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
Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (8/16): "Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol” is a romantic comedy about a pianist named Goo Ra Ra who hits rock bottom after her family’s sudden downfall. After she finds her way to La La Land, a piano academy in a small village, she ends up crossing paths and falling in love with the tough and mysterious Sun Woo Joon, who seems to be hiding a lot of secrets. Goo Ra Ra is an immature and mischievous pianist. With her bright laughter and sunny disposition, she’s a simple, confident, and lovable person, having the charm of making anyone laugh no matter how difficult the situation. Goo Ra Ra also enjoys making jokes and acting unpredictably even during serious moments as she has lived a life without fear, being able to gain whatever she wanted with money. Something happened that caused her to become bankrupt. She doesn't have anything now, and she is frustrated with her situation. Sun Woo Joon doesn't care what other people think about him, but he has a warm heart. He is free-spirited and doesn't have a specific dream or goal for his life. He makes ends meet by working part-time jobs. Goo Ra Ra and Sun Woo Joon meet at the small private piano academy LaLa Land in a country village.
We're about halfway through this drama now and like I had this whole elaborate thing where I figured out how this show was going to deal with the fact that Joon in a minor but it all went to shit the minute Joon and Ra Ra kissed this week and I couldn't even enjoy it cause ugh. I'm less certain about my theory now but I can't help but think that maybe it'll still happen the way I think but less drawn out than I first thought. We know that the scary PI his mom hired is on to him living at La La Land so it's a matter of time before he drags Joon back. Ra Ra is going to think that he disappeared like he warned her that he would and she'll be totally heartbroken but he'll eventually reappear after some sort of time skip in which Joon becomes a doctor and Ra Ra becomes a popular piano teacher though if Joon is 19 now then it'll be at least 6 years cause that's how long it takes to go to medical school in Korea. I'm not entirely sure what would keep him away and prevent him from even texting her but maybe she'll be pissed that he lied about his age and so he won't contact her until he hears some sort of rumblings in chaebol society about Ra Ra's father's secretary stealing their money and that will be why he returns to Ra Ra. Looking back at this, it's possible I might straight up be writing my own version of this story but who knows. I also have to say that poor Joon really has terrible parents on both sides with his father being the actual worst but his mom also being super snobby and judgmental. I mean did you see how happy she was to find out that Ra Ra is poor now? Ugh. I also don't know where the whole stalker storyline is going but honestly Dr Cha is out here being more of a stalker than her actual stalker and I was really just the most thankful that she rejected him.
Private Lives (6/16): Swindlers come across a secret of the nation and try to reveal the secret. They must go up against a large company by using all of their skills. Lee Jung-Hwan is a team leader for the major corporation. He looks like an ordinary company employee, but he is a mysterious figure. Cha Joo-Eun is a swindler, who has the looks of a sweet & innocent woman. She supports herself with her crimes. Jung Bok-Ki is a professional swindler. She often targets other swindlers. She is elegant and also charismatic. Kim Jae-Wook is Jung Bok-Ki’s partner in crime.
As we come onto the halfway point in this drama I think my favorite thing about this show is how it introduced us to this whole ensemble cast at the very beginning but we were so mesmerized by Joo Eun that we thought that everyone except her were majorly there to support her but as this show goes on week by week, we're left to discover that not only does everyone has their own motives for their actions but we also get to spend an episode a piece learning about them. This week was Jae Wook's turn as we learned that he has always wanted to get revenge on Yoo Byung Jun. Yoo killed his parents for seeing him meet some other guy and everything that Jae Wook's done since was for that goal including working for GK. I do think that somewhere along the way he managed to fall in love with Bok Ki without meaning to which is why he only seems the most human when she's involved though I can't entirely understand why he left a year ago unless it was to keep her safe as he realized that he was ready to take on Yoo. The irony is that everything with Jung Hwan wasn't exactly personal and he only ended up calling Manager Kim at all cause he knew that Jung Hwan would recognize him and he needed a way to bring the ledger to GK and convince them to trust him enough to target Yoo though they think that he'll be making Yoo into a king (which I'm assuming means a puppet President.) Meanwhile Joo Eun has basically discovered piece by piece that Jung Hwan was a shadow agent of GK and I just wanna clap for how smart and badass she is at putting together the puzzle with less info than Jung Hwan had and yet she got to the truth almost faster than he did. It was also really exciting that Jung Hwan figured out the truth about Joo Eun too which was funny cause I really was surprised last week when he had no idea about Joo Eun. Like he and GK have their special room and yet no one cared to look up a shadow agent's future wife?? I'm super super pumped for next week cause it looks like the two are finally going to meet again and I want all the angsty makeup scenes! As a sidebar, that cop 100% likes Joo Eun cause he's always so worried about her and it's precious as hell. I need a scene where Jung Hwan sees the cop being sweet and gets jealous. Like I know this isn't a rom com but feed me crumbs!!
FINISHED Record Of You (16/16): Youth Record follows the lives of young people in the world of modeling. Sa Hye-Joon is smart and handsome. He is a nice guy and a popular model, but what he really wants is to become an actor. He has auditioned for many acting roles, but hasn't found success yet. Unfortunately, Sa Hye-Joon doesn't have much presence as an actor. Meanwhile, An Jung-Ha works as a make-up artist.
Whelp this show aired it's finale this week and it's really just so sad at how this drama went from a top 10 dramas of the year contender to yikes I could barely pay attention to this show. I really miss the quiet soft drama about following your dreams this show claimed it was but also I was really disappointed with how Jung Ha's character ended up being treated. Park So Dam literally just won all the awards for being in Parasite and then she decided her first drama back is this?? A show wherein her character was given less screen time than the moms of the male and second male lead?? A show wherein she was treated as the token love interest?? I kept waiting and waiting to see what about this show attracted her to it but I'm left thinking that just like Ji Chang Wook that maybe she's just terrible at picking projects. In terms of plot, things that should have given me happiness felt meh to me. The reporter finally realized that Tae Su had just been leading her around though I will never understand why she hated Hye Joon so much to be so biased against him and cleared the air about Charlie Jung (which I still hated.) Ji Ah backed off from Hye Joon and Jung Ha but again it was a little too late for me cause I still don't get why the show brought her back to be an obstacle in the first place when Jung Ha clearly has intimacy issues on her own from her parents that we could have focused on. I hated that there was a time skip but in the end Jung Ha and Hye Joon decided to stay friends though with a hint of something more being possible, Hye Joon reconciled with his dad, Hae Hyo went off to the military, Ha Nae stood up to her mom about dating, and we all lived happily ever after or something like that. I'd give this show a 6 / 10 honestly cause it's really only worth watching if you stop after Hye Joon hits it big about halfway through.
Search (4/10): Yong Dong Jin is a conscript sergeant in the South Korean armed forces. He is also the military’s leading sniffer dog handler and is just one month away from receiving his long-awaited discharge. But with just weeks to go until he can rejoin the civilian world, a mysterious case threatens to suck him into a long, troublesome intrigue. In the demilitarized zone (DMZ), the area between North and South Korea, a suspected murder in bizarre circumstances piques the army’s attention. The army leaders decide to form an elite search party to scour the DMZ for clues, enlisting Yong Dong Jin and his keen-nosed dogs. Also joining the team will be Son Ye Rim, a relatively green but highly promising soldier who received much of her training in the United States. However, as the party begins to investigate, its members quickly begin to realize that whatever it is they are hunting does not appear to be human…
I really am having a blast with this show and it's really just so sad that no one else seems to be watching! I know of course that some things don't make sense and some things are clearly done in order to get from point A to B which is low key lazy writing but I just can't find it in me to truly care. I'm super into the fact that this feels like the typical zombie movie meeting a military drama only we're watching the beginnings of an outbreak like before the general public finds out! We still don't know anything about this zombie/werewolf virus other than the fact that it only travels from animal to human (or so we think) and it wakes up a part of the brain that we use subconsciously which is why people are coming back to life and have no reason. I'm still not sure if I believe that it was passed by that wolf from last week or if it's coming from the North Korean soldier from 1997 who tried to defect or if it was in his briefcase as a North Korean experiment. Either way Ye Rim should clearly not be used as the baseline in terms of how the virus travels cause she's the baby from before so I wouldn't be surprised if she's immune or something. The lab really should have run some tests on human cells like they tested it on the rat. It's also really interesting that it feels like mostly everyone on this special team have some sort of secret orders. Joon Sung and Ki Hyung both seem to be secretly updating people outside of the team and we know that Min Gyu was given special commands to though part of me wonders if part of that command was to let Dong Jin be killed quietly with how little he cared about rescuing him after he got lost. Having said that I'm not sure yet if Joon Sung or Ki Hyung are bad guys cause we know that the person Min Gyu is reporting to is bad so maybe the other higher ups are working another angle to keep the military safe. I also still don't know why we spend so much time in that DMZ village unless next week we're about to see a zombie rampage out there and we see the people we've met die.
Start Up (4/16): “Startup” is set in South Korea’s fictional Silicon Valley, called Sandbox, and tells the story of people in the world of startup companies. Seo Dal Mi dreams of becoming Korea’s Steve Jobs. She’s an adventurer who doesn’t own much, but has a grand plan for herself. She also has experience in a wide range of part-time jobs and is a person of great vitality. Nam Do San is the founder of Samsan Tech. He was once the pride of his family as a math genius, but for the past two years, he’s been going nowhere with his company’s investments. It turns out that Seo Dal Mi remembers him as her ‘cool first love’, and he decides to begin a startup in the hope of turning Seo Dal Mi’s misunderstanding into reality. Han Ji Pyung begins a startup company to pay off his debt. A team leader at SH Venture Capital, his astonishing investment skills and sharp tongue earn him the nickname, “the Gordan Ramsay of investments”. Though he’s prickly to most others, he’s softer than anyone to one special person who granted him a great favor in the past. Lastly, CEO Won In Jae has everything society respects: the educational background, beautiful appearance, and money. She considers her background as a second generation chaebol a weakness and does everything she can to create success on her own and be acknowledged for her skills. However, she ends up being used and thrown away by her father, and in order to stop being a disposable piece on her father’s chess board, she throws herself into a startup.
Well one layer of the lies have been exposed this week and it's actually the kinder of the two lies that came out. Dal Mi found out that Do San wasn't actually the CEO of a really important company but actually just a developer because she ran into him at the Sandbox competition alongside In Jae who was kicked out of her stepfather's company and decided to build her own. Honestly I'm pumped about this turn out cause all I wanted from this show was Dal Mi and Do San building Samsan from the ground up like in Itaewson Class even if the lie about Do San and the letters is still hanging like an anvil over their heads. I do hope that this second lie is also gotten rid of sooner rather than later but I definitely have a feeling that it'll be held off until almost the finale for a bigger impact cause by then Dal Mi will be in love for real and it'll be heartbreaking to see. One of the saddest moments this week was when Do San realized that almost everything Dal Mi likes about him isn't actually him but the reason that he'll get the girl in the end is because he's confident in his crush while Ji Pyung is still trying to hide it and that's such a second male lead action. On that note I really do wish that Ji Pyung would stop being such an asshole to Do San and I can't decide if he means to be mean or if he's just harsh cause he wants what's best for Do San but it's seriously like he's kicking a puppy guys cause how can you look at the adorable mess that is Do San and say any of the things Ji Pyung has said?? I wonder if Do San is on the spectrum somewhere cause the way he really struggles with human interaction reminds me of people I've met on the spectrum. Either way guys: I. Would. Die. For. Him. I am also curious about the guy from the CODA competition and whether he'll actually be an angel investor in the future (and help Samsan get away from Ji Pyung) or if like the fortune said, he'll be a cold wind out to ruin things. Either way the man flew all the way from the States to meet Do San so he can't exactly be a one-off thing.
Tale Of The Nine-Tailed (8/16): The story features the mythical nine-tailed fox, or gumiho, Lee Yeon who has just settled in the city. Able to transform into human form, he goes about cleansing human spirits, all the while creating havoc. Enter the talented television producer Nam Ji Ah whose current show features urban myths. With nerves of steel, she will stop at nothing to secure unusual, if not dangerous, subject matter to showcase. She sets her sights on Lee Yeon who appears just too good to be true; irresistibly handsome, intelligent, fit; in fact the ideal guest. But his heartlessness will render doubt in her that he is indeed of this world. Step-brother to Lee Yeon is the captivating Lee Rang, reputed to be the most dangerous of all gumihos living among humans. Despite being half-human himself, he harbors a deep-seated contempt for all people. For sport, he will unleash his seductive prowess upon his human-du-jour, by promising to grant them their wishes, only to trick them into paying a hefty price for their earthly desires.
This week marks the halfway point in our story and I'm sorry guys but something about this show is just so damn boring. I was thinking for a while why a reincarnation story like Chicago Typewriter wrung my heart and soul out while here I'm just yeah okay and I think it comes down to the fact that I like the idea of two people who don't know who each other are falling in love only to find out that they had this tragic backstory cause it gives us all the delicious angst of reincarnated lovers while also the fun of seeing two people fall in love. Ji Ah and Yeon had this insta-love connection from the moment they realized that they loved each other in a past life and it has honestly sucked out all the fun I had watching them. I was high key annoyed at first that it seemed like Ji Ah didn't give Yeon the chance to explain what happened in the past cause she really should have given him the benefit of the doubt based on what she's seen of him but then it was revealed that Yeon actually lied to her to keep her safe which made the whole thing slightly more interesting. I was right though in guessing that Ah Eum ended up taking the Imoogi inside her which is why Yeon killed her but it was interesting to find out that it was her dad that sold her soul to him. As a sidebar, the tragic bitch in me low key also wishes that this was a show about the Imoogi and Ji Ah instead. I also need to shout out the saddest moment this week and that was poor Shin Joo finding out that Yu Ri was on Rang's side though in the end Shin Joo was like I'm going to love you no matter what. I think it's ironic that the most interesting part of this show ends up being the relationship between Rang and Yeon. Now I'm not over here being like oh my poor baby Rang Yeonie is so horrible cause I waver back and forth between thinking Rang is just the definition of cool motive but still murder bro and then being like you know if I were him, I would also hate everyone and everything. It also doesn't help that Yeon won't just sit down and explain what happened in the past but I did like that he ended up choosing to save Rang this week even if I'm confused by the decision. Is he scheming and thinking that if he helps Rang then Rang will tell him about the Imoogi? Or does he think that Rang can help him save Ji Ah next?
The Spies Who Loved Me (4/16): Kang Ah Reum is a wedding dress designer who has been married twice. Her two husbands harbor many secrets and Ah Reum gets swept up in them. Jun Ji Hoon disguises himself as a travel writer, but he is actually a secret agent for Interpol. His job as a secret agent is a way for Jun Ji Hoon to support himself financially. He is currently divorced. He was married to Kang Ah Reum, but they divorced without Kang Ah Reum learning about his secret life as a spy. Kang Ah Reum now works as a wedding dress designer. She met Derek Hyun after her divorce and they eventually married. Her current husband works as a diplomatic official and seems gentle and warm. His secret is that he is actually a cold-blooded industrial spy. Derek Hyun treats his wife sweetly, but, for his job as an industrial spy, he will do anything. He loves Kang Ah Reum sincerely, but he also hides his true self from her.
This show is so much fun guys and I'm seriously blown away that Ji Hoon told Ah Reum the truth about his job as an Interpol agent by week 2 cause I really based my expectation of this show on previous rom coms I've watched that have spy themes like Terius Behind Me and Good Casting. I wasn't into either of them but in those shows the reveals don't happen until practically the end! It makes me happy cause now the two can work together without having to lie anymore but it really also highlights what a complete ass Ji Hoon was back-in-the-day. Like up to this point I was kinda more on his side cause though I totally understood Ah Reum's anger with her husband never being around, I felt sorry for him cause he's out risking his life to help people but now I'm just left confused as to why Ji Hoon never told Ah Reum the truth. I totally thought it was one of those things where spies aren't supposed to tell their spouses that their spies but everyone in Ji Hoon's surroundings are like why didn't you tell her and so I guess he was just being selfish in the end. He made up this whole elaborate thing about having cheated instead of just coming out with the truth cause he wanted her to be the bad guy and dude when she finds out he lied about that too, he better run and hide. Having said all that the two just have such killer chemistry and they're clearly still really into each other that I can't wait to see when they reunite. I do have to admit that I wish Derek was either less creepy or we didn't know that he was the bad guy from the start cause the way that he is, I can't watch this show without wondering what in the hell Ah Reum sees in him especially since we're told that she loved him soooo much that she decided to get married again. He's already going through her things, checking her dashboard cam, and following her around like a stalker and I'm left sitting here like Ah Reum you have the worst taste in men! What happened to your supposed killer instincts??
CDRAMA
FINISHED Oh! My Sweet Liar (29/29): Xiong Xi Ruo is a young female painter who infiltrates the family home of the powerful Li family to paint a copy of a precious item. However, her escape from the Li home goes horribly wrong and she finds her fate at the mercy of Li family heir Li Hong Bin.On the verge of arrest, Li Hong Bin and Xiong Xi Ruo hatch a lie – they pretend that she is pregnant with his child. This arrangement suits Li Hong Bin fine, as a marriage with Xiong Xi Ruo will help him escape an arranged marriage with the daughter of the Song family – a union he is particularly keen to avoid. The Li family grants its consent for Li Hong Bin and Xiong Xi Ruo to get married, but it is not long before some relatives – and the plotting Song family – begin to suspect that the pregnancy is a fake. Meanwhile, as Li Hong Bin and Xiong Xi Ruo spend more time in each other's company, they begin to develop a growing fondness for one another. Could love bloom between the pair? And can they survive – or even thwart – the schemes at court?
So the finale for this show aired this week and I'm fairly content with how the show came to a close. I mean yeah the whole chunk in the middle was a slog and yeah Xiruo's character drove me mad but near the end of this show, after Xiruo and Hongbin fell in love, the pathetic bitch that I am couldn't help but swoon at their cuteness and that might have redeemed a large chunk of this show in my mind. They shared more kisses in two or three episodes than most cdramas do! The lies finally all came out from Xiruo being threatened to work for the Lotus Petal to the baby not being real. I did like that Hongbin realized that Xiruo was acting sketchy for a while now and did his own research to find out that Xiruo's mom was kidnapped and I loved that his response to this reveal was to save her mom and then gently remind her that he was trustworthy so that she would come clean. This allowed them to spring a trap on the Lotus Petal and it turned out to be Hongbin's uncle and I actually really liked the way that story played out with the reveal that the uncle was being played by the Song family. The Third Uncle and Qing also ended up together and I was high key thrilled that everyone in the Li family was so happy and content. It will also never cease to amuse me how Hongbin's mom will always attack first and ask questions later while Hongbin's dad will sit there and calm her down with calm logic cause parents in dramas usually aren't as cute and in love as they were. The whole Xiruo birth twist was totally hilarious and yet totally lame at the same time but I get it cause there was no way this show was going to waste a lost Princess reveal to be shoved into one episode. Overall I'd give this show a 6 / 10.
Qing Qing Zi Jin (33/40): During the days of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 CE), Chinese arts and culture are experiencing a golden age. Poetry is highly prized – and the rewards for becoming a prominent poet are great. Luo Qiu Chi is a talented young poet – a poor scholar from a troubled background who is dreaming of a life full of art and writing. He is forced to leave his family home and hide his true identity in order to pursue his poetry dreams. Fortunately, he one day meets a female scholar named Wen Ren Jun. She decides to help him as he attempts to pass the tough entrance test for the prestigious Zhu Xiu Academy. He manages to gain admission – but now the going really gets tough. He forms a bitter rivalry with the Zhu Xiu Academy’s star pupil. And then he must truly prove his mettle when he is selected to take part in a fiercely competitive poetry competition against the top scholars of a rival kingdom. Luckily, Wen Ren Jun and other newfound friends are ready to help Luo Qiu Chi duke it out against the best young poets in the land.
Well we're finally back after taking a quick hiatus due to the show pausing it's release schedule first and then not subbing the released episodes last week so I had to wait until this week to catch up but it might have been worth the wait in the end cause we got so many crazy reveals! We found out that it was actually Yanqi aka Wenren Jing's brother-in-law who was behind everything though of course it feels like his sister aka Wenren Jing's wife and Shu'er's mom knew too with how she reacted to the idea of Wenren Jing being framed for corruption. All those years ago Yanqi threatened Si Cheng into switching his test score with Qiuchi's cause Qiuchi scored the highest and Yanqi couldn't pass the exam on his own. After he did this, he sent assassins after Qiuchi in order to silence him and make sure that he could never be exposed as the corrupt man he was. This makes total sense in terms of why a commoner would be hunted while also being so pathetic on Yanqi's part but I still wonder if the whole thing relates back to Prince Kang anyway cause Yanqi supposedly committed suicide but he feels like too much of a rat and underling to do something like that when he could escape with the embezzled funds. It's also possible that I'm thinking too much of it and that we'll deal with Prince Kang separately. Meanwhile Yuanzhi is really showcasing why he's a bottom of the barrel pick of a man by playing Shu'er and Kang's daughter against one another like the creep he is. In terms of romance, Qiuchi and Ah Jun are still the absolute cutest and I adore every moment of them but seeing Qinghe and Ruxue get married was sweet too.
The Blooms At Ruyi Pavilion (16/40): Fu Rong who's the second daughter of the Fu family unexpectedly had the ability of "foreseeing dreams" after a serious illness. She predicted that she would marry to Prince Su, Xu Jin, and finally suffered the fate of being buried. However, Xu Jin also has the ability of foreseeing dreams. Although Xu Jin also predicted the same tragedy, he doesn't want to avoid it but try his utmost to change the destiny. These two people begin the sweet game of "framing one another."
Wow Duke An is really not a good guy is he? I totally thought that he was going to be the type of second male lead who thinks the male lead is a bad guy at first but then learns the truth and becomes the male lead's partner even if he's still trying to get the girl but instead that really doesn't look like it'll be the case. He's actually going to end up being the villainous type in which he's doing all these terrible things in order to get what he wants and as a sidebar he's going to try to steal the girl too. I did feel pity for him last week learning about how he lost his mom and how he blames Duke Su for it but I still have doubts that Xu Jin did it and like even if he did do it on accident, what does Duke An want? It's clearly not an apology anymore cause he's claiming that he wants them to suffer like he did but that's going to be awkward when he finds out that Xu Jin and Rong'er are in love unless he's ready to hurt Rong'er for his revenge. I wonder if he's the one who killed Ru Yi or if Duke Cheng did it to mess with Rong'er and Xu Jin but either way I just really hope that Rong'er doesn't end up thinking that it was Xu Jin cause I still totally ship Rong'er and Xu Jin. Their every interaction is so adorable and I loved the way he talked about being a jinx and she was like I'll share half of my luck with you. We did see that he's finally having those future dreams too but his are more vague cause he can't see Rong'er's face under the wedding veil and so now he thinks that he married the Princess instead. I don't know if this will matter though cause Xu Jin is already in love with Rong'er and I doubt he'll care that his dreams are showing him to be in love with the Princess. I could see this show going down the road where she decides that he's her enemy after thinking that he killed her master so she marries Duke An only to find out later that he's actually the monster which would be deliciously angsty. I do think that the bracelet Ru Yi gave Rong'er is going to be the token that Duke An is looking for and marrying her would help him take over the Pavilion like he wanted.
FINISHED The Moon Brightens For You (36/36): Quirky and unconventional, Zhan Qinghong grew up well enough, but she never shared the dreams most treasured by her peers. While other girls dreamed of marrying well, Qinghong dreams of only one thing: to become a great martial arts master. Ready to turn her dreams into reality, Qinghong entered the martial arts world with wide-eyed innocence and insatiable curiosity. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for her to realize that the world which she had so long believed to be a world of righteousness and honor, was actually controlled by wicked traitors. Determined to reform the fighting world, Qinghong relies on her intelligence and tenacity to bring about change; but the work proves to be both difficult and dangerous. Realizing the path she has chosen may be too treacherous to travel alone, Qinghong never suspected that Junan City’s notorious playboy would be the one to come alongside her on her quest. Yet, when fate brings them together, that is exactly what Lin Fang does. Using his reputation as a sickly aristocrat with a penchant for wooing women to hide much darker motives, Lin Fang has but one goal in life: to exact revenge for his clan. After meeting Qinghong, Lin Fang’s hardened heart begins to soften and he finds himself drawn to her unexpected charms. Unwilling to let Qinghong fight her battles alone, Lin Fang takes up her cause and together, they take on the daunting task of reforming and rebuilding the world of martial arts from the ground up.
This week was the finale for this show and if I'm being honest, I didn't love it as much as I expected to at the start but it was also one of the better currently airing cdramas out right now so I can't complain too much. This finale was also pretty great but I can't help but wish that it had taken place earlier cause how much more exciting was this than watching our heroes solve crimes in other cities? It would also have helped if Wen You didn't spend so much screen time being a good guy and fighting against marrying the Princess cause it was clear from the moment that he started to turn against Wulin that he was obviously playing the Prime Minister who by the by I had guessed to be the villain from almost the start of this show. I did enjoy all the cute moments that Lin Fang and Qinghong had and I did like the deus ex machina of the magical healer to cure Lin Fang when no one else could cause it provides Lin Fang and Qinghong a way to have a happily ever after even if part of me wished that it would have been Rou who did the healing as she's the female doctor we've followed all season. The ending was pretty predictable but it made me happy to see Huo Yang become the new Leader of Wulin while our heroes quietly retired to Zhan Manor like Qinghong's parents once they got their revenge and settled matters. I was actually pretty surprised to see that Wen You died at the end and the Princess followed soon after she gave birth but I'm still bitter that the Princess managed to get the love of Wen You despite waht she did anyway. Overall I'd give this show a 7.5 / 10.
JDRAMA
Sixteen Shoukougun (7/8): The story centers on a high school girl who stronger and cooler than any guy, the prince, and her beautiful best friend, the princess.
It's so sad that this show doesn't get subbed weekly cause the weird amount of breaks in-between episodes makes me forget things though fortunately we get a bit of a recap at the start anyway. Ibuki the poor thing is torn between what she wants and what she think she deserves. She has spent practically her entire life thinking that what happened to Mei was her fault and that because of that she can't do anything that would hurt Mei again and it really doesn't help that Mei takes advantage of this in order to keep Ibuki by her side. I do think the sudden switch that Ibuki too from getting sick cause she was trying so hard to suppress her feelings for Asada to telling Asada to wait for her was a little quick but then again we're nearing the end of this show so maybe it was time anyhow. I'm really starting to dislike Mei and I don't want to cause I know she's got her own problems but she's honestly so emotionally abusive with how she's basically threatening to kill herself cause Ibuki fell in love with Asada and her obsession with Ibuki is holding her back from seeing that others care about her too like Sakurai. I can't see how this show will end happily next week cause Mei and Ibuki seriously need therapy and unless there's a time skip, even Sakurai confessing his feelings for Mei doesn't feel like it'll be enough. I still did love everything between Asada and Ibuki though and I definitely have to chalk up my love for them to the way Asada looks as Ibuki as if she's his salvation cause it's not like the writing is all that solid for them!
