My Beloved Summer: Hello, Kwak Dong-yeon! Woong was at his pettiest in Episode 3 but it is clear both he and Yeun-soo are hurting. She just hides it much better. I love the flashbacks.

Happiness: This drama far exceeded my expectations and had a very satisfying finale. It kind of became a black comedy toward the end, which I enjoyed. The kick Sae-bom delivered to Oh Joo-hyung was much appreciated and the kiss between Sae-bom and Yi-hyun perfect.

Uncle: Just when one set of classist neighbors leaves dramaland another set moves in. It’s a real issue, so I’m glad dramas are exploring it. I liked the first two episodes. It has a lot of heart but covers heavy topics like abuse and alcoholism and housing discrimination. Oh Jung-se is great as the Uncle and the child actor is very talented. I look forward to seeing Joon-hyuk go to war with the Royal Momvelies.

Inspector Koo: Another satisfying finale. I was initially letdown by the reveal and then non reveal of Santa’s backstory, but I’ll take a cue from the characters and let it go. I loved the cameo by Lee Young-ae lol. This drama’s sense of humor was right up my alley, and I was in love with the cinematography throughout.

The King’s Affection: TKA peaked around Episode 13 and has been treading water since but for the most part, I liked the finale. Hwi was a badass. I was happy that the Queen will be able to marry and have children. I’m sure Hyun will be a good King, but I liked him too much to wish the headache of being King on him.

Secret Royal Inspector and Joy: I’m bored. I don’t care about Joy’s mom or the ledger or the conspiracy behind the Crown Prince’s death. I just want funny hijinks, which have been sadly lacking.

Melancholia: I’m stuck mid Episode 11. Yoon-soo looks like a hostage in a hostage video in scenes with Seung-yoo and now I’m kind of getting the feeling that she may have had feelings for him when he was a student.

Bad and Crazy: I honestly thought the first episode was terrible. Dong-wook’s character was unappealing. This is a one and done for me.

Show Window: The Queen’s House: I tried the first episode after seeing the ratings. It’s the typical cheating makjang that Koreans seem to love. I don’t need dramas to be glossy, but it feels a little too low budget.

Young Lady and Gentlemen: I didn’t expect a music and dance number lol.

The Hungry and the Hairy: Rain and Noh Hong-chul on a motorcycle trip around Korea. Hong-chul is a little loud for my tastes, but he and Rain balance each other out. The scenery is absolutely beautiful.

Happiness (Series review) - Mood progression: B+ / B- / C+ / C+ / C / C-
Unlike other apocalyptic thrillers, this show had unique elements such as non-permanent zombies as well as enigmatic characters like Tae Seok that had massive potential in developing motifs on humanity and morality particularly from an unique perspective of a public health official (drawing parallels to the COVID pandemic!). But although it was engaging to watch, the show stumbled upon questionable plot armour, plaintively evil side characters (even without Andrew, that apartment was a mess) and a happy ending that was rushed and inconclusive (why do some people have antibodies?).

Idol: The Coup (Series review) - Mood progression: B / C+ / C / C / C- / C-
Dramas featuring the idol industry and underdog groups have been done before, so this show had to rely mostly on the execution in order to deliver an enjoyable watch. And there was potential initially? But that was all squandered away as the story focused on Bbiyong the plagiarising villain and all sorts of issues rather than the idols themselves. Why didn’t we focus on how Cotton Candy and Mars tackled career crises, the fleeting nature of fame and the inevitable transition away from the spotlight? The CEO as a character should’ve been another viewpoint on the cyclicality of an idol career?

Our Beloved Summer (Episode 3-4) - Mood: C-
Strong cameo game is strong (Kwak Dong Yeon!) but using this plagiarism arc as conflict fodder is not good writing.

Inspector Koo (Episode 11-12) - Mood progression: C+ / C- / C- / C- / C- / C-
After all the hype for Santa’s identity, that was just anticlimactic! And K’s past also remains as elusive as ever.

School 2021 (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D+
When I said I wanted more Ho Sung, I didn’t mean a ghosting ex that’s bound to reappear soon.

Let Me Be Your Knight (Episode 6) - Mood: D+
This isn’t the end of Ga On’s character development right? That was lightning-fast arc resolution!

Chimera (Episode 13-14) - Mood: D
Lee Hee Jun is showing wonderful acting again but the sibling mess is frustrating in a bad way and don’t get me started on the journal reveal.

Now We Are Breaking Up (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D
All the Hwang family members are surprisingly engaging this week though the main arc is downright atrocious.

Melancholia (Episode 11-12) - Mood: D-
That public reveal was a dumb drama lead move if I ever saw one.

The King's Affection (Episode 19-20) - Mood progression: C- / C- / D+ / D+ / D+ / D / D- / D- / D- / D-
The tea that had selective poisoning properties sent me wheezing! I thought it could have been interesting if all king candidates had perished during the uprising and the kingdom fell to anarchy but they went the cliche route with Hyun.

The Red Sleeve Cuff (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D-
We’ve already seen this manipulation arc before so this is repetition. Also,...

COMPLETED
Jirisan - The killer went from super methodical to super insane too quickly. I did like the story of 1991 - how greed accelerated the evil only for it to come to nothing. I'm glad our main rangers survived and Hyun Jo is back where he belongs though a little more time on Yi-gang and Hyun-jo together would be good.

Inspector Koo - I'll remember this more for the way it told its story than for the story itself - so interesting visually. I was okay with the non-explanation of the husband's death and Santa's story - felt right for it to end where it did. But I'm questioning how Kyung went from roaming around freely to being arrested for ALL her crimes. Anyway I'm happy for our detective trio. Fighting!

The King's Affection - Plot armour reached a whole other level for our King this time but I don't care. I'm happy they're happy and I'm glad Hyun has a support system and the cute bodyguard has a crush 🥰

ONGOING
Chimera - This show has actually improved in my estimation week on week. Looking forward to the finale.

Secret Royal Inspector & Joy - I'm not sure what the end will be here when the king himself is evil. Unless the guy secretly sending messages to Jo-yi's mom is the (not) dead prince.

Our Beloved Summer - I know we're eventually going to get Yeon-su's side of the story with a reasonable excuse for the break-up, etc. but right now it's too hard to drum up any sympathy for her. I think I'm going to pause this one for a while. Even Kwak Dong-yeon didn't excite any interest.

Melancholia - The leads are not as smart as the villains and it makes me sad. Why would you go around saying self-incriminating things and then look ridiculously guilty when caught out. And next week we get Seung-yoo's dad giving Yoon-su the 'stay away from my son speech'. Yay 😑

The Red Sleeve Cuff - The entire sequence starting with the kite signal to the end of Ep. 9 was genuinely exciting and very well shot/edited. Ep. 10 felt like a dip but then Ep. 11 had scenes where you just can't look away - the scene with the poker, the argument with Hong Deok-ro and then the final scene in court.

Now We Are Breaking Up - Every week the leads have a conversation about breaking up. No other drama has taken its title this seriously 🙄.

STARTED
Bad and Crazy - Knew bad things would happen to rookie cop with how much screen time he was getting. Liking this so far.

Planning to watch Snowdrop - gotta get my 2 episodes of beans in before it gets cancelled.

Bad and Crazy - I'm not sure I will continue as the violence is a bit too much for me... but... I quite like the storytelling... especially if the helmet man (Wie Hajoon) really is ** possible spoiler ** Soo Yeol's conscience / good side he is suppressing so much currently.

I still love storytelling of Our Beloved Summer, the directing and editing is great... and so are the actors - especially the end of the last episode was so heartbreaking and so well acted! (The actual pitting of the painters against each other though was very unprofessional... and very unfair to Yeonsu). My only complaint is... why is Kwak Dong Yeon again just a cameo and again a psycho? I want him back as someone nice, like in No Second Chances.... with a baby as a bonus 😍

Still watching Rainless Love in a Godless Land and Someday Or One Day. Their pace is slow, but the strength is in the moments they create... and thoughts and feelings they induce...

CRICKET -

Ashes - 1st test match was ready to be good and then England Batting showed its real character. 2nd Match which is day night match and England bowling's performance - wow and then batting perfromance - more wow.
ROOT - you have to feel for the best batsman - and the captain - Stokes isn't in best fitness and can't alone take all others.

This Ashes is turning out to be one sided a bit too much.

Let's see what Stokes and Root has to give us in next 2 days.

Drama is happening in all other boards - especially in Indian and SOUTH African board.

The King's Affection It was great ending! I was so disapointed by 2021 sageuks that forgot what was important. In Bossam, I didn't care about politics, I wanted to see the Princess living her simple life, in Red Sky, it was the female painter the interesting part not Mawang the demon... In TKA, the focus remained on Hwi, it was her show! She deserved her happy ending.

Our Beloved Summer Communication is the key, guys...

Idol: The Coup There were some good moments but overall, they wasted Hani and Kwang Si-Yang's chemistry.

Secret Royal Inspector and Joy I think they should have stopped the story there.

School 2021 Can we switch the first roles with the second ones?

The Red Sleeve Cuff The story became pretty weird with the letter, the tattoo...

Let Me Be Your Knight I never can really appreciate a drama when one of the lead lies like this... The truth will get out and it will be awful.

Crime Puzzle So the main theme is noble idiocy? "I went in prison to save you thing?

I finally got back to completing the J-drama CAN’T RUN AWAY FROM LOVE. It is not perfect but it is a good watch. The new J-drama BEWITCHED BY MY SEXY BOYFRIEND is delightfully insane.

RED SLEEVE CUFF is the best Sageuk of the year. We are loving it.

SECRET ROYAL INSPECTOR AND JOY continues to be fun. Not the equal of RED SLEEVE but that is really not he point. It is fun to watch- and that is all I ask.

My wife really loved THE KING’S AFFECTION. Even if the happy ending is a bit contrived- so what? Park Eun-bin continues to shine and I look forward to her next drama.

She also loved JIRISAN, which has also now come to an end. I on the other hand had stopped watching for precisely the reasons Quirkycase has noted above.

My wife found the 2007 Sageuk LEE SAN- WIND OF THE PALACE which is actually about the same lead characters we find in RED SLEEVE CUFF- except covering more of the life of King Jeongjo. It is probably more accurate historically (except for the reason Prince Sado was killed). For instance, it shows San and Deok-m spending considerable time together when they were children- which is actually true.

I am still limiting myself to one episode per week of WOULD YOU LIKE A CUP OF COFFEE? It will last longer that way. How to explain how special this show is? Have you ever watched a show and, at the end, had a feeling of having been somehow blessed? That is this show.

You know that you are watching a good weekender when you eagerly look forward to the next episodes. That is me and YOUNG LADY AND GENTLEMAN. The amnesia story arc continues and is unusually effective in this drama- perhaps because it underscores the age differences and provides a contrast- and even more so as we see that our Gentleman (22 year old version) has once again fallen for our Young Lady. But the most poignant moment actually came when the side romance that seemed back on track was actually called off by our Young Lady’s step-brother- and what made it really hurt was that in fact he was doing the right thing and for the right reason. There are noble separations that are not stupid and this was one of them. Lots of angst- just the way I like it.

I have also started the new drama UNCLE, which is an adaptation of a British show. So far it is fairly engaging.

We have also watched the first two episodes of the new Sageuk THE KING OF TEARS, LEE BANG WON. And here I have to ask a question: Does Viki not get that the family name is Yi not Lee? The story is set at the very beginning of Joseon. The acting is good. We shall see how this one plays out.

Our beloved Summer- Woong sure cleans up nice!!! I didn't like that the 2 artists were pitted against each other without any of the leads knowledge. It's probably Lee Jun Hyuk's working. But atleast we got another cameo by Kwak Dong Yeon. If only he gets a lead role somewhere it'll be much preferable.
School 2021- Why is the show forcing jun young to have feelings for jiwon when he clearly has better chemistry with seo young? There is more than enough story for 2 lovelines rather than a forced love triangle. Also looking forward to how the school director is plotting to take action now that she knows the truth.
Bad and crazy- Only watched the first episode but it felt too long. Also the scenes where wie hajoon's character is appearing seems very abrupt and LDW always seems to be in a haze before or after his interactions with him. And it doesn't seem like it's because of all the hitting he's getting. It's weird but will probably see for atleast one more week.

Reflection of You – Finally completed this series, and I must say, the 2nd half of the last episode was a healing. Jeong Hui-ju sacrificing her being in exchange of her daughter’s future was true to herself, the very kind of mother Jeong Seon-u wanted. Reflection of You is not a gem, but it is worth watching, if you just flow into the story. On a personal bias, whilst some were skeptical on whom to vet for, Jeong Hui-ju already had my vote, and my choice remained true. That being said, Shin Hyun Bin did a good job portraying a character I never got to root for throughout the run of this series. I don’t know how, but she managed to not let me give Gu Hae-won a dose of sympathy, and that is solid. I love Hyunseong trusting Hui-ju to the end and, if there is a season 2, I hope pushes through his insecurities.
Jeong Seon-u and the Barman Ajhushi have a heart of gold. If RoY tries to sell a hurter – hurted romance, I’ll buy a romance between JSU and GHW, and BMA and GHW’s mom anytime because RoY laid the premise for that successfully.
I have a lot to say about this series and I could go on and on, but one last thing, memory-recovered Seo Woo-jae is an all-time jerk.

I got to watch The Call (2020) and it freaked the hell outta me. I am not a fan of any dose of horror, so I quickly read how the story played out, still it freaked me more. Park Shin-hye tried with her role in there. I enjoyed it more than Sisyphus.

Artificial City – Artificial City hits all the right spots. I love chaebol politics, I love power struggles, and this one, this one is hitting all the spots Mine didn’t hit. Each one. The episode 2 power dynamic, it was so satisfying. Just one grievance though, why did Madam Kwon have to die. That plot device tires me. Same as that Kim Yi-seol character, I hope she’s not the normal romantic antagonist.

And I finally had the nudge to watch episode 16 of MMH.

Currently bent on completing The Road, and all I can say is its nowhere and everywhere.

MY ROOMMATE IS A GUMIHO. Double ahhhh! At last, a recent rom-com with good writing, good acting, and comedy that has had me doubled over with laughter. I especially love the personality contrast between Hyeri and sober-faced Jang Ki-Yong as well as secondary pair Kang Han-Na and Kim Do Wan, and the misunderstandings that arise from gumiho-human interactions. The subtitlers must have worked overtime explaining the references and idioms and thanks to them I was able to enjoy a lot more.

WITCHES ROMANCE: Almost the perfect rom-com with frisky 25 year-old Park Seo Joon opposite much older Uhm Jung-Hwa. She’s gutsy, ambitious, mature and sexy, and stays that way to the end. I loved the sensitive and realistic way they handled the problem of big age difference with younger guy, still a no-no just about everywhere.

RAIN OR SHINE/JUST BETWEEN LOVERS: A quality drama with really excellent performances by Lee Jun Ho and Won Jin-A, but 16 episodes of unresolved grief is too much. Would have been great in 8 parts or a movie.

TRUE BEAUTY: Huh? Insecure high school girl, nice but not the sharpest knife in the drawer, is “fixed” by hiding behind makeup. At the end, she hasn’t grown at all. Sure, this drama may reflect reality for women, that beauty can win you instant popularity and the love of idols but it’s not a reality I like to see endorsed. Plus, for comedy, they mash up just about every worn-out trope and gag you can think of. I lost count of how many times she tripped and fell into his arms.

DR JOHN: Ji Sung was great, but drama too long and heavy for me right now. Didn’t help that Kang Si-Young, playing student doctor in love with Dr John and trailing behind him, looked throughout like a baby seal that lost its mother.

Happiness: 7.5

Inspector Koo: 9.5 for the final week and for Lee Young-Ae over the whole show. 9.0 for the series overall. Laugh-out-loud tongue-in-cheek brilliance, especially towards the end.

Jirisan: 7.0 Ending was very cheesy but slightly satisfying. No body = not dead, of course -- was anybody not at least half expecting that? But WTF the wheelchair?

King of Tears, Lee Bang-Won: 3.0 The first half of day one was bad, IMHO almost Joseon Exorcist bad, although perhaps less un-historical. I couldn't face the thought of 18 weeks of that, so don't ask me about the 2nd half. And I can't really imagine the historical Bang-won shedding any but crocodile tears.

King's Affection: 7.0 The big climactic battle fully lived down to the standards of sageuk final battles... dramatic confrontations, people arriving just in time to save somebody -- then having time for sentimental conversations & long partings while the emergency is still going on... Lather, rinse, repeat. Add this one to the list of shows Beanies loved by I didn't (along with Red Sleeve Drop).

Secret Royal Inspector & Joy: 7.0 Slight letdown this week.

Chimera: 7.0

Crime Puzzle: 7.0 (ep 3 / 8) Argh! Another evil cult? The actress who plays the baddie overacts, or to be more precise, overshouts. Ok otherwise.

Bad and Crazy: 7.1 It's a fantasy show, since just 3 minutes in a Korean guy is saying he'll never drink that much again. Yah, right. Supposedly he's the "bad" one, but he's plainly "crazy" too. And the mysterious person who seems to be his conscience(?)/tormentor is named "K" -- so soon after the "K" from Inspector Koo?

The Red Sleeve
After long, tiring and senseless Lady Cho episode(s), we are back at The King, Crown Prince and Deok Im.
Lee Joonho is beyond good. He is no joke in this drama. To act against a class of Lee Deokhwa is never an easy task, but he nails it.

Our Beloved Summer
Always love this kind of lowkey drama. I know Wooshik never disappoints but I didn't know he looked so good with his hair off his forehead.

NWABU
*headscratch*
I tried again. And failed.

Wise Camping Life: Doctors
Kyungho x Yoonseok's shout in silence game
OH. MY. GOD. Kyungho when in tipsy mode is 😂😂😂

I dropped THE RED SLEEVE CUFF after ep 8 because why are we halfway through and there's nothing except the crown prince trying and failing to hide that he likes the court lady? Also, there's nothing in her characterization that shows "she'd rather live a carefree life than be embroiled in palace politics" like the synopsis said. If that's all the movement we have after 8 episodes, I'm good.

I kinda fell back on HAPPINESS and never picked it back up again, and just loosely followed the recaps.

Tried the first episode of ARTIFICIAL CITY and decided to skip, even though I like Su Ae.

On the CDrama front, I watched THE LONG NIGHT, one of iQiyi's Light On dramas from 2020 and was absolutely blown away. What a poignant, painful, drama about the pursuit of justice. Loved it.

I am also currently watching and loving LUOYANG. This is how an ancient mystery/suspense is done! Although I could do completely without Song Yi's useless character, and that creepy romance with Wang Yibo too. In fact, Wang Yibo's character can leave as well, and then it'd be perfect.

In JDorama-land, I am still watching CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM THIS LOVE .

The Red Sleeve Cuff - Just loving everything about it! Even the characters I'm not really liking .... which means the actors are doing a fantastic job in their roles.

Artificial City - After two episodes, I'm still trying to figure out who's who in that chaebol family. One thing's super clear though, everyone is out to get each other.

Jirisan - Um, ok, so that's how it ends? Why? Some sort of explanation would've been nice.

Now I'm off to check out Bad and Crazy.

RED SLEEVE: I'm one of the few that wasn't turned off by the Fairy Palace scenario. Saeguks need court intrigue, and this plot-line was more interesting to me than the standard one with scheming ministers or petulant siblings who think their very existence means they are worthy of power. So court ladies taking up arms under the leadership of a woman who understands and resents the extreme limits of their ability to control their own lives worked for me. I thought there would be more overtly romantic scenes, but I do like that the ones we get feel fresh and interesting with fun dialogue (I loved the spy glass scene, for example). And the leads continue to have amazing chemistry.

OUR BELOVED SUMMER: So far, this is exactly what I hoping for. The actors play off each other so well, the storyline is simple but has all these interesting layers, the OST is moody and evocative, and I feel like the writers know exactly where they want to go and I trust that I'll accept and enjoy where things end up.

MELANCHOLIA: Still wish this was better, but I keep watching it. That's probably just the power of Lee Do-hyun, I guess.

SCHOOL 2021: Also not quite as addictive as I though it would be, but I'm enjoying it for what it is. I like that the tone is both breezy and earnest.

Finished HAPPINESS which I loved all the way through thanks to the ultra-tight plotting and surprisingly affecting OTP. Tried to finish KING'S AFFECTION last night as I'm about four episodes behind, but my mind kept drifting to Lee Jun-ho and Lee Se-young whose chemistry has that more urgent quality I prefer. Will maybe pick this up again later.

NOW WE ARE BREAKING UP (Ep. 8, 9, 10) When does petty vindictiveness trump sound business decisions? Apparently, in this drama. Soo-Wan’s jilted fiancee is apparently living in the early Joseon era by living her life as the grieving non-married widow. Did YE kill him? No, Soo-Wan’s own bad choices and bad driving did.

I guess this series is all about bad choices. CEO Hwang puts spoiled children in management roles with a full time babysitter YE. YE made a bad choice to stay at Sono to take the blame with no real chance to advance. If she was so good, why did not another brand lure her away?

YE’S dependence on JK’s fashion connections to bail her out of department store expulsion is suffocating and unrealistic. She hugs him each time he does her a favor like a pet owner hugs their dog for not urinating in the apartment.

As for the alleged love story, there is no evidence of any spark, infatuation or intimacy between the leads even AFTER their one night stand which ended like a cold encounter at a customer service return desk. I don’t think viewers expect SITR flame scenes between the leads, but there is more heat in hour old McD’s french fries than the leads on-screen chemistry. When bluntly asked about their love, neither lead can articulate one reason, one cliche, or one term of endearment. The biggest obstacle is not the parents, the society norms, ancient marital rules or the dead brother, it is the glazed zombie look of the leads awkwardly attempting elementary school affection.

Episode 10 repetitively harps on societal objections to their relationship. But the real problem is their alleged relationship: they say they love each other does but there are no actions to back up their own words. They are paddling in circles on an angst river. This has not turned into a hate watch but a show autopsy. Remarkably, if you erased the main two characters, the show would actually be better.

BE;TWIN (2021 Drama Special): Drama specials help bring along new talent and writers to highlight less mainstream themes. This show did not break the switched twin storyline basics. But 21 year old actor Sung Yoo Bin did a good job playing the role of the twins with different personalities. The plot was very simple and the lesson that honesty is more important than greed, jealousy or a cover-up was OK. The story really could have used three more episodes to develop the characters to make the reasonable ending more meaningful.

THE KING'S AFFECTION: Yes, the writing may be inconsistent. Yes, there are glaring plot holes. Yes, the show should've been shortened to 16 episodes. But I'd give this drama credit where it is due. It had amazing directing, cinematography and costumes. Beautiful, but dare I say overplayed (cough 'If I' cough) OSTs. It had a unique plot. The acting was top-notch. It had a beautiful ending, one which most sagueks can't boast of. Honestly, with the sky high anxiety I had going into the finale, that ending was enough for me to forgive the drama for all its faults.
But more importantly, it made me feel. It brought me out of a year-long drama withdrawal. I was invested in the characters. I looked forward to Mondays. I smiled, I threw objects at my screen, I wept.
TKA may not be the best drama, but it certainly was the most anticipated and is the most memorable of 2021 for me.

THE RED SLEEVE: Oooh, this drama is GOOD. I'm just in episode 2, but I'm loving it. I don't like watching, but I'd risk it for Jun-ho. I'd risk everything for Jun-ho.
Just when I was controlling my obsession with PEB, LJH comes around. Sigh.

SNOWDROP: My boy Jung Hae-In? Rookie but good actress Ji-soo? Queens Yoo In-na and Kim Hye-yoon? Set in the 1980s? A solid first episode? Beautiful anesthetics and bgm? Engaging side characters? An all female dorm? Chaotic but close female roomies? Tight female friendships? A cute, cute, cute love story? I'm sold.
Just wish there'd be no political backlash after some episodes. Snowdrop be really treading on thin ice there.

OUR BELOVED SUMMER: I'm not really watching this, but I've heard good stuff about it and it's definitely on my radar. I think I'd limit the anxiety of watching on-air dramas to two dramas only. This drama just screams binge-worthy, so I'd watch it when all episodes are out.

WLFKBJ: I'd never get tired of rewatching this. Nam Joo-hyuk continues to surprise me with how well he acted in this. It's as if he was born to play that role. I wish his character in upcoming twenty five twenty one would be more suited to him, so he'd be able to hold his own against Kim Tae-ri.

The RED SLEEVE CUFF is back in full force with the brilliantly acted show down between the king and crown prince. I could not ask for more and I am delighted that there will be an extra episode.

Another tour de force remains ONE ORDINARY DAY. This adaptation of Peter Moffat's original excellent script is done really well, I even find that there is some likeness between Ben Wishaw and Kim Soo-Hyun. Cha Seung-Won is scratching his eczema as if he is really suffering from it, he is such a good actor.

I also like MY BELOVED SUMMER and Choi Woo-sik's petty character. I am not keen on that 'first love' concept, I always think that most people move on very swiftly from their first love and do not want to go back, but I can tolerate it here, because they are so deliciously petty.

Happy endings with a whole bunch of other dramas. I am ok with HAPPINESS, even if the ending was rushed, and the KINGS AFFECTION, even though I was rolling my eyes that the poison only killed the grandfather and not our king. After all that suffering and injustice, she deserved a happy life.

Not so wit JIRISAN. The silly ghost plot was only topped by Jun Ji-hyun's miraculous awakening from the coma, right at the moment the life support was switched off, and Yi-Kang being able to walk again. That drama as presented did not justify its budget. Quirkycase really summed it up perfectly.

With MELANCHOLIA I am more and more on the fence. I dislike the whole revenge and corruption plot, but I do like how maths is used in the plot and how the premise is changing.

Now, We Are Breaking Up - this drama really picked a weird hill to die on. The sad part is the dating my former boyfriend's younger brother isn't where I'm left scratching my head. Instead I'm horribly confused by the choices with dialogue they used (people just don't speak that way) and scenes they've chosen (Jang Ki-yong looking forward instead of at the TV). Sniffles, so bad its good.

IDOL: The Coup - going to miss this little underdog drama.

Out Beloved Summer - I want to like this more than I do. The back flashes being potentially unreliable because the narrator himself may be leaving things out gives me pause instead of making me think he's a lovable dork.

Let Me Be Your Knight - its nice seeing Tae-in's pride not get in the way of keeping the group together.

Secret Royal Inspector & Joy: Am loving Jo-yi goes all Joseon career woman on her understanding boyfriend >< Still have time to be an informant tho, those Whispering Corridor move cracked me up so bad! But am definitely missing these two sleuthing as a team...
Also worried that redemption for our tortured villain is not on the horizon; if he really is the one that killed Yi-un's beloved Crown Prince, there's no way Yi-un will let Tae-soo go.

Melancholia: Am liking the metaphor of their relationship to a flawed premise in a math problem; can they ever revise their beginning or is eloping to an island where nobody knows them the only option? How will our OTP ever find happiness together? Am so invested in this, it's no joke...
Although maybe math is a flawed premise of this drama, it should instead be unrequited feelings since it's pretty much what makes this drama's world goes round. And some insist on making the same mistakes for the sake of this, duh. The only one who surprisingly takes some pointers from his past is ex-fiance Sung-jae, like @quirkycase said, he made quite a profound advice.

Red sleeve: If you dropped this after last week, boy, you're going to be sorry. Ep 11 was SO good. And it looks like 12 was even more epic (didn't get to that yet). Lee deok Hwa for daesang? I know he wasn't the main main character but I'm not opposed. And I'm more and more impressed with Lee junho, if that was even possible, especially since he's the most junior of the lot amongst the leads. (And is still active as a singer)

Man, I wish I was watching a drama that motivated me to write a WWW post because I just love it so much... Instead, I'm watching a lot of things that are time filling.
Chimera: This is by far the best thing I'm watching currently. The acting has been really great and the story is interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all gets sorted out.
Melancholia: I feel like we just wasted a week without much moving forward. Who knew the best scene of the week would be between the ex-husband and our ML?
Now, We are Breaking Up: Who came up with this insane notion that breaking up when a relationship is good is romantic?? I've never heard anything so stupid. You can't break up with smiles on your faces, not if you love each other. AND, what kind of mother threatens her son's girlfriend with suicide if she doesn't break up with him? Really? Ugh. Jang Ki Yong looked really young in a few of the scenes this week, and that doesn't help sell the romance to me. Where is the sexy fire this couple couldn't fight? They weren't even holding hands or cuddling watching a movie on the couch. Why am I still watching this?
Reply 1988: Just watched episodes 6-9 because they are all snowy and full of wintertime scenes. I love this drama so much and it's just making the mediocre shows I'm watching look worse in comparison.
Looking forward to starting some new things, but I usually like to give a couple of weeks to pile up a few episodes before I start watching. My Beloved Summer is top of that list. I'm also looking forward to Lee Jin-wook, but I am disappointed that there isn't a romance storyline. I think he's one of the sexiest actors out there, and it's such a waste not to use that.

Finished:

Rain or Shine aka Just Between Lovers
It’s a classic I think. The plot is great, the whole casts -perfect, the sound department-marvelous, visuals -beautiful. It’s one of those shows you can go “uwu” almost every minute. There are many great life lessons in the characters’ monologues and dialogues.

The only one thing that has bugged me, is that I feel like no one affected by the shopping mall collapse incident thought and tried consultation sessions. But again, if they did choose this route, there wouldn’t have been this drama in the first place. So I’ll just say that I found the ML’s sister doctor role unrealistic. She should have known better than anyone that the ML desperately needed consultation sessions.

Currently watching:
Friends ss1.

I just finished watching YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL for the first time and I really enjoyed it a lot (Probably not surprising because the general tone is similar to My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho). There was some labouring of the star/seeing in darkness metaphor but on the whole I approve. It’s not often I like the ML and the second lead so much - I thought they did a good job of making them both appealing in very different ways without just making the second lead the shiny nice guy who gets let down in the end.

I also watched (/fastforwarded all but about five minutes of nearly every episode from about episode 5) the cdrama LOVE AT NIGHT- don’t bother, it is terrible. I only kept watching to see the Awful Ex get put in his place.

Bad and Crazy was bad, too much violence hitting kicking, and I didn’t like LDW acting he doesn’t fit the character his acting doesn’t deliver, i think an actor like NamGongmin would’ve done better, i was disappointed in the first episode, am gonna watch the second episode to see what will happen to the police officer’s case.

The Red Sleeve Cuff: Just finished episode 12. I bow to the writer/PD for not just focusing on the romance but on the overall story, which is as it should be. The actors are all doing a fantastic job and the writers are keeping focus on all aspects of being a court lady within all the other machinations going on which I appreciate.

Now, We Are Broken Up: I'm out. Dropped at episode 10. I kinda get what the writer was trying to do; a new take on an old style drama. The actors can take the hits - and deservedly so - but the writer is the one who failed. By the way, I don't ding the drama for using the parents non-approval as a big stumbling block. I do understand that this continues as I just heard of an actress whose celebrity relationship of several years did end allegedly because her family could not come around to accepting him. It's just depressing and not that exciting to watch at this point.

Secret Royal Inspector and Joy: I think this might be an official drop instead of a pause. I really think 12 episodes is all this needed.

Netflix: Gearing up to start S2 of The Witcher.

Also am gonna check out Moonshine when it starts.

still watching NWABU, because i'm not watching much else. about halfway thru TKA...

in my boredom, am rewatching a wuxia The King's Woman (loved the antagonistic love story for some reason) and am looking for good recommendations for others, have BBJX, Yanxi Palace, Empress in the Palace and Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace recco'd from others... any more to add - or should i delete any of these?

thanks, in advance!

Ticking off the shows I counted as full beans.
Cuppa Coffee (Would You Like a Cup of Coffee?) was good to the last drop.
Thoroughly enjoyed the ambiguous ending of Inspector Koo with great hopes that female characters in Kdramas will be written with more nuance in the future.
Finally got the subs for Jirisan but found I really didn't need them. I glanced up from a puzzle to see many miracles: a landslide that takes out only villains, a paraplegic who can climb mountains and a coma patient who can resume ranger duties. Strangely, I did not hate this show as I did Sisyphus - maybe it was all the beautiful scenery. What a run of bloated/bad anniversary shows.
Our Beloved Summer is becoming more interesting with every episode so it's added to my regular rota.
Uncle seems promising but I've only watched 1 1/2 eps, so we'll see.
Watched another KBS Special "The Palace" and was decidedly amused at the twist on court lady blues.
Red Sleeve Cuff hit a speed bump with the Palace Fairy weirdness. After a 3 year jump, the ship seems to be righted.
Lastly, thoroughly enjoyed The King's Affection and its finale. Looking forward to Park Eun bin's next endeavor (hope it isn't movies).

I started a new job this week so my days of binging one and a half dramas a week while keeping up with a couple of airing dramas might be behind me (for now).

I finished Happiness last week and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm glad I picked it up on a whim because it ended up being an entertaining watch (with an interesting take on the zombie/contagion genre). Also, this drama had one of my favourite romances of 2021 and it isn't even a romantic drama. Park Hyunshik and Han Hyojoo were amazing together.

I'm still watching The Red Sleeve and I enjoy most of it. There are some little things here and there that I wish were different (or better written) but nothing that completely ruins my enjoyment of the show. I mean...Junho is there, acting marvellously, in hanbok.

I started Our Beloved Summer. It was one of my most anticipated dramas of 2021 and, so far, it did not disappoint. I hope it does not fall victim to a terrible executed love triangle trope but so far, it does not seem to be going in that direction. Cross fingers.
But omg am I loving petty Choi Wooshik! I also love the documentary aspect which add something fresh to this classic love-hate/second chance rom-com. The confession under the rain was also very cute. Is it Monday yet?

I'm slowly watching Mad Dog (watched 5 episodes) because I wanted to see Woo Dohwan in something else after seeing and loving him in Save Me. It took a bit longer than expected for me to get into the story but I do enjoy Woo Dohwan's character (although he is no Dongcheol). I like Hari and Minjoon's interactions the most. When they were staying in the same room during a stake out/mission, they reminded me of Tony and Ziva from NCIS when they were sharing that hotel room. I don't know if anyone remembers that old episode. I used to be such a Tiva fan.

I'm looking forward to The Silent Sea with Bae Doona, Gong Yoo and Lee Joon next week. I hope it's good! Please don't waste this amazing cast!! (It's only recently that it came to my attention that this drama will not be set in a submarine. I don't know why I was so sure before seeing the new promo materials that it was going to be a submarine drama. Maybe one day we'll have one.).

I'm a bit bummed that Snowdrop won't be airing on Disney+... It looks like Disney+ is trying hard to "not be Netflix". Ugh.
But maybe it's doing me a favour. I heard this drama has a messy premise.

STILL ONGOING FOR ME:

Jirisan: I still need to motivate myself to finish the last 4 episodes and seeing other comments about it is not helping.

Secret Royal Inspector and Joy: I’m probably going to binge the rest of the episodes when it’s done rather than wait every week for the new ones.

Rainless Love in a Godless Land: Another one I’ll take some time to binge on rather than wait forever for an episode to come out.

JUST FINISHED:

The Day of Becoming You (Chinese): This shot up to one of my most favorite shows. I love the comedy, the leads, the story. All the fluff is there!

Beauty Inside: Another gem I found from 2018! I was intrigued by the storyline and got hooked right away from the first episode. I love how there’s no 3rd party angst, the female lead is strong-willed (and uber cool), and the male lead is pretty persistent. There’s that bit of “let’s break up” but they don’t drag it out for too long. So much love for this! Which led me to….

The Beauty Inside (film): I felt really bad for the male lead - I can’t imagine waking up to a new identity EVERY DAY. At least with the show, the lead still gets to live as herself. The pacing was also a bit slow (more melo) so I got a bit bored with it. But I wanted to watch it to compare with the show (and to see Park Seo-joon, Lee Dong-wook, Seo Kang-joon, and Yoo Yeon-seok, among others). Hehe. Verdict? The show is better!

PLANNING TO WATCH NEXT:

Choosing from the following. 🤔

Devil Judge
Bossam
Mouse
Would You Like A Cup of Coffee?
Work Later, Drink Now
Use For My Talent (Chinese)