COMPLETED
Seoul Vibe - It was okay. Actors seemed to be having fun with their roles. Plus points for unexpected Lee Se-young cameo.

Narco-Saints - It picked up pace only after he got onboard the NIS's plan but it was fine thereafter. Nothing amazing but good performances.

Adamas - Last 5 minutes have me 😑. Otherwise a very good show that I look forward to re-watching. Stellar performance from Ji Sung.

ONGOING
The Law Café - So good to see LSG singing in a drama. Loving this so far. All dramas should have kisses by Ep. 4 from now on 😂

Once Upon a Small Town - The old man's story was moving. Liked this week more than the last.

Good Job - Jin-mo is still the best. Somebody please change JIW out of that too short suit kthxbye.

Big Mouth - Kind of looking forward to the finale to see how crazy it gets (minus the cancer drama).

Today's Webtoon - Don't even know how to react to that bizarre travesty of a trauma/abuse/redemption story. Just waiting for this to end now.

The Good Detective S2 - Why do they spend so much time just hanging around? Why wouldn't they arrest or at least question Ki-jin after Eun-hye identified him as the attacker/thief?

C-DRAMAS
Dropped See You Again. Skimmed parts of Maid's Revenge just to see the ML everyone is raving about and it was hilariously bad💀.

Started Thousand Years for You and A Romance of the Little Forest.

Young Actors retreat❤️
This is my favourite show at the moment it really makes me laugh. I love watching the groups grow closer and the last challenge made one of the actors into a hero so he will definitely be a different person after the show. Wookie was so calm like he had been on so many sets he could distance himself from the immersion element and therefore try to complete the task.

Mental coach Jegal
This had a great start so let’s see if it can maintain it into the next few episodes. Hopefully the violence wont be present in each episode as we get the picture these people are power mad and have emotion regulation problems. Will be good to see if he is now fully recovered or if it was a temporary reprieve due to his anger at seeing a woman getting physically assaulted as part of the coaching process.

Once upon a time in a small town
Really enjoying this show so sad this week but also really sweet. Glad we finally got to the childhood connection and looking forward to seeing what happens next.
It dawned on me how principled the vet was to be a vegetarian because anything other than that would go against the purpose of his job and yet he didn’t get preachy about it and let peach boy show off. Shame he let his ego take over re the alcohol though it was good that he called it while he was able to be in control.

Today’s webtoon
Looking forward to the conclusion of this show as it has got on my nerves too many times. It was not what I was expecting, initially I liked it and preferred it to the Sleepeeer hit version but it started to show cracks. Unnecessary storylines and unrealistic work practices alongside PPL that literally pause the story have meant it lost any shine it once had.

If you wish upon me
Still watching and looking forward to seeing what they will do with an abusing father who continues to abuse and manipulate people to this day.

Let me off the Earth
Interesting concept of groundhog years rather than day so the main lead is relieving his 17-19 school years over and over.

Healer
I started watching agin having seen Wookie in stereo on a drama and variety show and he is quite lovely. I decided to watch while rowing so the stress hormones from all the excitement on screen can be burned off and I will read the recaps for any of the finer details I miss.

F4 Thailand
This was recommended by some beanies and after listening to a podcast review of it I decided to go for it. I had vague memory of the Korean version. So far I think it’s an interesting interpretation of the story but it is one clearly influenced by the era it was written in where the violence and power games of the youth were far more explicit. Watching Mental coach Jegal it also showed similar traits in the elite sports field.

100 days my prince
Started to watch as recommended. I managed to get through the episodes that had put me off initially due to the violence. I will see how far I get this time round.

Dropped:
Law cafe: it...

I don't know whether it was just my mood or a true mini-slump this week... because... I watched 3rd episode of Law Café and didn't feel like watching episode 4... I didn't even start episode 3 of Little Women (too dark?)... and somehow didn't find the right mood to watch Good Job. The only show I'm still watching is the cdrama Love Between Fairy and Devil. I'm still there mainly for the Devil and his journey... and all the pretty.

Hope next week all those new shows will get me back to my k-addiction 😁

***
To still have something k-drama like, I started Heyer's False Colors (as Beanies recommended earlier). 🙂

Watching and really enjoying Good Job, which is good silly fun.

Watching and cautiously hopeful about Law Cafe, which demonstrates how good Lee Seung Gi looks in a variety of outfits wants to be good silly fun but is overshadowed by Good Job doing a better job.

Dropped Once Upon A Time etc because I kept falling asleep.

For older dramas I’m skim watching Homemade Love Story - I’m on episode 12 and I still can’t decide if I’m invested enough to continue.

Once Upon a Small Town It's a welcomed drama, just cuteness and simplicity! I like the scenery in the countryside.

The Law Cafe I just watch it because I don't have so many dramas to watch.

Mental Coach Jegal A lot of abusing, bullying, injustice, screaming... It's exhausting to watch. Not sure I will continue this one.

Good Job So she has a super view and he's Wolverine and regenerates himself?

The Good Detective 2 I'm behind because the subtitles took longer and my poor interest.

Today's Webtoon I'm just interested by the scenes between Ma-Eum and Seok Ji-Hyung or Goo Jun-Yeong.

Little Women I love it! The ambiance is so interesting.

Dropped: The Law Cafe / Mental Coach Jegal
Also watching: Unicorn / Good Job / Blind

Adamas (Series review) - Mood progression: D+ / D+ / D / D / D- / D- / D- / D-
My guess is that the open ending was meant to signify that we’ve come full circle: the Haesong owner not aware of the fake Adamas in their hands, the real Adamas being hidden by Lee Chang Woo’s lineage, another Kwon member getting killed by Sun (she’s somehow still alive). But regardless of the ending it wouldn’t have changed my outlook on the show and the pathetic attempt at trying to twist a formulaic narrative: overpowered evil conglomerate vs dumb protagonists.

Once Upon a Small Town (Mid-series review) - Mood: D+ / D
Sometimes, it’s nice to watch a drama and fantasise what it could’ve been under better writing: a nuanced portrayal of the rural-urban divide, a fish-out-of-water scenario where the fish adapts while still remaining a fish (in most dramas, I usually see the fish evolving into a land animal by the end), a male lead who claims to have a girlfriend to drive away a female lead and actually has one (and remains faithful to her), a childhood friend that remains as one, occupations for the main characters that aren’t throwaway details only meant for setting up forced interactions between the leads, the childhood connection and car accident trauma that never happened (miraculous recovery included!), the village rivalry and euthanasia arcs without a lazy link to the romance. I also find myself in the unfortunate position of thinking how an experienced cast would have tackled this lacklustre story, implication being that I’m not being convinced by the acting.

Little Women (Episode 3-4) - Mood: D+
I was hoping against hope that the only crime committed by the Won Family is that of classism and snobbery, but after the aunt mentioned knowing Jae Sang’s dad that was the final nail in the coffin that this isn’t makjang. I guess I should just watch without thinking after the random terminal illness arc: there’s no doubt it’s still entertaining even if it’s dumb.

Big Mouth (Episode 13-14) - Mood: D
Well, that was anti-climatic. So the real Big Mouse just got killed so easily like that? And somehow Chang Ho didn’t get caught in the blast? But anyway this show has a penchant of not tying up loose ends: we still have no idea who the 3rd wisher is and I doubt we’ll get answers on the whole orphanage arc. Don’t get me started on the leukaemia cliffhanger!

Today’s Webtoon (Episode 13-14) - Mood: D
Another shameless parent trope? Man, the writing is shooting itself in the foot again? I knew something had to wrap up all those awkward trauma scenes from previous weeks but this is like the death of Jun Young’s sister where you expect something bad and somehow the reality is worse. Well, at least they bundled the scheming director with this nonsense.

THE WITCH IS ALIVE (Becoming Witch)(Ep. 12) The series delivered on what it promised: a divorce, a pregnancy and a death. It was consistent with its dark humor during the course of its run. The premise was the same as THIRTY NINE, three women around 40 dealing with important issues in their lives, but WITCH does it much better with humor and better script writing. It was an entertaining and fun show. Lee Yu-Ri and Jung Sang-Hoon kept their comic relationship going throughout the series. The pace and comedy elements were well done throughout the series. I would highly recommend this show.

TODAY’S WEBTOON (Ep.13-14) There is a real sour taste with these last few episodes. The rookie editors have too much naive decision making authority while trying to make sense of their situations. The badly executed work place issues and weak office politics have taken its toll on the early, bright and fun journey of Ma-Eum into the workplace.

Where did the light, fun, office comedy lose its way? When it tried to force feed “drama” into the office setting. Drama that did little to advance the development of our office crew but to make them into balloon headed comic characters.

STOCK STRUCK (Ep. 9-10) The novice investor angst and anxiety in volatile markets is spot-on reality. Our little investment club is getting whiplashed by what Alan Parsons once wrote: “What goes up, must come down.” Mi-Seo’s love life is just as turbulent. One is the man she was about to marry; the other is a stock guy who could give her insight on making money in the market. Choices. The show is all about choices. The temple mental retreat was humorous but also sad as Tutor Kid gets busted by his disapproving parents.

I am not a fan of epilogues, but this series’ informational shorts on stock investing are really good. Even if you are not a fan of the show, FF to the end if you are interested in investment strategy and learning how stock markets operate.

GOOD JOB (Episode 7-8): More disguise capers this week: cleaning crew and Ghostbuster parody. It leads to some new information but more of the spotlight is heading toward the uncle, Vice Chairman. It is apparent they both did not want Seon-Woo would lead the company (which begs the question what happened to his father? Then there was an inference that the dad is still alive?) Episode 8 was more slow burn romance for both couples. But now Director Hong can assume the Alfred role alongside Batman, Batwoman, Robin and his semi-girlfriend. And yes, SPOILER: a deep stab wound to the stomach requires surgery and a minimum 8 week recovery period, but reality does not stop our super-hero.

Variety: THE ZONE: ENDURE TO SURVIVE (Ep. 2): I watched the second episode and it was more one note than the first, just a little more cast bickering. It does not have the puzzle/reward play of other bigger budget escape-variety shows like THE GREAT ESCAPE or BUSTED.

Little Women: The PD has done a fantastic job creating an eerie atmosphere. The characters are pretty dumb and frustrating. In-hye is a bit bratty, but her character feels the most realistic.

Adamas: I thought the final two episodes were weaker than the past 14, but this was still a really good drama. I’m curious about the thought process behind the ending. Ji Sung was fantastic. I’d love for him to reunite with Seo Ji-hye in a romance some day.

The Law Café: I had such high hopes for this drama, but I find myself hitting fast-forward a lot. The legal cases are boring. I think Yuri and Jung-ho’s relationship would make more sense if they had never dated.

Good Job: I don’t even remember what happened this week.

Today’s Webtoon: Dae-ryuk’s story was handled so badly. They tried really hard to tell us his mom wasn’t a bad person, she just chained him up like an animal because he accidentally started a fire. WTF.

Mental Coach Jegal: I really liked the writer’s past works but ended up fast-forwarding most of the first two episodes. It just felt dreary.

Today's Webtoon: 6.6 Webtoon Witch as been the best part recently.

Big Mouth: 7.5 Laying it on thick as they prepare for the finish. At about 56 min of day 15, the ML is totally jinxing it.

Law Cafe: 6.4 Killing the dog was off limits.

Mental Coach Jegal: __ Not planning to watch, but wondering if he's "mental".

Once Upon a Small Town: 6.5 Kinda worried about the grandparents. Our ML is only supposed to be there while they are away, but we all know he has found his "forever home", so they aren't coming back?? The squabbles between villages are not fun, but it's hard to hate a show with lines like "I've been living with that bull for 30 years".

Good Job: 8.0 Still fun, but my suspension of disbelief didn't last nearly as long as the time it took certain idiots to call the police, and isn't nearly as deep as a certain oddly fast-healing stab wound.

Blind: 5.5 Being blind might help with some of the scenes. Doesn't really seem like my cup of blood tea.

---

I've been watching more Youtube than usual, for example "How Corruption Destroys Armies - Theft, Graft, and Russian failure in Ukraine"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9i47sgi-V4

And I've been going thru the xkcd what-if archives. https://what-if.xkcd.com/

So I'm not really suffering by watching fewer kdramas than usual recently.

I see Mental Coach Jegal Gil as the latest in writer Kim Ban-di’s state-of-the-nation dramas. The first was Angry Mom, a Sewol allegory in the guise of a high school comedy; the next, Special Labour Inspector Jo Jang-poong, a cri de coeur against the devastation wrought by the free market on the already high-stress South Korean workplace. But unlike their education system and work culture, South Korea’s sporting achievements are still a source of pride, and Mental Coach Jegal has chosen to plunge into the darkness behind all the shiny medals and trophies.

In fact there’s a lot more darkness than I’d expected. The physical and sexual abuse from the coaches is in the news, but not the sunbae’s bullying of the hoobae; the marginalisation and even sacrifice of athletes who are deemed less likely to win; and the deeply ingrained “if the previous generations suffered, the generations to come should suffer too” mentality. Tbh, Ga-eul’s coach’s behaviour shocked me less than her mother eagerly supporting her decision to get twelve stitches without anaesthetic (“Back in the day, that was how we all did it”).

Like its writer’s other shows, Mental Coach Jegal flips like a champion gymnast between darkness and optimism. Which is fair enough, cos without the laughs and the support networks created by Gil, his dad and the members of the No Medal club, the show would be extremely difficult to watch (and probably not be regarded as "true" K-drama at all by many viewers). I’ve also got to point out that I know of only one real person with the unusual compound surname Jegal, and that’s the legendary strategist of the Three Kingdoms era, Zhuge Liang (Zhuge being the Chinese version of Jegal). I think Jegal Gil is shaping up to be a pretty impressive strategist himself.

Adamas - A lot has been or will be said about this and it was worth it. That ending is bait for season 2 but a juicier bait was the teased Woo-shin Hye-soo feud - A clash of the calm waters🤤.

Today's Webtoon - 'Its Ha Do-kwon'. This rings in my head each time Director Heo pulls another antic. I'm waiting expectantly for CEO Yoon to ruin his plans because I don't trust Man-cheol to do it to the t.

Good Job & Unicorn are doing their job as a laughfest and they're playing it to perfection. Add a steamy touchy scene in Good Job🤤...

Little Women - 'Old money stares down new money'
Watching this play out has me high on feeling good.
In-kyung needs to dial down on her just reporter vibes, and In-joo needs to stop looking naive. In-hye...don't be annoying. Do-il, I do not trust at all, but Kang Hoon's character I like already.

Missed watching It's Beautiful Now for the first time in 20+ weeks.

Once upon e small town: This show is continues to be cute. I am rooting for our vet mostly because I think he has adapted well to being thrust into a situation he didn't ask for. His character is very consistent.

The Law Cafe: I love this show so much. It is loud, messy, and not particularly well written. However our leads are adorable. FL is a straight shooter who goes after what she wants without reservation and it is really refreshing. Our ML noble idiocy is breaking down at a rapid pace. Episode 4 and already 2 pecks and a kiss. Going places this drama is.😜😁

Good Job: Meanwhile this drama is meandering. We wanted a romance and mostly what we are getting is a 2L romance and hijinks. While those are fun, show me something to root for in the leads. Lingering glances, scoffs, and sleepy/drunken almosts are not going to cut it. WE are halfway through, give us some sugar.

If you wish upon me: The stories with the kids was so sad. That little girl must have felt so overwhelmed, I am glad DR took them under his wing. That being said the "super villain" dad story arc is getting tedious and his foster sister situation is also disturbing. The girl needs a psychiatric hospital.

Adamas: A brilliant show that ended with a THUD. I didn't like it. Honestly I wouldn't eve had minded if they killed one of the twins, but do it in a way that makes sense for the show written. Sun's existence continues to boggle the mind. Hye Soo not destroying everything from her husband and father in law was weird. She wouldn't have had to destroy the company necessarily, but replacing all the executives, re-do the house and firing the staff. Not keeping old links associated with those two, but bringing back things Min Joo loved. That would have worked for me, but alas.

The Good detective 2: Meh,lol, just waiting for subs to finish it. We know who the murderer is, here is hoping they get her in a creative way.

Little Women: They really didn't need to make them dumb. SIGH

Today's Webtoon: We are at the end, hopefully it ends nicely.

Loved ADAMAS, Ji-Sung and most of the other actors, but the ending does not feel like the end at all. Too many things remain unresolved. I have to praise the actress of housekeeper Kwon - she could easily have been a cartoonish villain in less able hands, but I loved every minute of her performance.

The ML in GOOD JOB is indestructible, a stab wound does not hold him back to fight his way out, but offers a good opportunity to get close to the FL. Still love the show, but a little more restrain with such silliness would be welcome.

Like the imperfections of the sisters in LITTLE WOMEN. Ever since Yumi's cells I am impressed by Kim Go-eun, she has grown a lot as an actress (who I really did not like before). Nam Ji-hyun is also very good, as usual.

LAW CAFE is a bewildering mish mash of a drama, I am only staying for the leads. Really enjoyed the band and Lee Seung-gi singing. The school teacher-like lecture about child abuse felt out of place.

Still enjoying IF YOU WISH UPON ME and Ji Chang-wook, but the psycho girlfriend is a little bit too much.

TODAY'S WEBTOON has gone rapidly down the hill. The way Dae-ryuk demon's have been laid to rest was infuriating, but now the writer has run out of content. Yesterday's episode was full of repeats of older scenes, broken up by PPL. Not worth watching.

Hopefully BIG MOUTH and GOOD DETECTIVE will end better.

I have been appreciating If You Wish Upon Me -- especially the granting of last wishes and the healing of Yoon Gyeo-re. But now I'm reflecting on the extraordinary amount of violence for a healing drama:
- JK tried to kill herself and YGR and got the both sent to prison instead
-YGR was beat up by the thug from his orphanage and had his college money stolen
- JK jumped off a building to kill herself (but failed)
- now JK wants thug oppa to murder her and YGR
- YGR smashed a car with a baseball bat
- Mr. Kang's wife and child were hit by TOD and killed
- High school girl genie's boyfriend was hit by car of doom and left for dead
- YGR's father assaulted Mr. Kang years ago
- Thug Oppa's boss has beaten him and threatened to kill him
- Someone assaulted YGR's father and left him to die
- Elderly hospice patient was beaten by a police detective and compelled to lie in a murder case

Does it take so much violence to make the hospital oasis look like a refuge? Not sure I'm going to finish this drama.

Two weeks ago I was in a sampling mood! I watched the first episodes of:

Wonder woman
Chimera
Link
Dear M
Work Later Drink Now
Your Honour
Never Give Up

Disliked and dropped Dear M and Work Later.

Liked the other ones and for now I am continuing with Wonder Woman. I have loved Honey Lee since Partner.

Yeah, so drama ideas again...

Chinese drama Xianxia:

Basic Premise write up:

Princess Bluegreen Algae (cyanobacteria 发菜) (郡主) is devalued because her true form is a bluegreen algae and the youngest of the previous King. Everyone else has true forms that are cool–like orchids (who marries demons), (9 Tail foxes, who marry retired gods and mermaids), lotuses, who marry retiring Gods. But no one is interested in poor Princess Bluegreen Algae because they think she is unimportant. But Buddha’s teachings say that every plant and animal is important, and she is the daughter of a Dragon God, despite her true form being a bluegreen algae.

She grows up thinking the Gods are wearing boring clothing–like all white in chiffon, when she dreams they could be dazzling and splendid in lots of colorful clothes, silks, taffeta, brocade, and so is more interested in the changing fashion of Earth and how she could do that for the Heavenly realm, even though the Heavenly realm has a strict (and boring) dress code (Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, Pillow Book, etc) and has always admired Earthly fashion.

Despite this she is lively and likes to play pranks on people--though not related to the clothes she makes and outside the view of officials. As a result of one of her pranks, she accidentally trips into the reincarnation pool and is reborn in the Earthly realm to a silk merchant. She is not missed in the Heavenly realm. Not only does she level up her earthly powers, but meets a lonely Cowherd (牛郎), who helps fix her loom. She works to become a costume designer for stage productions. When she returns to the heavens she can’t forget him. But finds that his true form is an oregano plant: 牛至草.

Unfortunately, upon arriving back in heaven, she is betrothed to the cowherd’s older brother, whose true form is a mighty white dragon–cold, stoic, doesn’t say what he means and a strong general. After being an arrogant person, this dragon has accidentally castrated himself and has secretly been cultivating to get his family balls back before their wedding [Working around the Chinese censors might be fun by indication and euphemisms, though focus more on how he deserved it]. But all she longs for is the heart of the Second Lead–because she believes she has Second Lead Syndrome and finds the male lead boring. The Cowherd–who is gentle, intelligent inventor (such as rain machines and tinkering), kind, communicates well (High Emotional Intelligence) and a thoughtful listener. He wants nothing to do with heavenly affairs.

Reason for this:

I think it would be fun to reimagine Zhinü (織女)’s story as a xianxia comedy. Make fun of Xianxia, with love of course, some of the tropes like the drab heavenly clothes (which I got the idea for from Avenue X (Who is Chinese) complaining constantly about Xianxia clothes.) and also play with the idea that discovering the “true forms” always leads to “secretly” something else, leveling up, secretly a mighty Goddess or...

I know THE LAW CAFE has its flaws and is definitely not perfect, but it is currently the show that touches me the most emotionally. This is mainly because I always have a heart for friends to lovers stories and the main leads are just so incredibly endearing.

GOOD JOB continues to provide an enormously good mood. I don't care how illogical the plot is, but I live for the little quips and obligatory dress-up scenes.

The ending of ADAMAS was unsatisfactory but I still enjoyed the drama. It's a shame it's over.

I don't care if other viewers call the sisters stupid, I enjoy watching LITTLE WOMEN. I find it exciting and impressive from the looks of it.

IF YOU WISH UPON ME, on the other hand, falls a little short, but is still worth watching.

In between I'm watching THE KING 2 HEARTS. Let's see if I can sit through a series of Hong sisters to the end, but Cho Jung-seok and Lee Seung-gi make me endure a lot.

Today’s webtoon (14-15): I did not expect CEO Heo’s downfall so fast. They should have made him suffer more. I don’t know if they deal with the romance part. Jihyeong used the lucky coin so I guess things have finally ended from his side. And they have dragged JY’s confession too much. We are going to have a rushed ending, I guess.

Law Café (1): It was better than my expectations. The flashbacks are a little too much but I enjoyed it.

Good job (7-8): Yet to watch this week’s episodes.

Once upon a small town (4-6): Dropped. Everything feels so forced. And so many red herrings. In one episode the kid asks ML to stop being mad at the FL (even if she did something to make him angry) because she is a good person, I mean how does that even make sense.
Then FL asking ML about missing his GF and dusting his clothes off, the scene felt so off. The leads have no chemistry but the drama forcefully create situations to convince viewers that they have. The SL has been seriously annoying in this week’s episodes. He is being unnecessarily mean to the ML when he doesn’t even know anything about what the FL did. He is heaping praises on FL, but personally I find her a people pleaser and someone who should know not to cross the boundaries.
I have wasted enough on a handful of dramas on the hope that they’ll turn out good, but not here. I prefer ticking off the other dramas in list than hate watching something.

Mental coach (1-2): A good start. The physical and mental abuse in sports always upset me. So there were few scenes that made me uncomfortable (Esp the villain hitting the ML a day before the competition and how they let them be like that). It’s a lot go through but I had a little bit excitement bubbling inside me when bribe-taking coaches’ candidates fought and the FL eventually got a chance. Its been a while a drama has made me feel that so I am going to stick on.
PS: The final kick was so much needed.

Little women (3-4): I totally hate the youngest sister. She would rather be indebted to blood sucking strangers than her own sisters. Its really sad. She needs a lesson in the “art of appreciation “The great aunt is a badass. The sisters are a mess and In Joo and In kyung are totally crazy in their own ways. I wonder what Do-il’s actual motive is. So many loose ends and I hope II will remember each thread when they finally make sense.

OLDER

Kiss sixth sense (10-11): So, the series was fun watch to except for the last 15 minutes, I guess. The bickering was literally annoying and unlikeable. Maybe they wanted to make it realistic since the leads lose their ability but the execution was too poor. I skipped few after sometime. The FL behaving like a spoiled teenager and breaking up every 2 min …its little too much to take. Despite this, I enjoyed the series. Its not a favourite but I will recommend it to anyone who is looking for a light watch.

Marriage contract (1-4): Leave your kid unsupervised first so that your kid can...

Little Women: So far I am liking three things — the cinematography, Kang Hoon’s glasses, and, unsurprisingly as an Amy apologist, In-hye.

Good Job: Watched all available episodes this week and it was a perfect distraction from stress. That said the plot logic was stretched too far this week (call.the.police.) and I keep thinking how much better Kim Seul Gi would be as the 2FL.

Law Cafe: Love the two leads, but heard about the dog and haven’t been able to get through ep 3 as a result.

Maid’s Revenge: Hahahahaha omg what is this terribly acted, toxic stew? And why I am still watching?

Day of Becoming You: Rewatching this and it’s so great! I just pretend the prologue and epilogue don’t exist.

Very excited for Love in Contract this week. C’mon Go Kyung Pyo!

Now that Adamas is over there is a huge void. Time to find my next kdrama.

*Disappearing Child* - cdrama. The mystery thriller is quite good and keeps me intrigued. It’s a bit slow and the editing goes back and forth. But at 12 episodes this should be easy to finish. I am up to date with 8.

*Are you safe* - Another cdrama. I started it for Tan Jian Ci. Not a great drama. But TJC and Dollar are fun together. Love their bickering relationship so far. Don’t care much for the mystery.

My wife loves LITTLE WOMEN. She says it is simply fantastic.

She also loved the wonderful Chinese Costume fantasy IMMORTAL SAMSARA, all 61 episodes of it. It was gorgeously done, with a great cast who gave great performances in a show that had wonderful cinematography and fabulous costumes. Do not let the fact that there were 61 episodes deter you from watching- the entire story was fast paced and my wife eagerly looked forward to each new episode.

She also loved the Chinese fantasy costume drama NOVOLAND: PEARL ECLIPSE.

We both really like ONCE UPON A SMALL TOWN. The story of the old man and his bull was a tearjerker.

GOOD JOB is good fun.

Last weekend was the penultimate weekend of the weekender IT'S BEAUTIFUL NOW. The re-union of Soojae and Yoona was simply started too late in favor of a completely unneeded cancer story. On the whole this has been a good show even if not as highly rated as its predecessor. It is obvious that the writer lost sight of what the story was about- or perhaps the senior executives demanded the alteration. In any case it is a shame: At this rate we will be lucky to see our youngest couple holding hands as the final episode ends. The previews for the final episodes look to me to be the biggest head fake ever- but we will just have to see. And the final irony: Viki is finally carrying this show.

I continue to enjoy OJAKKYO BROTHERS.

Little Women: The oldest sister is DUMB. There's a difference between being naïve and being stupid; she's clearly the latter. I guarantee that if someone dropped 2 billion won cash in my lap I wouldn't be carrying it around the entire country in a backpack. I never liked the middle sister from the start. I don't think the script is doing the youngest sister any favors. I feel like I should root for her as she finds her place between two worlds, but something is off. Still a beautiful watch, and I like the idea of the characters.

Good Job: Starting to lose some of its charm. There were plenty of LOL moments, but the second lead romance seems misplaced (they're best when bickering) . More capers, less relationship talk that goes nowhere.

Completed older shows
Law School: I really liked this, and was surprised how negatively it was recapped here, with significantly more commentary than summary. In the first 15 minutes, you realize what the show's going to be about, so it's not surprising that the drama keeps circling back to it. There were some pacing issues and the Big Bad was rushed in the final episode (was the twin plot really needed for the one scene at the end?!), but overall I liked how the students learned about the (in)justice system and how that shapes their outlook once they start practicing law themselves.

Today's Webtoon: I am a few weeks behind and I suspect I will just jump back in and watch just the last episode. This really shouldn't have been a 16 episode drama. I think I will check out the J-drama version someday.

Good Job: I am also behind on this one but I think this works as a turn off the brain and enjoy style watch and I like the leads.

I have multiple dramas out there with maybe one or two episodes to finish that I've never gone back to...ridiculous. I mean obviously the show was lacking for this to happen but usually I'm good on dropping early when something isn't working. So I'm going to go try to finish up a few of these type shows even if I have to use the ff. I mean I still haven't watched the last episode of Kill Me, Heal Me from yeeeears ago.

Amazon Prime: The Expanse: Probably the best SciFi show I have ever watched, at least through the first 3 seasons before it left SciFy Channel and got picked up by Amazon where I hear it is still good but not as good. This is probably the best paced show I've seen in years.

Watching Doom at Your Service and Love 020 with my daughter. It's slow going because we have to watch around our combined work schedules, but we're making progress.

Finished Business Proposal in about 4 days, I think. Loved it to pieces, would watch again. Didn't think the ending was anywhere near as bad as I was led to believe based on all the comments here, though I willingly admit it couldn't been better and I do agree with the general consensus on Grandpa's behavior.

Fiiiiinally finished Suspicious Partner. Felt like it took me forever to plow through the second half, mainly because I got tired of the serial killer part of the story. I just wanted to see JCW and the FL being cute together. Though I wish someone would've turned off all the backlighting because I think it damaged my eyesight.

Just started Weightlifting Fairy and having flashbacks to Coffee Prince, mainly with the way she's crushing on the doctor and he thinks she's cute. The ML needs to grow up a bit and quit yanking her pigtails.

Good Job: This show opens a portal into a dimension overseen by a benevolent Wardrobe Fairy where nothing matters, physics and physiology don’t apply, everything is bigger on the inside than the outside, and some advanced technology causes my memory of the plot to self-destruct 30 seconds after I finish each episode. In other words, it’s exactly what I need right now.

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Wow. Beanies, why did no one tell me about this before? It’s mesmerizing.

Good Job I can buy all the illogical stuff, but that miraculous stab wound recovery went a little too far for me. It's a fun drama to watch and roll your eyes and chuckle at. Got to give it to the drama for working hard at making all the tropes happen and making the characters make their investigation much harder and more complicated than it needs to be. Tae-joon is complete trash, but I still wish he was recyclable. I wonder if I just like the actor.

Dream of Splendor (cdrama, ep 7-23) So good. I love how we get 3 strong women, each with their specific talents. And Liu Yi-fei is mesmerizing. Reminds me that even though her acting is sort of middle-of-the-pack, she brings that historical chinese beauty aura that few, if any, can bring.

Autumn Ballad (up to ep 23-29) Even though the second half went weird and was nowhere as good as the phenomenal first half, it hasn't been completely terrible. I haven't FF-ed as much as I thought I would. The drama has been keeping a good pace and the bad parts don't take up as much screentime. And there's enough OTP fluff to make me still watch it.

Law Café: I don't know if I like the show yet, but this is nothing compared to how much I like the combo of LSG and LSY so I'll continue watching. Just, please don't hurt anymore animals, that's a dealbreaker. Loved, LOVED the song montage and I'm dying to know what the song is called.

A dream of Splendor: I watch one or two episodes a week as the length is perfect for when I get off the late shift. It's still great. The leads are awesome.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo was promoted to breakfast watch and is quite at home in this format. I'm only at ep 3 but am already weary of the romance. Why does everything need to have a romance? Woo Young-woo finding a sense of belonging is more than good enough. This drama is about her journey, romance just feels misplaced.

Older dramas:
I tried the Uncanny Counter but decided to drop it because of the excessive violence. Pity, though. Apart from that I liked it.

Fight for my way: I have one episode to go and don't seem to get around to watching it. The OTP are my new favorites.

Dating in the kitchen: I dropped it. The male lead is pale and gaunt and makes me think of what cancer he might be having. Occupational hazard, but it keeps me from enjoying the drama.

My little sweetness: Dropped it. There is an abundance of positive reviews but the male lead is creepy and I already am biased against dramas set in hospitals.

Cute programmer: So awkward, I just couldn't. Dropped.

Master of my own: Too long-winded. Dropped it.

Dear little mermaid: There is no mermaid. When dramas reintroduce couples who previously broke up and they get all virgin-shy around each other when it comes to skinship, it's beyond ridiculous. Got bored. Dropped it.

This is my year of dropping dramas. One day you're in, next day you're out.

Today’s Webtoon (Ep. 15)
It looks like a success story for webtoon department. I loved artist Baek in the beginning, his personality, his art and his health issues are a great addition to all the young people in this drama. Artist Shin’s story wrapped up a little too easily, as a webtoon reader I would have found the turn in his story strange, but everyone is so touched by the hope storyline. So I guess we will get an optimistic, energetic, uplifting finale tonight – without romance??
Big Mouth (Ep.14)
I purposely didn’t watch episode 15 yesterday, because I want to see the final two episodes at once. I hope Mi Ho will overcome her sickness, I don’t want to see a tragic ending!
Tell me Your Wish (Ep. 12)
We all know JCW does sad so well, and at the end of ep.12 he outdid himself. The reveal was so painful to watch…
Good Job
Slowly blossoming romance and toilet humour, what a combination! Fun to watch and I look forward to each week’s episodes.
Law Café
The idea of resolving legal conflict out of court is a good basis for a drama, and the soundproofing case with the concert video was fun. But then it took a turn to the dark side with the child abuse case. I wonder which direction the drama is going to take from here. Loved our heroine taking the initiative in the romance! This week I encountered the same sort of over-the-top crazy, unhinged, powerful and violent villain twice: Pyun Woong here, and Chairman Park in Taxi Driver. But thankfully he is dead already 😉
Little Women
Love the cinematography, my vote is still out about the storyline… But I do like that the three sisters are not perfect at all and that they have to resolve the issues between them, as opposed to them being a lovely, close-knit family of three smart but poor sisters.
That’s no way to transport a blooming orchid!!! Even if it wasn’t the extremely rare, powerful, deadly sort…

Just finished Webtoon, which got slower and slower and slower. Interesting learning about Webtoons, I loved all the characters but the FL's ceaseless smiles became irritating in the end and I was hoping for at least one smooch between the FL and Dimples. The tortured artist got on my nerves.
I do like Little Women because the detail is so rich. With that mother, it isn't surprising that the two elder sisters are somewhat abnormal and the third one is a brat. I can't begin to guess where this is all going except it isn't going to be like the REAL Little Women. But I'm definitely going to keep going.

Accidentally turned on to Maid's Revenge and it is absolutely side-splitting - The story is ridiculous, the male lead is only bearable without his shirt on, and the heroine, who Enters Stage Left with her entire family being massacred wearing a delicate pink embroidered and beaded period piece dress. She then gets beaten up by the Hero's guards in the middle of the street, and survives with the dress intact, and hair ornaments and earrings still in place. Our hero (shirtless, thank goodness) then throws her on to the bed, handcuffs her to the headboard and declares his intention of Taking Advantage. Earrings quivering and bosom saving, she declares she will kill herself in front of him if her virtue is taken (seems a bit extreme), at which point he desists. I have popped back into this piece of nonsense from time to time and the heroine still retains earrings, hair ornaments, and a series of period dresses in varying shades of pink. All male and female characters have immaculately coiffed and lacquered hair except the soldiers who appear in most of the scenes, who keep their hats on throughout, in and out of the house. There is no discernible plot. But the acting is spirited and each episode is, I kid you not, about 12 minutes, perhaps 15 if you include intro and credits. DO go and have a look, it will make you MUCH happier with the current crop of Dramas.

What am I watching? Of all things, 'Birdie Buddies' one of the most notoriously bad K-drama ever. Filmed in 2010 but they didn't air it til late 2011. Its main draw is a young 25 year old Lee Da-hee. And that bearded French hermit golf guru who lives in a shack in the mountains.

I'm currently sitting on the series Good Job and Law Cafe. Its hard to say I'm watching them when I'm not actually watching them.

Little Women: I’ve decided to give this one a break for now. Maybe I’ll be in a better mood to pick it up later. I haven’t watched episodes 3 and 4 yet, but I read the weecap and they sound kind of exhausting? I think I would feel differently if I was really cheering for one of the main characters, but I just feel a bit meh about them and so I feel a bit meh about the drama. Might be ripe for watching later when I can blast through more episodes at once.

Once Upon a Small Town: Cute! I’m into it. I like the fast pace and pretty actors and adorable animals and no need to do an in-depth analysis.

Bulgasal: Immortal Souls: Finished this and was really pretty satisfied with the ending. I loved the theme of having incomplete information and having to make decisions anyway, and the struggle of what to believe as you get snippets of information completely out of context. SPOILERS TO FOLLOW. I also liked how we were led to believe that Eul-tae had been a bulgasal the longest and therefore had the most complete picture of what happened, but in the last episode it was revealed that his information was just as incomplete, and that he really didn’t understand the relationship between our two leads at all. It was also really telling that Hwal and Sang-eun (as bulgasals back in the day) didn’t even speak, but just knew what the other was thinking, like two halves of a whole. Having a happy ending that involved new, reincarnated versions of the leads is a bit risky, but in a show that has been all about coming to grips with past lives and old memories and learning to form new relationships with people with whom you have a complicated history, I think it worked. It’s also strange to classify an ending where more than half of the main characters die as “happy” but I really loved that Si-ho and Do-yun were able to go on with their lives, building them into something great and satisfying in their own right, and knowing that they might see their loved ones again someday. And I was happy with the reunion between our leads in the end. I love that their connection is so strong that they immediately sense something that they can’t quite define in each other. It reminded me of the last scene in the movie Your Name and I think it worked well in both cases.

Adamas (Finale) - The buildup to the finale is good until Ep15. Not sure why but I just felt the momentum of the show just dipped in that ep. I supposed there are too much angst there. I don't really liked the open ending because they could have just wrapped up the story so I don't see what are there left to tell. Ji-sung did really well here as the twins especially the emotional scenes in Ep 15. Would have been nice if Seo Ji-hye's character is given more depth than the 1 dimensional good turned bad persona. Overall I rate Adamas a 3.5 out of 5 stars :)

Big Mouth (Finale) - Seen it coming sigh.....what I learned from watching both Adamas & BM is that one should not be reckless as in tackling things head on + going at it alone. There's a reason when people say wait for backup. Of course the writers think viewers like dramatic stuffs so making certain characters go missing or die serves the purpose but hey it works perfectly well too if they can just have a good ending. I'm giving this 4 out of 5 stars (really liked LJS + YoonA pairing too :P)

Squad 38 (Ep1-16) - Binged watched this while waiting for the 2 shows above on Disney+ and I really enjoyed it. I know all these swindler theme shows are quite similar in concept but I'm always attracted to it somehow and I think story wise this one is quite good. The ensemble cast worked really well playing off each other that guessing who is tricking whom until the end is quite fun :)

Once Upon A Small Town: beyond cute. Loving it at the moment, particularly the ML.
Law Cafe: staying with it due to the leads. As mentioned elsewhere, a poorer version of Good Job.
Mental Coach Je Gal: great characters here, very promising so far.
Good Job: currently the weeks highlight for me. I struggled with the recovery from blood loss, stabbing and cliff, but managed to keep my brain switched off for the rest.
If You Wish Upon Me: staying with this for JCW. Brilliant in it. Lose the ex girlfriend though.
Today's Webtoon: sunk cost situation now. Will finish it out.

ReWatch: was under the weather with a cold early this week - obvious choice: Healer. It did the trick.

Watching: Kdramas Little Women I dunno , watched a little of Ep 5, saw a trope , felt the plot getting wobbly , will try again later.
Fiery Priest
C drama: Liu Yong Pursues The Case few eps left.
J Dramas: 13 Lords of the Shogun, excellent
The Rain That Washed The Sunflower Away . Cop drama, missing 8 yr old girl, a year goes by, cop struggles to convince HQ to commit to case.

Older drama watch Ojakgyo Brothers

Wait! What! We have SPAM?

Due to life interferring, we have not yet finished our coordinated viewing of Alchemy of souls.
Also on-hold until I can find enough brain time to watch and enjoy as they should be: cdramas Fall in love 2021 and Love like the galaxie, kdrama Stanger.

So what does not requires brain ? cdramas You are my hero and Maid's revenge. I don't know how I saw the trailer for the latter. But a ressemblance to Jun Ho and republicain costumes made me check it out. And I have been thrown on to the bed and blocked by the abs. The MC chemistry is good, and the chatter around this mini drama hilarious. I'm quite relieved and amused to see that I'm not the only one here that has fallen under the Governer domination.
You are my hero pitch is eerily close to DotS's, but it lacks the beautiful Grec settings, and the mains are much more naive. Propaganda for the good will seems quite fun to me. They are all so perfect, and full of goodness up to the tips of their fingers. It needs more cuteness though.

In pause for a longer duration: Café Minamdang and The law café. Maybe it's because I prefer tea... I have no urge to watch the ending (despite my bias for SIG), and I believe it would be prudent to wait for an orientation of the law café.

I do wish one of you sharp pens would do a review of Maid’s Revenge”. I have finished it finallly watching every other episode and the only progress in the story is the heroine’s lavish wardrobe in varying shades of pink, her limitless collection of matching earrings and tge fact that her hair ornaments haven’t shifted an inch since the massacre in chapter one. The entire set consists of the Governor’s bedroom (good) another small bedroom where a woman is pretending to go mad, a patch of garden, a sitting room and a study. Oh, and the smart gate to the Governor’s mansion. The script is unbelievably silly, the acting incredibly awful and Governor remains shirted for far too long. But it is horribly addictive. Apparently it is hugely popular which boggles the mind. So. You have been warned. But I might well go back and check the episodes I skipped in case I……missed a change in the heroines clothes……