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

A Love So Beautiful (11/24): Cha Heon is a student at Chun Ji High School who has both good looks and brains. He appears to be a cold character, but he is actually someone with a warm heart who is awkward at expressing himself well. Shin Sol Yi is a bright and bubbly 17-year-old who has a crush on Cha Heon. She openly confesses her love to Cha Heon continuously, and she is a clumsy but lovable character. Woo Dae Sung is a talented swimmer who transfers to Chun Ji High School and falls for Shin Sol Yi. He does not express his feelings for her and quietly stays by her side.

It constantly feels like one step forward two steps back with Heon and Sol Yi! Just when Heon does something sweet and Sol Yi is up in the clouds, he then does something mean and makes her regret her whole life. I think the premise of this show is that eventually our heroes grow up and become adults and look back on their lives and how childish they were but I don't know if that's something that will happen at the last minute or if we'll be having a time skip and ironically this is the first time ever that I'll be looking forward to one! I was proud of Sol Yi for figuring out that Dae Sung was the one to write that secret but Dae Sung waved it off as a joke cause he's the second lead so they returned to status quo which broke my heart a little. We also had our Christmas episode this week and Sol Yi struggled to figure out what she wanted to give Heon eventually settling on a card and a wish bracelet which was cute. Naturally Heon didn't get her anything while Dae Sung made it snow for her though she never knew it was him and isn't that the sign of a second male lead if you've seen one!

FINISHED Awaken (16/16): 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.

So the finale for this show aired this week and I guess this show will definitely live on alongside shows like The Last Empress in which things started out so strongly and I was so on board only for it to fall apart later on. I don't know if I need to go over everything that didn't work for me all over again cause I literally just did it last week but in short form: I didn't like the endgame ship and I didn't like the way the show used Jamie to the very end. Every one of our White Night kids had DID so it really shouldn't have been a plot twist to find out that Jung Woo had it too but somehow there I was shocked all over again! I did like the way every one of our bad guys were taken down though this finale really made me wish that Jung Woo had worked with the others earlier so the whole thing wasn't just him being a one-man team cause it was just so much fun seeing the whole crew work together. I was fairly happy with the ending we got too though I think it does give the short end of the stick to Jung Woo when he deserved to be happy too. Hye Won took over as Captain, Jamie went to America though she says she'll be back, and Jae Woong and the remaining White Night Foundation board members went to jail. All's well that ends well I suppose so I'd give this show a 7.5 / 10.

Homemade Love Story (72/100): Three families live under one roof at a boarding house called Samgwang Villa. Sun Jeong's family lives a pure and simple life and doesn't have a lot of money. Jung Hoo's family is rich but is far from peaceful. Jung Won's family looks perfect from the outside but is actually quite rocky. Others join these families at Samgwang Villa, each with their own stories. What is the meaning of family in this day and age, with so many single-person households and people choosing not to get married? Let's meet the people who open their hearts to one another to live and love as a family in Homemade Love Story.

What is it about Chae Woon and Jae Hee that makes my heart sing?? I really feel bad for all those people who dropped this show early on or claim that the two have no chemistry cause I feel it jumping off the screen all the time. I mean yes do I wish the two made out more? Of course. But this is a family drama so obviously we're not going to go sexy and besides the affection a couple feels for each other is sometimes sweeter. I am a tiny bit worried that the two might break up cause of what happened to Jae Hee's company but I think it'll be from Chae Woon's side if anything. See I can't exactly imagine that Jae Hee is really screwed or will break up with Chae Woon for her own good since he's in debt cause he's still the son of a chaebol and that's the thing I don't understand about Seo Ah's evil plot. If this company falls through can't Jae Hee take over his father's? And even if he wants to rebuild, can't his father pay off his debts?? I could see Chae Woon breaking up with Jae Hee cause it was her dad who screwed him but I could also see her doubling down cause why let an enemy have that much power over a person. In other news the whole thing with James and Jung Hoo was seriously ridiculous and I skipped over all of it. I get that we need to drag things out and make it funnier but it seems like a weird retcon to suddenly reveal that oh hey James always loved Jung Hoo not Sun Jeong cause then why did he treat his wife so horribly??

Hush (10/16): “Hush” is an office drama about newspaper reporters and their everyday struggles, problems, and ethical dilemmas. Han Jun Hyeok is a veteran reporter for a newspaper. He first became a reporter to pursue justice, but he is now conflicted between idealism and pragmatism. Han Jun Hyeok must also deal with personal issues as a husband and father. Lee Ji Soo is a bold intern reporter who isn’t afraid to say what needs to be said, even during a job interview. When she meets Han Jun Hyeok as her mentor, she begins to dream of becoming a true journalist.

What in the actual hell was this week?? I really don't like where we ended up or the way this story has shifted focus. Like don't get me wrong, I definitely don't believe Jun Hyeok changed sides and it's kinda ridiculous how quickly all the others started to mistrust him but I really don't want to watch more politics!! I was so excited last week when it looked like this show would actually focus on reporting cause I've been saying from the start that I wanted another show like Pinocchio but that must have been a red herring and a lot of what we thought we knew last week ended up not being true this week! Editor Yoon really did act as a bridge between the Daily Korea CEO and MP Go but I guessed wrong when I connected how. The marriage that was set up wasn't between them but between the CEO's niece and Gyu Tae aka one of the three interns that were hired who actually ended up being the son of the head of a political party. Apparently everything that went down in the premiere happened cause Chief Na needed a reason to hire Gyu Tae without having any questions asked by the others but his prejudice ended up being his downfall cause he couldn't handle a less qualified intern being hired. If he had just hired all four kids, then no one would be the wiser. In the end I think Jun Hyeok realized that he didn't have enough evidence to screw the CEO so he's pretending to join them rather than fight but this is totally a drama plot cause in real life no one would trust him quickly enough to give him something to report since it hasn't even been five minutes since he claimed that he would take them all down.

Lovestruck In The City (9/17): Lovestruck in the City is a realistic portrayal of young people who pursue romance and happiness while struggling to get by in a busy, competitive urban environment. Park Jae Won is an honest man, a passionate architect and a lover of city alleyways. His hobby is collecting more hobbies. A romantic at heart, he cannot forget a certain woman. This thief of his heart and his camera had disappeared like a fleeting midsummer night’s dream. Lee Eun Oh is an ordinary woman who temporarily reinvents herself as the spontaneous and free spirited Yun Seon Ah. She takes off to a remote place on an impulse and falls in love with Jae-won under this new identity.

Guys after this week I have to say that I'm officially hating Eun Oh and Jae Won's relationship. Before this point I was mostly meh about it but now they've shifted into toxic and creepy territory. Eun Oh really did lie about everything from top to bottom and instead of taking responsibility for her actions, she ran and hid and tried to make things even more difficult. Meanwhile Jae Won is one of the most obsessive creepy stalkers I've seen in a show. Like he doesn't know that Eun Oh was lying about who she is or that she still loves him so from his POV the girl he loved broke up with him and now he's refusing to let it go and wants to find her and beg for her back. His alcoholism isn't cute and neither is the way he explodes over her! Even Sun Young turned the corner from oh I kinda like her to stay away from Geon! Her inability to believe that Geon and Eun Oh could be friends is horrible and I hate her self-absorbed personality. Nothing about her screams girl boss as much as the show wants you to believe! Honestly the only good people in this show are Geon and Gyung Joon and maybe Rin Yi cause though she did a pretty mean thing to her ex, I don't put her actions up there with the others!

Mr Queen/Queen Cheorin (12/20): A male chef has risen up the ranks to find a job cooking for the country’s top politicians in the South Korean presidential residences, the Blue House. He is something of a dreamer – but one day finds himself in the body of a young queen from Korea’s past, Kim So Yong. Kim So Yong’s husband is the reigning monarch, King Cheol Jong. However, he is only king in name – the late King Sunjo’s Queen, Sun Won, has taken advantage of Cheol Jong’s better nature, and is ruling the realm in his name. Queen Sun Won’s brother Kim Jwa Guen also has designs on power. However, Kim So Yong soon discovers that King Cheol Jong harbors secrets, and is not as gentle and meek as he seems…

Wow this week was rough with a capital R! I'm not even all that attached to Cheol Jong outside of a low key need to have the other officials suffer but that didn't take away from how horrible I felt about Cheol Jong being fully smacked by Jwa Guen. I knew the whole banquet wasn't going to be screwed but the question was going to be which clan screwed it cause both had plots. Jwa Guen noticed that Cheol Jong was starting to become his own person and wanted to destroy all evidence of him being anything but a puppet while the Jo Clan wanted to destroy the banquet by exposing the Kim Clan and ruining So Yong. I guess the decision over which is worse is dependent on who you care about more and it's not like either the Jo Clan or the Kim Clan are good people. The hilarious thing is how completely the power is not in the King's hands which is kinda ridiculous cause his subjects really shouldn't be allowed to completely ignore his words at all times. I'm wondering though if this will be the first step to Cheol Jong and So Yong becoming a team. Up to this point, she's been completely removed from the politics but everyone keeps trying to make her a player. The more she sympathizes with Cheol Jong, the more she's going to step up like how she saved the banquet this week though I'm sad that with the plot shifting so much that we might not get a scene where Cheol Jong thanks So Yong for what she did. What's also important to note is the fact that Hwa Jin really doesn't seem to care if Cheol Jong is hurt or things get screwed as long as So Yong isn't happy.

FINISHED Please Don't Date Him (10/10): 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?

What a wonderfully cute ending to a cute show! I still do think that Gook Hee overreacted last week into this week about Ji Sung using social media to stalk random people but I was glad that his friend called him out and was like is this how much you care for her? After everything Ji Sung put up with in terms of his secrets, he should have known that she's a good person and trustworthy enough not to abuse her ability to hack! I was actually really shocked though that Hwang ended up not being the bad guy after all and that it was one of the other guys in the office who did it. The abrupt reveal that he was mentally unstable and thought that Ji Sung loved him was a little out of nowhere cause I feel like up to this point we hadn't seen any clues towards the fact that he was into her but I liked the way the whole thing played out with him kidnapping her and then being taken out by Hwang with a little help from Gook Hee. I also really liked the way the show ended with Ji Sung joining the NIS and having her record cleared in terms of having used the JSS chip without knowing what it was. The best thing about this week though ended up being the way Gi Hyun and her husband reconciled and it made me seriously lament the fact that we didn't see more of how adorable he was before this! In the end I did really think this show was cute for what it was though probs nothing that I would come back to over and over again. 7 / 10 from me!

Run On (12/16): Ki Sun Gyeom is a sports agent who was once a popular sprinter on the national team but was forced to quit due to legal issues. Oh Mi Joo writes translated subtitles for movies. She was thrilled to see her name listed among the credits when she first started. Ki Sun Gyeom had just quit sprinting when he encountered Oh Mi Joo, who felt that destiny most certainly brought them together. Seo Dan Ah is the CEO of a sports agency and rightful successor to the Seomyung Group. Despite this, she is held back from advancing in the company due to her gender. She fiercely wishes to reclaim what is rightfully hers and lives her life accordingly. Lee Young Hwa is a university art major who enjoys movies and drawing will soon enter his life. Could romance be in the cards for these two couples?

This week was everything I wanted from this show and you can imagine why!! First of all I want to start by saying that though Dan Ah is definitely my favorite character in this show, Young Hwa is slowly starting to creep up past her! I absolutely adore the way he's so unafraid to be purely him from crying in front of Dan Ah cause he's confused to flirting with Sun Gyeom cause of Sun Gyeom's reactions. I do have to say though that if he acted like he does with Sun Gyeom with his other friend, it's no wonder that his friend has a crush on him! Dan Ah and Young Hwa finally kissed this week and I'm pretty they're dating too though I mean yeah I kind of wished that the kiss had been a bit more mutual rather than Young Hwa standing there shocked but she did kiss him out of nowhere so I'm not all that upset! Also important to note is that we've gotten a little more story on Dan Ah and Tae Woong and how they're both really sick apparently but it seems to be worse for Tae Woong than Dan Ah cause he kept talking about how he's going to die first. Apparently their dad brought him to Korea to replace Dan Ah cause she was ill which is probs why she hates Tae Woong so much but the more I see him, the more I wish they could fix their relationship! I do wonder if this whole thing will come around and whether Young Hwa will ever find out or if her family will since we're nearing the end of this show and I can't imagine that they would not pounce on the juicy angst that would come from a rich heiress dating a poor college student. It is possible that all that angst has been milked by Mi Joo and Sun Gyeom though cause as we saw his father is the absolute worst and has made Mi Joo feel so horrible about herself that she wants to break up with Sun Gyeom. I did love that he stood up to the dad for his sister and how horrified both he and Dan Ah were over how the dad is treating the sister like an escort. I kept awkwardly waiting for that word to be dropped but the show never did even though it was clearly low hanging fruit!

She Would Never Know/Sunbae Don't Put That Lipstick On (2/16): Yoon Song Ah works as a marketer for a cosmetic brand. She enjoys her job and does it with vigor. Her dream is to start her own cosmetic brand. Meanwhile, Chae Hyun Seung works with Yoon Song Ah as a marketer. He becomes attracted to Yoon Song Ah and tries to develop a romantic relationship with her. However, Yoon Song Ah rebuffs his advances, because she does not see younger guys as dating partners.

Honestly I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this show going in cause while I was really excited to see Rowoon's new show after adoring him in Extraordinary You, I've kinda been soured on Won Jin Ah after Melting Me Softly. After having checked out these first two episodes, I have to say that the highlight of this show and one of the most unique things it has done is the way it sort of threw us into this world with these characters who've known each other for a while so unlike most shows where we literally see the first meeting of our main leads, this one shows us more of a snapshot of these people's lives at a random point in time. I am a little uncertain over what I feel in terms of the main romance but to my surprise it isn't Won Jin Ah's Song Ah that's bothering me but Rowoon's Hyun Seung! Like part of me is wondering if I'm just overreacting to the way Hyun Seung is cause this is a drama and not real life but the rest of me finds his weird possessiveness overbearing. Like I guess I should give props to the fact that he did plan on bowing out when he thought that Song Ah was happy but then he went about telling her about her boyfriend's cheating in the most horrible way and it was also a god awful time to tell her that he liked her! Having said all that I was glad that he took a step back to let her figure out her feelings about the whole cheating thing so I'll be curious to see if the writing fixes itself from now on. The crazy thing is that all my problems could have been fixed if the writers had made the two colleagues before this and have them fall for each other during the fake dating they did! I also have to admit that I felt really sorry for Jae Shin and how he was emotionally manipulated into marrying Hyo Joo but I'm also left curious as to what his plan would have been with how he's in love with Song Ah and dating her but supposedly marrying Hyo Joo in two months! As a sidebar I have to say that like a lot of shows I'm watching, the second couple might actually end up stealing my heart cause I found their first interaction to be way cute!  

The Uncanny Counter (14/16): 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.

So this week the big news behind the scenes was that the writer for this show quit and was replaced cause apparently that person didn't like the direction which this show was heading. This is interesting cause if I'm being honest it seems a little silly to quit two weeks before a finale but I have to say that part of me felt the change in writing but the rest of me wonders if I'm just being weird cause I know there was a change. My problem with this week is sort of the same problem I've always had with this show. Like I get that our Counters are pretty strong so obviously they can't fight humans but we've known that our evil spirit is stronger than our Counters from the start so the fact that the show keeps throwing more and more power to him in hopes of upping the ante is kinda ridiculous. I also don't love that in order to get to where we needed to at the end, all of our Counters had to act like idiots. It made so much more sense to take down the female evil spirit before going for the male but instead our Counters followed their emotions rather than their brains and lost one of the barrier staffs so to win we need to throw more magical power at the problem. That's the laziest type of writing guys! Mun already has the most OP power with the ability to summon Yung but now he also has psychokinesis?? Ugh seriously dudes. I guess on the plus side almost all our human bad guys have either been caught or killed so the only one left is Mayor Shin who's definitely screwed after his evil spirit is removed.

True Beauty (12/16): 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?

This week was leagues better than pretty much everything we got previously and I think that's cause rather than having our main couple fight each other over misunderstandings and the like, Joo Gyung and Su Ho had to face external obstacles instead. First was everything with Se Yeon and Su Ho's dad and then it was Soo Jin being a horrible person. I was honestly really proud of Su Ho's dad for stepping up and retiring after he found out how he was connected to Se Yeon's death and just how much he ruined Su Ho's life cause I didn't think he really cared for Su Ho until this week. Now I kinda want him and Su Ho to reconcile just like Su Ho and Seo Jun did this week. Seo Jun found out everything that happened back then and realized what a complete ass he was which is why it was so adorable seeing Su Ho and Seo Jun be best friends again. The second hurdle our main couple had to cross was Soo Jin who I will never not be disappointed over in how she became the villain just cause she likes Su Ho and is pissed that he's with Joo Gyung. The levels of mind games she's playing is really just applause worthy but what she doesn't know is that Su Ho knows everything about Joo Gyung so nothing she can do will break them apart. It super sucks that Joo Gyung's secret was exposed but I have a feeling that her friends will stick by her side including Soo Ah who I'm pretty sure is more upset that Joo Gyung hid this secret from her rather than the fact that Joo Gyung had this secret in the first place. I am glad though that Su Ho and Seo Jun both know what a terrible person Soo Jin is and I'm sure that Joo Gyung will find out soon enough too.

CDRAMA

FINISHED Legend Of Fei (51/51): Several years ago, the emperor secretly ordered the hero Li Hui to form a mountain stronghold consisting of bandits in order to keep the pugilist world under control. His daughter, Li Jin Rong, leads the stronghold after Li Hui's death and gives birth to Zhou Fei after marrying scholar Zhou Yi Tang. Zhou Fei's attempts at escaping have always ended in failure, though Li Jin Rong allows her daughter to go and experience the world outside after her 16th birthday. She meets Xie Yun again after he saves her from drowning during her first escape attempt, and they embark on an adventurous journey through Wulin together.

So the finale for this show aired this week and all I can really say is that the writing for this show really sucked all the fun right out of the world we were given. Zanilia Zhao and Wang Yi Bo literally carried this drama on their shoulders and without them acting the hell out of the boring script they got, I never would have been able to finish it! Don't get me wrong, I've watched so many shows out there that I would consider worse but at least those shows tried something new. Legend Of Fei seemed to want to move as carefully and delicately as possible as to step on every single milestone that a martial arts cdrama should hit without caring about whether we the audience would feel anything from it. Even when our characters were life or death situations, the tone of the show never once made you feel anxious or worried cause of how nonchalant our characters were. It's like they already knew that they had plot armor so of course everything would work out duh! I do suppose one good thing this show did was make me fall in love with Wang Yi Bo cause I had actually not seen him in anything before this and now he's definitely going on my future watch when he acts list. I liked the ending we got with everyone being paired up and killing the villains and Xie Yun healed. I was glad that he never actually decided to go back to being an Emperor or a Prince or even the leader of the Anping Army. Instead he decided to stay in the Fortress with Fei forever like her parents did which was a sweet parallel. Overall I guess I'd give this show a 6.5 / 10!

TWDRAMA

Wacko At Law (8/15): 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.

At first glance it looks like we managed to wrap up the whole case with Wen Ting but in actuality I'm pretty sure there are a ton of questions left unanswered. Was the man who killed that art appraiser really a hired killer and if so, who hired him? Honestly if I had to make a guess I'd definitely say it was one of the Mo family who hired him but more specifically Wen Ting's mom. After meeting the stepson I kinda see him as more of a puppet for Mrs Mo than a player so I can't see him being involved in hiring a killer or dealing with L365 whereas we know that Mrs Mo manipulated Wen Ting into confessing to a crime to help her. This links into the more overarching story of this show with Da Qi and L365. Last week we learned that Da Qi almost died and was saved cause of that drug but now it's killing him and I'm pretty sure we learned that it's also killing Xiao Ke's sister. Cause of this, Yu Xin and Xiao Ke and Da Qi are investigating what happened back then and whether even Mo Shang De's death is linked to this miracle drug. This whole thing also led to Da Qi finally accepting his feelings for Yu Xin and to my surprise he confessed too when I thought that he would keep it a secret cause he would be worried about dying. Their first kiss wasn't anything to write home about but I'm hopeful for their second cause from what I've seen twdramas don't usually do the bug-eyed pecks that cdramas and some kdramas like to do. I also hope that Yu Xin keeps her energy and independence and quirkiness though now that the two are dating cause I really love their bickering and I would be sad if this show turned her into a lovesick puppy who's only purpose is to follow Da Qi around from now on. 

xoxo Allie