COMPLETED
Heavenly Ever After - Felt like it lost its way on the road to heaven. If the character of Som-I didn't exist (as I believe was the plan originally), this would be a much better show. Still worth it for Kim Hye-ja's sparkling performance and a truly moving look at love that transcends time and even lifetimes.

ONGOING
The Haunted Palace - Old man Choi ended up being even shadier than I expected. I guess our King is about to find out some unpleasant truths about his own ancestor as well. Still mad about Bi-bi but everyone helping Kang Chul deal with his grief was nice.

Second Shot at Love - Liked the straightforward confession(s) though the twist on why he really cut her off was sad. Wish we'd be spared the baseball-cap-wearing-stalker storyline.

Tastefully Yours - Another show that lost its way - never have I wanted YYS off my screen more. It's only 10 episodes - why not focus more on our leads instead of all this past drama.

STARTED
Nine Puzzles - All caught up and this is totally Kim Da-mi's show. It also has some excellent cliffhangers (Ep. 7 for instance).

Our Unwritten Seoul - Managed to shock me with that fall from the window. Here's hoping things get better for both our sisters with the swap - more healing, less trauma 🤞.

WATCHLIST
Oh My Ghost Clients and Good Boy.

C-DRAMAS
Completed The Prisoner of Beauty. Despite some pacing issues and the usual unnecessary deaths, this ended up being surprisingly good? The process of moving from hatred to forgiveness and love was shown well. And miracle of miracles - LYN didn't die!

Started Be Passionately in Love. It's been a while since I watched a Wang An-yu show but he's still great at emoting through his eyes. Liking the show as a whole too - funnier than I expected.

Kept postponing Zang Hai Zhuan so I could give it the attention it deserves. Now I'll have to binge and catch-up over the weekend 😅.

Tastefully Yours: Aww we are through the halfway point and onto the angst. The deviation seems so random to me for such a short drama. However, KHN and GMS have good chemistry and are cute together. Obviously, the ex is a user and loser, sigh. Not excited for the angst but how will Yeon Joo trust again. Everyone she trusts just goes and betrays her, poor woman.

Second Shot at Love: I appreciate the writer trying to make her drama light, but getting sober is hard and sometimes it is good to show how hard it is. The sister relapsing was good to show, but the show seemed to play the dad getting the shakes for laughs, and it isn’t really funny. However, I am enjoying the banter between our leads. I also like that they are getting to know each other better as adults.

Pump up the healthy Love: Well, that took a turn. That was unexpected, I am still not sure what sickness she had, someone said cancer, but that wasn’t really clear. Also, this drama took a long route to getting Hyun Joong to realize he might like Mi Ran. It is episode 10 in a 12er. Well, I guess it is a good thing we only have 2 episodes left, because then the focus is only on the romance.

Oh My Ghost Clients: The first episode was fine. I was hoping it would be funnier, but that can still come, so I will try the next few to see if I like it.

Our Unwritten Seoul: I’m looking forward to seeing more from Mi Rae’s perspective. Also, please please please I beg writer, please let Mi Ji come clean to Ho Su, so we can move on from that.

Good Boy: This looks so fun and I hope it is.

Eagle Brothers: A custody battle?🤦🏽🤦🏽🤦🏽🤦🏽🤦🏽🤦🏽. I have better use of my screentime.

It is Always Midnight in Hagwon Episode 13: Changed this one's watching schedule to once a week enable me watch for longer.
It went south so quickly. Inasmuch as I loved Hye-jin's decision to forgo her materials, I didn't appreciate the push behind it. And now it has bitten her in the back.
The award for wrong timing of love declarations goes to Jun-ho. It is self serving and kinda manipulative at this point. And it is patronizing that not one character is telling him "is that what you're prioritizing at this moment?" The guy has a way of making a situation about himself.

The Haunted Palace Episode 12-13: What just happened? Who's in Gap's body? Gap? Kangcheori? Or both?

Nine Puzzles 1-6: This is nowhere near puzzling for me. I can't predict this yet if not at all but I don't see the puzzle in it.

Oh My Ghost Clients: 🤣🤣🤣🤣. I laughed more in my head than I did vocally. It is good.
Another Kim Dae-myung cameo 🤭🤭🤭🤭. HP viewers can relate.

Nine Puzzles (4-9): So many questions, and I suspect pretty much everyone at this point. The only one I'm convinced is innocent right now is Yi-na. Looking beyond the police, there's also something very suspicious about those psychiatrists. Hopefully the last 2 episodes wrap things up well, and we get some satisfying answers to our questions.

Our Unwritten Seoul (1-2): I always end up calling this Unknown Seoul (which I'm pretty sure was the original title), and I also think I kinda prefer that title? Regardless, I enjoyed these first 2 episodes. I really just want the best for these sisters, and I really hope they both find success and happiness in whatever it is they will end up doing. And if we can somehow mess things up for everybody at Mi-rae's company, I'll gladly take that as a bonus.

The Flower in Prison (43-47): Was a bit frustrated by episodes 45-46 as it just felt like the heroes were sitting back doing very little so that the villains could play catch up to the main story, but luckily episode 47 seemed to get things back on track. Tae-won finally found out Oknyeo is a princess, while Yun overplayed his hand regarding the guard that Oknyeo's mom ran away with all those years ago. I guess they do say that pride comes before the fall? Also, I obviously can't forget Tae-won's "may I protect you as your man" confession to Oknyeo. Yeah, that one made my knees buckle. Anyway, 4 episodes left! I'm expecting chaos, so they better deliver!

Live Watches
The Haunted Palace: (through ep 13) I think it was smart of the show to bring back Gab before the last minute - hopefully this will give us a chance to resolve some things before we head into the finale. I get why Gab thinks Gangcheol stole his life, but I maintain he died fair and square! And in more optimistic news: my long-awaited bromance between the King and Gangcheol is officially off and running!

Tastefully Yours: (through ep 6) I probably think that all female leads’ ex-boyfriends are the absolute worst, but I really mean it this time! I don’t even mind the corporate struggles as long as they are accompanied by found family restaurant business and believable romance. We still have four more episodes, Show, we can do it (할 수 있어)!

Dear Hongrang: (finished!) Things got wild, but (maybe because it was a book first) it all still felt intentional to me, which I appreciate. Jo Bo-ah went a long way to redeeming herself for me, and Lee Jae-uk was phenomenal as usual. I especially loved his confession scene - he had so much self-loathing that he couldn’t imagine his feelings were reciprocated, and the whole scene was just delicious. In the end this show kinda just made me want to watch Alchemy of Souls again!

Recent Dramas
The Art of Negotiation: (through ep 2) This is more fun than I was expecting, based on the premise. I get what everyone meant about the soundtrack, but it already seems a bit improved in episode 2 so hopefully it will be a little less booming from now on. It’s fun to see Lee Je-hoon in a role like this, since everything else I’ve seen with him has been action or action-adjacent. Ready for more!

Older Dramas
Weak Hero Class 1: (through ep 2) My partner and I started this show this week (since we finished Andor) and I like where we’ve come so far. Si-eun seemed already at a breaking point before anything happened and I find him super interesting. I hope they make the bully in his class a bit more complex though. Right now he’s trying to crush Si-eun’s spirit for literally no reason and that’s not super interesting.

EAGLE BROS (Ep 33-34) For the most part, the show is focusing too much on the really BAD story lines, neglecting the one love line viewers want to see, and keeping the leads romance awkward to mellow.

OUR UNWRITTEN SEOUL (Ep 1-2) Park Bo Young stated that her role as twins would be like playing four characters after they switch lives (but she admitted in an interview she only got paid for one.) It is a typical twin-switch drama but I don’t know if this series is going to break any new ground. It is not offensive by any means. Park is handling the parts well. I liked the teen actors more than the adult ones. I don’t care for this production packing in 16 episode runtimes into 12 episodes.

TASTEFULLY YOURS (Ep. 5-6) This week was a real downturn in the story telling. The sudden left turn to pack Yeon-Joo with a backstory, an ex-boyfriend, a cuisine scandal and dying mentor lost all momentum for the folksy reality of the Jungjae family, which by the way, is still broke but magically has money to rebuild, re-open and serve a mixed-family wedding event in just two days. The logical errors in simple plot points are more grating than scraping daikon on a box grater.

Watching
Two older dramas are my joyful watches right now: In Need of Romance 3 and High School King of Savvy are great fun so far. I forget how spicy and vivacious "older" dramas are!

Finished
Backstreet Rookie: This was so sweet!! It was occasionally hilarious, but mostly surprisingly heart-warming. The FL, Saet-byeol was luminous. She brought vitality (and chaos) to the ML. The ML, Ji Chang-wook, is a good actor (obviously), and he's also hot (obviously), so it's fun seeing him play a "loser." He may look like a loser, but he's a kind and honorable person, making it easy to see why the FL carried a torch for him for so long, while also questioning why the selfish, snobby SFL is with him in the first place. I thought the ML and FL had excellent chemistry, and I loved their relationship and how they were truly good for each other. But this isn't really a rom-com; it's more about personal growth (it reminded me a bit of Hello, Me!, but more upbeat). The ML's relationship with the SFL dissolves because she's insecure and not proud of him, and he gets to move on. But the focus is on the FL. What she most wants is for the ML to know that she's a good person, and for him to trust her good intentions after some initial bad impressions. What I most loved, though, was her relationship with the ML's mom. The FL had to take on a parent role far too early to raise her sister, even giving up her own chance to finish high school. Seeing the FL receive motherly love and care from the ML's mom made me cry. The mom's (and the ML's) words and acts of love and encouragement for Saet-byeol at the right times were SO SO NICE. She learns to rely on others and not resort to violence to solve all her problems. Don't watch it as a rom-com, watch it as a sweet story of personal growth. It was an excellent warm-hearted watch in between more stressful dramas. I loved it!!

Miscellaneous
● Webtoons: I'm caught up with (free) available episodes of a few ongoing webtoons. Disaster is Always By My Side is EXCELLENT and screaming for a drama adaptation (same author as See You in My 19th Life). Onsaemiro Never Changing is fine but more angsty. I finished S1 of A Martial Master Wakes Up as a Concubine. It has a really interesting plot and is HILARIOUS.
● Availability PSA: if you're in the US, Tubi

Nine Puzzles: 8.1 (ep 6 / 9) I won't know whether to like or hate the story until I see how it ends, but I've been enjoying Kim Da-mi's quirky performance.

Haunted Palace: 8.0 Good but not great -- except perhaps in comparison to Hongrang. Our sageuk face-off this season has a clear winner.

Our Unwritten Seoul: 8.0

Tastefully Yours: 7.5

Dear Dead Hongrang: 6.0 (ep 7 / 11) Show proved it was a kdrama by fading in the 2nd half. The love between bio-daughter and fake son is not believable or well done -- expected ONLY because kdrama casting works like that. But what really bugged me was in ep 9 when adopted-son asked the father to disown him so he could marry bio-daughter. I'm not 100% sure about Korea back then, but I think it was like Japan -- if you had a daughter and needed a male heir but wanted to keep the succession to your descendants, you would adopt a son and have him marry the daughter. Show has it backwards because it lets modern attitudes interfere with the history (?).

Oh My Ghost Clients: 7.0

Live watches

Super excited to watch Good Boy later so glad it’s on Prime so I can access it for free.

Second shot at love
I am enjoying this one but wonder what happened to the mum that led to her need to not only drink but drink to the point of being drunk.

Our unwritten Seoul
Having to wait for a few more weeks to pass before catching up on this one because I only want to buy one month’s subscription for Netflix.

Pump up healthy love
The sister and her always at it boyfriend were annoying me so I am glad they changed things up a bit with their relationship.

Changes of heart - J drama
Sweet friends to lovers couple growing closer as they navigate the highs and lows of a serious relationship.

My diary - J drama
Woman entering the world of work reflects back on her carefree days with her friends at Uni.

My second Aohura - J drama
A nice easy watch.

Completed
Head coach turnover - two episode drama
Recipe for youth - Cute webdrama

Film corner

Lovely scent
Shy man becomes super popular because he finds a special perfume that attracts women to him.

Life’s greatest gift - Japanese New year special
Woman finds out she only has months to live and returns to her childhood home to try to build a relationship with her widowed father. Its feels more like a play then a film with most of the scenes in the home. It feels like an older film but that may be because the budget went on the actors and the home is old fashioned. The husband and his dying wife are such a sweet couple it’s too sad they have to part.

Even if this love disappears tonight - school based film of the YA book by Misaki Ichijo
A girl with short term memory loss decides to have a fake relationship with a boy who asked her out, because it was the only way to save his friend from being bullied.

Lovesick Ellie - Japanese
Live action manga based in a school with a lonely girl posting her fantasises about having a secret relationship with the most popular boy in the school. He presents as a kind flower boy but she later finds out that he is rude. He discovers her anonymous posts about him and becomes intrigued by her.

A man in love
This 2014 film must be where they originally created the loanshark with a heart of gold template. He falls in love with the adult daughter of one of his clients and starts to change his gangster ways. Violence and death show up but it is an interesting film.

Green in my heart
Friends to lovers romance, made for tv? film.

Audiobook corner

In a world of lies I fell into an unforgettable love - Misaki Ichijo
YA novel about a teenager with a rare terminal illness who finds out he will die in 12 months. He decides to shut himself off from the world to prevent the other children being hurt by his death. He is given a chance to live a fulfilling year when he is invited to join a film club. This reads like they were thinking it could be made into a film.

Even if this love disappears tonight -...

Tastefully Yours More food less love triangle!

Second Shot at Love The story could have been told without a lunatic and violent father...

Oh My Ghost Clients Korean lawyers don't have the same code of ethics as my country...

The Haunted Palace This drama should have only 12 episodes... I don't really care about anything anymore.

Our Unwritten Seoul I really like the first 2 episodes. I wished Mi-Ji get revenge for Mi-rae at work, but she kept a low profil.

Nine Puzzles This drama is really gripping. I love our team of profiler-cop.

The Unwritten Seoul: Surprisingly very relatable. I least expected to like this but I do, a lot.
An Incurable Case of Love: I thought I was long over the days of watching a drama adapted from a shuojo manga but I forgot that my introduction to kdramas was exactly that (BOF). I loved this show and gobbled it up in a few days, sth I rarely do now. That suggests I really miss the old drama format, it kept us waiting for next episodes. I also miss tsunderes, it helps that here it was someone as hot as Satoh Takeru.
First Love: I tried watching this after incurable for Satoh Takeru but honestly, I'm not in the mood for anything moody or serious, might come back to it later.
The Prisoner of Beauty: In the minority that didn't like the direction this show took. You have an enemies to lovers setup, you can do better, make it more meaty. Instead this was a romcom. The first five episodes were so much better than the rest of the show.

I caught a bad cold last weekend 😩 but it meant lots of drama watching this week as I haven't been up for much else.

Last night I fell asleep after 15 minutes of Lost in Starlight, which was released on Netflix yesterday. On the fence about finishing it. Interested to hear if any beanies watched it yet?

STILL WATCHING
The Haunted Palace. I continue to love this, but I'm ready for the finale. It's amazing that the ending still isn't obvious, so, fingers crossed we get a creative and memorable one next week.

24-Hour Health Club. This actually might have worked as a 16-ep'er (or at least 14). What the short episode count!

Tastefully Yours. Feeling kind of meh about this week's episodes. The story isn't jelling. Too much crammed into too few episodes?

Second Shot at Love. On the other hand, I'm loving this story, which I wasn't expecting 🩷 Gong Myung is fast becoming one of my favorite actors. His emotional delivery is spot on. The crazy father back story is a bummer though... it would have been better for the ML to have a relatable reason for quitting drinking.

Our Unwritten Seoul. I'm genuinely surprised that I struggled to get through the opening week. It felt disjointed for some reason, and too gloomy. Mi Ji's whining voice was grating. Love the cast, so I'll give it another week. My reaction is likely due to my not feeling well.

Hot Spot j-drama. 3/10 eps watched. If you're a fan of American director Wes Anderson, this is for you! The humor is naunced/subtle, but the more you get into the flow with it, the more laugh out loud funnier it gets. Thank you beanies for the recommendation! (available on Netflix in the US)

The Prisoner of Beauty c-drama. 5 eps to go. It's been really satisfying. I'll comment more next week when I'm finished.

Youthful Glory c-drama. It's as basic as an historical romance gets, with little cleverness in the dialogue and weak direction. But it charms with its attractive cast, lively costumes, and creative background music. May not finish it.

Wishing everyone a great week! 😉

Hi Beanies! ☀️🏖️

What I am watching:

_ Haunted Palace (12 out of 16). I want to know what happens now after that cliffhanger in the last episode. Gap is back? Alive?

_ Moonlovers (2016). (13 out of 20). This show was a "must" for me. It had been on my list for three years. So finally I started it, but I'm kind of... disappointed? Disappointed mainly on the script but also on the terrible use of most songs (pop, rap, hip hop!) and editing. Only a pair of themes seem appropiate for this drama and are well used in the scenes, imo.
All the actors are good, and the instrumental soundtrack is very good too. The problem is probably mine, because I have not connected with this story. I'm barely feeling nothing for these characters. I'm rooting for Baek Ha (Nam Joo Hyuk), at least.
For many episodes I liked the Eighth Prince (a very very handsome Kang Ha Neul), but not enough to feel something for him.
That said, I can understand why so many people love this drama. That's why I say it must be a "me problem". Maybe I should have watched the Chinese original show instead.

_ Doom at your service (2 out of 16). An interesting start, but I'm confused with the the contract and the philosophy. A little messy.

_ C-drama Prisoner of Beauty (31 out of 36). Some episodes have very funny moments. I'm enjoying the comedy. Liu Yuning is so good at it! I am trying to avoid spoilers because the show ended two days ago but Viki is slowly releasing the last episodes. No episode today :/

What I finished:

_ Usotoki Rhetoric (2024). Highly recommend this j-drama. It was very cute and cozy.

_ Korean TV movie SF8: Blink (2020). Not very good, but I liked Ha Joon playing an AI.

_ Chinese mini drama Definitely not today (2021). Very good! Short, hooking dramedy. It told a serious/hard story, but the dark humour made it lighter.

Tastefully yours (5&6) - Where are the restaurant and running a business shenanigans?! All the food bits are still great, but really disliking the unnecessary love triangle.

Our Unwritten Seoul (1&2) - I really wanted to start this after atleast 4-5 episodes were available but couldn’t stop myself. I feel like I’m going to love this series. I have a sibling I’m very close to, so I was quite emotional in several places in the first two episodes. I’ve actually not seen PBY in anything in a while (an accomplishment I know!) and I think she’s doing a great job with both the characters.

Signal (4/16) - Started this on recommendations of beanies and really glad I did! Timey wimey plots can be a hit and miss for me but so far it’s looking great. Lee Je Hoon’s performance is ... interesting, I’m waiting for it to settle a bit but Kim Hye Soo and Cho Jin Woong are fantastic.

The Tale of Lady Ok (14/16) - We’re back full circle to the opening scene! Fingers crossed for a happy ending although this show loves to throw tragedy at our protagonists. Speaking of, does the real husband ever show up, or are we supposed to forget he existed?

Non-kdrama
It’s been a while since I’ve seen anything that’s not k-drama but I binged Department Q and loved it. It’s a Scottish version of a typical Scandi noir which is a genre that I wouldn’t go anywhere near. However, it’s set in Edinburgh where I lived for several years and curiosity got the better of me. The show is really well written with excellent performances and really satisfying ending, excellent for a weekend binge!

Viva la Vida Watching this movie (available on YouTube) starring the always adorable Teresa Li (kudos to her for showing herself without her usual perfect makeup) I thought about the usual reflection I have been making since I discovered Korean and Chinese entertainment. It's incredible how the West, the (alleged) cradle of religions and morality, produces garbage like "Dying for sex"; and for a similar topic, an atheist culture whose only God is the Communist Party manages to produce such a sweet, optimistic and humanist movie.

My Treasure Since Viki has fewer and fewer licenses for Chinese series in Europe, I signed up to iQiyi and I'm catching up on this series that I wanted to see years ago. Vicky Chen is really good and her relationship with her mother is touching and funny at the same time. Even though she's very young, she always manages to be credible, I wish her a future full of successes, even if it's unlikely that she'll have many important roles, since she doesn't respect the classic beauty canons.

Pump up the Healthy Love It's the funniest show of the year. I really don't understand why there are so many bad reviews.

This week I want to start watching Youthful Glory. Everyone speaks highly of this one and in my opinion the actress is one of the most gorgeous and sensual of the new generation. She was beautiful and stole the scene from the protagonist in Fake it till you make it.

Haunted Palace (Ep 12) : If we get the imugi pearl back, can we just regrow Bibi? I really love how this drama just takes care of corrupt ministers - like a bartender cutting off a drunk patron. The head eunuch arranging for special snacks for the mourning Gang-cheol was so sweet.

Tastefully Yours (ep 1-4): Took about the 3rd episode to get on board. I really enjoy all the fun flourishes, details, and quips that you can miss if not paying attention. I really want that beef-rolled kimbap. I'm confused as to why the ML has no personal funds. Was he just using corporate money for personal stuff?

Demon Hunter's Romance (up to ep 29): Banxia's ex-fiance: if no one wants to marry him, can I have him? What a ray of sunshine! The snake demon story is so bittersweet and the actor did a fantastic job playing dual roles. Paused here since it sounds like I'll need to steel myself for the next 7 episodes.

Youthful Glory (ep 1-7) I really wanted to like it and it seems like something that I would like, but I'm just not feeling it at all.

Happy Saturday, Dragon Boat Festival and last day of spring, Beanies!

CHEMISTRY MAGIC THE PRISONER OF BEAUTY: Wei Shao, babe, do I have a song for you^^
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_sLMwWJhDs

For the record: I did complete drama and have plenty to say about its final stretch, but that'd leave little room for everything before, plus not many people bothered with express package, so just know it's a standard cdrama HE, for better or worse. Now let's go back to episodes ~20-31. First must admit: at that point I've finally made peace with genre and characterization issues, esp ML's, that bothered me a lot before. Still think show should've leaned heavier into “ruthless to his enemies warlord” aspect of the role – I'm fine with him NOT being that towards FL anymore, but with all canal building, paperwork and forgiving undeserving folks left and right you kinda forget eventually that he was supposed to be THE baddest bitch alive of his time. Was it budget constraints putting cap on action scenes or censorship deeming the guy TOO murdery for an admirable hero and survives-the-ending material? What a shame! Blood never looked half bad on Ning-ge, and ML's fighting style intrigued me, it was unlike any his other works...Alas, huge loss that drama didn't give us more of this Wei Shao:
https://www.tumblr.com/dramagifs/784963216690249730/wei-shao-the-prisoner-of-beauty

But, otherwise I'm mostly fine with him being not that close to his novel counterpart personality-wise – far less of violently moody teenager and more like rash manchild with hardcore case of “foot in the mouth” syndrome must be them momma's genes. This whole scale of internal contradictions eventually settled once non-fluffy part of the plot kicked back in, and that's when LYN's performance finally shone as it should've all the way. Told ya he can do it when script supports him! Ep29, in particular, was a freaking masterpiece both in acting and storytelling (I think SZE herself peaked in Ep30, but she's been consistently fantastic anyway), pushing every possible button from comedy to romance to ANGST all in one. And unholy hell, the chemistry! I haven't seen such nuanced, emotionally loaded love scenes since TTEOTM. There were lines, but most got conveyed purely through different kind of tongue speak stares, gestures and body language, resulting in entire non-verbal convo! As if my jaw wasn't already on the floor from WHAT transpired, I couldn't help but be amazed with HOW. This won't be the last time, btw, but since we agreed to postpone finale discussion... And then epic mood whiplash not so long after – vibe shifted, their usual behaviors reversed, but intensity remained. This is why I love dramas – when they get it, they GET it. Can't wait to see endless Ning-ge's cringe mortification from questions about those scenes lol – sorry, dude, you'll NEVER live it down!