LIVE WATCHES
Destined with You
Loving it still. No, it’s not perfect, but can we be honest? Perfect dramas only become “perfect,” in retrospect. There are always things you wish hadn’t happened while you’re watching. Even with that said, I am also holding back on my full, crazy-wall-fueled analysis until the finale week is over. Boy, do I have thoughts that need resolving. And, as usual, Seon-ha’s 2ML syndrome remains strong with Jae-kyung, but I’ll try to keep it down (a bit) in this weekend’s Fan Wall Gif Geyser.

Parallel Worlds
There ain’t no party like a Fan Wall Watch party…heyyyy, hhhooo!! The roosters are clearly the stars, but the OTP are simply to die for. I’m worried that might literally be true for them.

FROM THE RESERVES
Mad Dog
While I’m in complete agreement with past and future Beanies that the only real reason to watch this drama is for the OTP’s flirtations, I do admit that my head is often turned by the sweet, open, masculinity of Cheetah, our silver-haired ex-con.

ON DECK
Something, I’m sure. I may be alone (I mean, it happens a lot here) but I’m not optimistic for Strong Girl Nam-soon. I mean, the villain looks hot. That often goes well for me, so...maybe? But, I’m also not jibing with Sparkly-Gerund Watermelon. I think it’s because I’m sort of liking that I have the time instead to plan Gif-Notes™ essays on Crash Course in Romance and also making (sometimes on-demand) Gif Geysers for all my watches above.

Didn't get time to share last week so this covers everything I've watched in the last two weeks 😅.

COMPLETED
Song of the Bandits - It was an easy watch but I wish there had been more humour. The people of Tae-pyeong were the most interesting but we didn't get enough time with them. Seon-bok and Eon-nyeon were a delight.

Behind Your Touch - One of my favourite dramas of the year. Yes a lot of characters had to make a lot of stupid decisions for the plot to go places but I didn't mind it since the dumbness was pretty much baked into the show. Loved the characters, the OTP, the humour, the OST, just 💯.

My Lovely Boxer - I loved Kwon-sook's journey. I'm glad she's happy with her choice and got to exit the sport on her own terms. The romantic ending felt too quick and kind of tacked on. Still a good drama.

ONGOING
Destined With You - Dropped because I love myself.

The Kidnapping Day (Ep. 1) - Just started this and I'm hooked. Plan to binge over the weekend.

Twinkling Watermelon (Ep. 1 - 4) - Nice start. I know the whole conceit of the show is around going back in time but I found the present-day family very compelling too. Hopefully the trip to the past will help Eun-gyeol work out the best way forward. Ryeoun's pretty funny in the 'past' scenes.

The Worst of Evil (Ep. 1 - 5) - I wasn't impressed with it last week but this week's funeral scene onwards the basic push-and-pull of the 3 characters came to life. Jun-mo's character at least always had tons to do. Now that Eui-jeong is actively in the mix, I hope we get to see more from Gi-cheol.

Planning to give Strong Girl Nam-soon a try.

C-DRAMAS
Still no time 😭. I'm curious about Hilarious Family but I refuse to start it until I finish my backlog.

Live Your Own Life
We got J.E.A.L.O.U.S.Y this week! 😁
I mean, this is sooo classic, isn't it? I somehow love it. I also love the running running meetings 🙂 between Taeho and Hyoshim.
Btw, I hope we will now get back to the standard 2 episodes a week schedule because the 1 episode a week is braking the pace.

Twinkling Watermelon
Choi Hyun Wook is magnetic and such a ball of energy as Yichan and I especially love his scenes with Halmoni. Yichan sometimes seems so carefree and irresponsible, but then... then he makes that speech about enjoying his last days of youth because after high school he is planning to start making money for the shop, and my heart breaks. 💔

Destined
Ok Show, I admit you got me. I should have known that tragedy was coming when Groot got saved under his real name and Mr. Secretary had to discover something else than kisses, but I was lulled by the usual boredom and then frustration with Hongjo and her stupidity... that I was hit really hard when Mr. Otter not only appeared in the Joseon past, but was so pragmatically and stoically cruel as well!
Aengcho's and Mujin's love was terribly tragic... but now, now I also want them to be happy in their new lives... and I hope Show will fill the last week with comedy and Shin-yu's famous lines. 🙂

Previously-Aired:
Mad Dog: (through ep 9) Still chugging along! Woo Do Hwan is still the best part for me. I need to catch up with eps 10-12 for the next fanwall chat!! (*I'll be posting the next chat tomorrow*)

W: (through ep 6) Quite fun so far! It's a lot more campy than I thought it would be, but that suits me just fine. I guess I'm not a fan of Lee Jong Suk, but I like him more here than in Romance is a Bonus Book... and what a delight to find that not only is Kang Ki Young in it (with a much-too-small role), but also Lee Si Eon!

I also joined the Beanie watch of Spellbound organized by @mindy - what fun!! It's a spooky rom-com that wasn't scary for me (Yay!) Thanks Mindy!!

C-dramas:
Parallel World I only have the last four episodes to watch! It has been an absolute ride. The heroine is a BOSS - she's the hero of the story, and the narrative hasn't forgotten that... she's the one who makes things happen. But the other characters aren't diminished in order to show her strength... everyone has been so well developed. One of my favorite watching experiences of 2023!

I also finished Provoke, which I found streaming on Prime. It was short (number of episodes and length of episodes - all less than 20 minutes long!), stylish, and super addicting. I was hooked in the first 10 minutes!

CRICKET -

WORLD CUP - Trash - that's it.

My analysis not proved right this time. But other is completely right - milk as much because elections are near.

ASIAN GAMES - CRICKET - woah - total fun - what matches are happening here - hoho - CRICKET IS FOR asian games - so much PR why because every single country has something for each other.

Japan vs. hong kong was full of China yeah.
Pak vs. AFG turned out - Afg in final - big upset

Good cricket that is not affected by MONEY and mismanagement and most of all POLITICS.

COMPLETED
Behind Your Touch: Loved it so much!

A Time Called You: I think the main cast did great, but for some reason, their performance and the show itself did not resonate with me. Watched it with 1.25 speed. I don’t think I’ll re-watch ever.

Familiar Wife: Start was great, mid was okay, end was meh. 2 episodes (15-16) to wrap up felt dragging to me. Adding new storylines after the main storyline was resolved felt like I was already watching season 2. This could have worked better with 12 episodes.

CURRENTLY WATCHING
The Light In Your Eyes (Ep 6/12): I like it so far. Son Ho-jun is so funny and endearing here.

The Day of Kidnapping (Ep 6): This drama is good! I love our OTP.

DROPPED
We Married As A Job (Ep 4/11): I am surprised I did not find myself enjoying this show, considering my fave BTLIOF is inspired by this J-drama. I’ll just re-watch BTLIOF instead and have fun with my watching.

Now that BYT ended, I am starving for a nice rom-com. Any recs, Beanies?

My best friend and I had a sleepover last night to watch After Everything - the final movie in the After franchise - and boy do I feel wrung out after (lol). For those who aren’t familiar, ‘After’ movies are based on a Wattpad novel which is essentially Harry Styles fanfic, and it is singlehandedly one of the most trashiest movie series’ my eyeballs have witnessed. The franchise is basically a massive game of film limbo where each subsequent movie tries to go lower than the one before it - which isn’t hard to do when the story is centered around one of the most red flag toxic fictional couples I’ve ever seen, paired with writing & acting that leaves a lot (like a lot ) left to be desired. To be fair, this last instalment wasn’t as bad as the rest or as bad as it could’ve been, but I repeat; the bar is low folks.

SO why did we watch it? Because we watched the first movie few years ago as a ‘why not’ and it was such a burning wreck that we couldn’t take our eyes off of it for another four whole movies 🤡. The series has also become the foundation of core friendship memories because it’s kind of become a yearly ritual to have a sleepover just to watch each sequel as it came out, and have a fun time cringing and sharing the sheer ’wtf is this’ live commentary. One of those cases where actually watching the movie with someone is way, way more entertaining than the movie itself. So I definitely do not recommend to anyone as serious entertainment/as a good story in the slightest, but I will say that even the most mediocre K-drama seems light-years better if you watch it right off the back of this, so that’s something. Or if you’re in the mood for messiness in its purest form, this is your jackpot. Fun trivia fact: the ML of this movie series is played by Ralph Fiennes’ nephew Hero Fiennes Tiffin (who also played young Tom Riddle in one of the HP movies)!

Other stuff on my plate (other than my roster of live airs Destined With You, Twinkling Watermelon, Live Your Own Life, all of which are going swimmingly): I can’t wait to watch the Strong Woman spin-off once it drops tomorrow, I did give Parallel Worlds a go but couldn’t get into it 😞 so it’s on the paused pile (not giving up on it yet!), I finished rewatching Tale of the Nine Tailed 2 and loved it even more the second time around 💕, and have started Memories of the Alhambra because why not.

Twinkling Watermelon: Awwww, I am really enjoying this show. I really hope they don't give Eun Gyeol a romance, that would be weird for a number of reasons. I hope it is just him understanding his parents better. His chemistry with Yi Chan is so wonderful to see.

Destined With You: Welp, we are almost done, Thankfully, lol. I'm glad I got to see more of Jae Kyung, he is the only part of this drama I really care about.

The Worst of Evil: This writer is really pulling out all the stops. He missed his own MIL's funeral and had to be criticized while unable to defend himself. Meanwhile his fake boss is hitting on his wife, OMG. A mess. I love it.

Will try Strong Nam and watch Arthdal.

Behind Your Touch: 9.0 By kdrama standards, a kick-ass ending. Final episode won points for nice dueling superpowers, better use of sound/hearing than the last 3 seasons of Voice, and good use of Ok-hui's gang, lipstick and mosquitoes.

My Lovely Boxer: 8.5 Good ending, but not as much of a knockout as the butt show. Of course they had to prove it was a kdrama by having a 1-year time skip. Sigh.

A Time Called When I Get Around to It You: 5.0 (ep 8 & 9) bean⌚ They like their time skips so much I decided to pause a couple weeks and then time-skip forward once I had lost track of what was going on.

Destined With You: 6.0 When things were light and cheerful, Jo Boa's facial expressions could carry the show, but now 🥱🥱💤💤💤

The Kidnapping Day: 9.0 Watching the "victim" outsmart the baddies is great. And the script seems almost as smart as she is :)

Killing Vote: __ They voted to kill this week's episode again. OK.

Asianwiki seems to think the writer of Behind Your Touch has another show due to air in 2023. She may be revealing her butt fixation again by having one character be a proctologist. The English title includes "Sunshine", which...

Live watches:
Twinkling Watermelon
CEO-dol Mart
Marriage with me? Seriously? - J drama

Binge watch
Miracle that we met - 2018 body swap drama

Completed
Prison Playbook rewatch
Be melodramatic rewatch
Bubble up - web drama

Webtoon corner
Second Lead Syndrome

Twinkling Watermelon (Episode 3-4) - Mood: C+
Yeah, I definitely did expect more than just different yet similar adopted child traumas for both female leads, but still, I very much love the dynamic between Eun Gyeol and his dad. I’ve read so many theories online about Se Kyung’s daughter being another time traveller and becoming his romantic partner: isn’t she supposedly his brother’s girlfriend? That’s so awkward!

The Kidnapping Day (Episode 7) - Mood: C+
Of all the shows to postpone an episode, this had to be the casualty? Wow, they really started off the 2nd half with a bang, what with all the action and tension in that episode: I just wish we didn’t have to use Jaden as a plot device to achieve this, even if I admit I got hooked by all the manoeuvring and outwitting. I hope the payoff for mysterious Hye Eun will be worth it.

CEO-dol Mart (Episode 5-8) - Mood: C- / D+
Honestly, I can’t say I didn’t cringe upon watching that Young Min/Gina reunion scene because the way that arc progressed was just way too random and disconnected from the rest of the plot. But the general story unfortunately fell apart and we’ll be heading into the finale on a lacklustre cliffhanger. With so many main characters, there wasn’t a need for a villain at all?

Destined With You (Episode 13-14) - Mood: D-
How was Na Yeon not the wicked concubine who used black magic to birth a son and curse the crown prince? Wouldn’t the connection with the gardener and her overall contentious history with Hong Ju be explained with that? Instead, we got 2ML randomly shoved in as a villain because there had to be some sort of random twist in the past. It’s finally ending next week!

My Lovely Boxer It was a good drama but it never made me feel excited but neither disapointed, it was just good. The last episode ended well but the match and the gambling ring plot lasted too long. The match's result wasn't important, the FL already took her decision, I already knew that they will arrest the gambling ring villain because he was the villain after all. So I would have prefered they focused on the building of a real romance between the leads instead of a weird last scene.

Twinkling Watermelon Present or past, it's the same, the father can't do anything alone... I would have prefered the role was inversed at least in the past.

Destined With You Their past story was beautiful and tragic now I'm ready for 2 episodes of swooning!

The Worst of Evil Those episodes were far more interesting than the beginning. JCW is really good in this role.

CEO-dol Mart The last episode didn't really make sense for me. Like the Food Safety Department acts faster than the Police and comes in the middle of the night... The guy who owns the land can shot down the mall? I need more romance and friendship and less bad guy.

What I'm watching on air:

_ Twinkling Watermelon (4/16). This is a great drama so far. It's a well-balanced comedy, plus teenage love story, a bit of sadness and nostalgia.
Choi Hyun Wook and Ryeoun could end up being one of the best couples this year.

Old shows:

_ Six Flying Dragons (33 out of 50). I'm watching this drama at a snail's pace. I hope I can finish it before 2024 😅.

_ C-drama Le coup de foudre (12 out of 35). It's a slice-of-life in the truest sense of the word. Almost nothing "important" happens, but it's nice. Only for (very) slow shows lovers.

What I have finished:

_ My Lovely Boxer. It won't be one of my favorite dramas, but I don't regret watching it. I know exactly how it could have been more enjoyable for me, but it is what it is.

_ Heartbeat. I always had the intuition I was going to love this drama, but I didn't want to watch it while it was on air. I have binge-watched it now and I have enjoyed A LOT, much more than I thought I would. The first 13 episodes were fabulous, I'm not kidding. It's a shame that the last episodes were a let down (keeping our OTP separated, showing too many cliches, adding filler scenes...). This could have been one of the best rom-coms in Dramaland if it had kept the tone, pace and good writing of the first twelve episodes. At least I have known Woo-hyeol, who now is one of my favorite ML's.

_ Rewatch of Taiwanese drama Someday or One Day. I needed this rewatch, even though I had finished the first one in August. I don't change my mind: it's a masterpiece.

Behind Your Touch: It finished with the OTP being all sparkly together in a way that I wish we'd seen more of during the course of the show. But overall, BYT was fun and deserves credit for making a risky (if not risque) premise work while providing some genuine LOL moments. BYT was probably more enjoyable than it had the right to be, considering how many characters got knifed to death. Someone please cast Han Ji-min and Lee Min-ki in a real romcom, stat.

CEO-dol Mart: The plot has taken the expected back-half turn to the dark side, but in this case I fully expect everyone to survive. The brotherhood of the group members remains the real draw. I'm optimistic that all the guys end up in a better place, even if not all of them stay in the mart business. Their nemesis looks to be someone with a long-standing grudge, perhaps the son of the original mart owner who is resentful of the Thunder Boys for monopolizing his dad's money and attention. Or a bitter relative of their deceased group member who blames them for his death.

Destined With You: Still compelling even though I might have yelled at the TV, I mean Hong-jo, for her decision-making. Glad we now understand why past Shin-yu killed her -- and why Red Hand had seemed so affectionate. Joseon-era Shin-yu and Hong-jo got such a raw deal that I'm rooting for their present selves even more. Waiting for the spell book to return to more prominence in the current timeline.

Parallel World: Anyone who would like to be swept up in a whirlwind of fantasy, romance, adventure and poultry-based comedy should watch this show. It has everything. NiNi plays a heroine whose awesomeness cannot be confined to just a single world. (Hong-jo needs her as a friend/mentor ... just saying.)

Nirvana in Fire 2: Confession -- I fast-forwarded liberally through the scenes of the many scheming antagonists. NIF2 was very good but not quite on the level of the original. I liked the intricate plotting of NIF, where much of the deception was being carried out by the ML strategist in his pursuit of justice. In NIF2, the Chang-lin heroes seemed to be almost constantly on the defensive. Those palace politics! But the family storyline was touching, and the ending was more sweet than bitter.

"7Escape": I'm still watching this.... that's it.
"MyDearest" S1: finished it & really liked it, ep 1-3 aren't really good so if anyone wants to start this, you should give it a chance of at least 4 eps it will bloom from ep4 onward. Trust me!
Characters are great...Noone is completely wise or good in this drama but I loved them all with their strength and wickness
Can't wait for S2.
"The Worst Evil": it was better than I thought. Reminds me of "cruel city" but it's not a copy. I like it so far, please stay good! So invested in the characters.
BTW why there are so many dramas with similar names worse than evil, the worst evil,....
"Little women" : (till ep4)
Started it to watch uhm kijoon & wie hajoon in another drama, but I fell in love with Kim goeun again, her acting is really my style and she is obviously better than all the actresses and most of the actors, even wie hajoon is looking a little stiff compared to her acting imo
Wow I watched a lotttt this week!
Wanted to start "destined with you" or "behind your touch" or "twinkling watermelon" but I don't think I can have more than 1 light, fun drama or rom_com in my schedule so I think I will just reserve this seat for " a good day to be a dog" if it didn't work I'll go back to 1 of above.

I'm live watching 3 dramas for the first time in AGES! Twinkling Watermelon, Worst of Evil and Kidnapping Day. The latter two somehow have me rooting for bromances between the MLs and seriously deadly assassins who may very will kill them (attempts have already been made in one of those shows).

BEHIND YOUR TOUCH: It landed. Nice ending. Sure, there were plot holes but overall, it was silly, absurd, and funny. I enjoyed it. I will rewatch it when I am in the mood for something ridiculous.

LEGEND OF FUYAO: Episode 50- 52. I am getting a little annoyed with the way Yalan Zhu’s character is written. She was such a feisty girl and now all she does is weep. I suppose the writers wanted to show character growth- from a silly girl to a mature woman- but did they have to make her so weepy? At least Zhan Beiye realizes he loves her. Maybe now we can return to the feisty girl? Anyway, Zhan Beiye is now the King of Heavenly Fiend.
Finally, Qi Zhen dies. But not before trying to get his hand on Deep Water throne one last time. Alas, he was thwarted by his daughter who did not care for such power.

MY LOVELY BOXER: Gem of a drama.

TWINKLING WATERMELON: In for Choi Hyun-Wook and the story, of course. I think rather than changing the future, the story will revolve around Eun-Gyeol gaining a deeper appreciation of his parents. At least I hope so. Changing the future does not make much sense, in my opinion. But we will see.

A KIDNAPPING DAY: Only one episode this week! I loved how Ro-Hee has put together a team, roping in diverse people. As I suspected, the experimentation to create a genius child was started by Chairman Choi and carried forward by Professor Choi. Ugh! Hye-Eun is playing a deep game. I am sure she is connected to the murders.

LIVE YOUR LIFE: Am enjoying the drama. I hope it stays good.

These past two weeks have been a lot. Got a kidney bacterial infection which spread to my blood. I’m okay now and on the plus side I’m grateful for living in a country with universal healthcare, and having good nurses and doctors taking care of me. That said, I have only one wish, and that’s not to be hospitalised for at least the rest of this year.

My Wife's Having an Affair this Week (Rewatch Ep. 2-12)
I generally don’t watch anything when I’m sick, for one I can’t concentrate but anytime I consume some media when I’m unwell I’ll always remember it negatively.

Anyway I was feeling better these last few days and managed to watch all of My Wife's Having an Affair this Week. Interesting exploration of relationships, the different perspectives and the pressure put on mothers to be perfect. My favourite couple was obviously PD Ahn Joon-young and Writer Kwon Bo-young. Loved those two!

Having seen Kim Hee-won as the caring teacher in MOVING and then watching him play a creepy sleazy cheater was 😬
Honestly I didn’t like his character and didn’t understand why his plot was even included in the drama. It served no purpose and the comedy just fell flat because he was such a vile obnoxious man

Otherwise I enjoyed it. Now I’m desperately waiting for CASTAWAY DIVA

DESTINED WITH YOU: I loved the abbreviated, yet still epic sageuk we got this week; it wasted no time and got right to the delicious angst, put me through the emotional ringer, and then resolved in a satisfying if heartbreaking way. There's something so watchable about this drama in either timeline. It may be the charm of the leads, it could be the crisp direction, or maybe it's all the swoony hugs (I do feel for Rowoon's back though). But whatever it is, DWY is one of the few dramas I've seen in a while that feels like sinking into a comfy chair. Or maybe I'm so overworked lately that my standards are super low. Don't care. I'm just happy this drama exists and will be sad to see it go.

MY LOVELY BOXER: Unpopular opinion: I didn't find the depictions of these women boxing to be at all unrealistic. Sure, this isn't a sport I've watched much or care about, but they established that these women were part of the lowest weight class and there were endless scenes of them training and sparring in believable (enough) ways. Besides, as we can see across many sports, tiny, skinny, lanky women can be extremely athletic. The final fight felt real and earned to me--a match-up between two equally talented foes with tremendous respect for each other. The drama as a whole was extremely well done and obviously written, acted, and directed with great care and respect for all the characters and relationships it showcased. Definitely will be in my Top Five of the year.

WORST OF EVIL: This got better, largely because it's now focusing on relationships rather than the pretty standard Donnie Brasco-lite plot. To that end, the gangster story is nothing you haven't seen before; it has all the common and predictable themes of brotherhood, alienation, community, violence, and masculinity that you'd expect. The only main difference between WOE and most of stories of its ilk is that smoking stands in for the sex. Of course, what makes it at least somewhat unique and watchable is the story of a marriage at the center of it. I still wish we'd spent more time in the first two episodes with the main couple in their married life, but even without that, the scenes at the funeral were incredibly impactful. The pained looks between these two! Junmo breaking down and bowing to his mother-in-law! His drunken voice mail to his grieving wife! It's all very angsty and I thought JCW was excellent, although his tick of rubbing his head when upset is such a tell that he probably should tone it down for the sake of his character's undercover status. There are many unbelievable moments here (including, but not limited to the fact that Junmo frequently has been able to make phone calls or visit with his superiors without being followed or overheard; there's also the fact that he absolutely would have been spotted by a relative at that funeral, and even in the days of no Google, I feel like there would be enough of a paper and photo trail of the real Junmo to blow this...

Finished
An incurable case of love
Cute love story, but I wasnt a big fan of the FL being so completely subservient. The ML had this perpetual disgusted look on his face, even while kissing the FL(lol), while the FL was all moony and heart-eyes.

Stand By Me(cdrama)
It dragged after episode 10 or so. Dropped at episode 20. I can watch a healthy mix of bad luck and resurgence, but with this drama, it feels like an unreleting march of terrible things fueled by bone-headed behavior exacerbating said terrible things that depresses me. The inordinate amount of time spent reflecting on life, etc just drained me.

Continuing
Live your Own Life
Interesting for now. We have a long way to go

CEO-dol Mart
Cute story with adorable actors. Hoping it doesnt get dark.

Starting

South Wind Knows
I have so little to watch right now that I picked this up. Very early stages, so not sure how this will turn out

Twinkling Watermelon: This is a delight. I know Jin Soo Wan's particular combination of quirky humor, magical realism and serious themes doesn't work for everyone, but it's a personal favorite of mine.

Tsuiraku JK to Haijin Kyoshi: This might be the most J-drama-y J-drama I've watched. It not only ventures into problematic territory, it pitches a tent there, raises a giant red flag out front and scatter some land mines around for good measure. It also "mostly" works, thanks to two compelling leads, a knowing, snarky sense of humor, and clear-eyed understanding of the nuances of suicidal ideation. I do wish that it had been equally clear-eyed though about the different boundaries and responsibilities of protective, parental love vs. romantic love. While desire can certainly sneak into the former, the show didn't really grapple with the bigger issues of acting on or declaring that desire, especially in a society like Japan that has a long, problematic history of sexualizing teenagers.

I look forward to these two the most so I'll start with Twinkling Watermelon & The Kidnapping Day.

Twinkling Watermelon. I'm liking pretty much everything about it including the mysterious aspect of how Dad lost his hearing and how he ended up with Mom. How did Mom break from her family (cause I'm fairly certain they would've disapproved of her dating and if she was allowed to date, I think they would've chosen her partner regardless of her thoughts and feelings about the guy; i.e. I don't think Yi Chan would've made the cut). I *really* don't know how this is gonna go but I'm wondering if Eun Gyeol is gonna end Se Kyung's first love. That is weird since we, the audience, knows about the timey wimey mechanics (and Eun Gyeol knows her as an Ajumma) but since Eun Gyeol is apparently one of the people who's gonna impact her life, I'm wondering in which ways he does it. Then again maybe Yi Chan is the first love Ajumma mentioned (or possibly the guy she's supposed to be paired with according to the parents). It's all part of the mystery haha. Though I like the stuff in 1995 (so far), I am missing the parents and the signing so I'm grateful that there may be more flashbacks in future episodes. I think this drama is gonna make me cry haha.

The Kidnapping Day. It was disappointing that one of the episodes was preempted but I continue to like the story and the found family aspect (if it can be called that) between Ro Hee & Myeong Jun. The story is just interesting and I think the performances are entertaining.

The Worst of Evil. I'm really not into this and I honestly watched this week's episodes because The Kidnapping Day wasn't available. One of my biggest issues is I just hate the love triangle. There's is already enough danger and violence in this world but of course, a woman must be added. And how I can already see Ji Chang Wook's character getting screwed over somehow by the higher ups because ALL they care about is this case. I've seen some undercover cop movies and I truly don't know how people can do it. It takes a STRONG sense of justice to get into that world. When the character's motivation of getting a higher rank seems so small and argubly lame compared to the danger he faces and the efforts he's putting in. I don't really care for the show but I don't think people will talk about it enough for me to know what happens so yeah...
I'm curious to know how we got to that opening scene.

Sidenote: New World is a good movie about an undercover cop starring Lee Jung Jae.

I watched the movie Emergency Declaration and 2 things came to mind. 1) I didn't know Im Si Wan played bad guys (aside from Unlocked which I think is a Netflix movie). He really does have a face and demeanor that can do the creepy and threatening vibes as well as the unassuming and gentle, "he should be protected" vibe (such as in Miseang & Summer Strike). I don't know if he has much variety in his...

Even after skipping the last week completely I still didn't have much time or energy for dramas, so there's only two shows to talk about today.

DESTINED WITH YOU: I belong to the "loved it" camp when it comes to Joseon era flashbacks - story was short, but great, acting delivered (blood-shot JBA in a threatening mode was epic, girl really gives her top acting when she acts crazy/evil) and there was a surprising lack of dumb moves from anyone. Wow, imagine a past life backstory from a fantasy romance kdrama that doesn't make you feel like pulling out all your hair in facepalmed frustration! Now if only the modern era OTP could also be like that *sigh* But baby steps, I get it. At least one huge issue was resolved (it was, right? don't play with my heart here!) so we can finally relax a little. Would've prefer to be already done away with creepy gardener as well so the final week could focus solely on happy romance tho, we've been teased too much and got very little in return so far. You can do better, show, give us our well-deserved HE and fanservice!

ALLEY CAT AND SPLIT PERSONALITY WINGED GUYTIGER AND CRANE: Lmao, this is SO typical shounen action manga, but made into a cdrama! Makes sense as it's apparently based on a webtoon. Due to that it has all the cons and pros of the genre - it's fun but silly, fast-paced but often lacks depth, there are many themes and subplots to explore but a drama format leaves not a lot room to explore all of them properly (not to mention TONS of characters) and so on. Budget is middle to low tier, but used efficiently, so as long as you don't expect top-tier CGI or dream-like costumes/props/choreo it's fine. It does feel quite childish - not just at times, ALL THE TIME, but works very well for those in the mood for a campy no-brainer. There is adventure, friendship, battles, competition, mystery, little to no romance (heard source material had a love triangle between leads... seems like drama was smart enough to get rid of that). Low standards for all aspects are the key to enjoy it if you like the genre like I do. And HIGH tolerance for annoying characters for there are MANY of them here.

ML is very cute, tho he still has a long way to go to call himself a real tiger, demonic tail or not. Battered alley cat is more appropriate so far lol, you can really feel those feline street smart vibes. ZLH as a messed up in the head crane tho... Look, I like the guy, but why he keeps being cast into roles that fit him as good as boots 5 sizes smaller? Cranes are THE epitome of fluidity, elegance and grace, esp in martial arts, and he has zero athletic or dance background to sell that image. Endless legs and white robes alone are not enough! Plus cold and stoic doesn't work well with his acting limitations either - he looks like he's trying SO HARD to frown away all the human emotions from his face most of the time, poor thing, someone pls give him a forehead massage before he develops wrinkles...

*DESTINED WITH YOU* : This week had me struggling to enjoy because I wasnt a fan of the angst and the noble idiocy. Also had me realizing there really wasn't much depth to their relationship in the present timeline to warrant this angst level. Hoping for the return of cute and hilarity (what this drama does best) next week!

*TWINKLING WATERMELON* : Enjoying this one quite a lot! Eun Gyeol did take some time settling in but I like the way its shaping up and hope the heartfelt moments continue to deliver. Choi Hyun Wook is really great at natural goofy hilarity intermixed with a bleeding sincere heart.

*BEHIND YOU TOUCH* : Completed! Had a lot of fun watching this drama so I dont berate its ending too much, even though it seemed a little anti-climatic and the last episodes had a lot more plot holes and logical jumps. It shined its best in odd humour and sincere relationships, though it could've been written better. Especially the character of seon woo, because while what happened surprised me I also realised I'd never connected with this character much to care the way show wanted me to care. The writing always had him being nice or secretive with an air of mystery at all times that I too suspected him till the very end; it didnt do much else to delve into him. Also wish the show had capitalized more on the Lee Min ki Han Ji Min chemistry and given them a better progression.
It was still an enjoyable watch for the most part though the ending was lackluster.

*DANCE SPORT GIRLS* : Was a beanie rec for sports dramas and so glad I checked this one out! Halfway through and it has so much heart it bleeds from the sides and makes me tear up every now and then but the journey is so captivating and realistic I cant bear to look away. Not a fan of its filter though and wish it hadn't been there.

*ITS OKAY, THATS LOVE* : Rewatch for more Jo In Sung after Moving ended. Still a great drama, still made me sob over Jo In Sung bidding farewell to D.O and still think the OST is a tad too bright and repetitive sometimes.

Can't wait for My Dearest to come back next week!

Behind Your Touch: I'm so happy that I watched it and while I think it wobbled a bit as we got to the climax, it nevertheless left me with a goofy grin on my face. I think I'm starting to enjoy romance-lite dramas and ending it on a budding romance. No need to worry about relationship drama involving terrible family members, disease, status, noble idiocy, etc.

Twinkling Watermelon: Caught up! Utterly charming! I do find our time-travelling male lead irritating sometimes, but Choi Hyun-wook as Ha Yi-chan is seriously sparkling...or twinkling

Destined with You: Getting increasingly less invested. Not sure if it's the writing or me just not vibing with the drama much anymore, but I'm getting muddled. And sad since the initial weeks were fun. I'm am interested to see its resolution and there are 2 more episodes. I sort of wish there would be a reincarnation drama where the otp were truly deadly enemies in their past lives.

Live Your Own Life: Watching it to get a dose of Ha-Jun and Uee. At this point in a weekender, there are more frustrating characters than not. Looking forward to FL's brothers finally figuring their crap out. And will enjoy it when the badass grandma destroys her evil daughter-in-law.

Parallel World. Cdrama. Up to episode 36. Breathtaking thriller, suspense, and romance, especially the past 2 episodes. The leads started off an loners and now they have a whole makeshift family, including some incredible chickens.

Joy of Life Cdrama. Partway through episode 31. I appreciate how the villains and even those on the villain spectrum have logical reasons for doing what they do. And Fan Xian always surprises me.

Fake it until you make it (up to ep 7): I like how this drama allows itself to present characters that appear to be shallow (or maybe they are shallow in most respects), but have other sides to them. Everyone's got their shortcomings. The part where the deal fell through was really hard to take. Love the conversations.