WEATHERING WITH YOU (2019): To be considered a great japanese animator, one needs to be able to create realistic rainfall. Makoto Shinkai is the heir apparent to legend Hayao Miyazaki. Shinkai’s formula style is teen angst, personal crisis and first love being interfered by supernatural forces that jolt the main characters to solve adult problems. His current film, SUZUME, is a smash hit in South Korea after a record setting run in Japan, so I decided to look at his previous film. It had all the elements of his classic style and does deliver at the end.

SECRET ZOO (2020): It was billed as a wacky comedy but in reality is was just . . . sad.

My biggest take away was that if I was a casting director I would cast Kim Tae Hee and Kang Sora as sisters.

Divorce Attorney - this week I got shivers from Step-Mom. Not because she is a very questionable lawyer, but because of how awful she is towards her Stepson. Luckily
Fanboy Lawyer balanced it. 📷🙂

Real Has Come - for a weekender, the start was very strong (I'm closing both my eyes about some unimportant side factors, like a very small baby and his very pregnant mother). I like both our main leads... and I was surprised by the ending of the second episode - what's going on?

Call It Love - I really liked Suho, how honest, observant and straightforward he was. Hyesung is growing partly because of him and I'm glad that she is trying to do some changes, like eating alone... and she apparently has no problem to argue with Jun. 🙂
Dongjin's and Woojoo's introverted love is so precious and I want the Universe to protect these soulmates and let them be happy together. I hope there is a way.

Romance of The Twin Flower, 5 Eps - there definitely are better dramas (and it can't compare to Tiger and Rose), but I'm enjoying it anyway and having fun with the Money-earning Heroine and her Puzzled Husband.

Still slowly continuing with c-Gaus (Never Give Up, 25 Eps) and checked Nothing But You.

CRICKET - English summer - England vs. Australia.

PM Sunak playing cricket video has 6 million views - wow

JAPAN - not much to watch - waiting for the new season. This season was quite uneven - either wow shows or low quality ones. season lacked consistency. And japan really need to get away low quality ol, virgin, not in relationships nonsense.

I had a very whirlwind two weeks with almost no drama time, but I had a long train ride on the way home this week and that gave me some time to catch up.

Our Blooming Youth: I know that this has flaws but I find it difficult to care about them. I just love all our characters so much, I love the mystery, I love the twistiness of history, and I can’t wait to see what happens on Monday.

Divorce Attorney Shin: I’m quietly enjoying this. Nothing major to complain about. Bromance gets better with each episode, backstory and sister’s mother-in-law get more interesting with each episode, and Ramyeon Shop Owner is secretly the best character.

Delivery Man: I liked this week’s episodes better than last week’s, now that we got over the awkward beginning of the romance. Very here for the team-up between Detective Dad and Young-min, and hoping we can wrap up this psychopathic doctor situation quickly so we can figure out how to revive Ji-hyun.

Reply 1988: All the 18 year olds are so great. Well, I guess now they are 24 year olds. I love that we get to see them all some years on, but am always slightly weirded out by the fact that kdrama characters go for SO LONG without doing anything about their crushes.

K-Action Movie of the Week: Kill Boksoon Strong John Wick vibes here, if half of John Wick was about him also trying to be a parent. I really enjoyed Jeon Do-yeon here, and found her at least as interesting as her role in CCIR. Same naggy mom vibes, but this time she was more multi-facetted and wasn’t like that to everyone. I loved the effect of showing a fight scene play out in multiple hypothetical ways, and thought it was clever that most of the final fight scene was done through this effect. I also thought it was cool that there was some ambiguity in the ending for that reason. Most gross sibling relationship goes to the Cha sibling (seriously, it took me forever to realize they were siblings and not just lovers). And what a pleasant surprise to see Lee Jae-wook in a cameo as the younger version of the chairman! This was fun, I’d recommend.

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse - Give this an award for pace. I hope it keeps it up.

Our Blooming Youth - The Queen took a drastic turn. I wished we've seen more of her vibes earlier than now. It's chilling.

Sacred Divorce - I like what they're doing with Seo-jin. And I found it weird that the stepmom used the family registry to force end Gi-yeong's timeout with Sung-han. Is the law different in Korea? Is familial blood ties nothing at all in Korea. Was it that Sung-han couldn't force them to correct the family registry? He's a lawyer and I am surprised he just took it like that, with a defeated look. It was disappointing. Like...why are you a lawyer if you cannot let her know the ground she's standing on is very shaky.

Pandora - I thought Jae-hyun needed protecting. Turns out he doesn't. But then, this conflicts what was doled out in one of the teasers.
For someone who just literally saved your beloved son from dying, just at the right time, I find it unthankful that she spoke so ill to Do-jin. What if he got there late? She'll kill him? Or accuse him of getting what he's been looking for all this while. And think he's not even thinking about coming into the said company for the same reasons, and I'm sure she knows it, it makes her all the more an ungrateful being.

Call It Love? - You ain't killing anybody. I'm a bit sad that Woo-joo thinks their attraction and affection is something that should not be. I know she has more knowledge than Dong-jin, but I still don't know where her conflict of interest is coming from.
That aside, awwwwwn 🤤.
Tell Sun-woo to not cause anything for my pair.

I watched the movie Confession (2022) and I loved it from start to finish. Epic and solid.

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse I would like Shi-Yeol being the hero and getting back the throne.

Our Blooming Youth The story is so slow... What the point to give them clues, if they do nothing with them during 5 episodes at least... The love story is pretty flat too.

Wednesday-Thursday : Where are the dramas?!? (the good ones, I mean)

Divorce Attorney Shin The step-mother is scary. She had no reason to act like this...

Joseon Attorney Waiting for more episodes to make an opinion. But WDH is still handsome :D

Taxi Driver 2 This season is not as good as the first one. The rythm is too slow.

Road Home I tried it for Jin Bo-Ran and if he's still hot and I love all the snow scenery, I'm kinda tired by their friends forcing them to get together. I would have prefered a natural and quiet reunion.

Divorce attorney Shin
Hopefully the two cases will conclude this week and we will see his thinking re the benefits of taking on this case

Joseon attorney - a Morality
It started clearly showing that the male lead’s morals were questionable to say the least. His tactics for getting his plan instigated meant his first client faced the full impact of the collateral damage.

Three star bar in Nishi Ogikubo -Japanese
Three school acquaintances running a bar as a resting time while they heal from their personal dilemmas.

The examination for everyone - Chinese
Slice of life, youth friendships taking the final exam during Covid in China.

Chicago typewriter -
This months watch and discuss club selected drama.

Completed
Page Turner last month’s Watch and Discuss Club watch.
I originally watched it months ago and rewatching, something I never do, was pleased to see it was still an enjoyable watch.

Recipe for farewell
Favourite episode, the undercover family BBQ! Favourite character the shop assistant in the supermarket who knows everything about everything because he was going to open multiple types of specialty restaurants or food shops😆 This is a slow paced slice of life drama like Would you like a cup of coffee and Twelve nights. It came highly recommended by the resident critic of critics on DB and I can see why. The topic is sad but seeing the family grow closer as they face adversity was a joy. The story is told well over 12 thirty minute episodes.

Audiobooks
Completed:
Convenience store woman by Sayaka Murata - Japanese
Story told in the voice of a woman with undiagnosed Autism.

If I had your face by Frances Cha - Korean
Story of 5 women living in a officetel. The story is told by 4 of the women hard hitting tale of the experiences of who have faced poverty and discrimination with glimpses into the impact of the cosmetic industry, child abuse, the sex industry and mixing with the chaebol young adults.

Call it Love - *insert incoherent screaming* I love this show to bits and am going to really feel a bit empty when it finishes :( While I don't agree with it or think it's the right thing, I do get why WJ is holding back on telling the truth (been there done that too 😭) but my face is permanently etched into a wince waiting for the other shoe to drop ever since last week's episodes.

Romantic Guesthouse - controversial opinion maybe but this is more of what I wanted OBY to be like vibes wise, it has a cute romance developing steadily and although it's light it's got enough going for me to be quite invested!

Warm on a Cold Night - a really nice C-drama, the leads are super cute and the mystery solving aspect of it is entertaining and nice too (as I write this I realise this is another drama that's giving me what I originally wanted from OBY). I've got 20 odd episodes to catch up on but I'm taking my time and will be using this to bide the waiting period for other shows.

Our Blooming Youth - I've been pressing the ff button on this one increasingly as each week passes. At this point I'm just resigned to the fact that it's just not my cup of tea but I want to see it to the end just to see what happens (and because I've come this far).

The Real Has Come - is cute, engaging and but not too serious that I'm hung up over waiting on episodes to drop (that's another brand of agony that I'm already dealing with for CIL so I can go without for another show).

Gogh, The Starry Night - I'm really just watching for KYK at this point, I'm half way through and I thought I'd warm up to the FL at some point but I'm really not.

CALL IT LOVE - I’m late to the party, but finally binged watched, and I am loving it!! I’m expecting our main couple to have the bottom to fall out in the next few episodes, but I’m hoping they will have a happy ending. They deserve it. But I’m enjoying the journey. However, as a real estate and probate attorney, it bugs me that Hee-ja was able to kick the kids out of the house without any proof such as a deed or will. Is that not mandatory in Korea, or did the kids just not think to ask? Maybe their mom will get to the bottom of it. Or better yet, Dong-jin.
ROMANTIC GUEST HOUSE - Now that we know who’s the prince, things should get interesting.
JOESON ATTORNEY The first episode is finally available, so I’ll be watching.

Current/recent:
Our Blooming Youth: This show is all over the place and I wish it had stuck to mystery - although that would be a waste of Park Hyung-shik’s eyelashes, which could carry a romance storyline all by themselves.
Bros on Foot: Amusing and sweet but sometimes draggy. The guys trying to be human sheepdogs did make me actually laugh out loud.

Older stuff:
Stove League: Holy hit-and-run, beanies! This is SO GOOD. Every episode throws another curve. Namgoong Min turns the acting equivalent of an unassisted triple play. Park Eun-bin never lets a ball get past her. I’m on ep. 11 now and afraid to jinx it, but I don’t think I have ever loved a drama as much as I love this so far.
Queen In-hyun’s Man: Ah, 42-minute episodes are the best - all forward action, no time for filler. It makes me laugh several times an episode. The makeup is heavy and dated, but the amped-up acting by everyone except ML Ji Hyun-woo is unexpectedly fun and feels right. Kim Jin-woo is both hilarious and hot hamming it up as the cad ex-boyfriend.
Gogh, the Starry Night (Go Ho’s Starry Night): Short and insubstantial, but pleasant enough as a zero-braincell watch - it helped to think of it as a live-action manwha. As with many dramas, it fails to identify attempts to force a workplace “romance” as the sexual harassment it is. On the plus side, Kim Young-kwang is a hedgehog heartthrob as the ML.

Continuing to enjoy Call It Love and Divorce Attorney Shin.
I probably would have dropped OBY if not for all the beanie interaction in the recaps. I will earn this bean!

My latest obsession is Nothing But You cdrama. Loving it a lot. Great chemistry between leads and really likeable characters. I love how sweet yet mature Song Sanchuan is. Leo is nailing this role. So it Yu Tong. Even the sister character is written with more depth. Overall, good writing and great casting. Hope it continues to be good.

Taxi Driver s2: 7.4 After a hard-to-believe streak that dragged down the score, day 11 regained credibility with a straight-from-the-headlines version of the Burning Sun scandal.

Secret Romantic Guesthouse: 6.5 Did they actually reveal something important this early? Or was it a tricky feint?

Our Blooming Youth: 7.5

Call It Love: 6.0 Too much moping. Could use some humor. Or a serial killer. Yes, my tastes are different from many Beanies. Why do you ask? And why wasn't I smart enough to drop this early instead of getting stuck in a dull bean-watch? If I go back to watching at 1.5x, do I get 1.5x the Beans?

Delivery Man: 7.0 Somehow more "enjoyable" than "good". Can't score it on originality or creativity without resorting to negative numbers or risking an antimatter explosion -- but the same can be said of 86.429% of kdramas.

Joseon Attorney: 7.1? Has promise, too early to be sure.

Duty After School: 7.0 (ep 1/3) Even more an All Of Us Are Dead clone than I expected -- and not an improvement. Is this "Duty After School" really much worse for the students than cram school after regular school on the Highway To Hell Joseon?

Finished:

_ Solomon's Perjury (2016). Very good k-drama. The last episodes (from 9 to 12) are intense and painful. The ending is bittersweet.

_ Unlock my boss (2022). It's not bad at all but I thought it was going to be lighter, funnier and more entertaining. Too many screen time for bad people here.

_ Documentary "Walking on the tidal flats in Suncheon Bay" with Yoon Si Yoon ☺️ Landscapes and wildlife in the south of South Korea.

Currently Watching:

_ Extraordinary Attorney Woo. (6 out of 16). I'm not liking this drama as much as the rest of the world, it seems... But I'll keep watching it.

_ Secret Romantic Guesthouse (4 out of 18). I'm enjoying this show a lot for now. Very classic style (in a good sense), some misteries and a bunch of nice characters.

With the exception of Taxi Driver, Asian dramaland has been a bit of wasteland as of late, and ill never waste my time or money on those two major evil streaming companies, this was a perfect time to check out some older dramas

Live (2018)
An excellent slice of life drama detailing the ups and downs that come with police work.

Prison playbook (2017)
Started this week and enjoying it so far, character driven dramas are rare and this one is nailing it so far

Call It Love I love the overall mood of this show. I like the main couple and how they changed. Although I can't help but feel that it may not be a HEA for them.

Duty After School I just picked this up today. I realized I will only tolerate HS dramas if its in a dystopian setting since I stopped watching these shows for a few years now I think. Only exception is AOUAD. Too soon to tell if I will stick with this or just wait until all eps are out to binge it.

Watching
K Dramas,
Secret Guesthouse Easy to watch
Oasis Show is doomed if they keep the love triangle
Duty after School Liked it more than I thought, don’t know cast
Apple of my eye Daily shows, hate the stereotype rich family characters. Nice to see Baek Jin-hee again.
The Real has Come Not sure if I’ll keep watching these two

C dramas
Going to set Luoyang and Science of Falling in Love on hold. Going to give Autumn Ballad a try.

YouTube

Continue watching Maigret . Wonderful tv, well written and acted. Maigret has to be one of the most laid back detectives ever. He has the most understanding wife and a great crew of detectives working for him; Sgt Lucas, Janvier, Lapointe, and Torrence.

CALL IT LOVE could well be my favourite drama this year, it will be very hard to beat. The cinematography is simply beautiful, the dialogue very good and the acting top notch. Disney has a winner here!

Not worried about the cliff-hanger in TAXI DRVER 2. They need Kim Do-gi for season 3!

Otherwise it is a bit of a draught in dramaland for me. OASIS is still watchable and I was really looking forward to Woo Do-hwan in JOSEON ATTORNEY which turns out to be a Joseon version of CHIEF KIM and ONE DOLLAR LAWYER. Not sure yet whether this is good, but I will give it a chance.

The Starry Love: Nice to see a show driven by its female characters and their choices and actions - more of this please!

It's been a while since I posted here:

OUR BLOOMING YOUTH (Ep. 15-16): For people who claim they are not rebels, the Byeokcheon people are sure acting like it. I think it's as simple as they have their base in the Gaesong shrine, were found out by the Min family during the avalanche, and bloodthirsty fish went on a rampage. The drama has dragged the mystery out too long for me to care anymore. *shrugs*

Cdrama
FOREVER AND EVER (2021): Ep. 4. I was very moved by ONE AND ONLY so I thought I'd give the sequel a go. So far it is unremarkable. :(

I am looking forward to Woo Do-Hwan's drama!

Recently finished:
When the Weather Is Fine - enjoyed it a lot, but thought the break-up was completely unnecessary, and that dimmed my enjoyment somewhat.
Hoshi Furu Yoru ni (On a Starry Night) - loved it to bits, mainly because of the adorable ML.
Autumn's Concerto (rewatch) - I knew this one wouldn't have aged well, but wanted to give it a chance anyway. Lots of FF/skipping, but overall still enjoyed the main story and the romance.
Love Me If You Dare (rewatch) - a good bit of FF/skipping through some of the crime scenes, but otherwise still a really good drama.

Currently Watching:
Our Blooming Youth - actually put this one on hold at ep 14. Gonna binge the last 6 eps once it finishes airing.
The Beauty Inside - just finished ep 11 and really hoping there's no breakup. Loving the leads together.
Warm on a Cold Night - 4 eps to go and wondering how they're going to tie up all the loose ends in 4 eps when they just introduced a new mystery. I strongly suspect who the actual person is behind the "drug cartel" and I hate that because I was really hoping he was a nice guy. I think the leads are cute together and love the Scooby gang vibe. I keep wondering if the FL's illness has anything to do with the divine flame. And let me just say that for all of it's cuteness and light-heartedness, there were 2 eps that had me out right sobbing.
The Starry Love - finished 6 eps and put it on hold while I finish Warm on a Cold Night, which will probably be today.

Call it Love: Talk about an earned kissed. Also once again I have to praise the director of this drama, s/he just knows what to do. So impressed every time with the direction.

Divorce Attorney Shin: We are almost at the end. I am glad about it, it allows the writing to be tight and it is such fun writing.

Joseon Attorney: It was fine, however I am already annoyed by the Palace angle and the fact that our attorney has an eidetic memory.

ONGOING
Divorce Attorney Shin - The divorce case makes very little sense to me. Best part of the two episodes were the scenes with Hyeong-geun and Jeong-sik.

Our Blooming Youth - Still haven't caught up and at this point I don't know if I ever will.

Secret Romantic Guesthouse - The obvious reveal came pretty quickly but this show has 18 episodes so I'm assuming there are more reversals to come?

Delivery Man - The sequence of events for the mom and Ji-hyeon's attacks really made sense. I was impressed by the smoothness of it all. The baiting of the serial killer on the other hand wasn't quite as smart.

STARTED
Planning to watch Joseon Attorney.

C-DRAMAS
Started and really enjoying Nothing But You. Love both leads so I was predisposed to liking it but it's actually good!

Am also giving Road Home another chance because people have been raving about it. It improves with some generous fast-forwarding.

Enjoy your drama watching @alathe. I know both drama are great for me and they do have such an impact even at slightest/ short scene. And yes, both had me tears and emotional wreck too.

I am with you, @daebakgrits, just joining bandwagon of Call it Love. The only bad side is that I honestly thought it was already a finished series 🤦🏻‍♀️. The torturing is begin now 😭. I binged 12 eps in one-go! Why on earth I play that series 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️! This drama is so good (up until 12). My sincerely wish for it to be wrap it properly then 🤞🤞🤞.

I put on hold for Attorney Shin as I don't want to wait every week. Gosh, I missed this drama so bad, my husband and I enjoy it very much during our leisure time after all day of hassle at work.

CALL IT LOVE: This show hurts so good. Although I'm still hoping against hope that Dong-jin already knows who Woo-joo is (how could he not at this point?), it does seem like we're headed for a painful reveal here soon that will test their burgeoning relationship. And I admit that although I understand Woo-joo's fears of coming clean clash with her inability to stay away from the man she loves, I can't find the logic in her decision to let him believe they are in the beginning stages of a forever relationship then shred his heart to pieces by either continuing to withhold the truth and disappear, or tell him the truth and disappear. The show, however, so often subverts expectations and predictable storytelling tropes, that I can't help but trust it will all be ok. I also love how Jun and Hae-song are moving either to a romantic relationship or simply becoming deeper friends--either way, I trust the writers to do right by these characters. Finally, I suspected Hee-ja didn't actually have a right to the house, but I wish this character was less awful. I don't see how Woo-joo's father spent 13 minutes married to this shrill, selfish, stupid woman, let alone 13 years.

ROMANTIC GUESTHOUSE: Oh, I love it when a show doesn't impress me at first, and then suddenly gets way better. These two episodes were fun, interesting, and perfectly paced. And I finally cared about the romance! I hope it continues.

OASIS: I think I may have dropped this one. It's just such a mess. The FL is the only character I truly like and respect, and I think she deserves to be the star of her own drama.

REAL HAS COME: It has been a long time since I've watched a weekender, but this one grabbed me. The storytelling seems assured, and I like the characters. Excited to watch the next two episodes this weekend.

JOSEON LAWYER: As Scottie says, the opening definitely gave me "Chief Kim" vibes. I'm not sure yet if this will keep me tuning in longterm, but I'll definitely watch the next episode.