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 Bad Guys (11/11): To combat rising violent crimes, the Police Chief asks Detective Oh Goo Tak to form a team consisting of criminals. Detective Oh Goo Tak is currently suspended from the police force for using excessive force. Detective Oh Goo Tak gathers team members: Park Woong Cheol who is a gangster, Lee Jung Moon who is the youngest serial killer with extraordinary intelligence and Jung Tae Soo who is a contract killer. Also, Police Inspector Yoo Mi Young joins the team. She tries to have the guys work as a team by dealing with them rationally and sometimes emotionally.
I was in the mood for another investigation drama mixed with a thriller after watching Tell Me What You Saw and digging the vibe there so I decided to check this one out without many expectations and it ended up delivering me exactly what I wanted. This show was what Suicide Squad wanted to be with a bunch of criminals hunting down more criminals with the police holding their leash. Now having said that there were some things I didn't love starting with how Mi Young was a completely pointless character cause she barely did anything all season and the ending was a little too vague for my personal taste but overall I had a blast. I did guess pretty early on that there was probs no way that Jung Moon was a serial killer cause honestly that seemed a touch too far for a protagonist cause like the writer I always feel like serial killers are the lamest of all killers cause they always go for those who are weaker than them to feel better about themselves. At least a gangster will draw lines somewhere while a contract killer can take on people stronger than them. I also predicted that Goo Tak's daughter was thought to have been killed by Jung Moon and that Prosecutor Oh was super sketch but what I didn't see coming was the twist that Goo Tak had tried to get Jung Moon killed and even fabricated evidence. I'd like to imagine that Jung Moon's name would be cleared at the end cause the poor kid didn't even commit any murders! Also in real life someone would have seen Prosecutor Oh on all those CCTVs cause if Jung Moon was caught hypnotized on them then so would have the actual murderer! Overall I'd give this show a 9 / 10!
Itaewon Class (2/16): On the first day of attending his new high school, Park Sae Ro Yi punches his classmate Jang Geun Won, who was bullying another classmate. The bully is the son of CEO Jang Dae Hee. The bully's father runs restaurant business Jagga where Park Sae Ro Yi’s own father works. CEO Jang Dae Hee demands to Park Sae Ro Yi that he apologizes to his son, but Park Sae Ro Yi refuses. Because of his refusal, Park Sae Ro Yi gets expelled from school and his father gets fired from his job. Soon, an accident takes place. Park Sae Ro Yi’s father dies in a motorcycle accident caused by his ex-classmate Jang Geun Won. Burning with anger, Park Sae Ro Yi viciously beats Jang Geun Won. He is soon arrested and receives prison time for violent assault. Park Sae Ro Yi decides to destroy the Jagga company and take revenge upon CEO Jang Dae Hee and his son Jang Geun Won. Once Park Sae Ro Yi is released from prison, he opens a restaurant in Itaewon, Seoul. Jo Yi Seo, who is popular on social media, joins Park Sae Ro Yi’s restaurant and works there as a manager. She has feelings for Park Sae Ro Yi.
Park Seo Joon is usually known for picking good dramas cause other than a few I've really enjoyed everything he's been in and I loved the concept for this show not to mention the fact that neither he nor the female lead are chaebols. It gave me a Just Between Lovers vibe in that the antagonist is a chaebol and he's off doing rich people things while the male and female lead just look at him amused like we've got real world problems down here so do your own thing and leave us out of it. At least that's the vibe I'm getting except of course that Sae Ro Yi is out for a side dish of revenge. Something about this show just feels so mature and matter-of-fact and I just love the tone of this show. It's like bleak but also has a hint of hopefulness to it that I adore. Sae Ro Yi's life wasn't smooth sailing in any sense but he doesn't let it hold him down. I love that things that seem so out of nowhere for others doesn't even register as strange in his mind and I can't wait to see where this show takes us. It was interesting cause Yi Seo is supposed to be the female lead but other than a few minutes at the top of the first episode she was barely in it and most of the screen time was given to the second female lead Soo Ah who was fun to get to know though the fact that she's so closely wrapped up in Janggo keeps me from shipping her with Sae Ro Yi. I also really like how diverse the main cast seems and I have a feeling that I'll be getting Strongest Deliveryman vibes from this show too and I can't wait for that either. We spent most of these first two episodes seeing Sae Ro Yi's backstory and the actual story won't start until next week but I'm super in.
FINISHED Liar Game (12/12): Various contestants take part in a game show with a prize of 10 billion won. The contestants who can cheat the others wins the prize. Contestants include genius swindler Cha Woo Jin and naive college student Nam Da Jung.
Glancing through my list of watched dramas for the week I'm sure you've picked up a pattern. After watching Tell Me What You Saw I checked out Bad Guys and after I finished Bad Guys I jumped over here. It's all in thanks to the dark and bleak tone I've been high key obsessed with this week and dudes I fell in love with this show! I loved the concept and the characters and the world though I do have to admit that I was so confused by so many of the games that I kind of at one point just stopped trying to guess what was happening and let the show tell me. Da Jung was a little too naive at the start for my taste though she slowly learned who and who not to trust by the end but I never once thought that she was irritating or too much. Woo Jin was a complete badass and I loved watching him outwit everyone around him. Though there was never any overt romance between the two, I do think the undertones were all there and I'd like to imagine that at some point they do fall in love. Do Kyung was amazing as the villain who I despised and Jaime was fantastic in her antagonist to hero arc. I sort of guessed Do Kyung and Woo Jin's connection from the start but I totally didn't expect Da Jung to be tied up in it too. Overall I just really enjoyed the message behind the show being about what a person's default is and whether they are all good or all bad without their masks so I'd give this show a 10 / 10.
Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim Season 2 (10/16): “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?
Everything that had been going on in the background with Master Kim and his wrist problem came to the forefront this week culminating in him losing feeling in his arm and the collapsing but the thing is that who knows if the collapse was due to problems after the bus accident or if they were related to whatever's going on cause it's clearly more than the carpal tunnel Dr Bae thinks it is right now. One of the best parts of this week was when Kim and Park finally confronted each other and how Park has been carrying this guilt about not staying back in the bus crash all those years ago when Kim did and he's been thinking that Kim has been looking down on him since out of a misplaced sense of guilt when in actuality Kim had literally no idea who he was. I would like to hope that after Kim had such a touching moment with him in the hallway that Park will finally stop being an ass but honestly we've got 3 weeks left so I doubt it. I also doubt that Kim will be done or that Doldam will be closed tbh despite all the politicking that I've been super ignoring. Woo Jin is still a complete badass and now Eun Jae has been one two but since Eun Jae is still hesitant to admit her feelings, Woo Jin is backing off for now. I'm super pissed at Yang for being an ass when Woo Jin was right about how to do surgery on that spleen patient and I just really hope that it doesn't backfire onto Woo Jin again. Ah Reum and Eun Tak are also still going strong and I love when they flirt but we didn't get too much from them though I was totally expecting a kiss in the snow at the end!
Stove League (13/16): Baek Seung Soo is the newly appointed general manager of professional baseball team Dreams. The team ranks bottom of the league. Lee Se Young is the operations manager of the team and also a big fan of the baseball team. She has so much love for Dreams and she never gives up on the team. Han Jae Hee, an energetic man, who is the grandson of a furniture maker. Kim Young Chae, who is a softball player turned sports announcer. Yoo Min Ho, a pitcher, who is crazy about baseball.
If you had told me at the start of this show that I would be rooting for Lim Dong Gyu to return to Dreams by this point I would have said you're crazy but that's exactly what this week managed to do. After taking a week off (and what a hard time it was not having an episode last week!) we're right back in the swing of things. Two weeks ago I was saying how I can't see how Dreams could possibly win the championship but after this week I get it cause not only were we badass enough to win a game against the Vikings during spring training when the Vikings were at their strongest and only lost cause we gave up one game to get a pitcher over his mental struggle but now that so many of the Vikings's best players have been suspended for a year or two, we're a shoo in for first if not second place! I still hate Kwon so much but now that he's CEO it's interesting to see him fight against Seung Soo even more but I high key loved that he thought he had a perfect way to destroy Dreams from doing well with the whole drugging case only to be totally screwed when he found out that not a single member of Dreams was using while every other team in the league did. I hope that Seung Soo tells Se Young and even Jae Hee what's going on with Kwon cause though they at least have an idea about what an ass he is, they don't know the bigger picture and they'll need to cause Seung Soo needs help sometimes too no matter how competent he is.
Tell Me What You Saw (2/16): "Tell Me What You Saw" is a suspense thriller about a genius profiler named Oh Hyun Jae who has lost everything, and a detective with photographic memory named Cha Soo Young who work together to track down a serial killer. Other members include, team leader Hwang Ha Young who sets the plan, ambitious investigation team member Choi Hyung Pil, and veteran detective Yang Man Soo.
Oh man guys this show is so good! It's probs the best investigation drama out right now and I'm all for it! Yeah yeah Hyun Jae is a creep and I've never really been a fan of Jung Hyuk's acting but dudes I'm all about the dark tone of this show and the mystery. I love Soo Young so far cause she's not a complete badass cause she's still pretty green but she's not an idiot either like Joon Young from The Game: Towards Zero! I love the concept of her perfect memory and where it's used. She tries her hardest all the time and I'm all for it. The team so far doesn't mean much to me other than the one cop who's kinda acting like a mole for who I think is the Chief of Police but he seems really hesitant about it cause he didn't jump to report everything as it happens which makes me think that the Chief probs threatened him into it. Speaking of, why are the people in power in these kinds of shows always sketchy? Like it's obvious that he knows the Peppermint Candy Guy isn't dead but he obviously wants him to be so he's like spying on Ha Young to make sure she's staying on track or something I suppose. He's one of those that care more about the logistics than helping people. What's interesting is that the person that Soo Young bumped into looked young and we're supposed to assume that was the killer so he must have been killing while fairly young.
The Game: Towards Zero (12/32): 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.
This week was honestly a bit of a confusing mess cause it feels like so much happened and yet nothing at the same time. Everyone on this show is operating with different levels of information and it's like playing mental gymnastics to not only keep up but also not to scream at the tv in frustration. Between all the secrets that Tae Pyung is hiding to Chief Nam and Joon Young, I need everyone to communicate cause Do Kyung is clearly very smart and we need to have all cylinders firing at once! We do find out that Chief Nam actually faked evidence back in the day to make Pil Doo the killer (cause he thought he was the killer despite DNA not matching) and that's part of the reason why Do Kyung is killing now. I'm assuming that he must have kidnapped the real killer and is using his DNA in the crime scenes to prove to the other cops and possibly the reporters that Pil Doo wasn't the killer since the actual Pil Doo is on death's door so he can't be in two places at once. As a side dish he gets revenge on the reporter that made his life hell. We also found out that the reason that Tae Pyung can't see Joon Young's death is cause he's responsible for it but if I had to bet I'd say it was an indirect cause of some sort like Do Kyung kidnaps her but he only does it cause Tae Pyung likes her. I wondered last week how the show would handle the fact that Do Kyung is the killer when he's also supposed to be a main character but I realized that the show will probably drag out the hunt for evidence against him all season and that he probs won't kill himself until the final week anyway which if that's true will be such a struggle.
Touch (10/16): 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.
This was a much more lighthearted week cause with last week being rock bottom for Jung Hyeok, this week he started to rise up again with Soo Yeon's help. I loved that he is opening up a new makeup shop and going to start all over again though I can't help but wish this had been the plot from the beginning. Think of how much more fun this show would have been if we met a ruined Jung Hyeok who was working with Soo Yeon to get back to the top. I suppose in a way that could still happen cause I imagine that a lot of his clients will want to come back cause if I was a client, regardless of whether I believed all the negative rumors or not about a stolen makeup line, I would go to the makeup artist who's makeup I liked! I also high key want Kim and the sunbaes to come join Jung Hyeok but they might be too much for him right now who probs doesn't even have enough to pay Soo Yeon! We're also soooo close to Do Jin finding out that the reason Soo Yeon's idol dream was destroyed was because of him and the CEO of Window needing to block a dating article of his. The poor baby is going to be destroyed and I'm just really really hoping that Soo Yeon doesn't blame him too much!!
XX (4/10): 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'm still really in love with the world of this show and this week we really focused on cheating with not only a patron coming in who was cheating on his wife but we also got a better look at Roo Mi's boyfriend who's clearly cheating with his coworker. Na Na is of course really sensitive to the idea of it after what she had been through so she decides to post the story online and the fallout is that the internet discovers who the cheater is and exposes him causing his wife to be a complete badass and dump him like the garbage he was. It was a bit of a stretch to have Roo Mi read the article and automatically assume that Na Na did it cause it's like why is it so sketch that a coworker caught them but it's moving the plot forward so that's fine I suppose. I will never get over how Roo Mi was the one in the wrong back in the day but she continuously acts as though Na Na was the one who overreacted. Shout out to Jung Deun this week who gave Roo Mi the shade she deserved and for low key exposing her boyfriend. Na Na did notice that the boyfriend was with another girl but once again it feels like a stretch on her part to assume that he's cheating cause that woman could have been a normal coworker or a client for all she knew. Dan Hee is still the cutest angel and I really hope this show ends with Na Na and him together.
CDRAMA
Eternal Love Of Dreams/Three Lives, Three Worlds, The Pillow Book (18/56): 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.
We've officially jumped into the second reincarnation of the three which is actually low key surprising cause it's much earlier than I thought but I guess it does explain why I thought the servant arc was so fast last week. Having seen into a pretty large chunk of the second reincarnation, I'm not as annoyed by the whole changing worlds things as I thought I would be since Fengjiu didn't lose her memories alongside Donghua but at the same time it's not the real Donghua and he's not going to remember any of this when he returns to heaven so like I'm not all that taken in by the romance. I am having a shit ton of fun though watching Fengjiu completely mesmerize the King and the struggle is that I actually love her dynamic with Qingti more so I'm all for breaking the King's heart by making him think Fengjiu is in love with Qingti! Once he returns to being Donghua then I'll ship them! I do wonder what the chances are that Donghua remembers loving Fengjiu in the mortal realm cause I can't picture how he'll suddenly fall in love with her when not only has he never actually met Fengjiu in the Heavens but also since he's much more guarded up there. What does suck is that while Donghua seemingly will get all his cultivation back after spending his life in the human realm Fengjiu might lose all of hers from backfire. Maybe that'll be why she has to hide in her home in the heavens for a long time between the second and third reincarnation or maybe she'll end up losing all her memories so that it's Donghua who has to seduce her this time around?
Under The Power (36/55): 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.
So much happened this week that I don't know where to begin! Shangguan and Yang Yue went through a whole gambit of emotions that all stem from Xie Xiao the dummy breaking off his engagement to Shangguan officially. At first Shangguan acted as though she wasn't interested in Yang Yue cause after everything that happened with Xie Xiao she was afraid to open her heart up again cause all she knew of love is heartbreak but as time went on Yang Yue's sweetness slowly got to her. That's why it was absolutely disheartening to watch her search for him for days on end barely eating and sleeping and I'm so worried that cause of his giant scar that he'll try to stay away. Maybe Lin Lang will be able to heal it cause I need these babies together as much as Jin Xia and Lu Yi! Speaking of they're officially together now and cuter than ever though I'm still worried about whether he'll be able to marry her cause she's technically a commoner not to mention the fact that I'm almost completely sure that Jin Xia is a daughter of the noble Xin family who other than Lin Lang (her aunt) were all killed. That doesn't exactly explain why Yang Yue's dad keeps saying things like she can't be with Lu Yi unless the murder of the Xin family was a plot by Lu Yi's father but we know it was the Yun family so Lu Yi wouldn't have any blame other than his father falling the Emperor's orders.
xoxo Allie
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