What Dramas Am I Watching This Week?

Here's what I'm watching this week! Of course the list is split by country and episodes I've seen so far are written below! There will be spoilers from now on so if you aren't caught to the episode number I list, you might want to go watch that episode and then come back! If you're interested in previous lists, click here and if you want to see a list of my favorite asian OTPs and ships, click here!

KDRAMA

Are You Human Too? (28/36): The drama tells of an android called Nam Shin III who must pretend to be the son of a rich family when the real Nam Shin falls into a coma. Nam Shin's mother, Oh Ro Ra is a genius on brain technology and artificial intelligence (AI) so when her son, the real Nam Shin, is taken away from her at a young age, in her grief she creates an android that looks exactly like her son and has it grow up in the place of Nam Shin. But when Nam Shin, who is a third generation heir to PK group, gets in an accident and is comatose, the android Nam Shin III must learn how to take his place.

As this show goes on I can't help but feel more and more pity towards Shin and get more and more irritated on behalf of him. I mean yes I feel empathy for Nam Shin III but I just can't help but put myself in Shin's shoes and I love that he lay it straight out for So Bong when they talked on the balcony and it was very telling that she had no response to his question about how she would feel. And let's be honest, So Bong probably would have acted the exact same way Shin does based on her past actions. Honestly I don't understand where this show is going. Everyone is pretty much an asshole except for Nam Shin III so like is the plan to make the audience despise everything so that when he "dies" we'll be #shooketh? Like seriously. I was glad that we got a bit more from Shin's POV this week so we can see that he's more than just throwing tantrums and I'm at the point where I want him to just ignore everything/everyone and focus on what he wants to do. It's ironic that even the people who supposedly love him won't just stop for a second and ask him what he wants. I really do wonder who he is cause it seems like he puts on a different face with everyone and I hope that by the end of this show we at least get a moment where he can be real. Is he actually sweet and the brash attitude is a shield? Or is he straight up an asshole after all that he's been through? It's also interesting that we revealed that his dad didn't actually commit suicide and that he might even still be alive which would be such a plot twist! It's honestly starting to get so hard to remember who knows what cause there are so many secrets in play! Also Nam Shin III and So Bong are still adorable but I keep wondering where they will end up with 8 episodes left. It seems too few for So Bong to fall for Shin (especially cause he's being an ass) so I think there'll be a tragic ending in store for us.

Thirty But Seventeen/Still Seventeen (4/32): Woo Seo Ri, a violin prodigy at 17 who was about to study in Germany, got into a bus accident and fell into a coma waking up 13 years later. Mentally she is still only 17, while physically she is now 30. Gong Woo Jin is a 30 year old single man who works as a set designer. Due to a trauma he experienced 13 years before, he does not want to have a relationship with others. This series is about a man and a woman whose lives have been mangled due to a grisly accident. Together, they use all their might to try and open the door to happiness that they once thought had been closed to them.

I started this show cause it sounded interesting enough in the synopsis and cause Yang Se Jong who I loved in Temperature of Love was in it and honestly I'm really enjoying the show so far which makes me so happy cause I need more currently airing dramas to enjoy! The premise of this show is fascinating and so heartbreaking as well cause can you even imagine how traumatic it would be to have lost 13 years of your life?? My heart was breaking for Seo-Ri as she slowly put together what happened and also what she lost. Not only did she lose all those years of her life but she lost her best friend and her aunt and uncle didn't care enough to stick around. I'm assuming that the guy who visits her is that doctor who was in love with her when they were young but that the one who pays for her rehab fee is actually Woo-Jin out of guilt for what he thinks led to the death of the girl he had a crush on. I love the set up for the cohabitation antics we probably will be getting cause I'm always a sucker for that and I can't wait to see more! It's going to take forever before Woo-Jin actually figures out that Seo-Ri is the girl that he was in love with when he was young but I'm hoping that the reveal that she was in a coma for 13 years comes earlier than that cause Woo-Jin is so prickly right now and I can't wait until he softens a little!

FINISHED What's Wrong With Secretary Kim (16/16): What's Wrong With Secretary Kim revolves around the narcissistic Lee Young Joon, the vice president of a company run by his family. He is very self absorbed and thinks highly of himself, so much so that he barely acknowledges the people around him. Lee Young Joon has a capable and patient secretary in Kim Mi So who has remained by his side and worked diligently for 9 years without any romantic involvement. But Mi So has grown tired of her frustrating boss so when she decides to resign from her job, hilarious misunderstandings ensue. After 9 years of their strictly-workplace relationship, can it now develop in something more?

When this show started I thought it was so hilarious and unique which is why I fell in love with it so quickly and as the show went on, it was still sweet but it started to wear on me a little cause as adorable as the shenanigans were, I wanted a bit more substance over fluff which is pretty much the opposite of what this show gave. Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed watching this show but it probably won't go down as my favorite drama of the year and I don't know what it is but the main couple though I think were adorable, I wasn't like yearning for more moments with them. Maybe it's cause they spend 90% of episodes together and it's too much for me... But let's talk about what I liked about this show. One thing this show did really well was get me invested in the side characters! My favorite moments are ironically the stuff in the office more than anything else and I loved the progression of the relationship between Go and Ji Ah. When they first started interacting I thought Go was super irritating but my heart broke for them this week when he told her he didn't want to make her live a terrible life so when he changed his mind (like we all knew he would) it was so sweet. Yang and Bong are hilarious as well and I was dying that everyone in the office knew that they were dating cause they really were awful at trying to hide it and I was like is everyone just that daft that they couldn't pick up the vibe?? The drunk shenanigans this week were great too and thank you show for not giving me any rich parent disapproval stuff that I despise. The proposal was also really sweet (though it did go on a little too long and I was just like dude we get it) and the wedding was sweet as well. Overall this was a fun show and I'd give it a 8 / 10.

Your House Helper (16/32): The daily life of an average working woman involves: a packed subway during the rush hours, a miserable old boss, juniors clawing their way up, mounting credit card debt, and a rusty and tired body... And above all, the worst is the endless housekeeping work that awaits her at home. But what if a handsome guy appears and takes care of all the housekeeping work for her? And not only that, what if he solves the problems in her complicated and confused life? In this drama, a male house helper does housekeeping works in different women's houses and tries to solve their issues.

As expected Ji Woon had no memory of the kiss with Da Yeong but more strange was the fact that he was thinking of his ex girlfriend when he kissed her and though we know that Da Yeong doesn't which is super awkward cause she's casually falling for him and he's got someone else in his mind. I was glad though that her awkwardness around him only lasted like one episode and she quickly decided to both not tell him about the kiss and to keep it quiet until she figured out how she felt about him too which was so mature tbh. I struggle with her character cause I enjoy her growing relationship with Ji Woon but I cannot stand her office antics cause they make me so embarrassed for her and seriously this week where was her brain? If she knew that ppt was so important why wouldn't she double and triple check before she left the house that she had it?? And now all her coworkers think she sleeps around cause she's on birth control and honestly that was the most irritating especially since two women were spreading the rumors and dude are they even real? At least guys can get away with being too dumb to know that birth control can be used for lots of problems but the women ugh. On the other hand I'm loving how adorkable Jin Kook is and how much he's into Sang Ah although it does feel a little early for the amount of love he has for her. It's a good thing he's a lawyer cause she definitely needs one right now! Even So Mi's relationship with that part-time bartender is adorable and I'm still thinking her brother somehow sexually assaulted her based on the flashbacks and how much she was shaking when she saw him in her nail salon again.

CDRAMA

FINISHED Face Off (42/42): The candid and straightforward Chen Zhen works as a salesgirl for cosmetics. She meets Wang Yi, a leading prosthetic makeup artist, at a fashion show by chance. And thus, commences her pursuit in the field of prosthetic makeup, while romance blossoms between the two.

I started this show cause Seven Tan was amazing in My Mr Mermaid (which is one of my favorite dramas) so I wanted to check this one out for her and though I really enjoyed the show overall, the final quarter of the show went so off the rails that it was crazy. Let's start with the stuff I liked. I loved that the main premise of this show was special effects makeup cause I always think that stuff is fascinating and I'm always so down whenever a drama chooses a field that's unique! My favorite part of the show though was definitely the relationship between Wang Yi and Chen Zhen. They were so adorable together and their chemistry was great and I loved watching them fall for each other and then work together against the world whether or not they were together. I really enjoyed pretty much everyone in the special effects world and all the side characters. One thing I hate about dramas though is that the villains always have to be redeemed or forgiven by our main characters and it annoys me cause sometimes villains are bad simply cause they're bad people and don't deserve forgiveness! I started out feeling bad for Wang Xiao cause the woman he loved led him on for like ten years but as the show went on, suddenly he went insane and not only forced her into marrying him but then raped her and held her captive in a secret location so she wouldn't be found. I was horrified and I'm so pissed that the show didn't give any consequences for this and seemed to be trying to tell us that he wasn't a bad guy and that all he needed was the right woman to love him. No one should be around him with a 50 foot pole! It also annoyed me that he was such a big part in Chen Zhen and Wang Yi's breakup. I hate when female leads are so naive that they pick the side of someone else over their boyfriend's. Like you spend all your time with this person and you know who he is so why on Earth would you think that clearly your boyfriend is overreacting/misreading a situation if he's not the type? The evil father was also forgiven which was irritating as well cause no where did he deserve forgiveness either. I did fall in love with Yun Yun and Qian Jin's slow building relationship though cause it was so sweet to see how he became a safe haven for her and how he was the only one who could make her happy. I was really worried that cause Wang Xiao was forgiven that their marriage wouldn't end but thankfully the show didn't screw that up! If it weren't for the last chunk of episodes, I would have ranked this show much higher but because the last chunk does exist, I think I'll have to give this show a 7.5 / 10.

Legend of Fu Yao (48/66): Meng Fu Yao, a woman born from a divine lotus petal. She journeys through the five continents towards the heavens in search of a secret order and to reveal a conspiracy originating from the heavens. In the process, she falls in love with the crown prince Zhangsun Wuji.

Wow so Fu Yao actually lifted another tier of her spell this week and man was it such an afterthought. I think at this point in the show I kind of have to accept that the spell-breaking aspect of the show isn't the main push afterall like I expected and let that go cause otherwise that'll pull me out of the show and prevent me from loving it like I do. Wu Ji's "death" did go on a bit long but I was thrilled to see my boy Bei Ye again and seeing him swoop in to save Fu Yao was so epic. He seems to be in love with Fu Yao as well and I feel so bad for poor Lan Zhu who literally gave up her eyesight for him this week. I do think that Bei Ye does have feelings for her evidenced by how worried he gets whenever she's hurt or in pain but since he's always been around her he doesn't know that what he feels is love. I did wonder for a second if Seven was into Lan Zhu cause he seemed a bit jealous when he saw her taking care of Bei Ye and tbh I would be down with that too. In Flame's Daughter when one of the guys lost his eyesight, he fell in love with the servant who took care of him and I could see something similar happening here. Honestly I just want my girl Lan Zhu to be happy however that is. Wu Ji and Fu Yao are still adorable together and I loved that he got jealous of Bei Ye cause dude has put Fu Yao through enough but my favorite thing about these two is how much they love each other and how they don't try to hide it. Their love strengthens them and it's nice cause in so many of these shows, the main pair try to hide their love or are constantly undergoing fear of rejection and it's nice that we have such a solid emotional pair. My favorite thing about this show is that though it's all about politics, it's done in a fun way where practically every other week our crew is putting on a show for a different ruler and it's amazing to watch cause I'm just casually dying over in my corner about how awesome they are. In most political shows our good guys are constantly destroyed by schemes and it's just fun to see the bad guys be the ones befuddled.

Meteor Garden (18/48): An ordinary girl is admitted to the most prestigious school in the country where she encounters F4, an exclusive group comprised of the four wealthiest and handsomest boys in the school - Dao Ming Si, Hua Ze Lei, Xi Men and Mei Zuo.

I'm getting a little tired of Shan Cai acting like a moron if I'm being honest even though objectively I shouldn't be that upset with how obtuse she is cause we're not even halfway through the show so it makes sense that she refuses to acknowledge both her and Si's feelings. I feel like maybe this is more of a writing problem cause straight up Si has told her over and over that he likes her and she's still running around like why is he so nice to me? Like damn girl what do you think? The show should have written is more as she knows but isn't sure of her feelings instead of being like why. It also wasn't fun to see Si attack Shan Cai's friend from high school cause it was so out of line and I really don't like when he lets his temper fly like that but it did lead to that great moment from the other versions of the story where he gets beat up for her. I really forgot that this hadn't happened yet cause in Hana Yori Dango this moment happened before the cooking contest (though it was a beauty pageant in the Japanese version) but I kind of like it here. I do hope now that Si's birthday is coming up and because his mom is coming into town that Si and Shan Cai will finally admit their feelings and be in a relationship cause I don't think their current weird back-and-forth can stand up to her. I'm really hoping that since this show has modernized the concept and made it more realistic that his mom's objection to a poor girl won't be as intense! I was surprised that the girl who competed with Shan Cai in the cooking contest gave up on the chef she liked cause she knew he didn't like her cause that's what a normal human would do but in dramas they always go insane and honestly I was so proud of that girl. Get with Mei Zuo! I also really love Xi Men with Shan Cai's friend and I kind of hope that happens by the end of the show.

Sweet Combat (6/38): As the eldest daughter of the Fang Conglomerate, Fang Yu was raised to become the sole successor of the company, yet she goes against her family's objections to pursue boxing and won the championship title at the young age of 18. On the other hand, Ming Tian comes from a poor family. He once stopped schooling for three years in order to work and he decided to apply for a sports scholarship despite not having any background whatsoever. Fang Yu was one of the first to see his talents and their relationship grows over time.

I'm hardcore loving this show already! You know how much I love any show set around college aged students (spoilers it's cause that's where I am in my life and so I relate most to this time period) and I've always had a soft spot for shows about sports so when this drama came across my feed, I jumped to check it out. It has everything I love in a show so far and it reminds me of a mix of Weightlifting Kim Bok Joo and My Mr Mermaid and Fight My Way all rolled together. I'm loving the characters we've met so far and the premise seems like fun. I can't wait to see how much boxing we'll get in this show and when Ming Tian joins them. I can already see the chemistry between our main leads and at first I was kind of annoyed that we started once again with the whole enemies to lovers trope, I don't actually think that's what is going on. I'm fairly certain Fang Yu is already crushing on Ming Tian but because she's so socially awkward she doesn't know how to interact with him and even when she's trying to be nice, it comes off as arrogant. It also doesn't help that she's a boxer and she reminds him of his dad and that he blames fighting for his family breaking up. I did like that he was able to see a softer side of her at the ice cream parlor and that he learned a little bit of her backstory which allowed him to apologize to her about misjudging her before. I'm hoping from now on they'll be friends at least! I'm also loving the building romance between Guan Yan and Ya Nan cause it's adorable seeing how he fell for her pretty much the first moment he saw her and she's like so against it. But straight up he deserves props for seeing her in menstrual pain and instead of being freaked out bought her hot chocolate. The only negative I think I can find about this show is the fact that Fang Yu is from a rich family cause I really don't want to deal with the whole "your significant other is too poor for us" trope but I'm hoping that it'll only last for a small while and I'm sure it'll be far off cause our main couple hasn't even gotten past the stage of what are these weird feelings I'm having.

TWDRAMA

FINISHED Behind Your Smile (19/19): Consumed by revenge, Zhao Yi Ting’s life becomes cold and meaningless. But when he meets Lei Xin Yu, a young woman whose wealthy family has fallen on hard times, everything changes. He is drawn to Xin Yu in a way that he has not felt in a long time. Will Yi Ting discover a new lease on life through her?

I don't even have enough words to describe just how much I loved every single moment of this show! This is not only the best twdrama that I've watched up to date but maybe one of my favorite dramas in general! Everything was perfect about this show. The revenge plot was written so well and may be the first time that I've actually enjoyed one! It never dragged for a moment and I was so pleased with how it all ended. I loved that for once the villains actually had consequences for their actions and the main characters didn't just blindly forgive them (even when they showed remorse.) All of the characters were so compelling and well written and everyone went through arcs of their own. I felt for so many of them and I wanted so many of them to have happy endings. The main thing though that sold this show for me was definitely the amazing chemistry and relationship between Yi Ting and Xin Yu. It's strange cause normally I'm not a huge fan of shows where the relationships start out with lies (cause I hate the breakup chunk of episodes) but something about this worked for me. I loved the way Xin Yu was portrayed as kind and bubbly but not feistyTM like so many female characters are in that she knew that she was naive and didn't go around thinking she knew better than everyone else. When something didn't feel right she attempted to get an explanation and I loved that even if most of the time Yi Ting let her go on with her misconceptions. Their relationship felt well paced and for once I was into the whole cliche girl warms a cold man's heart cause it felt so real in both the reason why he became cold and why she was able to break through to him. My biggest struggle with cold characters is that I never understand why they are way they are and why they fight to avoid love but it made all the sense here! I also have to say that I've never loved a bad boy more than in this show and guys whenever Yi Ting smirked and leaned in close to flirt with Xin Yu, my heart skipped a beat too! I'd definitely give this show a 9 / 10 and I seriously recommend you check it out if you haven't already!

xoxo Allie