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

Awaken (4/16): About a series of mysterious incidents that are connected to an incident that took place in a village 28 years ago. Do Jung Woo is a capable and legendary team leader of a special task force at the National Police Agency. He has messy hair, a constant slouch, and sucks on a lollipop all day like a kid, but he has a mysterious secret behind his sly exterior. Gong Hye Won is a passionate police officer who does not let anything get in her way. Behind her pretty face is a hot temper that won’t cool down unless she says what she needs to say. She is one of the strongest and best fighters on her team, and can drink the others under the table, but she also has a surprisingly clumsy side. Jamie is a detective on loan from the FBI. She was adopted as a child with almost no memories of her life before, but she returns to Korea to solve the serial killer case that is related to those lost memories from 28 years ago.

I cannot figure out this show and I guess I should stop assuming that I know how things will play out based on how other shows of this nature go. As it turns out it wasn't just 3 kids that escaped the White Night Village but actually 7 which is kinda a lot of survivors to find if I'm being honest. Jamie and Jae Woong are definitely still 2 of those kids (but more than that I bet that they're siblings based on similarly they act and how she's comfortable touching him) and I'm assuming that the hacker that we keep seeing is another but the question is whether Jung Woo is one of those 7 or if he escaped before the people who ran White Night could find him. I bet all the survivors were sent on to live in certain homes that they could be controlled in and by that logic what if Hye Won is one of the 7 too? I'm also really starting to feel like the show isn't actually going to go supernatural. Like it's possible that Jung Woo does have fire powers and Jae Woong can control the weather but high key I think the theory on lucid dreaming is the ticket. In fact I bet all the kids were in this village to be treated for disorders like Jamie's OCD or Jung Woo's drug addiction through therapy only for something to go horribly wrong and now the second round of testing is happening which is why all these people are dying now. The other theory is the one that Son Min Ho brought up in that maybe one of the kids at the village escaped and is looking for revenge but then that would mean that Jung Woo isn't the one who escaped and there's another we need to look out for. In other news I'm still hoping that the loveline in this show will be between Jamie and Jung Woo cause the two are fire together and I think they have more in common than Jung Woo and Hye Won. I was also high key dying every time the others read the situation wrong and assumed that the two were sleeping together.

Kairos (12/16): 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.

I'm so amped about this show this week cause it's finally about to give me everything I want and I can't wait until the next chunk! Seo Jin of the future finally woke up and I think based on the way he's reacting to things that he's kept all his memories from when he first contacted Ae Ri as well as the new memories from this new timeline after Ae Ri prevented Da Bin from being kidnapped. He and Ae Ri have figured out that Chairman Yu is behind everything and that Taek Gyu was hired to kill Seo Jin, Hyun Chae, and Da Bin as well as Ae Ri and her mom cause everyone one of them were a thorn in Yu's side. I did high key loved the way they played Do Gyun like a sucker and while I do feel the slightest for him cause he found out that Hyun Chae was about to abandon him too, I can't actually muster up any more pity cause he's been the worst for so long. The thing that's got me all excited though is that both in the past and the future things are combining. Future Seo Jin has teamed up with future Ae Ri's mom and future Goon Weok to save Ae Ri from being murdered while past Ae Ri will finally get past Seo Jin to believe her words. We're also getting more puzzle pieces from the collapse. Seo Jin's dad was killed by the cop that was in charge of the investigation cause the cop was bribed by Chairman Yu but it's interesting that the person who's holding the lynchpin is Kim who's keeping the recording safe and at this point I can't help but wonder why they can't just release the recording, ruin Yu and Yujung and then everyone is safe! Also I really need someone to tell Seo Jin that Hyun Chae is the devil in disguise cause that's the last remaining dangling piece that hasn't really been uncovered.

Live On (4/8): 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?

We're halfway through this drama now and we've finally caught up to the first scene that we opened this show on. I knew it was coming but I didn't want it too cause it looked truly horrible to watch! It does look like the thing that this bully revealed was just a photo Ho Rang wearing a costume that I think she was bullied into wearing on her birthday which doesn't really seem all that bad but maybe like in Backstreet Rookie, the photo makes it look worse than it was. Maybe Ho Rang was bullied into doing something terrible, a photo was taken, and not everyone thinks she's the worst. I suppose it could be worse though cause Ho Rang does have a squad of friends who adore her and even people in her life that know she's not that person so even if she loses the general public, the few that are still around will show her that she's worth more than she thought. After all I'm sure this obsession with having the best things and being an influencer is a way to deal with the fact that her parents don't seem to prioritize her. I did really enjoy Ho Rang and So Hyun shopping together and starting to remember the affection they had for each other and I have a feeling that So Hyun will be a fierce defender and now that this is out, she'll finally figure out what happened back in the day that ruined their friendship. In terms of Ho Rang and Eun Taek though, Eun Taek finally confessed to Ho Rang and she was clearly happy about it so I'm sure they'll start dating soon too! I also really adored So Hyun and Yoo Shin this week cause I think she really does like him cause he's so sweet and caring which was interesting cause I didn't think I would care about them as much as I do. Jae Yi and Woo Jae are still broken up though and unlike what all their friends think, I have a feeling this is a permanent breakup.

Please Don't Date Him (4/10): Seo Ji-Sung is a programmer on the A.I. Development 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?

We've finally been given a real reason for Ji Sung and Gook Hee to spend more time together outside of random run-ins with Ji Sung having been assigned to program some thermovision goggles for the firefighters. It also helps that Gook Hee has finally learned what's been going on in Ji Sung's life to make her so maniac in the past few times they've met and it's clear that he worries for her which is adorable. He's put her in the same category that he's put his stray cat and I think that's honestly a sign of affection more than anything else. I still don't know what his thing is with hating technology but I'm sure that we'll find out soon enough. Meanwhile Jung Han is totally throwing me cause he's totally a piece of trash for what he did and his friends aren't any better for whining about how Ji Sung is too much when they're clearly in the wrong but it was hysterical watching him climb into Ji Sung's window to apologize and how he got stuck. I am honestly surprised that he's still around cause I really expected him to disappear after the break up two weeks ago. I'm also thinking that Hwang Ga Eul is going to end up being the one who's actually posting gossip on that work site cause the guy who was caught claimed that he only ran the site and I can't imagine that he would keep lying after he was so clearly caught. It would also explain why she stole the chip from Cane last week! In other news I am kinda interested in Ye Seul and Yoo Jin's loveline cause while it seems like Yoo Jin is friends with Jung Han's group, he wasn't part of the chat room so that automatically makes him a better guy but he told Ye Seul that he's trash too making me wonder what's up with him. I'm also really curious if Gi Hyun and Dong Jin will end up together cause they keep spending screen time together confusing me. Maybe Gi Hyun's marriage will fall apart cause she wants kids so badly and her husband seems meh about it? Dong Jin's got 3 kids that she can totally adopt!

The Goddess Of Revenge (6/16): 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'm still so utterly confused as to what Min Joon's endgame is cause he seems to be playing both Tae On and Chairman Kim against one another and I'm low key over here like babes I think you're targeting the wrong person. He clearly thinks that Kim is the one behind the frame job of his sister and I think he thinks that Hae Ra was in on it based on what he heard around the office gossip pool but I seriously have a feeling that he's choosing the wrong member of the FB Group. I mean yeah of course Chairman Kim is creepy and a low life but I would bet that Tae On is the one who actively got rid of his sister. Here's my theory. We know that Kim is super misogynistic and I'm thinking that he actually was married into the FB Group through Tae On's mom and that's why he is of the mind that women will always be ousted by the men they marry so he's hunting for a son to be his heir. Because Tae On overheard this, she has been getting rid of any and all women that he's interested to prevent him from having this son to replace her and I'm thinking that Min Yeon was one of these women (whether it was consensual or not) and therefore Ga On is actually Kim's but no one knows it yet. I'm basing this off the fact that we saw that the secretary that Kim was flirting with in her office being tortured. The other thing that's weird is that I can't read Min Joon as a person yet either. He's working with someone in the prosecution to get his revenge and he tells everyone who asks that he's using Hae Ra like a hunting dog but then he turns around and runs to her whenever she's hurt and worries about her safety. Something isn't adding up there! Maybe it's just as simple as him having too soft a heart? In other news I was living for the fact that Hyun Sung joined our Revenge Team cause though he did make Hae Ra's life hell in the premier, as we see he's not exactly what I'd call a bad guy and low key I still ship him with Eun Hye! I also just wish that Eun Hye would get more to do in the field cause right now she really feels underused. Maybe she could be the bait instead of Hae Ra sometimes cause Hae Ra's too famous to be undercover all the time especially if people start seeing her as the revenge girl!

The Uncanny Counter (4/16): Tells the story of demon hunters called Counters who come to earth under the guise of being employees at a noodle restaurant in order to capture evil spirits that have returned to earth in pursuit of eternal life. So Mun is the youngest of the Counters. After suffering from a mysterious car accident as a child, he eventually becomes a central figure among the Counters. Do Ha Na has the ability to sense the locations of evil spirits, even those that are hundreds of kilometers away. She can also read memories of others through touch and works with So Mun to do away with evil spirits. Ga Mo Tak is a Counter with incredible strength. He’s a former police officer who lost his memory seven years ago after an accident and is unable to stand idle in the face of injustice. Ga Mo Tak is also So Mun’s mentor. Chu Mae Ok is a Counter with healing abilities. Outwardly, she’s the chef of the noodle restaurant, but among the Counters, she is the emotional pillar of the group. Choi Jang Mool is the oldest Counter. He’s in charge of all of the Counters’ expenses, and he is a living legend among the Counters in Korea.

I am absolutely living for the found family feels this show is giving me! Is it a little soon for the core four to be so ride-or-die for each other? Technically yes but I'm going off the assumption that this is like the bond you find between soldiers cause when you're in life or death situations, friendships form much much faster. I'm a little surprised at how much bad guy politics there is in this show where we're following a bunch of Grim Reapers but I shouldn't be honestly cause what is a kdrama without rich old men scheming to rule the world? What's funny to me though is that in most shows it's the chaebols that have the power but of course when the chaebol is a good guy like Jang Mool then they've got none. I mean yes he's got money but apparently a simple man running for mayor can outplay one of the richest men in Korea. I'm going to assume it's cause when a chaebol is a bad guy then he will pull out all stops to get what he wants but a good chaebol will follow the law therefore making himself less powerful. I also wish I cared more cause then I could actually plot out who's who and theorize about what happened but I'm watching this show for the four Grim Reapers so I low key zoned out during the evil scheming part. I'm assuming though that since all these people are bad that eventually they'll attract evil spirits to them and we can get away with taking them down without getting in trouble with the afterlife crew. It already kinda looks like Mun's parents might be stuck in an evil spirit based on the fact that one of the afterlife people can't find their death cards. In other news, I did really like everything with the bully storyline and the way it was dealt with but seriously I almost cried tears of happiness at seeing what a bond Mun has with his school friends. I'm also liking that Mo Tak is looking into his death and I wonder if the others will be linked to it too like maybe Ha Na is the missing little girl that Mo Tak was looking for? Idk if the ages work out but wouldn't that be something??

True Beauty (2/16): True Beauty is a romantic comedy about a high school girl Lim Joo Gyung, who rises to pretty girl fame after she masters the art of make-up from YouTube. She turns into a goddess because of her makeup skills, but would rather die than reveal her bare face to anyone. It tells her love story with the only boy that saw her without makeup, Lee Su Ho. Lee is an attractive and handsome boy who appears cold because of his dark past but is actually very caring. They grow when they meet each other sharing their secrets and finding love with each other, but can Su Ho make Joo Gyung find her true beauty?

I was seriously worried about watching this drama cause after Start Up, I felt like I had hit my limit on shows where the love triangle was front-and-center (since practically all kdramas have love triangles in them to varying degrees) but I just adored Moon Ga Young so much that in the end I had to watch it! I shouldn't have been surprised cause the synopsis sounded similar but after having checked this show out, it reminds me a lot of My ID Is Gangnam Beauty except on a more relatable note. I mean yeah the bullying here is a little overdramatized but there are still levels of truth to it. I (along with plenty of other kids out there) went through a horrible acne phase and no matter what I tried from medical or over-the-counter nothing fixed it and though I never had friends or schoolmates bullying me, my family was truly awful to me about it. Like Joo Gyung I too found makeup to be my savior and though I grew out of that acne phase, the magic of makeup remained. Having said all that I do understand why people are against the concept of this drama but I think that Joo Gyung will eventually realize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that she should love herself first and foremost. I also have a feeling that the friends she made at this new school are much kinder than her old ones cause I just can't see them bullying anyone especially over their looks. In terms of the love triangle, I find myself shipping Ju Gyung and Su Ho while finding Seo Jun hot as hell so maybe I'll be having my cake and eating it too! I was a little worried at the start since Su Ho is the type of cold lead I usually hate but I was having so much fun watching him be flustered by Joo Gyung that I completely forgot about his colder side. I also seriously love that he's falling for Joo Gyung at her purest cause she's not hiding anything around him and I think it'll be hilarious to see him be cold to Joo Gyung and warm to Ju Bal. I do have to admit though that I was a little surprised that the show didn't have Su Ho immediately realize that Joo Gyung and Ju Bal are the same person (like makeup is magical but not that magical) so it actually looks like Seo Jun will be the first to know next week.

CDRAMA

Fate (22/40): Five years ago, Xia Ran Ran was an ugly duckling futilely tailing behind Lin Xiang An whereas Su Mo was the white lotus on Lin Xiang An's heart. Five years gone, Xia Ran Ran became Shao Ming Zhe's fiancée in name, but Su Mo is the ex-girlfriend he keeps in his heart. Xia Ran Ran never expect to meet Lin Xiang An again. Time has passed, yet her memory still seems to be rooted in the past. Can she wipe him away from the bottom of her heart? Her relationship with Shao Ming Zhe is due to the alliance between their families. They've always accompanied each other, but they've never loved each other. Will his gentleness and love be a drug she cannot quit? Love is like poppy, breathtakingly beautiful yet fatal. Chen Luo is her father's right-hand man; he's tried to approach her, only for her to step away again and again. However, no matter how iron-hearted she is, will she be able to escape from the web of love he cast? Who will be the leading man in her life and her partner in this unending romance play?

This week marks the halfway point of this show and I'm still absolutely loving it though it's started to reach the point where it's giving me anxiety! Everyone now knows that Mingzhe and Su Mo dated except poor Ranran and they all keep giving Mingzhe the wrong advice about lying to her. It's going to come out (probs from an envious Su Mo herself if we're being honest) and Ranran will be even more heartbroken cause it wasn't Mingzhe who told her. After their first meeting as a foursome, he should have told Ranran the truth and then told she's the only one he loves. Look it's totally possible that Ranran would have flipped like her friend said she would or mistrust him but then at least she would be able to make a decision with all the facts and wouldn't feel betrayed by the one person she trusted to have her back no matter what!! In other news we did learn what happened in the past and it's a lot less complicated than I thought it was last week. Mingzhe and Su Mo did date during the one year that Ranran and Su Mo were friends but Su Mo didn't tell anyone about it so when Mingzhe's mom sent her to England, Xiang'an followed her there and the two only became a couple after she saw that Mingzhe had moved on. The thing is at first I really did think that Ranran was too harsh on Su Mo cause it's like she can't control the fact that Xiang'an fell for Su Mo but after Su Mo found out that Ranran was dating Mingzhe and started to pursue him that's when I lost all respect for her. Not only was it a shitty thing to do to Ranran but it's even worse for poor dumb Xiang'an who really cannot read a room. He's living in la la land thinking that Su Mo is jealous of him when it's like Su Mo couldn't care less about you! Meanwhile Ranran's dad is finally starting to put the pieces together that Peng Qing isn't the person he thought she was though I'm curious about whether he'll do something about the fact that she wasn't giving him his medication or be let bygones be bygones cause he loves her and doesn't want to be alone. I also kinda feel really bad for Mingzhe and his whole company storyline and at this point I think he and Ranran should just run away and build their own company so they don't have to play politics anymore. Ranran has to juggle Peng Qing, Chen Luo, and Su Mo while Mingzhe has to compete with his uncle, cousin, and the company execs being pissed that he's back.

Twisted Fate Of Love (22/43): The oldest of friends, Third Prince Pang Yu and Minister Feng Xi have spent a lifetime caring for each other as brothers. As different from each other as night and day, the two friends were an unlikely pair but their friendship has successfully stood the test of time. But their lifetime of friendship begins to crumble, after meeting the passionate and lovely Dong Yue.A brave general in the Dingyuan Rebellion, Dong Yue was sent back in time to stop a war that would claim the lives of countless innocents. It was during her travels through time that she met both Feng Xi and Pang Yu. Though Dong Yue’s presence in Pang Yu’s life inspired him to involve himself in the political workings of his family, his sweet disposition somehow never managed to capture Dong Yue’s heart. On the other hand, Feng Xi’s roguish charms touched Dong Yue's heart in a way she had never experienced before. Though caring for both of the friends, it wasn’t her mission to travel to time simply to fall in love. There was a war-mongering villain who needed to be stopped. With Lu Yuan Tang poised to tear the nation apart, Dong Yue must find a way to stop him. But it’s not a task she can accomplish on her own. Only with the help of Pang Yu and Feng Xi’s help, will she be able to set things right. Will she be able to reconcile two brothers divided by jealous hatred or are her people doomed to suffer an unimaginable fate?

It took me forever to get around to watching this show but I had always had it on my watchlist cause it stars Sun Li who I adored in Because Of Meeting You and so here I am after having watched half of the show in one sitting this week! In all honestly I'm torn about my feelings. I adore Feng Xi as a character cause I live for how ruthless he is with his enemies and yet so sweet with Dong Yue. It's one of those things where in real life I would never like a man like him but this is a show and I live for the whole bad guy who does terrible things only cares about you trope. But seriously the two are super cute together and I love how they slowly went from enemies to lovers. Feng Xi slowly but surely wormed his way into Dong Yue's heart despite her not wanting it. I even adore the side characters and what a badass squad they've made in order to bring Feng Xi's schemes to life. Of course I'm not a fan of Pang Yu cause duh I always hate second male leads but it's the way this show is using Dong Yue herself that I'm struggling with. At first I was excited to see a female lead who acted like a fully grown adult but she quickly fell into the trap of doing things that make no sense with the morals of the world though I suppose I could forgive it in this show cause she thought she was immortal so being caught and killed would have made no difference to her. I also can't blame her for not being part of any of Feng Xi's schemes cause he's been actively trying to keep her out of them but I just wish that the show would have utilized the whole time travel more. I was all excited to see that Dong Yue would get another chance in order to try to stop the war but she really chose a terrible time to restart cause pieces are already in place for Feng Xi's fall. I'd like to believe that he'll be able to outwit everyone but we do know that he was killed in the original timeline so I'm not sure if he can do it! It's also really strange that nothing bad came of her choice to try again cause I high key expected for her to lose the ability to love (since amnesia would be counterproductive.)

JDRAMA

Bokura wa Koi ga Hetasugiru (5/7): 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.

Everything that happened this week was a bit of an overreaction if I'm being honest. Ayumu found Kanata busking on the streets and Hana sort of just invited him to stay at Ayumu's house without really asking Ayumu if he agreed which I think is the sort of thing Mizuki complained that Hana did all time. Though this should be a bad thing on paper, I kinda have the feeling that Hana's comfortable around Ayumu and Narita so she's less of a people-pleaser. She's starting to open up and say what she wants but Narita's starting to shut down and it's an interesting switch of personalities. Narita talked to his ex and she told him that he was too inconsiderate towards her when they were dating so he's trying to push down what he thinks in order to say what he thinks that Hana wants but the thing with this is that every person is different. Hana has told him that she's most attracted to in him is his open personality and that he says what he means so why he would think that she wouldn't want to hear his truth anymore is anyone's guess! The weirder part of the whole thing was how he left Hana to chase after Mizuki when Hana's his girlfriend and she did this whole surprise for him after she realized that she missed his birthday. I mean he was apparently allergic to cakes and that sucks but it also sucks that he didn't even try to comfort her after everything. I also really don't like the whole Kanata having a crush on Hana storyline cause Kanata is a baby and it's weird as hell! 

Neechan no Koibito (6/9): When Momoko Adachi was in high school, her parents died in an accident. She was left with her 3 younger siblings. To support her family, Momoko Adachi gave up on going to a university and picked up a job at a hardware store. 9 years later, she is now 27-years-old. Her 3 younger siblings are 20, 17, and 14-years-old. Momoko Adachi places her sibling's happiness before anything else. One day, she meets Yoshioka-san at work. She is attracted to Yoshioka-san, who smiles all the time, but he has a secret.

I was crying alongside poor Momoko and Manato this week cause no matter how many times I hear Manato's backstory, my heart breaks every single time. I was honestly really surprised that Manato was the one to tell Momoko the truth of what happened back then cause I think I was likening it to a kdrama where no couple is so open with one another but it feels like especially in this jdrama, our leads actually talk through their feelings like a real couple would. Momoko the angel struggled all episode over what she should do cause she still liked Manato despite what he told her and despite everyone in her life telling her without actually saying the words that she deserves better. I loved that she thought it through carefully and made her own decision at the end. I also really loved when Manato and Momoko's brothers all met up for the first time and bonded cause it will never not be precious how much they adore their older sister. Miyuki still hasn't told Momoko that she's dating her brother but I can't imagine that since it's been pushed back so far that Momoko will react in any way other than approval. I'm also really curious if Manato's ex will ever come back cause I feel like she's still an open sore that he hasn't dealt with. 

Shichinin no Hisho (7/8): 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. 

This week was the penultimate episode for this show and we're definitely leading up to a big showdown between Awadaguchi and the secretaries! We finally learned about Ban and Satsuki's backstories and why they despise Awadaguchi so much though I'm still not sure what the trigger was for Awadaguchi turning on Ban. Usually people in power like to keep the same underlings cause it keeps them from having to train new ones and it wasn't like Ban was trying to defect at this point or anything like that! Maybe Awadaguchi is one of the few that like to change up their staff in order to keep them from having blackmail? Either way apparently he had Satsuki's husband place money in Ban's car so that he would be framed for bribery and then killed Satsuki's husband to keep the secret. Satsuki then tried to kill him to avenge her husband but was caught. It also seems like Chiyo's brother was in debt with Awadaguchi somehow which is low key confusing cause he's a minister not a loan shark but either way it seems like he is acting like Awadaguchi's driver at the moment in order to collect dirt on him. Meanwhile Sa Ran also kinda screwed herself way too quickly cause she went through all this trouble to get in with Awadaguchi (even if he was only using her to get to the other secretaries) only to give it up by helping the secretaries which is why the whole fight with Chiyo was so confusing cause no one believed that Sa Ran switched sides right?

TWDRAMA

Wacko At Law (2/15): Mai Daqi is a genius in the legal profession, but because of his dissatisfaction with the profitism of the law firm, he shelved his lawyer's license. It wasn't until an air crash that suddenly took the lives of his parents and his fiancee four years ago. In order to get justice for his family, Daqi regained his legal profession and overthrew American Airlines' first-class lawyers.

Here's the thing. I still do absolutely love this show and adore the concept and the characters but the one thing that's throwing me off is the little things in the plot. If it's going to focus so hard on law then it needs to do it well! I hated how everyone jumped up and down on Daqi when he tried to figure out the truth behind everything Wan Ting said as if it's not the lawyer's job to know everything about their client inside and out. Every question he asked would be asked by the opposing lawyer and it's a good lawyer's job to make sure their client can answer those questions without making themself look bad! It makes everyone at the law firm look incompetent but more than that naive. Has Lawyer Bai never once been to a trial? What kind of nonsense was he spewing about how Wan Ting seemed too sweet a girl to have ulterior motives? On that same note, Bai is the only character in this show that I honestly can't stand. He's too loud and too cartoonish and even when he was given one job to interview past contest winners, he was insensitive when probing them about whether they were sexually assaulted. Now yeah Yu Xin is a little silly at times too (I wanted to smack her when she went on and on about her bento at a critical moment) but she's still smart as a whip when it matters and she's competent enough to get the jobs she's assigned done. I adore every moment she and Daqi are together and the way they play off one another and I'm still really hoping that this show takes them down a romantic route. I was also really surprised that this case we took is extending past this week cause for some reason I thought maybe this show would do weekly cases but I'm actually glad that isn't the case cause I adored Wan Ting as a character and she got way too much screen time to not be at least a supporting character going forward. Maybe she'll join the firm as another assistant?

xoxo Allie