Current/recent:
Total Solar Eclipse, North America Edition: Suspenseful (will there be cloud cover 😬?), thrilling, and ultimately spectacular, with a satisfying resolution. Wish there were more episodes.
Lovely Runner: Aaaahh. What a great 4-episode kickoff. I don’t generally like seeing grown-up women and men in high school uniforms [yes, Elinor, we’ve noticed - ed.], but the leads are doing a fantastic job of bringing all the teenage emotions to the 2008 timeline while also showing heartbreaking mature regret, pain, and reflection in their present-day scenes. This is the rare show where I’m not worried about having enough plot and character development to fill out the episodes.
Midnight Studio: I can’t keep up, so I’m saving the odd episodes each week to watch with the following even-numbered ones. It’s getting a little flat and repetitive. Only Joo Won’s yearning sad eyes are keeping me in it.
Queen of Tears (to ep. 9): This is 100% a comedy from start to finish. You can’t talk me out of that, because that’s what’s getting me through. Also, I could watch Kim Soo-hyun cry for hours. I refuse to deal with any contradiction in those viewpoints.
Eye Love You: I’m struggling with the supposedly intelligent and accomplished FL’s flustered, exaggerated reactions to everything, but telling myself this is just a Jdrama tic I and I’m the one who needs to adapt.
Elinor’s Real Life: on hiatus, but expected to pick up again this weekend.

Older shows:
Come and Hug Me (2018): This got a little talky (as in, characters literally standing around talking for many minutes despite holding weapons in their hands) in the last couple of episodes but was still a worthwhile exploration of how and why someone becomes - or chooses not to become - a monster. A lot of the recap comments noted pacing and preemption problems, and I think this is better as a binge, or at least at one’s own pace, than it would have been as a live watch.
Semantic Error (2022): This is the first Korean BL I’ve seen and I fear no other will match it. The leads are immature, contradictory, funny, and hot, and the show features the Best Best Friend Wearing Animal Prints ever. 11/10, already rewatched.

Currently Watching
Carry Sun-jae and Run: 🏃‍♂️‍➡️❤️ Oh my heart!! The layers, the reveals, the feels. I love the vibe, the visuals, the music, and the sweet ML and FL; I want them both to be safe and happy and healthy and loved and *alive* 제발!!! The end of episode 4 was a gut punch.😭 Also, I'm obsessed with the EP of Eclipse songs they released!

Welcome2Life: (through ep. 19) I knew this was going to be a mystery/ action/ thriller, but I didn't realize it would also have humor! I loved his sweet little family. The cases are dark, and each twist is impressively surprising. This is so, so good - acting, writing, everything.

Missing Crown Prince: Dropped at Episode 1, 85% (*I apologize, this is a little rant-y. Skip reading this if you liked the episodes*).
Everything was a let-down after the fabulous Bossam. And holy cow, that was a gory start. Far too many squashy sounds for my taste, plus that butt boil - why??? The musical beats were heavy-handed, and the framing of shots didn't seem nuanced. As I feared, I found the ML to be aggressively bland, including in his line delivery. After he mildly reprimanded a scammer with the insouciance of a bon vivant playboy, and his brother sighed about his "famous temper," I had to laugh, because I never would have guessed that the script was calling for him to convey "angry" without that clue. I guess that's why they felt the need to balance out his milquetoast persona with a caricature of a "modern woman in Joseon" FL, which they decided was easiest to impress upon us with a montage of boil-squeezing, swearing, fist-fighting, and drunkenness. You know, to establish personality. The younger brother seemed interesting. Since I really didn't enjoy any element, it's a drop for me, which is disappointing. I'm probably more bitter because of how much I loved Bossam. Sorry for my sour take!

Miscellaneous
● The Legend of ShenLi (through episode 12) I love watching them flirt 😍
● SPY x FAMILY after seeing some Beanies talk about this, I tried it out (it's on Hulu in the US). It's quite fun, and funny! Also, with the dubbed episodes, it's nice to have something to listen to in English when I'm multitasking.

Lots to watch right now. My drama-loving heart is 😊.

ONGOING
Queen of Tears - Usual cycle of crying and squee-ing and crying some more (the ring 😭). At least this was a good week for Soo-cheol 👏.

The Midnight Studio - Not a fan of the all-crimes-lead-to-one-OG-crime style of storytelling esp. when the OG crime also conveniently involves both our leads 🙄. Still I like the gentler moments between the leads - them talking through the curse and the uncle's passing. Ji-won and Sung-ho is just tragedy in the making.

Lovely Runner - The way I screeched when she went back to the future (heh) at exactly the wrong moment 😭. Him being the one who saved her was a given but the 'missed connections' of it all just breaks my 💔. Creepy cab is reeking of 'there's-a-serial-killer-in-my-romcom' and I don't know how I feel about that yet.

Blood Free/ Dominant Species - I praised the start last week and have to praise the end this time round. That was properly exciting. But our super-smart soldier always (suspiciously) figures things out just a tad bit late - the ransomware, the Prof., the SUV guy, and even the traffic cop 🧐. The trinity of evil's plans are obvious but I don't think that's a downside - makes for good back and forth in terms of wins.

WATCHLIST
Will watch both episodes of Chief Inspector 1958 today.

C-DRAMAS
Best Choice Ever - This show is the perfect example of how evil the lure of a cute OTP is. Yang Zi and Xu Kai are the cutest bickering two-some ever but this cuteness means I'm also being subjected to the most annoying mom in c-dramaland 😩. She was annoying in the first five minutes of the show and she hasn't stopped being annoying even when I've reached Ep. 24. And that's when I've basically sped-up, forwarded, or muted every scene with her 😤!

At least I'm excited for There's a Lover in My Hometown next week!

The Midnight Studio: I really hope they are not setting up Ji Won to die. I understand that there seems to be a high probability of one of our main 3 living folks dying, but I hope it isn’t her. I also hope she gets a fabulous real life romance as well. I am also kind of annoyed our resident dead cop didn’t realize what he was putting his wife through until he died and can’t make up for it. That poor woman, I don’t condone cheating, but I get it. I hope she is able to move on guilt free. As for our OTP, I only hope for joy and happiness, even though I know tragedy is coming.

The Lovely Runner: I am still enjoying this and the layers of this drama. There is also obviously a serial killer, which is very annoying. It is too bad Im Sol forgot Sun Jae. It is nice that she is remembering him, but this is so sad. I am also betting the utterly adorable Tae Sung is somehow involved, and that is why he disappeared. Man, I hope this drama ends joyously because it really isn’t looking up.

Blood Free: The plot thickens. Smug daddy and son are up to some not so good things. They are looking for something, what it is, I am not sure. Grandpa seems to genuinely want to know who tried to kill him, but the son and the grandson want BF for themselves. I am assuming it is the AI they want, like the machine in Person of Interest. As for Chae Woon and Ja Yoo, keep the delicious tension going, it is delightful.

Chief Detective 1958: This was such a fun first episode. I love the feel and vibes coming from it, also the music is chef’s kiss.

Queen of Tears: Man, we only have 4 episodes left. What will the next 3 hours bring. I think the vault has already been emptied, so I care less about that, but I do want to know what Haraboji told Hae In. Bring on the tears Sunday, bring them on.

Live Watches
The Midnight Studio: Bom is Ki-joo’s safe person and this show feels like my safe-zone. Ji-won is so cute and determined in pursuit of her ghostly admirer, but I’m sadly hoping mostly for closure for both of them. At this point, everything is so connected to everything else that I’ll be surprised if the jerk boss at the food company and the criminal who killed our detective aren’t connected to the corrupt prosecutor/minister of justice guy.

Queen of Tears: I loved almost everything about these episodes but the reunion (of sorts) between Hae-in and her mom just didn’t hit for me. Her mom does not really have any redeeming qualities that I have seen, and her tears felt like too little too late to me. Yeah of course you’re sad and regretful now but would you have ever come to that point if your daughter wasn’t literally dying in front of you? I’m not so sure. But I’m more than happy to put up with her for the time I get to spend with everyone else, so carry on, show!

Older Dramas
Our Blooming Youth: If this entire show was just Hwan’s deadpan reactions to Myung-jin’s over-the-top everything, I would also watch that.

The Kidnapping Day: (finished!) Husband loved the final confrontation and the leads’ ending (and lawyer) but was stalwartly unimpressed with Jayden until the end (fair, he’s pretty one-dimensional) and was annoyed or angry with the doctor who wanted to “fix” her perfectly healthy child (also fair, she is terrible and I feel so bad for Byeol). We both could have done without the epilogue, which I had mostly forgotten about, but I loved this show all over again.

Random
Physical 100 (season 2): Three episodes in and it’s super fun again this time! Firefighter guy picked an idol because he thought he would be an easy target to go one-on-one against, but as anyone who has tried to do more than three kpop moves in a row knows, it takes more stamina and strength than they let on! At this early stage, I don’t care who gets eliminated as long as they put up a good fight first. Let’s hope they fix the totally unfair issues with the teams that plagued season 1 and got my fav, Jang Eun-sil, eliminated. Fighting!

Ongoing
Blood Free : Loving the fast pace plot and some solid casting choices. Wasn’t too happy with the ending of Ep 4. I hope it helps with the plot.
Joppa is 😍😍😍
Also, can people give Kim Sang-Ho a good role and not these shady character roles.

Lovely Runner : It oscillates from cute to silly/cringe. But for most parts I am fine with it.

Parasyte - The grey 4/6. No time this week.

Queen of tears : Last weeks episode felt draggier than usual. Can we focus on her treatment and not the slush fund please?

Nothing uncovered : I am weirdly hooked to this. It’s flawed and has questionable actions by the leads yet I see myself clicking play next. It’s about time the husband divorces her and moves on. He cheated and she doesn’t love him anymore and has moved forward to her next relationship. No need to prolong this affair.
Also, why is the FL always in trouble and the two men have to come to rescue her.

Shogun : What a fantastic yet devastating episode. I was expecting War but this was more than what my heart could handle.
Anna Sawai shined this episode. Her talk in the hall with Ishido gave me goosebumps. And Blackthorne’s offer to second her, he finally gets it. I am heartbroken.

“Flowers are only flowers because they fall”
On a lighter note. I saw this on the internet.
“Shogun is Game of Thrones if Ned Stark had been as smart as Toranga.”

Mask 18/20 eps.
Finally they are together and how adorable are they!!
The sister has completely lost it. I had hopes for her character but now she got blood on her hands.

Best Choice Ever (cdrama) : Ep 16
I binged this drama upto Ep 16. At times it feels dated or OTT, but it is working for me. The mother is truly something. I wish the father voiced his opinion a bit more. The engagement ceremony without daughters consent made me rage. I am glad Huan Huan finally spoke up and walked out. I don’t know if the mother will ever change. I get that she wants her children to have a better life but her constant disrespect for her children is hard to watch.
After Ep 10 there was a lot of Xu Kai. I love the bickering chemistry between the leads. And Nana is so lovely. Such wisdom and such poise. I hope to be half as awesome as she is when I am that age.

Dropped

Guess Who am I (cdrama) :
Hide : I didn’t continue past Ep 5.

HIDE (Ep. 7-8) With more twists than the root structure of a mangrove swamp, more questions are raised than clear answers. Now we have Daddy issues. This leads to an uneasy assumption that prim, proper and truthful Na may be an accomplished accomplice liar in the past when she identified her father in the morgue. Every main character seems to be dirty. Na becoming a case fixer and crime bag lady was bad enough but her ethical lapses to represent Joo is hard to swallow. When Baker Lady Joo wants Na to represent her “father” so Na can learn why she is being tortured made no sense. It was a simple assumption who Baker’s Lady’s “father” is to Na before his reveal.

The show is teetering on going off the rails with too many bizarre twists that leave logic behind in the dust like Cha conveniently burning Tae Soo’s passport or his crazy explanation of why he was there when the airport has the identity fraud at check-in station. Is Na’s old life is now paralleling her current life? Na identified her dead father in the morgue . . . did her adult life begin with such a huge lie? Or did she tell the truth which caused her dad as much trouble as Cha is in today? Does she have an evil sister who is good in the kitchen especially throwing sinks at anyone? The tight rope script is getting frayed in spots but its fast pace is still quite entertaining in its own right.

SHOGUN (Episode 9) Crimson Sky was not as expected (so far). While Blackthorne continues to be a lamp post in the center of high level society duties and honor codes activities, Mariko takes center stage to fulfill her fate. She is the bishop gambit in Toranaga’s multi-level plan. Her orders are to go to Osaka palace and return with Toranaga’s wife, consort and child. She is duty bound to that order but when Ishido says no, it sets up a societal battle with deep implications: Ishido is “not” holding hostages to cement his power but he will not “allow” anyone to leave. He cannot have it both ways as Mariko’s moves forces him to make a fateful decision: release her to allow the other regent families to go as well or deny her which solidifies the unlawful holding of hostages.

With elite Edo guards as her escort, she tries to leave the palace but she is blocked and defeated in the courtyard as the other hostage families and council members watch. When Mariko announces she cannot take this dishonor, she states she will kill herself at sunset (which blames Ishido for wrongfully causing her death which could set the rest of the upper class to rebel against him.)

At the very last moment, with Blackthorne an unlikely second standing over her, Ishido grants only her permission to leave Osaka. But that is a ruse to save face, as Yabushige allows assassins into the quarters to kill Mariko (for apparently showing him up). During the chaos, the clan is trapped in a storage room with the assassins ready to blow open the door - - Mariko fulfills her duty to her lord by standing at the door...

This is my ode to Tae-sung in Lovely Runner. Is it possible to be in love with two people at the same time because Sun-jae is perfect and heart-fluttering, and I 100000% ship him with Sol, but OMG, Tae-sung is my ideal type? He is so charming and charismatic, and I'm weak for flirty playboys. Everything he says makes me swoon. "Are you okay, girlfriend?" "Who won? (I did.) Congratulations." "(As for skinship...) How far?" And every time he calls her "Granny." Knetz loved Song Geon-hee during Sky Castle, but I didn't see his appeal then, and I had forgotten that I'd seen him recently in Joseon Attorney, but I now see the error of my ways. Can we get another "Pick One: Your Favorite Second Male Lead" post so I can claim him, I mean, name him? 19-year-old Sol's birthday video gave me second-hand embarrassment (Kim Hye-yoon is tone-deaf), but thank you, Sol, for celebrating Tae-sung's birthday with him and buying him seaweed soup. How adorable was he leaning on the giant teddy bear trying to gain pity, "You feel sorry for me, don't you?"?

I will accept Sol losing her memory from PTSD, otherwise there is no explanation for how she could forget someone as gorgeous as Byeon Woo-seok. It was so sad how she hurt Sun-jae over and over. 19-year-old Sol hurting him -- physically and emotionally -- was not her fault, but 34-year-old Sol hurting him by screaming at him at the hospital for saving her life when she wanted to die (she’s tried to kill herself twice), then screaming at him again over the phone on the radio (this is probably what In-hyuk told Sol that Sun-jae wanted to apologize about), and not remembering him on the bridge when he covered her with his umbrella (despite that, her bias-ing Sun-jae in the group Eclipse must be subconscious) made me cry. Our poor puppy suffered from depression in both his personal and professional life. Special shout out to In-hyuk for being the bestest friend for warning Sol to stay away from Sun-jae if she's going to break his heart.

I am amazed by the fact that Sol is not one of those delusional fangirls who want to date oppa. (I could never.) She loves Sun-jae -- as she confessed to him in her "dream" -- but only as an idol. She doesn't like him romantically. It has never crossed her mind that she could have a chance to be together with him and certainly not that he would ever like her. This really shows how casually us fangirls throw around words of affection ("I love you. I'll always stay by your side. I'll do anything for you.") to our idols. Of course, he would take it as a love confession and kiss her.

I'm obsessed with this show and its OST. I can't decide which song is my favorite: "Run Run," "Sudden Shower," or the remake of "Maybe (그랬나봐)" by Kim Hyung-joong from the 2003 film The Classic.

@reply1988 I promise I’ve read the mermaid from jeju but I’ve caught the flu and I can’t coherently gather my thoughts as you can probably see from my ramblings from this comment.

PLAYERS (Netflix film)
Wow this really impressed me, it’s not cringe which I usually expect from western rom coms and I’m a sucker for a friends to lovers trope. I actually think this would be an interesting kdrama adaptation

ANYONE BUT YOU
Yeah I couldn’t join my friends to watch this one cause I was sick, tho I saw it alone and meh, it’s probably best to watch it in a group and as an Aussie it was pretty cringe. Tho I did laugh at ‘look there’s Tasmania’ joke. I live in a state that produces the most vile politicians so there’s comfort that Tassie was the brunt of the joke in the film 😅

LOVELY RUNNER
My current crack, I’m obsessed and the fact I have to wait 5 days for the next episode is torture. Yes this is totally a kdrama (fan) problem which really isn’t a problem but still…

Lovely Runner in an embarrassing turn of events, I love this show so much that my heart actually physically aches when the leads are on screen - to the point where I’m genuinely considering just pausing it till it finishes airing so I can watch and have my heartbroken all at once or know it’ll be a happily ever after. The BTS clips are insanely cute too, both the lead actors seem so genuinely at ease and enjoy each others company (there’s an edit floating around of the all the BTS scenes where both KHY and BWS just can’t stop laughing and playing around with each other ARHGHH MY HEART).

Midnight Photo Studio lol can’t catch a break with the angst anywhere it seems, I just caught up and😭 Between this, Lovely Runner, and Queen of Tears that I’ve got one eye on, it’s really KTrauma month. Fighting Bom and Ki-joo!

Best Choice Ever the romcom is starting to slowburn romcom now, and sure it took us a while to get there but I’m glad they did pace it out. Also yay for not sacrificing the main plot line of the FL’s personal growth and development for the sake of speeding up the romance side of things. This is such a comfort watch now, especially because the mum character is starting to redeem herself slowly in this second half (which I suppose is the whole point of her arc) and you can see the cracks starting to mend.

Blossoms in Adversity another really sweet show that’s also a family centered drama at heart. The FL is such a fierce and loving character, and she gives so much trying to keep her family afloat, so it’s nice to see have her own moments of vulnerability too and the ML being the supportive anchor she needs to get through those internal struggles she battles but can’t voice to her family.

Journey to Love I’ve been watching this in the background and was loving it till I got absolutely blindsided by the ending. Did they really have to kill EVERYONE off???!?!?!?!?

Queen of Tears: 7.5

Missing Crown Prince: 7.0 Music in the closing credits somehow reminded me a bit of Faith.
A change from normal historicals -- usually the baddie is a senior official and the King/Prince/whoever is aided by some loyal palace staff. And just how did the evil/vengeful queen dowager manage to get all the staff on her side while she was confined by the previous king?

Lovely Liar Boxer Runner: 6.5 Ep 3 - Not sure if it's brilliant or a disjointed wreck or if I'm just confused. Maybe in a week or two I'll be able to summon enough brain cells to figure it out.

Midnight Photo Studio: 6.5 Sigh. Big Bad... connections... don't make it a good show, but make it an easy-to-follow antidote to Lovely Whatever.

Blood Free: 8.0 Like the two-at-a-time format. They can have cliffhangers that don't leave us hanging so long, but it's less overload than the Friday Night of Doom.

Chief Detective 1958: 8.5 Me: How can you have a show without ToD and batteries dying at the wrong time? Show: Cow of Doom, Snakes of Doom, Crapper of Doom.

Godzilla: 8.0 (Original J-movie from 1954 -- just 9 years after WW2) Watching it was an exercise it noting things that they would have done differently, or not done at all, if it hadn't been for the war -- primarily having a giant unstoppable radioactive monster crossing the ocean to lay waste to their cities, but also things like starting with some ships exploding and sinking almost as if they had been torpedoed.
My interest in this started with Drachinifel's recent Godzilla video, which in turn was inspired by a 2023 movie which Wikipedia says is the 37th Godzilla movie. Yikes! 😱😱😱
And of course I can't even think of Godzilla without the internet meme of him stomping a city but hurting his foot on the Lego factory.

Queen of Tears
Even if I knew what was coming and who was who in the rain at the end of ep 11, it still delivered the intended punch. I guess Queen of Tears is actually the title for the screenwriter who is trying to squeeze as many tears from us as possible. I'm glad she is not forgetting to balance it out by families bonding times, Bokja's love story... and Haein's no-divorce ring fitting. I'm also glad that Haein did tell Hyunwoo about her confusions after all.

Piggybacking Sun Jae
Wow, so many surprises, from early kiss to returning to the original timeline... to a potential killer mystery. I'm intrigued.
(I also checked the director and, among others, he did Mask and You Are Beautiful. )

We Are In Trouble, daily, 7eps
Stepsister is getting on my nerves.

Beauty and Mr Romantic, 2eps
Still no sparks.

Love on a Shoestring, 1ep
A Taiwanese drama about a frugal girl who catches an eye of a charismatic spender, because she is absentmindedly using him to escape catty girls from her office instead of falling for him! 😁 Difficult to say how this will evolve, but so far I like their chemistry.

The Midnight Studio Can I still hope for a reunion uncle-nephew?

Nothing Uncovered The past is still hidding a lot of things.

Lovely Runner The leads are so connected by saving each other, it's became a the chicken or the egg situation. I love them together, they're adorable. I like the other characters too!

Hide How can the husband hide his true nature for so long to her?

Queen of Tears I really don't care about the story, just give me scenes with the couple cuddling!

Blood Free I like the FL. Yeah, she's cold and calculated but on the surface, you can see she cares for others too. I thought after the explosion incident, the ML will be a little bit parano and will overact, but not at all, when his spidey senses woke up in the car, he did nothing...

Under the Gun I'm just happy to see Zuho in a drama!

Best Choice Ever The mother is unsufferable. I don't understand the FL who left the house to go in the nursing home of her "grandma"... it's so a weird choice.

Wonderful World It was quite a journey to write comments on this recap. For the drama, there was no element of surprise, so everything felt a little bit flat. I wished the drama focused more on grieving than revenge and mystery.

Queen of Tears - This one almost successfully forced me into tears. I won the fight though.

I know they'll recover from this. But I didn't know how intact they'd be. And just as if I knew, Grandpa Hong dialled things up to let it all crash and burn.

Nothing Uncovered - The murder mystery is the most interesting part of this drama.
Yoo Yoon-young is one smart psychiatrist. I knew she was playing her cards when she approached Taehoon with those photos. So imagine my shock when Taehoon went to arrest her without mitigating the consequences of her pranks.

Blood Free - I'm going to drop my bias and trust On San.
The shooting at the end of episode 4 though. It was quite unprofessional of Chaewon to open his body to harm in that manner. He didn't have to stand to throw away that grenade. Now he's taken multiple shots to his fine shoulders and arm.

With Wonderful World done, I am now down to two dramas - Queen of Tears and Lovely Runner.

I am liking Lovely Runner more at the moment. Hoping QoT wraps up everything well in the last 4 episodes and LR keeps the fun.

Hello Beanies! I hope you are having a great weekend.

What I have been watching this week:

_ Bossam: Steal the Fate (18/20).
This is a beautiful show. It probably is going to be among my favorite sageuks ever. Great characters, OST, script... I knew Jung Il Woo and Shin Hyun Soo were good actors, but I had only watched Yu Ri in Goho's starry night, and I think she is better here.

What I have finished this week:

_ Real Time Love (Four Seasons). If you are looking for a nice show or palate cleanser without almost any angst, you can try this cute minidrama (about 7 hours counting the four seasons. I was hooked, so I watched it in a day). It's very amateurish, in the first season sometimes it seemed the actors were ad-libbing and laughing for real.
The script has tropes and product placement, and FL's hair changes are distracting, but I enjoyed the fun and cute love story (love square).
Btw, Choi Hyun Wook's character here is called Ye Chan (similar to his name in Twinkling Watermelon).

I have also finished All the creatures great and small Season 4, which has been very good.

Movies:

_ Korean movie Decibel (2022). Entertaining, but that's all. There are familiar faces in cameos.

_ Perfect Blue (1997). A good movie with some intense sequences. Not for everyone.

COMPLETED
Eye Love You: j-drama I sort of liked this crossover drama. (How's that for a recommendation?!) I found the story and direction a bit odd and just couldn't relate to the FL's character. The second half was better than the first. There's a cute secondary couple and an easy-on-the-eyes SML. Worth a try if you're a Chae Jong-Hyeop fan. He's his usual adorkable self here. And the main theme song is catchy. I watched on Netflix but looks like it's on Viki now.

WATCHING
Carry Sun-Jae and Run: I love everything about this, including some of the unexpected twists in the story, like Sol having to contend with what her younger self does while she's "gone." The leads chemistry is just precious. However, I could do without the best friend and brother story, at least the way it's told here.
The Midnight Studio: eps 9-10 I'm still enjoying this story for its sweet romance and weekly ghost mysteries. The story is building well toward the conclusion, although 6 more eps feels a tad overlong. I might be ok with a sad ending... but I'm not expecting it.
Missing Crown Prince: The intro week was better than expected and I'm giving it another 2 episodes this weekend to see if it sticks. I posted a couple of long-ish reactions on my fan wall.

Wishing you all a great week! 😎

ONGOING
Queen of Tears - Enjoying the roller-coaster of emotions. Laughing at the ring part (Market research?), and feeling so sad for Hae In (as she just started to patch things up with her mother and her hubby Hyun Woo.

The Midnight Studio - One of the best Monday-Tuesday dramas that I've watched for the first half of 2024, thanks to Joo Won, Kwon Nara, and the touching stories.

Blood Free- This is the first sci-fi drama that I've watched from the writer of FoS1, and it delivers the cool world-building, JJH's acting. JJH certainly looks handsome in this drama, thanks to the suits.

Chief Detective 1958: The first episode of Chief Detective 1958 has obtained a 10.1%, which marks the highest average viewership rating recorded by any Fri-Sat drama to air on MBC, An achievement that MBC deserves as it simply returns to the crowd favorite... Detective Park Young-han. Lee Je Hoon did an amazing job as the younger version of Park Young Han and boy.... he can pull off comedic and serious acting in this drama. I can see that he is having a lot of fun in this drama as there are many funny and memorable scenes.
Hide: I love the twist and Lee Chung Ah is fantastic villain.

So, I spontaneously subscribed to the new Japanese drama streaming service, Doki. I’d been hearing about how good Brush Up Life (called Rebooting there) is and since my exams just ended I wanted to try it out.

I finished the show in 3 days and it really was just lovely. The message is simple, and the entire concept of being able to “redo” your life with your memories intact was done in such a charmingly grounded way. It had heartwarming humor and love between friends and family, and what else can you ask for? It’s everything that jdramas excel at.

It actually made me think a lot about my own life. I have done the “what if I could redo my life?” thought exercises countless times, and while I have many regrets in life, I’m always surprised to land on the conclusion that I would do nothing differently, because that might mean sacrificing the things I love and care about in this life. The way the drama explores these sorts of thoughts is very enjoyable, if a bit repetitive. I’m glad I watched it and would recommend it to anyone who wants a short, funny, feel-good watch with an interesting concept that also has an air of mystery and intrigue!

Does anyone else have this service Doki? What would you recommend watching? I am going to make the most of my one month subscription and watch a bunch of shows there. Next up I’m taking a completely 180 and watching Anata no Ban Desu/Your Turn to Kill. Will report back about it next week!!