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
Dinner Mate (4/32): This drama is about a young woman going through a rough breakup with a longtime boyfriend she’s still in love with, and a young man who’s a serial dater and kind of tired of relationships. They both like to eat out but dislike having to go to nice restaurants alone, and they happen to meet while waiting to be seated at a restaurant, each of them alone. The hostess mistakes them for a couple and offers them a couple special, which prompts them to sit together and end up having dinner together. After their first unexpected meeting, they meet and have dinner together weekly. That’s how they strike up an unusual friendship where they get together just to eat out, and over multiple dinners, they open up to each other about their relationship troubles and grow closer.
This show is actually nothing like the description said it was going to be but honestly I don't particularly care cause I loved what I just watched! I find that rom coms that are simple in their premise and not filled with over-the-top tropes or antics hit me in the feels harder and there's nothing more simple than two people meeting and becoming friends before their friendship turns to love! Both our main leads are so much fun to watch and I kind of adore how though Hae Kyung is a bit of an asshole in general, he started out so kind to Do Hee and cause of that he seems like a really good person and it's totally believable why Do Hee would like him. It always drives me crazy in dramas when the male lead is consistently an asshole (and not in a tsundere way) and then does one nice thing that's barely more than polite conduct and suddenly the female lead is head over heels. Do Hee on the other hand is a badass in terms of how she's not afraid to say what she means and her breakup with her ex was perfectly done cause she stayed strong to his face and broke down later. Part of me wishes that Kim Jung Hyun was in more of this show cause my favorite thing about cheating boyfriends in dramas is when they see their ex move on and regret their life choices but c'est la vie. It's also interesting cause I feel like these first two episodes focused so strongly on the main leads so I'm left wondering if there will be a second male or female lead or if we've actually met all our characters already and I just didn't notice.
Good Casting (10/16): Baek Chan Mi is a legendary agent for the National Intelligence Service. However, due to an excessive operation, one of her subordinates passes away. After this incident, she takes back all hope of returning to the field when she gets an order to go undercover. She begins working as a secretary for Ilkwang Hitech under the name, Baek Jang Mi. She is joined by a single mother, Im Ye Eun, who has the beauty of a girl group member, and Hwang Mi Soon, a housewife of 18 years whose family believes her to be an insurance salesperson. These three women begin to work together. Meanwhile, Ilkwang Hitech’s CEO, Yoon Seok Ho, knew Chan Mi as his tutor and had a crush on her. He can’t help but think that his new secretary, who looks exactly like his first love but has a different name and age, is a bit suspicious.
So like things are starting to move forward though I'm not sure how Seo's agent that tried to kill Chan Mi was brushed aside as being just a tail on her cause it's like there would have been no reason to inject her with something if he didn't mean to kill her! I'm especially annoyed cause Ye Eun is acting like a spy now for Myung cause we saw that his man was spying on her in her house and it's high key ridiculous that she being a hacker didn't attempt to scrub everything when she realized someone was watching her. It's also annoying cause you know that she's going to get all up on Chan Mi for her husband dying but it's like if anyone's the traitor, it's you. That's clearly how Chan Mi was caught by Myung cause Ye Eun tipped him off. I'm still really curious about Byun the other secretary cause I also don't think he's a good guy after he murdered that man last week but I don't think he's working with Michael and Myung otherwise he'd have no reason to sneak into Myung's office like that. I'm also fairly certain after this week that Seok Ho is innocent in all this and the poor idiot doesn't even have any idea that so much is going on in his own company and did I or did I not call it last week when I was like Myung really should be taking better care of Tak cause you know that Tak will help the highest bidder and now he's got video proof of Woo Won's manager being murdered.
FINISHED Hospital Playlist Season 1 (12/12): A drama depicting the stories of people going through their days that seemingly ordinary but actually special, at the hospital, a place known as the microcosm of life - where someone is being born and someone's life meets their ending. The five doctors are long time friends of 20 years who started their undergrad in 1999 in the same medical school, and now they are colleagues in the same hospital. The drama will also deal with a story of a band formed by the group of doctors.
This week was the finale for this season and really I'm just glad it's over. Low key I always feel a little bad when I do cause it's like if I love a show I'm more sad that it's over than glad but something about this show just never connected with me even though I know it did for others. It was never terrible or badly written but something about the whole thing was just boring. None of the characters were my favorite and I just didn't connect with any of the romances except for one which barely got any screen time so this drama just wasn't for me. I do have to admit though that it had one of the most realistic hospital setting I've seen in a drama so if you're interested in that it might be worth it. This finale had a mix of good and bad endings for our characters. Ik Jun confessed to Song Hwa about liking her and she mostly just seemed stunned about the whole thing but at the very least she didn't turn him down right away like she did Chi Yong who I started out thinking was sweet but got too pushy towards the end. Jung Won decided to stay a doctor and he also kissed Gyeo Wool which like probs made their shippers happy but I wasn't exactly into them so I was mostly meh. Seok Hyung drew a line in the sand with Min Ha but I really do think he likes her and just is afraid to put himself out there again after his ex wife divorced him. In the end he got a call from that ex wife and I have a feeling she found out about him inheriting the company and wants him back now. Jun Won the poor thing might have just been dumped by Ik Sun cause he sent her a couple ring and the package came back to him which means either she didn't want it or it was sent to the wrong address like she warned him about. Either way I'm not entirely sure if I'll check out the second season when it comes out but I might just to see what happens with Min Ha and Seok Hyung who were the only couple I was invested in. Overall I'd give this season a 7 / 10.
Mystic Pop Up Bar (4/12): “Mystic Pop-Up Bar” is based on a popular webtoon of the same name and tells the story of a mysterious pojangmacha (outdoor drinking establishment) run by a prickly woman and an innocent part-timer who visit customers in their dreams to help resolve their problems.
This show is still seriously giving me Hotel De Luna vibes and I can't help but still prefer IU's take on a ghost who's supposed to help but really doesn't care. Weol Joo is still too over-the-top for my taste but I'm so curious about her backstory! As I suspected last week Weol Joo and the Prince fell in love when she was helping him and I'm still fairly certain that whatever scroll Weol Joo was given has to do with him but what we saw this week was that the love went both ways with the Prince going to the tree Weol Joo died at in pain and crying about how in his next life he'll protect her for sure. It makes me wonder if he's been around Weol Joo this whole time and she just doesn't know it. Maybe he's Gwi and that's why Gwi is always so willing to be pushed around by her? I can't say I think it's Kang Bae though cause for a while I didn't expect any romance between the two especially after we set up another love interest for Kang Bae in Yeo Rin who's absolutely amazing but then we had that scene where he told Weol Joo to stay when he was sick and she thought of the Prince and how he did the same. There's clearly something more to him cause of his spiritual power but either way whoever the Prince is, I hope it's not another Hotel De Luna firefly thing. I also really loved this week that we saw a little more of the afterlife and how there are so many departments like the police department which hunts down evil spirits or the orphanage where dead kids wait for their parents.
Oh My Baby (6/16): Aged 39, Jang Ha Ri is the ultimate workaholic. She hasn’t even had a boyfriend in the past decade, long ago decided to forget about looking for love, and instead has thrown her energy into her career. However, as she works as a senior reporter for a parenting magazine named “The Baby,” she is constantly reminded of the one thing she wants most in life – to have a baby of her own. She decides to cut to the chase and try for a baby but wants to skip one key stage – and resolves not to marry. But as she turns her mind to single parenthood, she suddenly realizes that she is surrounded by admirers: freelance photographer Han Yi Sang, super-smart pediatrician Yoon Jae Young, and the office newbie, the doting Choi Kang Eu Ddeum. Could any of these three love candidates help Jang Ha Ri in her quest to become a mother? And could her quest inadvertently send her on the path to true love?
This show is doing a fascinating thing with it's writing cause it finds a way to convince me one minute that the concept of this show is ridiculous only to stab my in the feels the next! I have been ranting and raving about how Ha Ri is acting like a crazy person since the start of this show with the whole trying to buy sperm instead of adopting like a normal person and I hated that the sperm thing continued into this week cause I had really hoped that it would end with Ha Ri's suspension but I actually really liked how she solved the problem and how firing her wasn't even an option that came up with her bosses! In fact it was super sweet that everyone who was important to her in her life rallied around her and took her side. I also really didn't think that I could have possibly loved Yi Sang anymore than I did but then this week hit and we suddenly saw that not only was Yi Sang totally manly and swoon-worthy but he's also such a dork and has no chill when he likes a girl which was the absolute cutest. The way he looks at Ha Ri with hearts in his eyes is everything but I especially love how steady he feels next to Ha Ri's flightiness and it's like is it any wonder that him doing something as simple as holding her hand causes her to fall for him? The twist at the end when we find out that Yi Sang also has problems with fertility was shocking though and it's got my theory-making brain all fired up! In a normal drama, a woman like Ha Ri who is desperate to find love and have a baby would find that love in Yi Sang and then they would magically have a baby but I'm starting to wonder if it might end up going a deliciously angsty route instead. Ha Ri and Yi Sang are both already head over heels for each other but I have a feeling that Yi Sang is going to start pulling away from her cause he'll think that she wants a baby more than anything which is the one thing he can't give her and then she'll have to pick between him or a baby. Maybe that's why his ex left him and that's why he's afraid to love again cause why put himself in that position again.
Soul Mechanic/Fix You (16/32): How do you deal with anger? Where does happiness actually come from? These questions are at the heart of Fix You, a touching drama about a quirky psychiatrist on a mission to help people heal, and a rising star whose emotional wounds run deep. Lee Si Joon is an eccentric but passionate psychiatrist working in a hospital. He cares deeply for his patients, whom he tries to help through valiant, yet often unorthodox efforts. Han Woo Joo is an up and coming musical actress. Honest and principled, her efforts on the stage seem to be paying off, but she struggles with anger issues and recurring mental breakdowns that threaten to derail her career. With compassion as his tool, can Lee Si Joon help mend her soul and let the healing begin?
We're now halfway through this drama and guys I'm so disappointed in this show for doubling down on the one part of the story I didn't like and was worried about! I said last week that I really do ship Si Joon and Woo Joo but the problem is that with them being in a doctor/patient relationship, it really ruins any of the cuteness in their scenes. It's especially true this week when we literally heard it from almost every character on this show that it's ethically and morally wrong for a doctor and a patient to date. In other medical dramas with doctors and patients like Heart To Heart or Kill Me Heal Me, the emphasis on the wrongness isn't highlighted so strongly and in It's Okay That's Love, it was actually emphasized that in fact a doctor can't treat a patient that they love cause they can't be objective but here we seem to be doubling down. Si Joon is claiming that Woo Joo is feeling transference and it's true that many times I thought that Woo Joo doubling down on her so called feelings felt a little too unnatural to be real feelings but when Si Joon mentioned that he was feeling transference too, it made me think that no actually both of these two are actually into each other. I suppose the simple answer would be for Woo Joo to switch doctors so that Si Joon is just her boyfriend and not her doctor but Woo Joo really has problems and shouldn't jump into a relationship until she figures it all out. The fact that she saw something as simple as a collaboration between doctors or the fact that Si Joon didn't have feelings for her as betrayals really highlights her issues. I really want to shout out Jung So Min for being an incredible actress!
Sweet Munchies (2/12): Park Jin Sung runs an odd little late-night restaurant where customers only choose which drinks they want and their appetizers are chosen by Park, who customizes the dishes to match their drinks. His goal is to provide diners with warmth and comfort through delicious food and excellent customer service. Seeing customers enjoy their food also gives him a great measure of happiness. At the urging of one of his regular customers, Park becomes the host of a new variety show called Midnight Snack Couple, which shoots him to popularity and fame. Regular customer Kim Ah Jin is a passionate PD. She usually has a smile on her face and always looks on the bright side. Her optimism is only matched by her love of food and drinking. After working hard as a crew member in production teams for many years, she finally gets her break as a PD when she convinces Park Jin Sung to become the host of her TV show. Kang Tae Wan is a successful fashion designer. He hosts his own fashion TV program and comes to know Park Jin Sung and Kim Ah Jin when he’s brought onto the Midnight Snack Couple variety show as a stylist for Park. As the three work together, they eventually become involved in an atypical love triangle.
I was in such a weird place about this drama cause on the one hand I really liked the synopsis for this show and I was excited to see another Jung Il Woo drama after adoring him in Cinderella And The Four Knights but once I started watching it I realized that Jin Sung was going to pretending like he was gay for reasons and that kinda rubbed me the wrong way. Having seen the first two episodes, I do think the overall message isn't a terrible one cause the show is actually attempting to portray people being gay without making fun of it like in other dramas but I'm still a little worried about where the show will go with it. Unlike Min Hyuk in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon who just didn't feel like correcting people when they whispered about him being gay, Jin Sung goes out of his way to say that he is gay in order to be cast in Ah Jin's show and I can't help but see how much my heart is going to hurt for poor Tae Wan who's already falling for Jin Sung. Having said all that, I do really like this show so far despite my worries and I adore Ah Jin and Jin Sung's relationship already. They feel like they've been dating for so long already with the way they interact and you know how much I love shows where neither the male or female lead are assholes at the start! It's going to be really interesting when the love triangle hits cause it'll be all the drama with Ah Jin feeling bad for liking Jin Sung and Jin Sung liking Ah Jin but feeling bad cause he's been lying to her and poor Tae Wan who's going to think he has a better shot than Ah Jin only to be blindsided later! I hope the overall warm tone for this show continues going forward and that we focus more on character development than office politics like we did this week.
I have to admit that I probs wasn't in the best frame of mind to enjoy this drama when I went in cause I've been binge watching the American show Criminal Minds which means I've already been getting my required dosage of murder mystery shows already so I have been trying to keep my kdrama watch list in the direction of rom coms or melos but I loved Lee Sun Bin and Ji Seung Hyun so I ended up wanting to check this drama out anyway. The comedy aspect of this show is one I didn't really expect from an OCN drama since they're usually so dark and depressing but it was a breath of fresh air anyway and separated it from other police dramas cause the humor didn't take away from the competence of our cast unlike in Good Casting where I sit around wondering how on Earth these are NIS agents. Having said that, of course the detective work in this show isn't the best compared to something like Criminal Minds but I did really enjoy how everyone on this show was smart enough to not be manipulated and how we were able to get to the same place in the mystery from two different routes. Moo Young and Kang Ho already have this hilarious chemistry together and I love the way they bicker in front of witnesses and possible murder suspects though if there is romance in this show I'd prefer it to be between Moo Young and Tak Won. I wonder if there will only be cases of the week rather than an overarching story cause not only does the episode count feel too low to dive deep into one story but I also didn't actually pick up any sad backstories (halle-freakin-lujah!) other than maybe something to do with Kang Ho's father and how rich he is.
CDRAMA
Love Is All (18/26): Tang Ling Yin is the quirky daughter of a wealthy family whose life becomes entangled with county magistrate Tang Tian Yuan. He is sought after by many for being handsome, well-mannered and having an impressive family background. The two start off on the wrong foot yet eventually join hands to solve a case.
After watching The Romance Of Tiger And Rose last week, it reignited my love for historical cdramas but by now you all know how picky I am! I need them to be low on politics, have a bit of comedy and a good romance and I went with this drama cause I thought that it was another drama with an arranged marriage couple. To my disappointment that wasn't the actual plot of this show but I ended up really enjoying what this show gave me anyway so I decided to stick around and binged more than half of this show at once! Lingyin and Tianyuan are super cute together and you all know I adore tsundere types that fall head over heels for the upbeat female lead but pretend that they're all cold and distant until they can't hide their feelings anymore. The whole detective part of this show reminded me a little of Under The Power though it's not as much in the forefront as in that drama and in fact most of the detective work is fairly meh but I kind of liked that it was all about one case that was dragged out over time. The ost is also really fun and I kind of love how modern it sounds which you know is probs not great in terms of accuracy but it makes me bop along so it works for me! I do wonder about the whole Lingyin being a daughter of a rich family thing from the synopsis cause nothing in this show up to this point shows that Lingyin is anything but a commoner but I have a feeling that her brother who she adopted is the missing younger brother of the Queen cause duh. On that note it's interesting that we're only told that Tianyuan and Shaofeng are best friends with the current King but we never saw him.
The Romance Of Tiger And Rose (14/24): Since birth, a screenwriter finds herself becoming a character in the script of her own creation. However, she is not meant to live past three episodes! Chen Xiaoqian is a writer who poured blood, sweat and tears into creating a big female-centric drama. What could have started filming smoothly quickly turned south because of actor Han Mingxing's reservations about the script. Feeling wronged, Chen Xiaoqian vows to prove herself yet she accidentally gets stuck in a parallel world where her story has come to life. Now known as the 3rd princess Chen Qianqian, she is an insignificant side character with a horrid reputation that is not meant to live long in the story. In order to live, she starts on a road to reverse her fate. She also gets caught in between the arrogant and black-bellied prince Han Shao and the practically perfect Pei Heng.
Dudes I don't have enough words for how happy this drama makes me! I have not laughed so hard while watching a drama except for when I watched Eulachacha Waikiki for the first time! I do have to admit though I getting a tiny bit tired of Qianqian trying so hard not to love Han Shao and pushing him away cause we're over halfway through this show and I want more overtly romantic scenes between the two. I did love that Qianqian figured out really quickly what her feelings for him were cause sometimes cdrama leads don't realize their feelings until the end and their first kiss was everything cause despite him being under the effects of the incense, she was the one to make the first move. I do think that Pei Heng has waaaay overstayed his welcome as it tends to go in most cdramas with second male leads cause he went from aww cute there's a way to make Han Shao jealous to he's reaching too far and being annoying with his constant interruptions. I also find it fascinating that Qianqian hasn't figured out by now that these characters are not acting the way she wrote them anymore and she needs to stop assuming that she knows best. Han Shao and Pei Heng are both in love with her, Han Shao is no longer so interested in taking over the city, and Chuchu is becoming a villain! I want her to accept her feelings for him and see that she doesn't need to give him up for Chuchu and I want them to work together to protect the city! I also still wonder whether this show will end with her leaving this world cause that will definitely be a tragic ending!
xoxo Allie
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