So here's what I'm watching this week! Of course the list is split by country and the amount of 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 reviews, click here and if you want to see a list of my Favorite Asian OTPs and Ships, click here!
KDRAMA
FINISHED Hi! School - Love On (20/20): Lee Seul Bi is an angel who is sent to Earth to look after Shin Woo Hyun, who lives with his grandmother and carries emotional scars from being abandoned by his parents. Despite his cold demeanor, Woo Hyun is popular in school because of his good looks and singing ability. When his best friend, Hwang Sung Yeol, finds out a secret that ties them together and also develops feelings for Seul Bi, who is posing as a fellow student at their school, the best friends turn into rivals.
I was in the mood for a school kdrama so I went with this one with the thought that maybe it'd be like School 2017 and Angel's Last Mission: Love put together and though that was the basic idea of this show, both of those dramas did it a lot better than this one. Now don't get me wrong I adored the first third of this drama and I loved Seul Bi and Woo Hyun to pieces but somewhere around the second third of this drama the story devolved into this mess where I couldn't understand why any of the characters were acting the way they were. Eventually it righted itself during the final third but then of course we had to go down the amnesia route as if Seul Bi and Woo Hyun's love hadn't been tested enough! Sung Yeol was such a bitch for most of this drama. Compared to Seul Bi and Woo Hyun who had literally no parents Sung Yeol went around bitching about how he had 2 biological parents and two step-parents and then claimed that Woo Hyun was stealing everything from him as if Sung Yeol's stepmom wasn't Woo Hyun's mom first and as if Woo Hyun and Seul Bi didn't know each other way before Sung Yeol knew Seul Bi. I hated that Seul Bi and Woo Hyun had to bend to every one of Sung Yeol's stupid wishes but I did love how it ended with them literally sharing each other's pain cause they loved each other so much. I also did really love a lot of the side characters and their romances but once again the group of friends didn't feel as fun or real as the group in School 2017. Overall I think I liked the idea of this show more than what we actually got so I'd give it a 8 / 10.
FINISHED It's Okay, That's Love (16/16): Jang Jae Yeol is a famous mystery novelist and popular radio DJ with a prickly personality. After meeting psychiatrist Ji Hae Soo when they both serve on a talk show panel delving into the criminal mind, they instantly rub each other the wrong way. But when Jae Yeol’s girlfriend plagiarizes his work, forcing him to lie low until the media storm blows over and he can prove his innocence, he unexpectedly becomes Hae Soo’s roommate. Jae Yeol moves into a home that he owns that is being rented by Hae Soo, Jo Dong Min; another psychiatrist and Hae Soo’s senior colleague, and Park Soo Kwang, a young man with Tourette syndrome. As Jae Yeol and Hae Soo’s personalities clash, they help each other heal from their own deep-rooted emotional scars.
There wasn't a particular reason that I decided to check this drama out other than maybe I was hoping that it would be kinda similar to Kill Me, Heal Me but I did recognize Jo In Sung from That Winter The Wind Blows and he was fine in that so I hopped into this one. Though not the gem that Kill Me, Heal Me was I did have a lot of fun watching this drama with the main couple having tons of chemistry and the supporting cast being hilarious but I was mostly enthralled with how mature this drama felt. I mean the female lead literally had a fear of relationships and yet the main couple touched more casually than a lot of other main couples in other dramas. The show didn't shy away from sex or what it meant and I loved that Jae Yeol made Hae Soo comfortable with touching and that she made him comfortable with showing all his sides. They found something that was missing in each other and isn't that what any adorable couple does? Every character in this show was so human and relatable and the mental health message delivered in this was lovely. I do admit that I did think that Hae Soo was a bit demanding in their relationship but Jae Yeol was so patient that he knew how to calm her and when she was truly serious about a problem. He never pushed her out of her comfort zone but slowly eased her into getting past her mental hurdles. The main mystery of Jae Yeol's past was heartbreaking to discover and I totally didn't see it coming cause while I had a feeling that it couldn't have been Jae Yeol who killed his stepfather (since he's a kdrama male lead and they definitely don't do that!) I didn't expect it to be the mother in the end! Talk about guilt. Overall I really enjoyed this drama for what it was and I'd give it a 8.5 / 10!
Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim Season 2 (8/16): “Romantic Doctor Kim” is a “real doctor” story set in a small, humble hospital called Doldam Hospital. It is a story about people who meet Kim Sa Bu (Han Suk Kyu), a genius doctor, and discover “real romance.” Kim Sa Bu once gained fame as a top surgeon at a huge hospital. One day, he left the industry, and now he is a chief surgeon at Doldam Hospital in the countryside. After he conducted a successful operation on Chairman Shin, he gets to improve the hospital under reliable support. But then Chairman Shin passes away. New people appear and his students had to leave the hospital. Furthermore, his wrist, which was injured three years ago, starts to act weird. After all, he goes to a huge hospital himself to solve the manpower shortage at Doldam Hospital, where he finds two people who resemble his former students but who seem much more lacking. Seo Woo Jin would do anything for money, and Cha Eun Jae runs out every time she goes into a surgery room. Will Kim Sa Bu be able to run Doldam Hospital with these two?
We're halfway through this drama now which is low key crazy cause I feel like we just started with this drama but the romances are all definitely ramping up while I'm still not entirely sure about the overarching hospital politics part. It's hilarious that President Park is trying to act like the big man on campus but keeps getting schooled by Dr Kim. In terms of romance Woo Jin and Eun Jae kissed this week but I'm still super not on board with them so it's like whatever. Woo Jin is still struggling with his loan shark who seriously embarrassed him in the hospital but I like that everyone took his side and no one really held it against him including President Park which was the really interesting part. Also to note was the fact that Dr Bae acted strange after he read Woo Jin's file making me wonder if he's somehow related to Woo Jin's parents' death. Like maybe his father or someone he knows actually killed them and staged it as a murder/suicide? Eun Jae also stepped up this week and gained some confidence in herself which is great but again I don't particularly care for her. The best part of this week though was definitely Ah Reum and Eun Tak's growing relationship which though felt a bit like it went from like 10 to 100 was still really cute. I was surprised that Eun Tak just out-and-out confessed to being interested and then also didn't back off out of jealously after seeing Ah Reum and Woo Jin together. Maybe it's cause they're a secondary couple so there's no time for dilly-dallying but I was right there with her when she swooned after he asked her out.
The Game: Towards Zero (8/32): It tells the story of a prophet who sees the moments right before the death of someone and a homicide detective who got dragged into a series of mysterious murders and end up digging up hidden secrets. Kim Tae Pyung, a prophet who can see death, 27 years old. He has the special ability to see the moments right before the death of someone by looking into their eyes. Instead of suffering from this mysterious ability linked to the death of people, he thinks that it is a special ability of his own. He is rich, handsome and has a sexy brain. However, he cannot see the death of Joon Young and that started to scare him. Joon Young, a homicide detective who is working with Tae Pyung to solve cases. 30 years old. She has good insight and intuition. Her father who was a police officer was her hero and her whole life, however, he passed away 20 years ago. That was a huge shock for her. She was only depending on herself and no one else. However, when Tae Pyung appeared, she started to change. She wants to heal his and her wounds. Ku Do Kyung, a forensic expert, 33 years old. Tae Pyung gave him the nickname of “4 weeks left” because he gives the result 4 weeks later. He is a smart and talented employee of the National Forensic Service. He always seems relaxed. In front of Joon Young, he acts differently. He can’t stop laughing when he is with her and lets his image of a cool and cold man away.
I was furious watching this week's episodes cause of just how stupid Joon Young was for telling Do Kyung literally everything about Tae Pyung and the murder case. I mean she's supposed to be a smart detective right so why would she think that this guy asking her so many leading questions is okay? I mean you've literally never met this guy before and you had no evidence that he was trustworthy but you decided to spill all your secrets? Wasn't she embarrassed to be like yeah some guy had a superpower that could tell me where she was buried like that's totally normal. Her boss at least reacted in a normal way with thinking that Tae Pyung might be an accomplice or a witness and then still distrusted his intel even if it was annoying to watch cause that's a normal reaction to this situation. I hope she blames herself cause she was truly idiotic but I also hope her boss blames himself too cause if he had let Tae Pyung sketch Do Kyung then they could have looked out for him at the hospital. Speaking of I hate when in dramas a police officer who's supposed to be guarding a victim step away to help someone else cause it's like your job isn't to be a nice guy, it's to keep everyone out of this room! I'm also low key worried that with the death of his daughter the reporter is going to double down on dragging Joon Young through the mud when it isn't her fault. He should have learned his lesson about ignoring his wife's phone calls after the first time! I'm really curious not only about where Do Kyung will go from here but also if there will be an overarching villain to chase down or if we'll do more weekly murders. It's possible the real serial killer from back in the day might be the one we're hunting after we found out that Do Kyung's father wasn't the killer.
Touch (8/16): A popular make-up artist, known for his never-ending quest for perfection, Cha Jung Hyeok was at the top of his game. But destiny, it seemed, wouldn’t let him stay there for long. Now unemployed and drowning in debt, Jung Hyeok is desperate to find a way out of this most miserable of slumps; but he’s not the only one. An idol trainee for the past ten years, Han Soo Yeon is desperate to finally get her big break. Deciding it’s now or never, she agrees to participate in an idol audition program, but fails to make the cut. Booted from the program, Soo Yeon finds herself wondering if this is really the path she’s meant to take in life. Desperation and destiny come together in unexpected ways when Jung Hyeok and Soo Yeon cross paths. After finally landing a much-needed job as a make-up artist, Jung Hyeok agrees to take Soo Yeon under his wing. Noticing that his new assistant shows an incredible aptitude for the art, Jung Hyeok is happy to teach her everything he knows. As the two grow closer, they slowly learn to let go of the broken dreams of the past as they steadily walk towards a future full of bright new dreams, together.
You know the twist that happened this week with Jung Hyeok loosing everything really would have hit harder if the synopsis for this show didn't spoil the whole thing! Why put the fact that Jung Hyeok goes bankrupt in the synopsis when it didn't even happen until halfway through the show? As I expected it was Min who caused Cha Beauty to go bankrupt by teaming up with Oh and launching Jung Hyeok's makeup line before Jung Hyeok could therefore not only ruining his name in the press but also preventing him from selling his makeup line and being unable to pay back all the loans he took out of launch the line. It's interesting cause I don't exactly feel pity for Min when we found out that he became the way he was because Ji Yoon never liked him for anything more than money but it definitely added to my dislike of her. I still super don't ship the main couple which super sucks cause instead of feeling butterflies when the couple interact I find myself rolling my eyes but at the same time I don't want him with Ji Yoon either cause she's the worst. I'm also curious about this new turn Do Jin's story is getting with him wanting to leave Window Entertainment cause duh the CEO is the worst but at the same time I'm worried that the CEO is going to destroy Do Jin's career out of spite. The only reason I'm like maybe that won't happen is cause we've already seen Soo Yeon and Jung Hyeok be destroyed and adding Do Jin to the mix might be too much.
XX (2/10): It tells the story of the best bartender of the industry who is working in a speakeasy bar. She solves the problems of the couples and is overcoming her past love wounds.
I originally wasn't going to check this show out cause I tend to feel like dramas that have less than the normal 16 to 20 episode count don't usually have much substance to them but something about this one just called to me. Maybe it was the fact that it was about bartenders which I don't think I've actually ever seen in a drama before or maybe it was just how gorgeous the posters looked but I jumped in and so far I'm having fun. I like all of our leads and I'm pretty curious about the backstory between Na Na and Roo Mi cause though it looks like we were told the whole story this week, I have a feeling that there's more in an unreliable narrator sort of way. The first time we saw the flashback Na Na's ex was on his knees begging for forgiveness but the second time we saw the flashback it was Roo Mi. I also don't understand why Roo Mi would call Na Na walking away from both of them as "running away" cause it's like if my best friend and boyfriend slept together I sure as hell wouldn't be sticking around. It feels like karma that Roo Mi's current boyfriend also feels like he's cheating but I'm sure that the main story in this show will be to bring Roo Mi and Na Na back together as friends so I guess I can't be too thrilled by that karma. Dan Hee is also precious and he's clearly into Na Na though she doesn't know it and at first I low key shipped Na Na with Jung Deun her roommate but I have a feeling that he might end up being gay so I'd be down with her getting with Dan Hee.
CDRAMA
Eternal Love Of Dream/Three Lives, Three Worlds, The Pillow Book (6/56): Two thousand years of enduring love and obsession between the female monarch of Qing Qiu and the ancient god of the Heavenly Kingdom. When Feng Jiu was practicing immortal cultivation alone in the wilderness, she was attacked by a beast and rescued by Dong Hua Di Jun of the Heavenly Kingdom. The encounter becomes deeply ingrained in Feng Jiu's heart and to repay her debts, she decides to follow Dong Hua into battle. She soon realizes that her good feelings towards him have evolved into love, but Dong Hua is a god who has forgotten what love means. In order to protect Feng Jiu, Dong Hua sends her to the human realm which results in the death of a friend. Feng Jiu enters the Winged Tribe Princess Ah Lan Ruo's dream sequence in search of a sacred fruit that can bring the dead back to life but gets trapped to relive Ah Lan Ruo's life for eternity. Dong Hua finds a way to save Feng Jiu and realizes that he already reciprocates her love for him, but another hurdle crosses their path.
I was really excited when I heard about this drama coming out for so many reasons starting with how much I adore Dilraba all the way to the fact that Feng Jiu and Dong Hua's romance in Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms was the only part of that show that I liked. I had heard that this was going to be a different story than the one we got there cause at the time Ten Miles aired the rights to this story weren't given to the show but I figured that at the very least it'd be like watching an alternative universe version of their story and I hoped in the back of my mind that maybe they'd get the happily ever after they deserved in this one. So far I'm having fun with this show cause Dilraba is killing it at being the absolute cutest and Vengo is definitely playing strong and stoic. I know a lot of people are upset with how naive Jiu is right now but I don't mind cause Dilraba is one of the only actresses I think can pull it off but also I know that we've only just began this show so of course Jiu is going to grow! I love that we're supposed to assume that this show is running parallel to Ten Miles and that we didn't really get introductions to any of the main characters cause the show is going off of the assumption that you've already seen Ten Miles and know everything. I am a little worried about the future reincarnation storylines that the synopsis and the title of this show is teasing cause you know my thoughts about all that but that's a problem for later and I'm just going to enjoy what I'm currently watching!
Under The Power (22/55): In the final years of the reign of Jiajing Emperor during the Ming Dynasty, Lu Yi of the Jing Yi Wei is commissioned to investigate the disappearance of funds that have been set aside for river repairs in Yangzhou. He is assisted by Yuan Jin Xia of the Liushanmen. The two accidentally become involved in a conspiracy. The talented female constable Yuan Jin Xia gets into a disagreement with the hot-tempered Jin Yi Wei Lu Yi over a case that they are both involved in. Jin Xia thought that she'd never encounter Lu Yi again in this lifetime, yet fate has its way of bringing two people back together. Government funds have been stolen and Jin Xia receives orders to assist Lu Yi in his investigation. They are unable to get along at first but learn to work together through the hardships. Eventually, they develop feelings for each other to become lovers. However, things go awry when the truth about the past comes to light. Jin Xia is the orphan of the Xia Yan case from many years ago and she bears the burdens of the bloodshed that destroyed her family.
Jin Xia and Lu Yi are getting closer to realizing their feelings for each other but in a subconscious sort of way cause neither will admit it aloud but at the same time they would do anything to save one another. Lu Yi took the poisonous dart meant for Jin Xia and Jin Xia decided to become a living poison antidote for him and yet Jin Xia is still thinking about how she hasn't fallen in love yet while everyone and their mother can see the two are practically one step from love. Well everyone but Xie Xiao who's purposefully playing dumb cause he refuses to care about anyone or anything other than his own feelings. It sucks for Shangguan Xi who has to deal with Xie Xiao running around declaring his love but also it's like girl Xie Xiao is an idiot and you've got Yang Yue, a man who's devoted to you and so much smarter! The new doctor we met is definitely Jin Xia's relative but she seems too young to be her mother but I really wonder if the poison maker uncle knows what's going on cause he seemed a little too adamant that the doctor not use Jin Xia in her antidote and I'm like is it all because she saved you or cause you know that they might be related?
xoxo Allie
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