Currently Watching
Seoul Busters: 🚨🔎 Lol it's disorienting to see Kim Dong-wook being GOOFY and SMILING! This is zany, and I find it hilarious - I laughed so much! If you're looking for a realistic procedural, this ain't it. It's like the Pegasus Market of mystery comedies - it also has some warmth and heart. I LOVE it!!!

No Gain No Love: ⚖️💍 Another fun week!! I don't love it (not like I loved My Sweet Mobster), but the writing and directing are sharp, making tried-and-true tropes feel fresh and new. I can see what's coming, but it still hits like a surprise. Now smarmy ex has workplace competition from hot husband (lol). I think ML has a deep, affectionate regard for FL, but is afraid to freak her out by revealing his feelings. Hopefully next week brings some development on that front, because we're already halfway done!

Romance in the House: 🏠❤️ This keeps getting better every week!! What a great set of episodes! Mi-rae and Tae-pyung's romance continues to be sweet and perfectly paced, but now they've got some new dynamics at work!! Mi-rae and Mom continue to be the heart and core of this drama, and we finally get some answers on Dad. Aww FAMILY!🥹

In other news...: Mom dropped The Beauty Inside because the characters felt shallow. She followed that up with Secret Love which she said was "excellent, even though it's a makjang." She said Ji-sung was fantastic in it - she's a big fan of his acting.

Finished:
A Good Day to Be A Dog: I really enjoyed this!! It's very weird, and dark, and fluffy, and cute. The tone will either work for you or not, but it definitely worked for me. Park Gyu-young is one of my favorite actresses, and she absolutely sparkles in this role - she's energetic and lovely, and she has fantastic chemistry with Cha Eun-woo, in my favorite role I've seen him in. Yul (the nephew), the FL's sister, and their veterinarian friend are all hilarious, supportive, and ready to do anything to help our FL. I'd seen some critiques about a tone shift, but I'd argue that darkness is there from the beginning, and it was the insane original airing schedule that messed up the thematic flow. As for darkness... imagine turning into a small dog and losing your agency if you can't fix your curse...

COMPLETED
Your Honor - An appropriately bleak end to a show that seemed to suggest nothing is fair or just in the world. Unlikely to watch it again but the performances were great.

ONGOING
Good Partner - How tragic but true-to-life that no one took any action, in the abuse case, until it was too late.

Black Out - Well the friends were just as disgusting as expected. I have zero sympathy for the Chief - Geun-oh's death is entirely on him. All I have is rage for all these awful people.

Romance in the House - I'm glad the less interesting (non)mystery was wrapped up this week because I think the mystery of how he earned his money is going to be much more fun.

Mom's Friend's Son - I have a lot of thoughts that can't be condensed in this thread so I'll hold off judgement until this weekend's episodes.

No Gain, No Love - Lots of fun again this week. Makes my week happier when I remember odd scenes - like the CEO calling Ji-wook 'Lucifer' with zero context and then just continuing to do so lol.

Perfect Family - Wow the bio-dad is truly a piece of work isn't he? I find Sun-hui very frustrating.

STARTED
Seoul Busters - Some of the humour was cringe but there were also fun parts. Is this really 20 episodes though?!

C-DRAMAS
Completed Go East. I liked that it stayed mostly fun till the end. How refreshing to have the ML as the Consort.

Also completed Melody of Golden Age with some generous FF-ing. I doubt I'd have finished this if it wasn't for Ding Yuxi.

Planning to start Love of Nirvana today. Ren Jialun is generally great in costume dramas.

No Gain No Love: Ji Wook is not that good looking, I know it is part of the joke, but I find it hard to laugh at because they have done it one to many times and it falls a little flat for me. That being said I am really enjoying this drama. SMN and KYD play well off of each other. So I hope it continues to be fun.

Seoul Busters: It wasn’t as funny as it could have been unfortunately, but there were a couple of moments I laughed, and one where I laughed so hard, I cried. So I think it has potential, so I will continue to watch.

Queen Woo Part 2: Wow, this was very boring. This could have been an email, lol. Or in this case a two hour movie. I thought this was 8 episodes as well. The writer tried very hard to be edgy and modern, in doing so it lost the plot and most of the edge. Meh, it is too bad because they actors were doing their best with mediocre at best writing trying to be clever.

Good Partner: There really isn’t much to say about this episode. It was sweet and we are clearly nearing the end.

Black Out: SMH, I knew they had convinced themselves that they weren’t responsible. All these people are evil and they suck. I knew Deok Mi was involved. She has been sus from the beginning. Everyone is NASTY work, but she is DIABOLICAL for also cheerfully visiting him in prison. WOW.

Romance in the House: Awwwww. We have come to the end. I hope it ends well.

Love Next Door: Hopefully we make some progress here. We can just start with communication. That would be fantastic.

Cinderella at 2AM (Episode 5-6) - Mood: D+
I don’t think the mental health twist is as smart as the show’s writer thought it would be, also, the representation is yikes. It is also sad that the ML’s characterisation is horribly bad or that the two irritating colleagues hoarded so much screen time.

Black Out (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D+
As the 2nd half of the show begins, it continues to drag as selfish dads monopolise the screen time while shady characters remain hidden in the background. At this point, I’m not sure how there’s still 6 episodes left but I pray there’s any plot twist.

No Gain No Love (Episode 5-6) - Mood: D+
While I’m happy that the FL had her moments this week, the drama has all but confirmed the upcoming makjang onslaught in the 2nd half, so I’m anticipating her going into wallflower mode. I still think the writer should run from the CEO and mom?

Love Next Door (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D
Why have one ex when you can have two? But if you thought that was the only thing the show repeated, you’re wrong: why have one mistaken affair or one person with hidden feelings when you can have two? And then there’s the stomach cancer.

Good Partner (Episode 12-13) - Mood: D
The story does feel like it’s limping to the end even though the production called up Kwak Si Yang to deliver (and it was a nice outing from him) some energy into the narrative. The whole FL finding her own path arc is frankly just overdone.

Perfect Family (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D
What in the makjang just happened this week? We have strayed so far away from the main protagonist and not in a ‘oh the switch was intentional’ but in a ‘ah shit let’s dump all this exposition and backstory for a villain that’s not even compelling’?

Romance in the House (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D
Since the murder mystery is concluded in a blink of an eye and all is well for everyone, the show now manufactures conflict with the workplace scandal and uses the dad’s past to fill the time for the finale. It’s not terrible, but there is 0 draw for me.

DNA Lover (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D-
I mean, there’s a level of stupidness one must have before literally putting one’s life at risk for some abstract notion of fate. It may be soon before Lee Tae Hwan’s character goes down the drain because he saw the episode 8 kiss. Oh well.

Bad Memory Eraser (Episode 11-12) - Mood: D-
So the ML almost drowned and the FL/SML decide to just let him recover at home with the 2FL like it’s some fever or cold? I don’t know what to comment because the FL is supposedly a doctor but yeah, I just see the forced kisses and roll my eyes.

Fragile (1): Yeah, this is Skam, regardless of what they officially say. Everything about this show is Skam. Maybe they'll change it later, but so far, this is a Skam S1 adaptation, with that specific story & those specific characters. Even the scenes themselves feel like they come from Skam, just changed enough so it's not a literal copy-paste. This isn't a bad thing though, because Skam is a great show to adapt. And so far, I think they're doing a good job of aiming for that specific "Skam vibe", though obviously this does make the show feel quite different from the traditional Kdrama. Let's just hope they don't butcher all of the themes.

Good Partner (13-14): After the last 2 episodes were very dark, I'm glad episode 14 was a more lighthearted episode, even if it wasn't totally without heartbreak. The show also introduced yet another ferocious adversary for Eun-kyung: a door. Not sure who will win that battle, but I can't wait to find out.

No Gain No Love (5-6): Not gonna lie, this show caught me completely off guard. It wasn't on my watchlist or anything, and I only really gave it a chance because none of the other rom-coms worked for me, but I'm having the time of my life watching these episodes. It's ridiculously fun, but it still manages to make me feel emotionally attached to these characters and what they're going through. I love it.

Love Next Door (7-8): I'm still wondering what this show is trying to be. Rom-com? Slice-of-life? Melodrama? It feels like the show wants to be all of these things, but the show isn't good enough at any of these genres for this to even remotely work, making the whole thing feel unfocused and painfully mediocre as a result. And I really wish I wasn't saying this, because I really wanted to like this.

Perfect Family (9-10): It's honestly tragic how the lives of multiple good people were forever changed by the actions of one man.

Queen Woo (5-8): These 4 episodes were quite the action packed and thrilling ride, and I really enjoyed them, even if the show itself is rather flawed. The finale is pretty weird though, and didn't resolve much, instead it build up to a war that only arrives in the last 5 seconds. And yet I'm still kinda satisfied? I realized that maybe the entire show was really just about the Queen's journey to fight for what she wants, to not be a chess piece, and to ultimately accomplish her dream(s). Her original dream was to be a general, and since she accomplishes that at the end, I think that's kind of a fitting ending.

Be Melodramatic (8): I'm honestly really rooting for the actress and her manager. I love them.

Revenant (3-6): Kim Tae-ri is fantastic. Not gonna lie, her ghost/demon self was a lot of fun during the episode 5 after-party.

LOVE NEXT DOOR (Ep 7-8) Is it a rom? Is it a com? Is it a melo? Is it a rom-com with imposter syndrome?

THE ZONE 3 (Ep 2) I went back for another try, and this episode was worse than the first. All the money was put into the set design but the story/missions were just plan dumb. I just waited for it to end like the cast.

Cinderella at 2am, second episode
I commented two weeks ago that the first episode didn't impress me. Well, the second episode actually surprised me with its depth and I liked the reveals and conversations. This crisis seems to be a chance for growth of their relationship.

No Gain, No Love
This show is such a joy for me! 💃🤸‍♀️
Last time I commented on the directing, but this time I want to mention the writing - even a seemingly random scene or conversation often comes back and makes much more sense (or fun 😆) later on!
Like that interview scene at the beginning, the marriage responsibilities talk, the fitness lifting...
I also love the humour, like... ToD stopping with no problem (and that shot of the driver 😄) ...or peepholes 😂 (and oh so true!) ...and they totally got me with Baby at the end of ep6!! 🤣🤣🤣
And among all that fun, comedy and romance (yes, don't forget that PPL seat romance!) there is occasional poignancy, like when Jiwook explains why he married Haeyoung, I somehow wanted to hug him. 😘

Are You the One?, cdrama , 6eps
I got in the mood for something slower last Sunday than a kdrama and I had this one sitting in my queue for a while (the positive Beanies' reviews added a push as well), so I checked it out and I quite like it so far - Hero's Truman Show for Heroine (to catch up some enemy) is spectacularly backfiring against Hero and before he knows it this Mighty Oh So Clever Lord is falling hard for his Smart Fake Wifey 🙂.

No time for anything else (despite wanting to continue with MMF Son to form my own opinion after the Fanwall Eruption of Disappointment) <- a teacher in the beginning of a school year.

PS Anyone saw the remastered version of Kim Samsoon?

Completely unabashedly obsessed with ‘No again No Love’ 💙💙
Everything else has been dropped. Just rewatching NGNL episodes. The more I see the more details I get. I love this FEELS!

What am I watching this very moment? I'm in Korea, it's Saturday night and Good Partner popped up on SBS. I put it on hold a couple of weeks ago, so I'm watching to kill time before Love Next Door begins. Although there will be no English subs, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to figure out what is happening even if I don't catch the precise words. Like @unit and @mistyisles, the show has problems but it's my favorite right now.

A small little side note: our cruise on the Han River was cancelled due to gov't inspections, so our guide took us on a bit of a tour near our hotel, including a stop at the KBS studios when he heard I watched k-dramas. Since it's a Saturday, there wasn't much to experience but outside the door was a big huge wall mural for Beauty and Mr. Romantic.

즐거운 하루 보내세요. ("Have a good day" - and no, I haven't learned enough Hangul to do it - I used a translator. )😊

No Love, No Gain: This is the least serious show I watch, and the most enjoyable. Yes, please. 😛🍴 I have giffed a few scenes, like, the ML getting drunk from swirling around wine. It happens! … Apparently.
Jealousy Incarnated/ Don’t Dare to Dream: Because of the triangle dilemma … and @aweebit praising Nurse Oh in the comments, reminding me how much I, too, liked her … I have been back, skimming this show. I have been so annoyed that FL went back to that guy who was repeatedly so horribly, I mean, calculatingly mean to her that I had forgotten just how much good there was in that show, how many interesting characters and weaved-in stories. I even see more nuances between the MLs, though I still by far prefer the 2ML. I am starting out with a Big Nurse Oh Appreciation Post which I am still working on, but I have quite a few gifs waiting to show little moments of the rest of the show. (Nurse Oh is played by Park Jin-joo, also the secretary in It’s Okay Not to Be Okay , if you long for her subtle, polite disrespect).
Bad Memory Eraser: This is being very dramatic right now. I am kind of liking everybody, (though admittedly I seriously don’t get 2FL’s mother) but it would be nice if they had a position between “Happy” and “Suicidal”. Preferably a position that said: “Ready to talk things through”.
Good Partners: I really like the drama, but for some reason I kinda run out of words about it. If you are contemplating watching it, it’s a fine drama, it takes up a lot of actual existing problems in relationships, and also some solutions that can make divorces a little less horrible, at least after some time. Especially for the children who never asked to be torn in and out of relationships. I know someone who said she was SO happy her parents got divorced. But even for her it was not her decision; the grownups decide about their relation, and the kids just have to take it. Worst case scenario is to love your stepparents and stepsiblings, and then losing them after years of living together, because your bio parent doesn’t like them anymore.
Love Next Door: Oh no, can we please get rid of that cheater? Sometimes you can forgive someone for cheating, but I don’t see a good reason here. She doesn’t love him that much, and he is being horrible.
Community Rewatch:
Happiness: : I love the OTP, and that little girl. I want to hear more about that immune thingummy, I want my theory to be right, or at least partially right.
Finished :
Not a K-drama:
Octordle, Strands, Connections: Honestly, spent far too much time digging into the archive of Octordle. I like crosswords, too, but the NYT ones assume more knowledge of U.S. culture than I have. Like, the names of their “foot”ball players? Seriously.
Election Debate: Debate! We like debate, we love it, oh don’t we love our debate? But nobody wants to hear...

LIVE WATCHES:

1. LOVE NEXT DOOR - Well that took a left turn... Anyway, the last two episodes were still holding my attention but what in the makjang is Writer-Nim doing?

2. ROMANCE IN THE HOUSE - This is the one drama I look forward to every week now. I'm rooting for Tae-Pyong and Mi-Rae as always!

3. ARE YOU SURE? - In the latest episode, Jimin and Jungkook continue eating their way across Sapporo, Japan. Watching them constantly makes me want to grab a snack LMAO!

4. THE OLD MAN - Season 2 has just started that Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow continue to be an engaging duo in this action-packed spy/agent series as they infiltrate Afghanistan in order to go after their adopted daughter who was kidnapped at the end of the last season.

OTHER WATCHES:

1. INTO THE DARKNESS - I decided to binge on this drama (and finish it) because it's leaving Netflix on 30 September. It's pretty good as Korea's CRIMINAL MINDS. Kim Nam-Gil is top-notch in this crime drama.

2. WITCH IN COURT - The FL is being TSTL (Too Stupid To Live) in episodes 9 - 11. Hopefully she'll get back to being enjoyable to watch again.

3. OFFICER BLACK BELT - This Kim Woo-Bin movie just dropped on Netflix and is a pleasant enough 'leave your mind at the door' actioner to spend 2 hours on.

Is it better to be watching one show you love and a lot of filler, or a full week's schedule of shows that are just fine?

No Gain No Love is my current "one show" and it's been so much fun that I'm trying to stave off second-half anxiety. There are moments -- "smell of sunshine" being one -- of surprisingly poignant insight. And then you get a hilarious take on sageuk-style peeping and the exclamation point of the unexpected "baby." I cannot wait for Monday and fake newlywed hijinks!

Will be selectively fast-forwarding through the rest of Beauty and Mr. Romantic because it's too late to drop it now. At least Jin-dan finally knows the truth of his parentage. It's about time his self-importance was shattered. Pil-seung and Do-ra are nice enough people, but it's exhausting watching them deal with the irrational, self-centered, angry characters around them. The last time BMR was fun was the last time they weren't in crisis mode -- when Do-ra was the carefree Ji-yeong moving to the big city.

We finally got past the OTP misunderstanding phase of Melody of Golden Age, but the complicated court politics -- if I cared more, I'd need a chart -- probably mean there's more angst to come. The daily release schedule is nice, though.

Happy Saturday, Beanies! Due to sickness I haven't really watched anything, except of few scenes here and there, so we'll talk about my current watchlist next time, OK?

MELODY OF GOLDEN AGE: I think I'm gonna drop it – I've read spoilers, and aside of few nice bits seems like writing really took a nose dive. Shame. I'll tune in for a HE tho – there will be one, right? It's not engaging enough to pull a decent tragedy

QUEEN WOO: Another “read spoilers and lol-ed hard” case. They made it this short at the expense of having a proper ending? The nerve! Doubt another season will be made. Making me wonder, where all that supposedly big budget go?

HAPPINESS (community REwatch): on hold.

“Drama news” segment (too long, Part2 next week):

- Youku conference took place, presenting 92 (!) upcoming dramas praised for variety of themes and genres. We'll see about that^^ Most prominent projects got trailers, included recently licensed KILL ME LOVE ME (Liu Xueyi, Wu Jinyan, dark historical romance) – heard the source material is WILD, kinda intrigued now how much of its insanity makers manage to slip under censors noses)))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXnYl2tU6AY

- winner of the most generic title of 2024 THE BLOSSOMING LOVE (Zhang Binbin, Sun Zhenni, xianxia romance), looking like there's significantly more fanservice than plot, but that's not necessarily a bad thing...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6ta4M0gfnU

- if you agree that drama above was named badly, wait till you hear about LONG FOR FISH wish I was kidding lmao (Chen Feiyu, Wang Yinglu, xianxia romance) – another case of dark and wild novel adapted idk how and why. Props to people for still trying, I guess? Not my cup of tea, but that dual cultivation joke was funny^^
https://youtu.be/hNsEPj0I0c4?si=LXXFcbdzC0x-B9G2

and finally inoffensively titled THE ETERNAL FRAGRANCE (Song Weilong, Ju Jingyi, erm... xianxia romance?):
https://youtu.be/Ug4ChZxYMjI?si=4kLDVmz19Leqiljq

- while on about to air – today! - train is Tencent's LOVE OF NIRVANA (Ren Jialun, Li Landi, historical romance + revenge political intrigue, supposedly with emphasis on the latter):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwnhCUxRXO0

- iQiyi's DARK NIGHT AND DAWN (Chen Zheyuan, Nie Yuan, Xing Fei, Yao Anna, Republican mystery) will air on 18th.

also Tencent's LOVE IN THE DESERT (Hani Kezi, Fang Yilun, historical spicey reverse harem) is rumored to finally happen at the end of September. Yes, trust the penguin, it never baited us before!

- TSOPG couched up their first decently looking poster, yet gave us no new trailer despite perfect opportunity to do so. Ofc, there's no need to rush, it'll only air in a month or so...
https://i.mydramalist.com/E5Zk5l_4f.jpg

The gap between what's worth watching and what isn't is especially stark this week.

Pachinko 2: 8.0 (ep 3 / 4) At the start of episode 4 the kid is sharpening a bamboo pole. Yes, that was a thing. Preparing bamboo spears to fight the evil Americans when they invade. Good luck with that.

Bad Memory Eraser: 5.5 But decent 👁🍬

Romance in the House: 6.0 We need a limit/quota on shows where the ML is the secret son of the boss and shows up by surprise at the FL's workplace - max one per season across all networks.

Love Next Door: __ Likely drop, but if the FL wants learn to cook, I hope she knows to avoid ingredients that increase cancer risk.

No Gain No Love 8.5 Yah, about that limit I said we need...
- OMG! A (white) truck stopped!
- I keep cluttering my HD with screenies (mostly of the 2FL's many and varied expressions) but it's better to just save the complete episodes for later rewatches.

Fragile: 1.5 Lasted 15 min into ep 1.

Seoul Busters: 8.0 Finally a Disney show that's almost Disney-like (except for all the 💩). Park Se-wan hasn't lost her touch since her stint as 3.14159 in I'm Not a Robot. The lab tech's huge list of titles/credentials was a hoot. So who needs Boredom Next Door?

Queen Woo: 3.0 (ep 5 / 8) What was the point of the new bunch of crazies that attacked the old bunch of crazies on the way to prince #4?
For an easy +1.0 to the score, next time turn the darn lights on! Then lose all the other crazies & cultists. To raise the score more, replace the writer & PD and start over from the beginning. Keep only the chess pieces.
Since they left us hanging, are they planning to hop on the trend of unearned 2nd seasons? If so, let me know if they learn from their mistakes.
Meanwhile
- Ep 8: King (in flashback) cuts off the nose of a rebellious brother who he could have killed.
- Machiavelli: Men should either be treated generously or destroyed, because they will avenge themselves for small wrongs, but for great ones they cannot.
- Show (later): Told ya so.

Reading the prompt, I realized I rarely want to throw my remote at a show. Instead, as with LOVE NEXT DOOR, I use the fast forward button. And when I skip past the many elements I disliked in these looong episodes, I ended up with a short, sweet show. Ha.

Same goes for CINDERELLA AT 2AM, which added a clunky triangle and spent far too long going around in circles. It may be realistic in breakups but isn’t so fun to watch. But no ffw’ding Yoon Park’s scenes—so much fun.

As for what I want more of? Yup, it’s NO GAIN, NO LOVE. I love my rom. And I love my com. But I really love it when comes with a side of biting social commentary. If the second half is half as good, I think I may use my remote to watch it again one day.

No Gain No Love I really like the FL and her way to protect people but herself too.

Cinderella at 2AM It looks like a lot of pain for nothing for now.

Romance in the House I'm behind.

Black Out Protecting your kid is really a bad excuse.

Good Partner It's really nice to see how the relationship between our heroins grew.

Love Next Door Jung Hae-in said the 11-16 will be like a party, I guess I would have to be patient this week-end.

Seoul Busters I didn't think the investigation will last for more than one episode. There won't be a lot of them with 12 episodes. The bloopers were funny.

Queen Woo The best part of this drama was Ji Chang-wook and I'm quite sad the story wasn't about his character instead.

Currently watching:
TOMORROW (through ep. 11) - grabbed my heart from the first episode, and has both squeezed it until tears flowed (the Korean vet episode had me sobbing on an airplane as did the suicidal dog one) and soothed it with affirming statements about life.

ARE YOU THE ONE (through episode 20) - started with high hopes. But so far have been disappointed by the lack of real tension, the extremely pace, the supposedly perfect and understanding wife act of the female lead and the bland performance of the lead actor. I’m hoping things get more interesting now that the heroine has discovered the truth about who she is and that her “husband” has been lying to her the whole time. I love me a good romantic conflict!

No Gain No Love. I'm enjoying this and it makes me look forward to Mondays and Tuesdays can't come soon enough. I think what I like most is the maturity. It's grown women who act like grown, experienced women who have conversations that are frank and confortable. Even the more romantically inexperienced writer doesn't feel like a wide eyed kid/teen who just dreams of romance. I like that people are fairly direct about their thoughts and feelings such as when Ji Uk asked Hae Young about her feelings for her ex and Hae Young said her feelings are her business and they aren't in a place where she has to explain herself to him. Ah boundaries, they make it look so easy haha. I like the comedy. It often makes me smile if not laugh out loud. Some of it is due to the contrast with the cast & the situations. For example, the scene with the CEO struggling to lift the writer or the weight was funnier to me because I've seen Bloodhounds haha. The ridiculousness is fun and the more serious moments are played well too. I just enjoy this and I hope I can continue enjoying it.

Still 17/Thirty but Seventeen. I watched this mainly for Ahn Hyo Seop. I was the first time I'm seeing the Shin Hye Sun play such an innocent type of character. So far, it's fine and nice. I do like a found family but I did feel kinda bad for the friend. He spent so long looking out for her and trying to find only to end up a stranger on the outside of her new life. I did like the line about if you're confident and sure about your feelings, there's no reason not to be calm and collected. I don't know how applicable it is to all situations but I liked it in that scene/moment.

Love Next Door. I keep meaning to mention it but I like this english title more so than "Mom's friend's son". I just think it's more fitting to the overall concept and tone of the show. The childhood friends (main couple) next doors, the neighbors (medic & reporter) next door, and comparison between the loving vs not so loving households next door.

Sh**ting Stars. Watching solely for Kim Young Dae haha and his character's manager. Aww him. His heart is in the right place haha
I seriously wouldn't think the same actor played in both No Gain No Love & Sh**ting Stars. The vibe is so different (to me). Hair really does make a difference haha

Love Next Door: I'm still enjoying this drama. Seok-ryu and Seong-hyo aren't going to crack the top 100 kdrama couples, but I like seeing how their relationship rather than solely their romance grows. I really like this drama for the various interactions and themes that resonate. Also, I appreciate the sort of social/environmental awareness mentions in this drama.

Are You the One (cdrama, partway through episode 29) I love how the drama has a streak of absurdity that makes it fun, and the editing and acting really bring out the comedy. It can be over-the-top without being hamfisted. It's hilarious how the ML has managed to escape two arranged marriages with the most unexpected reasons. I shouldn't be surprised. This drama had a battle scene where the two sides were pretty much going "yo momma!"

Melody of a Golden Age (cdrama, up to ep 7) Romance + investigation drama is usually a hit with me. I liked the first episode and tried to push through 6 more until the drama can hit its stride. I couldn't get into it. Feels like a decent story proposal and outline, but the execution feels off. Sad it's not for me.

Hi beanies!

What I am watching:

_ Cinderella at 2.am (6/10). This series has some good and some very bad moments. And amazingly all must have been written by the same person. This week the bad and cringey sequences were too much. But I like the secondary couple (Yoon Park should have more screen time. He is great), and the new character played by Lee Hyun Woo (and his smile). It was fun to see Kwon Yul in another cameo.

_ 9 end 2 outs (15/16). I really love this drama, it's very hooking, but also deep. Yesterday I watched five episodes in a row. The script is wonderful, imo. This is hands down the best "friends to lovers" I have ever watched. It's a slow burn, because feelings are not easy to understand, nor are they a switch that you can turn on and off from one moment to another.

I keep watching the anime Kotaro lives alone (4/10) and the second season of House of the Dragon (7 out of 8).

This week I have left The story of Minglan and Goryeo-Khitan War on-hold (but I like them!).
Last weekend I finished the C-drama Are you the one?, which I commented on the previous What we are watching discussion, and these days I'm seeing video edits on Insta because I really miss the main characters.

ALL GAIN, ALL LOVE: Another winning week for me as a viewer of this show. Why can't all romcoms be this good? It's never not fun, even when it seamlessly slips into a more serious and heartfelt tone. Even the ToD's cameo made me smile (that thumbs up!). It also occurred to me that we're beyond the halfway point and the leads are still technically very much in the slow burn stage, and yet I'm in no hurry. That's not because I don't ship them--I do--but because the build up is so believable and full of moments like popping gummies into mouths. As someone who never drinks (my palate never matured beyond the age of 12, and wine and beer just taste gross to me), I especially appreciated that hilarious slo-mo scene of the half drunk, half bored-out-of-their-mind table. But I'm especially enamored by the second couple and can't wait to see how they evolve.

PERFECT FAMILY: The last two episodes consisted almost entirely of flashbacks which slowed down the momentum, weren't particularly surprising, and reminded me that my main issue with this show is that I feel no emotional attachment to any of the characters. I'm not even sure now what I want to see happen to these people by the end. Still gonna praise the eerie, poignant OST, though. Best thing about the show.

LOVE NEXT DOOR: Why, why, WHY is this show so boring?! Seriously, with this cast and a premise that practically writes itself, why do I struggle to stay with this one? I love these leads, I love romance, and I love cooking; I don't even mind the sudden illness trope (because it usually raises the stakes and adds an emotional punch). This should be a huge hit with me. I can't even feel sad at the missed opportunities. I'm just deeply confused as to how we got here.

The Double (through episode 29): I'm not always wild about some of the show's more makjang-y twists, but Wu Jin Yan is doing a lovely job as the lead, and I appreciate the fact that most of the villains have more layers than some similar shows (at least so far).

Good Partner 🥰 ep 12-13 I didn't know I could hate another character as much as Ji Sang. But Chun Hwan Seo is on another level of loathsome. Kwak Shi Yang made him so hateable that I wonder why he doesnt get enough roles. Also the friendship between Eun Kyung and Yuri is the best thing so far. I like that Jung Woo Jin was promoted to help steer the law firm to a better future. I still want his happiness and I hope he will achieve some semblance of it in the remaining episodes.

Perfect Family 🌞 ep 7-8 A character got more involved in the events shown onscreen. Accusations are thrown left and right all for their own agendas or is one side telling the truth. There are conflicting stories on both sides but I am more on the side of our lead family. I dunno why but they got my trust from the get go. If it turned out that they are the baddies, I need to rewatch the entire show. For now, I will go with it.

Seoul Busters 🦖🦕ep1-4 I was pleasantly surprised to see them release the first four episodes. I like the characters and can see how they can mesh well as a team. The comedy is alright but that autopsy scene ran too long. The maknae is well meaning but a bit slow so I worry about him. I was looking for the overaching story since this can't just be a case by case scenario weekly. There was a bit shown about the lead and his past story that may be the reason he chose field work. Too little was shown so will keep on watching this to find out.

Joy of Life S2 😊ep22-28 A lot has happened and the court intrigue is still amazing. Fan Xian trying to outsmart his enemies but is still being pushed to be a lone wolf. I am happy that the wedding finally happened as per imperial edict. It does come with its different set of troubles especially with the huge deficit that he has to solve. At least he is finally married to his drumstick girl. I couldnt be any more happier for him.

Story of Kunning Palace 🎶ep 19-23 I understamd now why I like this drama, i like seeing Zhang Linghe and Wang Xing Yue in one drama. I enjoyed them fighting for the FL. a lot of court intrigues are happening but its looks more like the Duke Xue needs to be taken down. I do not understamd why he did what he did but we onky get part of the story.

Jinny's Kitchen S2 🛍ep10-11 I finally got to watch the last two episodes. The food they made all looks good and wouldve loved to visit Iceland soon. Iceland is in my bucket list. My main takeaway from this show is liking Go MinSi. I can't help but admire her hardwork and stamina in dealing with all the work needed in the kitchen. I also love that she is just a typical girl that loves shopping since thats all she did on their free day.

Work has limited my drama viewing this last week- sometimes that is just how it is.

My wife and I have really enjoyed NO GAIN, NO LOVE and really hope that the show can sustain its comedy. Not since BUSINESS PROPOSAL have Mondays been so fun.

I am also enjoying CINDERELLA AT 2 AM.

My wife is staying current with MELODY OF GOLDEN AGE which is verry good. Her love of Chinese Costume dramas did not stop her from watching the fourth season of ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING which is now available on Hulu. She also watched the Chinese Costume drama NANCHENG BANQUET. It too was good.

Tonight, we start the penultimate episodes of BEAUTY AND MR. ROMANTIC. Time to tie up loose ends and lay this story to rest. This will not go own as one of the great Weekenders.