Premiere Watch: Dear X Who Doesn’t Love Me, Remarriage and Desires

16 July 13, 2022January 15, 2024

Premiere Watch: Dear X Who Doesn’t Love Me, Remarriage and Desires

by missvictrix

July has been too quiet in terms of dramas, but our first premieres of the month are here! This week we have a youth fantasy drama from TVING, and a revenge satire from… Netflix?

Dear X Who Doesn’t Love Me

Time slot: Thursdays
Broadcaster: TVING
Genre: Rom-com, fantasy
Episode count: 10

Reasons to watch: The jury is still out on TVING productions (at least to me, they still seem to be a bit all over the place in terms of quality), but their next venture is a cute little youth rom-com that screams I could have been a web drama. It’s not just the format (which consists of short 20-minute episodes released in batches of 3-4 per week), but also the overall vibes: a rookie cast in a thin-ish story that will likely act as a vehicle to see how our cast does carrying the weight of a drama. In the lead we have NCT’s Doyoung and Han Ji-hyo (who’s only had bit parts in dramas like Tomorrow and Business Proposal so far), joined by other newbies like Kwon Ah-reum, Bang Jae-min, Sohn Hyun-woo, and Kim Ji-hoon. Set on a college campus and revolving around a book of song lyrics that act like a love potion, this one could literally be a cotton candy gem, or the web drama you wished you didn’t click on when you were browsing YouTube at 2AM.

TL;DR: TVING, Doyoung, campus drama, magical song lyrics, super rookie cast, hit or miss (but please be cute!)

Remarriage & Desires

Time slot: Friday (single drop)
Broadcaster: Netflix
Genre: Revenge, melo, satire
Episode count: 8

Reasons to watch: Kim Hee-sun is back on our screens super fast after Tomorrow, probably thanks to the fact that Netflix produces their content way in advance of release. She’s joined by Jung Yoo-jin (who I love from Romance is a Bonus Book), Park Hoon (who I love from Memories of the Alhambra), and Lee Hyun-wook (who I don’t love from Sunbae Don’t Put on That Lipstick). The setting is a super elite marriage agency that matches up potential couples based on their wealth and other stats (or should I say specs). They’re the upper crust of the upper crust, and something tells me they don’t actually care about emotional honesty or love. The drama is promoted as a revenge melo that goes all in on the satire, but I’m just wondering if Netflix can pull off something that’s fun and cutting at the same time.

TL;DR: Queen Kim Hee-sun, Netflix, marriage agency, revenge, super elite 1%, eligible (but questionable) bachelors, vases will likely break

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1 Lord Cobol (Kdramas, like water, flow downhill)

July 13, 2022 at 2:16 PM

Love songs & revenge melo. Yawn. The "satire" offers a slight ray of hope.

Fortunately, I'm not currently short of things to watch.

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2 Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️

July 13, 2022 at 2:29 PM

‘the web drama you wished you didn’t click on when you were browsing YouTube at 2AM’. 🫢 Love it, I started watching My secret star was 4 episodes in before I realised that it really was that rubbish and I needed to walk away.

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missvictrix

July 13, 2022 at 6:17 PM

We've all been there lolol

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3 ladynightshade wants to be gazed at by namgoong min

July 13, 2022 at 3:22 PM

“…the web drama you wished you didn’t click on when you were browsing YouTube at 2AM.” Well, jokes on you, ‘cause I LIKE suffering from questionable late-night binges. At least I think I do since I do it so much. It’s definitely not just my chronic insomnia, nope. Anyway, I hope this is cute and passes the time.

As for the Netflix one, Kim Hee-sun is GORGEOUS. Like, words cannot express how ethereally stunning this woman is. Therefore, I will soothe my sapphic heart by viewing screenshots of her on twitter. My instincts tell me this will not be a smooth ride and I refuse to watch pretty women suffer! Not for boring hetero “satire”!

(God I wish Kim Hee-sun actually did dramas I like. She’s way too pretty to make me suffer like this time and time again. Why did her next project have to be this Penthouse rip-off?? I just can’t win.)

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Elinor is trapped in the timeslip

July 13, 2022 at 4:02 PM

God I wish Kim Hee-sun actually did dramas I like.

Same, and I'll probably take the same route of ogling screenshots while avoiding the drama itself. The premise makes me doubt its ability to sustain the satire throughout and not devolve into another improbable soap about nasty rich people. KHS was so gorgeous in Tomorrow that I was tempted to buy everything she wore in an attempt to become her, but alas, our only physical trait in common is pink hair.

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ladynightshade wants to be gazed at by namgoong min

July 13, 2022 at 6:16 PM

Forget sustain, I severely doubt this drama’s ability to be satirical to begin with. I’m confused as to what topic they are even satirizing. The lifestyles of the ultra-wealthy? The concept of marriage?? Makjang marketing has to stop putting the ‘satire’ moniker onto random shows just to get the edge in an oversaturated niche. This isn’t the first time and it’s kinda embarrassing.

The overwhelming hotness of Tomorrow‘s cast was one of its few saving graces - and KSH was at the top of that gorgeous pyramid, IMHO. None of us mere mortals could match her beauty. Or the sheer cost of all her designer outfits. I want them badly too, but I’m a broke college student, not a character from Remarriage & Desires.

Can I just point out it’s really cool that you have pink hair? That’s amazing!

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Doppelganger

July 14, 2022 at 10:15 AM

The only soap about nasty rich people that is effective satire is Succession.

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ladynightshade wants to be gazed at by namgoong min

July 14, 2022 at 11:27 AM

100% agreed. Succession is a whole another level of brilliant.

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4 miss h

July 13, 2022 at 3:44 PM

I'll try Remarriage and Desires. I hope they can pull off the satire.

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5 lapislazulii

July 13, 2022 at 5:14 PM

I just finished Dear M (which also screamed this could've been cut down into a web-drama and the plot was nothing special - but to be fair I knew what I was getting into and I enjoyed the light rom-com vibes) so looks like I'll be continuing on the NCT train to watch Dear X Who Doesn't Love Me!

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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️

July 13, 2022 at 5:51 PM

I agree Dear M started well then was trying to deal with the unnecessary padding. But it was harmless. So if this is similar it will be passable.

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6 Emperor

July 14, 2022 at 1:03 AM

Netflix doing makjang, I mean there's must be a lot more than meets the eye, right? I meaaaan .... its Netflix, after all ... they must have some trick up their sleeve to this tired and boring makjang formula.

Out of all K-Netflix shows, this one has the least interesting premise (for me, at least). If its produced and aired in public channels like SBS it would be a hit, i'm sure of it.

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7 wapz

July 14, 2022 at 8:57 AM

Has there ever been a good satire from kdramaland? I don't remember but would certainly want to know. I think Political Fever was a satire well received?
Also there's Kim Hee Sun so where's @hacja ?