After KNIGHT FLOWERS I am in a drama slump, but I still cannot bring myself to press the play button for DR SLUMP, I am not sure why. It is not worse than any of the other dramas I am still watching, but after ep 3 I never came back for more. The parents with their silly outfits and mannerisms did not help.

Still watching QUEEN OF DIVORCE simply because mid-week is so empty.

I'll hang on to CAPTIVATING THE KING and enjoy FLEX X COP with the murder mysteries. The drama is not shying away from showing bodies in a more realistic way. Love the pathologist! The secret in the past of the Chaebol cop is moving into centre stage with his amnesia starting to fade away.

Captivating The King - poor Queen...
Healer (rewatch completed) - it is a classic for a reason!
Alchemy Of Souls Part 2 (rewatch started) - ah, the chemistry...

currently watching:

doom at ur service(8/16): the second leads b plot is so unbearably bad i think they should be grateful lee soohyuk is so sexy. that being said the main plot is pretty interesting

just finished:

killer paradox: soo fun....even if it lost the plot towards the last quarter, it still stuck the ending. excellent performances

I am in a K-drama slump since LIKE FLOWERS finished. Nothing can compare right now.

DOCTOR SLUMP—Unlike many Beanies this has been a slow like for me. The main couple and PHS’s expressive comedic timing are winning me over slowly, but I am still side-eyeing this portrayal of depression. We have been told she has Depression and we were shown a few clips. But it has all been forgotten in the sense that we do not see her wrestling or even really living with the disease. In my experience at least, it is unrelatable.

BLOOD OF YOUTH (CH)—Continues to be a fun, light watch. I am invested in the characters and their martial arts journey which acts as a coming-of-age story. The magic is in the cast chemistry.

JUDGE DEE MYSTERIES (CH) —Gorgeous and quality mystery, but I am watching without my heart. To be fair, part of my brain is also (im)patiently waiting for Zhang Rouyun’s story arc.

THE IMPERIAL CORONER (CH)—Well-written with an understated but adorable romance. And for my squeamish self the autopsy scenes are just my level.

ADMIST A SNOWSTORM OF LOVE (CH) —the episodes fly by for me because I am enjoying the characters. LEO WU is bringing the romantic intensity and the attraction between the two is sometime to the point where I have to look away because it feels too private. Zhao Jinmai is excellent and this is the most mature role I have seen her in yet.

OTHERWISE

WALK TWO MOONS (audiobook)—I adore and respect Sharon Creech, but I was never interested in her most well-known and critically acclaimed book. Now, I am grateful I am reading this as an adult. Her trademark tender wisdom and amusing storytelling shine as expected. For me the greatest joy has been her deft handling of sensitive topics, such as depression and the role and identity of women who are mothers, through the eyes of a 13-year old girl. (The writer of Doctor Slump should have brushed off this classic.)

If you are new to Sharon Creech I highly recommend UNFINISHED ANGEL.

Forgot to mention that I finished Knight Flower. Nothing groundbreaking, but super fun and well paced. Lee Jong Won has another fan now.

Marry My Husband. I feel like the show kinda course corrected with the final two episodes but I just never regained my investment or positive feelings about it. I think overall it was a good show and I thought the changes were fitting. I don't get what's Jiwon's foundation actually does. Is it second chances for artists? I think I liked the webtoon's version more since (if memory serves) she got involved in cancer research but again, the change for the show works just fine. Most of the changes worked for the drama.

My Secret Terrius. My first thoughts were "and more reasons to never have kids". Everywhere they went they were costing her money; they were messy and loud. Eventually, I thought they were kinda endearing. The husband was a plot device and nothing more. I almost felt bad for him. All that being said, it was an enjoyable watch. I giggled at the jokes (one of my favorite moments was when she just driving straight because she was too intimidated to change lanes and asked if they would end up in North Korea at that rate), I liked the action, and was saddened by the betrayals. The show also had me looking up when it came out because they were talking about coronavirus and then I was like, geez how long was coronavirus a thing before it was a THING?!

Avatar The Last Airbender. The live action Netflix adaptation. Being 100% honest, it's not that impressive to me. It's just fine. I admire how they were able to incorporate so many things from the 1st season of the animation into the 8 episodes. I really liked the technical aspects such as set design, costuming, makes, props, and the effects. The time, effort, and dedication are evident. I thought the scripts were a bit weird and stiff which made the actors a bit weird and stiff. Some actors definitely did better than others. I think it was also clear the main actors were newbies but everyone has to start somewhere and for a first time, they're not *bad*. Just lacking.
It's certainly enough fodder for people to hate on it but I don't think it's that bad at all. It's just hard to judge it on its own merits without comparing to the original. One character I did like more as the show went on was Zuko. The actor playing him really captured the idealistic, patriotic teen who genuinely believes in his dad and just wants his approval and to do his best. My heart breaks for him. I liked there was a bit more Aang with the other avatars and exploration about what it means & takes to be the avatar. There really are some good elements. I think it might've been better served having more episodes but again, for the time and space they had, they did alot! It's commendable. I hope it will be continued just so the full story can be told plus I think the show will get better with time and experience.

Although I'm fairly new here, I'm still aware of the legacy of @javabeans, so I too did a double take this morning when I came to this page. Welcome back!

LIVE WATCHING
Captivating the King: JJS is so exciting to watch. I'm still enjoying this drama despite some flaws. Looking forward to seeing how the various storylines come together. And the soundtrack is simply fantastic.

Doctor Slump: I like this drama but I find it's easy to just watch "whenever." I'm not waiting for each new episode but do enjoy them when I get around to them.

BINGED
Joy of Life: c-drama I put most of my k-dramas aside this week to watch (and finish) this addictive and compelling series. Wow, what a fabulous piece of storytelling! Preparing an ode (to joy, haha!) for my fan wall.

ALSO COMPLETED
Knight Flower: A delight from beginning to end! Perfectly cast, designed, and directed. Everything about this drama exudes love and care, much like The Matchmakers. My first drama with the two leads and I loved them both so much. Looking forward to seeing all of these actors in future dramas.

Marry My Husband: I was satisfied with the ending, especially the long closing segment, which I feel is way too often cut short in k-drama. It had some wobbles. But if you have to wobble, wobble in the middle, and end on a high note! I do still have some weird feelings about the fate transfer and the choices it forced on the leads. Song Ha Joon was a wonder.

Wishing you all a great week 😊

Knight Flower: (completed) All the good guys stayed alive! (So did nearly all the villains, somewhat surprisingly.) Whether or not the closing embrace was real or imaginary, Yeo-hwa deserved to enjoy as much freedom on her terms as she wished. Not sure how long she could stay away from a man who looked at her with such expressive eyes, though.

Flex X Cop: Still my fave weekly watch. I-soo earned the support of the team just in time because it looks like the secrets of his tragic past are about to come to light. The overly salty family dinner was funny (I appreciate any time a drama depicts lovingly made food as less than delicious), and Gang-hyeon's mom comparing their situation to a drama was another example of how the show's self-awareness keeps it on the light side.

House of Ninjas: (completed) It's like The Incredibles ... except with ninjas (or shinobi, as they insist on being called) instead of superheroes and a lot more bloodshed. Similar to "Shop for Killers," it's not purely about action, especially in the early episodes. Instead we see the painfully ordinary lives this highly skilled family has been forced to lead before a crisis brings them out of retirement. The interactions between grandma and grandson steal the show. Plenty left to resolve plotwise if it gets a second season.

Never Too Late: (completed) Short little C-drama that took a premise that could have been cringey (former classmates meet during her hospital checkup and discover their parents are dating) and instead made it a sweet second-chance love story. Bonus points for featuring an older couple's romance, too.

I took a step back from my drama-watching activities for a bit, needing time to unwind and detox, and in recent months have been dipping my toes back in the waters.

@javabeans Are you back to recapping a show or two in DB? Please put us out of misery 😂😂

@javabeans! OMG, it's so wonderful to see you on the site again! Thanks again for building and sustaining this community for so many years - you've been much missed!

The Hope: What I liked: The show did an excellent job portraying the inequalities baked into the educational system, and how so many students start behind before they ever walk into a classroom. I also appreciated the focus on mental health and the show's emphasis on destigmatizing and treating depression and anxiety, including for the kids who "seem" to have it all together.

What I liked less: While I love Zhang Ruo Yun as an actor, I spent much of the show wanting to kick the character of Lei Ming in the shins. Because when you're working with at-risk teens who've been failed by pretty much every adult and institution that's meant to protect and nurture them, there are certain things you just don't do, including selling them out to giant corporations for fame and profit, abandoning them at key moments because of your own personal emotional crisis, and just generally being evasive and dishonest with those around you about your intentions and goals. And yes, I'm all too aware that teachers are human too, and definitely fallible, and I would have been okay with the show making that a centerpiece of the story if it hadn't reverted back to "boy genius" hagiography at the end. I guess I just have little patience for the idea that what's needed to fix to the problems in education is an erratic, almost always exclusively male genius whose irresponsibility should be forgiven because they're so "unconventional" and can "shake things up". It was particularly annoying because Sang Xia, the one person who was consistently showing up and not having regular emotional meltdowns, got relegated to girl Friday with an unrequited crush. But I guess just showing up every day and doing your job well with minimal drama doesn't make for very exciting television.

COMPLETED:

The Secret Life of My Secretary - This is one of those shows that I enjoyed even though I found certain aspects annoying or even offensive. There’s no question that what kept me watching was Kim Young-Kwang. I would have expected that his character’s disability (inability to recognize faces) would have been played mostly for laughs. Instead, his sensitive performance showed the emotional journey of Min-Ik, an arrogant, self-confident chaebol who is suddenly forced to rely on his slavishly devoted, much-abused secretary, Gal-Hee, to help him navigate the world. As his dependence begins to change the power imbalance between them, he starts to “see” her as a person, even as he loses the ability to literally see the faces of everyone else. I liked that their relationship developed in a way that felt natural and unforced.

My heart hurt for Min-Ik when Gal-Hee, afraid to tell him she’d been deceiving him by pretending to be chaebol femme fatale Veronica Park, left him to be exposed and humiliated when he finally met the real Veronica. It was particularly devastating that he was lied to by the very person to whom he’d made himself vulnerable—someone who knew about his disability and who knew he’d been betrayed in the past. (BTW - We never do find out what that first secretary did to betray him.) The experience ended up giving him a valuable though painful lesson about trust and forgiveness.

On the other hand, I was disappointed that Gal-Hee wasn’t given her own significant development arc. Her improved self-image seemed largely due to Min-Ik realizing her worth and then falling in love with her. I wanted her to ditch the frumpy-girl glasses (why did she wear her contact lenses only when she was pretending to be the glamorous VP?) adopt a more professional look and manner, and aspire to a higher position in the company—preferably one where Min-Ik was no longer her boss. (I kept comparing her to the mousy secretary played by Jang Na-Ra in Fated to Love You, and wishing she had undergone similar personal growth.) Even when she showed us a stronger version of herself by joining the workers’ hunger strike, it was Min-Ik who came off looking like the hero.

While Kim Young-Kwang was the standout, Kim Jae-Kyung deserves praise for her over-the-top performance as the “aaaawesome” Veronica Park, a character I started out hating but grew to love by the end of the show. As Gal-Hee, Jin Ki-Joo was adept at portraying both the serious and comic aspects of her character. She especially stood out when showing Gal-Hee struggling to keep her own personality from slipping through while doing her hilarious Veronica Park impersonation.

There were parts of the show that defied belief—such as Min-Ik’s complete inability to recognize voices, even when it’s the people closest to him. And for a guy known for his sharp mind, he missed an awful lot of couldn’t-be-more-obvious tipoffs that the Veronica Park he fell in love with was...

Down to LYOL as the lone K drama.
Finished Night Flower I liked it . A bit disappointed in the romance , the mystery seemed to hog most of the screen time which happens way too often. Sand Flower being another recent example.
Almost finished with C drama I Am Nobody
Watching YouTube videos, audiobook

Omg, @javabeans, welcome back!
Mood of the week: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GHCF2Tlb0AAwG76?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
This is also probably the closest we'll ever get to see him in a shenmo xianxia as a hottie demon fantasy show, so cry over the fact with me lol. Now to the actual dramas I managed to watch this week:

JUDGE DEE'S MYSTERY: Must admit right away - I dropped the drama after 20+ episodes and don't think I'll ever pick it up back. It wasn't bad or anything... just not for me. After all the hype about the show I expected it to be more engaging, honestly. Yes, budget is high (not in CGI department tho), visuals are mostly beautiful, cast is full of renown veteran actors but the plot is so-so, characters and their relationship are rather 2D and I couldn't care properly for any of the leads, guest stars stole the show big time. After hours of futile attempts to understand ML's logic or warm up to his rigidly upright personality I'm giving up - enjoying the show purely out of elitist "it's not your mere idol drama!" reasoning is not my thing.

WHITE CAT LEGEND: This one is inexpensive, silly, low-hype webtoon adaptation with bonkers premise of ML being a cat shapeshifter detective... and I like it! Warning: its manhua roots are VERY prominent (production went to the admirable lengths to make everything and everyone look EXACTLY like they did in source material), if you're not into such styling or vibe you'll have trouble with show's visuals/tone/humor. Other issue is the pace - it's pretty slow and slice-of-life, which is fine for webtoon but feels odd in a live action. You have to be into watching a bunch of funny colorful characters living their daily period workplace life with some side action and mystery. I like the team (aside of non-canon female officer that's probably just there to negate BL vibes lmao) - they're not as iconic as our beloved AJTL gang was, but they're doing decently both in acting and chemistry.

In fact, everyone acts well - except maybe Redhead (you'll know him soon enough) - this specific brand of unhinged ham is hard to pull off without going too far and I believe the actor is not the best fit skills-wise, tho he looks very much the part. I'm particularly fond of the actor of emo scribe Cui Bei - role allows him very little room in terms of expressions and whatnot, yet he's selling the needed vibe flawlessly! ML (finally DYX in a decent show!) is doing great as titular feline official - LYST already proved his cat-like vibes and he's even better here: the movements, the expressions, even his fighting is perfectly stylized to resemble cat, whoa! Btw action scenes are pretty good - not as mind blowing as in anime (google S1 finale if you're curious, it's something else!), but cool enough.

@javabeans Girl! welcome bag *bear hugs*

As with most weeks recently, I have not started anything new, but went back here and there to rewatch episodes of old (“old” as in, already completed, not “old” in years) Cdramas or Cvariety shows. I do have the Cdrama “White Cat Legend” on my radar, though, because of a variety of reasons (Ryan Ding, it looks like it’s a case solving drama, and I like iQiYi produced dramas for the most part), so will definitely be on the lookout for reviews and feedback before I settle in to actually start it

JAVABEANS!!

JAVABEANS!!

Am I dreaming??

WELCOME BACK!!

@javabeans

Javabeans!!! Hi!!! Waves excitedly. 👋
I missed you!!

HOLY MOLY! So good to see @javabeans here. I've had a cranky week and then woke up cranky this morning. But seeing your name and hearing your writing voice really cheered me up. I'm so happy you're rediscovering your love of kdramas. I've been hanging around dramabeans since 2008-ish. You and this blog play such an enriching part of my love for kdramas.

Knight Flower: It stuck the landing and gave a satisfactory ending! It feels like the writer and production knew the story it wanted to tell in the limited 12 episodes and knew how to use the time most effectively. And kudos to all the actors, particularly the incomparable, Honey Lee.

Flex x Cop: Up to ep 7. I'm enjoying the heck out of this now even though it started off a bit nails on chalkboard. It has struck a nice balance now between leveraging the ML's resources and also respecting the hard, procedural work of the real detectives. Ha Yoon-kyung's cameo is hilarious. How to be that crazy, hot-tempered chaebol while also being charming and hilarious is tightrope.

Doctor Slump: Up to ep 5. Watching this slowly. I don't really have much to say about it except it's just really really cute and Park Hyung-shik's expressions can really become memes.

My Boss: cdrama. up to episode 33. I love the cubicle crew and was a bit sad when the FL left the firm. But her leaving made the most realistic sense giving that she doesn't want to be known as the boss's gf, and she cares about her professional growth as a lawyer. I really like the FL's growth trajectory and am a little annoyed at the ML who is helicopter-boyfriending/mentoring.

Completed: Like Flowers in Sand. I enjoyed this Kdrama very much. Thanks to beanies' comments on the show. It looked very familiar and I read a post that it was filmed around Pohang where When the Camellia Blooms was filmed. Kim Baek-du and Hwang Yong-shik would have been neighbors.

Ongoing: Captivating the King. I'm also enjoying this show. Nice twist to all that royal court shenanigans.

Welcome back @javabeans!!!

I don’t often have any show worth noting in “what we’re watching “because I usually just go along with the Dramabeans crowd, and watch whatever kdrama other people are viewing. In fact, the other day I said to my wife—"lets watch this show they are featuring on Dramabeans” and she said to me—"Again? why can’t we watch something different? --if Dramabeans commentators jumped off a cliff, would you jump off a cliff?”

And I said “Well, Yes, I would, but only if we were all being chased by a crazed Park Hyung Sik carrying a knife but still looking cute wearing pikachu ears.”

But this week, I’m watching a show which I believe that no one else hear is watching, and what’s more, I’m liking it Branding in Seongsu. It got trashed in the recap and discussion of its premiere episodes, because it was marketed as a fantasy body-swap rom-com, and its really a fantasy body swap rom-com business drama that has drag queens and a killer in a bloody bunny mask.

Anyway I’m enjoying “hanging out” by myself in the Dramabeans Branding in Seongsu hangout page. Its empty, and roomy, with plenty of space for writing long boring comments on the show. It has a great view of the other hangouts—I can watch commentators streaming in and out of the Live Your Own Life hangout, although occasionally I see a an angry couple of visitors spilling out the door throwing punches,one wearing a jersey that has “TM” and the other with a “TH.”

So I prefer my quiet hangout, where I can sit and think about the nature of gender and body swapping. But I’m not anti-social—if you are in the Internet area feel free to stop by! I’ll lay out some side dishes, which I have neatly labeled in containers in the fridge, and we can order some chicken and beer. However, I warn you, if you drink too much, I am not piggybacking you back up into the cloud—its way too steep!

Anyway, I’ll be there, so if you find yourself with nothing to do, navigate over to the hangout page. You might have to click the “thumbs up” on one of my comments a couple times, because I’ll be nap….uh…meditating on this thought provoking kdrama!

Doctor Slump-still enjoying the reality of the depiction of mental health (minus the peaking into therapy scene) paralleled by the cuteness and the show’s plot not following typical romcom with murder on the side

C-drama-Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, ended satisfactorily, I liked how they gave the ML back his freedom again over nationalist duty, would have liked to see OTP enjoying that more than the last few minutes. I loved how mom knew that they were dating way longer than she admitted but said nothing and waited for the ML to develop and let him impress her.

Books- We were dreamers by Simu Liu was excellent. Starts with fascinating stories about his parents’ experience in China studying so hard to get into college once they reopened after Mao’s death. His own story of going from failed accountant to Marvel superhero is also quite good, and I loved hearing how Asian-American/Canadian actors and celebs all support each other.

I am rewatching Doom at your service. The first half was a blast but things went downhill from ep 12 forward. I loved the 3 second leadd and their love triangle was a memorable one. It was my first Lee So-hyuk's drama and his voice is never to be forgotten.

Let us all celebrate the return of Javabeans! Who explains why I was unable to finish THE STORY OF PARK’S MARRIAGE CONTRACT. Sometimes a drama starts well and then just sort of gets lost. Actually, this happens too often. My wife liked but did not love RIVER WHERE THE MOON RISES- actor changes can be disconcerting but overall she found it a good show.

My wife and I really enjoy DOCTOR SLUMP.

I have continued to enjoy QUEEN OF DIVORCE.

Meanwhile, while I am working my wife has been binge watching VINCENZO.

The Cdrama AMIDST A SNOWSTORM OF LOVE has real charm.

This week THE GORYEO-KHITAN WAR was still mostly about politics- The Khitan seem to have been missing in action. One final invasion to go and we are still not here. Instead, we saw a nasty coup.

The weekender LIVE YOUR OWN LIFE is winding down with the writer having abandoned all of the potential side romances and having turned the character of Mi-rim into a clown. The treatment of Mi-rim by Hyo-shim’s mom has gone beyond shabby to inexcusable. We may or may not have solved to mystery of the death of the ML’s parents but probably not as that mystery is about all that we have left to this story. You know that a show is petering out when the highlight of the episodes was a loan shark imparting some actual true wisdom to the FL’s niece. While this show has not been as bad as the one that came before it neither will it go down as one of the great weekenders.

In sharp contrast stands the daily UNPREDICTABLE FAMILY. As I expected our second leads had already, if unwittingly, solved the problem of being accepted by the 2ML’s family- we get to see them confronting the disapproving parents next week with the news of the 2FL’s pregnancy. Ga-ram was momentarily shattered by the departure of his mom but fortunately remembered to turn to his friend- our FL’s Unni who ended the week smiling at Ga-ram’s father who is smiling back. Yes, it is time for Eun-a to go get her man (and his little boy). Meanwhile our two leads still have not been accepted by their families. If our Weekender is not one of the greats that is definitely not true of our Daily: It has only been matched by the fabulous BE MY DREAM FAMILY.

That thumbnail seems intentional. It was my first reaction after finding out you're back @javabeans. Hopefully for longer this time.

Like many others, I thought I clicked an old page when @javabeans appeared on my screen. I had to triple click to confirm it’s real when she talked about Marry My Husband!!

Welcome back to this community created by you!!!!!

@javabeans

WELCOME BACK!!!! ❤️