bureau to by-pass prosecutor office to press charges. No matter, Yong Mi shining knight must be sacrificed in order to win the game. I do not like that the cleaning ladies have NOT learned their lesson that they are over their heads in playing criminal gambling on stocks. The time jump skipped the apparent hardship of navigating insider bets on their own. Adding a moral component to their stock bet was weakly played since both are losing propositions. I just find the situational stupidity of making larger bets with borrowed money with dubious information foolish.

THE WITCH IS ALIVE (Becoming Witch) (Ep.3) Jin-A’s bloody moment was a good fake out, but the intruder did not calm her paranoia about her dead husband’s return. What is she going to do now that the police (and others) know about her huge mattress stash?
Hee-Soo dilemma may be partially delusional madness of resentment against her husband.

Ma-Ri’s life is getting more complicated because it seems Go-Eun really likes her. The lawyerly advice given to them was spot-on for a change: in Korea, the one at fault cannot file for divorce. Now, the game is which spouse can make the other crazier.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo (Episode 5-6) - Mood: B+
No no no Show, stop with that family drama nonsense! Why do we need this hidden mother makjang? The only way out is to subvert the trope and make this whole birth secret a bait to troll the viewers: anything else is an insult to the other arcs in the plot. I also can’t understand why we’re being force-fed a love triangle but thankfully it appears that Su Yeon is picking friendship over love in the preview? I guess it’s the power of Young Woo’s sincerity that got through to her. As for Min Woo, I’ve rambled enough about him on my fan-wall and I still think it’s crazy that Jun Ho was fine drinking with him and pouring out his heart after the basketball incident? I also found it difficult to reconcile Episode 6’s Myung Seok with Episode 5’s: suddenly he’s not blaming Young Woo for a mistake she made? There were a lot of strong moments in this week’s episodes such that I’m willing to write off Episode 5 as a blip but I really wished we didn’t get all the tropes.
And, if the writer feared having main lead cheerleader syndrome, writing Min Woo as indifferent wouldn’t change much of the plot while still reflecting the sad reality that most of society just tolerates autistic people. But it is what it is, sigh.

Yumi’s Cells 2 (Episode 11-12) - Mood: D+
Hmm, I seem to have seen this dilemma in 2521 not that long ago whereby the writer has written the story into a corner regarding romance endgame: worse, unlike that show this show doesn’t even have a good critical ending as it is adapted so there’s the additional webtoon vs drama stuff to consider. I’m just going to enjoy the popcorn next week?

Link: Eat, Love, Kill (Episode 11-12) - Mood: D+
A classic third-quarter breakup because of childhood trauma: you know, I would’ve bought the trope if Jin Geun had an interesting backstory but nah, he’s just motivated by a twisted sense of obsession whether it’s a gaming console or the girl he bullied. Of course he dies after fulfilling his narrative purpose. Do I care about what all the adults did? Not at all!

Cafe Minamdang (Episode 5-6) - Mood: D+
The tone of the show is giving me a severe whiplash: we went from parent-induced baby spirit faking to Han Jun telling Jae Hui that he saw the real culprit to breaking up an attempted pyramid scam on Hye Jun to drug-induced kisses and classic feeling denials to a Gopuri chase cliffhanger. It’s downright funny that there’s 0 coherence between the genres.

Jinxed at First (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D-
So Soo Kwang has to find a deus ex machina in order to turn Seul Bi mortal? This is all such good writing, aren’t I right?

Cleaning Up (Episode 11-12) - Mood: D
At least this week featured some actual cleaner snooping! But the show’s still piling on makjang with the CEO’s murder.

Also watching: Dear X Who Doesn’t Love Me

Yumi’s cells
Really intrigued with how they will end it.

Why her
🥺

Moment of 18
I like the male lead having seen him in Do you want a cup of coffee. He may be one to watch if he continues to choose his dramas wisely.

Miracle (2022)
It’s a low maintenance watch

Scent of a woman
Restarted watching and enjoying.

He who can’t marry
The original J drama on Amazon prime as can’t find the Korean version anywhere and Dramabeans recommends J drama over the K version.

Your honour
Started this tentatively as it has violence and tension but so far FF working well to reduce impact.

Dear X who doesn’t love me
Started this week not sure what to make of it.

Completed:

Would you like a cup of coffee?
Loved this drama so calming only one incident of noble idiocy that could have been sorted with a conversation.

Dear. M
Would have been better with less episodes but good enough college drama.

On hold:
When my love blooms
Devilish joy
Sungkyunkwan Scandal

Dropped: as they are on dodgy site got sick of the graphic adverts

Bravo my life (daily drama)
Goo Pilsoo is not there

The Best Friend Woo Young Woo - episode 4 touched me a lot, because we were there as well with our son - the bullying, changing schools... and the pains and worries of a parent of a special kid. When Father was so grateful to the CEO for giving his autistic daughter the job, I had tears in my eyes.
(And then Attorney Kwon made my blood boil with stressing Woo Young Woo on purpose in ep 5 🤬🍅).
I'm loving the female friendships (omg that Spring Sunshine!) and Junho in love 😍
*****
Question for RL lawyers (@oldawyer ?): How it is in real life when a client is not playing fair and it goes against the attorney's beliefs/morals?

Link - The Fridge and all that inspecting and measuring 😄 And yes, it was a no-brainer that Stalker would finally end up in it, but that the reveal actually happened at the police station self put me in stitches. 😂
The reveal of the real culprit on the other hand left me cold... I would prefer a better build up (and more prior knowledge). And I would also prefer less reckless leads - what is this (repeated!) going to a suspicious house, completely alone, without notice to anyone, and sometimes even in the middle of the night?

Alchemy - Blue scarf scene 😂 😂
I'm surprised the mags are aware that Naksu very likely misinterpreted the truth about her father's death and sees them as killers and mortal enemies. And I'm even more (positively) surprised that Naksu gets to know the truth so soon. Also, I didn't know that I would be so interested (and amused) in Dojoo and Jin love line 🙂
And I want Yul, Won and Uk make a team and work (and tease each other) together... and create some epic bromance.

Enjoying a low-cost cdrama The Night of Love With You in the vain of Extraordinary You and Taiwanese drama Lost Romance.

Oh, and I watched Extreme Job and oh my, it is soooo funnyyyyy 😂 it's not an award winning movie, but I laughed so much! 😄 And the fighting scenes are epic... and funny at the same time 😁

Extraordinary Attorney Woo - This week is filled with foods for thought. We are infallible , and can be deceived. EAW pointed it out this week. We make a conscious effort, Youngwoo makes more conscious effort, to not fall prey but we all still do fall prey at times. I must say, Min-woo as a competition really dulled out her objectivity I pray they do not pair him with her again except for Youngwoo to teach him a thing or two. I don’t like Min-woo with Youngwoo, but I really like him with Jun-ho.
The bow at the end of ep 6’s case, filled me with gratitude.
Mr Woo denying his daughter in broad daylight is my comical highlight for the week. In a way I love how he doesn’t treat her like an egg all the time. ‘Naaaaaaaah, this one is on you Youngwoo. Face it, and clean it😁'

It’s Beautiful Now - The eldest couple remains the best part of the story.
The 3 sons of Kyung-ae is constant headache I really feel for her😅, and her fourth boy does nothing but rub it in. She really needs the whack-a-mole to loose all that bad mood they give her everytime😂😂, even Grandpa will share in her wrath.
Good one Soojung. Let it out and have peace. Besides, while your birth father isn’t an educator, he groomed a son that become one. Be proud, as you've always been.

Alchemy of Souls - Dang! The story moved up a lot. Mudeok finally wields a sword✅, in a mage-ic fight✅✅. Even if nothing else happened, I’m at peace with the episodes.
I do find it sketchy that Songrim offered to take him in. Park Jin will inhibit Wook instead of train him so as to take the eyes of the Royal Court off him. Prince Won definitely won’t leave his lose standing by. And more important Shifty Queen aka Danju.
And to the blue scarf, 🥂.

Cafe Minamdang: This drama continues to be fun. Our cafe team is funny and our resident shaman high as a kite is hilarious. They did the FL dirty though, she isn't particularly well written and miscast. That said I can ignore that because I really like our cafe team and I always love SIG.

Link: The inevitable break up. That was coming. We have four episodes left. We know who is murderer is. I believe Jin Geun is actually dead this time. So now onto reconciliations, catching a murderer, happy endings, and some peace.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo: This show is extraordinary. When Young Woo told Sy Yeon she was spring sunshine, i cried. Honestly, it is one of the sweetest things anyone can say to a person. I also cried at the North Korean defector's story. How sweet. I will say, I really hope they address that poor woman being consistently beaten by her husband. I am honestly surprised he hasn't killed her. There was a lot of speculation that Min Woo was Attorney Tae's son, and I agreed initially, but now I think that is wrong, only because Min Woo and Young Woo seem to be the same age. Her secret baby, Young Woo, she had in college. So unless she had a baby before Young Woo, her son is probably a teenager. As for Jun Ho, I want to know more about him and why he thinks he can't like her.

Insider: Everything is going far too smoothly for a drama with 4 episodes left. So I am curious as what is going to happen. I also wonder what Seung Wan is dying from.

Eve: So everything is out in the open. the Chairman finally realizes his wife is not only unhinged but truly a terrible person. Why he didn't divorce her before, Idk. La El is slowly but surely getting her revenge. Her rather slow husband is realizing he got played. Also Mon Hee didn't deserve to go out like that. Convenient confession though. However, all I am thinking about is the poor children.

Remarriage & Desires: I actually liked it. I honestly didn't realize it was satire. It didn't come off that way to me. I liked that Hye Seung kept her integrity throughout her revenge. Happy to say I finished a KHS drama and enjoyed her in it.

Doctor Lawyer: So who got the heart? This is the question, it would be interesting if it is Micheal in a fabulous plot twist.

Cafe Minamdang: Very watchable, but the writing is pretty clunky at best and just all over the place, like the script was being developed on-the-fly in an improv class. Can't tell if it's because the original source materials has the same flaws.

Alchemy of Souls: Last week's set of episodes gave me goosebumps - the good kind! And we got two Tansu scenes! The way Mu-deok and Wook re-affirm their trust and partnership each week warms my heart. It is not just a quid-pro-quo master-student relationship - it is one that is almost like a familial relationship. It's like team against the world!

Extraordinary Lawyer Yoo: I enjoyed that we shift gears to YW's working relationships with Min-woo and Su-yeon and to her struggles not just as a lawyer on the spectrum, but as a lawyer in general facing things that rookie lawyers face.

I rarely post about non-asian dramas, but omg, I just watched the latest Persuasian netflix movie, and it was so terrible! I still watched it in awe of all the WTF-ery. It's my favorite Austen novel, so I was disappointed.

My highlight of the week at the moment is EXTRAORDINARY ATTORNY WOO, followed by LINK: EAT, LOVE, KILL.

I also enjoy watching ALCHEMY OF SOULS, but I still think that some parts are too long.
YUMI'S CELLS 2 is still on my watchlist, but I'll be glad when the Bobby era is hopefully over soon.

WHY HER?: I'm only holding out until the end because I'm just too stubborn and seem to have a masochistic streak.

I also watched the first two episodes of DEAR X WHO DOESN'T LOVE ME. But the series couldn't convince me so far, it seemed too sterile and emotionless.

I also had a look at REMARRIAGE & DESIRES, the first episode was quite promising.

It's a miracle that I still have a social and professional life, but I also watched HOSPITAL PLAYLIST on the side. Season 2 will follow soon.

ALCHEMY OF SOULS—I thought episode 6 meandered and lacked the tension of the other episodes, perhaps because our master and pupil were separated or I thought the story was a bit of a filler. Thankfully the next episode picked up and we learned a couple more tantalizing backstory details. I want to know the story of the female mage who partnered to end the abuse of the alchemy of souls and also more about Mu Deok.

EXTRAORDINARY ATTORNEY WOO—The character growth and time spent on relationships is my cup of tea and this drama serves it with heart, humor, and pathos. Young Woo’s hard lesson and her remorse was the kind of character building lesson that will guide her through future challenges. As usual, there was so much to love, but hands down the most touching has to be Young Woo’s nickname for Su Yeon and all the emotional impact.

THE DAY OF BECOMING YOU—This is a hoot! Imagine if Your Are Beautiful got a modern makeover and added body switching. I have been following Steven Zhang’s career and he is one Chinese actor I will check out just on the basis that he is in a drama, but I am pleasantly surprised at how cute this is. For one thing, the actors do a fantastic job with the body switch plot, no over-exaggerated acting thank goodness (much better and, honestly, funnier than Secret Garden). If you want something light to make you giggle, this is for you.

THE GOOD DETECTIVE—Oof. I finished it. How is it possible that I almost cried for the death of a character that firmly left the gray boundary of black and white? Bravo, to the writer and actors that showed a story of very human characters. The difference between the protagonists and the antagonists was a thin, but critical line that we all grapple with. One side took responsibility for their actions—some later than others—while the other side sought to cover and justify their actions. I am curious to see if the second season will address Ji Hyuk’s father’s mystery. And I hope we get more character growth and background for our team.

Alchemy of Souls: 8.4 Poor Jung So-min. Most years her performance here would probably snag her a lot of Best Actress awards, but this year she's got that Extraordinary performance to lose to compete against.

Why Her?: 6.0 Should we shorten the title to just "Why?" At least the FL hasn't walked into many dangerous places lately.
Somewhere in an alternate universe, a young lawyer whose client is being framed is pressured to lose the case by people who arrest her relatives. But in this universe she successfully defends her client, then goes on to defend the relatives, resulting in a shorter, simpler and more satisfying show.

Doctor Lawyer: 6.5

Link: Eat, Love, Die: 6.0 More serial killing and less Mega Food Market PPL, please. Is the FL taking over the "recklessly walk into dark and dangerous places" duties that are being neglected over on Why Her?

Cafe Minamdang: 6.5 At least they're trying to be a bit different from Why Her & Doctor Lawyer every other kdrama ever, but unlike Alchemy & Extraordinary, they're not different in quite the right ways. "Why Her?" is also a question we could ask Minamdang's casting director.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo: 8.5 Day 5 was still "good", but somehow less enjoyable than days 1/4. Day 6 was back to being Extraordinary.

Jinxed At First: 6.0 I thought I was watching a fun fish-out-of-water/superpower tale but the mopey fathers and melo chaebol succession struggle bits are not what I came for.

Once again the winner this week is 🐋🐋🐳🐳🐳🐳🐳

Alchemy of Souls – I don’t even know where to start. The leads continuing to grow closer and more awesome? The Four Seasons’ absolute commitment to wearing colors that reflect their respective seasons? Seo Yul confidently striding in the wrong direction when he’s been startled? The Naksu-blue cloth I’m planning on wearing around my face all winter? I love it all.

Cafe Minamdang – lots of good backstory this week, and more amazing shenanigans from our cafe team. The FL insists on being annoying (but I sense some growth coming soon! Hopefully!) and Su-cheol insists on having the worst style ever, but I’m still enjoying how things are playing out and am excited for Monday. Seo In-guk continues to have an absolute blast with his part and it’s hard not to feel the same way whenever he’s around!

Chocolate – I wanted to watch something that I figured would be pretty different from the other things I’m watching right now, and help fill in the gaps of my live-watching schedule, so I picked this up this week. I’m through the first 5 episodes right now, and I’m pretty satisfied with my choice. It’s slower (not in a bad way) and more pensive than the others I’m watching right now, and I like how it centers on the microcosm of these two people in their intertwining and unfortunate lives. I’m so glad Kang didn’t lose his kindness after his mom died and his only adult influences were his terrible relatives, but I wish I could understand more about what made him accept the competition to be the heir to their toxic organization. I really enjoy Cha-young’s earnestness and really do not enjoy her brother. I guess I sort of understand why she allows him to leech off of her, but if it were me, I would have waved at him as he was trucked off to jail a long time ago. I’m also totally drawn to Jun, though it might be more because of his eyes and his pottery than because he’s actually done anything positive. At this point I’m chalking it all up to bad parenting and choosing to believe he’s secretly a good person. He’s certainly unhappy with his life, and that’s a signal to me that he has regrets and just doesn’t know how to live differently (hopefully!). I’m here for whatever redemptive arc he gets! And as a person who absolutely loves cooking and food (and watching people cook and enjoy food), I love all of the scenes of cooking, and all the food memories that all the characters carry with them.

*Link*
Episode 12 = breakup. I even expected it this time, and taking time on their own might be good for our couple. The main question about the past mystery for me is not the perpetrator, but: Why do the many people who were around then (and know at least part of what has happened) not talk, especially the mother and grandmother? Are they all guilty in part? And the recklessness of walking around and going into suspicious basements alone, tsk…
Again, the music is the best of all current dramas.
*Café Minamdang*
I’m enjoying myself because SIG is!!! And I agree, the FL is really annoying, let’s hope she changes for the better.
*Insider*
The very involved plan has been working out and Yo Han is now king of the casino. Is that what he wanted?? Every time I’m wondering who is on the good or bad side, I realize that there aren’t any “good” people in this drama and it’ll change around anyway. Sun Oh has died about three times in these episodes, and I’m convinced he will stay alive, because he is my ray of sunshine! Again, the violence and torture were hard to watch, this time against a woman…
*Why Her Ep.13*
I liked the mock trial, that was something different. The romance got back on track, but it doesn’t feel very convincing. Finally, the legal clinic is starting to work on Gong Chan’s case together, and we’re heading toward the conclusion of the drama. If they really pull the “supposedly stillborn child was switched and is alive”, I’ll scream – that’s just too farfetched to make any sense.
*Yumi’s Cells 2*
Loved these episodes. BUT: until last week, I was totally relaxed with this show, still thinking that there would be a third part with 10 or 14 episodes. But after I realized we only had 4 (now 2) episodes to go??? Will the drama leave out a lot from the webtoon or end totally differently? Where we are now doesn’t look like it’s the right path for Yumi. Her love cell is not committed to this relationship.
The dating pros were great together (or rather, pitted against each other?)! Also, the war between the exes in their heads and in real life.
*Jinxed at First*
This is turning much darker, and I like that. Along with the story, the fashion, hair, lighting and ambience has changed, too, and even the market people are a thankfully a bit more subdued (sometimes). Let’s see where this is going, a witch ending or a happy happy fairy ending? Side note: of all the young men around Seul-Bi, I actually like evil Dong Shik best.
*Extraordinary Attorney Woo*
Ep. 4 did it for me, I love the show now, too! The psycho friend made the difference, and maybe the unusual habits and demeanor are toned down a little, or I’m getting used to them. So now I’m with you all who love the show. Episode 6 was excellent!
*Anna*
I was interested in this because I read that Bae Suzy is wearing more than 150 costumes (in a 6 hour show!). I expected this to be either makjang and over the top, or funny and thrilling, something like Catch Me If You Can. It was...

The murder mystery in LINK is still unsolved, despite more and more reveals. There were plenty of hints that Da-hyun was also a victim which is now confirmed, but whose body did the mother hide before? The fridge is one of my favourite characters and maybe it was just the stalkers fate to end up dead and stuffed in it eventually. He was very creepy, but somehow I did not want to see him dead.

Love the Harry Potter elements in ALCHEMY OF SOULS. I was almost expecting Dumbledore or at least Master Lee to step out behind Uk to explain what the mirror does, but luckily UK is smart enough to work out for himself that it only shows illusions - well done Uk! The biting and talking artefacts in the room are familiar, too and Uk's skill as a wizzard/mage is getting better and better. Loved the duel with the crown prince.

ATTORNEY WOO is still my favourite, though. Loved how Su-yeon outsmarted the prosecutor with her own connections with the judiciary, but it is really the judge who is at fault for being swayed by personal connections. The same issue was nicely shown with the army connections - Young-woo has zero chance to make herself a favourite with the client in this regard and her 'colleague' takes full advantage of this.

Did not like YUMI and her cells last week. I always thought that she behaves much younger than her age and I was not impressed with her immaturity and the way she handled the Babi situation.

JINXED improved a little, but the same cannot be said about WHY HER and DR LAWYER. I am just earning a bean here.

Finished ANNA and really enjoyed it, particularly the ending.

Finished ep 10 of Black Dog. This drama doesn't seem to be discussed much, but I'm enjoying it so far. Ra Mi Ran is great (there was even a shoutout to Cheetah :). I also really like seeing Lee Chang Hoon since he was so appealing in One Spring Night, but it's a main role billing and I don't think he's getting enough screen time. There's no personal storyline for him so far and I'll be disappointed if it never comes.

Kingdom: not the zombie one, the idol one! Wanted something a little different and it’s great so far. I usually don’t get too affected by survival shows like these but I’m surprised at how much I’m sweating with anticipation and panic as I watch the boys get really nervous about their performances/ abilities but it’s nice to be reminded of the fact that these well polished idols are also human. All 6 teams are groups that I’m already a fan of, but I have to say - my heart lies with BtoB in this show❤️

Alchemy: I LOVE IT. That about sums it up. Eating up all the Mudeok/Wook crumbs but preview for Ep 9 looks like we might be getting a bit more than just crumbs and I’m giddy with excitement.

Attorney Woo: speaking of giddiness - this show perpetually has me giddy, in love and really feeling the presence of my heart one way or another. *insert incoherent fangirl noises*

Link: I think it might be because my emotions are being used up by the above two shows, and also partly because of the interesting reveal in the last episode but I’m not as in love with it as I once was. I’m still enjoying it all the same though. The iconic three- gen-women trio are the backbone of this show.

Jinxed: the charm is wearing off at this point because the plot is becoming a little nonsensical but I’m interested to see how it all ends still!

Miracle: breezy popcorn watch, great if you’re an SF9 fan.

Dear X: it’s not going how I thought it’d go (in a good way) & is touching on some quite heavy topics around self-esteem, troubled upbringings etc. Doyoung is cute, I’ve dusted off and put my NCTzen hat back on again now bc of him (and Jaehyun, I just recently finished Dear M too)

Cafe Minamdang Definitely SIG's show! He's funny and swoony in the same time.

Link: Eat, Love, Kill I'm sad that Lee Jin-Geun succeeded in separating them, but he's definitely dead \o/

Extraordinary Attorney Woo I loved both episodes. The 5th was very realistic and Young-Woo learned painfully her lessons. I love to watch her growing as a person.

Why Her? Because of a report, they had to find a new killer. So why nobody is watching this famous report?

Alchemy of Souls It's an enternaining show but I'm not really invested in the story or the characters.

Yumi Cells 2 I found this season a little bit weird. There are some missing pieces like the fact they decided to get back together...

ALCHEMY OF SOULS (Ep7-9):
SPOILERS AHEAD!

when I first laid my eyes on Oh My Girl's Arin, I always thought she and Jung So min should co-star as siblings and I can't believe a casting director exactly did that! When I saw the cast list, I kept thinking "what a missed opportunity" but I'm glad to eat my own words. Also JANG UK is so destined to be with a Jin Family daughter, just not the one everyone thinks. The ice stone possession is confusing, but I am trusting the Hong sisters for the first time ( a tall order I know) to tie up all the loose ends. The crown prince is on his way to become my fav character after Naksu, and needless to say, their ship is the cutest. Pure serotonin!
I can't wait to know about the real Mudeok and why is she willingly sheltering Naksu inside her body? Is she a clairvoyant? Did she have a clue that her body will ultimately unite with Jang-uk?

Can we have the real Naksu aka Go Youn Jung to end up together with Seo Yul and BuYeon/Mudeok to end up with Jang-uk so that everybody gets their happily ever after... Let a girl be delusional 😌
For a fearsome bloodthirsty assassin, Naksu really knows how to have men fall for her deep 😁
The yin and yang jade is already being a cupid, I'm interested to see what's the ultimate aim the writers are aiming for? They already burnt Naksu's body so how will she gain her powers?
Will Jang Gang show up? And*gasp* will Jang Uk take the throne?

Just finished Remarriage and Desires. Waited a while for this to be released and I thoroughly enjoyed it. These revenge dramas can get repetitive and stale really quickly so the tight 8 episode format was well done. The female lead was mature and kind so it was really easy to root for her. I had started watching The World of the Married but dropped it as I couldn’t stand any of the characters.

EXTRAORDINARY ATTORNEY WOO is by far and away our favorite show right now. Park Eunbin is simply fabulous (as always), but so are the supporting actors. The guest actors are great too. So are the details- like the way that the crusty old judge in episode six kept control over the proceedings and ultimately surprised us all by seeing the things everyone else missed- we thought he was a hack, but he actually turned out to be a very good judge.

After watching a number of other shows my wife returned to Chinese Costume Dramas with the highly rated LOVE LIKE THE GALAXY. Very high production values and great cinematography make this show almost a work of art.

We are also enjoying ALCHEMY OF SOULS. Mistyisles and Missvictrix have so thoroughly expressed our thoughts, feelings and delight in this show so well that I simply need say no more. If you have Netflix you need to watch this show (and EXTRAORDINARY ATTORNEY WOO as well, of course).

This week the drama ramped up on IT'S BEAUTIFUL NOW. Our Lady Lawyer and our eldest brother met her brother- who has concluded that he must be a gold-digger (never mind that he has a successful dental clinic): Unit is right about his being a jerk and one wonders if Hae-jun’s brother might be part of the reason she has been single so long. Our youngest couple are still suffering their separation. Birth secrets have begun to be revealed and I agree with Unit about the ugliness of the behavior of Mi-rae’s greedy and selfish aunt. This move into makjang territory was to be expected in a weekender and I am grateful that it did not start until well past the halfway point. In Korea there is a prejudice against the adopted which is one of the main themes of the show- and it is nice to see the writer exposing the hollowness and stupidity of this prejudice. It does not detract from the drama, but it is unpleasant. However, it is my fervent hope that the momentary unpleasantness will lead to making our ultimate happy endings seem that much happier.

Link: i know it's not a well written show but i'm still enjoying it. There are still many things we don't know yet. I feel so sorry for all these characters, including the bad ones. Without the dark humor and romance, it's a sad show about people dealing with pain. Lee Jingeun is one of them too.

Yumi's Cells 2: actually, i have dropped this drama but still reading recaps here, but out of curiosity i decided to watch last 15 minutes of episode 12. Wow. I'm sure i have not watch many kdrama proposals but isn't that one of the worst proposal? After getting caught for lying even though it was one of main factor to your break up, but you simply didn't learn, you decided to proposed someone to marry you? Why? I don't know what love is, but i'm sure love doesn't look like that.

Just Between Lovers: this drama is the reason why i decided to write a comment here because i need to say that I LIKE THIS DRAMA out loud 😁

The only Korean show I'm currently watching - Alchemy of Souls: Still going strong and I'm hooked. Such an interesting and lovable group of characters! That last scene in ep 8 when Wook publicly asked Mu-deok/Naksu which Mage house to choose was a nice display of mentor-disciple relationship, paying respect to the person who helped him reach his ultimate goal. Wook had not one but FOUR (I think) options to choose from (one being the house he always wanted to be in)! Goes to show that if you work hard on your personal development, opportunities will open up from all sides.

Japanese- Mr. Hiiragi's Homeroom: I'm on episode 3 and so far it's engaging. Let's see how it fares.

Completed this week:
Wait, my youth: Cute, heartfelt slice of life show. An easy watch, just what I needed to soothe my mind and forget work stress.

Words on bathroom walls (movie): Kind of predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless. Good performances from the cast, they even made me tear up a bit.

Eagerly counting down the days till October for-
Spy x family: Want the Forger family back in my life!

While waiting for new Love Like a Galaxy episodes, I started watching Story of Minglan because they're written by the same author... and there went my week. They really do so well hooking interest, I found myself watching much more episodes a day than I was planning. But new appreciation for 16 episodes series, 73 is such a time commitment.

Big huzzahs for the cast and crew of Extraordinary Attorney but especially for PEB who may finally get the kudos she so richly deserves. That drama plus Alchemy of Souls are my two rewards of the week. In fact, now that I'm finished my chores I get to watch ep 9 of AoS. Yippee!
Still pecking away at King of Drama and its getting funnier with each ep. She Would Never/Sunbae is getting draggy but I am enjoying the sweetness of the two functional couples. Honestly, Wang Bit-na, who plays the dressmaker, looks so much like Lee Seo-jung they should be cast as siblings.
Returned to the world of appointment TV to watch some New Mexico noir. Better Call Saul has only 5 eps remaining of its run and the story is just cracking along. Dark Winds is set on the beautiful Navajo Nation and is distinguished from all other Westerns because it has an entirely Indigenous production team, cast and crew. Available now, only on a couple streaming sites but it would be wonderful if Netflix picked it up. Thinking Beanies would enjoy since it is adapted from a mystery series by Tony Hillerman.

Link: Eat, love, kill: ep1: I started this and though I loved the first episode, with the genre mix, I did not expect it to be so seriously dark with murder and all. So I am going to hold off on that for now.l and probably binge-watch it. I am not in the mood for dark stories right now.

Why her? Ep 6: I haven't moved past this episode. I am interested in OhSoo Jae's story and curious about how her story would end. The romance on the other hand is turning me seriously off. I think that's the reason I don't seem to want to pick it back up.

Bloody heart: ep 3: I am a sageuk fan and I waited for this to conclude to be able to watch at my own pace. I rarely ever strongly disliked a sageuk and so far so good, I think I will love it!

Cafe Minamdang i love the Cafe Minamdang gang. Seo In Gook and PKeak Shi Yang are lovely in this. Kang Minah too. I have a hard time liking the FL though. I am not sure if its how she is portrayed or written. I just do not understand her.

Alchemy of Souls its the opposite with MuDeok. I LOVE MUDEOK and ship her with all the boys - Yul, DangGu, Crown Prince and to a lesser degree Uk. We all know its with Uk but I can't help loving her with the other guys as well. I was a bit disheartened that there will be a part2. 20 episodes is already a lot so another 10 episodes may bring the story even further in the future. Or is part2 a prequel?

Insider: I stopped watching this a week or two ago when I realized there was nothing that really held my interest. This show has some decent actors, but the music, the plot, and a few of the performances are ridiculously over-the-top. My initial impression of Yohan as a reckless, emotional punching bag who is in way over his head is hard to shake even when the drama suddenly turns him into a masterful strategist. Characters do a lot of unnecessary stuff to mislead the audience or further the plot, which makes me think everything is convoluted for the sake of being convoluted.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo: I have many reservations about this drama, but there is much to like. I find the characters endearing, the cases interesting, and the themes well executed (for the most part). Nothing feels too emotionally manipulative. You can count on each episode to offer at least one memorable moment between Young-Woo and one of the other characters. This week, I particularly enjoyed Woo-young’s interactions with “Spring Sunshine” Su-Yeon and the judge in episode 6. I am invested in the mom storyline with Attorney Tae, too, mostly because I wonder if she and her son have some autistic tendencies.

Some aspects of this drama continue to bother me. Portraying Woo-young as an adorable autistic Amelie occasionally undermines her credibility as a competent lawyer and risks fetishizing a real disorder. Both her awkwardness in the courtroom and her difficulty interacting with clients make her a less than ideal trial lawyer, and this week’s episodes made all the rookie attorneys seem a bit shortsighted and childish. While I appreciate the drama’s advocacy for more open-minded hiring practices and better treatment of employees with autism, it does not set a good example of how to do that realistically. Neither her team nor her supervisor seem adequately prepared to work with her, and she’s basically thrown in the deep end from Day 1. I find it unrealistic that the firm would not be more proactive in providing the assistance and training she needs, particularly when she comes close to compromising a client’s defense. Finally, as much as I enjoy Jun-ho and Woo-young’s interactions, I hope their romance is not just some flight of fancy that disregards her obvious issues with physical and emotional intimacy.

Basically, I am only watching EAWYW and I love this show. Lots I could say, but I would only repeat what they other beanies already said. Ep. 6 better than the 5.
The actress who played the north Korean mother broke my heart and made me cry buckets. She is also so pretty, wow... even though she was crying most of the time, but still looked pretty.
On the other hand, I miss more scenes with Jun-ho... When will this ship sail?

Min woo... I don't like him, not even as a friend to sweet Jun-ho, but I understand the show is using him. They need to recycle actors...

Extraordinary Attorney Woo
So much to write down that my mind goes blank.
FF button doesn’t exist and if anything, I would replay each episode and adore every bits and pieces.
Mommy - baby whale is especially touching this week. It may cross Youngwoo’s mind, how come a mommy whale would stay by her baby’s side while she/he is in pain but mommy human abandoned her baby when she needed her mother the most because of her condition. I cried buckets in episode 6.
Park Eun Bin has become a strong brand. I think would believe in any roles she plays.

Kdramas: Woo, Alchemy & Jinxed. Look forward to Woo.

C drama: Love Like the Galaxy. Interesting . Not your typical mother /daughter relationship.

YouTube: Itchy Boots. Noraly, a young lady from the Netherlands, has over 100,000 kilometers of solo motorcycle travels. Currently going from South America to Alaska.
Does a wonderful job capturing her travels, she does off road as much as possible. Interesting travels through Mexico.

Doctor Lawyer (Ep 7-14) - So it appears that Yi-han & Seok-young finally bring managed to bring down Goo Jin-Gi but the truth about what happened 5 years ago is still a mystery....well I did suspected all along who the recipient of the transplanted heart and it seems right. What's the story behind it though? Last 2 episodes coming up next week :)

Cafe Minamdang (Ep 1-4) - Enjoying this so far....such a wacky show :P
Seo In-guk's character here seems familiar with Remember Me though minus the shaman part (must be me since that's the last show of SIG that I have watched)

Link:E,L,K (Ep 5-12) - The story seems to be stagnant. There are only so many flashbacks, amnesias and eye glares that you can take. Just move the story along already and be done with the question of who did it and what happened with Gye-hoon's missing sister. Ohh and finally someone was stuffed in the fridge...good riddance sigh....

Been a while since I posted on What we’re watching, but stuff to be said!

Cafe Minamdang *7/10*
Solid show thus far. The chemistry between the leads is…alright, and I’m not sure I’m a fan of how they have to make EVERYTHING so over the top. Why do they run like that…it’s so cartoony! That being said, I’m enjoying the banter, and the brother sister duo is excellent.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo *9.5/10*
What a show. Easily my favourite show airing and I’m just loving the dynamic between everyone. There’s no real weak links. Even the characters we’re not super fond of, that’s how we’re supposed to see them. It’s not because of bad writing or wonky story beats. One of my favourite moments was easily the Spring Sunshine nickname. Teared up big time and it just hit so right.

The hidden mother stuff coming down the pipeline looks…meh, but there’s room there for solid pathos and drama so I’m going in optimistically thanks to these early episodes.

Alchemy of Souls *8/10*
Still really good this week. Moving at a nice pace, with solid world building and fun characters. Looking forward to tomorrows episode and some servant tryout shenanighans.

Link: Eat, Love, Kill *8/10*
Ah, if a character ever deserved what he got, it was our awful stalker. Instead of repenting after growing up, he relished in what he did as a horrible child. Been a while since I hated a character that much. Leads have some smoldering chemistry when they need it and the tone shifting is still working for me (if the transitions aren’t ALWAYS the smoothest).

A Dream of Splendor *7.5/10*
My current cdrama that I’m almost finished (at 35 of 40) and it’s been pretty great so far. I love our three heroines, and they’ve had their ups and downs the whole time. Unusual (as far as I know) for a show to focus on teahouses and restaurants while weaving in excellent characters. They did repeat a few beats but overall I’m really along for the ride.

DROPPED
Jinxed at First: Kind of the same problem I have with Cafe Minamdang and that everything is over the top. Very few people talk like actual people but none of the characters are likeable enough for me to look past it.

Doctor Lawyer: I should have known going in, but the cast baited me. I’m not a huge fan of doctor OR lawyer dramas, so melding the two was always going to be a high hurdle for me to clear.

Why Her?: Oof, our FL was the only reason I stuck around as long as I did. Every other characters was meh to bad, including the ML.

Started Goblin this week, up to ep 5. I'm enjoying reading the recaps and comments after each ep because there are little details that others catch that I miss, especially word-plays and such. Like I was a bit confused about the end of ep 5 until several commentors said he was seeing the future through the waiter's eyes, and I was like aha! That makes sense!

Up to ep 20 of Who Rules the World. I'm loving it so far, but decided to put it on hold until I finish rewatching The Master's Sun - 2 eps to go with that one. TMS is one that has held up after all these years and I'm enjoying it as much now as I did when it first aired.

@unit "Gye-hoon’s restaurant" is a figment of all of our collective imagination!

I hope Café Minamdang will loose some forced comedy, but I'll stay for SIG anyway.

We have succombed to Extraordinary Attorney Woo and the whale cuteness.

Halfway through Moon Lovers Scarlett Heart Ryeo. It's becoming more classic with the political machinations, but it's exepted in a sageuk.

Cdrama Negociator is in pause due to overload of good intentions.
Too much of anything make me pause... since it's the high tension that made me pause Taxi Driver.
cdrama Night of love with you is a fun short watch with no pressure. And interesting trope count.
Though the visuals are excellents, cdrama Murder at Karoutai was a deception. I expected more thriller than romance. I did not felt the burn.