ONGOING
Good Partner - Ep. 10 could have been a good closing episode but I'm also curious about where the story will go for 5 more episodes. Hope it holds up to the quality so far.

Black Out - Everyone is just a terrible person in that village. Jung-woo's life and family were basically torn apart by them.

Romance in the House - Tae-pyeong and Mi-rae's romance has been so sweet all through and paced just right.

Mom's Friend's Son - I get everyone's frustration with Seung-hyo but I just want to give him a hug. When he talked about being overwhelmed with emotions to the point of feeling nauseous and dizzy and not wanting to go through it again 🥺. Seo Ji-hye's role was nice.

Your Honor - Wondering how this story will wrap up given how everyone is equally awful and no one has any regard for the law, not even the cops.

No Gain, No Love - How nice to have a show where I laugh out loud frequently - "what about our Baby" 😂.

Perfect Family - Poor L 💀. That whole fire and murder scene was so OTT. I think the mysteries are clearer now but we still have 4 episodes to go…how many more reversals are left…

C-DRAMAS
Completed Are You the One and I liked it a lot. Both characters were individually strong but they were even stronger together and we got to see a lot of that in the last few episodes. Good ending too!

Go East (up to Ep. 31)- Still enjoyable but the fake Princess Yanle plot went on for too long. I like that the OTP weren't separated for long and solved their troubles together.

Melody of Golden Age - Up to Ep. 18 but my interest is waning and I don't know if I can carry on for another 20+ episodes…

Currently Watching
No Gain No Love ⚖️💍 I can't believe how good Shin Min-ah and Kim Young-dae are together - the casting director is a GENIUS, because the sparks are FLYING✨️ Kim Young-dae is really funny; his strength is in comedy. And Shin Min-ah is an absolutely charming QUEEN. Aside from the leads, the plot is fun - it reminds me a LOT of Sweet Stranger and Me, which was one of my early drama loves, so I'm thrilled!! Just from what I'm catching, I can tell there's a lot of clever wordplay that's going over my head, but the writing has been sharp and funny so far, so I'm excited to see what's next.

Romance in the House: 🏠❤️ Mi-rae and Tae-pyung are ADORABLE. I'm feeling sympathetic to dad now that we know more about his past. I want to see dad and Mi-rae's relationship be repaired now that we know about the hurt she's been carrying since childhood. "The best decision I made in my life was having you guys" - this conversation was a long time coming and much needed. The mom-daughter fight and how they made up was so real... is the writer of this drama an oldest daughter? I (and my friend!) Really enjoyed this week's episodes!!

Miscellaneous: I'm watching two C-dramas at the moment... slowly going through Are You the One now that the ending is confirmed, but I'm addicted to Melody of Golden Age. The ML is slaying... his eyes and eyebrows are doing a LOT of sassy and snarky, with occasional death glares and bedroom eyes thrown in for variety. The age of the lead actors is working SO WELL for the characters and their dynamic - their chemistry is in high gear! The FL actress is a really charming workaholic, and our dear ice prince has fallen for his on-paper wife. But she hasn't yet realized that his doting husband routine is both strategically convenient AND a reflection of his true feelings... oooo the tension!!!

In other news... Mom decided to rewatch Because This Is My First Life, which she watched early on and didn't enjoy. Full disclosure - it's one of my least favorites, and we talked about the portrayal of the leads' relationship as never progressing past transactional. Her final review: "It's 15 and 7/8 episodes of him being a glum robot and 5 minutes of him being normal. I liked it better this time but the payoff was too short." Now she's trying The Beauty Inside.

No Gain No Love: I am so happy he got a haircut; he could have kept the glasses though.

Romance in the House: I wonder what will happen to our couples in the last 4. Hopefully the angst isn’t too bad.

Black Out: Nasty, nasty, nasty work. What evil? I mean this is someone you loved, why not just blame a stranger. Insanity, this show is so well put together.

Good Partner: This case is so very very important. It is particularly important if she dies. That is usually what happens in domestic violence cases. I also found it interesting, if a client tells a lawyer they are going to kill someone, a lawyer can break privilege to prevent future harm, this is in the US. I wonder if SK has similar laws.

Love Next Door: Here is hoping the next two are better than last week, The Ex is back.

Good Partner (11-12): I don't think anything could've prepared me for episode 12. As hard as this was to watch, I do appreciate how they kept the tone very consistent. The show knew this wasn't the time to joke around. No comedy, no hope, but an episode that constantly fills you with dread and unease, and one that will most definitely anger you. Yeah, this was dark. Even the title card before the preview changed to a darker color.

Perfect Family (7-8): Episode 7 was crazy, so much happened. Episode 8 provided answers, even if I don't think all those answers are entirely accurate.

No Gain No Love (3-4): This show is a delight. From the first to the second leads, I'm so invested in everything. I actually haven't seen her in anything before, but Shin Min-a is excellent here.

Love Next Door (5-6): I really liked episode 6. And at least episode 5 had a Something In The Rain reference? That was the most fun I had in that episode, and I don't even like that show.

Revenant (1-2): Kim Tae-ri! Also, this is the first time I'm seeing Oh Jung-se in a non-villain role, so that's cool.

Be Melodramatic (6-7): Oppa! Oppa! Oppa Gangnam Style! I love Han-joo.

Come and Hug Me (29-32): The show might've been very surface level with it's story and themes, but I did really enjoy it. And I really liked these last few episodes. Jae-yi getting kidnapped was obviously predictable, but I love how she held her own against the dad (& the other woman), even while tied up. Funny how the one holding a hammer was the weaker person there. Pretty satisfied with how things ended. I wish Moo-won's romance with Yeon-ji was explored earlier, because their scene in the finale was so fun. There was so much potential there. Hyun-moo going back to prison was unavoidable, but I do wish we knew how long he'd have to go back for. As much as I liked his redemption, it also would've felt wrong if he just got away with everything. Also, I absolutely love the scene at the end where Do-jin and Jae-yi hug their younger selves. Beautiful moment.

Live Watches
Mom’s Friend’s Son/Love Next Door: I know some folks were annoyed, but I really felt for Seung-hyo this week and I love love loved the friendship blossoming between him and Dan-ho. I too am jealous of people with neighborhood friends! Mi-eum can toddle off until she decides to stop judging single parents for doing perfectly reasonable things.

Recent Dramas:
High School Return of a Gangster: (finished!) I’ve got to be honest, that was not the ending I was expecting! But I’m not mad? But I feel like maybe I should be? Is this how the webtoon ends? I honestly really liked this drama the whole way through, and maybe that is coloring how I felt about the ending. *spoilers* On the one hand, I’m so glad Deuk-pal got to stay. I think the great tragedy of Sae-gyeong is partly his obsessive father, but also that everyone sort of feels like they know him, but basically no one actually does until this ajusshi in a 19 year old’s body shows up. So I’m glad his best friend got to stay and I’m glad Deuk-pal’s dream of getting his degree came true. But it also felt very strange for the real I-heon to give up his life like that. I’m glad he got a chance to say goodbye but I’m still not sure what to think about it. And I wished a little bit that we could have saved Jae-min from juvie in the end, but I guess taking responsibility and making amends for your actions sometimes involves accepting your punishment. I’m sure Deuk-pal will make sure he gets his GED at least.

My Sweet Mobster: (3 episodes in) It took me a second to warm up to the FL because impersonating a police officer does not do it for me. Not that I think the police are untouchable, but I know how dangerous they can be, and watching someone pretending to be an officer and “arrest” someone due to a misunderstanding felt a little too much like a current event to me. But I have mostly recovered at this point, and I love the focus on whether people can change and not judging them too much for the worst mistakes of their lives. Plus the ML wanting to play on every single thing on the playground was super cute. Ready for more!

Older Dramas:
Happiness: (7 episodes in) This virus keeps getting more interesting. My partner and I are placing bets on who Halmeoni will infect first (if anyone), and we both agree that Mrs. Apartment Representative’s husband seems very expendable. Not what you want to be in a zombie show. As ever: I hope Seo-yoon makes it through this show.

Cinderella at 2AM (Episode 1-4) - Mood: C / C-
With a shitty mother that is shitty for plot reasons as the very first scene, I didn’t really have too high hopes for this drama. But I’m really impressed by some of the characterisation and I’m actually interested to see the lives of FL/bro and 2ML/wife and the relationships develop. On the other hand, the ML is just boring. Why is Lee Hyun Woo stuck in such a role?

Black Out (Episode 5-6) - Mood: C-
Hmm, I’m not sure if it’s good that the mystery seems pretty clear cut at this point with the doctor being responsible for Da Eun’s murder while Bo Young was raped by some combination of her male classmates, but the plot’s starting to feel like it’s dragging as the viewers continue amassing information that the main protagonists don’t have yet. And we’re only halfway!

Perfect Family (Episode 5-8) - Mood: C- / D+
Well, now that the secrets have been revealed, it turns out that the whole plot is just makjang and revenge from the past. It could be a crazy plot twist if both the bio dad’s and foster parents’ claims were off with FL as the true villain, but I doubt it.

No Gain No Love (Episode 1-4) - Mood: D+ / D+
ML’s probably FL’s foster sibling and an illegitimate chaebol child so that’s wonderful drama. Also, I’m not sure why I would be rooting for the CEO and the writer given the hate comments but the spinoff has spoiled the result so that’s just so great.

Love Next Door (Episode 5-6) - Mood: D+
Yeah, I guess we needed to resolve all the exes in the world before the OTP can fall in love with one another, but really, that isn’t great writing by any means. And the ML’s hot and cold with the FL because of childhood feelings? What is he, a child?

Good Partner (Episode 10-11) - Mood: D
Now that they finally got that divorce and affair out of the way, there has to be some plot for the main protagonist. But yup the writer really thought her being managed out of the company randomly was a great development. Just more toxic dads.

Romance in the House (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D
If you want to know why things are going so smoothly for all 4 leads, just take a look at the episode count: next week is the penultimate week, which means chaos. Now, there’s good and bad chaos, but this drama doesn’t really inspire much hope.

DNA Lover (Episode 5-6) - Mood: D-
You’re telling me that we’re supposed to root for the ML when he tries to force the telepathy and manipulate the FL? That’s not the only narrative downer as a killer has now entered the plot which can only mean trouble. We’re not halfway through!

Bad Memory Eraser (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D-
Of course they kissed before he finds out the truth about his first love: the show simply couldn’t pass up the lamest conflict between the OTP for the 3rd-quarter drama. There’s negative realism with the whole athlete thing: it’s just all plot devices?

The Frog: 7.0 (ep 5 / 8) This might (?) be your cup of (drugged) tea if you've been complaining about damsels who always need to be rescued or just keep tripping in their heels, or you want to see strong, independent women who know what they want. Or not.
- Without spoiling too much, there's a rare scene near the end of the finale where a woman trips and falls and then gets up without a man helping her.
- Earlier in the finale we see the daughter smack the baddie in the head with a shovel. Would have saved some trouble if she had kept swinging.
- At least I don't think we have to worry about Netflix' sequelitis, although maybe if the baddie comes back as a ghost or zombie...

Bad Memory Eraser: 4.0 Just when I decide to plow thru it for the Bean and cut my losses on the lemon shows that just started, day 10 happens with the goofy trip and the "snake" bite. Day 11 started ok-ish but then brought the Zipper of Doom. Argh!

DNA Lover & Cinderella at 2 AM: Dropped to make room for shows where I was closer to the Bean.

Romance in the House: 5.5 It's weird seeing a rare apparently non-evil chaebol dad played by an actor who is always evil. That Scooter of Doom was not exactly a high point in kdrama history.

Love Next Door: 5.0 (ep 4 / 6) Ep 4 - Living down to expectations re English speakers. Ep 5 & 6 - too long and too boring. I took a 4-day break about 55 minutes into day 6, which would have been the whole episode if the writer valued my time as much as I do.

Pachinko 2: __ The show is probably still 👍, but the subs I found for ep 3 were 👎👎👎. I'll try again later.

No Gain No Love 8.5 I still don't like Shin Min-a (a bit too saccharin/fake/cutesy) but I don't dislike her nearly enough to spoil my enjoyment of everything else. The script is fresh, especially by kdrama standards. Han Ji-hyun is cute and expressive even by the high standards for K-2FLs, which is saying a lot. And there's a cat!
- The twist at the end of ep 3 caught me by surprise, which just means I still haven't watched enough kdramas to anticipate the inevitable.
- The end of ep 4 wasn't a surprise -- we all know who the ML's bio-dad should be according to the laws and customs of Kdramaland, and how he landed his new job.
- If they wanted to surprise us, the twists should have been that the ML got the job by the official process, and the secret son of the chaebol is the cheating ex-boyfriend. Now that I think about it, xbf matches Mrs. Chaebol's description of her husband's dna.
- Asianwiki thinks Han Ji-hyun has a "2023" show that hasn't even finalized the rest of the cast. Maybe her performance here will help get the other show going?

My Mom's Friend's Son
Episode 5 nearly lost me, Paramedic Friend had no right to school Reporter about his daughter. And Seunghyo was too wrapped in his insecurity and was hurting Seokryu. Episode 6 was better - Paramedic Friend got a bit of my sympathy back when she forbade Reporter Single Dad to make sacrifices and I think Seunghyo was right in trying to set the boundaries (he should just choose a bit better way).
But to be honest, instead of the main couple(s), I'm currently more interested in and touched by the moments with the parents - Seokryu's (too) kind (and sometimes pathetic) Dad who would like to provide so much more and be so much more for his family (and omg Jo Hanchul is so amazing here!), Seokryu's Mom who must have had it really tough in the past to keep her family financially ok and who seems to have it difficult to show her love, Realty Agency Mom who lost her husband early... and, of course, Seunghyo's parents, with all their hidden sadness and loneliness - I'm waiting for Parisienne Diplomat Mom and Surgeon Dad to start (literally) seeing each other and making first steps to rekindle their love... and finally form a true family with their son.

No Gain, No Love
I have a loooong list of shows I want to watch and catch up with... and what do I do instead? Rewatch my favourite parts (*cough* a whole episode *cough* multiple times *cough*). And yes, Shin Mina sparkles and everyone is great, but I think I'm enjoying the most the direction, those sharp looks of Lee Ilhwa (+sound), the lightnings and cut shots during Chaebol Son's Discovery, the drops sliding down the coffee/milkshake glasses during conversations etc etc. And I freakingly love all the PPLs, they are hilarious 😂 (Secretary Yo and his popcorn 😄)! Or swoony, because that wedding proposal was one of the best proposals I have ever seen. (Episode 3 is my favourite so far, not only for that.)
This show is witty, flirty, funny and yet is not surfacing and can touch me deeply. Fingers crossed it stays good till the end.

Serendipity's Embrace
I finally found time to watch the last 2 episodes and I actually quite liked them? Maybe the break between helped (and Beanies' comments lowered my expectations enough 😅). Well, the teachers' love story was still strange and I don't think Uncle needed to go back to his ex, but the main couple was fine, trying to do their best, and I do believe that Male Lead was wrapping things up in the States and finally going to live his own life, without Mom the Grey Eminence.

Queen's Gambit - book
I can play only a very basic chess (I have a memory of a golden fish) and yet I was sucked in and finished the book in a couple of days. I could do without few things and I'm not sure Heroine would be able to handle her addictions without a professional help in real life, but that aside, I enjoyed the book very much.

LOVE NEXT DOOR (Ep 5-6) The worst kept secrets are finally revealed with not much fireworks: Seung-Hyo’s first love and Yeon-Du is Dan-Ho’s daughter.

The “first love” trope is one of the most unimaginative story lines in k-dramas. However, I do like the child actors playing the leads in the flashbacks. Mo-Eum has known about SH's feelings for forever, but apparently stayed on the sidelines to let it ferment like century old soy sauce.

Apparently, Seung-Hyo is a better detective than architect, easily taking down youtube blackmailers which shows how off-kilter the writing and production is on the show.

THE FROG (Ep 5-8) The second half starts with the impression that the Captain will take the story lead, but it is still Yeong-Ha’s nightmare guest. But he gets back at her by booking more annoying guests, pushing her out of the guest house while he flees to the woods. But she winds up manipulating a local policeman on vacation to mark her territory in the lodge. Slowly, we get a merger of the parallel story lines but we do not get a complete background on Seong-A’s mental instability. It turns out that Officer Bo-Min was less of the story that I expected as the chaotic, bloody ending episodes conclude with the frogs (the innocent victims) prevailing over regular justice. Overall, I thought it was a good series. Go Min-Si had the standout performance.

GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE (2004) Stand alone anime movie after the Major character “left” the series. It some ways it is still haunting about technology controlling people’s lives, especially relevant today with the surge of artificial intelligence.

Happy Saturday, Beanies! The whole week I was sick as a dog, moody and wanted nothing but to wrap myself in cats and sleep until TPOB release date I get over my cold, so there was hardly any drama watching, unfortunately.

MELODY OF GOLDEN AGE: Super behind with this one, but also plot seems to go where I won't not enjoy it so much anymore – misunderstandings, love triangles, toilet humor, dumb secondary romance idgaf about... Maybe I should just FF all episodes I missed or something. Or just drop the whole thing...

QUEEN WOO: Finished Eps 3-4 and holy moly, this drama never even HEARD about concepts like subtlety or character complexity, amirite? Everyone is sooo cartoonish, both villains and very few good guys, it's hilarious. I think I have to agree with the notion that this premise needed much more show to make the whole thing truly interesting because hello – palace intrigues with super high stakes are grand by default, they're supposed to be savored at comfortable enough to turn one's brain on pace, you cannot make them into quick action meals! KINGDOM you are not, show, sorry! And even KINGDOM couldn't wrap their story in 2 seasons + movie Also, did they just retcon shaman motives? Lmao! Girl, you saw a vision of King dead after the battle but stayed mum AND gave a brainless ladder climber a poisonous substance to roofie him with - you cannot now pretend you did not mean any regicidal harm by all that!

HAPPINESS (community REwatch): Oh, how I love the whole “run for supplies” sequence in it! Esp its ending with usually oh-so-composed-and-nice ML snapping hard – that was so great and cathartic! Pretty sure FL also low-key enjoyed seeing her “fake” husband in “bad cop” mode... Not to get spoilery, but this time around I discerned a whole brain rot deep analysis of leads relationship progression – based on their hug scenes in different episodes. Stay tuned for that!

“Drama news” segment :

- we're having another round of platform conferences this month – Youku's on 10th and iQiyi's on 25th per rumors, so expect more materials for the dramas you look forward to! #mybodyisnotready

- Tencent's LOVE BEYOND THE GRAVE (Dilraba Dilmurat, Chen Feyu, xianxia romance) started filming, looking all trendy goth:
https://x.com/Allcbizmelons/status/1830861805218078806

- as well as Youku's LOVE IN THE CLOUDS (Hou Ninghao, Lu Yuxiao, costume romance):
https://x.com/Allcbizmelons/status/1829453226187325847

- Youku announced I AM NOBODY S2 (Peng Yuchang, Wang Yinglu, Hou Minghao, Wen Qi, fusion fantasy wuxia) with a trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra-0oCy73PE

- iQiyi's SHADOW LOVE (Song Yi, Cheng Lei, political wuxia romance) wrapped filming and also gave us crazily epic trailer (OK, I take back my earlier comment about how he should never wear a mask again):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O8UntVuduM

No Gain No Love I'm watching it for Hae-Young. I love her strength and weakness. She could runaway with Sun-jae on piggyback, I wouldn't have minded. The ML is this perfect guy we know nothing about and I don't really care about him for now.

Cinderella at 2AM I thought the second couple would be more interesting.

Romance in the House The romance is cute but they're 29 years old, not 19.

Black Out It's so frustrating how everybody acted outraged when he came back when they're not innocent...

Good Partner I'm still trying to undestand Korean laws.

Love Next Door I love to see their feelings and dreams revealings themselves little by little.

Hi Beanies! I hope you are having a good weekend!

What I am watching:

_ Cinderella at 2.am. (4/10). This week's episodes gave more backstory to the main couple and were considerably better. Some new characters are intriguing (the painter, SML's wife...). Surprisingly the OSTs are very good.

_ Goryeo-Khitan War (10 out of 32). A classic sageuk, nothing more, nothing less. I'm loving some dialogues and the character played by Choi Soo Jong.

_ 9 End 2 Outs (4 out of 16). Another "classic" (2007) which feels so fresh and different from current shows. I think this is a slice-of-life more than a rom-com (not lots of comedy so far). All the characters are quite relatable. If you like the trope "from friends to lovers", you should give this drama a try.

_ C-drama The story of Minglan (30 out of 73). I keep watching it, slowly but surely. It's really good but not so bingeable.

_ Anime Kotaro Lives Alone (3 episodes out of 10). Cute!

What I have finished:

_ C-drama Are you the one? (Hidden charm). I loved it and it goes to my top. Great characters, beautiful sceneries and OST... The most "Jane Austen style" C-drama I have ever watched.
This show has made me a fan of Zhang Wanyi. He is an amazing actor.

Western shows:

_ Just started House of the Dragon Season 2.

_ Movie The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. For the community watch. It was flawed but lovely.

WATCHING:-

NO GAIN NO LOVE (4/12) - This is exactly what I want from my kdramas. Cute and funny with loads of heartflutters. I forgot the age gap the moment Shin Min-Ah smiled. Kim Young-Dae playing a 'saint' with his bad boy face is perfect - it keeps Ji-Uk from looking too sweet to be true. And Lee Sang-Yi is killing it as the goofy CEO!

LOVE NEXT DOOR - Halfway past the 4th episode, I'm struggling to like these people, especially the mothers. The leads as well as the second leads make no sense - professionals in their mid-30s aren't so childish anywhere in the world. May drop this one.

ROMANCE IN THE HOUSE (8/12) - The last two episodes were the best till now. The suppressed feelings are bursting out, and thankfully, these are mature adults who talk to each other about them. I was more excited about the older couple's romance initially, but the younger couple has been giving some serious heart flutters!

SEOUL BLUES (5/8) - So messy! The romantic manipulations just don't end. It's heart-fluttering and heartbreaking at the same time.

MY LADY JANE (4/8) - Why isn't this historical fantasy romance more popular? I'm enjoying it much more than the last two seasons of Bridgerton.

WATCHING AND EMJOYING LIKE COMFORT FOOD AND A CONVENIENCE STORE FAVORITE SNACK
Sometimes when I am watching shows, the company they keep really inform my reactions to them. This is really true of Love Nest Door and No Gain, No Loss , my current watches. Between the two, LND comes out on top. The long relationships between mains, their parents, and the various combinations of these six add a depth and nuance, much like a 100 year old soy sauce. How the mains act towards each other reflect a long history, knowledge, and patterns developed through the years, but also a reflection and reaction to their own parents’ relationships. Also, the nuance of the acting by Jung Hae In and the range of acting from energetic determination to wide infectious smile really has sold me on the fact that when Seok Ryu smiles, Seung Ho can’t help but follow. Each episode has uncovered and developed more about why they know and care about each other so much, as well as how Seung Ho has a lot to lose not only because of their friendship but also because her family has long provided him nourishment, stability and comfort when his parents didn’t. The show lingers with me after I watch it, and I look forward to the next episodes.

On the other hand, NGNL is like a great convenience store snack to me. It hits hard in the moment, but then after I watch, it’s gone. The writing is witty and daring, but sometimes obvious and deliberate, like its Fork Yu jokes. Shin Mina is doing a great job—she has the ability to make me annoyed with her characters like here and in Hometown Cha Cha Cha and still have her aegyo work on me and make me feel that she has a soft heart buried beneath the bristlely spines. I must admit I almost quit after Episode 1 because my irritation with her character was strong; however, I understand her character as my grandfather was always shared his limited income with those having a harder time than his family, even in very hard times, which left my mother feel both admiration for him and financially insecure and left my aunt bitterly resentful well into adulthood about the hardship he caused my grandmother and the family. KYD’s acting is more limited; for me, he works best when is energetically flailing or swaggering like a boss (see The Forbidden Marriage), so the lack of this end of his range to date makes him just okay for me in this show. I think the show will get better, but I find I am enjoying the childhood connection more in LND because it is long and sustained, and I have become tired of momentary childhood connections sustaining the affections of grownups into their 30s.

ALSO WATCHING
Pachinko. Season 2 has been a little hard to follow and disjointed as it jumps between multiple time periods. However, Sunja remains the heart of the show, and Kim Min Ha brings a ferocity to the role that keeps me seated. Also, Season 2 has much less Lee Min Ho, so that’s a bonus for me. (A Me Problem:...

LIVE WATCHES:

1. LOVE NEXT DOOR - Lots of drama this week but I'm glad that the ML is finally forced to do something about his feelings (he's not dealing well with them though) while the FL has discovered her new career.

2. ROMANCE IN THE HOUSE - Mi-Rae and Tae-Pyong definitely earned their first kiss and I'd say their romance is one of the best-paced ones in K-Dramaland this year.

3. ARE YOU SURE? - In the latest episode, Jimin and Jungkook are in Sapporo, Japan and eating their way across the city. It's a more thoughtful episode this week with them reflecting on past interactions with the rest of BTS.

OTHER WATCHES:

1. BRING IT ON, GHOST - I've finally finished this drama and it was a hilarious and engaging watch. Plus the happy ending for the ML and FL was definitely earned.

2. WITCH IN COURT - After the "false accusation" plot misstep in episode 2, this drama has become a pretty incisive look at how the justice system in South Korea fails women and children who are victims of everything from domestic violence to rape to sex trafficking. Lots of instances showing everyday sexism and misogyny and how it could be handled well too.

ROMANCE IN THE HOUSE (Ep. 7-8)
This is basically a family weekend drama condensed into 12 episodes, and you know what, it definitely hits the spot. It’s interesting seeing the family dynamics at play, I appreciate that our two leads are both mother and daughter and while their relationship is loving, it can also at times be suffocating

NOT GAIN NO LOVE (Ep. 5-6)
Booooo I want my convenience store flower boy back! Still the proposal was top tier television and they both seem down to earth, so I dunno why he has to be a secret chaebol??

Which goes to my second point, Lee Sang-yi fills the dumb chaebol role perfectly! Bro is seriously giving main character energy that at times I feel like it’s two separate dramas mashed together. I wouldn’t mind him working at the convenience store tho, I can just imagine the incompetence and hijinks especially if his secretary gets to boss him around 😁

LOVE NEXT DOOR (Ep. 5-6)
The episodes are too long.

I had to drop Personal Taste in the middle of episode 14. I really enjoyed it at first, but by then just couldn't take any more.
I finished Be Melodramatic yesterday. Also really enjoyed, but there were repetitive bits and I got a bit tired of the meta by the end. I rewatched the 1st half of Secret Garden for a Hyun Bin fix, also love Yoo In Na in this one; 8 eps were enough.
I think my next dramas will be Fiery Priest, City Hall, and Defendant.

Another good week in dramaland.

LOVE NEXT DOOR. I gave Netflix a premature "Love This" just based on Jung Hae-in's expression at the end of episode 4. Guy has some real acting chops. This is a good series, not perfect (as already noted, the hitting thing is repulsive) but the two leads are great and the cast in general is a joy to watch.

NO GAIN NO LOVE. They had me at 1:47 (episode 3), when Shin Min-a blurts out "I'm screwed" as she gazes in appalled wonder at her dreamboat husband-to-be Kim Young-dae. This is my happy watch of the week, a kdrama that reminds me why we've come to love kdramas. Zany, lovable, unexpected with a terrific cast, sharp dialog, irreverent. And, what about the great Choi Jin Ho walking into that door? See what I mean about unexpected?

ARE YOU THE ONE. I finished the cdrama series, and while I found it worthy of my time and mostly very enjoyable (especially the leads), it dragged at points for me. Just not quite crisp enough for my taste.

MELODY OF GOLDEN AGE. I'm sticking with this cdrama because I really enjoy the leads but again, not quite crisp enough pacing. When will they learn?

NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY. Oh lordy, I'm loving this cdrama (2017). Twenty episodes in of 74, so I'm not sure I'll stay the course but what a great cast -- master class really. Special mention to the veteran Taiwanese actor Morni Chang as patriarch and father to Wu Pin (Peter Ho). He turns in such a remarkably memorable performance. GOLD doesn't have a parallel to the great rascal Feng Shao Feng (STORY OF MINGLAN) but it's still early days, and I'm expecting a lot of Chen Xiao.

Finally, to those who commented on enjoying BLOSSOMS IN ADVERSITY (2024), a rare example of ratings rising after broadcast, and likely the power of word of mouth.

https://koalasplayground.com/2024/09/04/c-drama-blossoms-in-adversity-with-zhang-jing-yi-and-hu-yi-tian-steadily-goes-up-from-6-4-to-7-3-douban-ratings-months-after-finishing-run/

It's been fun watching No Gain No Love, reading the witty recap and the (mostly) enthusiastic comments. Of my other two rom-coms, I'm enjoying Cinderella at 2AM a tad more, but maybe because my expectations of it were so darn low. And with its touching brother-sister story line, fun subplots and adoring-yearning puppy ML for our down-to-earth Cindy, the second set of episodes actually improved upon the premiere. Whereas Love Next Door suffers from Unmet Great Expectations Syndrome, my bad. I still love parts of it (esp. when the Jungs hit a good note), but hope the show improves rather than dips (and episodes shorten, not lengthen).

All three dramas have interesting secondary couples, sometimes even stealing the scene from the main couple. OK, maybe the one in LND is a bit bumpier, but we got such a fantastic Ex GF instead. What a treat not to have the nasty 2FL, so that perhaps cancels out some of the other tired tropes?

In any case, a nice drama week for me. So I guess it's just as well Queen Woo wasn't available in my region (going by the Beanie majority).

Love Next Door I love Jung Hae-in and Jung So-min, but the writing just isn't working for me. It's coming across mostly as stuff happening to fill 80mins without leaving much of an impression. Granted I like some of that stuff, but it's not keeping me very invested in the show
No Gain, No Love The cutest proposal ever, 🔥 chemistry, humor of the laugh-out-loud variety but a show also grounded by genuinely heartfelt moments and characters who feel real- this show has my heart. I'm glad so many Beanies are enjoying it and I think we're all waiting to check off "cohabitation hijinks" on our Trope Bingo card

No Gain No Love: The reason to look forward to Mondays. It's delightful -- from the pure physical comedy (or is pure the wrong word?) of the repressed SML reading spicy novels to the poignant truths about family relationships, NGNL tickles the funny bone and tugs at the heart. Is it too much to ask that it maintain this level of excellence all the way through Episode 12? Please, please, please? 

Beauty and Mr. Romantic: On the other end of the spectrum ... but after all these weeks, I can't drop it now. Just hanging around to see Jin-dan finally get what's coming to him and rooting for Do-jun and Ma-ri.

Are You the One/Hidden Charm: Finished and have already started rewatching favorite scenes -- it was that good. At last a costume drama that got the memo about satisfying endings. Liu Miantang belongs on the pantheon of drama heroines. She and Cui Xingzhou -- after their unconventional beginning -- truly become couple goals: a partnership of equals, as he puts it. I love how these two incredibly competent people can be their complete selves with each other -- even petty, childish or vulnerable. The secondary couples are pretty great, too.

Melody of the Golden Age: Started out fine, but could be a drop if FL’s decision-making doesn’t improve. It’s frustrating when writers decide that ostensibly smart characters must do silly things in order to prolong misunderstandings.

Even after 3 years of considerable drama watching, I KNOW, yet DON'T know what I want from my dramas 😅 (or even, what I DON'T WANT from them). So I am yet again drama-less. Here's what I tried for one episode each:

1. Lady Tough (Chinese web drama): I thought it is quite well made and the humour is just my type. Yet, I dropped it! Why? Not because the theme deals with death of a parent (surprisingly, because I can't take that). No! It dealt it with quite well. I even loved the heroine's Fleabag-like snarkiness, and how it was dealing with the sorrowful realities of life in not the usual tearful way. It has a PAYWALL after episode 1 😒. And although it is less than 2 dollars, I don't want to subscribe yet another service for just one drama I am not sure about. But if you want to watch a Fleabag-like heroine (I love them), do watch Lu Lian's story (she is called Durian by her friends, after the spiky fruit by that name 😅). Here's the link https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMHobDMOyDN0BlTxRvRyjiz1Bs8V33RWP&feature=shared

2. Mirai e Kimi to. (Japanese web drama): Slightly similar reason dropping. But I liked this one lesser despite of the beautiful setting in a sea town. It follows the stories of different members of a family in an episodic manner. They are all going through different stages of life, apparently (only 1st episode is fan subbed to date). The first story is about the youngest daughter and her boyfriend dealing with confusions about her life-path as she transitions into youth. Again, it's a Jdrama, so they will do some Jdrama-magic. They have beautifully captured the two young actors, said things without saying them. Yet, I couldn't connect! Why? Because I think I've left that stage of my life too far behind to relate to their problems 😅. But if you are more empathetic than me, and more patient to wait for all subs to drop, the subber has linked the download links on the drama's mdl page... https://mydramalist.com/774385-mirai-e-kimi-to

That's it for now... waiting for some interesting (non-formulaic) characters who are ALSO relatable, or some slice of life that is ALSO dramatic enough for me... seems like it's too much to ask from all of my dramalands currently 😅

No Love, No Gain: This is the least serious show I watch, and the most enjoyable.

Jealousy Incarnated/ Don’t Dare to Dream: Because of the triangle dilemma … and another fan of Nurse Oh in the comments … I have been back, skimming this show. I have been so annoyed that she 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. Gifs coming up, if nothing else, then just about Nurse Oh. (Who is the secretary in It’s Okay Not to Be Okay , if you long for her subtle, polite disrespect.
Bad Memory Eraser: The chance of my shipping of the colourmatched couple to come true has grown. And I repeat everybody are good and bad. Oh, and I am happy to see the drama is strengthening the underlying sense that something is wrong when you have an affair with a client. Not least when his memory has been altered.
Good Partners: Mostly it moves in everyday-like steps, which is quite nice. I haven’t seen this weeks episodes yet, so I’ll just say that I hope office husband will get the help from everybody at the office that have felt lost without their Captainess these couple a days – help to show that the divorce section is important and that Captainess is exceptional at her job, - not easily replaceable.
Love Next Door: I am not very much into being horrible towards people because (you believe that) they don’t want to be your girlfriend. Time for that storyline to take a swing upwards, at least to a kinder relationship. (I long for Shin-yu, who repeatedly blamed FL for being so preposterous as to let him fall helplessly head over heels for her.
Community Rewatch:
Happiness: : I have waited patiently and look forward to watching ep. 7 and 8 this week. 😊
Finished Flowers in the Sand: Lovely Show. Adorable ML.
Not a K-drama:
Red Flag Guy: (On YouTube) Yeah, wasted a lot of time just agreeing with everybody about horrible behaviour. But it is soothing for the soul to see that young man running around with an enormous flag, mumbling fun metaphors for how he feels about bad behaviour in dating and in families.