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

FINISHED 20th Century Boy and Girl (32/32): A top actress/singer who has an innocent soul in contrast to her gorgeous look, a slender airline stewardess who loves food and a young attorney who luckily landed a job at a private law firm but finds herself working long hours... All three of these women were members of the Bongo clique from the time they used to live in the same Seoul Mansion apartment complex. They still stay in touch despite their busy lives. Appearance-wise, one friend seems to have a successful acting career, and the other two work in reputable professions in the airline industry and law, but they deal with a lot of stress in their lives. Their lives as thirties in the big city of Seoul is a stressful one and they try to rekindle the lives they had when they were in their innocent teens while also searching for love and maintaining their deep friendship.

I started this show cause the synopsis sounded very similar to Age of Youth and it really did feel like a mix of that show and Father is Strange which are both two shows that I loved so it wasn't that big of a surprise that I enjoyed this one as well though it wasn't as amazing as those two shows. You know I have a soft spot for male leads that aren't cold and so I adored Ji Won and Jin Jin throughout this show although I did wish that he was less hesitant at the start cause it was clear that Jin Jin liked him but he was so hurt from his ex, he kept wavering and I was thrilled that Jin Jin called him out several times cause if I was her, it would drive me crazy too. Despite that when they did get together, they were pretty adorable. It was the second lead that was really annoying tbh and I don't know why I disliked him so much but I did and it was hard not to roll my eyes anytime he was on screen. I did like his relationship with Ji Won and I wish that his family was showcased as much as the girls'. Speaking out, the friendship between the three girls was amazing and I loved how close they were for 35 years! I also liked Ah Reum's relationship with Woo Sung and Yeong Shim with her lawyer though they never became official. Overall I'd give this show a 8.5 / 10 cause it was a fun watch but not one that'll go down as a favorite!

Devilish Joy (6/16): Gong Ma Sung is a successor to the Sunwoo company. Life seems to be going well until he gets into a car accident while trying to help a woman. Since then, he suffers from memory loss where his memory lasts only a day. Every night before bed, he writes notes about what happened to him that day and the next morning he memorizes everything that happened. Gong Ma Sung then meets Joo Gi Beum, a formerly well-known actress, and falls in love.

I'm struggling a bit with this show cause so much about the show irritates me but damn it all if I don't find it swoony whenever Ma Sung speaks or when the chemistry between our leads is so intense! The whole point of tension in this couple is literally that Ma Sung won't open his mouth and tell Gi Beum the truth about losing his memory. He wants to date her and keeps telling her things like why are you doing this to me but of course she's not into it cause everything from her perspective makes him look like an ass so why would she give him the time of day? I wish they would just sit down and talk for a hot second. And apparently last week we learned that he's dying for some reason and that's apparently an added annoyance to this show that along with the evil aunt I was not interested in though I suppose it is a little better than the only problem being that Ma Sung won't tell the truth. I can't wait to see them use his whole memory thing to convince him he did something when he didn't cause there has to be a reason that he doesn't literally record everything along with his journal cause writing in a journal though helpful cannot cover every single moment! I also think his aunt definitely had something to do with his parents' death and we also learned that the asshole CEO who tried to sell Gi Beum to that actor also knew Ma Sung had caught onto his scheme and purposefully hit him with a truck (like I expected.) I can't wait to see him confront Ma Sung out of fear and actually reveal what happened to him by mistake. Aside from that Ma Sung and Gi Beum's kiss this week was so goddamn hot and I melted how he not only tried to help take the attention away from her but also when he showed up just when she was feeling sad after the show to comfort her. I was hardcore waiting for her to throw herself at him cause that's what I would have done! 

FINISHED My ID Is Gangnam Beauty (16/16): Adapted from a popular webtoon, this drama tells of Kang Mi Rae, a girl once bullied for her looks. As a result, she became insecure, cautious around people and withdrawn. However, Mi Rae decides she wants a fresh start away from bullying and gets plastic surgery to transform her face. When she begins university, she meets Do Kyung Suk from their middle school days, who sees people for what they are on the inside and not the outside; he then becomes attracted to Kang Mi Rae. As Mi Rae begins to get teased once more and labeled "Gangnam Beauty", the cold, aloof but kind inside Kyung Suk becomes the one person that stands up for her and in the process, Mi Rae begins to recover her lost confidence and discovers that true beauty is not on the outside.

This week was the finale of this show and I'm honestly fine with it cause as the weeks went by I lost interest in the main couple of this show ever since I noticed that Mi Rae literally had two expressions and I only really kept watching cause I was interested in all the side characters. Soo Ah was one of my favorites cause of how fun she was to hate. I do feel kinda bad for her cause her backstory was pretty awful (and much more similar to Mi Rae's if she cared enough to find out) and a lot of the men in the college campus are entitled assholes who think a smile is enough to force her to date them but I don't know if it changes too much. She's still a bitch to Mi Rae for no reason and I really can't abide by the idea that someone who got bullied when they were young becomes a bully when they grow up. Despite that she didn't deserve what happened to her and I'm glad that the show ended with her getting some help and finding out who her true friends were such as Eun who literally is the sweetest. I was a little disappointed that none of the side characters hooked up especially the bartender and Mi Rae's other friend (who's name I totally didn't forget.) Their story felt weirdly unfinished tbh. I also loved that Tae Hee got to turn down her ex cause he was an ass and she deserved much better! Other than the main romance I did enjoy this show for what it was and how it told such female empowering stories so I'd give this show a 8.5 / 10!

FINISHED Suspicious Partner (40/40): Noh Ji Wook is a unique prosecutor. He is handsome, hard-headed and intelligent who strives hard to be successful. He is the perfect example of what a prosecutor should be. Later, he becomes a lawyer. Eun Bong Hee is a prosecutor trainee. Once a former taekwondo instructor, she trained to become a lawyer. She is confident and strong, but naive. She is assigned to work under Ji Wook. They work together on a mysterious case involving a sly psychopath murderer. As they're working as a team, they develop affection between them.

After going through almost a two week struggle of trying to find a drama that I enjoyed enough to binge, I came across this one and though on paper it seemed to be everything I wouldn't enjoy, I ended up falling in love with this show!! I adored pretty much every single moment of this show and how it was a rom com with a little action tossed in. Bong Hee was such a delight from pretty much the first scene she was in and I loved how she was confident and strong and sassy. Ji Wook was so sweet and romantic and I loved how he was never the cold male lead type. Their dynamic was everything from when they were fighting to when they were together! Also sidebar but Ji Chang Wook can smolder like no one else. I swear I was melting every time he flirted or when he bit his lip. Ugh. I also loved that their relationship was treating like two adults dating cause it never ceases to amuse me how dramas like us to believe that two 30 years not only have never dated before but that a closed mouth kiss will fluster them so it was everything that these two shared so many kisses and slept together without it becoming a huge thing. The side characters were all fun and I loved seeing the little family the lawyers built as well as the frenemy circle the girls made. The law cases were fun as well and I loved our villain and how crazy he was from the start and how that plot twist went down when you realized that he was there for the gang-rape too! Overall I seriously adored this show and the only downside was the short period of time when Ji Wook and Bong Hee broke up so I think I'd give this show a 9.5 / 10!

The Ghost Detective (12/32): Lee Da Il is a private investigator. Jung Yeo Wool becomes his assistant to solve a mystery related to her younger sibling’s death. They work together to solve other mysterious crimes.

This show has me on the edge of my seat every week! I'm loving that our team is growing larger and larger and that Mr Han was okay even though I really doubted that the show would kill him off. The forensic scientist and the police officer are both on board now and we also learned more about ghost lore in that only bad ghosts can actually move outside of human rules so that's why Da Il couldn't phase through walls and stuff before and that ghosts that come from coma patients can't leave their bodies for too long before returning to where they were which kind of takes away from the theory that Da Il is in a coma and not actually dead. I'm also curious about what happens to him when the woman in red touches him but I bet you if he holds onto her long enough he'll turn into an evil spirit cause ghosts are dead so pain is ultimately meaningless and if we want to give Da Il stakes, turning evil would be a good (but emotionally terrible) one. He already did something to be able to touch things now and it turned his eyes red like when humans are possessed so we're definitely going down this route! It's also a little interesting how much the romance is played up cause I really didn't expect any but it's sweet that Da Il and Yeo Wool are each other's anchors even though our hearts are all going to be broken cause there's no way for them to be together in the end. I also wonder what else is up with Yeo Wool's sister's ex and whether he knew what was happening to her sister or if he can see ghosts too which is why he warned Yeo Wool. I didn't really understand the whole living spirit thing but I think overall if she's not killed while inside her body by someone who would die for a ghost that the exorcism doesn't work so like now that Da Il ruined everything, does that mean that the red woman is now a ghost in a human body like that other possessed body we met this week? If so that's kinda a good thing now that she can't make others hallucinate and in order to kill, she actually has to do it right so it'll be a little easier to stop her no? I feel like we're flying through plot and that makes me super excited cause after struggling in Devilish Joy where I feel like nothing happens, it's so uplifting to watch a show where shit happens!!

FINISHED Thirty But Seventeen/Still Seventeen (32/32): 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.

This week was the finale for Thirty But Seventeen and I'm really going to miss this amazing show! When I first started it I didn't realize just how much I was going to fall in love with the world and the characters so saying goodbye was hard! I enjoyed a lot of what happened this week and I loved how the show ended though there were things that I wished had been done a bit differently. I enjoyed the slow build of Seo Ri and Woo Jin's relationship but I wish instead of some of that we could have spread the reveals out a little to maximize the impact and allow us to breathe with each reveal. Seo Ri's version of how she knew Woo Jin as a child was incredibly adorable though and like I called it last week, she just made up an excuse to talk to him so it wasn't his fault that she stayed on the bus longer. I also wish that Woo Jin hadn't run away in the end cause the whole thing left a terrible taste in my mouth cause of poor Chan and just how much he was hurt so the fact that it was brushed under the rug in favor of Chan confessing to Seo Ri was a bit annoying. Like I know he was into her but I feel like those feelings would have taken a backseat after what happened and the fact he even told her for no reason was weird! Despite all that these last two hours were full of amazing moments. I loved that Seo Ri decided against leaving and chose to be happy here and decided that music therapy was what she ultimately wanted to do. Woo Jin was literally boyfriend goals when he said that he'd support whatever decision Seo Ri made even though it broke his heart. I also liked the fast forward and that we got a wonderful happy ending with Chan choosing college and being a kid over growing up too fast, Jennifer leaving and rediscovering herself before returning to her found family and of course Seo Ri and Woo Jin getting married! I really really did enjoy this show and I'd give it a 9.5 / 10 and say you should definitely check this show out if you haven't already!

CDRAMA

FINISHED Bloody Romance (36/36): In the turbulent interregnum following the collapse of the Tang dynasty, a young daughter of a herbalist was tricked and sold into a brothel. After a harrowing escape from death, she eventually found herself in a city of female assassins. Assuming the new name of Wan Mei, she began to learn from ropes of being an assassin from Chang An, a young man who acted as her guide and warder. Over time, Wan Mei and Chang An began to develop genuine affection for each other. But Cha Luo, the leader of the assassins took a dislike to Wan Mei and plotted against the couple with her cohorts. Wan Mei's personality and gifts caused Gong Zi, the hidden owner of Gui Hua City to take a interest on her. Burdened by his hidden identity, Chang An began to distance himself from Wan Mei. The protagonists found themselves embroiled in escalating conspiracies involving deadly betrayals and struggles for power.

I loved some parts of this finale and some parts that I was wished were done better making me wonder if this truly was the end of this show. I loved that Wan Mei is finally Chief and that she had the support of all the other girls in Gui Hua City but I didn't really understand why Cha Luo's shadow turned on her cause I understand that she lost her way and became slightly evil but it still didn't make sense for someone as loyal as him to help the other side. I did laugh at how even to the last scene Wan Mei turned down Gong Zi even though he kept putting himself out there so I was a little surprised that the show didn't end with him falling for his right hand woman. I suppose it does make sense in a way though cause the show seemed to want to give everyone a bittersweet ending. Speaking of, I have no idea if Chang An is still alive or not but I feel like if he was then he would have come back for Wan Mei at some so we never did get a resolution to that but Wan Mei seemed depressed enough for it to be true that he died. Chang An's story was so strange cause it's like a lot of my problems with him started when his secret royal birth came out and that storyline literally went nowhere. The woman who pushed him to lead killed herself (for reasons) and he decided Wan Mei was more important so he basically killed himself too. Overall I did enjoy this show and the music was amazing though I felt like the first half was much better. The show did do a good job with both male leads cause I did waver back and forth between who Wan Mei should pick and that shows that the writing was really good cause usually I have a favorite but in this case I would have been fine with either although the fact that Chang An and Wan Mei never even kissed was hilarious. I'd give this show a 8.5 / 10 and I'd recommend checking it out if you haven't just cause of how unique the plot was even if I wish the writing was better at some points!

Fights Break Sphere (18/45): Xiao Yan is a genius child who suddenly loses all his powers.In a world governed by strength and power, Xiao Yan’s lack of talent is an embarrassment to his family. At the age of 15, Xiao Yan accidentally summons Yao Chen from his mother’s ring. With the elder’s help, Xiao Yan’s skills improve by leaps and bounds. After his entire family is assassinated, Xiao Yan embarks on a journey to find his family’s killer and return peace to the Jianghu (martial world.)

I'm feeling a bit bitter this week cause this show has somehow turned into a harem one with girls throwing themselves at Xiao Yan. It seems that pretty much every woman Xiao Yan meets falls for him and just this week we met three with the important ones being Xiao Yixian and Medusa who is supposed to be Xiao Yan's second wife in the novel (which please show don't do.) It was revealed Yixian's dad was the Ice King who is friends with Xiao Yan's dad and apparently unlike what Yixian kept saying, she was not abandoned but ran away cause she was being a brat which is ridiculous. It was funny for a second how she decided they were married because of how all Xiao Yan's friends reacted but he doesn't really seem to want to change her mind which makes me uncomfortable cause you know I ship him with Xun'er. Xiao Yan and Yixian even went on an one-on-one adventure together and I'm wondering why Xun'er has been relegated to the background repeatedly because I assumed she was the one he was supposed to end up with seeing how she's the one on the poster with him. I also wish that Xun'er had more of a character or a storyline outside of caring about Xiao Yan cause it seems like every other female character has something to do and I wish she would get some screen time for something that makes her a real character and not just a love interest.

FINISHED Martial Universe (40/40): This is a drama adapted from the novel of the same name by Tian Can Tu Dou. It is a story that talks about Lin Dong, a child from a small village who isn't favored by his family. By chance, Lin Dong obtains a mysterious artifact that is coveted by many clans in the martial world. Because of this artifact, Lin Dong is approached by many people of different clans and is forcibly involved in various events of the martial universe.

I just found out that there are in fact 2 seasons of this show and the second season will be 20 episodes long. I guess I was just the moron who didn't read the wikipedia page cause I would have complained a hell of a lot less about the pacing if I had known! I'm still not the hugest fan of why Huan Huan left (cause she was embarrassed of her aging) but the delicious pining Lin Dong was doing was so worth it. It really showed how much he loved her if he wouldn't give up and wanted to fight fate for her. I liked how the cultivating healed her right up and I bet you anything that the Ice Emblem will suddenly decide that her powerful love for Lin Dong is moving enough that the Emblem will make an exception to the memory removal. It was a nice parallel to Lang Tian going to the Darkness Palace for Qing Tan but in his case, he wasn't sincere and I just want her to punch him in his face at some point. Like I guessed she was the Darkness Emblem Successor and I can't wait until he realizes that he was played by the Yimo himself. No one turned on him. He was the moron who coveted fame and fortune over love. Now we have 5 Emblems and there are 3 left but I'm assuming that the tiger and the prince will be the next 2 Emblem masters cause I don't think Qing Zhu will get one as she is the Emblem Protector instead so maybe we'll meet a new character in the second season to take the last one. Also I totally should have seen it coming that the Dao Sect senior we met several times turned on Dao Sect but I always assumed his weird reactions were cause he was in love with Huan Huan. It was heartbreaking to see Lin Dong lose his eyes to defeat the Yimo but it was even worse when he didn't go to Huan Huan when he had the chance cause he didn't want her to see him blind. Both of these lovable morons did the same sacrifice thing and honestly I just can't wait to see more! Overall I did enjoy the first season of this show though I think the second half was a lot better than the first and there were some pacing problems but I loved watching Lin Dong and Huan Huan fall for each other so I'd definitely give this show a 8.5 / 10! Here's hoping the next season will be just as good or even better!

xoxo Allie