Happy Long Weekend Beanies, for those that got one 😅!

COMPLETED
The Chaebol-Cop Show - Plot-wise the brother being the villain was predictable but the reveal of the mother's murder was nicely done. I'm glad the show ended on a fun note. I've enjoyed the ride and am looking forward to S2.

ONGOING
Queen of Tears - Ep. 5 was so good and had me in tears. Ep. 6 unfortunately leaned just a tad too much into the Squad of Evil and I had to work to resist the FF button. Might be good to get the divorce issue out in the open early though.

The Midnight Studio - Seo Ji-hoon's drama cycle of misery continues 😭. The way they showed Bom going from nonchalance to fear was nicely done and makes more apparent why Ki-joo's life is so difficult.

Wedding Impossible - Spent most of Ep. 10 wanting to shake some sense into every single character 😑. Grandpa has a lot to answer for.

The Impossible Heir - I have successfully hypnotised myself into believing this is a comedy. That way when I laugh in disbelief I don't feel so bad 🧘‍♀️.

C-DRAMAS
This was a week where I definitely enjoyed my c-dramas more than my k-dramas.

The Legend of Shen Li - I read the book and am all caught up on the episodes. This is a very faithful adaptation and I'm quite surprised how well they've retained the charm of the novel and Shen Li's character. Zhao Li Ying, especially, is really doing a great job.

In Blossom (till Ep. 23) - Almost caught up on this too. This isn't exactly high-brow stuff but it's very addictive. It has the same quality Story of Kunning Palace had, where you're willing to forgive plot-holes to just enjoy the mysteries and drama and how hot the ML is the OTP 😂.

As for the FL's performance, I don't think she's that bad 🤔? Maybe people had an issue with there being no connection between Cai-wei before and after the change? But I'd argue that's an issue of the script. The FL is required to be chipper and quippy, almost flirty, with the ML post-change and you simply can't imagine the FL pre-change doing that 🤷‍♀️.

Live watches
Wedding Impossible
I feel sad to say goodbye to this drama which had the best written female lead I have seen; she was witty, likeable, confident and realistic. I hope the story ends well.

Queen of tears
I am enjoying watching the couple drama. Last weekend’s reveal was so sad timing wise but that situation was never going to playout well whenever it came out. I am hoping Hyunwoo’s best friend is able to get on board with the new narrative about Haein and the counter attack can begin.

The impossible heir
I am looking forward to seeing how this ends with all the switching of allegiances and the darkness that is Inha. All the main characters have lost their souls in the pursuit of the company and in the end no one will win as they can never rest without having to constantly look out for the next attack.

Binge watch corner
Dragon Sakura season 2
I started this not knowing there was a season one from 2005. So I have started watching season one to see if it’s worth going on to season 2, surely this has got to go in the records as the longest gap between seasons. It feels like the struggles of the teachers in the films To Sir with love, Freedom writers and Lean on me except the ‘teacher’ is a lawyer.

Completed

Kitchen knife and Green chilli pepper: Ichika’s cookbook (Nagatan to Aoto: Ichika’s no Ryourijou) - Japanese
Set in 1951 we see the first year of an arranged marriage with 19 year old university student who is a hotel owner’s son married off to a 34 year old to save her family’s failing traditional restaurant. It was a really sweet slice of life.

The Makanai cooking for the Maiko house - Japanese
Beautiful slice of life as two 16 year old best go to train to Geisha one is not good enough so becomes the cook .

After watching two great Japanese dramas I tried the two below but they were so disappointing due to the main leads moral codes and the impact they had on those around them.

Between love and friendship - Japanese
10 episodes split in half to show the story from the male and female perspectives. The main lead’s lack of honesty about their feelings led to long term difficulties in their relationship and their relationship with and their partners.

Hide from the rain - Japanese
Another drama with a gullible female lead who is struggling in life falls for the wrong guy whilst the male best friend has been there for her all her life. I paused it because of a two timing storyline and impending doom for the women. I picked it up again and watched it through as Thursday and Fridays are quiet but it was not an enjoyable watch for me.

Currently Watching
Wedding Impossible: 🤵‍♂️🚫👰‍♀️(ep. 9) I LOVED Ji-han and Ah-jeong's conversations while they were on their idyllic escape from reality in ep. 9. The dialogue has been really well written, and I'll always be a fan of conversations clarifying relationships and expectations. You know what else I liked? Watching Ji-han look at Ah-jeong like this: 😍 Ji-han and Ah-jeong tried honesty, but their timing was bad. I decided episode 10 would probably annoy me, so I'm saving it to watch next week along with 11 and 12.

Finished
Flex x Cop: 👨‍✈️ Oof, that mystery resolution was so much sadder for I-soo than I anticipated. I think it hurt more because the show has set up the relationships well. But, the conclusion was LOGICAL, and I'm not mad. And really, is there anyone who could have been the culprit without provoking any complaints? That moment I-soo had with Gang-hyun's mom when she made him a meal was so lovely, and so needed. I just love their whole team, and I love I-soo (and Ahn Bo-hyun), and I truly enjoyed this drama, and As a team-up mystery procedural with fun and heart, five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I'm excited for season 2!

Miscellaneous
● My mom recently watched The Producers (I recommended it to her after reading @reply1988's comments about her rewatch!), and she loved it! It's her current #1 drama. She said she laughed a lot and loved the sweet and earnest ML.
● I started The Blood of Youth, and - a few episodes in - I'm really enjoying it. Wu Xin is my favorite! I like the fights.
● I'm almost done with Rainless Love in a Godless Land - I thought it was 36 episodes, but it's only 26 episodes 😭 Excellent Greg Hsu cameo!! 👏 Orad is guardian goals❤️
● Halfway through Radio Romance, which is overall pretty meh, but I'm finishing it for my favorite PD (*his style in Into the Ring and The Matchmakers hasn't been developed yet in this drama - this was his first drama, as far as I can tell!*).

Happy Easter! 😊

Flex X Cop (Series review) - Mood progression: D+ / D+ / D+ / D / D+ / D+ / D / D
The flexibility of a procedural series often means the show can be easily extended into multiple seasons without ruining too much continuity, but the writer now needs to think about what the main narrative of Season 2 is going to be, because it just wasn’t it in Season 1 with the ‘my nice hyung killed both my parents’ crap? I also believe that we saw way too little of Kyung Jin (and Jun Young to an extent), so the new season could be a way to bring their characters to the forefront. While I would not mind an OTP romance, my hope is that someone is brave enough to write an OTP without those pesky romance cliches.

Hide (Episode 1-2) - Mood: D+
I already knew from the synopsis that this was yet another shady husband story: while it’s not adultery this time round, I do find it boring that we’re having to navigate a whole web of secrets together with our naive protagonist. Looking at the cast, they’re all names I love but I’m sure Lee Chung Ah was cast for a reason and I’m just waiting for the shoe to drop. I kinda hope Lee Min Jae can use this show to wash off the stain that was his previous drama and so far he’s got all the meat with an intriguing character, which is great news for him and me! But I’ll like the writer to spread this love around?

The Midnight Studio (Episode 5) - Mood: C-
So the safe zone only works when both of them are together because past connection trope, got it. I’m quite ambivalent on the narrative developments: the friend + ghost combination isn’t appealing to me but I dig the ghost detective + wife arc. In bringing in evil spirits into the plot, I do fear this is a foreshadowing of ML’s hyung down the road? But Seo Ji Hoon!

Queen of Tears (Episode 5-6) - Mood: D
To be honest, I’m somewhat glad that they ripped off the bandaid since it would have been way too draggy otherwise if the divorce thing continued hanging over the ML? But then again, the writer went with the lowest denominator in the reveal and there’s just so much makjang prioritised over the actual narrative beats (cause of dead marriage for one) that I’m left cold.

Wedding Impossible (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D-
I mean, sure, the show’s ending next week and we had the kiss last week so of course this week had to be the week with all of the predictable romance conflict crap, topping off with the presumed noble idiocy in the preview. We still don’t know why the ex is resentful or what Grandpa is hiding about the mom’s death but here’s a random side couple to fill time. Priorities?!

Live Watches
The Midnight Studio: Only one episode this week 😭 but at least it was a good one! I’m pretty relieved the “cure” for Bom’s ghost-seeing didn’t work, because my heart had already melted into a puddle from her gentle headpats and acknowledgement of Ki-joo’s hard work.

Queen of Tears: Also incredibly relieved that the divorce is out in the open now. I love so many things about this show, but Hyun-u was hard to get behind. Germany was such a turning point for him, when he finally admitted to himself that he was supporting Hae-in because he loved her and not because he wanted her assets, and that’s when I started being fully on board with him and his actions. So I’m really happy the secret is out so that everyone can be mad for a while but slowly come back together. It would be much worse if it was hanging over our heads the whole show!

Older Dramas
Our Blooming Youth: I was obsessed with this drama the first time I watched it and I’m still obsessed on the rewatch! I love all the sides of Park Hyung-sik that I’ve seen but I’m totally being reminded why/how I fell so hard for him while watching this. Also reminded that Lee Tae-seon has such a lovely smile, and I hope to see him in more things very soon!

Chaebol - finished
Bring me season 2!

Queen of Tears
These two... one would think they are aliens... or strangers living across a border in a need of an interpreter, as they hardly ever seem to understand each other (especially when the rosy in-love period was over and the real life added an extra tragedy, they misinterpreted nearly everything and only hurt each other)... though lately Hyunwoo seems to be learning the language of Haein and starts seeing the true meaning behind her words... and what a love confession he heard! ❤️ about being the angel to pick him up before his death. It is a pity that Evil Squad crashed everything down before the love could fully blossom the second time. HAJIMAN, let's hope that all the luck Hyunwoo bought (and his hidden cameras and plans) were not for nothing.

Wedding Impossible
While Queen of Tears gets a lot of love and swoon... and I myself like it for what it is (a fairytale) ...for all that budget, big names and ratings it generates, I actually find WI the better written show (controversial? 😁). This week we had the truth finally out and all three leads reacted true to their characters, even if I was sometimes facepalming. The only one I still don't understand is Grandpa - why does he irrationally want to give the company to Dohan who has absolutely no interest in it, nor skills? Does he feel guilty for the car accident? Does he want to give him the highest position possible to protect him from the harsh society? (And let Jihan run the company as the shadow president?). Anyway, we are heading to the last week and (besides the given happyend, also for Dohan!) I hope for more happy Ahjung's family scenes... and friendship between Ahjung and Chaewon (I like her!).

Guess Who I Am
I think I found my new Lethal Man type of drama. 😄 With Wang Ziqi as the lead.
An aspiring webnovelist overhears the director about what the readers demand and to prevent to be fired she puts everything in her creation. We see the result and it is of course utterly ridiculous, like Heroine can hypnotise with her eyes Chaebol sons to her bidding. 😁 Only Hero is an imposter and the magic doesn't work on him. There is a lot of action, chaebol intrigues, romance, comedy, childhood connection (of course!) etc. And good chemistry between the leads and the side characters. Relaxing fun. 🙂

I guess we're all waiting for May for the dramas to become good and plentiful?? I gather that's when the summer schedule will pick back up. In the meantime...

LIVE WATCHES

The Midnight Studio
Such a nice little show! Our leads and our 2-M-Ghosts are doing so well. I recommend it highly to those who just want a comfort watch...if your comfort watch can include jump scares, gory ghosts and bloody ToD scenes.

Wedding Impossible
I plan to watch the last week in companionable silence with myself.

Beauty and Mr. Romantic
Stupidly, I have high hopes for this. I am attracted to the (eventual) setting--the entertainment industry--more than those that the previous weekenders offered (and more than the future one about a "dry cleaners" is going to offer). So, onwards and upwards!!! I'm sad that the DB leadership will only give this 50 episode drama one single thread.

Hide
...is still more interesting to me than Nothing Uncovered, but it's not THAT interesting, so I may drop.

FROM THE RESERVES

Sell Your Haunted House
There's so little on right now that I unexpectedly had time to return to this. I am now up to episode 8, and I am enjoying it greatly. Thanks to a Beanie's spoiler, I have my expectations set about the romantic entanglements of our leads. I'm also in a position of deciding in real-time which is gonna be "better," The Midnight Studio or SYHH. The suspense!!

ON DECK
Well, here I have a question for the Beanatariat. I need to remember Ha Joon fondly. I think I'm over my LYOL bitterness enough to watch him in something people like. Is the choice Bad Prosecutor or Crazy Love?

The Midnight Studio: Seo Ji Hoon and his sad beautiful eyes. Why a cliffhanger, but I look forward to episode 6 and 7.

Hide: At least we know the score from the beginning, now uncovering the mystery of her husband.

Impossible Heir: Possibly terrible. This drama is so bad, but here I am watching to see who the heir is, I would laugh buckets if it ended up being Hye Won.

Queen of Tears: ANGST, I hope it is one episode and done. I can't do two episodes of our couple a part.

“What we’re watching“
Starting:
One Woman: Just starting, exciting, funny, a bit trope heavy. Especially after having skimmed through Who Are You: Twin, near-death, amnesia. But it is fun, and you get to see Honey Lee kick *ass in full daylight, not always in the moonlight. When people have amnesia and know it (or think they know), wouldn’t they develop some strategies to deal with others claiming to know them? Especially if you are not in immediate danger, insulting people who are really happy to see you could be … softened a bit, I think. But that would give less drama and comedy, I guess.
Watching Continued:
Queen of Tears: I hear some are bored by this show. Not me. And I haven’t said this enough; The FL is clearly not very good at expressing warm feelings, but the actress does a cold, off-handing look like a Boss! I get all scared. It’s a great contrast to her actually being a real human being, if you look closely. The show does grey zones marvellously, or rather, people contain horrible things and redeeming things, and they make each other suffer, for fear, greed, convenience …
Finished:
Starting and finishing:
Who Are You (School 2015): I skimmed through it, I must admit.

Not a K-drama:
Bird Box Live Cam: This season is just starting, the setting is right outside my window, in a box, and like the Great OG SKAM of Norway, episodes drop when they happen, and I just have to be there, watching, if I want to see. But like the Great OG SKAM of Norway, for your comfort and convenience – and of course, to share my glee many times a day, like a young child “Look! A bird!” + “Look! , a bird again!” + “Look! , the bird has a piece of moss in its beak!” - I collect my filmed moments fairly often (right now, daily) and put them on Youtube, so you can follow the Titmice (is it conjugated like that?) building their nest and hopefully before too long, eggs and hatching! There will be a link in the comments, and on my fan wall, a picture and a gif.
Finished: Resident Alien: That was a good show, clearly hoping for a second season. Lots of interesting persons. Aliens coming to earth have always in Western imagination been formed by the fear of being the colonized in the same way the West colonized other parts of the world, and in this show they let one of the characters say to the Native American FL (who is not set up to be a love interest of the ML, but a friend) … okay, another character in the show said to her: “What if he is your Columbus?” Meaning of course not the “hero explorer”, but the shameless exploiter and murderer.
The tendency to trust people, and the ability of, well, mankind, but apparently aliens, too, … to befriend others and then not to let that exclude horrible exploitation and/or murder, but also the opposite, to change our mind … Well, apart from...

Is @Javabeans taking a break again?? 😪

Flex x Cop: 7.0 Tip of the Day - if someone points a revolver at you from just a few feet away, look closely and you should be able to see whether the chambers are loaded or empty. Like the time in Catch the Ghost ep 6 when a revolver points at the camera and you can see that the cartridges are in BACKWARDS! (I've said it before -- I'm NEVER letting that go)

Hide: 6.0 Day 1 didn't interest me. Ask someone else about day 2.

Queen of Tears: 7.5 The FL said when you die the person you love most comes to pick you up in the form of an angel. Wonder if my first cat could do it? Preferably before I have to watch another of those lame lead-character-gets-framed bits. Let's just say those "bug" me.
I still think the strength of the show lies in its humor over the misunderstandings/divorce/wills/idiot-relatives etc. Terminal illness and eventual "miracle" might be necessary evils to generate "drama" but Eun-scum and his tribe are welcome to disappear from my screen.

Wedding Impossible: 6.5

Midnight Photo Studio: 7.0

The Midnight Studio I have issues with this drama because it looks more like a list of points to check than a story for now.

<b<Wedding Impossible I love this one! Is it messy? Completely! But people's feelings are messy! I totally trust the teaser when Ah-Jung was in wedding dress looking very happy.

Nothing Uncovered @db-staff this drama is missing from the list :) I like the actors and the story seems more interesting now.

Hide So many suspicious people... The friend being the creepiest one!

Wonderful World Nothing is happening in this drama...

Queen of Tears I would like a drama of the couple in Germany.

The Impossible Heir So it was the first drama of Choi Won, who wrote movies before, I hope it's the last one.

I'm still struggling to connect to Hide and Nothing Uncovered. I'm yet to finish episode 1 of both. But, I do prefer Hide more.

Queen of Tears - The villains just keep piling up.
And, smart of Hyun-woo to intentionally leave his car behind at the technicians shop. At least, even though they do not recover the data file, they'll know who took it.
I also liked the reveal of the divorce papers to Hae-in. And, I kinda like that it was revealed whilst they were still in Germany. You know...she'll be able to process it by herself before her family members starts to put their own pressure on her.
Evil Moh miscalculated. She shouldn't have retaliated back at Beom-ja.
The trailers for episode 7 wasn't smiling. But, I'm going to trust in Hae-in, and I'm seriously wishing that as Hyun-woo and Hae-in discusses this divorce, no stone is left unturned. And, everyone speaks their mind, Hyun-woo especially.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

On the kdrama front, I am watching and very much enjoying Queen of Tears . I like our two main leads so much and am rooting for them to overcome their communication problems and bring down the baddies. But all this angst is also not good for my heart. I almost wish I had waited for the series to finish before I started.

On a nostalgic kick, I rewatched You From Another Star . I was never a mega fan of the drama back in the day, but it has held up so beautifully in the 10 years since it was released. The plot and the acting and the soundtrack...it's all so beautiful and wistful and doesn't feel dated at all. Amazing.

CDRAMA
I started watching The Legend of Shen Li but I am so afraid to continue because all these years later, PRINCESS AGENTS still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I can't take it if this reunion has a terrible ending

JDORAMA
I am also rewatching nostalgically Please Love the Useless Me. This one feels a little bit dated, but is still every bit as quirky and fun as it was when I first watched it. I still marvel at how utterly apt the title is. Fun times.

My wife watched ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING on Hulu before returning to JUDGE DEE’S MYSTERY. Both are really good and she does not hesitate to recommend both shows. More episodes of JUDGE DEE’S MYSTERY are posting today on Netflix. There is now another Chinese Costume ‘crime and mystery’ show which has been added to Viki and to my wife’s watchlist: IN BLOSSOM. But first she has taken a break from mysteries to further enjoy another favorite theme: Gumiho’s. Viki just posted the classic 2013 drama KANGCHI, THE BEGINNING (really better known as GU FAMILY BOOK). There will be no puling her away from that until she finishes it. Even Judge Dee will probably have to wait.

Earlier in the week she also enjoyed a BBC miniseries titled TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH which stars Benedict Cumberbatch and a number of other fine actors. It is set in the very early 1800s and is quite entertaining. She also watched a biopic about Salvadore Dali titled DALILAND which was also very good.

The daily UNPREDICTABLE FAMILY was one of the very best, the full equal of BE MY DREAM FAMILY. It has been followed by a new Daily in SU JI AND U RI and so far, the new daily is doing OK. It has lots of nice people, including some really nice parents but leavened with a few ‘not so nice’ people to provide dramatic balance. It may not turn out to be the work of genius that UNPREDICTABLE FAMILY was but so far it is a decent show and has provided a welcome respite during my lunch time which tends to fall somewhere between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM depending upon work.

Which brings me to our new weekender BEAUTY AND MR. ROMANTIC. I am encouraged by the way that this show has started. We have yet to see the actors who portray the ML and the FL as we have started at an earlier point in time with what amounts to a prologue. We have a great child actress playing the younger version of the FL while another young actor plays the younger ML. We are being given a real background for the story to come and considerable insight into many of the characters, not just the two leads: The romantic nature of our ML has already been shown in his inappropriate relationship with an older woman, now ended in part because it was exposed by our young FL who had a crush on him. I expect that prologue will end soon with the tale of how the lead characters came to be separated at that time, but I have to say that so far, the young actors have done well with the beginnings of our story.

Unfortunately, I am otherwise behind on everything else.

I'm so backlogged from working in RL that my dramalife is suffering. TT

Anyway, so me and some other C-drama watchers were talking, and They pointed out that they were tired of "Male boss has power over female employee" type of plotline. But I pointed out that "Female boss has power over male employee" often got the appellation of "B-" attached which was why C-drama writers quit doing it.

So after that we went another round and then I suggested, something like a reversal?

So say FL has control over the house and home of the Male boss and lives with him (As a landlord), but the ML has control over the office. You can do a power switch. So at the office, she has to act subservient to him, and do all his whims and at home, he has to follow all her whims. This is pretty good Rom Com fare no? Also shouldn't get strikes from the Chinese government at all.

Inventing reasons why the male lead and female lead are willing to do this would be half the fun. How to get it to play out from enemies to lover and puts them on equal ground. I got a fair amount of likes on the website for this suggestion.

And I think actors would LOVE playing the switch back and forth. He does the chores at home, but she has to act like a grunt at the office and early days filled with "revenge" for one or the other type of deed You did this at the office well at home I'm going to... You did this at the office... so at home I'm going to... Unequal power dynamic in weird ways, no until they discover and get to know each other and find a big bad evil they need to take down at home and at work (maybe). Make it funny and fun. Petty revenge is fun to watch. This is pure antics time.

Hide: Yes, you might have the cheating hubby but the execution is magnificent and it is nice to watch LBY as a strong FL
Wonderful World: CEW is amazing as a villian.
Midnight Studio: I love the different cases and the cast.
Queen of Tears: Good job writer! This is the romcom I have been searching for! With a cast that ooze so much chemistry and love with a single look/touch and the tension from the villians!

Shogun ep 6 Okay. Things are heating up and more action this episode. The mother of the heir is back in the game and positioning herself as the boss against Toranaga and crew. So we shall see how this pans out next week. I am looking forward what they have planned to do for the thing.

Pyramid Game ep 9-10 the main bullies of the group are also victims of domestic and school violence. As much as I feel sorry for them, their own actions could not be excused due to the extreme violence they did to their peers. I do agree that the "bystanders" are equally at fault.

Queen of Tears ep 5-6 I am now very fiercely protective of Hae In and Hyun Woo's relationship. So much so that everyone that attempts to break them up is on my shitlist. And that list is long in seems, starts with the meddling Grace, Eun-bastard, fake Moh Seul Hee, Soo Cheol's wife and their minions.

Europe Outside Our Tent: Southern France ep 3-4 I like that each actress gained a clear identity with each episode. I read an article that Han Ga In gained an unfair image of not showering because of this show lol. She showers of course so I think its just with the awful editing in the first couple of episodes that the image just got stuck. While Jo Bo Ah gained the flirty rpincess image. Its because she is affectionate towards her unnies so much so that they do not know what to do with her (reciprocate) but call her "flirty". I rather like Ryu Hye Young's free spirit persona in the show. While Ra Mi Ran gains the mama bear role and Daksiwon owner. She also creates such unusual "fusion" meals that her cast mates seem to enjoy.

Eternal Brotherhood in limbo. I want to continue watching for LYN. If I do not pick this up next week, it is part of the list below.

Dropped:
Midnight Photo Studio - the first episode did not charm me enough to want to actually watch ep2. I rather let this go and move on.

WATCHING
Wedding Impossible: Although I didn't enjoy this week's eps as much as other beanies, I still appreciated the many ways this drama elevates itself from the traditional romcom contract marriage story. Looking forward to a solid finale!

The Midnight Studio: This just keeps getting better with every ep. Another beanie mentioned the organic and natural relationship of our leads, and I agree. These two actors match each other beautifully. I suspect the story is going to make a big shift now, and I'm intrigued about what's next.

Flex X Cop: 6 more eps to go. This show is such a gem. I love it when a team of actors works so well together to deliver a great story with high production values. I always watch the entire opening credits because the music and the clips are so good. There's only been one other drama I've done that for: Mr. Queen.

The Legend of Shen Li: c-drama I've never seen such a laid back, jealous ML in dramaland before. Like, ever. Even though it's part of the story, it still creates cognitive dissonance, lol. Maybe it's a xianxia thing. Despite that, the chemistry is fire!

COMPLETED
Chicken Nugget: Omg did I love this! All I can say is, it had to have been written by and for Gen X. Being of said generation myself, I found it hilarious. Stylistically and tonally it's highly unique for K-drama, and that's what makes it so much fun.

Have a beautiful week beanies! 🐥🐰🪻

Be Your Own Light: I really enjoyed this one. It's not a big, flashy show, and I wouldn't watch it for dramatic plots twists or swoony romance. However, if you're looking for a thoughtful, nuanced story about middle-aged women re-evaluating their lives and choices, it's lovely. It unfolds as a series of moral choices and their repercussions, and unlike many dramas, it never provides magical, easy ways for characters to fix things (well, expect for Liu Yu Ning showing up with cookies occasionally, which is pretty magical in my book). It's probably longer than it needs to be, but it also uses that length to suggest that change takes time, and that rebuilding your life isn't something that happens in an instant make-over or sudden epiphany. While that degree of realism can be frustrating at times, it also felt refreshingly, well, realistic.

HIDE (Ep. 1-2) The first moments of the first scene immediately reminded me of HIGH CLASS. Episode 1 packed in a lot of clues. But this kind of story has been done in the past: corrupt businessman, murder for greed, rigged litigation, missing husband under massive debt, and apparent revenge killing. One can easily speculate on how all the puzzle pieces fit together. Episode 2 rushes along with Na trying to unravel her husband’s debt and misdeeds. So far the show is good, but predictable. Lee Bo-Young is believable in this role. As for storytelling, we just have to watch to see how Na puts together the puzzle pieces to find the awful truth.

SHOGUN (Episode 6) The three female Asian American writers took charge of this episode as it focused on the women of the period. From Mariko, who was left for her family to complete their war, to her connection with the clever consort of the palace heir, to the tea house owner whose power and influence is great because she offers more than just prostitution to men, to the woman who services men by allowing them to fill of the empty space of being someplace they do not want to be, to escape fate for a short time. Instead of getting his freedom, Blackthorne gets promoted as the clan will mount a seemingly suicidal attack on the Osaka castle.

APARTMENT 404 (episode 5) This episode had a lot of clues that only people with large knowledge of Korean language could figure it out. (Yes, the show was made for Koreans and not an international audience, per se.) It did have a good story twist. Probably the best mystery so far.

Sword of Aramun. I watched this without watching S1 cause I figured between it having a different cast and a time skip, whatever relevant information for S2 would be shown anyway to catch people up and I think that's exactly what happened. I decided to try this solely for Lee Joon Gi. I have appreciation for it and I liked the acting and story telling. I liked it more after seeing the actors and director(s)/writer(s) talk about it because they made me notice things or insights I didn't notice before especially if it was related to S1.

Midnight Photo Studio. It's nice that Bom tried to be reassuring and comforting to the male lead (whose name I don't remember). I don't know why there was only one episode this week but I guess it was a sports thing(?)
I felt bad for the young driver because what can you even do when a ghost causes your and multiple other people's death? It's so unfair.

Chicken Nugget. Oh my god, I actually finished it! And I might as well not have haha. It was weird from start to finish and if there was a moral or point, it went over my head. (Well, that's not totally true; I did get the takeaway of "this is why we can't have good things" haha. I don't know if that's what they there were going for but that's how it reached me haha).
It's nice that the exists because it was probably fun for the actors and it's a different type of show and it's nice to have different, experimental things every now and then.
Did I need to watch this? No. Was this a waste of time? Meh haha

Wedding Impossible Will be sad to see this end. The FL lead is so good, but most of the world does not seem to appreciate her in this, so I'm scared she will have to go back to being an extra and never get a lead role again...
QoT Finding this quite intense, I cannot watch a whole episode at once.
Hotel del Luna Finished watching- this was what I was watching with my husband. It was a bit draggy the first 4 episodes or so, but became more balanced once we got some more time with the ensemble cast. The KSH cameo at the end was unexpected and fun. I'm not sure what we will be watching next, we tried 'While you were sleeping' but my husband disliked it. He suggested another Hong Sisters, Alchemy of Souls, but meanwhile we are watching a US BBQ competition show!
The producers kept me on my toes, I suspect there were a lot of in jokes that passed me by. And I'm glad that they touched on the mistreatment of idols/vulnerable young people, though acknowledging the problems is not the same as changing the problems.

My very favourite watch this week: the live streamed concert Follow Tour from Incheon by Seventeen, it ended just 15 minutes ago! Such fun!!
Second favorite: the scenes from Potsdam and Berlin in Queen Of Tears. Any other German Beanies here?? When we had the honeymoon scenes in the earlier episodes, I looked hard if that could have been CGI, but it clearly wasn’t. They must have shot in Germany for at least a week last summer, I guess that’s possible with Netflix budget and resources! Such great locations, locals, atmosphere, food and cameo by a beloved older comedian… even the hospital was a real German one. BTW Sanssouci is a real place and actually built as a park and castle to stay at without any worries.
Finished Flex x Cop, I would have watched for Ahn Bo Young anyhow, but this was really a surprisingly good show and I’m looking forward to S2 (minus the hard family drama and loss…)
Finished Hospital Playlist which I had started more than a year ago. Also watched Flower Crew: Joseon Wedding Agency for the eye candy and finished it by skipping every other episode in the middle 😊
Wedding Impossible is not quite as good as in the beginning. Opinions are divided on ML’s blue denim jeans that were featured heavily, I think they didn’t do him a favour. I also noticed the fit of FL’s dresses, she has an unusual figure for K-actresses. The wedding dresses all looked fabulous on her and her role and acting make her the best FL in a while! Midnight Studio is coming along nicely.
KDrama friend project no time to watch together, so no progress on The Impossible Heir, but we separately watch Queen of Tears and gush on Whatsapp 😉

b>WATCHING

SHOGUN
The show is rich in plot and detail. The cinamatography is beautiful. The acting by the cast, especially Hiroyuki Sanada whose presence is magnetic, is generally great. The only flaw is Cosmo Jarvas who is a near miss and outmatched by the cast—I keep wishing he had a little more charisma, was a little more handsome, or his acting a little bit better,—a little more something that would convince me that all Toronaga would have believed in his ulitity or that Mariko would have been moved by him. His character is so central, it is a little hard to ignore him missing that special something. But overall, the show continues to be grand and entertaining.

WATCHING, BUT ONLY RELUCTANTLY BECAUSE THERE ARE 2 EPISODES LEFT

WEDDING IMPOSSIBLE
I so liked Ah Jung as a plucky and fierce FL and the interactions with Ji Han were entertaining, especially when there was a lot of tension between them as their feelings developed. (I was less convinved when they started to declare they were going to risk it all for each other so early in their relationship and in their sweet mode, but it was fine.). However, using Do Han’s being gay as a mere plot device to propel the main couple’s relationship forward without giving Do Han’s story or character any depth or development this far into the show really has made this show difficult for me to enjoy.

REALIZING
I am in a Kdrama slump. I am tired of slew of recent chaebol dramas where the descendants are fighting it out for the company without the drama giving anything to care about why they deserve the company—competence, interest, etc.—other than birthright. In these recent dramas, the companies are often corrupt or aren’t companies that do something that seems fighting for other than that they make a lot of money and make the family very rich. I want to care about the people and care somewhat for what they are fighting for. I hope that there are some dramas coming that don’t rely on me being enamored of the rich or have family love be signaled primarily by who gets the company.