Isekai Izakaya Nobu - Japanese fantasy comedy.
Thank you to the beanie who mentioned this drama I am only a few episodes in but I like it and prefer it to the Midnight diner. It took me a moment to realise the blonde hair and old worlde clothes were to represent a fictional generic German speaking European village. The thing that confused me was to make it easier they all speak the same language which we hear as Japanese but I am assuming they are all actually speaking the village language as they talk about German sausage and ale. I am intrigued to learn how the modern staff learnt to speak the village language and how they found out about the magic door. I want to know if they can go through it into the alternative universe and come back and if any of the olde worlde people have gone out the modern day door. I am guessing the baddie will be the one who finds out the secret. I hope they can sort him out so he stops troubling the villagers.

Divorce attorney Shin
Always looking forward to the weekly episodes. I think it is a great character led drama. I would love it if the male and female leads became best friends and he gets to adopt his nephew to raise as his son and the two lone parents share parenting tips and spend time together as single parents so the boys can be friends. Both children have been exposed to trauma and need focused adult support to heal. Both adults also need time to regroup and a love relationship will not give them time and space to focus on their own healing.

See you tomorrow - Chinese rom com

Road home - Chinese drama
Still in the early stages of this. The man of few words is a doer in that he immediately subtly does things that show he notices and is caring for his girlfriend in the only way he knows. Usually trying to ensure she is not inconvenienced in any way.

Completed

Takahe and Hana - Japanese 8 episode
Short web drama about blind date mistaken identity that leads to an arranged marriage between a 16 year old school girl and the heir in waiting to a large company who is ten years her senior. It was strange because her parents completely support it even though they intended to the deception to be a one off to cover for the girl’s age appropriate sister not wanting to attend. The drama kept it more or less age appropriate in the interactions between the man and the girl and leave it up to the audience to guess if they marry once she is an appropriate age.

Night of love with you - Chinese
Easy to watch webdrama where due to a glitch some characters realise they are staring in a Webtoon where the story has gone wrong and the villainess becomes the main female lead who is a Candy with a love interest. She is able to fight against the second female lead because of her knowledge of the ‘bad’ character tropes.

Emperor or Boss - Chinese
Web drama with time travel really quick no brainer watch.

Three bold siblings

So glad it finished well for all the siblings and their partners.
In one...

BE WITH YOU (2018): A very sentimental movie with the aesthetic of a Studio Ghibli film in story and pace which makes sense since it was a remake of a Japanese novel/movie. It did throw in a nostalgic scene from the The Classic as rain was the major theme of the movie. South Korean has a treasure trove of very good child actors and Kim Ji-Hwan is no exception. Korean movie reviewers have stated that this melo-romance film is the last box office success for this genre.

Divorce Attorney - I like it more and more and I think the main reason is that the show is centred around the main characters and not around the law cases. Our Double Spy is a nice addition to the team and the camping trip was hilarious 😂😂 I also like that Seojin is becoming regular at the Ramyun diner (together with her son 🙂).
And I hope that MIL is actually an ally.

Flowery Guesthouse, only ep.1 - cliché on cliché, trope on trope, I was bored most of the time. Perhaps I'm just not in the right mood as my current favourite shows are Divorce Attorney and Call It Love. But then I watched 2 episodes of Romance of a Twin Flower and I did enjoy it. (True, part of my enjoyment could be Ding Yuxi ☺️ and my fond memories of Romance of Tiger and Rose.)

Call It Love - I was very positively surprised with the CEO Shin's story, the show managed to tight it nicely to the main team of Revenge and how (self)destructive it can become. As for Dongjin and Woojoo, my heart nearly burst with all that slow burn of introverted love, especially when the handhold happened in the hospital. 💕
And then my heart nearly broke for Hyesung. I actually quite like Suho and I think he genuinely likes Hyesung, but this may be one of the cases when love is not enough (Suho definitely didn't mean to hurt Hyesung by that phone call and it was a gesture of HIS love that he gave Hyesung priority to gaming with friends). Hyesung and Joon, on the other hand.... ❤️

Heavenly Idol - I got the bean?

Kokdu: Season of Deity (Series review) - Mood progression: D / D+ / D+ / D / D / D- / D- / D-
A comment from Dramabeans’s recapper pretty much sums it all up: “Yo, writers! You can’t try and mislead us into thinking she’s going to fall into the villain’s grasp and then retcon the whole thing by deleting a conversation and pretending it never happened! That’s cheating!” I truly and sincerely congratulate anyone who has survived watching the entirety of this show!

The Heavenly Idol (Series review) - Mood progression: C- / D+ / D+ / D+ / D+ / D+
We all saw this Redrin main villain bullshit from a mile when her relationship with the devil as exes was revealed weeks ago, but I guess no one ever predicted how the finale suddenly spammed all the fantasy twists and turns. Or maybe I’m dripping with sarcasm because that ending was shoe-horned for the romance and clearly rushed because the show was dragging it in the plot department for 10 whole episodes. I guess the one silver lining is that I got to enjoy Kim Min Kyu’s acting as well as his bromance with Park Sang Nam who played the reaper. Definitely will be keeping an eye out for them!

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse (Episode 1-2) - Mood: D+
I hadn’t watched Shin Ye Eun’s performance in The Glory but I did hear that she received critical praise for that, so I thought that maybe her agent might have finally improved and … I couldn’t have been more wrong? I mean, I dare the writer to prove me wrong, but this is such a paint-by-the-numbers plot, right down to the setup and development. Sigh?

Delivery Man (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D
What in the creepy nanny are they doing with that childhood abuse backstory? And I’ll be amazed if anyone got shocked at the cliffhanger: the show was so clumsily foreshadowing it that it would’ve been amazing had there been a twist where she is actually a ghost. But then again, the OTP kissed, so the only reasonable way for a happy romance ending was the coma.

Call It Love (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D+
Wouldn’t it be more interesting if Hye Sung’s boyfriend wasn’t a red flag and maturely decided to end the relationship since he couldn’t gel with her lack of genuineness? And why is the writer trying to make Sun Woo and Min Young a thing: please I don’t need him to be her consolation prize. Yoon Jun’s stifling parents really added 0 to the plot which is just dragging now.

Taxi Driver 2 (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D
Thankfully it doesn’t seem like we’re ending the 1st half of the show with a cliffhanger that’s pure bait nonsense, but I don’t think whether Do Gi has caught on to Ha Joon makes a difference narratively speaking: the preview already shows more of the cameos this show has abused to tell us the same story over and over again. Poor Shin Jae Ha deserved better.

You are my Glory (2021)
Dilraba has never been a good actress, but shockingly i found her to be great here, she leverages every single ounce of charm and star power she has and manages to pull it off. Yang yang as always is handsome and reliable, i really enjoyed this.

The Starry Love (2023)
Finally finished, i generally hate xianxia but this one was funny and cute, even the villains were likeable.

Road Home (2023)
Jing Boran and Seven Tan in an exteremely slow burn and tropey second chance romantic melodrama, this didnt sound appealing at first but im on episode 12 and really enjoying it, the performances are great and the characters are flawed but likeable.

CRicket - ASHES Hype - bazball vs. Australia

New Zealand - amazing 2 test matches

kiwis gave one of the most awesome test matches within 3 weeks. Rareest of the rare matches. jomboy even did youtube on one of the matches.

waiting for the cricket summer in england for real nutrition.

Badminton rallies this month around have been awesome too.

SEO KANG JOON

GRID — Completed
This is an intriguing show and the fact that I binge-watched it helped a lot. This show is best bing-watched.

—————
THE THIRD CHARM — Completed.
This slice of life drama was fun in the beginning and became depressing towards the end, but I think it ended reasonably. At that point in time, it’s best for both Joon Young and Young Jae to be by themselves. Care and concern for your ex does not equal love, it’s not the emotion that urges you to get back together. One can recover from a breakup, but many people cannot recover from the loss of a child. Too much tragedy has happened to Young Jae, and it was hinted that she had happy times with the doctor and her small family, so I don’t think she ever thought of getting romantically involved with Joon Young again.

I did feel bad for Se Eun, she deserved better. And who knows, if she and Joon Young had got married, maybe passion would grow over time?

—————
WHEN THE WEATHER IS FINE — Fast-forwarded throughout the episodes to catch some scenes, and went through the recaps (as usual, haha).

I was hesitant because I am not a fan of Park Min Young’s acting style. I loved her Chae Young Shin in Healer, mostly because Healer is perfection as a whole package, not because she outshone other actors. I find her facial expression not genuine sometimes, not in the sense that it is fake, but that it is not related or relevant to the context, if that makes sense (please excuse my English because it is not my native language and I am far from proficient). She reminds me of Choi Ji Woo in the sense that they both tend to overuse and overdo techniques like vague sweet smile, distant gaze or blank wide-opened eyes. PMY had the same smile when her tears were flowing, when she was happy, or when she was having fun teasing Eun Seob. In my opinion, PMY and some other actors make the impression that they don’t “live” the character, but they “act” for us viewers to “watch”. That’s what I meant by “not genuine”.

PMY is a decent actress in general, but I don’t think she can convey a wide range of emotions by the eyes and facial muscles. I am not criticising PMY, but just that I’ve realised why I don’t like (most of) her shows. Or maybe melo and rom-com are simply not my thing? But many beanies praised PMY in “When The Weather Is Fine”, so maybe I haven’t watched her enough to appreciate her?

Talking about showing expression changing, from cutesy to moody, from cheerful to surly…, Jung Ryeo Won came to my mind. She is very subtle in showing various emotions without the need to resort to explicit pout or glare or frown… Jung Ryeo Won’s body movements are delicate too.

Another detail in “When The Weather Is Fine” I didn’t find adorable or realistic, is when Hae Won said she wanted to sleep with Eun Seob and he asked “is it right?” when he was unbuttoning his shirt. Eun Seob may not know how to express his feelings through words, but a man who enjoy books is supposed...

Anyone who has not watched MR. SUNSHINE is seriously missing out.

I continue to like DIVORCE ATTORNEY SHIN far more than I thought that I would. The appearance of Lady Ma adds a new dimension to the story because it appears that our Attorney does not like her- but not because of his sister’s divorce, which she was not responsible for but rather for the marriage that preceded it- which Lady Ma may actually have even engineered. She makes no secret about the fact that she detests her new daughter in law and obviously preferred the deceased one, who had successfully provided her with a grandson. That last point is a really major one in a still Confucian society. Fun times.

I have begun the C-drama romcom PERFECT AND CASUAL which seems to be a cut above most. It involves a contract marriage but how they get there is different from most such plots.

We really enjoyed the first two episodes of SECRET ROMANTIC GUESTHOUSE despite the emphasis on Palace Politics.

My Wife stayed up late to watch the excellent C-drama MY LETHAL MAN and recommends it to everyone.

She also watched the excellent Chinese costume drama LOU YANG on Amazon Prime. It was great.

For a change of pace, she is now watching the k-drama MONEY FLOWER.

THREE BOLD SIBLINGS has completed its run, finishing its 51st episode with a handful of fan service scenes. It was definitely not one of the best weekenders, though far from the worst. The writing was often disjointed, and the timing was often off with a story that simply did not flow well. The serious talents of a great cast were to some extent wasted on a show which had real but unrealized potential. Overall, it was largely OK, and I am glad I did not drop it, but it could have been better. It will not be on my list of recommended weekenders.

At almost the last moment Viki has decided to make the new family weekend drama THE REAL HAS COME! Available in my region. It has a good premise, and I will be watching. Here is hoping that this one fulfills its promise.

Taxi Driver s2: 6.0 Not a fan of the Baddie. The way they set up the culticide in day 8 was just too over the top -- my Suspension of Disbelief took off its shoes and ran screaming into the Han river. In day 9 they hinted that our bad baddie this season has an uber-baddie, who I guess is being kept in reserve to plague a 3rd season? 😠😱😢 Can't they just give us a show with nothing but case-of-the-week?

Secret Romantic Guesthouse: 6.5 Moderately enjoyable silliness.

Our Blooming Youth: 7.5

Delivery Man: 7.0 Big reveal this week was not exactly a surprise. Show contines to be an ok-ish follower in the beaten track of shows like Bring It On Ghost, Master's Sun, Ghost Doctor...

Call It Love: 6.0 🥱🥱🥱

The Heavenly Idol: 5.0 To err is human. To forgive, divi... Nope, can't do it.
Kokdu: Season of Deity: 4.0 To err again in the same Season with two lame shows about Deities is not forgivable.

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse Kang Hoon is to adorable to be a second lead.

Our Blooming Youth I need a victory by our leads, even it's a little one. Because surviving the cliff of doom and arrows seems more like luck than a victory.

The Heavenly Idol Conclusion : don't do religion, do Kpop!

Divorce Attorney Shin It's definitely weird to offer a stroller to your future ex-wife for the kid she had with the somone else. These 3 friends are a mess 😂

Taxi Driver 2 I think the first season balanced better the seriousness of the case with the humor. In this one, it looks more like a pure comedy. And why Go Eun is so mean with Jin-Eon and Kyung-Koo. They're two dorks but they're adorable in their own way.

@alathe Mr Sunshine was a great drama! Every character was so well written and got his own story. Fighting for the last 5 episodes!

Oasis : I actually skipped a lot of part, mostly the rich mom’s scenes and some of the Do Hak’s father (worst Father of the Year) and second lead’s. Still staying on this drama because I’m liking JDY’s portrayal as Do Hak. He nailed his character as someone who is supposedly cold inside but somehow still radiates warmness even though he is broken in and out. It makes me root for his happiness. The friendship between him and his hyungs is fun to watch and I also always love the 80’s setting with the characters accent. Based on history (uhuk -Youth of May-Hymn of Death-Girls Generation 1979-) given the plot this one almost certainly will have a not so happy ending, so I just hope it won’t be so tragic, but let’s not expect too much.

Romantic Guest House : Ehmmmm, moderate premiere. I adore Kang Hoon in here (it’s a biased perspective), love it when the 3 flower men working (or bickering) together, and … that’s it I guess. I can’t really point it but something is making the whole presentation fell flat. The drama feels uneventful despite the tense situations that occured. I also don’t think SYE acting is bad, she is very beautiful in this drama and there is no awkwardness appeared in front of the camera, but I don’t know, on my personal opinion, she is just not charming enough to carry the shows. She can’t make me feel her character. Maybe her acting isn’t my cup of tea.

Call it Love : I still hate the pink filter but I’m getting used to it. I’m glad the premiere was average but turns out to be the worst episode this drama have so far. I think I’m going to marathon the last 6 episodes. The torture of waiting every week is become unbearable so I’m willing to suffer the wait and finish everything in one go. This one is my kind of melodrama, something like Just Between Lovers, When the Weather is Find, or though isn’t my favorite, Piece of Your Mind (while at that, give me some reccomendation of similiar dramas, please). It’s not over the top with the setting, no woke pandering, calming background music, slow burn romance, life suffering with a perfect dose of comedy (you know, sarcasm here and there, dark jokes and witty banter between characters). I know that Dong Jin and Woo Joo suffers a lot, and it is unethical and seems impossible for them to get together, but the harder the storm is, it only makes me ships them more. What is love without pain? I probably wanted their whole situation even more painful, the push and pull even more stronger, that way it become more ache and satisfying to watch. Pretty sure I’m a pervert and not alone in feeling this way. Anyway, given their sh*tty situation, give me a happy ending but definitely not an ending that is rushed and oversimplified. The problem with dramas is, if it’s western you rarely have an ending, it just keep continue until you don’t care anymore how many season it has been. But with korean dramas, as a veteran watcher of nearly a decade, they really rarely have a good ending. As if the...

The Starry Love: Still messy and fun, although some episodes the messy outweighs the fun and vice versa. On the plus side, it never takes itself too seriously, and I appreciate the way it's created a weird fantasy loophole to allow our female lead to romance three different men at the same time.

CALL IT LOVE and TAXI DRIVER are the only two dramas I really enjoy just now.

OASIS and its out of this world birth secret is ok as well and the frequent time jumps are done reasonably well, although I cannot see much growth in the trio's characters. I hope that Cheol-woong being a prosecutor now is not going to bite Doo-hak in future, after all a prosecutor's job is to lock up gangsters.

Watched a couple of Japanese dramas. HE IS EXPECTING was quite an interesting watch (ignoring the biology of course) and the two leads were very impressive. The suspense in the crime drama DEAREST was strong enough to override the weird music and some of the strange characters in the drama.

Finished the HEAVENLY IDOL and admit to enjoying its silliness.

Had to catch-up on 2 weeks' worth of drama watching this week 😅.

COMPLETED
The Heavenly Idol - Another victim of the trying-to-do-too-much curse. I don't know if all these storylines were in the webtoon but they definitely didn't need to be in a 12-episode drama. Still the show was fun when it focused on the idol fish-out-of-water shenanigans - loved the reveal about the 'real' Woo Yeon-woo.

ONGOING
Our Blooming Youth - Will catch-up over the weekend.

Delivery Man - I like that the mystery's finally unravelling though it sure takes a long time for our supposedly competent detective ghost to piece things together.

Divorce Attorney Shin - Finally felt fully invested in these characters - the ex-MIL character is interesting. The impromptu photoshoot was hilarious. I still find the FL bland but ramyeon lady makes up for it.

STARTED
Secret Romantic Guesthouse - It's simple and each character is to type but I don't mind it. Nice to watch without having to think too much.

C-DRAMAS
Sadly started and dropped both the new shows I was interested in - Road Home and Royal Rumours.

Call it Love : I am completely in love with this show. Just rewatching scenes and permanently being on recap thread seems to be what I am doing these days 😅

Attorney Shin : I am liking this one a lot too. Love the friends and CSW! The legal cases are not bothering me. I like that they are handled differently and it’s not heavy handed. Atleast I am not rolling my eyes.

OBY: I think I will make it to the end. Or I hope.
I need the reveals now! I need the four main characters to start winning. It’s about time.

Road Home : (cdrama) dropped. Not for me. It was too slow and I didn’t feel much for the leads.

Echo: (cdrama) Liked the first episode. Dark and intriguing. Will be continuing.

Heartless city : we need to bring back the eyeliners on Male leads. Loving the show so far. On Ep 6!

Continuing my watch of older dramas
18 Again: I liked this one. I vaguely remember the original movie and when I think back on it, the same thing(s) I found funny when I first saw it is the same things I find funny now (mainly when he first changes and his interactions with his wife). In 18 Again, I think they kept those same elements which made me laugh in the original but were able to add such heart to things. It's one of the few times when I actually liked the emphasis on family. One thing I really liked is that it showed how relationships are just complicated; no one was an outright antagonist or jerks (granted aside from the social stigmas and biases) but just people who made emotional decisions or actions in the heat of the moment. Another thing was lack of communication. People often make it seem so easy to just talk things out but for some, it's incredibly hard for any number of reasons. I liked that the dad was able to gain a new insight into his family.

Imitation: I watched this because it was on a list of dramas about the KPop industry and it was alright. Nothing spectacular. I didn't like the songs or the costumes for the most part except for the final group performance. They're dressed casually but it gives a solidarity vibe that fit with the song and concept they were going for. I liked how they highlighted how SOOOOO many people train to be idols but the liklihood is so small but these young people put their all into it even with all the hardships they'll endure because it's their dream. (Personally I don't see the appeal: the diets, the physical training, the mistreatment, the restrictions, the exploitation, etc). Another big part was about dating and how fans can really impact the idols' brand and careers. Lee Jun Young stars in it and it's my second time seeing him as a musician. It's cool haha

The Best Hit: another show that was on the KPop list but what made this even appealing to me was the time travel aspect. The lead travels from 1993 to 2017 and it is always interesting to see just how much has changed between these periods of time. It's so easy to forget because we take these things for granted and they're ubiqitious but that's why I like shows with the time travel elements. At first, I didn't think I would be able to get through it but once I got to the 2nd and 3rd episode, there were many times when I smiled or laughed. It's interesting that an actor in the show was a co director along with a variety PD. It makes me wonder if their variety experiences influenced their way of filming or interacting with the cast. I liked that outtakes were included at the end.

Twenty Twenty (aka 20s): it was on the kpop list and it was short. This starred Seung Gi's wife and one of the judges from Peak Time. The focus of this one was the dating aspect of an idol's life. Ugh, I don't know how much things have changed now but oh how annoying and frustrating it is to have so many...

I am currently only watching 4 dramas, which is weird for me.

Call it love: continues to be spectacular. This drama has no sudden movements. Everything is deliberate, even the moments of levity. When Sun Woo caught Woo Joo staring at Dong Jin and started wriggling his eyebrows and smirking, I laughed for like 2 minutes. Hilarious.

Kokdu: I have been away. My roommate and I have been watching it together, so need to catch up on that.

Big Bet: Oh Moosik, ottoke???

Divorce Attorney Shin: I am really enjoying this.

ROMANTIC GUESTHOUSE: I wish this was more compelling. I didn't find the first episodes to be overly tropey (maybe I'm just really used to tropes in these kinds of sageuks) but I also had a hard time paying attention to what little is going on. My main hope is that there will be an explosion of chemistry between the FL and one of the guys so the show will be more entertaining to watch, but I don't think that's going to happen.

CALL IT LOVE: I've already gushed so much about this show, but with the exception of "Alchemy of Souls," it's the only drama this year where watching feels like the entertainment highlight of my week. I love getting immersed in this show and continue to be impressed with the storytelling. The leads have so much chemistry, and it's well served by the careful, deliberate writing and cinematography. Plus, it's rare that I find nearly every character in a drama this interesting and compelling; as much as I love the leads, I never bemoan when the focus shifts to other characters. I do think we're in for more heartbreak, although ultimately I also believe this story will have a true happy ending.

OASIS: Another drama that I wish was better than it is. We're still very early in the story and it already feels like the writers are struggling to get to the next episode. The FL is cool, but the relationships in this drama feel so shallow. Plus all the parents just suck. Like "oh, let me give up my second-born son because my employer asked me to do so and then later I'll make my first-born take the fall for his brother" suck.

OUR BLOOMING YOUTH: I still look forward to new episodes even though I inevitably end them with some level of disappointment. This is definitely a decent drama, but I do mourn the loss of the love story it could and should have been. I am also very tired of supposedly smart characters not figuring out that Eunuch Go is Jae-yi. That said, the mystery is more interesting than I anticipated, and I absolutely loved all those scenes of running and fighting in the fields.

ROOKIE COPS: This is on hulu so I gave it a shot. It's better than I anticipated, but the last couple of episodes (I'm at about the mid-point) started to drag, and the humor is too juvenile. I do like seeing the handsome NK solider from CLOY again, though.

Just a quick note of appreciation of the weekly ‘What We’re Watching’. It’s like a scanner of what to watch. Without the Beanies’ comments, I would have never started Call It Love but what a gem of gem!! Thanks to those who shared their thoughts about the initial episodes.

Brush Up Life
Thanks to beanies here mentioning this J drama, I've watched up to 4 episodes and this is a sure hit imo. Pretty good slice of life but not being heavy or preachy on the sol. And also funny.
Heavenly Idol
I was in the minority or probably the only person who liked the fantasy part of the show more than the idol part. That said, even that became a mess by the end. All we had left were 3 shows jumbled into one. I think this works for webtoon format but won't in a 12 episode drama. The drama could've been smart but it chose to be silly. However there are still better ways to do silly teen drama fun than this.

Current/recent: Lots of real life going on means less time for dramas, and there's hardly anything currently airing that I want to watch - I'm eagerly awaiting the next crop of shows!
Our Blooming Youth: Park Hyung-shik really does resemble a Maine coon cat and now that is going to bother me to the end of time. Thanks, @gikata! 😆
Bros on Foot: This show is nothing amazing - other than the NZ scenery - but still relaxing and amusing.

Older stuff:
Stove League: Baseball and Namgoong Min? This show was made for me. Loving it so far.

K dramas
heavenly idol Not sure why I watched all 12 Eps.
Secret Guesthouse Traded this saeguk for OBY
OasisThe Writing will doom this show
Divorce Atty Shin Quit.
Big Bet Omo ! In need of a 3rd season for closure

C dramas
The Science of Falling in Love
Luoyang
J drama
Brush Up Life A fun take on reincarnation, life long friends.🏅 + TOD too !
YouTube : B&W Maigret series from 1960. Quality tv

Fruits Basket (2019) Season 2🍙🐈(20/25): Yuki is really growing on me. Both his backstory and healing process resonates with me. I absolutely love his deep friendship with Tohru and I hope their platonic bond stays that way forever. Tohru is a character you cannot help but love because you want someone like her in your life to care for you. While she does this for everyone, Yuki will forever remain the first and best example.❤️

Full House Thailand🏠👏(20/20): I was wrong, the Thai version was not, in fact, an improvement. I would pick this version over the Korean original any day, because it actually had some romantic scenes and the show tried to do better. Alas, making the female lead less of a doormat will not automatically make the male lead less of an immature jerk who refuses to communicate. At least I had my watch buddy FF button to count on.😀

We are still watching Crash course in romance two ep a week, and it will be the last one. I'm not convinced by the motherly return. I wish that ToD accident with coma would be a thing of the past.

We finished The forbidden marriage. It was fine, and would have been better if it kept the fun angle of the beginning. Best outcome is my awareness of Kim Woo Seok.

We just started Reborn rich and I'm surprise to recognise Song Joong Ki mimics because I have not watched him this much. It is his smile, his smirk. So for now I see the actor and not the role.

Regarding Lee Je Hoon, I have only seen him in Taxi driver and Taxi driver 2 so I do not know if the gesture to put the glasses up is his or Do Ki's. I love the costumes and the various cases that the team investigate (with unrealistic means).

Mysteries and detective stories clearly appeal to me : Road home is too slow (and their staring has nothing of the intensity that sparkled in Lighter and Princes), so I have started A league of noblemen, in addition to Under the skin.

My friend finished The heirs this week and she was surprised to find it much better than anticipated for such an old drama. However, with a college setting and two mains leads that I do not like... it is not for me and will remain a drama that I will not watch.

Just finished Witch's Love last night. Fun and breezy twelve episodes (at one point I wondered what are they going to do for another eight episodes, but not to worry), very cute couple, only complaint is excessive arm grabs, and if I think about it, there is quite a bit unexplained by the end or maybe I didn't pay enough attention.

Our Blooming Youth: I'm really tired of Minister Jo's evil cackling. I love how the action/fight scenes are choreographed and filmed in this drama (so thrilling) and how they had Jae-yi has fighting skills. Has any sageuk character been able to dodge so many flying arrows and survive the Cliff of Doom twice?

Heavenly Idol: Up to ep 11. One more episode. I wish we got rid of the majority of the devil/red rain stuff and just did two fish-out-of-water stories featuring Rembrary and Woo Yeon-woo adapting to their new environments. Dal has become extraneous to the story...

Starry Love: C-drama. Finished. Loved it. Sure, the ending could have been better (I'm still hoping for some drama special epilogue) and the world-building stronger, but what a wonderful journey. I was emotionally there with all the characters. The twin sisters were most OTP-est of the OTPs. We got more solid comedy out of this xianxia fantasy than most rom-coms. I think it's got a lot of great rewatch value. The amount of immersion (while acting in green screen), imagination, physical training (everyone looked so natural and comfortable on wires), direction, and post-production to make it all connect is just breathtaking.

Never Give Up aka Chinese Gaus (up to ep 36): Love it! It just kept on getting better and warmer. This feels like Gaus with a dollop of The Office and a dollop of Parks and Rec mixed in. Yes, these people are ridiculous, but they're also so human.

Royal Rumor (up to ep 9): Fun and entertaining. Both leads are good at scheming and are trying to out-scheme each other but also help each other out. Sort of like Autumn Ballad in the beginning. Jeremy Tsui shines in that sort of role. While I feel like something is missing emotionally and in the pacing, I still like it enough to continue.

Romance of a Twin Flower (up to ep 2): I want to like this, but I think I got off on the wrong foot by feeling more for the dead evil twin that showed up for 5 minutes than for the good twin FL who replaced her.

Wow, am I having a bad Spring for Beans.
Oasis, dropped
heavenly Idol, dropped
Romantic Guesthouse, dropped
Call it Love, can’t see legally
Hoping to complete Atty Shin and Youth and hoping for the new shows 🤞🏼

Tiger and Dragon: a 2005 J-drama on Netflix that I'm absolutely loving. It's over the top and that fashion is outdated, and yet, I'm finding it engaging. So much so that I'm dreading the end of it.

Today I rewatched the Japanese movie Hell Dogs. I don't know what it is about the movie, but I keep coming back to it to watch parts of it. It's not objectively great (as lots of people on Letterboxd will tell you), but it's one of those movies that grow on you in spite of their shortcomings.

Will continue Big Bet season 2 next week, although I rewatched episode 6 a little while ago.

I want to start Call It Love but I'm waiting patiently for it to finish airing.

I'm watching The Greatest Love. Can anyone tell me how Dokgo Jin's name works? Is that all his given name and we don't know his surname? Or is his surname included in that? Anyway, I'm really enjoying it, the premise is refreshingly different and I love how Dokgo gives off Mr. Darcy vibes.

ALONE IN LOVE (2005) A++. A beautifully filmed and acted drama, just a pleasure to watch, with no revenge, serial killers, early childhood trauma, or lawyers. Son Ye-jin and Kam Woo-sung at their finest. Based on a Japanese novel, not a webtoon - could that make a difference, I wonder? I found the story pretty heavy weather and gut-wrenching, but laced with enough humor throughout to keep things from getting overly soggy. There's an unusual story arc with fresh secondary romantic leads introduced at midpoint, which serves to keep the plot from losing altitude. Seemed to me a better way than dropping in serial killers, anyway.

Elvis: I feel a bit bad for Elvis. I'm glad Colonel Parker had a poor life after Elvis. But Elvis still dated a 14 year old and stole music from black people so he's not the most innocent person in the world. Doesn't justify what the Colonel did. But...

The End of the world with you: we did end up getting a 3rd sex scene.
There's no dust!!! Ong! The switch from I'm okay with the possible end of the world because you're here & I'm okay with a future with you to SEX! was amazing. Yuma is everything.

Moonlight Chicken: Wen knows a bay gay couple when he sees one. I don't even think Alan & Wen are going to get back together because Jim is the main character. But at this point the love story isn't so much as complicated as boring to watch and I want Jim to give up, whe he's not even into this. Or just date Gaipa. Or just be single. I know that Jim & Wen had a nice connection. But it wasn't superb. The show will have to do something amazing to get me back into Jim/Wen.

My School President: "What will you do if I say that my heart doesn't beat fast foe you?"
"We'll be friends."
"I want to try. Can you teach me?"
Secondary couples are amazing! The two fake out kisses got me!
Sounds reaction to the I think drummer thinking Tiw liked Win was hilarious. I can't remember if it's him or Por I ship Tiw with. But I don't think a tritery couple is likely.

Call It Love: Woojoo IS a psycho and I am here for it! Jun really just said I wasmean to Unnie in my head. I should do it out loud. Ha! Maybe I want to be alone! Both siblings at once! Too much for anyone to take.

Jack o Frost: he found out! I get where Fumiya is coming from. That's where I thought Ritsu was coming from before. I can ew why Ritsu isn't happy. Don't think Fumiya is bad because of it. And hopefully he will think of Dumiya now that he's moving out.

Grown-ish paused.
Miraculous Ladybug: paused.
Emma Agenda: Emma's reaction to John being bi is amazing! Like she thinks they are basically the same person so him being interested in a similar gender to his own means something for him. Her assholeness being due to confusion about what she wants to do and who she wants to do.
Wakanda Forever: paused.

Advance Bravely: So we're just having a 2 week sleepover? What was with the under shirt back scratch? -ge grounded his mid 20s sister! Xia Yao is so jealous. Someone spoiled it for me and I know they end up together.
Boyband: can't watch. Backlogging.

A Boss and A Babe: how are they not defining the relationship? I guess I'm trying not to label things so much inbmy life. But whatever these two are doing would have been labeled by me by now.
Bed Friend: hasn't come on yet.

Our Dating Sim: I f'ing knew I could trust Eddy's kissing! Three kisses in 1 episode? This is what new couples do. How is this a Korean BL?...

_ This week I have finished Flower of Evil. This drama grew on me after the sixth episode and finally I liked it. It won't be one of my favorites but I won't forget Lee Joon Gi 's awesome acting, for sure.

I'm watching:

_ Unlock my boss (7 out of 12). I thought this was going to be funnier and easier to watch. I'm getting a little bored but I will finish it because I like the ML. And to get the bean.

_ Solomon's Perjury (9 out of 12). Very good so far. Episode 9 was so intense!

This week in my personal dramaland over different dramas: 2 taxi drivers out for justice, 2 tents in living rooms, 2 wonderful OST songs by Sam Kim, 2 crazy cults, at least 4 people who don’t know their own feelings, and I had dinner with drama characters 3 times 😊
Divorce Attorney Shin
How could I not like this drama when it starts off with our lead having breakfast from the microwave while watching a drama and talking along … when I had just sat down with my tteokkbokki from the microwave in front of the TV to watch this drama! And next thing he is singing and swaying along to music in his car, just like I often do – our music taste is different, though 😉. I love the three friends together, them being silly, thoughtful and thoughtless at the same time… this is what 39 should have done but didn’t (one of the very few dramas I dropped).
Shin is great with kids; the children in the drama and the child actors are wonderful. In Ep. 7 he argued with his family at their graves how they could leave him so early, a great scene… and when the piano music set in I understood why he doesn’t listen to classical music – it is too close to his heart, he can’t allow that. Also “Uri omma Handel”, I get it!!
Side note: is Truck of Doom so popular because it often is a mix of accident and suicide and thus easier to forgive?
Call It Love
How wonderful to watch, but how painful to see our couple shy away from each other again and again. At least Dongjin knows and trusts his own feelings for her now! I see Woojoo as a hedgehog – she can’t help but put out her spikes when anyone comes close, but there’s a soft and strong heart underneath. Her sister was also opening up for the first time and immediately got hurt, and who does she run to… I also had wondered what was up with the mother, it was inevitable that her presence would sabotage all our growing relationships.
Heavenly Idol
Didn’t this have more than enough subject matter to fill a 16 episode drama? I guess the budget didn’t support that… Anyway, it was fun to watch, confusing, over the top, and it had KMG!
I would have liked to see more idol life and a gig by Wild Animal☹ but I guess I have to watch Peak Time for that, washed-up idols getting their last chance for success 😉
Our Blooming Youth
How dumb can a Crown Prince be? If your love tells you she loves somebody would you not think rightaway “I wish it was me… can it be me?” But I guess episodes need to be filled up… Otherwise, the landscape, colors, fighting scenes and acting at the grass field were glorious. Looking forward to the queen taking action and more sleuthing by our leads in the next episodes!
Delivery Man
Will watch this week’s episodes this weekend…
Taxi Driver S2
Since I started late, I got to watch 8 episodes this week, so much to enjoy! But did Shin Jae Ha have to be a villain AGAIN after Crash Course in Romance? I wanted to see him as the cute, sweet puppy maknae of the taxi...

Trolley. When I'm interested in a show, either I wait until all episodes are in and binge (e.g. Taxi Driver, The Glory) or slowly watch it (it took me forever to finish My Mister and Mr. Sunshine). The drama is in the latter category. It's dark and sinister, implied from the very beginning. I like to savor the intersection of class, politics, and intergenerational trauma. The main actors are superb.

The Glory. This I binged. I liked it. Everyone is talking about Song Hye-kyo, for me Lim Ji-yeon was phenomenal playing the "bitch", owned every scene to me. I'm going to go and look at her previous work. What I didn't like was the romantic arc. Sure, Lee Do-hyun is in everything at the moment, but c'mon the age difference between the 2 leads was jarring. Did we really need a noona romance here? (This beats Kang Ha-neul and Ha Ji-won in Curtain Call...LOL..)

Divorce Attorney Shin. I'm enjoying the show and glad to see Cho Seung-woo rise from that stinker called Sisyphus. I'm also impressed by the supporting cast especially Kang Mal-geum (The Red Sleeve, Squid Game) and enjoying Jung Moon-sung play the hustler friend after seeing him as the tragic husband in The Good Detective, Season 2.

Our Blooming Youth: I've dropped at episode 11. I could keep going for 16 episodes but when I saw it was 20, forget it. It was already starting to spin its wheels.

For the first time, I have a friend who watches k-drama. I've never had anyone around me who liked them all that much so it was nice to chat. But she is in the new "this is an amazing drama" and I'm around 10 years in so I've seen the tropes in that amazing drama sooo many times. Regardless I recommended to her Mystic Pop Up Bar based on what she told me she liked and she talked me into give My Holo Love a go. I'd kind of forgotten about that one. I'm on episode 4 and it is okay to good territory.

@alathe Mr. Sunshine is one of my favorite historical Kdramas of all time. The narrative is extremely brilliant without being pedantic, and the acting is so good across the full cast. The political context is personal to every Korean/globally located Korean, so it also has important social and cultural significance. I'm always glad when people speak so well of this show. I don't re-watch it often because it's so emotionally loaded, and I get exhausted in a good way from it, but exhausted all the same. Great callout.

I got completely burnt out on any non-human creature after watching the old version of Forbidden Love that I turned to one of personal relevance. To my delight, Kocowa recently added Old Miss Diary, so I immediately started it last night. As a single childless, and admittedly self-effacing yuppie, with old-school Korean family members and family friends, this show is personally interesting. Now almost 20 years later, this is the perfect nostalgia piece that is reminiscent of my life in my 20s and 30s between my own friends over work and life pursuits, so I'm loving every cheesy heart-warming moment of it.

Based on last week's post, I picked up Peak Time based on beanie recommendations. And omg, I love it so much. I stayed up until 2 am binge watching the aired episodes. After Episode 1 ended, I looked up and realized TWO HOURS had gone by! I'm usually antsy after 50 minutes or so. Everyone just feels so genuine even though it's a survival show.

I love it so much because of the idea of never giving up on your dreams. Team 23:00 is my favorite -- the idols working part time, practicing at odd hours, and then absolutely killing the stage gets me right into my feels. They remind me of myself; I quit my dance team when I was 26 to focus on adulthood, plus I was the oldest (most quit around 23). That time of my life is over, but if those guys can do it in their 30s, so could I if I wanted to return. I also love Team 07:00.

I will say that the elimination episode was TOO LONG. The first hour should've been a regular episode with them in front of the coaches and getting feedback. They could've weaved the product placement better there, too. Then, spend the last hour on a faster-paced P/F stage that actually gave the eliminated teams time to say goodbye under their actual kpop name.

OUR BLOOMING YOUTH: My love for Ep13 knows no end, it was simply fantastic. Ending scene was best in the whole show so far, let's see if they can top it. The following one... not so much, but I really hope that with only 3 weeks left we're finally heading into meaty part with some answers, achievements, clarifications and long awaited milestones. And that damned moment we're all waiting for religiously.

THE HEAVENLY IDOL: Fantastically underwhelming finale, even parts that should've feel good were just ok at best. How much better it could've been with just more kpop meta jokes, actual music (are we the only ones remembering it was an IDOL drama?) and ML in his Father Unholy mode! Whoever responsible for ruining it after such promising start deserves their own portion of hardcore slipper beating. How long it's been since a fantasy kdrama that didn't suck? Too long, I think...

KKOKDU: Speaking of fantasy dramas that suck... This one ultimately did too, and how! What a waste of good actors, obvious chemistry and generally promising ideas. The only thing show truly did right was the reunion scene - that's how you do it, THI, take notes! - tho I did snort at the location where this was happening. Isn't it blasphemous on few different levels at once?))) Anyway, resolution still lacked, but maybe I, along with FL, learned some patience and acceptance of happiness even in (aby)small portions. Wish writer to find a better job too. You know, the one they actually may have an ounce of talent for.

Tried ROMANCE OF A TWIN FLOWER because of my love for Ding Yuxi, but this was not grabbing at all, even with barely there level of expectations (I legit forgot this drama exists unlike his other 2 upcoming projects I'm really looking forward to lol). Will wait for more episodes to be out, this is not a show for live watching. He looks more grown up than in ROTAR, good for him. For anyone wondering - it doesn't resemble THAT drama all that much. Esp in terms of being actually interesting)))

@alathe, the last five episodes of Mr. Sunshine are the best!

What I watched this weekk:

Divorce Attorney Shin The plot is getting more interesting. I'm starting to see why Sunghan became an attorney in the first place. What I don't get is the role of his sister's mother-in-law. (I haven't watched today's episode as of posting this, though.)

Our Blooming Youth It was a little ridiculous this week. All of the main characters have unacknowledged super powers, like being able to cliff dive while injured or hike for miles while gut shot.

Chief Kim aka Good Manager. I had watched the first two episodes of this a month or more ago. I put it aside. This week I watched the remaining 18 episodes (!!) I had insomnia and was really stressed out. Namgoong Min has such a beautiful voice, yet managed to crack me up with line readings even though I do not understand Korean. (OK, I do understand some things people say in dramas.) Thank you to @Elinor for recommending this so enthusiastically.

All the Liquors This is the Korean BL web drama with the chef and the soju salesman. I got to the 8th episode. There is a 9th episode. I'm not sure why. The drama is rated R. I'm not sure why. Chief Kim had way more sexually suggestive moments between male characters. I do not get what this show was for. Perhaps it was more "come to Korea, we have yummy things to eat"? Just like a lot of other k-dramas, except nominally gay. The lead actors aren't really actors, but they are really handsome. If you like to watch exceptionally good looking people being embarrassed while promoting unhealthful drinking, I guess this is your show.

A Shoulder to Cry On Whoa, this week this Korean high school BL took a turn when it revealed the trauma in one lead characters' background. I'm impressed with the commitment of the actors to invest this story with emotion.

Our Dating Sim Someone on here said last week, Eddy for sure dated someone in the seven year gap when they didn't see each other, but Ian, probably not. You were right!

Non-kdramas:

The End of the World With You I read the scanlated manga for this NC-17 BL dramatization before I watched it. Mostly the comic was better (of course, I must acknowledge that is most frequently the case.) I think I prefer the weirdly open ending of this version. The lead actor bit off more than he could chew with this series. He looks weirdly nauseated a lot of the time. I've seen him in other shows and he usually looks like that. I liked it enough to watch through to the end.
Jack o'Frost They put a lot of thought into the beautiful camera work on this one. It would be a boring dysfunctional relationship love story without the amnesia plot and the utterly gorgeous lighting.

I watched MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT. It wasn't bad, but I would have dropped it at ep 8 if it had been 16 episodes. I only finished it because it was 12 episodes.
Mediocre and underwhelming. It should have been a drama special. Short and to the point.

Now I'm watching Brain Works and I'm really really liking it.
I have a habit of finding and reading the What We're Watching posts during a show's airtime for beanie comments (I wonder if @db-staff know how HARD that is to do? To get to the WWW posts I have to search for Dramabeans tag index in Google!! And find the tag. Why is there no shortcut to weekly posts, no "show more" link to older posts on the homepage, the recaps page is VERY laggy... Anyway, we are still dedicated 😁) and I noticed that only 3 beanies watched Brain Works? Shame. It has been excellent up till episode 6. I hope I enjoy it to the end.
I don't necessarily enjoy all Cha Tae Hyun's works but I have noticed he has a commendable habit of standing back and letting his younger costars shine. It's like he provides the perfect background for them. This is the sign of a great sunbae and makes me like him as a person.
I haven't seen Jung Yong Hwa in anything since 2014, and it's enough to say that he was the definition of idol-turned-actor for me. Never in a million years I woud have believed back then that I would one day enjoy his acting this much. He is truly a revelation here for me.

Our blooming youth: I am stuck at episode 10, and it is getting hard picking it back up. I found it interesting enough to binge-watch the first four episodes at once, but now, I feel a bit less motivated. I'll maybe wait for it to finish and binge-watched the remaining episodes.

Call it love: I picked it up this week and binged all 8 episodes. I should have taken it slower because now waiting for new episodes will be super-hard. I love it. I love the slow pace. And the plot is so well put together.

The interest of love: I am watching this at a super slow pace, whenever I can. I actually enjoy it. I like the social commentary it makes on the association between social status and relationships be it love or friendship. Moon Ga Young is doing such a great job as Su Yeong, Yeon Sok' s Sang Su however is a bit frustrating I find...

So many people watch taxi driver but they don't comment on the hangout. Why not?
Please share your insights!