Beanie level: Noble idiot

I want to watch my first ever Cdrama, and I prefer a really good historical with beautiful scenery and costumes and a solid story, what will you recommend my friends?

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    Just suggesting some of my favourites – Love Like the Galaxy, A Dream of Splendour, One and Only, and Nirvana in Fire.

    You could try looking through the MyDramaList pages for these and similar dramas and see which one strikes your fancy.

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      As someone who struggles with both Xianxia and WuXia, I have finally figured out I can watch straight out historicals as long as there is no magic!! 🙂
      So the NIF and love like a galaxy you are recommending is great for someone like me.

      Zizi, since you are testing waters you might want to start with one from each genre and go from there. Romance of a tiger and rose (2022) is a light one to start with and it’s not too many episodes – 24
      There is a lot of humor too.

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        I struggle with xianxia too – all the misunderstandings 😅. Wuxia is tolerable as long as it’s fun enough. But I prefer historicals the most as well. Romance of Tiger and Rose is a good rec!

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        Thank you so much miso and blue
        Yeah I want to try all these shows but I was shocked by the no of episodes like 50 or 60 episodes sounds like too much of investment for start, so I think I will start with a shorter one
        I’m not a fan of historical combined with magic
        So I will start with a pure historical I think, thank you again ❤️

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    Joy of Life is my top recommendation.
    The Double, The Princess Royal, A Journey to Love and The Long Ballad are also great options which are also fairly recent.
    If you want to try fantasy cdramas – Love Between Fairy and Devil and Till The End of the Moon are my top picks.
    I am sure other Beanies will recommend more great cdramas.

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    Joy of Life, but you must keep in mind that there are two seasons and there will be another one (probably in a few years).

    I’m enjoying Are you the one? (or Hidden Charm) a lot. The writing, the pace, the ML’s acting… This drama is more romantic and intimist than epic. There are very funny situations too.

    And I also enjoyed A Journey to love, which is more epic than romantic. There are some great male characters and beautiful and moving friendships.

    If I had to recommend a xianxia (which means it’s pure fantasy) it would be The Legend of Shen Li. The main couple is memorable. And you will be delighted with the beautiful sceneries and music.

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    The Legend of Mi Yue (2015)
    The story of China’s first Queen Dowager . Stars Sun Li as Mi Yue . 81 episodes long. History, costumes, cast , story

    Not historical but a good watch. Eternal Love (2017)
    Adapted from the novel “Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms” Great cast and characters . 58 episodes

    Nothing Gold Can Stay (2017) From MyDramaList
    Zhou Ying is sold to the powerful Shen family by her foster father, yet successfully escapes by sneaking into merchant Wu Ping’s palanquin. The Wu family agreed to take her in after witnessing her remarkable business acumen

    Laid back compared to the other stories, based on an actual person. 74 episodes Nice costumes , Rags to Riches

    Nirvana in Fire as others have recommended. 54 episodes.

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    Try the Story of Minglan, the Rise of Phoenixes, or Story of Yanxi Palace

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      Thank you so much

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        If you like palace dramas, The Legend of Zhen Huan aka Empresses in the Palace Historical fiction. 76 episodes

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          From Dramawiki :
          A young woman born of the Eight Banners’ family marries the Emperor. After surviving many murderous scandals and betrayals, she prevails as the most powerful woman in the Emperor’s harem, the Empress Dowager. In the process, she transforms from a kind-hearted, clever girl to a power-hungry, manipulative woman.

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    In all honesty, if just for the beautiful scenery, you can’t go wrong with ANY Cdrama, even if the drama is CGI heavy. If for plot/story, it depends on what you’re looking for and how complex you think you want to go or how simple you want it to be for easy understanding just to dip your toes into

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    The Fairy and the Devil. It has my entire heart.

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Just finished ” a business proposal” …wow what a drama I enjoyed it so much!
I rolled my eyes at some tropes and ML acting and was just a little bored after ep 9 but overall it was good!

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Just watched Ep 12 of #LR
Our lead couple really loves each other, and that love is so cute to watch.
But they don’t listen to each other. They do exactly what the other person told them not to do.

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    Miscommunication and lack of communication are standard K-drama tropes but irritating each and every time. 😳

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      Yes, seriously, I hate it so much!
      It’s on 2nd place of worst tropes for me. After noble idiocity, that is always my no1!
      And It is this miscommunication that usually leads to noble idiocity.

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After reading beanies top 10 dramas I found out “Mr queen” is one of those rare shows that many people picked it as one of their top 10 shows but I didn’t watch it.
So I thought to myself let’s  give it a try!
First of all I should say I’m not a fan of Korean comedy shows, there are too many sex jokes and toilet jokes and I don’t really laugh with these jokes, for example I managed to watch Waikiki (1 & 2) just after 3 attempts and when my husband joined me watching them, and actually he was the one who liked them and his enjoyment made me enjoy the shows too. but originally I dropped them twice before.
Anyway I started Mr queen last night and yeah… all those sex jokes was really unpleasant to me, more than that all the FL dialouges ab how much she is sad that she is not a man anymore, didn’t make me feel good at all.
And after that scene in ep 2 when she said (while being drunk) that she lost her dragon and dragon’s egg ( really kdrama?) I was done and dropped it.

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    💯 The humor in the so-called comedy shows is a bit too crass and also gross. Beanies more knowledgeable than me can better explain the meta behind the chef and his rantings but I don’t think the show intends those to be taken seriously. On the face of it, indeed it is tasteless and off-putting to put it mildly.

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    I avoid most comedy dramas for the same reasons.

    Gaus Electronics was one of the rare ones that I mostly enjoyed, and even that I wouldn’t have gone past ep 1 had it not been for the Beanies posting the kiss scene all over DB 😄

    I practically set my teeth hard all through ep 1 . It got a lot better after that. But in Mr Queen I guess the whole premise is based on those jokes?

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      Exactly,I can be patient and watch the next eps but I thought that this is gonna be the main concept and the focus of drama till the end, so I stopped watching.
      But beanies here are saying it will die soon in the story so I think maybe I give it a second chance.

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    I have not watched Mr. Queen yet but Korean humor doesn’t always work for me either.
    Sometimes it’s exactly what makes me laugh and other times is simply cringey.

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      I feel the same about comedies in general, tbh, regardless of country of origin. I really think it’s the hardest genre to pull off successfully.

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    I join your on Waikiki, I struggled through most of it because some of the jokes. just didn’t land for me. There were good bits too, but many others that were just not funny to watch (to me).

    But I did enjoy Mr. Queen. Not quite for the sex jokes (although I do get why those are in here, coming from a proudly overly flirtatious man and waking up in a female body… yes, that was a shock for his own sense of self — they do die out pretty soon in the story) but that being said, I really loved how the identity boundaries being the modern chef and the Joseon queen are getting more and more blurred out, so that it seems to me like they both (the 21st century chef and the Joseon queen) fell in love with the king and the feelings came naturally.

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      I really loved how the identity boundaries being the modern chef and the Joseon queen are getting more and more blurred out, so that it seems to me like they both (the 21st century chef and the Joseon queen) fell in love with the king and the feelings came naturally.

      Yes! I love this description. This is how I remember Mr. Queen.

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    I’ve watched Mr. Queen twice all the way through and I barely remember the sex jokes. I really don’t think they carried through the entire series as I wouldn’t have enjoyed that either.

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Just watched “at a distance spring is green” final ep and i liked it, I think there is a timing for every drama. I dropped it once but I liked it in second chance.

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KHY is a really good actress, she is the only one who can show vividly the different characters of 19 y Sol and 34 y Sol, all the other actors do both TL just the same
34y SJ is a little immature imo

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    You’re right. Most of them stayed the same for 15 years, apparently. So that’s why they are immature. Sun Jae, her bother, In Hyuk, all the same.

    With Sol we actually saw the difference between a teenager and an adult. The Sol that used to do embarrassing things for her crush/boyfriend was one, and the one trying to save a life is another one.

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      Exactly! For example young inhyuk was really a good character and I laughed a lot when he was on my screen, but adult Inhyuk needs a good slap 😅 he doesn’t know anything about privacy or manners or even being a good friend, he is like a spoiled kid

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Wow I clicked play on ” pyramid game” ep 1, then I blinked and ep 4 ended, really liked all the psychological and social twists and calculations!…such a well written drama!
I can’t watch two similar dramas that 1 of them is doing far better work than another…. so I should say good bye to “impossible heir” now!

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    You should join us in “Pyramid game” hangouts!

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      Yes I was reading comments on hangout but I should log in to like and reply, and I was too lazy to do that 😅
      I will come again and comment when the next ep aired.
      Do you know anything ab the episodes schedule? Is it 1 ep every Thursday?

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    oh.. i read bad review and gave up on watching it.. but seems worth trying

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      Well in first impression it was better than “impossible heir” and I’m a little bored with “doctor slump”. but this drama was really interesting to me. and it’s a 10 ep drama so, It really worth trying.

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    Impossible Heir is similar to Pyramid Game? How so, seems different from the synopsis. BTW I’ve only seen the former so will appreciate some context.

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      The power games and all the calculations ML/FL does in their head and trying to get past rivals seems similar. If you were interested in impossible heir, I think pyramid game did it better.

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        Thank you for explaining. I find it very triggering to watch bullying scenes and even gave The Glory a miss. All these glowing reviews of Pyramid Game are very tempting. 😊

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          Well I think the Glory was too much, I struggled to watch it every episode but just 2 scenes in this drama was hard for me to watch (till end of ep 4), so I think it’s an easier watch than dramas like the Glory or king of the pigs…

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            That is reassuring. I had trouble with The Uncanny Counter which was apparently very mild in comparison.

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            @seeker oh I didn’t watch The Uncanny Counter so I can’t judge it, anyway if the issue is triggering for you, you don’t need to watch it, there are so many kdramas out there and I can’t say “Pyramid game” is any kind of a hidden jem or a Must watch drama, we are just half the way and it can get bad anytime. If it’s making you feel upset or hurt your feeling don’t watch it, it’s OK. 🥰 our mental health is way moreee important than catching up on dramas.💐

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            Usually I’m okay even with dark dramas but bullying is a weak spot for me. Thanks for posting. I will enjoy this second hand. 😊 Since there are no recaps I love reads comments / posts by watchers.

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            * reading comments

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Catching up on Dr Slump ep 9 & 10:
Thank you for warning me beanies, I FFed all the surgery scenes ( with semi closed eyes) 😅 🙏

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First impression of “impossible hier” :
It seems like a not so well_written and not so well_acted “money flower” to me.
But I LOVE MF so….. let’s continue for now…

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And the actress grown on me, I could feel the chemistry at last 3 eps, I’m looking forward to see her in more projects + Samson+ officer Jung I loved these 2 characters soooooo much.

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Just finished “Matchmakers”

* BE AWARE OF UPCOMING SPOILERS FOR MATCHMAKERS*

Some people were not satisfied by the ending so I wasn’t ready to press play button on ep 16 but I finally did, and I LOVED IT it was really a good ending.
I loved this show from ep 1 to 9 then I struggled a bit at ep 9 to 12 I even thought about dropping this show but I stayed for secondary couples and bromances I liked so much. (like Samson and officer Jung, shim Jung woo and officer Jung, SJW and the king, SJW and his servant, Dori and Shiyeol, Seon doek and her MIL, SD and her brother, SD and Samson…) actually they made so many good r/s other than main storyline that you could watch the show just for those r/s and stay with the show till the end. so I stayed and it become suddenly my favorite show again. I LOVED ep 13 to 16 to the bits (yes I’m pretending that CP and Hana didn’t happen, they weren’t even dramatically interesting, let alone issues I had with CP actually being a little boy) anyway the show repaired itself again.
I should give it 8.5 from 10
If it wasn’t for some boring filler eps I would give it a 9.5!
I know I am late and probably all of you have already seen it but it’s a MUST WATCH! don’t miss it.

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I think kodra overstepped in assuming things. but calling her opinions “poop” was too much. I think you hurt her feelings everyone. That was harsh!

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    It’s all your fault! 🤣🤣🤣
    My feelings are fine and so are my opinions. I wonder though why so many are defending and accepting such relationships. The response I got was exactly what I expected, LOL.

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So what happened to Jung Ryowon and Wie Hajoon drama from “spring night” PD? I really need it sooooooon!

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I really like ” the Matchmakers” ,I love the plot, the cast and the cinematography.
But I just don’t feel the chemistry!
I mean when jang hyun hugged Gil chea or kissed her, I remember how I was muffled screaming behind my pillow and grinning from ear to ear, or when Jo insung just suggested Han hyujoo to drink a cup of coffee with him my neighbours heard me screaming like banshees, but when something happens with Rowoon and lady yoju I’m just like : “yeah well they are cute and it is the time for them to hold hands … or confess their feelings…”
I think maybe it was a little soon for FL to be a lead in a drama and whenever i saw her acting, she wasn’t in an active love relationship. I saw her as a little sister, and i think she is doing good in that aspect but a love r/s needs you to really express love with all you body and face and she doesn’t do that.
She is good in family love, but not a man and woman love!

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    I agree that the actress is not really ready for a big romance. But it didn’t bother me in this drama because it wasn’t needed in this drama. You compare very different stories, eras, characters and stories…

    This couple couldn’t be together, their whole relationship was about restraining their feelings. Just being together was already forbidden for them, she was a widow, she couldn’t be with a man alone. But the building of their feelings was really well written.

    In My Dearest, the couple was badly written for me. When people are lying and hurting each other during the whole drama, it’s better to be separated 😅

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      Uhmmm I think you can still have a romance when you don’t want to start a romance but you are developing feelings out of your control, many actors in kdramaland had such characters and they did good. It’s almost a trope. “I love you but I can’t be with you”
      But I am agree that the whole point of this show is not romance and it is still good without a strong one.
      In My Dearest the relationship wasn’t that healthy and the characters had serious flaws (lack of honesty is on the top) but chemistry was very good imo.

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        But there was romance. But it wasn’t a physical one. It was more about the characters accepting these new feelings and trying to handling them in this society that won’t accept them.

        But I don’t agree about the fact they didn’t have any chemistry. It was very subtil but the scene where their hands were touching was great. It was a little touch but then, it moved them a lot.

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          You are right that scene was 1 of the few scenes that I felt chemistry but they are like 2 or 3 moments in 10 eps and I think it’s not enough for a strong romance.

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    I also noticed that lack of chemistry (such a shame!), but in the end I assumed it was like that and it didn’t cast a shadow over my enjoyment of the whole show.

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      Yes it’s not that bothering and I still enjoy the show so much, but tbh Rowoon is soooo good in expressing his feeling and super cute, I just think it’s such a pity that romance is not strong enough.

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    It definitely wasn’t a “grand romance”. You’re right there can be a chemistry even with a “but it’s not possible” vibe. Guess one can’t tick ALL boxes. ✅ 🤷‍♀️

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      You are right, we can’t have all the good things at once
      Even the best dramas are not perfect. 💖

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well it`s time for my take on ” the Matchmakers” after 4 episode of the show.
things i liked and suprised me:
1- Rowoon
I had seen his acting just in “extraordinary you” and i wasn’t so sure ab his acting so i WAS SUPRISED…HE IS A GOOD ACTOR!
2-shim jungwoo’s character
what a character is he…he is selfish, rude, veryyy smart but at the same time naive, cute and pitiful, so well written
3- healthy married couple
there IS sane, normal married couple in this show, how? what happend to kdrama? and 1 of these couples are king and queen? REALLY?
4- royal family being actual human beings
when king and queen started laughing at some random court gossip while drinking tea together i was SHOOOKT
when king said “she is worried ab such things because i am not a capable husband”, i died a little, he is a good husband.
princess fell in love and chose to marry a boy, and her parents was ok and positive? (yes they forced the poor boy but it was his family fault as i understood)
5- a mom being a smart politician and she controls his husband and brother and sister that are ministers and royal family members, WOW!
6- madam Yujo is really enjoying her work and, is full of love for young couples and trying her best and is not a bitter victim despite her sad life ad her mean in_laws
she is even kind to her sister- in- law and the nosy maids! 🥰
7- reversed trope
saving a person from accidents and that person fell in love with you because yeah you were so cool saving….HIM!
YES… a woman saved the man and told him “don’t worry i will protect you”
really loved that👍
8- cinematography
this show is sooooo beautiful
the show is full of poster liked shots and the camera work is wonderful, especially in first episode.
9- i love all the scenes of king and shim jung woo together
10- stating the fact that crying out “CHONHAAAAAA!” all the time in saguks is ridiculous
i love how king startles every time someone do this near him. Kkk
11- the fact that the lead characters care for their deceased partners.
you can see it in jungwoo trying to find out what really happend to princess
12- jugwoo’s servant
i like these kind of characters, he reminds me of dal-hyang’s servant in “three musketeers” (kdrama ver)
things i don’t like:
1- no one can recognize her with her make up? what is that? it’s totally dumb.
but i think her brother just pretended that he didn’t recognized her
i bet he knew ab what she did all along but just ignored it because he was sad for her sister who was trapped in a sad empty life, and wanted her to do sth and be happy
as you can see i like almost everything ab this show, i hop it stays good till the end 🤩

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Omg “Matchmakers” is so good!
Wait wait I should write an essay ab it soon.
It’s definitely an E (exceed expectations) in first glance!

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Well now I’m really bored with “at a distance spring is green” and it’s just 12 eps, how could they make it boring?
This show finally gave me what I wanted aka “So hyun and Joon being housemates” but now I don’t care anymore.
I feel like I watched all these stories in other better dramas before.
Joon’s family problems, Sohyun struggling with poverty, girls friendship in dormitory, college stories and all the troubles with group projects, jerk sunbeas, jealous classmates, Snape like teachers and etc I can name better dramas for every one of them and my mind keep comparing them to ADSIG.
I think I will stop here at ep 9! 🥲 I’M SORRY Sohyun & Joon, I couldn’t stay with you till the end.
I wanna try Matchmakers now, I see many beanies really loves it, so I should listen to them maybe they help me to find another ” twinkling watermelon” or “secret romantic guesthouse” 😉

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    The only scene of this show that is an absolute must watch is when SH breaks down in front of Joon’s house, which you have already seen, so you can drop it with an easy conscience 😅

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      When Joon made a soup with super expensive mushrooms and Sohyun freaked out was 1 of my fav scenes too.
      But even their cuteness couldn’t make me stay *sigh*

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    Oh, I’m sorry to read this, because it was one of my Top 10 k-dramas in 2022 and 2023.
    But I totally understand your reasons. I had the same reaction to Park’s Marriage Contract, I had watched everything before and better.
    I hope you really enjoy The Matchmakers, which is wonderful.

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      I really wanted to like it too but it didn’t happen.😔
      But sth good happend instead … Bea inhyuk found his way to my heart 🤭
      But sadly his drama ” park’s marriage contract” is not on my watch list
      It seems like it doesn’t match my taste either.

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        You always can watch him in some sequences, even though you don’t watch the whole drama. He was really handsome in Park’s Marriage Contract ☺️

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          Yes and I really like Lee seyoung too but I didn’t watch any of her dramas after “the crowned clown”
          Maybe I should give it a try 🤔

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            Start PMC only if you can completely ignore logic and consistency in a show and survive on cute.
            I love both leads, and time travel is one of my top favorite genres, but I couldn’t go past ep 5.

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    @midnight well I don’t know sometimes “cuteness” works for me and I can happily ignore everything else ( like twinkling watermelon) but sometimes it doesn’t work and logic problems get on my nerve (like a good day to be a dog)
    I should give it a try and see if I can stay all eps 😅

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      Yes, you won’t know until you check for yourself 😊

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      The problem with Park’s Marriage Contract is that it’s full of tropes and not always well used.
      It started better than it ended (and I liked the last episode more than the previous ones, but not everything).

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Currently watching: at a distance spring is green
Every ep I’m interested in half and bored in half
But I’m staying for park jihoon× bea inhyuk bromace and friendship
It’s My second drama with Park jihoon after “weak hero” and I think he is very good at bromance but not very good at love lines
The romance wasn’t good or interesting
From all the girls characters Anne Sherly character is the best. I like her but she is not the FL, i want her to be with bae I hyuk but he doesn’t even speak to her
I wanted so much for Joon and sohyun to become housemates but the show didn’t give me that too
Anyway I’m enjoying it so far
At the end if ep 6

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    I agree that he is good in bromance scenes, not so much in romance scenes. His loveline and family life was what I didn’t like on the first watch, and fast forwarded on rewatch. But the bromance, and lots of other friendships and relationships are the best part of the show.

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      I signed up for friendship and still I like that part the most, in these kind of dramas sometimes we get a lovely and beautiful romance too but I didn’t see such thing till ep 6 of this show

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    Park Ji-Hoon is doing a fine job in the romance department in the currently airing Love Song for Illusion!

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      Really? That’s good 🤭
      I’ll check it when it finishes, I’m not so good in on_air drama watching

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    That’s one of my favorite dramas, I didn’t get bored for a moment 😊
    At the end I felt the show had given me everything I asked for and more.

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      The boring parts for me is joon and sobin love line
      love interests around bae inhyuk are interesting I look forward to see more of them and then decide if I like them or not
      All in all it’s a good show I like it 😊

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So manyyy love interests
Every f character has at least 3 boys loving her or pretending that
Every m character has at least 1 love interest
ML had 4 i think!🙄
Why show?
You were so good
#18again

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    18 Again’s only saving grace for me was that it introduced me to Lee Do Hyun.

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      Srsly he is soooo good
      His r/s with his kids was the point of this show for me but the show itself focused on his love r/s with his wife more than anything
      Supportive cast doing a great job too but I don’t like FL and ML adult ver

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      Lee Do hyun is perfect he is even better than his great sunbeas

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        Yes. It makes me sad that I have disliked/dropped all of his shows since 18 again. Not that he keeps choosing bad scripts. But none of them have been to my taste.

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          Wait I remember I dropped “good bad mother” too
          But it was definitely not his fault
          He was good in his role
          And I stopped watching “glory” before final ep too *sigh* you are right his projects are not my taste

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Currently watching: 18 again!
Really liked the show till ep 10
But it seems the show is going downward little by little
Please stay good!😶
Plzzzzzzzz

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    I remember enjoying this show a lot. It was fun and it had so much heart.

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      Yes I was really enjoying it
      But I’m liking it less these last eps
      So many love interests and misunderstandings making me upset

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        That’s true. Less love triangles would’ve been nice. The show is mainly about family, it doesn’t need so much romantic drama.

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    Is it available in the US?

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