CRICKET - Ahhhhhhhhhh woaaaaaah

i smiled, i laughed and did a little hand dance

I had no food 35 hours but who cares

New Zealand vs England 2nd test - day 5 - England with its bazball 5 for 80 oh ho then came with 202 for 5 - wagner who got beaten quite hard in both test matches trying his usual - angry keeping same idiotic shot pitch bowling and got both stokes and joe - enough to bring tears into your eyes

Foakes batted well - just 1 run to go and we have angry wagner and he gets James and we have one of rarest of the rarest test match win.

spectators are dancing - everyone is on twitter

this win is as much as winning a world cup semifinal.

my heart on 9th cloud - i did not care being hungry or whatever is going in world - that moment was enough to make everything +ve in the world.

This is what real cricket is - beauty of world.

COMPLETED
Crash Course in Romance - I'm sad this show derailed in the second half. I wish k-drama writers could learn that pairing off all the single people, and giving even awful characters a happy ending, does not make it a good ending. Jung Kyung-ho's personal charm really got me across the line on this one 🥰.

Love to Hate You - Finally binged this. Was cuter and funnier than I expected. Wish we could have more rom-coms like this though maybe without the awful netizen storylines.

ONGOING
Our Blooming Youth - We're halfway through and only now get to the rebellion storyline. The pacing on this show needs work. The friendship scene with Seong-on and the drinking chat were great.

The Heavenly Idol - There is just SO much happening in this show. It has way too many characters - the Evil Boys goblin storyline is just bizarre though Jang Young-nam is giving her all.

Delivery Man - We really went from "I don't know if I want you around" to "I'm SO jealous and in love". Beanies were right - the lack of autopsy and long-lifeline comment suggests she isn't dead after all.

STARTED
Divorce Attorney Shin - It's okay but the entire case process was ridiculous. His victory hinged on the dad just admitting it when asked - what was the plan if he just said no?? 🤦‍♀️

C-DRAMAS
Still waiting for new episodes for Justice in the Dark 😭.

Crash Course - I wish there were different choices about what to put the focus on (and I could totally do without the killing aspect). I also found the final episode a bit too neat (am I contradicting myself?? 😆 ). And... I'm not a fashionista (and I may have a problem to name 3 famous fashion brands 🙈), but even I think that the stylist did quite a disservice to the show. It is not good when we are supposed to be deep in an emotional scene and instead I'm thinking about how *cough* distracting *cough* a coat is. That said, I don't regret watching the first 11 episodes... and I'm happy that Chiyeol has a new friend in his former school mate and that Sunjae's family is on the mend. Jeon Do Yeon and Jung Kyung Ho were a joy to watch ❤️ and I will keep an eye on the youngsters for their future projects, especially Roh Yoon Seo.

Divorce Attorney Shin - I'm not much in the mood for another divorce cases and kdrama lawyering, but I liked the main trio of friends enough to continue watching. Jo Seungwoo is a pleasure to watch... and I liked Shin's talks with Hyunwoo (closing my eyes about the legal aspects of them). I also liked the Doors. 😄

Call it love - it's slow and moody and yet sometimes humorous... and I like it (and with my dimmed screen I even don't notice the pink much 😁). Dongjin is waking up from his zombie mode and I love every tiny smile he lets escape.

Heavenly Idol - Kim Dal under the black magic spell 😂😂

Still watching C-Gaus... and not sure whether to start Oasis and all the paaaaain.

Crash Course in Romance (Series review) - Mood progression: C- / C- / C- / C- / C- / D+ / D+ / D+
My problems with this show: 1) Blatantly egregious representation for the neurodivergent minority, with the rushed romance at the end used clumsily for developing the autistic character, 2) Sensationalistic exploitation of mental health disorders for inducing cheap drama and tension into the plot, 3) Lots of predictably awful obstacles paraded around as social messages at the cost of the narrative which weren’t even nuanced in any measure. But such is the cost of exposure Shin Jae Ha paid for and I’m also quite happy for Lee Min Jae who finally got a breakthrough after so many years and roles.

Delivery Man (Episode 3-4) - Mood: D+
By forcing the romance, the writer either causes the viewers to curse at them when the time comes for Ji Hyun to ascend or irritates other viewers by going aboard the “she’s in a coma” cliche for the happy ending. There was no need for it at all, so why this stupid decision? On another note, I’ll be shocked if neither of the two shifty doctors are the killer but it is what it is. Man, I was hoping for the glasses doctor to be a shaman and be the straight man in the ghost adventures but it’s not to be.

Call It Love (Episode 5-6) - Mood: D+
Now that I know for sure that the supposedly lame ex is actually lame since she met up with his mom and colluded with her, I guess it’s time to cut my losses and turn my brain off. It was mockingly funny that CEO Shin’s hatred was more makjang or that the cliffhanger is pure bait nonsense. And I feel like it’s too obvious for me that Yoon Jun will end up with Hye Sung: it’s clear that Hye Sung’s lie will eventually cause trouble down the road even if the security guard isn’t a red flag and I’ve seen enough of the writing to know that his consolation prize for not getting Woo Joo is her sis. Come on writer, prove me wrong!

The Heavenly Idol (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D+
On one hand, I’m trying to pretend that the entire show is all about the wild adventures of our dearest Dumb and Dumber in the inspector and Rembrary, on the other hand, it’s probably Kim Min Gyu’s acting that’s keeping me invested. The story’s literally imploding unto itself with so many disjoint arcs and haphazard developments that spells double the trouble?

Kokdu: Season of Deity (Episode 11-12) - Mood: D-
It’s ironically hilarious how nonsensical the show has become, seeing how the writer lined up plot device after plot device in order to reach that cliffhanger. But really, how did Gye Jeol not even realise that something was up with Kokdu? Anyway it’s so silly to be upset at the writer when I wasn’t expecting much anyway: just stay in there for our recapper, Radily! Hwaiting!

Our Blooming Youth: As usual, I love everything about this. Obviously the conversation in the secret room between our leads was a highlight this week, but honestly I love so many of the interactions in this show. I have no idea what a happy ending looks like for any of our characters, but I guess we still have half the episodes to find out.

Crash Course in Romance: I watched episode 15 and stopped. I don’t know why Hae-i’s biological mom was a bridge too far for me, but she was. Decided to wait for the weecap on here to see if I wanted to finish it, and a couple days later I did. The ending was fine, and lots of the arcs had an ending I thought was good, but we spent no time seeing how they got there. This was really disappointing.

Divorce Attorney Shin: I’m feeling tentatively optimistic about this. I like the ML, the cases are interesting, and the friends seem to be the right amount of wacky, so I’m interested to see how it develops this week.

Delivery Man: I don’t know how this guy is going to earn money if the majority of the ghosts have totally unrealistic requests of him and the rest turn out to be pushy wanna-be boyfriends of our FL. This is still cute and fun but as soon as we found out she was tied to the cell phone I was like, “Wait - didn’t I watch this already? Is she going to turn out to be an AI?”

Island: Well, that was sort of an ending, right? I liked the second half better than the first for sure, but it’s a shame because I think a lot of moments in the second would have had more emotional impact if they were set up better in the first. Ah well. Are we to take that ending to mean that there will be a season 2, or is that just the director’s wishful thinking?

Reply 1988: I just got to see the episode where Deok-seon goes with Taek to China for his competition and I loved it so much. She is everything the other Koreans thought would make her terrible at her job, but instead she absolutely excelled. I love that Taek wasn’t even aware of her doing it, he just did the things he was supposed to do and felt supported by her actions in the background. I admire Seon-u’s crush on Bo-ra, but I gotta say, he’s still kinda my favorite thing about her. You can’t only be nice to people when their family members die, you know? Maybe she’ll grow on me.

K-Action Movie of the Week: Unstoppable Basically “Taken” but with Ma Dong-seok. This movie was entertaining but a bit forgettable, though MDS is great as usual. A highlight for me was Ji-soo teaming up with another kidnapped woman and taking matters into their own hands. Still, if you enjoy watching MDS throwing people around like they are tiny ragdolls (which I do), then you’ll likely enjoy this too.

Love To Hate You - Why didn't I watch this sooner? That was the question that came out of my mouth. I started and finished this in one day cause I couldn't think of how I'd leave this to the next morning. Kim Ok-vin was on point with her character, Yoo Teo did great and I just couldn't get enough of Kim Ji-hoon's long hair + mane of glory. I wasn't expecting a break-up to come up at any point but I'm glad they had a faux break-up before the main one (it was a change from many kdramas handling that trope), even though it hurt nonetheless. But please do away with all the public proposals, the ground swallowed me for them.

Our Blooming Youth - The high point of it this week for me was the strong unshaking faith Hwan put in Seung-on. It broke me for both of them.

Crash Course in Romance - All is forgiven. It feels wrong that after what I expected from this drama, it gets an 'all is forgiven'. At least Sun-jae and Hae-e were endgame.
I don't know how Dan-ji didn't get Geon-hu. Pairing him with Su-a and Su-a with him made them both and Geon-hu especially look like consolation prices.

Sacred Divorce - I liked this one to bits from start to finish. I hope the trio's friendship doesn't mirror Thirty Nine's to the t with Jung-shik being a total third wheel.
And, I hope from the preview they found a way to keep Han Hye-jin's Lee Seo-jin in the story. I'd like to see they integrate her character since she seems tangential from the setting for now.

Call It Love? - I'm glad I picked this up while it's still airing. It has the right balanced ingredients of one of my favorites - silent chaos love stories. This one is burning and burning brightly yet toned down to a minimum. Truly, LSK and KYK understood their assignment.

Crash Course in Romance 👨‍🏫🍲(16/16): Second bean for 2023! Why did this script introduce so many characters to us if they were not going to be developed properly? Su-A, Hui-Jae, Seo-Jin and others may have gotten their happy endings, but I would have loved to see the montage of them getting there, rather than tying up their loose ends in the last episode. Even Dong-Hui deserved better character development than this! I admit that my Shin Jae-Ha bias is speaking, but still. At least Geon-Hu did not lack anything, that boy was a delight from beginning to end.❤️

Fruits Basket (2019) Season 2🍙🐈(11/25): Kagura Soma, another character I cannot warm up to. Kyo is great, but you know very well he does not like you back. No means no and violence is not okay. The annoyance stems from dealing too often with insecure, jealous (wannabe) girlfriends that caught me talking to their beloved.🙄

Oasis Still stuck at the first episode...

Our Blooming Youth I would wish there was more risk with her identity. It's kinda too easy for her.

Delivery Man I watched the first 2 episodes and I wasn't curious about the rest. Dropped.

The Heavenly Idol I'm happy it's a 12 episodes drama!

Divorce Attorney Shin I'm tired by divorce cases in KDrama...

Taxi Driver 2 The team is very funny. They really lowered the violence in this season.

Island They don't really think to make a second season of this disaster? I'm still wondering what was the point of the first part...

The Glory I really don't get the interest of this drama. There is a ton of KDramas about bullying and this one brought nothing new. Bad people are bad... Lee Do-Hyun's character was useless and I thought he was really bland. He had no charisma and seemed so young in comparison to the other actors.

Oasis (eps. 1-2): The lead stars were great acting but... oh my... that was Reply franchise vibes with combined Snowdrop and Youth of May and even the Korean film 1987 (of course, I watched this film already!) into one big epic Kdrama. I also laughed at one scene from the first episode where Doo-hak and Cheol-woong were late for class when they both wearing undies while fixing up their pants. I'm bracing for next episodes and I am excited to see more of the historical events happened.

Call It Love (eps. 5-6): I want more pink filters please until the end of this Kdrama.

Divorce Attorney Shin (eps. 1-2): It felt like the male version of Extraordinary Attorney Woo with a bit touch of music. I love this eponymous lead character Shin and even real actor Cho Seung-woo. Cho Seung-woo was now one of the certified best oppa actors ever. So many hilarious cases but I am ready for next funny and even outrageous cases awaited me.

The trio in OASIS had strong start and I have high hopes for this drama. Love Seol in-na as spunky Jung-shin who is anything but a damsel in distress and ready to call out noble idiocy when she sees it. It is interesting how the relationship between the two friends has now changed, but I guess they will continue to wrestle over their status (and the girl).

CALL IT LOVE continues to be good. Woo-joo's revenge plans seem to melt away in the face of Dong-jin's misery. Her protective nature is just too strong. Can't wait to see his reaction when he finds out who the daughter he is seeking turns out to be. I wonder why he is looking for her and whether he will be the one to punish evil (step-)mother.

One episode of TAXI DRIVER 2 is not enough! Love the latest disguise.

Still have to watch the final episode of Island 2, but so I enjoyed part 2 much more than part 1, mainly because of Sung Jun as raging Gun-tan. Love his piercing eyes and the shaggy white hair. He does evil really well, but also brings across the pain behind his rage.

I really do not care much about the heavenly betrayal in HEAVENLY IDOL, but I just adore Min-gyu and the way he speaks as Rembrary. His range as an actor, from a kidnapper in Snowdrop to gentle pontifex, is quite impressive. His co star is a great match, too.

Still on the fence with ATTORNEY SHIN, but there is still hope it will get better.

Flower Boy Next Door: After Psychopath Diary, I needed more Yoon Shi Yoon on my screen, so I went back and watched this one. While it can't quite figure out how to balance its "hip", "trendy" framing with its decidedly not trendy protagonist and it runs into the usual rom-com issue of not knowing what to do with its final episodes (note to writers - the answer is never "more stalkers!"), when it's content to slow down and let its characters just exist with each other, it's lovely. I liked how its main leads were very much not perfect people, and yet because of that were able to drop their defense mechanisms when they were together and really connect as humans. I wish it had been a bit shorter and willing to trust that its small, slice-of-life moments were enough to carry the show.

Crash Course In Romance: 6.0 So murderer dude jumped off roof but at least it looks like he didn't harm any poor innocent cars so I guess he wasn't all bad.

Taxi Driver s2: __ Hiatus 😞😞😢😭

Kokdu: Season of Deity: 6.0 Once every hundred years, Heaven sends someone to write a really good script. This is not that year.

Our Blooming Youth: 7.5 The high point of a lackluster week. Again.

Call It Love: 6.0

Delivery Man: 7.1 Palm reading. Deciding the ghost has a long life line. That's got to be worth an extra +0.1.

The Heavenly Idol: 6.5

Oasis: __ Pass. I've seen Youth of May, Sandglass, Taxi Driver (the movie) and Girls Generation 1979, so I need to recuperate for about 30 years before I jump back into that depressing time period.

Island (part 2): 2.5 How to make this show watchable -- (1) think back to the FL's recent role as co-PD of a reality dating show, (2) try to imagine Ban or Gungtan as contestants. Or pretend it's a Buffy remake closing the Hellmouth in the finale.

THE GLORY 2 - Binge watched, as it was so good (and the first time I really liked Song Hye-Kyo)

TAXI DRIVER 2 - On an unexplained hiatus, they have kept pushing ep. 6 forward for one day endlessly. Ep. 5+ does not count: I do not need a round table of people I do not know, explaining to me what I saw in the previous five eps.

OUR BLOOMING YOUTH - The story picked up, which made the watch much more enjoyable

HEAVENLY IDOL - camp & funny and thankfully on the homestretch

ISLAND 2 - Well, what can I say? I ff'ed a lot, as eps 11 and 12 looked more like a video game. The eleventh hour appearance of the white robes did not really add to the story. The ending implies a season 3, but honestly, no thanks, I am glad it's over (and not only because Kim Nam Gil is no more).

THE STARRY LOVE - Next to Taxi Driver 2 my most favourite show at the moment. Strong female characters, great friendships and support, Third prince redeeming himself and Prince Mama's-boy no more - can you ask for more?

LOVE TO HATE YOU (Ep 8-10)
Meh, it was what it was…some of it was seriously questionable tho, especially the ML saying the FL was not like other women *rolls eyes*

Anyway didn’t care much for the leads but I was mostly here for and enjoyed the second leads. Obviously the charisma and charm between them was fun but urghh that public confession was super embarrassing & cringeworthy, even Kim Ji-hoon couldn’t pull it off.

CRASH COURSE IN ROMANCE (Ep15&16)
Had potential but sadly didn’t reach it. At least I got the bean

OUR BLOOMING YOUTH (Ep 3-8)
Is it me or is the relationship between our two cross dressing ladies weird. Look I understand this is a historical drama but I’m getting really uncomfortable with their master and servant dynamic. I love seeing female friendships but here it’s so off-putting that it’s making me dislike the FL.

I’m sorry, if they were so close why didn’t Min Jae-yi teach Jang Ga-ram how to read and write? It’s a valuable skill to have, especially as they were going out and capturing the baddies ever since their youth.

The fact Jang Ga-ram is learning from Kim Myung-jin and he is setting aside time for her to learn, just proves how much he is taking the responsibility of being a teacher seriously.

So yeah I’m loving that Min Jae-yi has to carry out normal eunuch duties now. Heh that’s what Jang Ga-ram’s done all her life without complaining so deal yeah with it girl

Also I kinda wish Min Jae-yi is actually the villain. I couldn’t care less if she loved her bro or not. Also her betrothed might feel betrayed but he barely knows her soooo….meh

But if she is part of the bandits/ fake ghost people THAT would be interesting…

ARE YOU HUMAN TOO? -- Completed

After finishing "Watcher" recently, I got to know Seo Kang Joon and started to put him on my radar. Because "Are you human too?" is on the shows-you-wish-had-not-existed list, I was reluctant to watch it, so I tried "Cheese in the trap". Apparently, there are certain actors I can never warm up to, regardless of what roles they are in, examples include Yang Ki Jong, Kim Go Eun, Seo Hyun Jin..., so I dropped CITT after the first episode. For some reason, I can never relate to or resonate with the characters those actors portray, my heart doesn't flutter when watching them, but that's another story. Anyways, after all, I decided to start AYHT and never regretted it.

Oh my goodness, I am in love with this show. Honestly, I was frustrated with the female lead during the first few episodes because of her choices and work ethics, but started to warm up to her after that and ended up liking her a lot. I laughed and wept during my binge-watch, but overall it was a show that left a warm feeling in my heart. I know it is flawed, but apart from Forest of Secrets, which show isn't flawed? (I am speaking from my own preferences and observations here, so please don't judge my statement) :-) I love shows with civilised, kind and upright characters, and AYHT offered that. Shows like that make my watch a relaxing and satisfying experience, and so far not many shows have done that to me.

I am now enjoying reading recaps and comments for AYHT :"> Many beanies are seeing me liking their comments from almost 5 years ago lol. To see more of Seo Kang Joon, I'll check out "The third charm" soon, but maybe not "When the weather is fine" because I am not in the mood for Park Min Young :-)

HEAVENLY IDOL (Ep. 6) I hung on as long as I could, but this is a drop. Episode 6 did not right the sinking story ship. Adding another universe to the mix is like adding more MSG to a failed soup. The script is going nowhere but sideways. To be honest, Kim Min-Kyu is not carrying the show as the ML. He is not a dynamic protagonist. All the antagonists who actively opposes or is hostile to him are one flat-note paper characters. The Evil One is only a mind-control freak (is that his only power?) The new female cult leader seems to be just like the Evil One with unclear motives and no direction. What is also annoying is that every weekly “scandal” is magically tuned 180 degrees with little to no effort. The k-public is not that forgiving and apparently neither am I.

IN NEED OF ROMANCE (2011) (Ep 13-16) “Love is garbage. Romance is garbage.” That line starts the home stretch for the series. I never took to the shifty chaebol director as a good match, and the alleged resolution of his engagement and meeting his parents was so off that I was glad that In Young found herself as being more important than moving up in class as an object and not as a person. There is a saying that you cannot love another until you love yourself. It is nice to know that a k-drama can remove the fairy tale aspects of relationships to have the characters consider something beyond the concept of love to the practical boundaries of what one will sacrifice, hold true to and what they cannot accept. There were many childish moments and reactions to the negative parts of relationships. The ending was less about romance and more of desperation to belong to something greater than one’s self. But those growth arcs never came to a conclusion. The series was forward thinking for its time in very conservative Korea, but it tried too much to be SITC Seoul. It probably falls in the middle range of 3 women life dramas which is a genre that is hit (popular Work Later, Drink Now) to miss (Thirty-Nine). Becoming Witch has more comedy action while INOR had deeper dives into relationship questions (and spawned two sequels).

Our Blooming Youth: I am enjoying this show a lot. I think the aim of the ghost letters was to make Hwan paranoid so that the letter becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Jae Yi telling Hwan the importance and him learning to trust Sung On was the first step to him fighting the letter and the people behind it. I like that this drama has layers and each week we get to know more and realise that we don't have the entire picture yet.
Call It Love: This drama could not have come at a better time for me. We as a family have been having a very stressful time after my grandmother broke her femur. It is not at all close to what these siblings went through but the emotional exhaustion of the present made me realise how having a situation go from bad to worse seems to have made these characters the way they are. I loved this week's episodes and am going to watch them again to see if there was anything that i missed things because i watched these episodes late at night while waiting for my grandmother to fall asleep

If you're looking for a light and innocent romantic comedy, Mr. Bad is my tip of the week

finding an excuse to watch dramas "for listening practice!!!"
suuuuuuuure...

Watching dramas I typically would not finish . Looking for something better, lol

Heavenly Idol Make believe world. I thought this guy was going to be a demon slayer.

Oasis Please don’t have FL marry the rich guy .
Big Bet Slowly coming along .
Blooming Youth Head eunuch ? whatever. 2nd Fl has better story line. FL/ML & Court story 😐
Divorce Attorney Shin Since it’s all divorce all the time , are all men bastards ? We will see.
Glory Watched Ep1 of S1, burned with curling iron, no thanks.

Other stuff. YouTube videos, guys fixing machines, machinists fabricating stuff.

British and US B&W B movies. Short, so plots were straight forward.

Music videos . Wonderfully talented Mandolin player /singer Sierra Hull. I have my ticket to see her in May .

Quintette du Hot Club de France (QHCF) featuring guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli

The Glory - the second part was great. I really liked who it all came together. There was over the top things and it had its problems, but overall, I really liked. Just one thing I dont think I agree with.

I dont think she got her revenge with the bully. The bully went to jail for other reasons, but not because of the FL. I understand, but its not really revenge for her. It is revenge for all that they done, but not to her, to others.

I'm watching:

- C- Drama Meet Yourself (27 out of 40). Wonderful slice of life, so many touching moments, nice main leads, beautiful locations, everything seems real and natural... It's like a wormhole which connects me to another place.

- Welcome (Meow. Secret Boy). (13 out of 24). I'm hooked. The script is not very good but it's nice. The second couple is interesting too.

- Solomon's Perjury. (3 out of 12). Very good for now.

Western series: The Durrells. I have almost finished it. I try not to watch many Western series but I like this one because it is kind of a comic slice of life.

Alone in Love has been added to Viki! Although the last rewatch has been a long time ago, I think it does stand the test of time. I have a hard time warming up to the current dramas, and others aren't available for streaming.
I'm also on the fence about where Divorce lawyer Shin is going. Will his ambiguous past play a major part, because that'll be a shame. The trio of friends have a great report and it'll be a loss for the drama not utilize that! Throw in the newly divorced famous lady with the super-duper adorable (made me cry!) son and it's complete.

CALL IT LOVE: My favorite right now. In fact, I'm so into it that I happily sit through two minutes of ads every 12 minutes (I'm too cheap to pay for the no-ad version of Hulu). The pink is still barely perceptible on my screen--it reads more dim than anything--but every shot is beautifully arranged. I even liked that little shadow montage that played out as Dong-in finally falls asleep in the hotel; it showed us the happy moments in his childhood in less than two minutes but explained so much about his love for camping and attachment to his uncle (who may actually be his father). The show manages to invert tropes while still being unapologetically interested in how love and recognition can help heal people, and with the continued exception of the ridiculous mother-from-hell, all the characters (yes, even the ex) feel real. I also appreciate the way the show does certain reveals, like Kang obviously being a more significant person in Dong-ji's life than we realized, and the fact that Dong-ji has been looking for "the daughter" (it would make sense if he already figured out Woo-joo's identity, although I don't think the show is going there yet). In short, "Call it Love" delivers all the feels for me, and I hope that lasts all the way to end. I wish it was more widely available so others could enjoy it, too.

CRASH COURSE IN ROMANCE: I really disliked the way this ended by essentially shrugging its shoulders in the face of the many ills of the educational system by telling us that in the end, it's the kids' responsibilities to be better than their parents and fix what society itself can't. That's not only a cop-out, but also deeply offensive. I'm happy for all the actors, though, and did enjoy both the central romance and the teen triangle, although I did not appreciate at all that Sun-jae was made to wait two years for a peck on the cheek.

OUR BLOOMING YOUTH: This was the first week I got frustrated with the storytelling, especially when we had such great moments as the marriage conversation to remind us that better is possible. Why can't these types of conversations and moments of interesting, revealing dialogue be the norm instead of the exception? I also feel that the creative team is struggling with depicting the romance, but I don't understand why. The characters and actors display their chemistry any time they're on screen together, and there's so much potential drama to mine here in the premise. Instead, we either get nothing much, or potentially swoony moments undermined by excessively prolonged stares and a swelling OST.

OASIS: This is a show that I liked while watching, but upon reflection, found lacking. At first, I was so enamored with the fact that the show made what I assumed would be the main plot into mere set-up that I didn't notice that the story itself is very simplistic and many characters flat. There were some weird tonal shifts in the second episode that threw me off. The bromance and romance...

Korea

OOR BLOOMING YOUTH (10/20): Last week I remarked how this drama felt like it was just starting to find it's groove after a slightly clunky (but still very enjoyable!) start and I'm glad that continued into this week. The pacing and tonal shifts felt good, and the plot continues to intrigue me. Jae-yi's thoughts on marriage had me falling in love with her even more, and I was glad to see our guys reconcile. Looking forward to seeing our group cooperate in earnest in breaking down this mystery!

CALL IT LOVE (6/16): We got some lovely relationship development this week, and watching our leads hesitantly move toward each other was satisfying and wonderfully realistic. Looking forward to certain secrets being out in the open. I hope this doesn't turn into a missed opportunity fake-out situation... though so far this drama has done a good job teasing the usual melo tropes only to go in a different direction. Also, I was curious about the actor playing Jun and was shocked to discover he's also Goong-tan in Island!? Why you gotta do me like that, face blindness?

China

NIRVANA IN FIRE 2 (3/50): While the plot isn't immediately grabbing me the way NiF 1's did - so far the conspiracy looks like it's all the work of a single sheisty minister who's motivations I'm still unclear on, which isn't nearly as interesting as the complex power play we got in the first installment - I'm really loving the characters in this. Especially Lin Xi - our hero has his work cut out for him in trying to win... not just her favor, but the absence of her scorn haha.

Ancient Detective (18/24): This drama's really fun - despite the low budget and hit-or-miss acting (at least with the minor characters) you can feel the love that went into it, from the production to the main cast. The cases are neat, and the fight scenes are really cool. Some really creative action choreography and camera work. My current favorite binge.

I'm in the last few episodes of Flower of Evil, but I'm tired of the psycho killer making his psycho killer face. I get it, already! Also halfway through Happiness. I like it, but as always with zombie shows, there's a point where I just want the zombies to win. I need to start another rom-com.

P&P 1940: It's such a wonderful mess. I'm glad Laurence and Greer were our main characters. I know LCdB's actress but don't remember her name. I wonder if Austen would laugh at it too.
The End of the world with you: I guess they won't be having sex. Maybe ep 8. idk how anyone will learn Yuma changed the course of the meteorite since no one is working.
Moonlight Chicken: on ep 3. I'm really just here for Gemini and Fourth.
My School President: ep 2 was much better than ep 1. I enjoyed Guj feeling thumps from the gay-ze.
Call It Love: on ep 2. I'm annoyed is not available in my country. KYK, LSK, SJ are all the loves of my life. And I am a bag of emotions.
Jack o Frost: this class A b*tch is lying about amnesia and I AM here for it. Ep 3 out today!
Grown-ish Luca was out of line. I'm sick of the whole he might be better for Zoey thing. I can't wait o see how Jazz responds to her date wearing a dress.
Miraculous Ladybug: officially I'm on season 3. I can't wait Mari
Emma Agenda: Gay Jane Austen is God tier. I watch like they are my friends. It's such a comfort series.
Bride & Prejudice 2004: Aishwarya is such a beautiful person. She's a great actress. Worst Wickham ever! Kholi-saab! Martin Henderson!
Miracles in Cell no. 7: I loved Park Shin Hye's acting. The complete story mafe ne sad and mad and I will not be rewatching.
Advance Bravely: so f'ing gay! I want them to kiss but it's Chinese so they might not.
Boyband: finishing ep 1 today.
A Boss and A Babe: imagine meeting your most comforting YouTuber! I would freak! I'm glad the guys called Laem on his feelings. Even if they didn't convince him. That kiss!!! That second kiss!!! Are they going to hook up?
Bed Friend: I hate that I have to watch on my phone. But I need to eat at the table more. So I'll increase watching. Still on ep 1.
Our dating sim: so does Eddy love him? Or just miss him? And it will turn to love.

Crash Course in Romance: Better ending than I expected, though some parts felt like they came out of nowhere. I felt like the whole thriller plot screentime could have been replaced by character development for all the side characters. Still, a warm drama. I loved how they did the callback to Haeyi calling Haeng-seon "Umma!". No regrets watching it.

Our Blooming Youth: MIN JAE-YI! *swoon* Has any sageuk hero/heroine been able to dodge as many flying arrows as she has? Warming up to the Crown Prince again after he decided to stop waiting for answers to conveniently fall into his lap and started doing stuff, like trusting his friend and proving his innocence.

Heavenly Idol: UP to ep 7. It's my happy watch, but it's starting to run out of steam a little bit and I'm starting to have trouble following what's going on.

The Glory (up to ep 7) Finally watching it in prep for the second part. Well-written, well-acted, and well-directed. Horrifying, sad, and cathartic at the same time. I enjoyed how they filmed some of Dong-eun's moments, where her irises look black and glittering, like a demon in a supernatural tv story. Also love Yeom Hye-ran's character who really has a knack for spying!

The Starry Night (up to ep 29): Cdrama. SO IN LOVE! rewinding and rewatching it all the time. Beyond acting, visuals, and well-designed and written characters, I think the humor in this drama is a touch above other dramas in this genre. The writer knows to use the element of surprise to generate and enhance humor, especially with Shards 2 and 3 of the male lead. And the drama does a great job tying these personalities to his original self. I love the warmth, humor, and angst of the various relationships and interactions between the characters, particularly the love between the two sisters, both clever and strong in their different ways.

Warm on a Cold Night: Up to episode 29. cdrama. Took about 20 episodes to feel invested in the characters, but now I'm committed to finishing it. The pace feels more focused once we got to the third case. The drama also does a lot of pretty rain/umbrella scenes, and it even upped the prettyness for that beautiful funeral scene.

Crash course in romance: I had a hard time with the writing in the middle and with some serious issues not being addressed. The writer's choice was questionable on the pairing of secondary characters, and on redemption arcs. I wanted more of the leads and less of everything else. But overall, I enjoyed the ride even though I don't think I can recommend it.

Our blooming youth: I love this, but I wish it was better paced. I get bored sometimes while watching it, but I like it! I want the mystery to be solved quickly and the romance to get started. Lol.

Love to hate you: binged this, absolutely loved it! The beginning was a bit slow and difficult to follow but it was overall good fluff. I love seeing mature couples on screen and the FL was so bad ass it was so nice to see.

The rational life: I loved this c-drama so much! The female lead was such an inspiration. Her character was so smart, so level-headed, so wise... man this character is my 2023 girl crush. I learned so much from her, especially the way she carried herself professionnally. And the romance was so adorable and the build-up to it was so good. The writing was about the FL and I loved it about that drama.

I really like DIVORCE ATTORNEY SHIN far more than I thought that I would.

We are really enjoying THE HEAVENLY IDOL. It is a bit messy but still fun.

My wife finished BRAIN WORKS (good show) and continues to enjoy OUR BLOOMING YOUTH, as well as the currently broadcasting Chinese costume dramas THE BLOOD OF YOUTH (good) and WARM ON A COLD NIGHT (even better). These currently broadcasting C-dramas are well worth watching.

She also really likes the new Sageuk OUR BLOOMING YOUTH.

She was finally able to commence the Chinese costume drama THE STARRY LOVE. Also, the more comic MY UNCANNY DESTINY. She has paused both of these not because they are necessarily bad or subpar but because she is finding them to be silly and she is just not currently in the mood for that. Instead, she binge watched the classic Kdrama KILL ME HEAL ME which she found absolutely mesmerizing.

THREE BOLD SIBLINGS is drawing to a close. Three episodes remain and I will watch them, but it will not be counted among the best weekenders I have seen. It is a pity because the cast was good and there was real potential in the story. Sometimes things simply do not come together as well as they should.

We arrive at the end of Korean Odyssey. It's a bit repetitive, but funny. I don't know if it is the actress or the roles, but Oh Yeon Seo is not doing it for me. She is just the same bland boring as in Cafe Minamdang, so whoever is facing next I'll pass.

Crash course in romance: we are only at ep 10, and I have not be able to escape some spoilers. But I'm looking more for the acting than for the suspense, so it's fine.
I find Jung Kyung Ho very expressive, but at the same time he only has one (surprised) expression all the time. How can I think two contradictory at the same time ?

Surprisingly, my friend proposed to watch The forbidden mariage (she has low sageuk tolerance). We are just at the beginning, and laugh a lot.

It's been a long week, waiting for Taxi driver 2. Due to sport we were left hanging. How will this sloppy couple operation be saved ? What is the link between the children and the appartements ? And the new guy... bad or not so bad ? He is so suspicious that it is suspicious, too suspicious.

I'm slowly watching New life begins but after the babybirth the tone is heavier, so I slowed.

I finished Becoming A Billionaire, which I'd never even heard of until recently. I can't say I loved it, but it's a good reference for LBY's career progression. This was clearly the role that prepared her for her skillful acting she mastered in Agency. The narrative was interesting until near the end, when it tried to tie up loose ends haphazardly just to finish the drama. It would've been more preferable to have stuck with the interesting narrative and leave unanswered questions rather than end the way it did. However, given that KDramas rise above other shows because of the satisfaction it gives viewers for tying up loose ends, I suppose I can concede on this point. It was a 5/10 at best in terms of overall quality.

I started Dalja's Spring because I first watched this drama at a point in my life when I most loved my career, and I'm hoping to manifest the same career (mine, not Dalja's 🙂). It's so nice to watch a cluttered drama about a woman trying to find success and love in a metropolitan jungle while overcoming all of the strange things that life throws in one's path. I really enjoyed the throwbacks this drama makes to other brilliant movies and dramas through clips of musical scores, like "In the Mood for Love", one of my all-time favorite movies and which I took a viewing detour to watch again, and "Dae Jang Geum", one of my all-time favorite KDramas. Mostly, though, I really love Dalja's endlessly optimistic view on life and following her heart, even if that doesn't always make logical sense, since life rarely does.

Current/recent:
Crash Course in Romance: This show left me with one burning question: why won’t Netflix let me play shows at more than 1.5x speed?

Our Blooming Youth: Mystery-Solving Science, yay! Palace politics, boo.

The Heavenly Idol: Dropped due to lack of interest, and not tempted to go back based on what I read in the recaps and comments. Better luck next time, Kim Min-gyu.

Bros on Foot: Never mind the scenery, the wild variety of bedhead is one of the highlights of this show.

Older stuff (Kdrama continuing education program):
Circle: So tense. Such crazy plot twists. I have to watch at least a few minutes of Bros after every episode just so I can be sure Jin-goo is OK.

Last week I was feeling a little flat because there are only a couple of current shows I like enough to stick with, and Crash Course was winding down to its disappointing end, but then I realized that’s the perfect time to catch up on some older shows, so I started Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo, an Alchemy rewatch, and Stove League. That should hold me for a while.

I am really struggling to find live watches on the K drama front.

Once and forever: the sun rises - Chinese drama
Set in the current times with flashbacks to the female leads teenage years. The drama starts in 1997 when the female lead is preparing to take part in the ceremony to celebrate the Hong Kong handover. She lives in a small compound with a few other families. She is friends with the children who are the same age as her, and her parents’ generation and grandmother all interact with their counterparts in their compound. It seems to be a similar premise to Reply 1988.

Page turner
Short series about loss and its impact on identity and the role mothers play in supporting their children to cope with traumatic experiences.

Saimdang, lights diary
A mix of modern and historical drama.

Divorce attorney Shin
Well we knew this wasn’t going to be an easy watch when it started with a case that showed the harsh reality of living with a narcissistic partner and the dire consequences of not knowing where to draw the line in order to score points. The poor child was ‘collateral damage’ personified. I am loving the daughter in law in the second case literally giving her mother in law a’ taste of her own medicine’. In a society that reveres elders, winning this case without getting a jail sentence for elder abuse is going to be a real test of his skills.
His friend/coworker’s wife was really annoying sitting there making him do all the work in the conversation. He was so anxious he nearly finished two drinks and she didn’t even touch hers. Why keep him in suspense re the reason for the meet up. Even if we find out later that her excuse is a lie I am not going to care, he is better off without her.

Three bold siblings
On the home stretch, finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with the end next week. This will be my last hate watch ever! Every other show this year that has failed to gain interest has been dropped early.

Completed

Call me Chihiro -Japanese film about an ex sex worker who lives in a seaside town. Lots of sights and sounds of the nature that surrounds her. She sees the invisible people; the homeless man, the child living with domestic abuse, the alienated school girl, the latch key child and befriends them all by meeting their needs and then connecting them with each other. We meet her ex colleagues and see glimpses of her past life. She is like a human version of The littlest Hobo.

The full time wife escapist - J drama
Watched season one and the second season one off movie length episode.
Raised some interesting ideas about relationships and the division of labour

Drunk in Good Taste/ Have a Nice Dessert!
2 episode college friends to lovers rom com.

Books

Violets by Shin Kyungsook fiction; feminist tale of friendship, loss, identity and finding a place in the world by the same author as Please look after mother, which I preferred. Completed

Fu Ping by Wang Anyi The story of...

REPLY 1997. 1-3 of 16. Heading into a drama slump, I turned to this oldie, which I had been putting off because it sounded like a teen-oriented show. So glad I waited, because after seeing around 200 Korean dramas, I can appreciate the historical context, the humor, the Busan dialect, which to Seoul people must sound the way Alabamans sound to New Yorkers. Now I want to go back and re-watch 1994 and best of all 1988 with a more informed perspective. But 3 years later, I'm still grieving over Park Bo Gum stealing Hieri away from Ryu Jun Yeol, so 1988 will have to wait a while longer.

RUH-OH.... d****c**l seems to be down... now i can't watch most of the dramas i'm following...

Finished Crash Course In Romance
The prefinal episode looked like a final one by wrapping up the storylines, and Mr. Ji at least got a beautiful death scene. But then they had to throw this ridiculous decision by Hae Yi to be with her mother on us. At first I thought it was a ruse on her part to make her mother withdraw, but that did not seem to be the case, or she would not have hurt her aunt and the others like that. That caricature of a greedy, selfish “mother” was unnecessary.
Last episode: That was way too easy on the mothers! Not even one of them said I’m sorry once, and having a suicidal daughter about school pressure, behaving like nothing ever happened and then going on to become a counselor? No way... Loved the mutual proposal without flowers or balloons but with a lot of earnestness. And finally in the last two episodes I got the romance.
Started Call It Love
This totally had me at the first episode. The atmosphere, the visuals (pink filter…) and especially the story about two lonely souls is fantastic.
Heavenly Idol
This gets crazier and crazier… more deities, goblins, grim reapers… I love it!
Our Blooming Youth
Are we over the trust issues for good? I hope so… Each week, a drama I look forward to.
Delivery Man
Fun and easy to watch, I like the episodic format, the beginning romaance and the friendship.
Peak Time Every time I finish an episode I want more! This week’s rap contest was great. And I’m thankful we get to watch this without commercial breaks.
Finished Rain Or Shine, a great drama!
KDrama friend project:
Watching Season of Kkokdu together and still love it. Also, we are currently both watching A Korean Odyssey because Netflix in Germany will take it down soon. We both love Hong Sisters’ dramas, and this has what we like best: epic supernatural stories, comedy, romance, great sets and styling… since this is so long, it took up a lot of last week’s watchtime.