Top 10 Asian Dramas Of 2021

And now last but not least, here's the Top 10 Asian Dramas list! Again, this list is based on my personal opinions and may contain spoilers. If you'd like to see more, make sure to check out my Weekly Drama Reviews, Favorite YouTube Videos and My Asian OTPs & Ships as well as checking out my Top 10 Asian Dramas Of 2018, Top 10 Asian Dramas Of 2019, and Top 10 Asian Dramas Of 2020 lists!

First up in alphabetic order are my honorable mentions which once again are dramas that I watched this year but aired in previous years!

Graceful Family

This show was actually a surprise to me cause as you know I didn't exactly watch it when it first aired. I struggle with shows about rich chaebols and the nonsense they go through cause I'm really not a fan of all that especially since most of the time it's nothing but cheating and divorces but I low key fell in love with Lee Jang Woo after Homemade Love Story and I did see a few clips of Im Soo Hyung being a boss and decided to check it out. Fortunately I did cause this show was a blast. Yes it had all the nonsense I usually dislike in chaebol shows but I actually ended up liking it here mostly cause Soo Hyung wasn't playing a naive moron and she gave back just as much as she got so it was fun to watch a revenge story with the trope of a couple against the world. The romance was great and I loved the ending so I'd say that if you like revenge stories or badass female leads who don't care about how others see her check this one out.

Second Love

Look okay jdramas half of the time are hot messes or have such out-of-the-box plots that you're left scratching your head over who in the hell gave the show a green light and this poster really doesn't help that image but seriously if you give this show a shot you'll be surprised. It's oddly deeper than you would expect and my god the chemistry between our leads almost made my screen explode more times that you could count. I thought it was fascinating that our main couple got together so early on and when they were both hitting rock bottom so they became a bit codependent only to fall apart when they realized they had to exit their fantasy world. Surprisingly I loved watching them drift as much as I liked watching them come together which made the ending when they came back together after they had both found themselves separately again make their relationship much less toxic and much more stable!

The Good Detective

So it's no secret that I love police dramas but this one surprised me to my core with how good it was! Not only were all the characters smart and fun to watch but the writing of the mystery was so solid. So many times we have a show with a great murder mystery or serial killer or whatever only to have it fall apart as the show goes on but here the mystery only got better as it went. I loved that both our leads were competent and neither was depicted as overconfident for no reason in order to make the other look better and that they didn't spend too much time hating one another cause they were fundamentally good people who wanted to do good. I also loved that the female lead played an actual part in this show with her reporting and though she wasn't a physical badass like the men were, she held her own in most situations. The slight romance between her and the detective was great too and I really hope that she also returns when the second season comes around.

When The Camellia Blooms

This is another show that I ended up judging before I had even watched back when it came out cause though I liked so much of the cast I wasn't all that pulled in by the synopsis or the fact that Kim Ji Suk was the second lead but then two things changed. First I just finished watching Monthly Magazine Home in which I low key despised Kim Ji Suk's character so I figured that I would no longer have SLS given that I wasn't all that obsessed with him now. Secondly I heard that this show was similar in vibe to Hometown Cha Cha Cha a show which I liked the vibe of but couldn't connect to emotionally cause I hated the male lead. In the end I'm so so so glad I checked this show out and I want to lament the fact that no one highlighted what this show actually was! It was basically a murder mystery show in which we hunted down a serial killer mixed with a romance that had the sweetest soft male lead that I've seen in a while! I adored how quickly he fell in love and how unapologetic he was about proclaiming his love to all. The setting was heartwarming and I actually ended up loving the small town people and the small town vibes.

Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge

It's funny that I've got two jdramas on this list starring Kamenashi Kazuya but I actually watched this jdrama before Second Love and it's the reason I fell in love with him! It's also a live action adaptation of a classic anime and manga series which I saw about half of, stopping for no particular reason at the time. I was a little hesitant cause sometimes I find that anime adaptation shows don't always work cause a lot of anime characters are too over-the-top to be depicted realistically in live action but maybe because I had no stake in the original I wasn't bothered here. I actually thought the show was totally cute and had a great message about learning to love who you were and that the most important thing is your personality and not your appearance. The romance between our leads was the thing that kept me around the most but I also liked the comedy and the other characters in the show including the second couple!

Now let's get into my Top 10 list ranked from 10 to 1 with number 1 being my favorite drama of the year!

Taxi Driver

Coming in at number 10 is Taxi Driver! This show fits into so many different genres in a sense cause we're following a group of antiheroes who act as revenge seekers for any of those who need it and crazily I think I enjoyed it so much cause it reminded me of a darker version of Leverage. I loved the episodic cases we got and how extensive their revenge plots were. The only reason it's so low on this list is cause I didn't like the way this show very clearly shifted when the original writer was replaced and how the show started to focus on the prosecutor and the fact that our crew were clearly criminals cause duh of course they were but at the same time this show was a revenge fantasy one that needed no realism!

D.P.

At number 9 is D.P. So if you're like me and you've got a low key thing for men in uniform whether that's detectives or firefighter os soldiers then you probably went into this show knowing as much I as I did. I'm not entirely sure what I expected this show to be but maybe I was thinking closer to OCN's Search than Descendants Of The Sun but instead we got one of the darkest things I've seen not only all year but maybe in a while. I was honestly shocked by how dark it got cause I always felt a show like this would never pass censors in South Asian countries cause what it did was rip apart the military and the culture around the military in a way that I was left shook. Everything was so bleak and twisted and there was no sign that things would get better and I was fascinated. I could not look away from the screen if I tried and I'm pumped to see more.

Dali And The Cocky Prince

Coming in at number 8 is Dali And The Cocky Prince! It's kinda ironic to follow two dark shows with something as lighthearted as this but what can I say? I'm a sucker for rom coms! The funny thing about this show is that it started out catching my attention but I slowly lost interest only to pulled back in! I was in love with Da Li as a character but the show kept trying to convince she was this boss when in fact she was just naive and a bit of a damsel that needed help from the men in her life which there's nothing wrong with other than the fact this contradicted what the show said she was. Moo Hak on the other hand was so the opposite of my type so I couldn't find him swoon worthy enough to be the male lead. Now all that sounds super negative so what changed you might ask? Well not only was the charm of the main actors enough to sway me into believing what they said as the show went on but I kinda fell in love with the mystery of Da Li's dad's death and the fact that our main leads started to stop hiding things from each other and made plans together which you know I'm all about! The romance became cavity inducing sweet due to the chemistry between our leads and I started to find that the humor worked too!

So I Married An Anti-Fan

At number 7 is So I Married An Anti-Fan! Like Dali, this show was one that I started out thinking was a complete hot mess and felt super old in it's tropes only to find out that it actually was filmed years ago and delayed until now so I was able to let all that go though I did still struggle to like Joon since he was such a complete fake and asshole. I managed to stick by it just cause I adored Choi Soo Young herself after Run On and as the show went on I found it cuter and cuter especially as the romance was dialed up. Sometimes there are couples on screen that have chemistry from their first scene and others like the main couple here take until actual romance is taking place but both work for me! I loved that once the two got together they were so solid and adorable and truly it's worth sticking around with just to see what a complete cinnamon roll Joon turns into when he's in love!

My Name

Coming in at number 6 is My Name! I was super hesitant to check this drama out originally cause I despised Han So Hee's character in Nevertheless and I was a bit worried over two things: that it was her acting that made me dislike Nevertheless so much or that she was a good actor but I would transfer my hatred of her from Nevertheless to this like I did with Kim Seon Ho after Start Up. Fortunately for me I really didn't have a problem with Han So Hee in this mostly in part due to the fact that her character is so different here than there but also cause it was clear that it was the writing of Nevertheless that rubbed me so wrong. My Name is such a dark and twisted revenge show that ends with nothing but tragedy and I lived for it. Poor Ji Woo is put through the damn wringer and just when she thinks she finds a slice of happiness it's taken away from her. I loved the way the show tells us one thing only for us to later find out it's a whole different thing and sometimes it's too late to fix things! 

Uncanny Counter

At number 5 is Uncanny Counter! This is kinda hilarious cause I almost truly forgot this show aired this year cause it came out so early in 2021 and I almost forgot how much I loved it until I thought back on it. I think my favorite genre of TV in general is fantasy but I do have a soft spot for detective/mystery so the fact that this show gave me both was everything. I loved every character in this show and the way they all became such a close found family. I loved how soft and sweet and genuinely good our male lead was. I loved the mystery of his parent's death and the fantasy element of being Grim Reapers. The villain was totally terrifying and though it was a bit unbelievable just how overpowered he was compared to our heroes it was still worth it to see how they overcame him. I also don't think I remember feeling much of a disconnect from when one writer left and another one came in which I always think is a positive as well!

Move To Heaven

Coming in at number 4 is Move To Heaven! Alright so look guys you probs already know how perfect this show is just based on the fact that you can see how high up it is on my list given that you should know by now that I usually prefer softer more romantic shows but once in a while a show hits me in the feels harder than it should and that was this one! I mean the premise itself should tell you everything alone and yet I was still shook by how hard the feels hit me. I loved watching Sang Gu go from this thug who didn't care about anyone or anything on the surface to becoming basically like another father to Geu Ru after learning that everything he knew about his past wasn't the whole story. I loved how Geu Ru was depicted as being autistic without being reduced to a caricature and that he felt so real. Even the slight hints of romance between Sang Gu and U Rim were fantastic!

Douluo Continent

At number 3 is Douluo Continent! So this show is actually a live action adaptation of a Chinese anime but I didn't know that until after I watched this whole season! It was everything I'm into with Chinese fantasy shows and as time has gone on I've realized that this show fits into the Xuanhuan category of genre qualification which after doing some research holds a lot of my favorite Chinese fantasy dramas showing me that I really should snap to attention whenever a new drama in this genre pops up. I loved our main characters and the world they lived in! I loved the romance between the two and how they felt like they made a family with one another but also their other friends who became complete badasses themselves. I loved that we followed a group of kids as they went to a magic academy and learned how to use and grow their powers and how they slowly went from somewhat powerful to some of the most powerful people in the world! I loved that there was no straight and clear villain in the show as of this moment so we got to see smaller arcs like an anime has and part of me thinks that I ought to watch the anime in order to find out the rest of the story cause I'm not all that sure they'll make a live action sequel!

Mad For Each Other

Coming in at number 2 is Mad For Each Other! This is another drama that when it first started airing I wasn't sure if I was into cause I connected almost immediately with Min Kyung so the way that she was treated by Hwi Oh rubbed me the wrong way even if he was somewhat justified to treat her poorly based on his little knowledge of what she went through and the things she put him through. I was also a bit worried that this show would depict mental illness poorly once again like a lot of other dramas out there but to my pleasure almost around week 2 all my problems with this show almost completely dissolved. This show took such a gentle approach to mental illness and it never once depicted our heroes as jokes. It gave us the time to watch our heroes grow past their traumas only to regress like you do in real life and just when we think so they show us that they are stronger than we thought. The romance between our leads is perfect as well cause they do become so soft around each other and I lived for how ready to fight the world Hwi Oh was whenever Min Kyung was hurt even the slightest. The ending was a bit of a mess but not enough to ruin the perfection of this show!

You Are My Glory

And finally last but not least, my number 1 Asian Drama of 2021 is You Are My Glory! I absolutely fell head over heels in love with this one when I watched it you guys! Like almost ten seconds in I knew this would be the one for me. I'm not entirely sure what clicked so hard for me other than maybe the fact that I loved the chemistry between our leads and I think Dilraba's bread and butter is when she's playing the soft warm hearted excited to be here type of female lead. I loved that the love story here was so simple and realistic in that the two slowly went from friends to lovers and that they had a history but it was framed as his fault for not seeing her good sides rather than it being about her not being as book smart as he was. The obstacles in their way weren't external like evil mother in laws or CEOs or evil exes but internal. Yu Tu angsted over whether he was good enough for her and once he got past that and they got together it was smooth sailing from then on! 

And with that we come to the end of my Top 10 Asian Dramas Of 2021! I hope you have a wonderful New Year and I'll see you all tomorrow for my Fall 2021 Anime Awards!

xoxo Allie

Top 10 TV Shows Of 2021

Hi everyone! As promised, I'm back with my Top 10 Favorite TV Shows of 2021! Again, this list is based on my personal opinions and may have spoilers. I'm going to start with some honorable mentions which are some shows that I binged this year but that aren't on air anymore followed by my actual Top 10 list! If you want a refresher, check out my Top 10 TV Shows Of 2013, Top 10 TV Shows Of 2014, Top 10 TV Shows Of 2015, Top 10 TV Shows Of 2016, Top 10 TV Shows Of 2017, Top 10 TV Shows Of 2018, Top 10 TV Shows Of 2019 and Top 10 TV Shows Of 2020 as well as my Favorite YouTube Videos and My TV Show OTPs & Ships lists!! Fair warning, there may be spoilers below so keep that in mind!

What If...?

Coming in at number 10 is What If! So we're all surprise that the last show on my list would be a Marvel one but I think something about the fact that this show is kinda outside MCU canon and animated makes it feel like it had less stakes than the others. I also have to say that the standalone aspect of this show made for a mixed bag cause it meant that there were weeks that I really enjoyed myself and weeks that I was tuning out though I liked the way it all tied together at the end and that this show basically redeemed Ultron as a villain cause it was the first time I was actually scared for him and the consequences of his evil plots!  

Stargirl

At number 9 is Stargirl! So I ended up liking this season a ton more than the previous one mostly cause now that everyone who was important knew Courtney's secret we could see a lot more fun family kicking ass time and honestly between this and Superman & Lois apparently this is a thing that I've always wanted but never known I needed. I loved the villain of the season and the way it redeemed others from last season but of course given that it's so low on my list there were flaws. I really didn't care for any of the team splitting nonsense this season gave us and I'm still torn over Cameron's role in this show but other than that it's a good season of a good show.

Legends Of Tomorrow

Coming in at number 8 is Legends Of Tomorrow! It's honestly kinda sad how far this show has fallen from my favor cause honestly even a season ago I would have ranted and raved about the fact that this is my favorite superhero show on air right now. Like don't get me wrong it's not a bad show anymore and it's definitely not Flash levels of unwatchable but I think I'm just bitter about the fact that the show had to write off Constantine's character cause of the DC overlords needing him in the movies and the fact that removing him removed a lot of Zari 2.0's screen time when she's my favorite in this show. I did think it was creative of this recent season to force our characters to stay in one time period for an extended amount of time and I am open to seeing what's next when the midseason break is over.

Wandavision

At number 7 is Wandavision! This show is hilarious cause I really couldn't decide where it deserves to go cause honestly when I heard about all the Marvel Disney+ that were slated to come out this year this one was probs bottom of the list and having watched it all it's still not my most favorite storyline but I can't help wanting to put it higher on my list just cause of how I can't separate the fan hype from the actual show. This was the first Marvel thing we had gotten in almost two years since Endgame came out and it was coming out weekly so though in hindsight our expectations were too high it was so much fun to speculate week in and out. I also have to say this show succeeded on one level just for making me actually care about Wanda when before I really didn't and for giving us Agatha who's a gem.

Hawkeye

Coming in at number 6 is Hawkeye! Honestly two weeks ago this might have ended up higher on my list than 6 but the finale didn't do this show all that much in my eyes which is why it's here. I really liked Kate Bishop as a character and I was thrilled that Clint didn't end up dying at the end like I was afraid of. I also loved that we got Kingpin and Yelena though I think both were a little underutilized. Kingpin wasn't nearly as terrifying as he was in Daredevil in this show and I think that can be chalked up to him being off screen for most of this show but Yelena's writing was totally all over the place. It made no sense that she was so sure that Natasha would never sacrifice herself for the greater good when that was Natasha to the core and it also made no sense how easily Clint convinced her to see the truth. I did really like the emphasis on trick arrows though and that chase through the city might still be one of the best moments in this show.

Loki

At number 5 is Loki. Okay so look Loki has always been one of my favorite Marvel characters so at first glance you'd think that would make my ranking of this show feel unfair but I think that actually it was a disadvantage for this show cause that meant that I would have much higher expectations for this show going on and yet this show hit them anyway. I loved the characterization of Loki throughout this show and the way we saw him go from the villain in Avengers to the antihero in Thor Ragnarok and find love even if it's with a version of himself. I loved the timeline shenanigans and the fact that it introduced Kang to us in such a perfect way when I think he'll end up being an overarching Marvel villain for this phase!

Wheel Of Time

Coming in at number 4 is Wheel Of Time! So to be honest this might be a show that no one is watching cause I haven't heard anyone talk about it but it's an adaptation of a popular book series that my brother is into which is why I ended up checking it out and it ended up being a lot better than I thought it would be. I adore fantasy shows and I never think there's enough out there which is why if one can keep my attention for long enough I think it's worth a shot. So yes I've heard it's a shitty book adaptation but in my opinion it's a pretty solid tv show outside of that. Moiraine is the best character though Lan is up there too and I love the world that this show has built. Yes the pacing for this show is a little off and yes I feel like Rand who's actually supposed to be the main character of this show is one of the weakest with the dumbest rationale for why he does what he does but I have higher hopes for all that to get better. I do also hope that future seasons will expand the complexity of the characters and the world so it's not as simplistic as it is now. 

Leverage: Redemption

At number 3 is Leverage: Redemption! So this show is more of a sequel series to the original Leverage rather than a reboot and I think that's one of the best parts of it. The show feels exactly like an extension of the original season with the same vibe and characters and actions but with a slight upgrade so we're facing more modern day problems. Every case is exciting and fun to watch and I'm so glad that it stuck with it's episodic approach rather than upgrading to the more modern day serial telling of a story cause that means we got more cons and we actually got to see our heroes win every episode. It's truly a love letter to the original show and I really hope we get more.

Superman & Lois

Coming in at number 2 is Superman & Lois. This show was a true shock to me when I first watched it cause I went through a whole emotional rollercoaster with it. When I first heard about this show I was hesitant to care given how little I've liked Supergirl since season 2 was the only good season in my opinion but when the trailers came out I was shocked at how beautiful it looked. Now having seen the whole first season it's hands down the best superhero show airing on tv right now. The acting, writing, and cinematography are out of this world. Characters actually feel like real people with the way they react to situations and nothing feels cheesy or overdone. The Kent family feels like they would die for each other and I love the way they all work together to get things done. I also love that Lois and Clark both have real purposes in this show so that neither feel like they need to reduce themselves in order to make the other have a purpose like Barry and Iris on the Flash. If you haven't seen this show by now you have to!

The Witcher

And finally last but not least my number 1 show of 2021 is The Witcher! I mean seriously could it have been anything else? I absolutely adored the first season of this show and somehow this second season upped it's game in ways that I didn't expect and made me love it even more than the first. I've never read the books for this series but I've heard it's an excellent adaptation of them which makes me happy for those fans since it's so rare that it happens. I loved that this season expanded on the world in a way that we not only saw more kingdoms and players but that it did the thing I said Wheel Of Time didn't and made everything more complex. I loved that as the show went on we started to question if anyone is on the right side or if everyone is a different shade of bad and who we should root for. I loved that our characters finally all met up and are working towards a goal even if we don't yet know what it is. Every actor is hitting it out of the park with their acting and of course the fights and the cinematography are to die for!

And that's the end of my Top 10 TV shows of 2021 list! I'll see you all tomorrow for my Top 10 Asian Dramas of 2021!

xoxo Allie

Top 10 Movies Of 2021

Hello all my lovelies! What an absolute crazy year this has been! I hope you've all been safe and healthy and well and that you had a great holiday season. It's that time of year again where I list my favorite movies, tv shows, and asian dramas of the year! I've been doing these for about seven years now so you should know the drill but if you don't, I'm going to be listing my Top 10 Movies of 2021 from 10 to 1 with number 1 being my favorite movie of the year! If you're interested, I also have Top 10 Movies Of 2013, Top 10 Movies Of 2014, Top 10 Movies Of 2015, Top 10 Movies Of 2016, Top 10 Movies Of 2017, Top 10 Movies Of 2018, Top 10 Movies Of 2019, and Top 9 Movies of 2020 as well as my Favorite YouTube Videos and My Movie OTPs & Ships lists! 

The Suicide Squad

Coming in at number 10 this year is James Gunn's The Suicide Squad. It's technically a sequel to the original Suicide Squad but it could also act as a soft reboot given how poorly the first one did. I wasn't one of the many people who watched the first and despised it beyond measure but that doesn't mean that I couldn't also see how many flaws it had so I went into this one curious to see how Gunn would do with this world given that he's kicked ass with the Guardians. On the whole I had a blast and I liked that this version dialed up the campiness to 11 rather than try to be serious with the nonsense like the first did. The new characters were fun too though I was glad that Harley and Rick Flagg remained behind. It's nowhere near as emotional or hitting as some of my more favorite Marvel movies but it's a fun turn your brain off kinda flick.

Eternals

At number 9 is Marvel's Eternals. Speaking of Marvel movies here we are with my first Marvel pick. It's kinda surprising how low it is but truthfully it really was my least favorite of the Marvel movies that came out this year so it can't be helped! I think in concept this movie should have been better than it was but I think it honestly worked better as it prelude to more exciting things. My biggest problem with this movie was the fact that I just couldn't believe what it was trying to convince me. Like it tells you that all these Eternals have known each other for thousands of years but the chemistry between the characters made it feel like it was the first time they were meeting one another and no one felt like they really cared for one another given how easy it was for most of them to try to kill the others. Circe was our main character and yet I felt she barely had a character and I was pissed as all hell that Icarus died at the end rather than having to stick around and try to redeem himself like Loki did. 

Red Notice

Coming in at number 8 is Red Notice! So I know that this movie has basically become a meme and synonymous with the idea that a movie will do well if it just has a star cast and little plot but honestly I unironically had a blast with it. I absolutely adore shows and movies about heists or con artists so I was totally on board with the plot of this movie and though the twist was fairly obvious, I didn't have any problem enjoying the journey to the reveal! Yes the characters were a bit bareboned but really isn't it just enough to sit back and watch a fun adventure movie?

Night Teeth

At number 7 is Night Teeth! Now this movie might be one that you're scratching your heads about given that it's a Netflix movie that I feel like no one really watched but it popped up on my feed one day and I thought I'd give it a chance and it was a true blast! The movie is about vampires and basically how one human lands in the middle of a vampire civil war over who will lead them and falls in love with one of the vampires. I loved the thriller aspect of this movie and though the romance was basically instalove I was into it anyway! The ending was basically a fantasy but sometimes we need that given the times we're living in.

Zack Snyder's Justice League

Coming in at number 6 is Zack Snyder's Justice League. When I was making this list I have to say that I was honestly a little shocked to realize that this movie actually came out this year cause of how insanely long this year has felt! I remember not really liking the original and truthfully I never really had a stake in whether the Snydercut would come out but when the movie finally came out on HBO Max you know that I was still out here ready to check it out and I can say that it definitely was better than the original. This can definitely be chalked up to the fact that it had a much longer run time. On the whole plot beats remained similar though a lot hit differently cause we were shown them in different ways. Flash was definitely less goofy and Cyborg actually had a purpose and a fleshed out backstory. The villain was much better this time around and I can see why the hype was real this time.

King's Man

At number 5 is King's Man. This movie is actually the prequel to the Kingsman duology and though I never actually had the thought before that I needed it, I still went out and checked it out cause I think this world plays with a lot of fun James Bond parody tropes. I do still think the original Kingsman movie was the best of the bunch but this one had it's moments as well. I liked the idea of the whole war being the evil plot of one man and that this movie was set as a period piece rather than a modern spy film though I do wish that Gemma had more to do given she was the only woman in this movie to have speaking lines.

No Time To Die

Coming in at number 4 is No Time To Die. The irony hasn't escaped me seeing as I put an actual James Bond film in front of a James Bond parody film. Honestly I just got into the Bond films this year with a binge of every Bond from Connery to Craig and though this one is definitely not my favorite it still was a great watch for me. I do personally find that I connect more with the modern take on Bond but I think that's heavily due to the fact that I've grown up in this time so I prefer my Bonds to be a little more action oriented even if Craig's not the most charming and suave Bond I've seen. Rami was great as the villain and I liked the vague ending in which we're not certain of Bond's fate given that this is the last Craig film even if I prefer Vesper over Madeline as Bond's love interest.

Black Widow

At number 3 is Black Widow. This movie was postponed and delayed to hell until it finally released this year and honestly the only reason it's so high on the list is cause we had such a poor showing for films this year. I felt like this movie was long overdue and at this point there was no need to return to a character that was already dead in the Marvel universe but I think the movie was saved entirely due to Yelena's existance. I loved the way Florence Pugh played her and I love that she has stuck with the Russian accent every time we've seen her unlike Wanda who's accent comes and goes. I actually ended up liking the cast and the plot of this movie and I think it's crazy that if you really sit down and think about the message this movie portrayed about the Widow program it's totally insane and dark but that's why it works for me.

Shang Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings

Coming in at number 2 is Shang Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings. I absolutely adored this movie from start to finish and though it was an introduction I also liked that it didn't exactly play as an origin movie given that Shang Chi was already established and we really only went back into his world. I loved the mystical elements of this movie and I think Wen Wu was hands down maybe the best villain we've had in the MCU barring Loki though they feel like such different kinds of villains. Every fight was incredibly choreographed and the characters were all super fun. I mean yes I did think that maybe Katie was a little shoehorned in especially at the end with Wong but I also loved the fact that she and Shang could be friends and friends alone.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

And last but not least at number 1 is Spider-Man: No Way Home. I mean really what else could number 1 have been? Okay yes I did go back and forth over whether this or Shang Chi deserved to be in this spot but in the end I think the highs and lows of this movie hit harder than Shang Chi just cause we've seen these characters much longer. I loved that this movie was basically the live action Spiderverse movie and despite the fact that I think we all knew that Toby and Andrew would be in this movie, it didn't hit any less when they appeared not to mention the fact that Matt freaking Murdock showed up as well! I truly loved the plot of this movie and how different each Spiderman felt and yet also showcased the same goodness. The bittersweet ending really broke my heart and I don't think a single other movie other than maybe Infinity War destroyed a whole character's world as hard as this one did.

And with that we've come to the end of my Top 10 Movies of 2021 list. I'll see you all tomorrow for my Top 10 TV Shows of 2021!

xoxo Allie

What Dramas Did I Watch This Week?

Hello and welcome back! These are the dramas I finished this week. 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 Chimera (16/16): In 1984, a potential serial killer struck again as a ghastly explosion shook the city. Now it’s 2019, and copies of those crimes come to light. Follow the team of Detective Jae Hwan, Profiler Yoo Jin, and Surgeon Dr. Joong Yeob assigned to solve both the cold and current cases. Their prime suspect goes by ‘Chimera’, after the beast in Greek mythology. It had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a fire-breathing serpent. To capture the criminal, they must first uncover the secrets that link the two cases some thirty-five years apart. Could the clue lie in the tale of the mythical monster?

I have to start this review by saying that I live for OCN dramas cause they are pretty much the best channel in Korea to watch thrillers and detective shows on! Something about the way they tell their complex stories and give us a great cast to follow just works for me even if sometimes I'm left wishing that they would toss a sprinkle of romance into the mix as well. This show started out as a typical murder mystery in which we hunted down a serial killer but the thing that it did so fun were the reveals it showcased from how each main character connected to the past to who Chimera was both in the past and present. I literally would never have guessed that the 80s Chimera was Jae Hwan's mom or that the 2019 Chimera was the reporter or that she would end up being Joong Yeob's sister. What amazing twists. I even adored the ending in which the lawyer ended up killing Chairman Seo in order to avenge the death of his daughter cause it was totally dark and twisted. If I had any complaints it would be like I said up top in wishing there had been some romance between Eugene and Jae Hwan cause it was clear they felt something but neither the finale nor my headcanon says that they would find their way back to one another which is kinda sad. On the whole I'd give this show a 9.5 / 10

xoxo Allie

What Shows Did I Finish This Week?

Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

The Witcher Season 2

This show finally came back with a season 2 almost 2 years after the first and I'm truly heartbroken over how short these 8 episodes felt! I love this world and the lore and the characters so much that I just want it to never end! Season 1 was all about introducing us to our main cast and having them slowly come together and apart and while season 2 had similar moments, the end brought us closer to seeing our cast finally find their places in this world. I spent so much of this season studying the politics of this world and wondering which side to root for cause to me rather than there being a clear good or bad guy, it felt like everyone was just a different shade of terrible. Like Nilfgaard is out here trying to rule the world no matter who dies, the Brotherhood despise elves and anyone who isn't human, the Northern kingdoms care only about saving their behinds and the elves hate humans so much that they will kill innocents to send a message. Like Geralt said last season, "Evil is evil. Greater, lesser, middling. It makes no difference" and because of that I have a feeling that rather than watching our heroes pick a side, they'll end up razing the world to the ground and building a new one. I do have to say that I was totally shocked to find out that Ciri's dad is the Emhyr and though I can totally understand why he would turn away from Calanthe who was truly the worst person despite how much she and Ciri loved one another, the reason for him trying to kill his own daughter and taking over the continent is a different beast entirely. I do wonder if this means that Cahir will join our side cause tbh I kinda liked him working with Yennefer earlier in the season despite how evil he was season 1. Speaking of Yennefer, I knew that she wouldn't actually harm Ciri cause then she would really be the antagonist but it also breaks my heart that Geralt and her are so fractured. I'd like to hope that they will find a way to heal in the end cause they are my ship! All in all this was a fantastic second season and I can't wait for the next even if we'll probs have to wait another year for it!

xoxo Allie

What Dramas Did I Finish This Week?

Hello and welcome back! These are the dramas I finished this week. 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 Happiness (12/12): A deadly new strain of a virus is spreading throughout the city. An apartment building that is home to people from different classes remains in quarantine. Its residents must survive in their new habitat fearing both the virus and the potential conflicts between disparate social groups. Yoon Sae Bom has good judgment allowing for quick decision-making. She is self-righteous and unable to tolerate injustice. Not having grown up in a healthy environment, she's determined to live comfortably in a complicated world. Detective Jung Yi Hyun, primarily in charge of violent crimes, now struggles to keep the apartment residents safe. A former baseball player, a knee injury forced his early retirement. Han Tae Seok was once a military information agent who became a pharmaceutical company executive. He is well-placed to deal with infectious diseases.

I was really really excited for this drama to come out since it was going to be the first drama that the love of my life Park Hyungsik did after he got out of the military and it also helped that it seemed to be the first drama Han Hyo Joo did after W: Two Worlds as well! I was worried though that I would be let down after having such high expectations given that the last two actors I was excited to see make their returns after the military didn't pan out so well but luckily for me that wasn't the case here. I actually had a blast with this show and how much it reminded me of Sweet Home given that it was basically a zombie movie set in one apartment complex. I loved the story and the action but more than that I loved our two lead characters. Both were super badass but also caring and gentle when they needed to be. I loved that the two were fake married but basically were more married than any of the real couples we met in this show and that they alternated between who played good and bad cop! The ending was a little too quickly resolved but I didn't end up caring that much cause I had so much fun with it. I loved how despicable almost every other human was cause as we all know not only does fear bring out the worst in people but we also know after everything that happened in the real world over these past two years that people don't really band together in crisis either so I can never say what happened in this apartment building wasn't realistic. 9.5 / 10

FINISHED Idol: The Coup (12/12): A story about a failed idol group's last journey and their desperate attempts to prevent disbandment. Cotton Candy only needs a one time hit to save their group, but it's not as easy as it sounds. Everything is going wrong for Cotton Candy, but the members can't let go of their friendship and dreams.

I am truly such a sucker for idol dramas cause I think we're all fascinated by the glitz and glamour of that kind of world and it's especially fun when a drama looks at the dark and ugly side too. I originally thought this drama reminded me a lot of Imitation with the set up being that a failed idol group tries to become famous again but this show was leagues and leagues better than that one minus the fact that this drama never actually pulled the trigger on any romances. It sucks but it's also so realistic that with the absurd number of idol groups out there that if one doesn't hit it big the first time it's hard to imagine that a company would feel pity for them and try again but at the same time all idols are so talented and a lot of times the things that makes them fail isn't themselves! When our Cotton Candy group got the media attention and a song that fit them they succeeded. I actually really adored their song Finale and I'll definitely be downloading it. In terms of the characters Jenna was obviously my favorite and I really shipped her with Ji Han but I was really just thankful that she didn't end up with CEO Cha cause that's what I was more worried about! All in all this was such a good idol drama and if you like the concept for this show then you'll love the execution! 9.5 / 10

xoxo Allie

What Dramas Did I Finish This Week?

Hello and welcome back! These are the dramas I finished this week. 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 Dali And The Cocky Prince (16/16): As a young boy, Moo Hak grew up in the market as a peddler. Although he is ignorant, he is strong-willed and knows how to make money. He is now the managing director of Dondon F and B, a global restaurant chain that his family started as a small gamjatang diner. However, he isn't dignified and only cares about money. He meets Da Li, the only daughter and child of an upper-class family who runs an art gallery. She has a profound deep knowledge of things. She gets faced with bankruptcy due to her father's sudden death and begins a hard life. Moo Hak and Da Li start a relationship as a creditor and debtor over the art gallery. Will these two polar opposites understand each other and fall in love?

So this was an interesting show to experience cause I went on a whole rollercoaster in terms of how I felt about it. I started out really interested in it given that it stars two actors that I adore but ended up finding the first few episodes too much for my taste. Moo Hak was too bumbly for my taste and Da Li was a naive damsel even though we were meant to believe that they were a business genius and super intelligent respectively. As the show went on though I started to find that the character traits we were told they had started to shine more and more and what really grabbed me was when the two started dating. I loved that not only did the two have great chemistry but they weren't afraid to take the normal steps in a relationship. They slept together without the antics and they gave each other nicknames rather than sticking with the polite addresses like so many other drama couples do. I especially loved what a complete fanboy Moo Hak was for Da Li in so much that he would melt anytime she did anything sweet. I also really loved that they really didn't keep secrets from one another so the mystery could be solved together! Speaking of, I really loved the mystery of Da Li's dad's death and what was going on with the gallery but more than Tae Jin was such a terrifying villain!! On the whole this show was a blast and a half to watch and I'd definitely say that if you didn't hate the first two or so episodes then it's worth sticking around to see it improve! 9.5 / 10

FINISHED One The Woman (16/16): Yeon Joo is an elite prosecutor who started from the bottom. Although known as the best in corruption investigations for the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, she suffers amnesia after a car crash when chasing a suspect. As she wakes, she finds herself being Kang Mi Na, the daughter-in-law of the conglomerate Hanju Group. Before her disappearance, Mi Na was a troublemaker born out of wedlock. Now sitting in her position, Yeon Joo is not able to hide her rough and outspoken nature. She then meets Seung Wook, a conglomerate who visits his first love Mi Na to reveal the truth of his father’s death. Will Yeon Joo and Mi Na be able to regain their lost memories in this mystery and succeed in true love?

This show is one of those reasons why I always try to force myself to check out every new kdrama that airs regardless of whether the synopsis makes it sound good cause once in a while I find true gems that I would regret to miss out on if I had stuck to my original gut feeling!! Like I almost always hate stories with chaebols and I almost always hate stories with double roles aka where one character pretends to be another but this show ended up leaning extremely heavily towards the humor so none of my usual problems stuck out! I loved what a complete badass Yeon Joo was whether she had amnesia or not because she was competent as hell and refused to allow anyone to walk over her. I was a bit torn over whether I had SLS or not given that the second lead was so cute but I also liked Seung Wook and his relationship with Yeon Joo so in the end I was down with the romance! The revenge plot was fun to watch as well and I liked the way we kept peeling layers to see more and more of the evil in Hangju. 9 / 10

CDRAMA

FINISHED Wisher (12/12): The start and end of everything stems from an app called Wisher. Wisher appeared on the mobile phones of a group of college students out of the blue, and as long as they made a wish to it and completed a simple randomly assigned task, the wish would be realized. These young people can't stand the temptation, and just like signing a contract with the devil, they become dominoes under the control of desire. Middle-aged reporter Naduo, as well as young people such as Lu Li and Qiu Wendong, began to confront the forces behind Wisher.

Sooooo how in the hell did I finish this show? I mean seriously guys this show was a hot mess from it's characters to it's plot!! I went into it thinking that maybe I'd get a drama like Futmalls which I absolutely adored with its balance of sci-fi and mystery with hints of romance. Unfortunately while this show had all of the previously mentioned points, it could not balance them for the life of this show. The sci-fi aspect of an app that grants wishes was so cool and I liked the idea that it was more like Nerve than Futmalls with how it gave people things by forcing them to do something in turn and that seemingly meaningless tasks ended up snowballing into big things like murder but then we turned away from that to watch Wendong slowly lose his mind over something I didn't even understand. I also really liked the romance between Lu Li and Wendong even if I thought they went from enemies to friends to lovers a bit too quickly but then that was thrown out the window with Wendong becoming the villain! On that same note the mystery was so poorly drawn out and I really didn't care for Naduo and how wishy washy he was over everything. Honestly I'd say skip this show unless you're really desperate. 5 / 10

JDRAMA

FINISHED Douse Mou Nigerarenai (9/9): Nodakura Naho has been longing for an ordinary life as an office lady, but she couldn’t seem to get a job offer. In order to make ends meet, for the time being, she decides to interview for a part-time job at a design company called Solo Design Office. On her way there, Naho encounters a man and a woman having a lover’s quarrel. In order to shake off the woman, the man grabs Naho, who just happens to be there, and says she’s his new girlfriend. Naho gets angry and instinctively pushes him away. When she later arrives at Solo Design Office for her interview, she realizes that the man she had met earlier is in fact the company’s president Sakisaka Takumi. Despite all that happened, Naho somehow gets hired and starts working as a part-timer at the company

I don't have too many words for this show other than the fact that it was cute as all hell. The premise is very typical of a drama where we have a male lead who hides the pain of lost love and a tragic past behind his playboy veneer and a sweet female lead who lights up his world with her sincerity. Most of the time I roll my eyes at stuff like this but once in a while a show with this premise hits at the perfect time and I find myself finding it cute rather than irritating. Can you guess which category this show fits into? It's pure fluff and nonsense and yet I looked forward to each episode that aired. I did think that Naho fell for Takumi a bit quicker than I would have liked cause then we had so many awkward episodes after she basically confessed to him but at the same time because the show didn't pull the trigger on them until the end we didn't have any breakup nonsense. The side characters were all pretty pointless but I didn't mind cause it was the chemistry between our leads that I enjoyed most. 8.5 / 10

TWDRAMA

FINISHED Drunken To Love You (30/30): Two strangers, both proposed marriage to their respective girl/boyfriend, were rejected on the same day. They decided that the best way to deal with the rejection was to get drunk, real drunk. During the 24 hours of their crazy drunkenness, these two stranger became fast friends and got married... to each other. When they finally sobered up, they embarked on a mission to undo every crazy thing they did while they were drunk and prayed that their girl/boyfriend don't find out.

So I started this show not knowing that it was actually one of the many Fated To Love You adaptations which honestly was a good thing cause I don't know if I would have watched it knowing which would have been terrible on my part based on how much I adored this show! See the thing is that I tried both the Korean and Chinese versions but I could never get into how soap opera-y they were. Like one of my absolute least favorite tropes are the evil in-laws so I was so relieved to find out there wasn't any of that here! I loved that our main couple became friends almost right away so their bickering was more playful than hurtful and I loved that there was no real bad guy in this show. The exes weren't monsters and it was totally believable why they acted like they did. I loved the chemistry between our leads and I loved that there was no real breakups to be had cause surprise they actually talked to each other. I do admit the ending was a little much with Jie Xiu's mom's fall and then finding Xiao Ru's mom but I could ignore it cause it went by so quickly. On the whole I'd give this season a 9 / 10!

xoxo Allie

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

FINISHED Stargirl Season 2 Episode 13

This was a pretty solid finale cause I still say that like Superman & Lois the best part of this show are the characters and their relationship to each other so in the end I'm not all that interested in the villain of the season aka Eclipso. His big plan really was to possess Courtney so that he would have control over light and dark but Courtney was able to fight him off and then all the light-based heroes were able to turn into a piece of toast and tbh the whole thing was a little too easy which makes the whole struggle that the original JSA went through feel lame. We also set up the villain for next season who I thought looks a lot like Red Skull but a quick google search told me it was someone called Mister Bone and he knows that creepy nurse from Jennie's episode making me think that Jennie's whole thing isn't going to a set up for the Green Lantern show but something for this one. Other important things is that Rick wasn't able to fix his hourglass but I'm sure he'll figure it by next season, Yolanda returned to being Wildcat and Beth's parents found out she's a superhero while Cindy wants to join the JSA and Cameron is about to be told some sort of truth from his grandparents. I do think Yolanda's return is a bit out of nowhere but it feels a lot like the finale mostly hand-waved away a lot of things in order to be like this is what the show wants. Like Shade and Starman's resurrections or the Crocks now becoming neighbors with Courtney. At the end of the day I don't particularly mind cause I'm all about all of it!

xoxo Allie

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Stargirl Season 2 Episode 12

As penultimate episodes go this one wasn't half bad! Apparently Eclipso's big plan is to use Courtney as his host which is a pretty solid idea given that she's one of the only ones who can defeat him though I don't entirely know where Jennie fits into the whole thing. Maybe she's a backup plan? He already convinced her to admit that she hates him last week and with Cindy egging Courtney on to embrace her darkness she might just. I mean honestly it's a bit of a contrived plot given that Courtney herself has been told over and over again that only light can defeat the dark so it's pretty clear not only will focusing on love and hope help but I'm sure it strengthens the Staff too. I do have to say though that it was a little heartbreaking having to watch Cindy watch Courtney be so happy given that she just lived through hell. I mean Courtney's got the best family and amazing friends and Cindy just has her anger. Meanwhile Jennie was poisoned by something and it seemed to be giving her visions which either Eclipso created or she's actually seeing a possible future in which Courtney embraces the dark and becomes Eclipso's host. I kinda hope it's the second cause I really would have thought that the Green Lantern Ring would be able to filter out this kind of energy otherwise. 

xoxo Allie