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

FINISHED Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (16/16): "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 La La Land in a country village.

Well the finale for this show aired this week and really I'm just so sad that I haven't adored Lee Jae Wook in the last two dramas that he's done! This show had the potential to be good when it started even if a lot of people weren't excited with Ra Ra's character type but then it devolved into a mess as per usual with most of the dramas that I'm currently watching. And this is double true for this finale! It felt like the showrunners were like wait how do we throw the most amount of makjang tropes into a two hour finale? A forced break up? Check. A terminal illness? Check. Destiny proving that the main leads knew each other before they met for real? Check check check. Seriously I'm not joking. Apparently Joon was Dodosolsollalasol this whole time (even though Mr Kim was the one to ultimately buy Ra Ra the piano) cause he fell for her after her piano recital. He then had to break up with Ra Ra cause he found out he has this rare blood cancer and the only place to treat it was in the states so he stayed radio silent for five more years in order to pop up again all dramatic like once he was all cured. Was it just me or did anyone else low key hope that Joon actually died in the states just to shake up this tropefest?? Meanwhile Ha Young and Seung Gi got married and had a daughter while Ra Ra became kinda famous as a piano teacher and I'm left shaking my head. Maybe if I had liked this show more in the middle then maybe I would have liked the end more too cause I'm sure there are some people out there that loved this show but it was not for me and if you want this sort of vibe I'd rather recommend that you just rewatch Shopping King Louie. Overall I'd give this show a 5.5 / 10.

Kairos (8/16): Living a precarious life as a part-timer at a convenience store, Ae Ri strives to support her mother who is on a waiting list for a heart transplant. Unfortunately, her mother’s worsened physical condition leads her to forgo the long-awaited opportunity for the transplant, and just like that her mother disappears. Things were already chaotic enough for Ae Ri when she receives a phone call from a strange man claiming to be from the same world but 31 days in the future. Ironically, he desperately asks Ae Ri for help. Seo Jin, a father and a husband of a close-knit family, has been living a successful life as the youngest person to become a director at a construction company. One day, it all crumbles down with the kidnapping of his daughter and his wife’s suicide. On the verge of breaking down, he is given an opportunity to restore everything that was lost under one condition, help from a strange woman. To bring his daughter and wife back to life, he makes a phone call as the clock strikes 10:33.

We are at the halfway point for the season and things have been seriously shook up but I can't decide if I like the new changes or not. Seo Jin of one month in the past is such a complete and utter asshole that I just want Ae Ri to give up on him. Like don't get me wrong, Hyun Chae is still an evil mastermind but Seo Jin is no walk in the park either and I can see why so many people hate him. I mentioned last week how strange it was that Hyun Chae wouldn't just divorce the man but it's clear she really just wants him out of the way while she keeps the money and prestige that comes from being his wife. The funny thing is though that once he's out of the picture I suppose she's hoping that Do Gyun will take his place in the company otherwise it's not like the CEO is just going to hand her a stipend every month. Either way it feels like a much simpler plan to just have Taek Gyu kill Seo Jin but I suppose Do Gyun is against murder so that's probs why Hyun Chae backed off for now. I also have to say that the more we see the more I'm sure that the CEO actually has nothing to do with anything but I still wonder who Ae Ri's mom keeps calling to threaten. Maybe there are two separate plots in this show and once we deal with this one, we can turn our attention to the company?? I also really high key hate that Do Gyun is the one to get all of Ae Ri's texts with Seo Jin and that he's the one that's going to end up believing her time traveling phone call story rather than Seo Jin cause it gives the villains a leg up! It does look though like Seo Jin might be getting some of his memories from the previous life back and I wonder if the Seo Jin that calls Ae Ri at the end of this week will end up being this current Seo Jin who calls her out of desperation rather than the future Seo Jin we knew. Did saving his daughter erase the future Seo Jin?

Live On (2/8): Baek Ho Rang is the most popular girl in high school. Everybody wants to be her friend, and all of the boys dream of winning her heart. Although she is famously aloof, she is also a star on social media – with the whole school seemingly following her every post. But when a mysterious individual arrives online, she is caught off-guard.This person seems to know all of Baek Ho Rang’s deepest secrets, and is seemingly armed with all sorts of information about her that she’d rather was kept a secret forever! Desperate for answers, she seeks out the help of Go Eun Taek, the meticulous, right-minded head of the school’s broadcasting club. However, in order to gain his assistance, she discovers that she will have to become a regular club member – a fact that eventually brings her together with a group of students she never thought she’d consider friends. Can she solve the mystery of the online poster? And could joining the club eventually lead to romance?

I originally wasn't going to check this drama out at first cause as cute as web dramas are, they're too short for me to really sink my teeth into and yet I kept seeing cute clips of this show making me want to check it out anyway! Interestingly enough it feels less like a high school drama and more like a revenge drama similar to The Goddess Of Revenge only lighter and less intense obviously. Ho Rang our female lead is kind of a bitch which was interesting cause I totally expected her to just be misunderstood since she was a famous influencer and people get jealous. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not against this character type cause something about Ho Rang is so cute despite it all and I'm sure that eventually we'll find out that Ho Rang went through her own version of bullying or something that made her shut out everyone else. We're already seeing her warm up to Eun Taek and Jae Yi (who by the way I really want Ho Rang to become ride or die besties with cause they are sooo alike!!!) and though she grumbles about how she hates that Yoo Shin is always clinging to her, in the end, she still lets him hang out with her. My theory is that Ho Rang and So Hyun were best friends back in the day but then shit went down at Ho Rang's birthday though I'm not sure what yet and the two stopped being friends. Maybe Ho Rang thought that So Hyun was the cause or maybe she just wanted to protect her friend but either way they separated. What is curious is that a story like this usually means that Ho Rang did something horrible at her party and this anonymous person is trying to get revenge on her but the way the show is portraying it makes it seem more like Ho Rang was the victim.

Please Don't Date Him (2/10): Seo Ji-Sung is a programmer on the A.I. Developent Team at Smart Home Appliances. While working on a refrigerator, she accidentally inserts a chip belonging to the National Intelligence Service. Instead of a program that will rate the freshness of vegetables, it will root out the undesirables from a dating pool, potentially saving people heartache. Ji-Sung herself wants to fall in love, but with the right man. Despair sets in when her program determines that her oh-so-perfect fiancé, Jung-Han, is not her Prince Charming after all! Jung Gook-Hee is a firefighter who spends little time on social media, leaving Ji-Sung with little data to analyze. She meets firefighter Gook-Hee, who has no social media presence. This leaves Ji-Sung without a shred of data for her program to analyze. She can't help but be skeptical, not knowing a thing about Gook-Hee's past. Should Ji-Sung take a leap of faith with him, even if it could mean another heartbreak for her?

Week 2 of this show and I'm still really loving it! *Knock on wood* Ji Sung is everything I adore in a human. When she realized that Jung Han wasn't the man she thought he was, she cried it out, broke up with him, and moved on with her life like the most badass bitch ever. I mean do I wish that she actually would have sued his ass? Of course! But I'm so used to female leads being pushovers that even this reaction feels like a giant step forward. I do have to admit that I did read those texts wrong last week and as it turned out, he was only taking and sharing secret pictures of her which don't get me wrong is still skeevy but not as criminal as I first thought. I did love that everyone in her life found out the truth right away cause I was a little afraid that she would hide the reason for their breakup from her parents causing them to think she was the problem like in Another Miss Oh but I was absolutely living for how her mom defended her at the end. I'm still curious about whether this gossip site will be important cause it reminds me of those forums in most dramas where people post gossip and get advice but will it be like Gossip Girl where plot changes cause of it or more just a funny thing on the side? We still haven't gotten to know Gook Hee much other than the fact that he clearly hates technology and interestingly enough he doesn't seem to like Ji Sung cause every time he's around her, she brings trouble onto him. I do think the whole tech aversion thing is a little lame to be his one defining character trait cause it's seriously 2020 and though I could let the idea of him not being big into social media pass, the fact that he doesn't even use a smartphone is weird so I hope we don't have to wait long to learn about him more.

FINISHED Private Lives (16/16): 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 am seriously so sad that this show came to an end this week cause it was definitely my favorite in this current batch of dramas and I will never not be bitter that no one watched it! The writing in this show was so tight, the pacing was perfect, and there were two exciting romances to follow yet more people watched the hot mess that is Start Up! I guess I shouldn't really be surprised though cause if a drama isn't a rom com or doesn't have an A list celeb in it, no one watches it but I tend to find that the dramas I end up enjoying more are the ones that aren't so trendy. Now okay the ending was a bit fanservice-y and pretty much turned back everything I screamed in shock over but in the end it just made me so happy that I couldn't disparage it. Myung Han was fine after being stabbed but we never did find out if he and Min Jung opened a detective agency while Edward was shot in the head and my heart broke for Bok Ki but then we find out that he was alive though I'm not sure if we're meant to think he's paralyzed or just playing a part in a con. Either way, like I said up top, I was thrilled beyond measure even if it was also a little cheap. Jung Hwan went to jail and got out on parole after 3 years and Joo Eun and Jung Hwan had a wedding though the end we're left wondering if the show was setting up for a second season or if it was just supposed to be a funny callback to when Jung Hwan had to runaway at his first wedding. I do have to admit that some of the plot points that were brought up throughout the show really didn't matter in the end but if there is a second season of this show planned, some of those loose ends might be tied over there. Like for example what was the point of Director Oh and Hyun Kyung walking around like they knew something we didn't know? We were able to take down Director Kim (who was later killed in jail and gave me savage pleasure) and the GK room on paper through the help of GK's chairman but it seems as though there was a fourth member of the room that we never knew about and that person became the President of South Korea so maybe that's who the Oh family were confident in as a Plan B?? Either way I can't find myself too mad about it cause Director Kim was our main target and Joo Eun and Jung Hwan only ever wanted to live happily and unbothered so once they got what they wanted, they moved on and left the GK room pieces to be cleaned up by others. If you haven't guessed it by now, I really highly recommend this show if you like any sort of romance thriller and I'd give it a 10 / 10!

DROPPED Start Up (12/16): “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.

I debated whether or not I reached my limit with this show this week cause I just cannot deal with the fandom for this show anymore! If I have to read another comment about the ship war, I will throw myself off of a cliff. I do have to say that first half of this week was actually super exciting cause Samsan Tech absolutely killed it at their demo day presentation. They were able to prove that Noongil works and is helpful and even won against Injae Company to prove that Do San was right when he said that numbers need context so their slightly lower accuracy rate didn't mean that their AI didn't work. I didn't even entirely mind the idea of Alex deciding to just take the Samsan trio and leave the girls but it was the fact that Dal Mi decided to break up with him and the fact that this show is hinting that Dal Mi and Ji Pyung might be together during the time skip until Do San comes back that I can't stand! I think might be the final nail in the coffin of this show. I hate love triangles under normal circumstances in dramas that are well written so the fact that this show cannot seem to find it's way out of that simple thing shows me that this show isn't for me. I do feel bad that I'm dropping it so late in the game but honestly 4 episodes is still 4 hours of my life that I won't be able to get back!

Tale Of The Nine-Tailed (14/16): 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.

The pieces have been laid out carefully for the finale next week and I can't wait! Everyone in this show has their own plan on how to win the day and I really can't decide who's plan I think will come out on top. I have a feeling though that Taluipa will be the one to help out in the end. We've spent all season being unsure about her role in this show and judging her for her inaction so I think that she'll end up redeeming herself by taking the Imoogi inside herself, and throwing herself into the river with Terry thus saving Ji Ah and Yeon and making her husband take on the role of Gatekeeper. It's also possible that Yeon and Ji Ah die (but not in the river) and we jump forward into their next life where we see them happy as humans though I think that would leave a lot of our other supernatural characters in the lurch. We do know that Rang only has one human life left in him so maybe he'll be reborn at the same time as them too? Wouldn't it be so cute if Rang were Yeon's little brother again? Or maybe it'd be more poetic if he was Ji Ah's older brother. It's also really interesting that though the Imoogi in Ji Ah and Terry himself are supposed to be the same creature, in the end they have separate goals. Terry clearly wants to find love but the Imoogi in Ji Ah just wants revenge on Yeon. I wonder if splitting caused them to split their emotions too? I was also really enjoying the team up across these two episodes with getting Team Human, Ji Ah, and Team Fox working together but of course Rang had his own plan cooking cause in the end he doesn't care about Ji Ah to the degree where he would let Yeon kill himself for her. I do have to say that I can't imagine a bullet will kill Ji Ah cause I bet the Imoogi will come out to save himself.

The Goddess Of Revenge (2/16): In the world of the rich and powerful, one wrong move can destroy everything; a sad lesson Kang Hae Ra soon learns. Once a reporter working hard to support the family she had been forced to care for at a very young age, Hae Ra found her way into the limelight after marrying one of the country’s most famous celebrities. Now the center of everyone’s attention, Hae Ra has become one of the nation’s hottest influencers. But when she finds herself wrapped up in an unfounded scandal, Hae Ra’s reputation plummets. Hitting rock bottom, Hae Ra wants revenge, but she’s not the only one desperately searching for a way to bring down those who have hurt her. A talented lawyer with a one hundred percent success rate and a heart of ice, Cha Min Joon is not a man to be trifled with. But when those who wish to bring him low throw his family into ruin, he turns his full attention towards exacting his revenge. While Hae Ra and Min Joon focus on revenge, the sole heir to the FB Group, Kim Tae On, is on a mission of her own, to secure her position as the company’s new head. But going up against her father isn’t easy, as one simple mistake could ruin everything. Meanwhile, the tenacious detective Ku Eun Hye takes on a case that could either make or break her. As each individual begins their respective journey towards success and revenge, their paths soon cross. Realizing there’s much more going on than any of them first believed, each delves deeper but what they find shakes them to their core. Now on a mission to fight against those who seek to destroy them, Hae Ra and Min Joon will stop at nothing to have their revenge. But can they succeed against such powerful foes?

I am so so so glad that I ended up watching this show even though at first I was like meh maybe this won't be for me. I like revenge dramas on paper but it's exhausting to watch our heroes be trampled on for 90% of the show before they finally win at the end as is the case for most revenge dramas. Luckily that is not the story we're getting here and that's exactly why I'm all in! Hae Ra outed her husband for the cheater he was and proved that the scandal was entirely fake all in two episodes and I'm so so so down. She's honestly such a badass in general cause as we saw she will not take any wrongdoing lying down which is why I'm a little curious about why she stayed with her abusive cheating husband unless it was because they had a son and she wanted to protect him. I wonder if the son will play a bigger role in this show cause I already love the ride-or-die relationship the two have after having survived Hyun Sung but I'm thinking that maybe this might be one of his only appearances in this show cause the setting is not exactly conducive for a child. Speaking of Hyun Sung, do we think we'll see more of him or are we done now that Hae Ra got her revenge? I'm also seriously loving the friendship that's building between Eun Hye and Hae Ra cause we don't get enough girl friendships on screen and I have to say this show is giving me everything I want from a con artist show without being a con artist show! I'm assuming that from now on we'll be getting weekly cases that Eun Hye and Hae Ra have to solve though Min Joon will clearly be out for some bigger revenge that he'll reveal later. I do get the feeling that Min Joon is a good guy in this story despite burning her books and giving off malicious energy cause I think that he knew her back when they were young (but she didn't notice him) so he knows what a righteous person she was. Maybe he burned her book cause he knows that it's full of lies and he's ultimately hoping to get the original Hae Ra back?

DROPPED The Spies Who Loved Me (10/16): 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.

So this show has pretty much decided it's going to be a comedy and throw all seriousness out the window huh? I want to be pissed as all hell with Ah Reum and the way she's treating the reveal that Derek is an industrial spy working for Helmes but at the same time we have scenes of Derek and Ji Hoon rolling around a fountain and I can't muster up more than exhaustion and I think that's why I have to drop this show. I'm on a bit of a housecleaning sweep right now with shows cause once again there are so many good shows to watch out there that there's no point in whining about the ones that don't work for me! The thing that sucks though is that I really enjoyed this show when it started cause it had so much potential but every week we get further and further away from that. Ah Reum is supposed to be smart but now I can't decide what she is and it doesn't help that the show clearly wants us to think the same way as her when I don't! She keeps forgetting that her best friend was killed because of all this and yet she's hiding the one thing that could help? Does she really think being attacked over and over is not related to Sophie's death or that Ji Hoon and Derek are basically one-in-the-same? One is a police officer and the other is a criminal and she's acting as if Ji Hoon is the emotional one in the scenario with how she's cooing over poor baby Derek who's been lying since they met and is still lying! He claimed that he became a spy 7 years ago but we see that he's been training since he was a child and that makes me wonder if he's really just playing Interpol or if he really wants to leave Helmes for Ah Reum. In terms of the romance, I am seriously so over Ji Hoon and Ah Reum at this point cause she's kinda just so horrible to him and my heart really broke for him when she was talking about how Derek is her family and she wants to protect him with all her heart when she really just tossed Ji Hoon aside back then. Like rationally I get that she was younger then and things that wash over her now bothered her then but it doesn't help me emotionally. I also have a feeling that she's trying so hard with Derek cause she regrets not trying with Ji Hoon but she needs to realize that the two men are not the same.

CDRAMA

Begin Again (23/35): It tells the story of a domineering female CEO and a warm doctor who turn a fake relationship into reality due to practical reasons. Having exchanged their 'I do's', they start on a new chapter of their lives as they learn to fall in love. Lu Fangning is the general manager of Luning Group, a large corporation in the business of home furniture. Lu Fangning is a woman who has it all - talented, beautiful and rich. Nearing her thirties, Lu Fangning succumbs to family pressures and decides that she urgently needs a husband with whom she will have a child. Coincidentally, surgeon Ling Rui appears in front of her. Ling Rui is not only blessed with good looks but also has an angelic heart, which makes him the perfect candidate in the eyes of Lu Fangning. She schemes her way to his life and they finally become husband and wife. Lu Fangning eventually realizes the error in her ways and strives to be better. However, keeping a marriage is not as easy as it seems.

So much happened this week from romance to plot progression that I don't even know where to start! Fang Ning and Ling Rui finally came clean to each other about how much they love another and Fang Ning finally remembered that Ling Rui was a childhood friend. I wonder if the whole childhood thing was meant to confuse us the audience and make us think that Ling Rui was remembering the wrong girl but even if that was the case, it was poorly done. Fang Ning literally did not have any recollection of him even when they went back to his hometown and what we're supposed to think that she completely forgot about a town that she spent a while in? How many of you can't remember every single city you lived in growing up especially when you were like 10? Other than that I did really like the way their relationship bloomed. Their first kiss was horribly awkward but every one after felt more natural. I even loved that everyone found out about Fang Ning and Ling Rui making a contract but in the end they played if off as a joke so it ultimately didn't mean anything. Simon is still an ass and doesn't deserve Saiyu but I did like that his plan to use Tang Ping as a way to break the two up ended with Tang Ping basically getting a huge girl crush on Fang Ning instead. This is the Tang Ping I wanted from the start! It also helped show Fang Ning that though she lost her older sister, she shouldn't have shut everyone else out cause there were plenty of people who cared for her like Tang Ping who always looked up to her and Fang Yu who adored her. I really felt for his whole storyline about wanting to be a ballerino and how sexist the family was but it led to us finding out what happened to Fang Yue. Apparently Fang Yue fell in love with some guy and I think the dad didn't approve so she ran away from home and eventually died in a car accident. The guy that she fell for ended up being Fang Ning's assistant Er Fan but he blames The Lu family and Fang Ning in particular for Fang Yue's death and the whole thing is really terrible cause of all the people in the Lu family, Fang Ning was the one who loved Fang Yue the most and he really is an idiot if he thinks that Fang Yue would want her baby sister to suffer like this. 

Oh My Drama Lover (16/24): Li Chunxi, a third-rate romance writer, experiences a car accident and wakes up to find that she has entered a completely unfamiliar world. Additionally, she is no longer herself but someone by the name of Qian Zhenzhen, losing the memory of her former self. Qian Zhenzhen of the unfamiliar world is a woman who does anything to seduce her boss, Ouyang Chen. Li Chunxi, now Qian Zhenzhen, attempts to gradually rid of her bad reputation and in doing so attracts the attention of her boss, Ouyang Chen, who falls in love with her and tries to court her. But her heart becomes increasingly occupied by her loyal assistant, Lu Li, and the two slowly fall in love. Qian Zhenzhen, who has become a winner in love and turned around her image, would have never thought that the innocent Lu Li has a double identity...

I just want to say this show is everything I would have wanted it to be now that we're a little past halfway through! Zhenzhen finally remembered everything about how she's actually Li Chunxi and how she's inside her own book though I don't entirely understand why she out-and-out named her main female lead for herself (and not subtly at all lol) but I think in actuality the Chinese letters that are used in her name are different than those in the book which is why my confusion as to why Lu Li didn't react to her real name isn't important anymore. I also liked the reveal that this book was actually meant to be a detective story rather than a romance which hilariously answers my question about why Lu Li has this deep backstory about how he's hunting down Professor Yuan since he killed the brother when Lu Li was meant to be a side character. It also explains why Yuan's motive for murder was one of the most ridiculous reasons to kill someone that I've heard cause duh original Chunxi didn't even care about that part of her book as she focused entirely on book Chunxi and book Ouyang ending up together. The ironic thing about this is that unlike in shows like Lost Romance or The Romance Of Tiger And Rose, the female lead here was an asshole from the start when it's like normally the female lead is written to be kind and everything until she gets shafted into the second female lead role making me wonder if original Chunxi was the girl version of The Nice GuyTM. It's also interesting to note that every person in her book is based on a person she knew in real life but obviously I'm saying this cause that means there's a Lu Li in real life too that Zhenzhen can be with once she returns to the real world cause the two are perfection together! All I ever want in a drama is for our main leads to be a team and not lie to each other and that's what we have here. Lu Li told Zhenzhen about his brother and Zhenzhen told him all about how she's actually someone called Chunxi. Neither of these things did anything but let our leads love each other more and I'm hoping that Zhenzhen continues her truth streak and tells Lu Li that they're in a book.

JDRAMA

Bokura wa Koi ga Hetasugiru (4/7): Fujiwara Hana and Katayama Mizuki have been best friends since elementary school. When Hana gets dumped by her boyfriend who was cheating on her, Hana and Mizuki take a trip together to relieve her heartbreak. They meet two guys – Narita Yosuke and Ichinose Ayumu – at a hot spring inn at their destination. Although they have only just become acquainted, Yosuke suddenly chides Hana, who does not have it in her nature to speak her mind. At first, Hana gets defensive. But she starts to realize that her inability to speak out because she is too mindful of others is a shortcoming and tries to change. On the other hand, Mizuki, who has never dated seriously before, wants to be loved. Yosuke is despised for saying things that he thinks are for the other party’s sake while Ayumu is a mixture of kindness and frivolousness. Then there is Ayumu’s “younger brother” Kanata (Shimasaki Toa). Friendship, jealousy, betrayal, and quarrels swirl in each of them. They start to come to terms with themselves through love.

This week gave me a lot of the answers I wanted last week. I might have been judging Mizuki too hard cause as it turned out, she did actually lose almost every guy she liked to Hana though I'm curious why guys sort of just assumed that she wasn't the girlfriend type. It couldn't have just been cause Mizuki slept with them since I'm sure that she realized that a lot of guys wanted the chase more though I think a large part of her just felt super insecure especially given how she decided ah I guess I am just a motel girl when her sorta-date with Narita started to go sideways. I also like the idea that this blow up wasn't just cause of Narita cause once again the girl barely knew him but that it was an accumulation of a bunch of anger over the course of years and that the two girls were ultimately able to work things out. In terms of Hana and Narita, he told her he liked her but she wanted to hold off on telling him how she felt until she talked to Mizuki though by the end we're all pretty sure that the two are dating. It does look like Kanata might be the other side of the love triangle in the show but I can't imagine that Hana will waver though I'm sure it'll lead to some cute jealously on the part of Narita. In other news Narita did meet his ex this week and she still won't tell him why they broke up which is super mean but I'm assuming based on context clues that she thought that he was childish and too tsundere but from everything I've seen of how he treats Hana, it seems like he's pretty sweet unless we're meant to think that Hana is special.

DROPPED Kono Koi Atatamemasuka (5/10): 21-year-old Kiki Inoue works part-time at a convenience store. She spends her days in a state of torpor. One day, Kiki Inoue meets Takumi Asaba, who is the CEO of a convenience store chain. She has a social media account where she reviews sweets. Her social media account has caught the CEO's attention. Takumi Asaba gets her to work on developing sweets to sell at his convenience store chain. Meanwhile, Takumi Asaba became the CEO to turnaround his company that's ranked lowest among convenience store chains. While talking about developing new sweets, they become attracted to each other.

We're about halfway through this drama now and I think it's time for me to admit that this show isn't working for me. I'm the kind of person who will drop a show if I don't ship the main couple unless the writing for the show is incredible but this drama fits neither box. I'm not a fan of Asaba and Kiki and this show has no plot to it other than the main romance so instead of constantly shitting on this show, I think it'll just be better to say that's enough. This week pretty much solidified it for me that Asaba and Kiki will be endgame even if we'll be taking the long way around. I just see the way Asaba only opens up to her and the way that she so desperately chased after him at the end and I know. Even if Asaba and Riho are officially dating again, it's not like he will explain to her what he told Kiki about how Christmas was the holiday that his parents separated over and how lonely he was and how he took that anger and sadness out on sweets. Kiki despite being happier with Makoto only cares about Asaba and how he feels and making him happy. It's especially clear now that Asaba was trying to destroy Coco Every cause he hated sweets but Kiki made him low key want to like sweets again with her cuteness I'm assuming which is why he changed his whole evil plot as to not sell the company anymore. It's all unfortunate cause like I said, I enjoyed Kiki and Makoto's date originally and thought that the way he confessed to her was super sweet and he even apologized for kissing her without her consent.

Shanai Marriage Honey (2/7): A young couple got married almost immediately after meeting each other through a dating app and did not realized that they were working for the same company. They decided to keep their marriage a secret from their company and friends. At first, both parties thought it's okay to get married without love but they gradually got attracted to each other.

Watching this show will straight up give you cavities if you're not careful but only in the best way! I mean yes I do think Haruta fell for Miura really fast and I still think that Miura has liked her for a while since he mentioned that she had conquered him from the start but I don't really mind it cause I'm just straight up having fun! In some dramas the female lead is such a wet napkin that I'm left wondering what the male lead even sees in her but that's not the case here. Haruta is this bundle of joy and cuteness and for the life of me I can't understand why her ex would cheat on her! I think it's absolutely precious that she attacks everyone with kindness cause the girl knows that she's adorable but I'm not sure if I'd call what she does crafty. In fact this might be one of the only shows I've watched where a female lead is so bubbly but also doesn't act like a child. She's clearly smart and clearly an adult and she lights up the world around her which is obviously why someone so stoic as Miura fell for her. We still don't know much about him but it seems like he never told her mom about getting married and it leaves me wondering where Haruta's parents are in this too cause I don't remember if we learned about them yet. I also wonder if Haruta's ex will be coming back or if we really saw all that we needed from him last week.

Shichinin no Hisho (5/8): Toto Bank President Ichihara is in a hotel suite romancing his secretary Nana when he suddenly loses consciousness. Four women arrive to perform CPR, but their efforts to save him are in vain. They calmly rid the room of evidence, then ensure the deletion of all records pertaining to the president’s stay. Previously, the president had stipulated that should he die suddenly, his death must be be made to appear as if he had died at home. Keitaro is a former litigation clerk who worked as a political secretary and is now running a ramen restaurant. He ordered the four women to deal with the situation happening in the hotel room. Together restauranteur Keitaro, housekeeper Satsuki and secretaries Chiyo, Nana, Fujiko, Sa Ran and Miwa, form a shadow corps, whose mission it is to help the weak and punish evil-doers. With their combined skills and experience, they are a force to be reckoned with. 

We're finally starting to get the full picture of what this show will end up being. As it turns out Ban used to be the secretary to Minister Awadaguchi who is that corrupt Minister we kept seeing over and over again in the shadows. I'm assuming based on context clues that Awadaguchi took bribes and then placed the blame on Ban to save himself or he wanted to get rid of Ban and framed him but either way Ban went to jail because of him and now it's been six months since he's been free and I'm assuming that the seven secretaries all met at some point in this six month time period. The funny thing is that Awadaguchi clearly thinks that Ban is out to get revenge on him but it's like it just so happens that the cases that come up are related to him though I guess I wouldn't be surprised if Ban was smart enough to purposefully pick and choose people who are connected to the Minister. We also learned a little more about Miwa and how she is the daughter of a rich man but for some reason her parents constantly told her from when she was young how strange she was and Miwa struggled with the fact that everyone always assumed that she was better off than she was. The case of the week was to sort of blackmail a governor into following through with her promise to build an orphanage which she had dropped in favor of Awadaguchi who clearly wanted to build something in that location that he could profit from.

Talio Fukushu Daiko no Futari (6/7): Mami Shirasawa became a lawyer at the young age of 20, as she chose to take the preliminary judicial examinations. Now with a large law firm, she has yet to be assigned a case, despite her competence. When a colleague drops a case, Mami is eager to take it on. Her first client is Yoriko Watanuki, a woman who was sexually assaulted by the son of the owner of a large construction company. Predictably, the accused has denied wrongdoing and had tried to cover his tracks by using his money and influence and by twisting the victim’s words around to suit his purposes. Mami comes to learn that her client has likely been defrauded by an on-line revenge agency, whom she paid up front, but has yet to see any results. In order to take legal action, Mami instructs Yoriko to determine who at the agency is responsible for the theft. The guilty party is one Kensuke Kuroiwa, a petty con artist. In an unlikely turn of events, lawyer and con artist team up to exact revenge upon Yoriko’s assailant.

I'm actually really confused about the future flash forwards cause I keep waiting for everything in the past to catch up but the finale for this show is next week and yet I feel like we're nowhere closer to figuring out the mystery of Mami's father. I do have a feeling based on the way Kuroiwa cares and the way that cop talked to Mami in the future that maybe Kuroiwa is somehow linked to her father. I still can't imagine that he's the bad guy in this story but maybe her father was his mentor or something and he became a revenge agent to get revenge for him?? It's also important to note that he was basically warning Mami off from getting her own revenge and it made me think that once again he knows more than we think he does. In terms of this week's case, it was the first case that really made me fear for Mami and Kuroiwa. I even wondered for a second if Mami's client would attack her cause almost from the start I felt like he was creepy and though I expected him to be the serial killer, in the end though he was innocent of murdering his wife, he still killed his school teacher and that makes me right! I did also really like Kuroiwa's speech about how as humans we're not okay with an eye for an eye cause whenever we're wronged, we want to give that pain back double or triple because otherwise we don't feel content and it was horrifying but so so true. 

xoxo Allie