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
Backstreet Rookie (8/16): Jung Saet Byul is a 22-year-old four-dimensional girl with amazing fighting skills who loves her friends, family, and retro fashion. She has the boys lined up but only has one person who keeps her distracted, Choi Dae Hyun. He became imprinted on her as an unforgettable person after a cigarette errand three years ago. Three years later, Jung Saet Byul meets Choi Dae Hyun again at his convenience store that he now manages and becomes a part-time worker. Here, Saet Byul and Dae Hyun’s love story begins as they heal the wounds of the heart, gain love, and become adults dreaming of the future. Their stories unfold into a pleasant comedy within the familiar sensibility of a convenience store.
Wow this week really just put the nail in the coffin for Dae Hyun and Yeon Joo's relationship. I had said last week that I did feel bad for her and how Saet Byul seemed to be getting in the way of her relationship with Dae Hyun but after this week, I will no longer feel bad for her. In fact I'm going to be pissed when next week she throws a tantrum over Saet Byul living at Dae Hyun's house when she's literally the one who made out with another man! Oh poor poor Yeon Joo who's constantly embarrassed of being seen with Dae Hyun! Whatever will she do but make out with a rich guy?? The problem is that she won't make a decision one way or the other and keeps dragging Dae Hyun along. Is it love or prestige that matters to her cause I have no doubt that she loves Dae Hyun but she also seems to really enjoy what comes with her wealth and privilege so Dae Hyun's shitty concert seats and job bother her. Saet Byul on the other hand went through the wringer this week after not only quitting the job she loved but also losing her apartment and having her sister run away with all the money she had left. My goodness is the sister selfish! The way she screamed about how embarrassing it was to live in that terrible motel cause it's not like she's helping out at all! I still high key ship Saet Byul with her idol friend but he's clearly the second lead so there's no point in wishing!
FINISHED Ga Doo Ri's Sushi Restaurant (12/12): “Ga Doo Ri’s Sushi Restaurant” will be about the sweet yet fierce romance between dating expert Ga Doo Ri, who’s well known for her refreshing dating advice, and her mysterious next-door neighbor Cha Woo Bin.
So this show was nowhere on my radar when it first came out cause I'm not usually a fan of short web dramas as they always either leave me wishing for more or seem silly and pointless but someone I knew kept raving about how cute this show was and since the episodes were only like 15 minutes long, I figured why not check it out. After binging this whole thing, I have to say seriously guys this show was just as cute as I heard it was! I mean yes there's very little plot and yes everything's super lighthearted but sometimes you just need exactly that! Doo Ri was absolutely amazing as the female lead but Woo Bin stole my heart with his absolute cuteness! I loved that since this show was so short that we went through enemies to friends to lovers at a breakneck speed and that any misunderstandings were brushed away fairly quickly! I also really adored how Woo Bin was both this smooth operator at work and this bumbling cutie at home and how he spent almost this whole show fangirling over Doo Ri's cuteness. The secretary was adorable too and I loved his bromance with Woo Bin as well as the way that Doo Ri was able to stand up for herself when she needed to! Overall I'd give this show a 8.5 / 10!
It's Okay To Not Be Okay (8/16): The story of a community health worker at a psychiatric ward who lives on 1.8 million won (approximately $1,520) a month and a storybook writer suffering from an antisocial personality disorder. A man who denies love and a woman who doesn’t know love defy fate and fall in love, finding their souls and identities in the process. Moon Kang Tae is a community health worker at a psychiatric ward who was blessed with everything including a great body, smarts, ability to sympathize with others, patience, ability to react quickly, stamina, and more. Meanwhile, Ko Moon Young is a popular writer of children’s literature, but she is extremely selfish, arrogant, and rude.
This week marks the halfway point for this drama and I'm so happy that I'm still just as in love with it as I was 4 weeks ago! I know some people were complaining about the pacing of this show but I actually really like the slow pace cause it makes the romance feel more real. The slow burn makes you ache for the leads to get together but it doesn't make your blood boil like Eun Hee and Chan Hyeok over in My Unfamiliar Family! I actually really liked that both Kang Tae and Moon Young realized that they loved each other this week cause while Kang Tae was trying so hard to suppress his feelings, Moon Young wasn't focusing on more than just wanting him like he was an object so both were surprised to understand that their feelings were so intense. I love that he makes her want to be a better person and that she makes him want to stop hiding everything about himself. When he finally punched that visitor, you could see the catharsis he felt on his face but more than that I'm hoping that he realized that he doesn't have to spend his whole life taking care of Sang Tae. I understand why Sang Tae would have been upset at the idea of Kang Tae being with Moon Young but Kang Tae needs to get Sang Tae to understand that he's not an object to be claimed and that if he loves Moon Young and spends time with her, that doesn't mean that he's just going to vanish forever. In other news I was living for Kang Tae's jealously with Choi Daniel and how he blew up on Moon Young's editor but what I did hate was how everyone at the hospital seriously ignored the fact that the visitor slapped Moon Young. Just like when her own father strangled her, they seriously care so little about Moon Young.
Men Are Men/To All The Guys Who Loved Me (8/32): This romantic comedy is about a woman who chooses to remain single after getting hurt from past relationships and a man who wants to change his relationship with this woman through love. The story will combine the theme of a past life with realistic topics such as marriage and remaining single.
This show seriously makes me uncomfortable from top to bottom with the only two things I'm interested in being that Yoon Hyun Min is just much too attractive for me to not want to watch this show and the reincarnation storyline. We pretty much got all the info we needed this week with the reveal that Ji Woo also started drowning at the same time Hyun Joo did and so he remembered his past memories of her too but unlike Hyun Joo, I don't think he mentioned it to anyone or if he did his therapist decided to embrace this fact rather than erase it like Hyun Joo's therapist did so while she's forgotten him, he's never forgotten her. Everything he did last week was to bring Hyun Joo to his side and away from that horrible webtoon company she was working at which is a nicer reason than I first thought but I still don't understand why he didn't try to stage a meet-cute and seduce her instead of all cause the girl was definitely interested before he revealed himself as the CEO. It also looks like Seo Yoon's mom was the other girl in Ji Woo, Hyun Joo, and Do Gyum's friend group from their previous life but Ji Woo never gave her the time of day and I'm thinking that somehow the trio died leaving her alone to marry and have Seo Yoon so now that she's seen that Ji Woo looks like the man she loved, in an attempt to live vicariously through them, she's forcing Seo Yoon to marry Ji Woo รก la Mary Stayed Out All Night style. I guess I should also be glad that this show is throwing away the Ji Woo is gay storyline cause it made me super uncomfortable with how much this show seemed to be doing a version of gay bashing. I also find it fascinating that last week I was thinking that I might get SLS but now I'm fully on board with Ji Woo cause I hate second leads who grow up as the female lead's brother.
My Unfamiliar Family (14/16): Is blood thicker than water? Kim Eun Hee, is about to find out. She is the middle child in a family that is slowly starting to drift apart. Her older sister is a former patent attorney, and her younger brother is a sensitive soul. And although her father is hard-working, he is often distant – an attitude that has her mother poised to begin a new chapter in her life. While she pines for intimacy, Kim Eun Hee keeps her feelings hidden from her family. Instead, she prefers to confide in her close male college friend Park Chan Hyuk – a man who has become more like a brother to her than any of her real siblings. And it is to him that she turns for love advice as she looks to return to the dating scene after a long absence. But what happens when events take a turn? Could the family pull together in time to weather the storm? And when the going gets tough, will it be Kim Eun Hee’s family or her friends who step up to the plate?
This damn show is really about to play this game with us huh? They're really about to force us to wait until the finale to see Chan Hyuk and Eun Hee be together??? I say this but I suppose it wasn't all that bad this week cause finally one of the two stepped up and found their courage and Chan Hyuk told Eun Hee that he wants to be with her romantically for the rest of their lives. It was the sweetest confession cause it came on the heels of him finally telling her about his dead older brother and why he never learned to drive and everything about that scene was perfection. I'm not thrilled that Eun Hee decided she needed more time to figure herself out first cause the girl should have been doing that this whole time rather than dating her boss randomly but I liked the way she was subtly flirting anyway. Eun Joo finally got her divorce and told her parents about it and the way her mom reacted was just so heartbreaking cause it must destroy her to know that Eun Joo got married to leave the family rather than out of love. I am a little weirded out by the fact that I think we met Eun Joo's future love interest this late in the game but then again it wasn't like she was in the headspace to think about anyone else earlier so it's okay. I like that he's all maniac like Eun Hee cause Eun Joo is so serious all the time that she needs an easy-going person to pull her out of her shell. Opposites attract and all that. The thing with Jin Woo really confused me though cause I'm almost fairly certain that his girlfriend is catfishing him but it was super crazy that he just up and flew to Canada without really telling anyone!
Wow you know what low key sucks about all of the men in Ae Jung's life? The fact that all but one are so high maintenance and the one that's not isn't even a real contender! Yeon Woo who was my favorite last week as it turns out is a secret chaebol (cause that's exactly what we were missing) with the usual overbearing mom while Dae Oh and Ah Rin are both public figures in which case the public feels like they have a say in their lives though I'd assume that Dae Oh being a novelist would be less pressured about dating a single mom especially when I still think the kid is his own. The way the show is focusing on everyone but Dae Oh being the father makes me think it's him all the more though the fact that Ah Rin panicked at the thought of being a father while Dae Oh thought nothing of Ae Jung having a kid makes me wonder. Does that mean that Ae Jung and Ah Rin slept together after Ae Jung broke up with Dae Oh or is Ah Rin panicking out of jealously cause he realized that it was Dae Oh's kid? I definitely don't think it's biologically Yeon Woo's kid but I have a feeling that he and Ae Jung might have agreed that symbolically the kid was theirs and that after his mom found out, she threatened Ae Jung to leave which she did leaving Yeon Woo high-and-dry. Either way it's getting low key ridiculous how Ae Jung just ran away from everyone and I'm still wondering what the situation was where she didn't tell the father. I am a little glad that with a little more screen time for Dae Oh that he's not exactly the man-baby I thought he was cause it'll make me less annoyed when he gets the girl.
CDRAMA
FINISHED Symphony's Romance (40/40): A talented musician, Li Zhen Yi, had the world at his feet. With invitations to study abroad, under some of the greatest musical masters of the modern world, pouring in, Zhen Yi should have had no reservations about stepping out into a wider world. But the ghosts of his past refuse to let him go. Suffering from severe childhood trauma, Zhen Yi is trapped in a world of demons from which there is no escape. At least not until he meets Fang Xiao Wo. An extraordinarily gifted pianist, Xiao Wo possesses more talent than even Zhen Yi, but her odd behavior and weird personality don’t exactly endear her to those around her. Despite her being such an oddity, Zhen Yi can’t help but be a little intrigued by Xiao Wo, especially not when they share an unwavering passion for music. The two eventually begin to spend more time together and Zhen Yi slowly starts to find the courage to continue pursuing his own dreams. With Xiao Wo by his side, the wounds from Zhen Yi’s past begin to heal, allowing him to dream like he’s never dreamed before. Finally free from the ghosts of his past, Zhen Yi and Xiao Wo step bravely into a bright new future, together.
It feels weird to say that I'm already done watching this drama cause the show released episodes at a breakneck pace not to mention the fact that I watched this show in weird spurts of binges but here we are. I am a little proud of myself and this show cause I finally managed to finish an adaptation of this story though I can't say that this version really wowed me cause as the show went on, I started to struggle with it more and more. I can't really say if the problems came about from extending the amount of episodes from 11 or 16 to 40 or if the writing literally just couldn't figure out a way to have both Zhen Yi and Xiao Wo have storylines at the same time but either way I found myself thinking that it was super strange that whenever Zhen Yi had a conducting storyline that Xiao Wo pretty much stopped playing piano and focused on him and the same happened vice versa. Even by the end of this drama it didn't feel like Xiao Wo grew as a person! I mean yeah she did learn to place her ambitions over him and be able to be apart for a little while but I still didn't get a vibe from her that she really loved music or wanted to be a professional or anything of the sort cause to almost the last moment she was jealous and sad at how much better she thought Zhen Yi was from her when all he did was talk about how he loved her. Speaking of, I still think it's hilarious that Zhen Yi and Xiao Wo never actually had a moment where they decided they were dating or in love. She kinda just plowed into his life and he was just like yep this is happening. I did love that there was little drama in this show in terms of family or messy breakups and I did like a lot of the side characters and their romances. Overall I'd give this show a 8 / 10.
JDRAMA
FINISHED Kiss Me At The Stroke Of Midnight (1/1): Hinana is a high school girl who wakes up at 5 am to prepare for school every day. She's also the Student Committee secretary. While she's quite serious, in reality, she actually dreams of one day finding herself a prince. When a famous actor, Ayase Kaede, shoots a movie at their school during golden week, the Student Committee's members have to act as extras. Hinana thinks Ayase is just like the prince of her dreams until she finds out that in reality, he's actually a pervert who has a butt fetish? A comedy romance starts.
You all know how obsessed I am with jmovies especially ones set in high school cause there's something just so cute and hopeful about the romances! I saw this one pop up on my drama feed and at first I wasn't sure what kind of a mess it would be cause the synopsis sounded truly silly like a hentai plot rather than a movie one but I had a little free time over the weekend this week so I figured why not try it out and guys it was actually so much cuter than I expected! The whole butt fetish thing had no more a few minutes of screen time and instead we got a totally sweet romance with very little obstacles in it's way. When the main couple got together very early on in the movie, I was so confused cause there was so much movie left but I actually ended up liking the way the story played out. By placing the main leads together so early on, we could focus more on who they were as people rather than the will they/won't they aspect. I liked seeing Hinana and Kaede learn what love is and that they need to follow their dreams. The age gap between the two was only 3 years which I thought nothing of cause so many other dramas and movies have more intense gaps so it surprised me when the show made a point to be like Kaede needs to apologize to the public for dating a 16 year old when he was 19 even if they didn't even kiss until she was 21 and he was 24. Overall I really enjoyed this movie and though it's not doing anything new or exciting, I'd definitely give it a 9 / 10 cause it's a perfect popcorn flick!!
xoxo Allie
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