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Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (December 3, 2022)

So, what are we all watching this week?

What kept you reaching for more (or agonizing when there was no more), and what made you want to throw your remote through the screen? Time to weigh in…

 

missvictrix

Currently covering: Revenge of Others

Curtain Call: So. Finally. Jae-heon has been caught. It was a good reveal (I really liked Ha Ji-won’s acting here), but honestly we have had this particular carrot dangled in front of us for so long that I wasn’t as excited as I could have been if they did this when they promised it in any of our prior weeks. Anyway, let the mayhem begin! And let Noh Sang-hyun appear on the scene, because OPPA.

 

mistyisles

Currently covering: Reborn Rich

Revenge of Others: The plot thickens — constantly! But that’s not a complaint. That said, I hate Oh-seong with a passion, and while I like both leads individually and together, the only person I really care about what happens to them is Jae-bum. (Which doesn’t bode well for me, I know.)

 

DaebakGrits

Currently covering: Behind Every Star

Summer Strike: Watching Yeo-reum try to navigate her new responsibility-free life is obnoxiously stressful, and I don’t know how much more of it I can take.

Please Send a Fan Letter: This mini-drama worked well as four episodes, but I actually wish it had been six episodes instead. I’m still confused about what happened to Yu-na’s mother, so the extra time could have gone towards expanding Jung-seok’s backstory and fleshing out the happily-ever-after ending. Overall, it was super cute, and it will probably stick with me longer than most of the full-length dramas that aired this year.

Love is for Suckers: The ending was just meh for me. I had extremely high hopes for this drama, but mid-way through it became apparent that it wasn’t going to live up to my expectations. I stuck with it, though, because I was still rooting for our lead couple and the late-blossoming romance between our chef and webtoon artist. At least everyone got their happy ending — even Ji-yeon (*eyeroll*).

 

Dramaddictally

Currently covering: Cheer Up

Summer Strike: I’m loving this so far. It reminds me of when I did this myself — just quit everything and moved away without a real plan (in my case, it wasn’t the countryside but a foreign country). Even though I know how things turn out in real life, I still love the romantic idea of it. The first two episodes captured so well that freedom in the beginning when it feels like the whole wide world is spread out in front of you. The second set of episodes moved off that track (and had me questioning the FL more than I would have liked), but overall I’m liking the tone and the cast of characters. I might hold off and binge it later, though, for maximum feels.

 
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New Life Begins - Chinese
As Chinese dramas are long this one has gone for mini story lines for a few episodes and takes us on a journey over the seasons. So lovely to watch a couples in an arranged marriage growing as individuals and as a couple. The relationships they have with family, friends and their personal servants is also lovely to see.

New love playlist webdrama
I like the exploration of secret crushes and the pros and cons dilemma of friends to lovers.

Three bold siblings
Not sure how long I can hold out with this one. Waiting to see how the current storyline plays out as I think it’s a con with a big reveal due to come out much later after damage has been done.

Buam dong Avengers
Enjoying the storytelling with this one.

Cheer up

Completed

Please write me a fan letter
I enjoyed this mini drama. It was a nice watch with some sweet characters. I find it fascinating that with their children ill enough to warrant long stays in hospital the mum’s spent their time gossiping rather than creating an atmosphere with positive vibes and age appropriate distractions. If they had shot those scenes in the parents’ room that would have been more realistic as that’s where parents go to recharge.

Love is for suckers
This show ended with most of the main characters, despite their experiences of love being described in the song ‘I’ll never fall in love again’ decided to go for it anyway and we know it will be a happy ever after ending.

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I have a working hypothesis that you are right about the birth secret being a con on THREE BOLD SIBLINGS: What the now burned DNA test revealed was that the ML's supposed son was not in fact the ML's son. We will find out at some point whether or not this was true, but it seems consistent with this writer's love of symmetry: The FL was conned by her uncle, ML's family was conned by the former stylist. It goes with our 'side couples" having large age gaps: In one couple the man is much older while in the other it is the woman who is older.

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My theory is the adopted photographer cousin (? I am confused of his role) who is the main contact for this person and has always felt like he has not been fully accepted is in on it and shares the money with the stylist. She is probably someone who was pregnant and may have been someone he felt sorry for maybe he knew her from his hard times life so he came up with this plan he probably staged a picture of the ML drunk in bed with her so it could be used as evidence at a later point.

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And yah I am glad I dropped this one so I don't have to figure it out!

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It is pretty rubbish so far and when I realised it didn’t finish until March 😬

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Love is for Suckers (Episode 15-16) - Mood progression: D+ / D / D / D / D+ / C- / D+ / D+
Bruh, what in the world happened to the opening scene in episode 1? You can’t just tease the audience and not explain the timeline: it couldn’t have been John and Ji Wan since they only announced their marriage after the time skip, which was way after filming ended. And I can’t believe that we didn’t even get one kiss scene between them! What a tragedy.

Please Send a Fan Letter (Episode 3-4) - Mood progression: D+ / D+
If anyone wants to see more of Yoon Park as a dad, I’ll gladly recommend you Birthcare Center: it’s an incredible show that has actual narrative material and then some. As for this show, it definitely tried to pile on the feel-good factor after some hasty resolutions. The thing is, you only had 4 episodes, why add all the 16-episode nonsense?

Revenge of Others (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D
Given that Ah Jung’s baby daddy is narratively irrelevant, I wonder if her presence in the drama’s poster is indicative of her being the culprit because it could be a good twist if the killer wasn’t within the leads or the quartet of boys. But Jae Bum hasn’t done much as a lead and it would be crazy to cast Seo Ji Hoon and have him just be a red herring.

Summer Strike (Episode 3-4) - Mood: D
The perpetually drunken behaviour and the bullying done by the countryside folk nearly got me dropping this show, but I’m surprised that it was the impetus that caused a suspiciously fast but nonetheless welcome change in the landlord’s son. Yet there’s still the love triangle, family trauma, dog abuser and that graffiti stalker? I’m only staying for Dae Bum.

May I Help You (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D
As though one ex wasn’t enough, the other ex also appears? As the writer continues to drag the romance by adding an entirely nonsensical denial of emotions trope, the procedural side of the story completely becomes a non-factor for the narrative. They kissed but we all know the little bro trauma is still unresolved and I’m kinda scared for any noble idiocy.

Behind Every Star (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D
I could tell that Heo Sung Tae was going to be the antagonist right from his first appearance: there was such a great opportunity for the writer to go against typecasting and yet it wasn’t taken? Meanwhile, there’s barely any actual narrative and the repetitiveness is showing with Hyun Joo having another verbal blunder. I’m just not engaging one bit?

Cheer Up (Episode 12) - Mood: D-
After watching at triple (no quadruple) the speed, my only reaction is: there’s still 4 more episodes to go? Even a sweet and charming Jung Woo in boyfriend mode couldn’t save the show, what with Sun Ho’s inability to accept a no or some incredibly contrived plot point to have Sun Ja spill the dating beans or the lack of even the tiniest motive for the culprit.

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single word garbage enough to deal with most. Recipes of farewell looks like for the adult audience among all this so juvenile stuff. All deserve big f for fail. I had some expectations from December but so far its huge huge loss.

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Birthcare Center! Birthcare Center!! Birthcare Center!!!

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ONGOING
The First Responders - Ep. 5 was way too ridiculous including the supremely sloppy hitman impersonation. Anyway the OST they play with the end credits is nice.

The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate - Lee Sung-min hard carrying the show right now. I hope we get more information on OG Do-jun and the mysteries in the original (alternative?) timeline. Side note - the name of the slush fund being Gnaynoos made me laugh out loud.

Under The Queen's Umbrella - While I feel for Ik-hyeon, I see no way for the show to reasonably give both him and Hwa-ryeong justice, not after he committed murder. The Crown Princes in both generations did not deserve what happened to them.

Summer Strike - Oof the town inhabitants. What's worse is that the drama will probably have a redemption arc for the animal abuser too. Would have dropped if Dae-beom wasn't the most precious bean alive.

Curtain Call - Finally! Actual plot movement! Glad we'll get a real vs fake grandson confrontation of sorts next week.

May I Help You - What was the point of spending an episode on Chung-ha's drama when they basically forgot her after that dinner scene in Ep. 10.

C-DRAMAS
Still watching She and Her Perfect Husband and New Life Begins.

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Shining For One Thing - I was postponing the last 4 episodes, because I just knew the angst would be there... and then it was indeed so hard watching the gloom and doom (and a very sad and hurt Wansen 😭)... and I think Wansen said what he said to finally get them out of all the misery. The good was that Beixing finally stopped focusing on the past and gave all her energy (and thoughts and love for Wansen) to the future. And what an amazing change in her we see when we compare the first and the last episode! This drama really was mainly about growing up... with a very sweet and touching high school love. This is a bean I'm very happy to have. ❤️ (And I'm still humming the intro.)

Fan Letter - a perfect fairytale for the advent time. 😊

Cheer Up - I'm enjoying all the CU-TE 😂 Moms are still the highlight though ❤️ (And I'm ignoring everything else. 😁 )

MS 2022 - South Korea got further than Belgium or Germany 😁😁

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MS 2022 is a Czech abbreviation, in English it is "FIFA World Cup 2022" :-)

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You are absolutely right!
And I didn't notice at all. 😄
That's what happens when one writes the note just after listening to the live coverage of the yesterday matches on the Czech radio station 😆🙈

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Summer strike: Still mostly enjoying the drama. Hopefully, now that we have moved past her friendless life, we can get to some good plot and away from drunken antics.

Cheer Up: It is taking far far far far far too long to finish this drama. I am not even sure I particularly like this drama, but I really like Jung Woo, meh.

Behind Every Star: Continues to be fine. The original is far funnier, I wish this one was too.

Love is for Suckers: *sigh* Yes for the Chef and Ji Wan. Meh to the rest. This show was a how to in squandering talent, plot, and interest. At least I got my bean.

Reborn Rich: Can't wait for the two episodes.

*Congrats to Korea on WC, moving on up.

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@daebakgrits I dropped Summer Strike , for me the last drop was the fight about the dog.

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FANLETTER, PLEASE (Ep. 1-4) Some really nice things can come in small packages, like a personal letter. This show was simple but a nice gift of sentimentality. It was well cast and well performed. The direction and flashbacks were integrated well. The child actors were once again very good. It shows you can tell a good story in 4 episodes. The only issue I had in the story was the lack of clarity about Yuna’s mother and why she left. Otherwise, I found this a well done show.

CURTAIN CALL (Ep. 8): Episode 8 was all about introspection and the future. Finally, the real Moon-seong heading to claim his fortunate future. I really want everything to hit the fan while Grandma is was still alive. I want to know why Grandma never sought out her lost son or grandson. There was foreshadowing that the grandchildren will cut ties with loyal employees at drop of a hat. Now that Se-yeon knows of the deception, I'd like her to say what her reasons were to call off her marriage.

BEHIND EVERY STAR (Ep 7-8) The cameo star issues are getting trite and trivial. Tae-ho’s act has finally gotten tiresome to the point where everyone but his secret daughter is ready to abandon him. The marital strife of the musical couple was shown without any meaningful reconciliation just blame. Tae-ho should have expected his wife’s final demand since he prides himself as a relationship magician. The childhood crush bailing out the agency was ridiculous and his management style Musk-like. Even the sleazy behavior of agencies has been institutionalized to get the reaction of “whatever.” There is more drama in the current real life Korean entertainment agency scandals than on this show.

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Under the Queen’s Umbrella: I don’t want it to end! I hope we see all of the princes again in the final two episodes. The Physician Kwon reveal was expected but still good. The Queen has her work ahead to thwart a rebellion and solve this mess.

Reborn Rich: Lee Sung Min is so good in this role. I liked how they incorporated the IMF crisis. I hope to see a little more intensity from Do-joon as he goes head-to-head with Chairman Jin. Unfortunately, Shin Hyun-bin’s role is pretty bland.

Summer Strike: I understand the issues that some have with this drama, but I’m still liking it. Enough with the drinking though. Dae-bum having to direct the drunken FL through traffic is not cute.

Revenge of Others: Chanmi and Soo-heon had some cute scenes. O-sung is quite the manipulator, and I’m back to being suspicious of Se-jin.

Love Is For Suckers: Ji-wan and Chef Jang had a nice ending.

Behind Every Star: Kim Ji-hoon is hot. That is all.

Curtain Call: Finally, the real Moon-sung is on the way.

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Finished Love Is For Suckers What I liked about the final:
John Jang and Ji Wan are getting married!; Yu Reum’s parents, all the time
What I didn’t like: too many sudden happy endings and a baby on the way; lovers “surprising” each other by coming back from abroad suddenly; Chae Ri’s back story was not convincing for me; the idea of healing your past family trauma by putting on a reality show about dysfunctional families is preposterous, even more so than finding love at a dating show; and Lee Da Hee’s styling is so wrong for her body type.
I guess the show wasn’t bad, but I didn’t enjoy it very much.
Under The Queen’s Umbrella
I’m not very interested in the past crown prince’s death or who switched identities and why, I want to know what happened at the belated wedding night and what becomes of adorable little granddaughter princess! And I will totally overlook that it would be totally impossible to keep a baby secretly at the palace – so many people around and those paper walls…
Curtain Call
Even more buildup to Moon Sung coming back, and more people finding out about our fake grandson. It’s a good watch, but a bit slow - the grandmother’s past is what brings me back each week.
Reborn Rich
A bit too much business and economics for me last week, but all those accomplished actors certainly are a treat to watch.
Revenge of Others
When I started this week’s episodes, I had forgotten about the brain tumor, and when I remembered that, the conflict and the growing romance were so painful to watch. The storyline about Jae Beom and Woon Seok being boyfriends is good, but we don’t know if anything we seem to know is true, yet…
Cheer Up
No cheering this week, when it would have gone so well with the Soccer World Cup 😉 But a lovely romance, I love this main couple!
May I Help You
A whole episode between one confession and the positive answer, that was painful for me, but of course that’s what’s to be expected in a kdrama. The wedding date was lovely, and their chemistry is just great! Tae Hee is starting to overcome the trauma about his brother’s death very, very slowly, but in real life he certainly would need counseling.
Dropped First Responders, since the next episode was just as sensation seeking as the first ones.
Rewatched Weak Hero Class 1 immediately, because it’s just so good.
And because I was so impressed by Park Ji Hoon and enjoy Bae In Hyuk in all his current roles, I picked up At a Distance, Spring Is Green which I missed last year. The slowly growing friendship between the MLs is so heartwarming and the whole drama a joy to watch.
KDrama friend project:
Finished The Scholar Who Walks The Night by skipping about 15 episodes and only watching the final ones. Those were pretty good, but it truly is “a B drama with two hot damn sexy vampires”. We made a bet on the outcome – happy ending vs. sad ending – and I lost!

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‘Finished The Scholar Who Walks The Night by skipping about 15 episodes and only watching the final ones.’👈 I thought it must be a Chinese 50 episode drama to miss out 15 and it still works then I saw it a K drama of 20 episodes🤣

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" a B drama with two hot damn sexy vampires"....Lol
Can't agree more. Its the sole reason I finished this drama

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Just logged back on after a while....finished the fist season of Missing which was much better than I expected!

Onto Under the Queen's Umbrella. So far just episode 1 but I am impressed.

Also midway through Love Story Between Fairy and Devil, which has an unexpectedly addictive soundtrack. And 5 episodes through A Rational Life.

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I am going to have the Love Between Fairy and Devil theme song permanently stuck in my head for the next two months!

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Wow, that song is so catchy.
I finished the drama two weeks ago but the OST is still with me.

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2521 - I understand the hype, but I dont get the hype. Kim Tae Ri and Nam Joo-Hyuk had 0 chemistry. She is way better actress than him. He went to the school of pretty tall boys who cant act. And also... Unfortunately Reply series exist.

Find me in your memory - I have no idea what is going on and why it is going on. Stuck in episode 11. Because I know love wins, but that kinda of love wins?

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Just commenting to express my support on 2521. Kdrama community in its general attitude tries to convince me that the guy can act. He can't.

Find me in your memory - I started this drama two times. Enjoyed it and stopped by 2/3rd of it.

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I have always had the same opinion. The man doesn’t act well. I believe he is a good model, though.

His crying scenes are the most difficult ones to watch. Overall the crying almost always looks forced. If he wants to become a better actor, I wish him luck though.

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Poor guy was actually quite good in The Light In Your Eyes and in the School Nurse Files, which I think got people thinking he'd improved but I tend to find he needs a really strong cast to play off and a director that can work with him. Otherwise he's just, yeah, pretty abs. Everything else he's done he's been wooden or flat out terrible.

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There were also some good scenes in Weightlifting Fairy.

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Oh yeah he was fine in that but then it was the exact same performance he gave in School 2015 the year before suggesting he was probably just being himself.
I think his performance in SNF is fanastic, maybe even better than in Light in Your Eyes. But again he had a strong female lead to play off like he did in LiYE. It's one of the reasons I didn't watch Start Up, because Suzy is so weak that I knew he wouldn't have anything to work with and that would mean two unconvincing leads.

Mostly it just goes to show that with a good director and other strong actors around them, even poor actors can achieve something good. But what makes a good actor great is if they shine in the absence of that infrastructure.

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I liked him the most in School Nurse as well.

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And put in a strong 2ML and he gets overshadowed easily. As everyone said, he is a pretty face and he has a strong fandom so he will succeed. Hope he will indeed try hard to improve later, it seems he does with SNF.

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Summer Strike I'm surprised how people are reacting like if the FL was the worst. The poor girl lost her mother and her boyfriend of 6 years in a short time, she can't count on her brother... She's just lonely and trying to live the best of life now.

Curtain Call The story is slow and the rythm of release is slow... After 8 episodes, I'm not sure that the story really moved on. The ML realized it wasn't a good idea and finally the FL knows about the lie...

Cheer Up Four episodes? To catch the bad guy?

Behind Every Star I need more Chun Jane and Lee Sang-Uk together.

Love is for Suckers It's over and I'm happy but if they want to make a spin-off with Ji-Wan and Chief Jang, I will watch it :p

Reborn Rich I'm curious why they chose SJK for this role. Is his character will reach his real age?

Under the Queen's Umbrella I will miss it!

Revenge of others For now, I want Jae-Bum to find his memories back and to be happy :)

She and Her Perfect Husband This drama is so boring... I should rewatch Arsenal Milatery Academy instead.

House on Wheels 4 It was the last episode 😭 It was really nice to see Sung Dong-il and Kim Hee-won being confortable with Rowoon and Kim Hye-Yoon and Lee Jae-Wook. KHY has so much energy, nobody can't resist her! It's cute that they want to be friend at least until they're 40 years old.

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Your point about SUMMER STRIKE is spot on.

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Cheer Up: 3.0 Seriously? Locked in a room again? With a fire this time - because they couldn't fit ToD into the haunted building? It wasn't too bad until the final few minutes, but garbage like that almost makes me wish they'd just incinerate the FL and end the show asteroid-style. But she's cute, so...

First Responders: 2.0 I just couldn't make myself finish day 6.

Reborn Rich: 7.5

Fan Letter Better Ending, Please: 5.0

Behind Every Star: 7.5 Behind every star is a flock of other actors lining up to do cameos.

Love Is For Suckers: 7.0 Love may be for whoever, but lately show has been mostly just for bean counters. Like too many other shows. But Jo Soo-hyang still impresses.

Revenge of Others: 7.4

May I Help You: 5.0 Less mopey love geometry and more dead bodies, please.

All of Us Are Dead rewatch: 9.0 (ep 10/12)

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I see that Fan Letter reference in your Cheer Up comment 😁

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I think we need a year-end poll question about shows that would have been improved by that kind of ending.

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There would be more than one

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I have a list...

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Wild Bloom - Outstanding. Binged all 12 episodes in one sitting and now have panda eyes.
New Life Begins - nice but nothing outstanding. Taking it slow, only at episode 9.
Lighter and Princess - finished. Nicely languorous. Male lead a bit of a jerk.

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She and Her Perfect Husband - up to date with the episodes. A strange drama with strange acting (the lawyers don't dress or speak like lawyers) but the OTP relationship is strangely addictive.

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I've been waiting for a review on Wild Bloom by someone. Not sure if I will still watch it rn because I'm not in the mood for sth serious but is it gripping or taking a slow lsice of life pace?

I'm watching SAHPH verrry slowly. And mainly because I've waited 2 years for it lol.

New life begins is a laid back, feel good drama nothing grand. I'm really liking it so far.

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Same with Wild Bloom.

Perfect Husband is sort of a nightcap for me 😆
(I'm also convinced they cut out too much of the couple moments... )

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Same. I was debating on whether to start Wild Bloom! I saw the trailer and wasn’t sure if I was ready for it.

After years of waiting I never started the perfect husband. Lol. I chose to be in this state of pretend-wait than to watch and be disappointed 😔

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The story is gripping, and moves at a brisk pace, at least in the first few episodes.
Acting was on point. I was immersed in the story.

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Please Send a Fan Letter: a cute and fairy tale like show... but they missed the wedding scene!! How could you?!
Tbh i was having a hard time finishing the drama cos it gets boring. Nevertheless, still a cute short drama. I want Yoon Park in more leading roles!

Nine: Nine Times Travel: i just finished episode 4 and holy sh** i didn't expect that twist! The drama is a bit slow so that twist is more surprising! I'm curious how things will change.
But please... can we stop with this "brainless girl"? I guess this is a thing with Song Jaejung dramas but Sunwoo calling Minyoung brainless is starting to irritate me.

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It's funny how all women are just so dumb and useless. Song Jaejung has issues.

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MAY I HELP YOU IS BACK and is still one of my favourite dramas at the moment. I do think that poor Chung-ha is not given justice, but instead written as an entitled, unpleasant character with an even more unpleasant mother, just to make her into a bad person. It is not really fair. She had a very close and I assume good relationship with Tae-hee, so good that he wanted to marry her. I do understand Tae-hee's dilemma trying to protect her from feeling any guilt for the tragic events by withholding the crucial information, but without this information she really can only feel hurt for being rejected with not good enough reasons. She might be mortified when she finds out the whole story, but at least she could understand that this is an obstacle too big to overcome and move on.

SUCKERS have limped over the finishing line. The best of it was my favourite couple, chef and writer, coming together and Yeo-reum going away a few months (without breaking up) to recover mentally.

As everybody else, I am happy for the arrival of the real grandson in CURTAIN CALL.

THE QUEEN'S UMBRELLA remains one the best dramas just now. The real son of the former queen is an interesting and dangerous adversary. I like the 'he knows, she knows' twists.

I cannot relate to the FL in SUMMER STRIKE at all and lost any interest watching it after ep 3. Her behaviour is not credible, budgeting very carefully, then spending all the money on the dog, running through the rain to rescue her washing which will be completely drenched by now anyway. Too little Im Shi-wan so far and too many horrible villagers.

FIRST RESPONDERS has some good scenes, but the corruption stuff is taking over and, as usual, boring.

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I agree about the writing for Chung ha. I was thinking that if I didn't like this drama so much, I'd have a real problem with the fact that Tae-hee essentially dumped her after 10 happy years together because his decision to propose to her is tied so irrevocably to his brother's death. She's not even aware of this connection, either, so his actions do seem cruel, and I don't blame her for wanting to reconcile with him.

This show is so good, I am wondering if there's more to the story of their relationship than we're getting so far. Maybe Tae-hee had already fallen out of love but was going to propose to try and fix things or something misguided like that. It certainly seems like this character may not be going away permanently, so perhaps there's a reveal to come.

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I think the mother was trying to 'buy' him with a clinic before, but in the back flash he still looked very excited about the proposal.

I do think that Chung-ha will get to know the full story soon, the writer made her ask whether there is something else she does not know.

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Love Between Fairy and Devil: So a few weeks ago I looked back through what I'd watched this year and realized that while there were a number of shows that I'd liked, I hadn't seen one yet that I loved. Well, that changed. Because, quite unexpectedly, this show was the gloriously epic romantic melodrama I didn't know I needed in my life. It's a show about feelings where the writers and director know how to wring every bit of emotional impact out of every scene, and where the humor, the heartbreak, the silly and the sexy all land. While Esther Yu does make a strong case for voice dubbing, her character is great, and Dylan Wang is glowery, brooding perfection. Also, despite the show's fantasy setting, it never lets its characters magically solve their problems. It gives them hard choices and, gasp, forces them to actually make them, rather than sending in deus ex machinae to save the day. It does cop out ever so slightly in the final seconds, but given how much I enjoyed the rest of it, I could forgive that. Highly recommended!

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This one I highly recommend, too. I don’t think it’s easy to get passed a couple of first eps if one hasn’t watched Chinese fantasy dramas before, but if one wants something new, light-hearted, and is willingly let the story take you where it wants to, one might find one likes this one more than one thought. To me, this is a story that comprises so many love stories within it, and that makes it a must watch. It has a lot of details that might not be easy to understand, but it will make sense in the end (or in my case, the second watch). This is the first time I loved something more in the second watch.

And not to mention that sizzling chemistry between the leads! 🥵

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I love shows that are willing to really go for their big emotional moments, and this one does that over and over again. It also found a way to make the Beauty and the Beast trope work without becoming an inadvertent shill for Stockholm Syndrome. I'm still not a huge fan of xianxia visuals (so much weird headgear and green screens and poofy pink clouds) but I'll overlook that if you give me compelling, messy, complicated characters.

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CGI is a mixed bag for me in this one. In some scenes, the visual is just so gorgeous and breathtaking. In some, on the other hand, CGI and props look a bit on the cheap end. But I also was willingly to forgive all of that because I found the story truly remarkable.

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Great comment about a truly great show. If you would not mind a slight bit of editing, I believe that the Latin phrase should have been 'Dei ex machinae'.

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As someone who took Greek, not Latin, I bow before your classical "pluralfication" skills (also I'm pretty certain that's not a word).

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It is not- and long ago I had 4 and a half years of Latin, but never took Greek. I am impressed by the fact that you did.

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Do you mind if I ask why you took Latin or Greek? These two languages are not in real use anymore, so I’m wondering if you have any specific reason to take these two languages..

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I love ancient Greek literature and wanted to be able to really understand what was going on at a granular level (it's the same reason I've dabbled in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese - you get a whole different sense of the artistry of a work when you have some knowledge of the language). Also, while classical Greek is alarming complicated, it's a beautiful and versatile literary language - words can be put in almost any order, which allows a writer to emphasize exactly what matters most at a given moment.

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@mmmmm I cannot speak for the others, but in my case I took Latin so as to be in the best classes. I don't know if this strategy is still valid, but it was quite common in France at the time.

I was not good in Latin, but now years later, I am happy to recognise the words origin in several languages.

I learned a bit a Greek last year, before an holiday. My first attempt with a different alphabet... that was eased by the fact that a lot of greek letters are used in Physic.

I find fascinating that the letters the dislexic mix up (in French) are the one that translate to the same greek letter. And this works also for some Korean characters.

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@mmmmm
Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, anatomy, taxonomy ,medicine, law and music.

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[Apologies for pedantry.] If singular god & singular machine, Deus ex machina (machina: feminine singular noun --> ablative case), if plural gods and plural machines, Dei ex machinis (feminine plural --> still ablative case). I guess you could have plural gods but singular machine, Dei ex machina? In all modes, preposition ex requires ablative case here.

Persuasive invitation to drama whose first episodes and FL's voice did not seem promising.

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you are right- it is declined as ablative

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I'm finally over the show after rewatching it (if you are not I highly recommend rewatching it as m said and I've been saying all along, this is a show better appreciated ona rewatch knowingly how they have tied the details all along), it's always great to see someone liking it.

I especially like what you said about hard choices and how that has always been the show's focus all along as well as how greater good comes into being through love and self enhancement. Like you I liked a few dramas this year, but this one I absolutely loved. I'm also liking New life begins a lot for a laid back watch but it does not top LBFD.

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So many shows seem allergic to the idea that choices should be uncomfortable or difficult, and I don't understand why - there is so much more dramatic intensity when there isn't a clear, easy way out. I also appreciated that the show didn't come down squarely on either side of "protecting the collective" vs. "protecting the individual" but recognized the importance of both - you can't love a group or an idea if you can't love individual humans, but you also don't truly love an individual if you're willing to let the entire world crash and burn for them. I've heard good things about New Life Begins from several folks - thanks for the rec!

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One of the most powerful moments for me was Devil's mourning... and when he then decided to return to the reality...
My heart ached and I cried...

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Me too...losing is hard but waking up from dreams took me on different level 😭😭😭. I cried even harder on that eps more than he mourning/ lose Orchid for being stabbed.

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I watched Love Like a Galaxy and Love Between Fairy and Devil almost back to back. It was really a fun time. They both put me in that "can't wait to get home and press play" mood which is so nice.

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Fanletter, Please - I wasn't ready for this one to end at all. And, give this drama big credit for not letting Yoon Park meet Soo-young at the airport. Defeating that major trope had me nodding my head in acceptance and their time apart was impactful.

Reborn Rich Ep 4 - I'm just enjoying this one. The aura Lee Sung-min gives off onscreen is strong and intimidating, it permeates whenever he is up for delivery.
I'd love to see what Do-joon does with his link with Power Shares.

Under the Queen's Umbrella - The reveal about Ik-hyeon is something I didn't see coming. I knew he was shady, but never about the identity reveal. To think they wanted to use the Queen to move their chess pieces, it's nice that they had more things coming their way. I'm looking forward to seeing Queen Im confront her husband in private about the CP Taein situation.
What's more? I'd love to see the look on the Queen Dowager's face when she realizes that she would have intentionally installed the grandson of a Queen as Crown Prince. She'll go raving mad.

Love is For Suckers - Finally this mess is over. I never expected that this will be the first thing I watch Choi Siwon and Lee Dahee in when I know the praises that comes forth when their names are mentioned in any previous projects. I hope Lee Dahee in Island and Choi Siwon in Work Now, Drink Later 2 will offer something better.

Curtain Call - Finally, the cat is out of the bag. And in the hands of just the right person to provide the most impactful conflicting of conflicts - Se-yun. The tobal shift that'll come up from Se-yun is one I just can predict but I'm still feeling sad and excited to watch. Another person I would be happy the truth found first is Se-gyu - his take on the matter is one I look forward to explore.

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MAY I HELP YOU: The preemptions interrupted the flow a bit, and prevented me from slowly watching the two newest episodes over the course of several days as I usually do. This time around, after I re-acclimated to this warm and lovely dramaworld I didn't want to leave, and binged both yesterday. But that aside, I continue to love this story and characters. The show is not ambitious or trying to break the mold, and it's all the better for it. There's so much care evident in every moment from the big (both confessions were the perfect mixture of romantic and bittersweet--great kisses, too) to the small (the quiet reveal that the young dead teen's crush left her a letter, too and Tae-hee trying to surreptitiously give the FL hangover medicine without her knowing). The OTP is also really working for me; this is one of my favorite Hyeri performances, hands down. Overall, this is a delightful show that delivers the feels without ever feeling cheap, obvious, or like it's pandering to the audience. More people should watch it.

CURTAIN CALL: Unlike others, I haven't minded the slower, more thoughtful pace and tone of this show. It has meant that we were able to carefully understand all the characters and their motives. The timing did feel exactly right for the reveal, though (the near misses were bordering on absurd), and I'm excited to see where the story will go from here, especially with the real grandson. Romance-wise, it's hard to picture the leads coming back together, but with eight episodes left we're surely going there at some point. KHN is so good in this and with his natural comedic gifts, elevates a lot of the scenes. But really, the whole cast is doing well because this is a well written and well directed show.

LOVE IS FOR SUCKERS: Now for a show that was not well written or well directed.

As with "Law Cafe," "Love in Contract," and a couple of other recent romance-centric dramas, I do appreciate the fact that writers and directors are trying to open up the romcom genre and explore deeper issues, while portraying dating and sexuality somewhat more realistically. But as with those other two, this one ultimately missed the mark. The show simply introduced too many issues (eating disorders, childhood sexual trauma, bipolar disorder, fat phobia) to then almost immediately abandon them. Not to mention the meta critique of reality shows that promised so much scathing social commentary but delivered only a by-the-numbers takedown that was as shallow as the shows they satirized. The creative team gets props, I suppose, for taking these things on at all, but in the end, I would have preferred a simple, straightforward friends-to-lovers storyline. And more Joon and Ji wan. But again, I fear that if more time had actually been spent on their story, the writers would've screwed that up, too, so it's probably better they left us wanting more.

One of my biggest complaints is that the writers spent way too much time trying to...

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teach us that if a person is nice and has sincere feelings that they are entitled to whatever and whomever they want (note to writers: this is exactly the logic stalkers use) which meant too many maddening scenes of Ji-yeon as tragic heroine. In all my years of kdrama watching, and the many opening scheming, truly unsympathetic SFLs I've endured, Ji-yeon, in her bland, passive aggressive sincerity, is the one I disliked the most.

As for the main couple, they had all the makings of a memorable pairing, but they were apart for too long with too little explanation from the writers as to why. Honestly, I still don't know why Go-yeum either rejected Jae-hoon or confessed to him later. It's nice to get a tasteful love scene like that, too, but my god, did the FL have to look like she was going to be executed in the morning? What was with her sad, teary eyes while she kissed this man she supposedly loved? To that end, as a fan of Lee Da Hee, I thought this was one of her most uneven performances, but I mostly blame the (lack of) direction for that.

Also, her wardrobe (those white cowboy boots, baggy jeans, and cold shoulder tops!) was hideous.

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Wardrobe surely did Lee Dahee wrong to the best of their ability in LiFS.

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You are absolutely right about that. I truly think that her talents were wasted on this show.

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I'm loving the pace of Curtain Call too!
..as long as the world cup stops interfering ><

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Agree 100% with How May I Help You. This is exactly what I feel about the show. It is quiet and simple, but delivers the squees and the feels without OTT scenes that are contrived and as to your words pandering to the audience.

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I was halfway through the last episode of Love is for Suckers last night when I realized that I had just spent 16 hours (or so, I did a lot of fast forwarding) watching a promo for a reality dating show, “Love is for Suckers is for Suckers”

Prior to this spring, I had always thought if depression got the best of me, or if I started having real relationship troubles with my wife, I’d have to consult a therapist. The therapist could help me confront my fears and my failings, and talk through some ways of dealing with them. It would be long and difficult, but I would draw on her professional expertise and years of training.

But now I know I have 3 other, better options:
1. I learned last Spring If things get really bad, I can just wait for a team of attractive grim reapers to show up. They’ll give me a good talking to, and my problems will be solved.

2. Or, I can go work in a hospice and provide last wishes to dying patients. This will help me escape my troubled and shady past, and plus give me a retirement job, driving Alzheimer’s patients around a parking lot pretending we are going to Disneyland.

3. But, after last night, I discovered the best solution of all—my wife and I can just go on a marriage reality show. Sure, we’ll be filmed 24/7, have to play all sorts of contrived games to test our relationship, be cruelly manipulated by producers to fit a preplanned narrative, have our deepest traumas exposed on national television, and be subject to online hate and ridicule. But we’ll also meet a group of warm and friendly people (well maybe except for one guy, but he won’t be that bad) and see the other marriages strengthened. And then my wife and I could take romantic stroll through an autumnal forest.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately in this case, I am not in dire need of personal or relationship therapy. But if I was, why consult a professional? Having troubles--appear on a reality show! Therapist, shmerapist!

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What did I just read 😂. I can't tell if it is sincerity or ridicule or sincere ridicule or ridiculous sincerity.

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I think it was all three.

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@jerrykuvira, @oldawyer These replays made me laugh. I say that sincerely!

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I hope this is an abstract for the Year in Review essay you're writing ;P

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Yes, please do write something to amuse us @hacja! At least some of us can forget how dire Kdramaland has been this year, and begin the new year with good mood!

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@dramaddictally, @mmmmm Thanks, but I'm not sure my year end review will be universally welcomed. I'll leave it in the hands of missvictrix. Like all big Dramabeans fans, I have a great deal of faith in her editorial judgment!

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Hacja, you have been missed, welcome back.

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@wapzy Thank you! Obviously the enjoyment is all mine!

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We really loved FANLETTER, PLEASE (Viki title) and I agree with Daebakgrits- this is a show that should have been just a bit longer.

My wife still loves UNDER THE QUEEN’S UMBRELLA. It continues to be really well done.

Almost everyone has been loving the light Chinese costume drama NEW LIFE BEGINS. I finally showed it to my wife, and she loves it too. It is a well-crafted show in every way.

The weekender THREE BOLD SIBLINGS moved the plot forward slowly this last week. The FL’s little sister So-rim desperately wants Moo-young to start the romance- and already imagines having him as her husband. He is just as in love with her- but neither one can break the ice. So there they are, completely smitten with each other but seemingly not able to do a thing about it, beyond a really cute scene where So-im uses a trip to the Stationary Store to find out that he is not married and does not have a girlfriend. I think she is getting up the nerve to confess to him and odd though it may sound, but given their respective natures, it really has to be her that does it. Her younger brother has figured out that Moo-young likes his sister but is bent on finding a flaw in him. That is when he is not ardently pursuing the ML’s young aunt: Frankly his pursuit is a little too ardent. On top of all the rest it looks like we are about to get the big reveal of the Birth Secret (These are almost a statutory requirement for a weekender)- this last being the cliffhanger that ended episode 20.

We watched the final episodes of LOVE IS FOR SUCKERS and loose ends were tied up sufficiently. This was supposed to be a friends to lovers romcom but frankly fell short. Given the talents of the lead actors, I think I can say that my relative disappointment with the way the show played out may simply reflect my expectations going in. You cannot top Lee Dahee and Choi Siwan as casting choices. The writer gave us the wonderful PEGASUS MARKET- she has proven that knows how to write a comedy. I am simplify mystified as to why this show became a mess and fell short of what it could have been. It is not the simply awful shows which disappoint the most because those we can drop quickly and forget. It is the shows that could have been great but fall far short of the mark which disappoint the most. Did perhaps the suckers referenced in the title actually refer to the audience?

Both my wife and I are looking forward to watching THE FABULOUS when it premieres on Netflix in just three weeks' time.

We have also continued to enjoy the C-drama SHE AND HER PERFECT HUSBAND. Is it OK if I sometimes feel like slapping the ML’s mother?

SUMMER STRIKE is not as restful a watch as I had expected. But we are still watching it. The story is really starting to come together.

We also really continue to enjoy BEHIND EVERY STAR. This is not a drama you watch while doing something else, you have to pay attention to every word, or you will miss things.

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Only sometimes and only ML mother ? You are way more patient and nicer than me !

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Sadly, I am not watching any Kdrama right now because either the premise didn’t interest me or I couldn’t find access to legal streaming platforms. So here is what I’m watching instead:

Currently watching:

1. New Life Begins (Cdrama): So far I like this one a lot. It’s true during eps 28-33 my attention swayed a little because of little airtime our OTP had, but the show picked up again at ep34 and hopefully will continue to do so until the final ep. I adore the actress in the FL role, she is pretty she looks like a cute rabbit.

2. Wednesday: Normally I’d stay away from all kinds of spooky things as far as possible, but as this one is ranked first on Netflix in my country and having heard praises for it I needed to try. After finishing the first ep, my conclusion was that it might be the first Tim Burton’s shows I make it to the finish line. That’s why I just finished ep3 not too long ago. I think it’s a spooky done well.

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Omo I forgot to add the show I finished:

Finished:

1. First Love (Jdrama): Someone said this is a gateway drama, and I believe it’s true. I don’t think I like Jdramas (I think I finished 1-2 shows before because my crushes liked them. That were like 10 years ago and my emotional intelligent was probably like that of a 16 yo), but this one wasn’t that depressing as it has some light vibe to it throughout the whole show which made it able for me to finish all 9 eps. The cinematography is top notch, and the music, chef’s kiss. The story is also coherent, something many Kdramas seem to lack these days. If you want to try some Jdrama and beautiful cinematography is your catnip, then this one is highly recommended.

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I find jdramas can be hit or miss, but some lighter ones I've really enjoyed include Long Vacation, Nodame Cantabile and Kieta Hatsukoi.

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Long Vacation actually does remind of a kdrama. 🙂

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It's a straight up slice of life love story done really well.

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after being "dragged to the cinemas" all during my youth, when VHS tapes were being passed around, i watched Long Vacation in 1996 with my mom, who had to translate because the bootlegged tapes didn't have subs... fell really hard for Kimura Takuya and i still follow his works!

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NODAME CANTABILE was based upon a Manga (which itself was based upon a real person). It has been remade by the Koreans and most recently by the Mainland Chinese as SYMPHONY'S ROMANCE- which my whole family really enjoyed. Because if its unique background it is less representative of most J-dramas.

J-dramas are indeed hit or miss but when they hit they can be outstanding.

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@wonhwa
the most silliest j dorama i've watched was Okashi no Ie -- cute, slice-of-(silly)-life, with Odagiri Joe being weird of course, but sooo hilarious!!! wait for the singing angels part... omg....

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I've never heard of that one, but I'm always down for singing angels!

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Machiko Ono is also in Okashi no Ie as well as Saikô no Rikon

I love Nodame , Eita is in both of those.

Yeah

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i really enjoyed First Love! but i am a Satoh Takeru fan, so i watch all his works.

it had some of the usual tropes (i used to get dragged to the japanese cinemas with my parents every friday night it seemed... my mom loved the tear-jerkers and i used to roll my eyes at the constant replays of amnesia, separation, etc.) - but very lightly so!

another quiet one is Silent - sweet story about a guy who loses his hearing and disappears for years, until friends find him and reconnect.

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The first 5 episodes of Silent ripped my heart out. The recent few I enjoyed but they’re not as emotional as the beginning of the series. Still I love it and will keep watching.

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First Love by Utada Ikaru is such a classic!

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my daughter was singing along as she sat thru two episodes with me. she started listening to Jpop when she was around 10 or 11 or so... she's now 29. for reference.
; )

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I didn't really listen Jpop but by watching Jdramas or animes I listenned some Japanese songs.

It's how I discovered this singer :)

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Only on ep 9 of New Life Begins, and can only hope they keep developing the friendships between all the women.
For the most part it's been a bright easy show, but that Crown Prince.....
The actor does this thing where his on his face you can see the pleasure he has when he hurts or debases one of his wives and it's so creepy. Hopefully he falls off a cliff soon.

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I loved Wednesday!! I found it a little bit cheesy at times, but overall it was a good watch!

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Hi beanies! So this week I started to watch WEAK HERO CLASS 1 and it was reaaally good the anti-hero (?) theme and the friendship with the 3 male characters felt really cool, lovely and engaging to see, I really don´t know if the show will mantain the level but I hope so, anyway those episodes worth it the time.

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Love In Contract❤️📄(16/16): Fourth Bean collected!🥳I am glad I watched the finale without any expectations, because I did enjoy some bits from it! Ji-Ho was a cute blubbering mess when Sang-Eun proposed and our best boy Gwang-Nam could not keep a dry eye as well. Showing emotions is very manly and sexy and this practically gives away which characters made me stay all 16 episodes.🤭

Please Send a Fan Letter🏥💌(4/4): Fifth Bean collected!🥳Kang-Hee is very brave for deciding to tackle her issues. Opening that dreadful locker and reading and replying to fan letters must have been a scary foe to battle. Fortunately, our charming male lead came up with the creatively recorded fan letters to help her out.🧸Those two jealous classmates really ended up on opposite sides as adults. One kept her conflicted feelings bottled up and got redeemed with a reply to her fan letter after she set everything straight through an email. The other one was a tropey second female who caused the trauma back then and still behaves like a jealous teenager today. In fact, most adults in this show were immature. Kang-Hee should not have to explain herself in order to receive respect. She eventually addressed everything, which is another admirable trait if you keep in mind how crushing it must have been to receive criticism all the time for merely existing.💪🏻

Ghosts BBC Season 1🏰👻(6/6): My friend and I hurried to finish the last episode of season one, because we want to fully focus on Tiger and Rose from now on.😆

The Romance of Tiger and Rose🍌🍊(11/24): On a trip to suppress bandits we go! Our female lead sees opportunities for bonding time, but she has her OTPs mixed up. While she single-mindedly tries to get her male lead and sister together, her male lead single-mindedly tries to get together with her.😇The frustration and misunderstandings that follow are a delight to watch. Back home we have the first princess to root for. I hope she will take her rehabilitation seriously, as well as her blooming romance with sweet Sumu.🥰Servant Su Ziying and his master Pei really are a match made in heaven as well. Both are annoying because they act on her behalf without her permission.😠

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Oh you're watching Tiger and Rose. Have fun, how are you finding cdramaland?

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Cdramaland is fun, but still in a lowkey phase. It is only my first show after all. But it is nice to discover a new world of entertainment that I can visit in case of another Kdrama 2022 :P

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Banana and Apple 😄😄

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Yup, our beloved dumb fruit duo!😄

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Tiger and rose was so much fun!! Ryan and LuSi are great in comedy and they shine in this role.

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Agreed! The male lead has expressive eyebrows and his facial expressions are always hilariously on point!😄

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This week I have been watching and enjoying (on iQIYI) the
uniformed police slice of life cdrama ORDINARY GREATNESS (2022) (38 eps.) with Zhang Ruo Yun. A terrific look at the day in and day out experiences of four young rookie cops and their experienced elders at a local police station. Something like tvN’s LIVE (2018) (Netflix US).
I continue to enjoy UNDER THE QUEEN’S UMBRELLA and CURTAIN CALL.

The problem this week for me was episodes 3 ands 4 of SUMMER STRIKE. If the writing continues in the vein we have been seeing then SUMMER STRIKE could be the biggest bait and switch since THE THIRD CHARM (2018). There are two directors and three writers listed for SS on AsianWiki. Two of the three writers are also the directors. The other writer is the webtoon creator. The way the characters are introduced so negatively (FL and locals) with the exception of Siwan’s character brings to mind 2 other dramas that introduced characters negatively and saws lousy ratings for their entire run: A POEM A DAY (2018) and
I AM NOT A ROBOT (2017/18). Both dramas imo righted the ship after about 4 or 5 episodes and ultimately became favorites of mine but the early going was tough. I don’t have any idea what the 3 SS writers were thing by introducing so early 2 extended scenes showing the FL drunk out of her gourd and also add in a tug of war scene over a dog that turned people off. I am sure some folks have pulled the plug and won’t be back. There was a pivot in presenting characters in episode 4 that was enough for me to hang in there (after cooling off lol). I will stay with it for now.

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COMPLETED:

PLEASE SEND A FAN LETTER (Ep 3&4)
I loved it to bits! Just what I needed, I’m actually glad it was a shorter drama. It had a lot of tropes and clichés and that might of been annoying if it were a longer drama, but it had just the right amount of cuteness that made it endearing

LOVE IS FOR SUCKERS (Ep 15&16)
Hey it’s finished, I got a bean yay! At least we got John & Ji-wan together ♥️

WATCHING:

SUMMER STRIKE (EP 3&4):
I like Work Later, Drink Now so I can stomach drunk shenanigans but Holy Moly is Yeo-reum the worst dunk ever, so infuriatingly annoying! While the workplace harassment she experienced was completely not her fault, she tends to have a victim complex and doesn’t take responsibility for her actions.
Her getting drunk and losing the money was her problem and still a lot of people went out of their way to help her. I’m glad she finally realised and acknowledged that not everyone is an evil villain out to get her

CURTAIN CALL (Ep 7&8)
Still don’t care about the hotel politics, I’m currently halfway through episode 8 and it’s finally picking up. Happy we got to see more of the real Ri Moon-seong and a bit more of Ja Geum-soon’s past

BEHIND EVERY STAR
Looks like I’ll probably drop is one, I’m behind and finding no motivation to continue and it’s a little boring imo.
Still I like the cameos and always find the behind the scenes of the industry fascinating, so we’ll see

DROPPED:

REBORN RICH (Ep 2&3)
Even Song Joon-ki couldn’t save this drama for me. It’s the time of year where I want my fluff not some revenge scheming plot, I guess it’s the cheesy Netflix Christmas movies for me then

(yes if you wanna know I watched all three of the Vanessa Hudgens’ The Princess Switch movies okay and I gobbled them right up 😁)

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I also watched all the three and found much joy in them. I’m with you on this is the time I need my happy pills.

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Christmas movies it is. I actually rewatched CRAZY FOR CHRISTMAS yesterday on Amazon Prime. It had been years since I first saw it, but it was still good- not great cinema but still good for a made for TV movie.

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Current/recent: This was not a good week in live-watching. 🤬
Summer Strike: Dropped. Life is too short to purposely spend 2 hours a week wanting to smack multiple characters.
Love Is for Suckers: [deletes litany of disappointments, steals one last glance at Siwon, sighs for what might have been]
May I Help You?: This week’s episodes wobbled a bit - too much possessive SFL and nasty mom, not enough ghosts and good-guy funeral director boss. The OTP keeping it low-key is refreshing and the uncles are heroes, though.
Fanletter, Please: Slight, cute, and unmemorable - but another Yoon Park lead role soon would be welcome.

Older stuff:
Beyond Evil: Ah, this was just terrific. The suspense, plot twists, moral questions, and inhabitation of character by every one of the actors had me at the edge of my seat from start to finish. I noticed that it didn’t get a lot of love from beanies at the time it aired; I think this one is particularly suited to being watched at one’s own pace - not binged, necessarily, but not forced into the 2/week format.
Alchemy of Souls: rewatch ahead of Part 2.
Tracer: Proving that ‘fun with accounting’ is not a contradiction. This is the Siwan I want to see.

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I didn't watch Beyond Evil (too dark for me), but I have a faint memory that there were quite some Beanies who loved it and found it a great drama...

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I adored Beyond Evil - a powerful look at broken people finding grace in the most unlikely places. Also, Shin Ha Kyun and Yeo Jin Gu were electrifying together.

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I'm glad you loved "Beyond Evil." I had to wait to watch it because it took a while for it to appear on Viki, so I'm not sure about DB's response. But I--a woman who likes cozy murder mysteries but not serial killer dramas--was absolutely enamored with it. It's incredibly well directed and carefully plotted out so you can tell everyone involved knew what they were doing and trusted each other. It's packed with exceptional performances as well.

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I caught up on TRACER 1 & 2 a few week ago. I think given the subject matter it probably would have been better with fewer episodes but Siwan once again gave a great performance.
In TRACER Siwan played a guy who was wrapped uptight (sort of like the kind Junho has down pat) and so I was hoping in SUMMER STRIKE Siwan could let loose a bit. From what I have seen so far in SS he seems to be playing a sweet guy but maybe wrapped uptight more so than in TRACER.

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What I'm watching: nothing.

And from what I've read, it seems like I'm not missing much.

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Yup, there's a bit of a drought in dramaland.

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I loved Our Beloved Summer. I'm really liking Little Women. I want to watch Under the Queen's Umbrella with you.

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You never said you wanted to watch it with me… 😒

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Should we all watch it together as a Christmas reunion?

Somehow the title reminds me of a kid's show I may have watched once upon a time: UNDER THE UMBRELLA TREE. 😂

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Only if it's an episode a week expectation, making it a Christmas into the new year reunion. I have little time.

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When Toki is back she became a referee between me and Mugy once again. Poor Toki. Mugy, you need to be have!

Aww.. can’t we do something more light-hearted and fun? You two can watch UTQU together.

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😏

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🥺🙄

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😂😂
One week to Alchemy...

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clutches heart in agony....

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Welcome back @wishfultoki!

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Ha ha, join the club! It’s good to see you back Toki.

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Three Bold Siblings: I may have to step away for a bit. I'm tired of the middle-aged nephew being so shady and it looks like SJ and his mom are both frustratingly naive. I dug the little bro+young aunt couple, but I'm a bit tired of him being so pushy and her continued flummoxed expression. I did like how Tae-joo is keeping to her goal of transforming Sang-min into a human.

Love Is For Suckers: Ji Wan and Chef John - squee!!! I really gave up on YR and JH and just did other things during their scenes together. This drama is a great example of how writing can really affect couple chemistry. YR and JH in the early episodes and in the flashbacks had chemistry. YR and JH in later episodes lack it. I wish the drama had spent more time developing the Kingdom Love 2 cast instead of giving us all those Ji-yeon scenes. They had potential. I loved how they did get a little reunion and cheered (except for sour-faced Joon-ho) for Ji Wan and Chef's engagement

New Life Begins (up to ep 32): Still impressing me 32 episodes in. I went into it expecting a fun, frothy romance featuring the leads, but it's been a warm drama about friendship, family, and personal growth. I think it's been like over a year since the first episode so the relationships and growth are more realistic and satisfactory. Even the villain had growth. Also want to note that it must have been hella cold during filming - so much visible breath in some scenes.

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‘I think it's been like over a year since the first episode so the relationships and growth are more realistic and satisfactory.’ They give us the time line in a later episode of 2 years.

Yes the visible breath scenes were indoor scenes too🤣 I have always wondered about what is was like living in those buildings with the literal paper thin walls.
NLB is a beautiful drama sad I am sad that it’s coming to an end and I am all caught up, I was loving binge watching.

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They even made fun of the visible breath in some scene (FL competing with her servants). And I think they really filmed this one in every real season? If that is the case, the filming must have taken one whole year.

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Yes I remember the meta moment was like LOL because I don't think it was being intentionally meta. I feel like it would be costly to film across the year. They usually try to get it all done in a few months. I get the feeling they filmed earlier this year - like maybe from January/Feb through april and maybe just filmed the scenes out of order so that scenes that are obviously in the spring would be filmed later.

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NEW LIFE BEGINS turned out to be deeper than expected. My wife has really loved it. I am much further behind; she too is caught up.

Last week's episodes of THREE BOLD SIBLINGS were essentially just setting the scene for the rest of the show: As such the makeover of Sang-min into a human being is not so much as on hold but rather just about to commence because the precondition for our FL to do this was that she had to first become Sang-min's actual Sister-in-law and that has now been accomplished. As for younger brother and ML's aunt- I actually think that the brother's behavior has crossed the line into harassment, it actually is the one thing I did not like about these episodes: No means no and that is all there is to it.

That is why I like the other side couple better: The man is totally in love with the FL's younger sister, but he has genuine and well-founded reservations about the age gap and the fact that he has a grown daughter. In short, this is not a story about an older man preying a young beauty and the most wonderful thing about this is that So-rim has true agency in this situation: She alone has the power to move the romance forward but, at the same time, the very fact that the object of her affections is a genuinely good and decent man is what makes her doing so, assuming that she does, a very good choice under circumstances where it usually would not be.

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Rewatched Jealousy Incarnate (Don't Dare to Dream) and Hot Stove League again. Somehow I do not have the courage to try currently aired dramas and prefer rewatching my "old" favourites.

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Splendid sentiment and excellent choices

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We have finished Innocent man, and I cannot not compare to Cheat on me if you can that I finished also these days.
Both are intrigues with all characters lying most if not all the time. Both have unsympathetic characters. Both have rushed-meh ending (ok this is unfortunately quite frequent).
The latter has better dialogue, while the former has Song Joon Ki. And a dated atmosphere. I thus have confirmed that I prefer my dramas modern.

So our next current commun watch is From now on, Showtime.
I just started, but it's short so I'm already mid watch, Semantic error. Cute, but I can only take this much of students life.
Shadow detective is darker.

She and her perfect husband gives the light and fun, despite the dispendable side characters.

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Just finished Age of Youth 1 and 2, Twelve Nights and Seasons of Blossom.

Now I'm watching Goho's starry night (13 / 20) and Weak Hero Class 1 (2 / 8).

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Summer Strike: I'm tired of the FL's antics and the townspeople being jerks, but it seems like it might be turning around?

May I Help You: I'm learning that I prefer this drama when it's more about the individual stories of the deceased that Dong-joo helps and less about Tae-hee and his trauma or the drama with his ex. I do enjoy their romance though.

Fan Letter Please: I got through all eps but the last one, which I still need to watch. I really like this one! I wish more dramas were okay with being shorter if it means telling a tighter, better story.

Behind Every Star ep 1: I liked it, but it was almost beat for beat the same as the French version, which I've seen (minus changing one of the character's sexual orientations) and honestly I'm not sure I can bring myself to sit through the same storylines twice.

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Oh, shoot, I forgot Love is for Suckers but I've already made a lot of comments about that one in the recap/review posts. I was happy with the resolution to the plotlines that I actually cared about, but would have liked more time devoted to them.

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i am loving Under the Queen's Umbrella and Reborn Rich.

i'm surprised so many have said they dropped RR -- it's a fun story, imagine what you'd do placed back in time after knowing what you know in the future... i don't think it's going to turn out "well", but it's an intriguing ride for me, at least!

dreading and trying to look forward to Alchemy Part Two Without Mu Deok-i... but still with very dashingly serious Wook-i.

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I mean this is true re Reborn Rich but it's also like a Korean Forrest Gump. Except the history he's living through is all economic restructuring, corporate mergers and minority shareholding. "Oh which company will he invest in, will he get the construction deal?"
I like the idea in theory but the actual show is a snoozefest.
Still I finally made it to episode 6 and may end up continuing if something starts actually happening after the reveal.

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It's already the 4th highest rated cable drama with 19% ratings and also debuted on Netflix Non-English Top10 even though it's only available in SK on the platform so the Koreans definitely don't find it a snoozefest.

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crap, seriously??? netflix has it streaming in South Korea??? why don't we have it here in the US???

"HOW WUDE...."
reference to a very NOT politcally correct 2004 movie with marionettes (inspired from a 60s saturday morning tv kid shows - one of my favs beside Lancelot Link, omg, so funny now. a show with chimpanzees, he was a spy, his girlfriend was name Mata Hairi) i think called "Thunderbirds"...

the movie was called "Team America: World Police". so BAD, it's GOOD....
: D

okay, you young ones, go Google these!!! you will curse or thank me later.......

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caveat:
PG-17

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I stalled in Fan Letter and Find Me In Your Memory, but I'm closing in on the end of 365: Repeat the Year, and after that I plan to get back to Stove League. I found the first few episodes entertaining (I can't imagine anyone besides Namgoong Min in that role) even though I have no interest in baseball.

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365 Days and Stove League are both among my top favorites. Hope you like them too.

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Stove League is wonderful.

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I have watched Secret Royal Inspector and Joyi and have absolutely LOVED it.

I have always had a soft spot for Taec but he was perfect in this. The rest of the cast were great too. Especially my lovely baby Lee Jung Hyuk (cry) who can own a show with just a cameo. Oh my heart.

The story, the comedy, the meta, the heart, everything was so on point. Episodes 14 and 15 were rather rushed but I actually liked them that way because I liked how they just did away with the villains quickly and even haphazardly.

Then they went on to episode 16 and I laughed till I cried. That drawing the food before eating was just... LoL cherry on top!

I loved how nearly everything was done the opposite of other shows and what one would expect.
I loved how honest everyone was, and how strong, and how vulnerable. And by everyone, I mean EVERYONE. the leads, the side characters, even the villains were all quite frank, strong, and vulnerable.

Thank you @mistyisles for giving the right push at the right time. This drama was not on my radar AT ALL, I only got curious because you wrote about it on a recent WWW.
Seriously recommend to anyone looking for light heartfelt fusion sageuk romcom.

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Glad we have another SRI&J fan here. I agree with all your sentiments and I hope we get too see Lee Joon-hyuk (1984) in other sageuks down the line. He was terrific in his first sageuk as Crown Prince. He looked great also lol!

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I see that I have type my crush's name wrong! How is that even possible??

And yes he was terrific!

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Lol poor guy I messed up his name. I will try again:
I think LJH (1984) actually goes with Lee Jun Hyuk. I add the date to differentiate between LJH (1972) hyung and our LJH (1984).
Here is rare pic with both Lee Jun Hyuks together.
https://www.picuki.com/media/2184810590110412439

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Been watching Wednesday with my kids, which didn't left much time for kdramas. I learned the Wednesday zombie dance, though 😋
My only current kdrama is Under the Queen's umbrella, on episode 6 now. My heart broke for the Queen and her children on episode 5, but I guess it was inevitable to set the pieces in motion

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K dramas Curtain Call Reborn Rich Ojakgyo Brothers

J drama Midnight Diner Always entertaining, another season of Master cooking for his late night diners.

Two old black and white films.
From France (1941), Volpone based on the Ben Jonson play written in 1605.

La Otra (Mexico 1945) Dolores del Río plays twin sisters. One sister is recently widowed and stands to inherit millions. Her jealous twin murders her and assumes the glamorous lifestyle and unknowingly seals her own fate.

Dolores del Río is wonderful. The set design and her wardrobe are top notch. The background score is terrible though, lol.

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I love the Midnight dinner manga, but I have not watched it yet.

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I finished two dramas last week:

Soundtrack #1
I am glad that I gave this mini drama a chance despite the lukewarm reviews. I really enjoyed it. Park Hyunshik is officially the best in friends-to-lovers romances.

First Love Hatsukoi
I also really enjoyed this drama despite its slightly contrived plot. It was exactly the kind of drama I love: nostalgic, bittersweet, and character driven. I've been listening to Utada Hikaru First Love on loop since finishing the drama.

Currently Watching:
Revenge of Others
I am interested in finding out who the culprit is. There are a lot of red herrings but Ohsung is definitely guilty no matter what. My favourite character is Sooheon and I hope he'll have a miracle recovery. Least favourite characters are hands down the detectives; they annoy me to no end (oh and Ajung is extremely naïve and immature)

The Light in Your Eyes
This drama is very old school both in the directing and the script. I would have believed it if someone had told me it was from 2013 instead of 2019. Although there is nothing wrong with old school kdramas, it wasn't what I expected when I started it. Not sure how I feel yet about this drama. I am on episode 3 and I am mostly watching to see where the story goes and for Nam Joohyuk. I am glad they tone down the comedy; it wasn't working for me, especially the brother's antics.

Love All Play
It took me 3 episodes to get into the story. I don't exactly know what it was that kept me from being invested. I am starting to warm up to the Park "twins" relationship, especially after watching them play together. Chae Jonghyeop is adorable as per usual and it's my first time liking Park Juhyun's character from the start (I had to warm up to her character in Extracurricular, and her characters in Mouse and A Piece of Your Mind were just plain unlikable.)

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Tonight was movie night. I got to watch Park Chan-wook's 'Decision to Leave'. This was definitely a film for 'domestic' audiences, not tailor for the international tastes. And it was, coincidentally, the second Korean film in a row I watched that turned out to be a twisty-turny mystery about a Chinese immigrant woman whose Korean husband dies under mysterious circumstances. One was a political thriller, this was a police procedural.

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I am watching Ho-gu's love. It is not perfect but nice to see smart girls, loving family and meaning of unconditional love.
World cup 22, happy to see Les Bleus to advance and I am currently in love with Mbappe.

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