What Dramas Am I Watching This Week?

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 (4/16): "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.

So now that we've settled into this world a little and got to know our characters, we're able to really play around this week. Part of me feels bad for how much Jun is doing for Ra Ra but at the same time, the romantic in me finds it absolutely adorable how head over heels he is. We're all going on the assumption that he knew Ra Ra back when he was a chaebol right cause there's no way he's just this kind to a random stranger he never met before. I am high key disappointed that Ra Ra ended up living at Ha Young's house rather than at Jun's cause I really wanted the cohabitation hijinks to play out but I'm hoping that the show will take us back there eventually. I was a little surprised at how good Ra Ra was at playing piano cause part of me sorta just assumed that she would be terrible based on how little she cared about piano growing up but then again she has been playing for 20 years so something must have sunk in. At least her talent is enough for her to become a good piano teacher though I'm sad that rather than joining a piano academy that she made her own cause it feels less professional. Jun on the other hand I'm still fairly certain is the chaebol son that woman is looking for but I did wonder for a second whether that body that was found was the real Jun. Like maybe that Jun and this Jun were friends and after the friend died, Jun stole his identity but I can't actually see that being the case as this is a rom com and not a thriller. I think what will end up being revealed is that after the friend died Jun ran away to grieve cause maybe his mom or the chaebol society led to the friend's death and in the end Jun will return home after being healed with Ra Ra's help. Meanwhile she'll realize that her father's secretary actually stole all her money and/or the company and she'll take it back and in the end Jun and her will be rich and happy. I do also want to take a moment to talk about how many creepy stalkers there are in this show cause between Ra Ra's actual stalker Dodosolsollalasol and the doctor who doesn't understand when to stay away, it's real scary.

Do You Like Brahms? (14/16): “Do You Like Brahms?” is a drama about students at a prestigious music school and the people in their lives. It will tell the stories of the students experiencing lessons, practicing, performing, and competitions since a very young age along with their parents and teachers who obsess over these processes. Park Joon Young, started playing piano when he was six years old. He won prominent competitions in the country before going on to win competitions across the world. Chae Song Ah, a college senior majoring in violin performance. After graduating previously as a business major, she entered the same university again to go to the music school after four attempts and is seven years older than her classmates.

If you weren't sobbing by the end of this week, you have to have a stone heart! I said last week that I was getting sick and tired of Song Ah being so meek and insecure but honestly after this week I blame Joon Young for a large portion of the problems in their relationship too. If they just communicated more then there would be no problems but instead Joon Young hides everything negative from Song Ah while she refuses to tell him that Jung Kyung is telling her all this stuff. As much as I thought they were cute at the start of this show, I definitely feel like the two are better off alone right now so they can work on themselves and maybe end up together in the end. It's interesting cause obviously since we the audience can see every part of Joon Young's life we tend to feel sorry for him and how with all the toxicity around him that even with his girlfriend he has to walk on eggshells but seriously if you look at from Song Ah's POV, Joon Young is literally never there for her when she needs him and so much of what he does is different than what he says. It would be exhausting dating him! I'll also never not be bitter that so much screen time was given to Joon Young's love triangle but we barely saw Song Ah's. I'm glad that Min Seong and Song Ah made up and like props to Dong Yoon for calling her when he saw Song Ah was upset rather than swooping in and using that opportunity to his advantage like Jung Kyung 100% would have. I wonder how this show will wrap everything up next week cause I definitely think Song Ah is going to be joining the Kyunghoo Foundation but Joon Young clearly hates the piano now but he also needs money so I could see him winning the competition or quitting entirely. 

FINISHED Lonely Enough To Love (10/10): A story of young people residing at a co-living house. They do want to date, but they don't want to be serious. They prefer being free, but they also don't want to be lonely. Cha Kang Woo is a single man in his 30's and he works as a psychiatrist. He is full of curiosity about human beings. Even though he is an attractive man, he is afraid of having a romantic relationships due to trauma from his past. A woman appears in front of him and he begins to have feelings for her. Lee Na Eun is a freelancer copy editor. She is generous to good people, but she does not tolerate injustice. She hopes to become a novelist one day. Due to her situation, she has not had a boyfriend in 4 years. She begins to stay at the co-living house and develops romantic feelings.

Well the finale for this show aired this week and though we ended up in a good place for all of our characters, I'm still just lukewarm about the whole thing. Na Eun's book was published and one of Kang Woo's celeb clients ended up reading it and loving it making her book reach a higher level of popularity. Kang Woo ended up reconciling with his dad after he realized that he had been needlessly blaming his father's affair for the death of his mother and he and Na Eun were happy together. Hyun Jin was rejected by Na Eun after he confessed last week and decided to go on a trip around the world to feel better while Ji Ah reconciled with David and they decided to coparent and think about marriage later. All-in-all this should have been heartwarming and all but instead I was just like yep this is checking off points on the checklist nicely. I think the middle chunk really just soured me to this show cause not even Kang Woo could save this finale and it's just unfortunate cause I did adore the first part of this drama. It also doesn't help that I sort of just assumed this show was going to be different than it ended up being. I guess I should shout out the fact that I love that the male lead and the second male lead actually became good friends so they were able to comfort one another in a fun way. Overall I guess I'd give it a 6 / 10.

Private Lives (4/16): 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.

I thought I understood what kind of a world we dove into last week after the premiere but after watching this week's episodes, all I can think is guys we're not in Kansas anymore. No but seriously we went from a pretty straight forward conman show to whatever this craziness with GK is! I actually really adore the way this show tells it's story through flashbacks and small pieces of the puzzle at a time so we're learning alongside Joo Eun as she peels back the layers of who Jung Hwan is. As it turns out, he's even more dangerous than I thought! He's not actually a conman or even working for the NIS like I thought last week but actually with GK which runs an off-the-books agency where they will do anything for money from hitman contracts to finding people. He's still a spy in a sense but not a good one leaving me to wonder if he really had no idea about Joo Eun's real life or if he decided he didn't care cause he loved her so much. While we're getting some answers, we're also left with a ton more questions. I really thought last week that Jae Wook and Bok Gi were partners but for some reason she rolled up to Jung Hwan to ask him to find Jae Wook and he realized that Jae Wook was the man that GK used to have on their payroll. Now the question is whether Jae Wook tried to kill Jung Hwan and Jung Hwan faked his death to get away or if it was GK's plan all along to have Jung Hwan fake his death in order to spy on Jae Wook better. It's also interesting to note that Bok Gi ended up being the person that Jae Wook was supposed to kill 7 years ago but clearly she made herself a new identity and no one was the wiser until now. Is her plan to take down GK for killing the man she loved? Either way I'm really looking forward to the point where Joo Eun and Bok Gi end up teaming up to hunt down Jae Wook and possibly unravel the thread that leads to GK but I'm also hoping that Jung Hwan reveals himself sooner rather than later. As a sidebar I'm not into the irritating secretary who was in love with Jung Hwan but I am low key in love with Myung Han the cop and if this were a different show I'd totally ship Joo Eun with him as they hunt down the conman who scammed her and then faked his death.

Record Of You (12/16): 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.

It was such a struggle to watch this week's episodes cause I kept starting and pausing every few minutes! I tried and tried but I'm so sick of every plot line this show wants to take us down and Park Bo Gum is not enough to keep me happy and interested. I know some people are finally interested in this show cause shit is finally hitting the fan but the reason I enjoyed this show was actually the soft and understated quiet parts so now that all this nonsense is happening, I can't handle it! Putting aside the fact that Jung Ha literally cannot tell Hye Joon how she feels about anything, I hate that Hae Hyo randomly decided that he should control Hye Joon's life as if he has literally any say. Like who the hell are you? You're not Hye Joon's manager or publicist and the fact that you can't make it big as a celeb does not mean you should ruin someone else's life. I also hate the way he's been sowing dissent between Jung Ha and Hye Joon like you think that if Hye Joon is out of the picture Jung Ha is randomly going to be into you?? I'm also sick of how much screen time Hye Joon's horrible family gets and the way this show treated Charlie Jung being gay. It was oddly the most homophobic I've seen a kdrama be in a while. The funny thing is that I can't help but compare it to Do You Like Brahms? cause they both are dealing with similar problems in terms of relationships but for some reason the misunderstandings that lead to a break up don't feel as real and emotional in this show and I'm just left fast-forwarding through scenes.

Tale Of The Nine-Tailed (2/16): 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.

I. Am. Obsessed. As much as A Korean Odyssey/Hwayugi has such a special place in my heart for being one of the very first fantasy kdramas I watched, I feel like this show is basically what that show should have been. The mystery is so in-depth and well-paced, the villains are much more clearly motivated and drawn but most importantly Ji Ah is everything you want in a female lead! She's intelligent and loving while also being kinda reckless to boot so she's more than the token female love interest but she's also not a one-dimensional "insert badass girl here" trope. As we found out the Imoogi killed Ah Eum in the past and left a piece of its soul in that weird village and now it's been reborn and I'm assuming that by the finale of this show it'll be old enough to fight once again. I have a feeling that Rang, the shaman, and that random guy he's working with brought Ji Ah's mom to the village in order to place the Imoogi into her and as a side effect the Imoogi blocked the fox bead so Yeon couldn't find Ah Eum's reincarnation. Now that the Imoogi is back in it's own body, Ji Ah's bead is no longer hidden which is why Yeon could see it was her at the end. We also learned that the reason Rang is out to get Yeon is cause back in the day humans burned down their home after his brother disappeared and could no longer grant their wishes so Rang slaughtered them all in revenge. Yeon was sent to kill Rang but I have a feeling that unlike what Rang thinks, he didn't actually try to kill him and missed on purpose and is somehow taking punishment for letting Rang live. It's the only reason I can think of as to why Yeon was punished for killing one human that was murdering others but Rang is allowed to roam free and do whatever he wants. We also met Rang's fox friend from last week officially and it seems like she might end up being a love interest to Shin Joo and I totally ship that. Speaking of ships though, I do want to shout out the fact that Ji Ah and Yeon have serious chemistry especially in that scene where Ji Ah and Yeon were sitting on her couch after dinner and I was like dude the tension! If this were an American show, these two would have jumped each other!

CDRAMA

Dating In The Kitchen (20/24): Working as an assistant chef at the Zijing Hotel, Gu Sheng Nan was a woman well on her way to making her dreams come true. Well situated, in a job that she loved, she was free to express herself through her food, as she sharpened her skills as a chef. In addition to having a great job, she was happily settled in her secret relationship with the hotel’s head chef. Convinced they were destined to build a beautiful life together, Sheng Nan was devastated the day she caught her boyfriend cheating. As if breaking up with her boyfriend wasn’t bad enough, Sheng Nan soon learns that she may soon be out of a job, thanks to the hotel’s impending acquisition. To make matters worse, an unfortunate misunderstanding lands her on the wrong side of her soon-to-be boss, the sharp-tongued CEO, Lu Jin. As a business prodigy, Lu Jin isn’t afraid to make the tough decisions. Ready to condemn the Zijing Hotel, Lu Jin changes his mind after a happy accident brings one of Sheng Nan’s dishes his way. A hardcore foodie, Lu Jin is impressed with Sheng Nan’s skill as a chef and readily recognizes her talent. Sharing a love of food, this unlikely pair begins to form an unexpected bond that leads them to a place neither of them ever expected to be.

I low key didn't realize that next week is the finale for this show so I was casually sitting here being like damn these two are engaged already but now that I think about it, obviously they got engaged with the show ending next week. I was pretty glad that despite Lu Jin's mom really beating on Sheng Nan's confidence about dating Lu Jin that she never actually broke up with him. I suppose it also helps that Lu Jin has been acting like THE MAN recently in that he knows what he wants and how to get it and no one will stand in his way. He rejected Li Man clearly and shut his mother down. It's super sexy and Sheng Nan clearly think so too. It must be the businessman in him and I'm hoping that she (and his mom) can see that he's not a child to be led around by his so-called feelings. When his girl needs him he'll be there but he also knows that work is important too and hopefully Sheng Nan realizes that as well cause it's like sometimes she needs to let him be off and do his thing and that he'll always come back. I was a little annoyed that she came all the way to his work but it ended hilariously with her returning more in love with him after seeing him being his CEO self. I also was a little surprised that everything with Lu Jin's other family kind of just fizzled off but I suppose there's still time next week to bring that back around. I also hope that Sheng Nan doesn't just lose her big cooking dreams either in favor of being Lu Jin's wife but I'm sure that once they get married, she'll just open up a restaurant.

Oh! My Sweet Liar (19/29): 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?

Here's the thing. Until I watched the ninteenth episode that aired this week, I was so so so close to dropping this show! The thing I absolutely hate the most in dramas in when the male or female lead end up falling for the tricks of the villains and trust their word over what they know about the person they love so Xiruo falling for lies about Hongbin wanting to kill her mom and all that really just made me sick and tired. If Xiruo hadn't spent like the last 19 episodes being naive to the world that she grew up in, maybe I would have been able to understand where she was coming from but that wasn't the case. What did she think marrying into a noble family meant and more importantly what did she think lying to a noble family meant? She was the one who sneaked into a noble family home, lied to Hongbin about being pregnant, let the lie go on for too long and then also agreed to marry the man out of her own free will so really I have no pity for the fact that she's horrified that her mom was kicked out of the Li household when it's revealed that she's a commoner and lied about her background. I was a little annoyed that the baby lie was STILL not put to rest but I'm left wondering if the reason for that is now going to be that Xiruo and Hongbin actually make a baby so eventually there will be a baby born. Having said that I don't know how long it's been since Xiruo and Hongbin said they were pregnant but I guess that since the doctors in this world could detect a pregnancy the day after it happened, then I could guess that they could pass the baby off as being born late or whatever. I am super relieved though that Xiruo has finally realized that she loves Hongbin too and here's hoping that any more drama that happens come externally like from the Song clan rather than internally. I want to see them be a power couple or as close as they can get with Xiruo being the way she is. I do wonder if her birth family will appear at some point in this show or not cause the white jade pendant that Xiruo was found with keeps coming up.

The Moon Brightens For You (20/36): 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.

I low key knew from the start that poor Qinghong's parents wouldn't end up surviving this show cause that's how these things go but it was still absolutely heartbreaking to see them die and for Qinghong to find their bodies. I bet it will be the thing to age Qinghong and make her more mature and focused which will also lead to her being unable to forgive as easily as she did before. This will be totally important in terms of her relationship with Wen You too. What an asshole for not even having the balls to tell her the truth about getting married! I mean yeah I feel bad for him cause he literally has to choose between his family's lives or Qinghong's love but at the same time I ship Qinghong with Lin Fang like every other person in this show so I'm just like sucks to be you Wen You. In other news we learned what really happened ten years ago and the reveal that Lin Fang's dad was killed by the Ghost Three in order to steal the seven swordsmanship but before he died he passed the scroll to Qinghong's dad who kept it safe until now. I was also kinda thrilled that Gu senior was killed cause that dude was irritating and I'm more interested in the Ghost Three as villains anyway. I do wonder whether the Prime Minister has a more sinister motive though in getting Wen You to marry the Princess cause I definitely think he's the masked leader of the Ghost Three cause they both have similar facial hair and I can't help but feel like he gets a lot of screen time for someone who doesn't seem all that important right now. Maybe he's thinking that he could force Wen You to take over as Director and therefore steal the seven swordsmanship from him? Then again he won't let Wen You join the others in fighting against the rebellion so maybe not? I also want to shout out the new love interest that was given to Xiao Lan and how I kinda love that she's more than just the female lead's maid in this show.

TWDRAMA

Lost Romance (19/20): Zheng Xiao En works as an editor of romance novels at a publishing company, and secretly dreams about falling in love with a CEO. When she isn’t working, she spends her days daydreaming about He Tian Xing, the handsome chief executive of the company that occupies the building opposite her company’s offices. One day, Zheng Xiao En magically finds herself transported into the pages of a romance novel – and comes face-to-face with her crush He Tian Xing. However, she soon discovers that in this fictional universe, his name is Si Tu Ao Ran – and his personality is very different. She hopes to use all the tips and tricks she has learned from the romance novels she has edited to help snare his heart. But she soon discovers that in this fictional world, she isn’t the heroic female lead – and instead is an evil side character! Can she flip the story on its head – and end up with the man of her dreams?

It's really sad that when Xiao'en finally grew a backbone it was in the penultimate episode and therefore we probs won't see much of it again! I loved that she told Tianxing that she was already married though I think she should have said that he looks a little like you and I'm still in love with him even if he's not here. I'm fairly certain Tianxing would have responded in the same swoony way by telling her that he will make her forget her ex but at least he'd have a little more context about it. Either way I suppose it doesn't matter cause I'm sure that Tianxing will end up reading the book about Aoran and Xiao'en and he'll remember everything making the whole thing moot and letting Xiao'en forgive herself and be with Tianxing without feeling guilty that she's replacing Aoran. I also low key loved that she left his cufflinks from last week cause like I said last week, it was too cheesy for my taste and what on Earth is she going to do with cufflinks anyway? I was a little torn on Tianxing's secretary and driver hinting at something together cause I kind of wanted Chuntian with Tianxing's driver cause not only would it be hilarious to see how much she would run rampant over him but also cause I thought they had chemistry with being the third and fourth wheels around Tianxing and Xiao'en!

xoxo Allie