Doctor Slump apparently all I needed to help get out of my drama slump was a good dose of Park Hyung-sik! I’m enjoying this so far, without expecting too much from it. Very much a relaxing, casual watch - just what the doctor ordered (hehe).

One Day I haven’t read the book (it’s on my list yes) but I have watched the movie adaptation with Anne Hathaway & can confidently say that this seems to be the better version. Ambika and Leo are so charming as Emma and Dex, and I really like watching the two grow, grapple with what the world throws at them and stumble their way through lessons in love (and life). I’m wholeheartedly to every moment of what’s happening on screen, despite knowing everything (ifykyk 👀). I might actually save the second half of the show to watch on Valentines day though because that would be fitting now given that my friend, with whom I was going to go on a ’screw Valentines, go galentines’ dinner-date, has now got an actual date (cute, good for her!) and I’m very much in the mood to play up the sad, single gal pity party vibes (this is after all how romcoms start right? I lose all hope in love and then Prince Charming will come and sweep me off my feet yes? I’m flexible, he doesn’t have to be a prince, I’m fine with third generation chaebol son too!😂)

Percy Jackson & The Olympians I’m only two episodes in and wow yeah everyone wasn’t kidding, this really does feel like the books came to life! Impressed more than anything else with the casting (and by extension the script & the actors execution of said script) - the main trio really ARE Percy, Annabeth and Grover. I low-key am jealous of all the primary school kids who get to read the books and grow up with this show now, it feels like it’ll be to them what Harry Potter was to me growing up.

Live watches:

Queen of divorce
So we see the cartoon capers in the chase scenes, the nothing is too low for me to go there ex husband value base, and the realistic response to an establishment having a chase scene of destruction😆. Is anyone else thinking the new Team manager is a double agent or am I on my own?

Dr Slump
This is my happy place on the weekend. Let the pointless Netflix refresh begin three hours too early.

Between him and her
Three months before they have a face to face and that was a chance meeting. Just as aside when being sent to get coffee yes read the room and go, but shouldn’t the first response be what would you like?

Two single friends go on mission to find a date; despite being single for years, somehow their dress sense and ability to communicate with strangers of the opposite sex was left at home. Comedy not working score 10/10

Bingewatch corner:
Misaeng: Incomplete Life
Absolutely loving this 2014 office based drama. I am rooting for Sales Team 3 to survive their many challenges. Once we get through the first couple of episodes showcasing the horrific levels of bullying directed at our male lead we start to see life for the members of this company’s different departments. The interns all face significant challenges with their team members all forgetting how mentoring works and disrespecting them in different ways at points in the story. One of the interns is a proper gossip, I assume we are supposed to see him as annoying but well meaning, however he is just annoying to me. The usual work place drama with the normalising of sexism, status, office politics at play but some appropriate insights in to the actual work of trading globally, work friendships and growing into the role.

Excellent acting by some veterans actors we can see in other character based dramas like On the verge of insanity. The Office roof top also has a staring role as the staff spend a lot of time thinking and holding discrete talks up there.

The Producers
Still enjoying my bitesized watches.

Webtoon corner:
Second lead syndrome still loving this Webtoon. Finally seeing the evidence for my suspicions being played out☺️

Book club:

All the light we can not see - Anthony Doerr

The Mermaid of Jeju - Sumi Hahn
This quarters DB bookclub read.

LIVE WATCHES
Between Him and Her
Didn't watch.
Dr. Slump
Haven't watched.
FxC
Not on to watch.
Marry My Husband
Didn't watch. Honest question: Should I watch??
Queen of Divorce
Totally watched, and you should too. Yeah, it's a bit like EAW...but with more Kang Ki-young.

Happy Lunar New Year, Beanies 🎆🐉🎆!

ONGOING
Queen of Divorce - Hanging in there for Kang Ki-young though the Sa-Gi couple thing was cute. The way they go back-and-forth between jondaemal and banmal is a nice touch. The ex-in-laws' evilness is way overdone.

The Chaebol-Cop Show - Enjoying it if I don't think too deeply about the TV-cop-ness of it all. Was that a Revenant callback in the rat scene 🤣?

Knight Flower - My favourite on-air show right now. The writing is doing a great job - fleshing out and making us care for the not-husband in just a few scenes.

Sejak - The plot continues to be interesting but there's a giant gap in performance and energy. It feels like the King is dialed up to 100 and the FL is dialed down to 20. The difference in sageuk-speak between actors is also distracting.

Doctor Slump - Very old-school with the dressed-up slo-mo and the trip-and-falls but it's working on me. I find myself smiling whenever the leads are together.

WATCHLIST
A Killer Paradox, if I manage to squeeze out the time 😅.

C-DRAMAS
Binged Oh No! Here Comes Trouble. Three cheers for another great Beanie rec. Equal parts funny and moving 👍.

Completed Stories of Youth and Love with generous fast-forwarding. Even though I knew where we were headed, the dark turn was much too depressing for my mood right now.

Still watching Amidst a Snowstorm of Love (up to Ep. 10) - The surprise support from the cousin was funny. The OTP is very squishable.

Started Judge Dee's Mystery (up to Ep. 4) - Fairly straight-forward investigative show so far.

Also started Always on the Move (up to Ep. 2) - It is based in a period of China's history that I find really interesting. It's like a mix of The Youth Memories and Ordinary Greatness so far.

Live Your Own Life
Wow, a reveal I didn’t expect AT ALL!!!
So… who is whose father???

Slump
There are things I don't like much and one of them is the excessive drinking WHILE there is depression diagnosis flying around together with taking medication (and with two doctors involved). But I'm staying for the growing friendship between the leads... and for Yoon Park. That blind date was H*I*L*A*R*I*O*U*S!! 😂
And... omg... uri dorky doctor has a daughter! 😍
Also, I'm not surprised that Jungwoo is falling for Haneul - there is finally someone who absolutely believes in him and supports him.

Queen of Divorce
I'm not too enthusiastic about the cases (and the Spy Girl is unbelievable (in all aspects) and meh), but I like the team... and looove Kang Kiyoung 😍 and Kim Sunyoung.

Marry My Husband
I think I'm one of few people who really liked Jihyuk and his introverted love for Jiwon (and this is the first time I absolutely love Na Inwoo, in all his micro-expressions). I was there for Jihyuk's connection and friendship with Jiwon, I liked their talks (and silences), how they evolved together, supported each other and how Jihyuk finally opened up to the possibility to LIVE his life, however short it could be. And then this week came and everything crashed. I don't want cartoonish Yura (or some random shopping with Moocher Mom). I don't want some stupid makjang. I want back the talks, the silences, the nuances... I expected Jihyuk discussing his fears, I expected Jiwon realising that Fate is a Bi@tch and having some crisis about that... and then learning that she, Jiwon, is NOT responsible... that she should learn living her life, fully, confidently... but... instead we got... oh well. At least Seokjoon was still awesome and I hope he will kick that scumbag cheater to the Moon (or farther).
I'm also still hoping for the romance of Heeyeon and the Chef.

Chaebol playing a Cop
After the huge disappointment of MMH this week, this is my current favourite show. I enjoy all the comedy (and the show doesn't pretend to be anything more) and that Chaebol Chaos at the police station was hilarious, no wonder our Fan Boy Cop was eating popcorn. 😄
I'm still liking the butler... and still hoping that Hyung will keep being hyung till the very end.

LIVE YOUR OWN LIFE (Ep 38-39) Loyal viewers were run over by the writer’s truck of writing doom. The bombshell ending from Grandma is pure makjang: a stylistic, tonal, or narrative element in dramas that chooses to play up outrageous story lines to keep viewers hooked despite how ridiculous the stories become (LYOL is now trending towards most or all those elements: adultery, revenge, birth secrets, fatal illnesses, etc.). Let the rampant speculation begin.

CAPTIVATING THE KING (Ep. 3-4) After reading that these episodes had some action, I reluctantly hit play. Episode 3 continued the slow turn of the competing interests in the palace coup, but the diplomatic overreaction and minister’s torturous plan to get the Grand Prince fell flat. Episode 4’s plot surge was not thrilling or awe inspiring, including the new King’s new persona or the lady’s betrayal curse before the 3-year time skip. The story skips away from the the chaos of the ascension politics and Qing/Ming strife to just a lonely man playing baduk.

There was more action this week in the local media criticizing Shin Se-Kyung for being “too pretty.” Not that she was a bad actress or unsuitable for her role (though the director and staff did nothing to change her appearance into a man) but just for being “too pretty.” I guess that must be derogatory troll but I don’t get it. I also don’t get continuing to watch this series. Dropped.

BADLAND HUNTERS (2024): Korean filmmakers know how to make dystopian sets but the end-of-the-world hero story telling is formatted towards old American Western action films. There is always the bad guy with the resources who wants more and the humble regular folk trying to survive harsh conditions. In this world, the science villain has an obsession to save his daughter by creating a new evolutionary human by experimenting on the disaster survivors. It gives a clear but reckless motivation for him and an insight for the viewers. It is billed as the sequel to CONCRETE UTOPIA but I have not seen that movie to tell. Ma Dong Seok plays the larger than life hero that makes him the number one film star in Korea. He pounds through the movie like a raging bison. Roh Jeong Eui continues her fine work as a street smart teen captured by the villain. Ahn Ji Hye plays a combat soldier turned Team Hero. I am not familiar with her prior work, but she is good in the action sequences as she was a college gymnastics major. It is simple and direct story path with good action. Above average movie for its genre.

FINAL FANTASY THE SPIRITS WITHIN (2001) When this movie first came out, it freaked out the audiences on the CGI being a “too realistic” render of humans. Looking back from today’s technology, it seems fairly primitive. The story was thin, but it was all about showcasing computer technology from a video game adaptation. It did foretell what Apple calls today “spatial computing.”

Flex x Cop: 6.5 How to tell you are watching a kdrama, #8127 -- when someone says to not let the ML live in his childhood home because he might regain his memories. Sigh. Nothing this weekend. Double-sigh. Sporting event or did they just need time to come up with some less-stale plot gimmicks?

Knight Flower: 8.0

Captivating the King: 6.5 FOUR episodes this weekend!? What's happening? Is there some antimatter sporting event? Is this the anit-Flex? The king was acting like the kind of jerk I don't enjoy watching for a while, but I stayed knowing that the laws of Kdramaland would bring him around.

Dr. Slump: 6.5 Speaking of jerks I don't enjoy watching -- the ML when he's being full of himself.

Goryeo Kitan War: 6.1

Love Song for Illusion: 6.0

Branding in Seongsu: 4.0 Out partway thru ep 2. Just as bad as @DaebakGrits said in her "First Impressions", which might as well also be the last impression.

A Shop for Killers: 8.5 Good show even if it didn't quite live up to the promise of the first 9 1/2 minutes. The ending was trying to be surprising and dramatic but came off as just kdrama. At least it didn't feel like they were plotting a sequel.
Kim Hye-jun came thru again. I'm not a great judge of acting talent but after shows like Inspector Koo, Kingdom and Chip In, I think we can at least say that she has a knack for picking good scripts and landing juicy roles.

Queen of Divorce: 7.5 😲🤣 The latest innovation in hospital equipment! A f**king ramp on the rooftop for pitching jerks in wheelchairs over the edge!! What's next? A diving board on the high school roof so jumpers can go in style while judgemental knetz judge their form!?

Killer Paradox: 6.0 (Just ep 1) OK-ish concept, but not a fan of the implementation.

Marry My Husband: __ After reading user comments on ep 11/12, I'm feeling pretty smug about having dropped on episode 1. There were signs that the writer is either a no-talent hack or at least likes things that I hate.

Starting:
Hwarang, Inspector Royal and Joy, Mad Dog, … I am just not really caught up in any of these.
Watching Continued:
Doctor Slump: Who doesn’t get giddy for Honey-sik? Which is too simply put, it’s just a great show. There's even a plot! But just the hard work, misfortune, depression, shame and love would be plenty reason to watch this.
Knight Flower: I have been rewatching the episodes that ar out by now over these last two weeks, because there’s too little of this caliber. And also, to better get the plot and stuff. Yayh for this show!
I wish one of these two shows ran during the week.
Finished:
My Magic Closet: I started this, and weren’t enchanted, to put it mildly. You can read all about it on my wall, https://www.dramabeans.com/activity/p/1531817/ … And the preposterous claim that a Brazilian girl would need to go to Korea to find a way to liven up her dance! I mean HAHAHAHAH talk about carrying coal to Newcastle (In Danish, crossing the stream to fetch water). Though of course, it is São Paulo, not Salvador da Bahia. Anyways, even the school bullies were kind of fun, they were, like, upbeat and just wanted to force the girl to be their K-friend for prestige. (Pretty pestering).
And there was a boy-meets-boy love-at-first-sight meet-cute that I haven’t seen so sweet since the bi meet-cute at the end of Doom, and also, her best friend had that sweet, hoarse Brazilian voice that if you don’t know, you should definitely see some of her scenes just to hear that. (Oh, and there is homophobia in Brazil, too, if anyone should doubt, check out their former *&#%@& of a president).
So uhm … I finished this show, too. While sewing that famous tulle skirt I have been blabbering about to anyone who cared reading.
If any Beanie in Europe happens to find out their closet opens to Brazil please. Please invite me to a sleepover, I promise to not occupy your bed. And I won’t tell anyone about that closet.
Rewatched: I didn’t rewatch but in my mind I went back and revisited the trauma that was Strong Girl Nam-soon, as part of the fantastic discussion taking place on the Fan Wall of @cozybook . That discussion is a great and heartwarming read, and also a great write, if you want to share.
Non K-drama: The Dragon Prince, A show about School Teachers that just touches on so many strings; also, it has that embarrassment element that I can feel they just don't use as much in Korean comedy? , which is a great relief for me. It's my daughters who decided what to watch there and I don't remember the name of the show. It's pretty good, but also toe-curling, in that original meaning where you try to curl your whole body into a knot because it's so embarrassing. We finished rewatching Hilda, and I have been re-hearing Brooklyn 99 because one of my daughters have been re-watching it...

A Shop for Killers (Series review) - Mood progression: C / C- / D / D-
That’s probably one of the worst open endings I’ve ever watched: it’s like you’ve only finished reading the free chapters in a book despite buying the paid version and realising belatedly that there’re no paid chapters? Even if there’s a 2nd season, it still doesn’t dismiss the fact that the whole show was spent setting up a psychopath’s revenge which simply didn’t happen.

Marry My Husband (Episode 11-12) - Mood: D
Ah, the dreaded third-quarter conflict has entered the drama. That’s surely a nail in the coffin for any chance of the writing being even mediocre: now it’s just straight up trashy, as the introduction of the ex-gf demonstrates desperation in dragging out duplicity for all the drama. Also, that is a pathetic excuse for a forced breakup trope: breakups could be one-sided, no?

Knight Flower (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D+
If we extrapolate from Pil Jik’s inability to kill Soo Ho 15 years ago, Yeo Hwa’s brother might very well still be alive currently, even if we just watched him getting fatally stabbed. It’s crazy that the Left State Councillor allowed the son to leave and go unscathed given his political ambitions but I have to wonder why he’s back in his hometown when he swore never to return.

Doctor Slump (Episode 3-4) - Mood: D+
You see, it was easier to pretend that Jeong Woo’s surgery solely existed as part of a stupid setup to get the OTP to reunite again, but things just got unnecessarily complicated with Kyung Min in the picture. And this isn’t the first time that Yoon Park is acting a leading character that’s only tangentially related to the main narrative: he’s better than comedic relief.

Flex X Cop (Episode 3-4) - Mood: D+
Didn’t Gang Hyun tell Yi Soo to inform her first if he had discovered any leads? But perhaps this dude in distress situation is supposed to claw out some repressed memories with the head injury? I was bemused when of course she lives right next to his childhood home (the coincidence!) and he’s already had a run-in with her mom. I hope we’re not getting a love triangle?

Branding in Seongsu (Episode 1-4) - Mood: D
Sure, the kiss is nice to look at, but where’s the narrative build-up? It’s like the writer knew that the setup was so bad that a bait was required to keep viewers watching. But seriously the story is cliche, the setting is irrelevant, the characterisation is horrible and the fantasy feels like a plot device for cheap drama. I guess I’m interested in seeing the acting but that’s meta.

Whilst enjoying my Mr. Queen rewatch. I'm currently watching episode 2, I'm watching...

Captivating the King - Oof! This is electrifying. Episode 7 flew by so fast I didn't notice.
The callback to mongwoo (the rain) has me wondering how Hee-soo will see through her revenge plan if she's still affected by the rain and reminiscing about the day she got that name.

Live Your Own Life - Hyo-shim's mom was better off remaining on the annoying side. She limping between both sides now is just something else.
She freaking asked Hyo-shim to bring Tae-ho home and she acted like that to him because of Hyo-jun's drama. She could have comported herself and kept the visit short. Or she calls Hyo-shim to reschedule. I don't understand. Is her emotions on steroids that she couldn't keep herself together for a moment in Hyo-shim's life.
Poor Tae-ho is just receiving her bad end twice in a row now. Will the third time be a charm or a pattern?
Finally we get a flashback to the beginning of the Dalwang pass incident. What if all of this was a misunderstanding all along? And there was a third person in all this. That's if Vader Mom Jang maintained her emotions when Jin-bum got into that car. There is also Mr. Yeom's statement to Tae-min that their Grandma began all of this drama, so I can't even make any conclusions except to wait and see how things play out.
That birth mystery though. That was a literal bomb. I don't know how that is going to play out but I don't think Tae-min is the only person who needs to hear that. I don't want him to become a sacrificial lamb a second time.
No Soo-kyung again this week. A pregnant Mirim assisting Hyo-jun with his bar exams.

Marry My Husband - I miss Min-hwan and Soo-min this week.
I perfectly understand the introduction of Yu-ra this late in the story. But I do not understand Ji-won's reaction to her introduction. And Ji-hyuk breaking the building tension between he and Ji-won pissed me off too much it was so insulting.
Back to Yu-ra. She said so herself. She is greedy enough to want to take this version of Ji-hyuk for herself. While I liked how Ji-won put her in her place at the lunch table, I so much disliked how she reacted the first time.
I don't like how they are transferring Ji-won's troubles on Joo-ran, she already has enough on her plate. Soo-min is doing a good job already. The troubles they added to Joo-ran's plate better lead to a divorce.

Knight Flower - I like the son of the Seok family. And I always knew Lord Seok married Yeon-hwa into his family after his son's 'death' as punishment to her brother. Too many dramatic sagueks on my belt for telling that from a distance.
The ending scene with each person drawing a sword at the other's throats was spot on excellent. Nobody's gonna die but I liked the setup for the incoming conversation.

Amazing Troubleshooters - This drama is messy. And it is not even the good kind if I'm to...

Live Watches
Doctor Slump: It just keeps getting better. I’m excited for the slowly developing romance and the leads becoming better friends. I’m excited to learn more about what they each went through in high school and explore more of their family dynamics. I’m excited for Jeong-u to get a couple of real friends on his team and for our second leads to be thrown together again. I’m just excited for whatever ep 5 has in store later today!

Older Dramas
Coffee Prince: (13 episodes in) I love Gong Yoo-s angst at falling in love with a (supposed) guy, but I wish that it manifested in some other way than constantly telling Eun-chan that she is fired. At one point, I started an episode and legitimately didn’t remember if I had already watched it because they were going through the whole firing and re-hiring process for what felt like the 14th time. If I took a shot for every time that happened, I would have bad drinking habits to match most kdrama characters! Then I got to the end of episode 10 and completely forgave the show for anything it had done to annoy me up to that point. The confession and kiss were world class, and Gong Yoo being giddy and happy afterward was perfect. I also loved the heartbreak that immediately followed and was happy it didn’t overstay its welcome. Our second couple absolutely feels like they have spent ⅓ of their lives together, and it makes their fights so ugly and their conversations so beautiful. There is legitimately no character I don’t want a happy ending for, so I hope this drama delivers!

Loving DR SLUMP, so, SO much. Ha! 😂 This just ticks all the boxes for me. Cannot wait to continue tonight & tomorrow.

KNIGHT FLOWER is still my struggle-yet-delight watch. Maybe it’s just a sign of how good this show actually is? All the feelings, all at once.

Picked up TWENTY ONE/TWENTY FIVE as a rewatch on the week days. Oh, and it’s as good as I remember: the 90s vibes (clothes, music - that first outro?!?! AWESOME! 👏, make up), the heartwarming coming of age storyline. Oh to be young again! 🤔 Actually, big nope: I wouldn’t want to go to school again for the life of me, but you get the gist. All the characters are very relatable and endearing at points, it’s beautifully told, so real fun to watch. No fast forwarding with this one!

Knight Flower: Thank goodness for communication in Ep. 9! I didn't expect that level of openness and sharing of information among the protagonists but am not complaining one bit. With only three episodes left, there's no time to waste. Every sageuk needs a schemer, but the Left State Minister's motives feel underdeveloped at this point. I guess he's just the stock bad guy. What's fun and more unusual is the number of relationships to root for, both romances and friendships.

Shop for Killers: What a ride! Violent revenge is not usually my genre, but this surpassed the typical fare. The first four episodes were masterful. Even if the last four didn't match those heights, the relationships established in the beginning four gave them emotional heft. Wouldn’t mind a second season as Uncle and Jian are in need of a conversation or two, and Babylon (and maybe Bale?) must be dealt with. At least we didn't get stuck with a cliffhanger.

Flex x Cop: I liked this past week’s episodes so much more than the opening pair. Yi-soo has really grown on me because we’ve seen the loneliness and vulnerability beneath his flashy exterior. He’s putting in the work, too -- no more video games in the office -- and it’s clear he wants to be accepted by the rest of the team.

Queen of Divorce: A bit unclear on the tone — makjang revenge action comedy with world’s worst ex-MIL? You’d think a firm that makes enemies of the rich and powerful might have a more robust background check for new employees. I’ll be annoyed if the spy remains undetected for long. Will give it one more week.

Amidst a Snowstorm of Love: This is my current obsession. Clunky title aside, Wu Lei and Zhao Jing Mai are absolute fire together. The emotional intimacy in their scenes is so intense I almost feel like a voyeur. Love the way the pacing allows the show to breathe. Some might find shots of the leads brushing their teeth or traveling by metro boring or uneventful, but to me that’s what makes them seem like real people living real lives and falling in real love. I enjoy a fluffy romcom as much as the next semi-jaded romantic, but this drama hits deeper. It’s all about the feels.

My Boss: Enter the jealous female villain, a plot development that hopefully won't drag on too long. The show is still far better than most workplace romcoms thanks to the actors and inversion of tropes. For instance, both dads asked their respective children to go to a dinner to save face in front of a big-talking old school rival. In a different show, this would have led to blind date jealousy and misunderstandings. But in this show, the dads turned out to be each other’s rivals, and the ML's formidorable mom used the opportunity to lovingly shove a jade bracelet on the FL's wrist.

I Am Nobody: Finished, and gosh, that was satisfying. Just like its hero, the show was simultaneously silly and deep and dared to walk its own path. It was...

Marry My husband: I am contemplating a drop. Episode 11-12 were so bad I actually felt bad for the ML who is I don't even find interesting. It was all very stupid and nonsensical. They could have ended this earlier, now they are just needing to fill space for the next few episodes.

Doctor Slump: When joy meets happiness, good writing, and chemistry you get episodes 3-4 of this drama. Will it continue as good, unlikely, so I will savor these episodes that are lovely.

Flex X Cop: My fun drama, I am sad we have to wait until next week for more capers and shennanigans.

Captivating the King: This is my current must watch. I am enjoying it immensely. JJS is doing such a beautiful job with this King and I am enjoying SSK as well.

Finished A Shop For KillersSo Jin Man was alive, but busy? This screams for a 2nd season to tell what happened on his side in the meantime, and I would guess they already filmed that. But no spoilers by LDW on his Instagram yet.
Knight Flower is getting even better by the episode! 7 was so lovely with the heart bubble effect, and all those reveals… How can a drama be so funny with the “My Wife!”, and so touching with “a sinner for being alive…” without feeling it tries too hard. And the mystery/politics are really well done, too.
My Happy Ending FL is REALLY turning her life around - not by violence, time travel or magic but by getting real therapy! I’m so happy to finally see that in a drama! And also, her mental illness is not just gone after therapy, but she needs to keep on taking medication and still has problems with it, but she has the will to carry on.
((So, I’m watching My Happy Ending and Happy Ending at the same time, how confusing. They are very different, though 😊))
Also, continue to watch Love Song For Illusion, Between Him And Her and Flex x Cop (the cars he’s flexing are Bavarian BMWs, I’m proud!) and enjoy them all.
Doctor Slump is not so much a medical drama, but a healing romcom? I like it a lot. But on not medical: binge-drinking every day is certainly not advised when you are clinically depressed and taking medication.
I started Sejak/Captivating The King late and had 6 episodes before me; I almost dropped it at Ep. 4 because neither character nor actor nor story did draw me in. But then it turned from romance to hatred, and I like it so much more now! Hopefully the billed romance takes a long time to grow again. And it can’t have a happy ending anyway: the king is not only married, but had a lot of women on the side, too – big no-no for a kdrama hero.
Also just yesterday started Queen of Divorce: I mean, being on women’s’ side is great, but aren’t the husbands just too obviously trash here? I would like to see more greyness and seeing mistakes on both sides before a divorce. Probably a drop.
Because the middle of the week is so empty, I also started Branding in Seongsu which is crazy and so far, just cemented the opinion that marketers are all liars. The main plot point, the soul-swap between the leads, hasn’t even happened yet. I will check out the next few episodes just to see where this leads.
KDrama friend project: We did meet, but talked so much that we didn’t get to watch everything we wanted to: most important was the new Suchwita episode, BTS’ Suga with Lee Sung Kyung who I like a lot. Then we continued Korean BL dramas Love For Love's Sake and ultra-short Happy Ending. We both separately started A Killer Paradox and think it’s great! Especially camerawork and directing (those very short cuts with the same motif in past and present, dreams and reality…), and also the story and the acting, of course! I...

Ongoing

Knight Flower
Love it!! It’s fun and seriousness perfectly balanced. I want our team to come out unscathed. Park Su Ho’s love face is priceless 😍

Doctor Slump Ep 3/4 hit all the romcom notes for me. It was super fun. Loving the leads here. But, give me more Yoon Park!!

Shop for Killers : finished Ep 3. Slowly watching it and liking it. I love the flash backs. I am just surprised that Jian was shocked that uncle might have had an illegal business. It seemed pretty clear.

A killer Paradox watched 3 episodes. I am enjoying it. It’s an easy watch. Nothing pathbreaking.

The leads are good. And certain directorial and editing choices are good and I like the music.
Not really thinking or judging the show. I wish the show had embraced the dark humor a bit more and been a bit subtle about the paradox.
SSK is killing it. Love every scene he is in.
I will probably binge it today and finish it.

Queen of divorce It’s fun in parts. The leads are great and I am here just for the good team. It’s an easy watch if you don’t think too much about logic. The case resolutions are over simplified.

Dropped

Derailment (cdrama) :
Dropped at Ep 24. I don’t know what happened. I never continued. Sigh.

Amidst Snowstorm (cdrama) :
I lasted two episodes. It was too boring and disjointed for me. I guess you have to be in a mood to watch it. It was shot beautifully though. And Leo BB looked so good!!

Does the king know or not that he is a woman? - is the million Dollar question here. CAPTIVATING THE KING is clearly playing a game with the viewers here, I wonder how long it will go on. The weekend is going to be pretty intense with 4 episodes to go through.

A KILLER'S PARADOX is just my kind of drama. Love both Choi Woo-shik and Son Su-ku and they both deliver. The cinematography is unusual, but in a good way. I had only planned to watch a few minutes to see whether it is good and was in the middle of ep 2 before I knew it.

The 'team' in KNIGHT FLOWERS talk to each other, share information and now they all work against the minister together (even his own son). He has no chance, really.

I am behind in SHOP FOR KILLERS, I can only take one episode of machine gun banging away per week. No shortage of cliff-hangers.

QUEEN OF DIVORCE is not great, far from it, and the humour is pretty clumsy, but there are titbits worth watching and mid week is so empty.

MARRY MY HUSBAND is a drop.

What I am watching:

_ Love song for illusion (11/16). Why am I still watching this? Easy: Park Ji Hoon and the quite inusual love triangle. And the OST. Nothing else.

_ My Happy Ending (12/16). And this? Why am I still watching this? I admit my interest has dropped since Son Ho Jun disappeared. But Jang Na Ra is doing a great job.

_ Iljimae (6/20). I have started this drama after leaving "Faith" on hold (I only watched the first episode). It seems "Iljimae" is more to my liking. It's being very entertaining so far. I love seeing Lee Joon Gi so young and cute, and Han Hyo Joo is one of my favorite actresses :)

Western shows:

_ Band of brothers (4/10). I had never watched this famous and acclaimed show. It's really good.

What I have finished:

_ K-drama When the weather is fine (2020). Beautiful series. Almost perfect. This drama touches on several themes, some of them are hard, but it is written with extreme delicacy. I loved the message for the audience in the ending credits. 9/10.