What Dramas Am I Watching This Week?

So 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 on 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

Doctor John (4/32): In a refreshing take on the genre, “Doctor John” will portray the doctors’ search for the cause of their patients’ mysterious pain as a thrilling chase, almost like a detective hunting down the perpetrator behind an unsolved crime. Cha Yo Han is a genius anesthesiologist, who is also the youngest professor at his medical school. The brilliant doctor goes by the nickname “10 Seconds,” referring to his ability to figure out his patients in the 10 seconds that it takes for them to enter an examination room and walk to their seat. Kang Shi Young is a legendary anesthesiologist, who was always at the top of her class throughout medical school. The talented doctor inherited her skills from her cool-headed, rational mother, while she inherited her empathy, listening skills, and warm bedside manner from her father.

Even though I have a soft spot for medical dramas, I actually wanted to check this drama out mostly cause of Ji Sung who I fell in love with in Entertainer and so far I'm mostly down with this show cause though there's nothing that's like got me hooked from the start, there's also nothing terrible either. Tbh I may or may not just be watching this for Ji Sung anyway. He's just so handsome and charismatic that he makes literally anything look good and I'm always stunned that his female leads don't just melt into puddles looking at him cause his stares cause butterflies in me and I'm not the one three inches from his beautiful face. But okay enough about that, let's talk about the show. I'm interested in how this show is focusing on euthanasia with both of our main leads having done it though with different mindsets afterwards especially since it's still such a hotly debated topic to this day. I do wonder if it's too much of a coincidence that Yo Han and Shi Young are both anesthesiologists on top of that as well but I suppose it just gives them a better reason to spend a lot of time together. They obviously see a lot of themselves in each other and I'm interested to learn more about both of their backstories and what led them to make the decisions they did. I do think that whoever Yo Han treated (possibly that young child we saw from the funeral home) led to his parents being furious with him and wanting a revenge where sending him to jail wasn't enough but it's also possible that those people are targeting Shi Young instead with how someone was following her and taking photos. I also wonder if that county hospital doctor will end up switching to the big city hospital everyone else is at cause he feels like a second male lead but like with him being in another hospital, it'll be harder for him to interact with the rest of the cast.

FINISHED Hospital Ship (40/40): Army doctors board a hospital ship, which is a floating hospital that serves people who live on remote islands. But were these doctors interested in helping underprivileged people for free? Not at all. There is the non-army doctor Eun Jae, a cold perfectionist surgeon whose fast-track career was derailed. Kwak Hyun who practices internal medicine is the first army doctor to volunteer for duty on the hospital ship. Then there is the irritating Jae Geol, an oriental medicine doctor who drew the short straw and now has to serve on the hospital ship. A bunch of doctors with different backgrounds finds themselves afloat at sea. They are too old to be called youthful doctors as they are all in their thirties. Though they have skills obtained through long years of studying in medical school, their hearts and souls are barren. This is a coming-of-age story about doctors who have experienced setbacks in life that they are trying to bounce back from while they learn how to be a compassionate doctor and pursue fulfilling lives.

Yep I know. Another medical drama right? Well I actually started this one cause I thought the premise was a little more unique than most other dramas and I'm so tired of watching medical dramas where there's politics happening cause it's like dude I watch medical dramas for over-exaggerated medical scenarios not more politics like every other drama out there! I ended up having a ton of fun cause it was exactly what I wanted and expected. We had a fun crew of doctors and nurses working hard to treat patients in poor and rural areas that don't get a lot of medical attention and I loved it. We had some fantastic scenarios (cliche may they be) and a great cast. I fell head over heels for Hyun who was pretty much the reason I stuck around at the start when I was mostly meh about Eun Jae cause he was the kind of doctor people live for. He was kind and gentle and cared about his patients more than anything else. I loved his relationship with Eun Jae and I loved how much of a team they were around patients and when they were alone. I loved that they knew all of each others secrets and worked so hard to help the other even when they didn't want the other to know what they did. I did think the love triangles were a little too much and both the final random fight with Doosung Group and Eun Jae's sudden cancer diagnosis was not needed but overall I really enjoyed myself. I'd give this show a 9 / 10!

Hotel de Luna (4/16): Jang Man Wol is the CEO of Hotel del Luna. The hotel is situated in downtown in Seoul and has a very old appearance. She made a big error many years ago and, because of this, she has been stuck at Hotel del Luna. She is beautiful, but she is fickle, suspicious and greedy. Goo Chan Sung worked as the youngest assistant manager ever at a multinational hotel corporation. He is a sincere perfectionist. He looks level-headed, but he actually has a soft disposition. Due to an unexpected case, he begins to work as a manager at Hotel del Luna. The hotel's clientele consists of ghosts.

I really enjoyed this week's episodes a lot more than last week as I figured I would now that Chan Sung has accepted his role in this hotel and now that he's stopped being so scared of ghosts. It also turns out this show is so much more romantic than I thought it was before too. Man Wol has been stuck in limbo for all these years cause she's waiting for the man she loved to come through the hotel which kind of contradicts what we learned last week about this being a punishment for all the murders she committed but then again she can probs do both. I'm sure that she was only meant to stay for a short while but do to her stubbornness she stuck around for this long. I'm not entirely sure what the rules for this world are cause we see that souls can go to heaven or be turned to dust for bad deeds but does this mean that there is reincarnation once you get to heaven or do the souls live there forever? I ask this cause Man Wol is still waiting on the man she loved but like he should have died and his soul passed on way back before Man Wol even took over the hotel so I think she might be waiting for his reincarnated soul to pass through a second time otherwise wouldn't she want to try everything possible to pass on so she can meet him in heaven? I totally thought for a while that Chan Sung was the reincarnation of that guy but I wonder if maybe he's the other friend instead cause the memories he's seeing don't seem to be from first person POV. It's also possible that he's just such a pure soul that he's reminding Chan Sung what love is again. Dramas don't always go the route you expect.

Justice (8/32): Lee Tae Kyung is a star lawyer with the best win rate. He is able to win cases by using his sharp logic and intelligent speeches. He amasses power and wealth by dealing with clients who are part of the elite class. His cases are usually referred from Song Woo Yong who is the owner of a construction company. Lee Tae Kyung gets these high class criminals acquitted or at minimum receive probation. He first became a lawyer to get revenge for his younger sister, but has since become focused on money. He changes when he deals with a series of cases involving missing actresses. Meanwhile, Song Woo Yong has grown his construction company by funneling criminal cases involving wealthy people to Lee Tae Kyung. For his family, he desires even more power. He comes into conflict with Lee Tae Kyung over the cases involving missing actresses.

These kinds of revenge shows are always so damn confusing on so many levels that I start out trying to predict and understand what's happening only to end up watching along with my brow furrowed in confusion cause I need to understand who's who and who's doing what but I can't. I thought Woo Yong was the true Big Bad of this show and that he probs was behind everything only for a new character to appear out of nowhere and suddenly take the role from him. I want to support Tae Kyung's decisions but I truly don't know if they're right or wrong! I am impressed though with his ability to bullshit cause he's convinced Woo Yong that he's on his side even after everything that happened with Young Chul but at the same time he's working on his own thing on the down low. I also wish I knew what Woo Yong's game is. He already controls practically everything except for Yeon Ah's dad and he's clearly a little protective of Tae Kyung but like what else does he want? How is any of this connected to the murdered actresses? Why is he so against Vice Chairman Tak? I thought for like a hot second if he was the guy Tae Kyung should follow cause Yeon Ah's dad was on his side only to be like maybe not cause he seems sociopathic with his devil-may-care attitude and strange monotone voice. It feels as though he knows how he should act and that's the way he does without a sincerity. I also mentioned last week how much I love that it feels like we've jumped into the middle of someone's life rather than the beginning like most shows with Yeon Ah and Tae Kyung clearly having history but I love the way the show doesn't spell it out for us and instead let's us read context clues and figure out what happened between the two. As I figured, they did date at some point and they're still kind of still into each other at least to the degree where they're a little protective of one another and I'd like to believe that Woo Yong should be careful cause if he touches Yeon Ah, Tae Kyung won't stay still anymore but then again he's doing nothing when there are clues that Woo Yong was involved in his own brother's death.

Partners For Justice Season 2 (30/32): In crime and in life, all contact leaves a trace. There is no perfect crime and our hero and heroine have the ultimate cooperation. This drama continues the tale of a forensic scientist and a prosecutor who make the best of teams.

The finale for this show was supposed to air this week but two of the airing episode got preempted so they were pushed back which makes this review weird cause we only got two episodes to talk about. I debated pushing this whole review to next week since I was worried that I would have nothing to say but I figured let's try anyway cause I did end up watching the two airing episodes and I low key regret it cause it ended on such a cliffhanger and I wish I had the next two episodes to watch! It was soooo satisfying to see Ji Han and Eun Sol and the NFS kick ass and take names cause they outsmarted and outwitted their opponents on every stage. Ji Han got away from Dr K and found proof that Jang Cheol and Prosecutor Gal were connected as well as finding out that someone destroyed all the evidence in the police station. Eun Sol got the warrant pushed through despite Gal and Noh being on the side of the criminal and managed to find a fish that probs died from GHB proving that the guy had GHB in his house and could have used it to rape. Even the NFS proved that Ji Han's friend's death wasn't accidental therefore destroying all evidence of Ji Han needing a disciplinary committee. It was all super badass and I can't wait for them to simultaneously destroy everyone next week. I was a little surprised though that Dr K didn't kill Ji Han and I'm low key still upset that they keep saying that Dr K and Jang Cheol are the same person when they're not and poor Jang Cheol didn't do anything other than get abused by his mother to the point where he developed a second personality.

FINISHED Search: WWW (16/16): Bae Ta Mi works as a director for a big web portal company. She is in her late 30's and is quite competitive. With her competitiveness, Ta Mi enjoys success. The methods she uses to win has her wondering if she is doing the right thing with her life. Has she sacrificed too much of her personal life for success? Park Mo Geon is a man in his 20's and is a gifted composer. He creates music for video games. Mo Geon meets Ta Mi at an arcade. He falls in love with her due to her competitive spirit.

The finale for this show aired this week and as per usual what this show does well it does well and what it lacks, it still struggled with. I loved the focus of these episodes being government oversight cause it was so much fun seeing Unicon and Barro team up to do something cause you know things are bad when they do after all the fighting they did before. Don't get me wrong, I'm still happy as a clam that Barro became number 1 cause man oh man did they deserve it but it was fun seeing our ain characters team up too. I don't know what the government expected trying to threaten them like there was so many ways that could go wrong! I was super shocked though to see that Ga Gyeong ended up retiring at CEO but also it kind of makes sense cause she's wanted to disappear for a while and CEO Jang literally tried to threaten her into compliance one too many times and I was thrilled that she basically threw up a giant middle finger before vanishing though it was heartbreaking that she couldn't end up with Jin Woo. Speaking of couples, I still thought that Scarlett and Ji Hwan's weird breakup thing was way too dramatic cause like it wasn't like Ji Hwan was dying or something! He was going away for less than two years and then he'd be back and their reunion was super precious I have to admit. What I didn't like was the way that Ta Mi and Mo Geon ended up getting back together at the end of the show cause like they resolved absolutely nothing on the marriage issue and it seems ridiculous that they would be like I don't care let's date anyway. Overall though I did enjoy this show a lot and I'd give it a 9.5 / 10!

CDRAMA

FINISHED Deep In My Heart (28/28): A story about unraveling mysteries and healing follows a man with special abilities and a woman with a dual personality. Kong Yi Fei has many identities. He is a music teacher at a liberal arts school and a criminal psychologist with a talent to see the past through the sense of touch. Han Bing is a hot-blooded female reporter whose other self is a soul that is raging wild. The two meet after being accidentally pulled into a serial murder case. Together with their detective friend Xu Gao Sheng, they work together to capture the real culprit.

It was kind of a struggle to finish this drama this week even though I had only four episodes to go cause though I know that Han Bing and Han Xue are two separate people, I was just so exasperated by what had happened last week that I really didn't want to watch any more of this show. I also really didn't love that Han Bing ran away even though it was to get better through therapy cause honestly when stuff like this happens I think redemption means staying and facing what you did every day so that not only can you show the person you wronged how you're changing but you can't avoid it by being somewhere else. Han Xue hurt Yi Fei but Han Bing should have stayed to make things right. Li ended up in jail after he tried to do a murder suicide with Yi Fei but luckily for everyone they made it out okay. Even Yi Fei's father was okay cause they said that him operating on a living person was a lie and I'd believe it cause other than one doctor saying a finger twitched, everything else pointed towards brain death. Gao Sheng and Xiao Zhen got back together which was great and Yi Fei and Han Bing did as well. Overall I wish this show had more emphasis on the psychometry than it did and less on the multiple personalities of Han Bing but I enjoyed the murder mystery aspect of the drama even though I had a feeling early on who the bad guy was. I might be kinda biased and unfair cause I did expect something closer to He Is Psychometric so it's possible I didn't give this drama a fair shake but I do know that I enjoyed the first half much more than the second half so there's that. I'd give this drama a 7 / 10.

Go Go Squid (29/41): It is late evening when Han Shang Yan walks into an internet cafe. While helping her cousin watch the shop, Tong Nian catches a glimpse of Han Shang Yan and immediately falls for him. She is usually brave, outgoing and has tens of thousands of followers from singing covers online, but she fumbles whenever she encounters him. She is used to interviews, but can't even utter a word when speaking to him. He is cold, hard to reach and not the type of guy to be interested in girls, but Tong Nian's unique personality and her persistent ways to get close to him begin to catch his attention.

I take back everything I said last week about Nian not feeling comfortable around Shangyan! As we saw this week, she can handle Gun's crazed fans perfectly and not feel insecure about it! This week's episodes were a mixed bag cause I really loved the episodes at the start of the week which were all focused on Nian and Shangyan's growing relationship but the second half was all about their breakup which was such a struggle to get through for multiple reasons. It was sweet to see that despite the age difference, they were both amateurs at love and that both are each other's first loves. Shangyan for all his coolness is nothing more than a dork around Nian and for all her genius, she can barely speak around him. Their breakup on the other hand was mostly Nian's mom's fault but I also blame Shangyan a little. She knows literally nothing about Shangyan's career and has the gall to go around saying he plays with computers and is poor as dirt! K&K is huge in their circle and clearly from what I've seen, they make bank but like I said I feel like part of the problem is Shangyan and his inability to explain what he does cause all he says is that I don't need outsiders to understand but it's like why won't you if that's what's keeping you from getting blessings from your girlfriend's mom? He explained it perfectly fine to Demo's mom! It also made me feel sad for Nian cause WE know why he's acting this way but to the poor girl she's doing everything for him to make him happy and he's over here acting like a complete ass. That's why when they kinda got back together at the end I wasn't exactly thrilled since not only did they not talk through their problems which I'm telling you will come up again but he never even apologized for the terrible things he said and did. I also wasn't the biggest fan of Yaya at the start but her romance with Little Mi is just so precious that I've grown to like her.

Love And Destiny (7/60): Ten thousand years ago, Jiu Chen, known as the god of war, fell into a deep slumber after sealing away the demon lord. Ling Xi accidentally wakes him from his sleep and they fall in love. It is discovered that Ling Xi was born with an evil miasma that can help the demon lord break free and allow the demon tribe to rise to power. Jiu Chen refuses to kill an innocent and tries to change Ling Xi's fate. Through the encouragement of Jiu Chen, Ling Xi who was once innocent and naive transforms into a brave leader in a fight against evil.

There really wasn't a reason I wanted to check this drama out other than the fact that it popped up when I nothing else to watch and so I dived in and so far I'm having fun with it. It's more serious than a drama like Love Better Than Immortality but still not as serious as something like Noble Aspirations and so I find it's a fun watch. I adored Ling Xi as a character from the start cause she was naive but still intelligent and kind so she wasn't the kind of annoying female lead who refuses to follow the rules or just doesn't understand them. Jiu Chen is a bit too close to a cold male lead than I usually like but so far it's a lot of fun watching him be completed dumbfounded by Ling Xi's happiness and light. It's obvious why he's going to fall for her cause no one else in his life treats him the way Ling Xi does with all that pure joy and adoration. I also like that since there's like a billion characters in this show that we're slowly getting to know all of them rather than jumping into a big plot so it feels a bit like a slice-of-life drama so far. I have a feeling that Ling Xi is definitely not the daughter of the medicine god like he's been saying but maybe in fact the daughter of the Black Mountain Tribe leader. I doubt she's a demon like Jiu Chen and the others think but she's probs not a simple fairy either but then again are the leads in dramas ever exactly who they say they are? I also want to give a shout out to Little White who is the absolute cutest little puppy ever and though I have no idea why he's in this show, I love him anyway.

Love Better Than Immortality (9/40): A woman from the future arrives at a fantasy-like universe to experience love for the first time. She goes by the name Chun Hua and falls into a complicated romance with two young men who are opposites like black and white.

Oddly enough I find myself surprised that the truth has come out not only to Chun Hua but to us the audience too even though it was really needed otherwise we'd be too confused about what's happening. As I thought last week, though Xiaolei was betrothed to Xiao Bai, she was in love with Qiu Yue but he was using her love for him to get her to steal Xiao family's kungfu but the Hua family found out about Xiaolei and Qiu Yue and because of that they tried to kill her. I'm assuming she did end up dying but was fed the longevity nut (probs by Qiu Yue) and after she "lost her memory," Qiu Yue decided that convincing Chun Hua that he was her brother was probs the easier way to get her to do what he wanted. The only thing he didn't plan for was falling in love with her but he either doesn't know it or doesn't want it so he's pretending that all these feelings are just brotherly and that he wants Chun Hua to be his sister. I'm glad this all came out because not only is it good to know what happened for the future but now Chun Hua also knows that Qiu Yue isn't her actual brother so she will be able to be more open to falling for him cause we know that he's the actual Mr Right that she was programmed to love. I still don't know if Chun Hua was sent back in time or if this whole thing is a VR experience because I wonder what will happen if she dies in this cause the program told her that she would lose her immortality so like if she dies will she actually die or just wake up? I also don't entirely understand why Xiao Bai and his friend are so suspicious of Xiaolei anyway cause from their point of view, what's so strange about what they've been told? His fiancee was in a fire and managed to escape only to lose her memory.

FINISHED Noble Aspirations Season 1 (55/55): One night, when Zhang Xiao Fan was eleven years old, everyone in his village was killed, leaving only his childhood friend Lin Jin Yu and a villager Uncle Wang survived. They were later adopted by the Qing Yun faction, the leader of the righteous and good. Lu Xue Qi is from the same faction as Zhang Xiao Fan, the Qing Yun. She is said to be a “fairy from nine skies” for her beauty that can enchant the entire country. Bi Yao is the daughter of the arch lord of Gui Wang faction. Very energetic and arrogant, she loves Zhang Xiao Fan.

I've been burned by so many wuxia cdramas lately that I really struggled to start this drama even though the love of my life Zanilia Zhao was the female lead but eventually I decided to jump in and I mostly didn't regret it. As per most cdramas with this many episodes my interest waxed and waned during different moments and different arcs but I think what kept me around was pretty much that nothing ever happened that I hated and this show never fell back onto cliches that I hate. Though the overarching storyline had to do with the righteous sects fighting the evil sects there was never a huge focus on any politics other than the very basic so we could enjoy what we were watching on a surface level. Though there were a few misunderstandings at the start between Bi Yao and Xiao Fan, it was never enough to bother me and I actually really enjoyed the short amnesia plot for Bi Yao cause again I emphasize that it was short and I thought the whole getting Bi Yao to fall for Xiao Fan all over again was sweet. I adored the main romance though I did wish that it was a bit more overt and I don't exactly mean that I needed them to make out but I would have loved maybe a few more confessions or hugs! I also loved the entire side cast and the badass squad that Xiao Fan built with Xue Qi, Shu Shu and Jing Yu. I especially loved that Jing Yu never turned evil as per most dramas do where the brother that the main character grew up with eventually gets jealous of the main lead and switches sides but instead literally did everything to love and protect Xiao Fan. I even loved the members of the Ghost Sect and how much they loved Bi Yao! The ending was fine for me but I guess it will all depend on how the next season sticks the landing. Overall I'd give this season a 8 / 10!

FINISHED Noble Aspirations Season 2 (18/18): The is the sequel to the Legend of Chusen. This will conclude what was started off in season 1. We will find out the fates of main leads; Zhang Xiao Fan, Bi Yao and Lu Xue Qi.

What an incredible second season! It was leagues better than the first and honestly it was 100% because of the smaller episode count. I loved that Xiao Fan left Qing Yun cause like there were complete assholes to him in the first season and the one thing I never understood was why Xiao Fan couldn't just leave with Bi Yao. It's also the same problem I have with good v evil in wuxia shows cause to me there's no good or evil cultivation or sects. Evil comes from human hearts and the greed and despair they go through. Xiao Fan spent 12 years with the most evil weapon in the world, practiced good and evil cultivation, joined both Qing Yun and Ghost Sect and yet through it all he remained the same person he always was. I really didn't expect the season to go the way it did after the first cause I never thought that Bi Yao's death would destroy Xiao Fan the way he did but there was something so romantic about how he felt like the world could go to hell but he just wanted his love back. I loved watching him throw aside his "good" morals and be free to be whoever he wanted and as much as I loved the squad from Qing Yun, I also loved his squad from the evil sects and how once again they weren't as bad as they were thought to be. It only really felt like it was the Ghost King himself who lost himself to power and it was him that destroyed everything. I was super sad though that pretty much everyone on the Ghost Sect's side died by the end from Wu Yan to Ping'er. It also really sucked that the season ended just as Bi Yao was resurrected but supposedly there's a season 3 coming but even if there wasn't I'd like to imagine that Bi Yao and Xiao Fan end up living in Yudu with Shu Shu and Xiao Huan away from all the good and evil sects. Overall I'd give this season a 9 / 10!

xoxo Allie