Top 10 Asian Dramas Of 2022

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, Top 10 Asian Dramas Of 2020, and Top 10 Asian Dramas Of 2021 lists!

Coming in at number 10 is Love Like The Galaxy! The main reason I loved this show as much as I did ended up being due to the evil side of me liking when people who are mean being put in their place. In actuality this show was touch and go in terms of my enjoyment cause it started out rough with the female lead being shit on from every angle to a rough middle where the female lead acted like a hot naive mess who refused to learn how the world worked to an okay third part where I adored the main couple falling in love and being on top of the world only to limp to an end after we had a terrible break up and a sort of reconciliation. It's not exactly going to end up being at the top of any of my favorite lists but it was fun enough to watch during moments.

At number 9 is A Familiar Stranger! This is the first of two short-form dramas that I have on this list but I ended up really adoring this one probs because it was so short. This drama had a whole story jam packed into four episodes which meant that unlike a lot of short forms it didn't feel like we were just killing time until the show ended but also it didn't drag things out like most regular length dramas do. Our couple fell in love at a comfortable pace and then they trusted each other from then on which meant that rather than do the cliche you lied to me scene they looked to figure out why they might have been lied to. I also loved that the second male lead who was also the villain ended up falling in love with our female lead too cause I'm low key a sucker for tragedy!

Coming in at number 8 is Twenty Five Twenty One! Speaking of tragedies this drama really ripped my heart out almost every week only to end by stomping on my pour heart. I know that most first loves don't end up together but it always makes me sad when it happens in a drama cause duh we're out here watching these two fall in love over 20 episodes only to end with them breaking up and marrying others! I like my shows to have happy endings! Despite that though this show was a lovely snapshot into the lives of these two and we got to see them go from rock bottom to the top of the world and it gave us so many messages about youth and dreams and love.

At number 7 is Who Rules The World! I absolutely adored this drama not only cause Yang Yang is the star of puppy eyed male leads who would die for the women they loved cause the female lead in this show was just as ride or die as the male lead! It's truly one of my most favorite tropes in dramas to have couples that are super badass and competent on their own work together to run the world. I loved that these two started out as frienmies and became lovers but that they never once lost their trust in one another no matter what stage their relationship was in. They were equals from start to finish with no one having any more power over the other cause they were both good at martial arts and they were both royalty in their own kingdoms. The ending was bittersweet but it didn't take away from any of the fun I had watching it.

Coming in at number 6 is Night Of Love With You! This is actually the second short form drama on my list and I really loved this one so much that I debated whether it should even be my number 1 drama of the year when I first finished it. I'm such a sucker for dramas in which characters realize they're a comic character or real life people get thrown into a comic especially when they take on the role of the villains so the fact that this drama follows a second female lead who enters the body of the female lead only to fall in love with the villain rather than the male lead meant that I would be predisposed to love it. The short length of the drama meant plot points were fast paced and nothing dragged. The chemistry between the leads were perfect and I loved the ending!

At number 5 is The Law Cafe! I truly loved how creative this show was cause it gave me one of my favorite kdrama female leads in a while. She was super smart and competent but also kind and not afraid to stand up for herself or the romance she wanted. There was no hemming and hawing on her part and I loved that the male lead spent half the show in awe of her magnificence. The weekly law cases were fun and I liked the way they all ended up leading back to the main couple's past. I also adored every costume the female lead wore and for once I was jealous of the clothing she wore rather than confused as to why the female lead dresses like a hobo. The relationship between our main couple was also so healthy and even when they went through a bump in the road they were able to get past it like adults which is so rare in dramas!

Coming in at number 4 is All Of Us Are Dead! I do love zombie movies and shows and this one was just as fun as all the others I've seen. I ended up getting emotionally attached to the secondary couple a lot more than the main one here which is the first time in a while that's happened but I liked the dynamic there a lot more. It was fun to follow a show in which a school gets locked down cause of this zombie outbreak and that we actually saw main characters get turned into zombies and fight it. Like I said I liked the secondary couple and the fact that they were in love but couldn't be together cause she was a zombie and he was a human and that he sometimes acted as the safety pin in her bomb.

At number 3 is The Fabulous! This is a late edition to my top 10 list cause it literally just came out this past week but I binged in one day and I was so obsessed that I couldn't help but shoot it to the top! This show was basically everything Record Of Youth had wanted to be. It was sexy and mature and glitzy and fun as it followed a group of friends as they navigated the fashion world. I liked that every member of the group had a fully formed career that they were actually good at and they really loved one another rather than being fake friends or back-stabby. The main couple was so cute together and I liked that we met them after they dated and broke up before cause it gave us a different chemistry than two people who met each other for the first time. 

Coming in at number 2 is Our Beloved Summer! Speaking of meeting a couple after they dated and broke up, this show was everything to me as I watched it and even now. It follows a couple who were the stars of a documentary when they were kids after which they dated and broke up only to come back together to film a where are they now version of that same documentary and fall back in love. I loved the concept for this show and for once the execution was perfect as well. I loved that we didn't get the full story of why these two broke up and that we first saw everything from his POV and took his side only to get her POV and start to see her side as well. I loved that it was so obvious that these two still loved one another so when they found their way back it was believable and we all cheered! I also loved that the only plot of this show was their romance so it felt so warm and cozy to watch!

And finally my number 1 favorite drama of 2022 is Money Heist: Korea! I've never actually seen the original version of this show so I think I probably had even more watching this show cause it was my first time experiencing this world and this story. I loved that everything was planned out from the start so even when things seemed like they were going poorly the curtain was pulled back every time to show us that no actually things are exactly on track. It's the reason I love watching con artist or heist shows cause I like the idea of my main characters being on a whole different league than everyone else. The romances in this show were a bit out of place but I had so much fun with the action and mystery and intrigue that I didn't mind it!

And with that we come to the end of my Top 10 Asian Dramas Of 2022! I hope you have a wonderful New Year and I'll see you all tomorrow for my Fall 2022 Anime Awards!

xoxo Allie

Top 10 TV Shows Of 2022

Hi everyone! As promised, I'm back with my Top 10 Favorite TV Shows of 2022! Again, this list is based on my personal opinions and may have spoilers. 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, Top 10 TV Shows Of 2020, and Top 10 TV Shows Of 2021 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!

Coming in at number 10 is Stargirl! The season that aired this year was actually the last one for this show which was totally heartbreaking cause it's this show show is a hidden gem. I always seem to forget about how much I adore it until I'm actually watching it and it makes me sad to see one of the last few dregs of the Arrowverse start to fade. Stargirl had everything you could want going for it from a fantastic cast who could act themselves out of a bag to great writing that never faltered to amazing fight choreography. The heart of this show was the Whitmore family and I loved meeting Starman this season too cause it gave us a wonderful new dynamic. The other Justice Society kids were a bit irritating at times which is one of the only reasons this show is lower on this list!

At number 9 is House Of The Dragon! Now like the entire world I was shocked over how much I ended up loving this show after the mess that was the ending of Game Of Thrones doubly so since I was never a fan of Dany. I wasn't expecting much from a whole show about the Targaryens but somehow I ended up falling in love with the show since it finally realized what it was that people originally loved Game Of Thrones for. We were all here for the backstabbing and politics of taking the Iron Throne not some ice zombies who had no motivation other than being evil. I loved that since there were so many more Targaryens here that we could get actual characters rather than one dimensional ego machines. Rhaenerya is both a kind and a loving mother and ambitious for the throne while Daemon is act first think later but so loyal to his family. Alicent wants her son to be King no matter how she packages her ideals and yet she was also manipulated into it so she's not just a new Cersei. The season ended on a fantastic cliffhanger and I can't wait to see what's next.

Coming in at number 8 is The Summer I Turned Pretty! Talk about a real surprise addition to the list not to mention one that's so completely different from every other action packed show on my list. Like look I'm a girl who enjoys rom coms too! No but seriously this show is based on a book series that I adored when I was young so I went into this show curious but not all that excited cause it's been a long time since I actually enjoyed a live action adaptation of anything only to find that the creators of this show were basically writing a love letter to the original book. The characters in the show were much kinder and well realized than the original book characters and I loved watching them live their lives on screen. Conrad and Belly had such intense chemistry that I was thankful that I shipped them even if I felt like Jeremiah's actor was cuter at first glance. I'm really very excited to see the rest of the series adapted now.

At number 7 is Blood & Treasure! I accidentally found this gem of a show on Paramount+ of all streaming services this year and I devoured both seasons of this show at a breakneck speed and now I can't get enough about gushing over it's virtues to anyone who'll listen cause I feel like no one has ever heard of it! It's basically The Mummy meets The Librarians which those of you who know me know are two of my most favorite things! Season 1 of this show was spectacular from start to finish but the reason this show is not higher on my list is cause season 2 lost me a bit though by no means does that mean season 2 was terrible! The basic concept for this show is that it follows an ex FBI agent who works with an ex master thief to hunt down a terrorist who's using stolen artifacts to fund their evil plots. There's romance, action, intrique, and mystery! What more could a person want?? 

Coming in at number 6 is Murdoch Mysteries! This is another show that I binged this year and to my pleasure is still currently airing! I absolutely love period shows and I'm also a pretty big sucker for murder mysteries and cop shows so the fact that this show combines all three is super fun for me. This show follows a police station in the late 1800s and early 1900s as they solve crimes using the science of the time. The charm of this show can be totally chalked up to the fantastic cast of characters and the interesting episodic cases. This show has been going on for 16 seasons which I've watched all of and I have to say that other than a few early episodes every case was fun to experience and none felt like retreads of previous ones. I adore that the entire main cast of this show has stuck around from the start unlike in a lot of long running American shows cause then we have seasons and seasons of these characters backstories to fall in love with. 

At number 5 is Superman & Lois! I cannot believe how in love with this show I am especially given I didn't particularly like the idea for this show when I first heard of it and how I wasn't all that into Lois when she appeared in the Crisis On Infinite Earths Arrowverse crossover and yet it has become my favorite superhero show on air right now! Along with The Flash (which is a whole mess that I still can't believe I'm still watching) it's the last of the Berlanti DC shows even if technically it's not an Arrowverse show anymore. It still has the best written Superman I've seen and the best family dynamic I've watched. I love that the Kents feel like a real family outside of the superhero stuff but with it they're unstoppable. The writing for this show is so tight and there is not one single character in this show that I don't care about.

Coming in at number 4 is Star Trek Strange New Worlds! Growing up I was always more of a Star Wars girl than a Star Trek one but really that's only cause I never really gave Star Trek a chance. I'd been watching Star Trek Discovery since it first aired years ago but I was never all that into it so when I heard that this show was a spinoff using three characters I enjoyed I decided to check it out only to completely fall in love. I think part of me has always known that I would enjoy the idea of Star Trek cause I love the ideals that it's built on and the concept of getting to explore new worlds and places but the problem is that most of the older Star Trek shows are so dated now whereas this show gave me everything I could want conceptually while also being in HD and using modern CGI! The characters are all fun, the worlds are exciting, and the episodic nature of this show works so well for me cause I get to enjoy seeing our characters solve problems quickly rather than having it drag out for 13 episodes!

At number 3 is Wednesday! I've loved the 90s Adams Family movie for years and years now so when I heard this show was coming out I was really curious though I didn't exactly have expectations for this show. It wasn't because I was so emotionally attached to the original Adams Family that I didn't want any deviation like some fans but more so cause I was open to seeing whatever new take on the Adams Family we got. Fortunately for me and as you can guess based on how high this show is on my list it was everything I could have wanted! Yes there was a lot less Adams Family than I thought and yes it did take me an episode or two to get used to how intense Wednesday was and yes the romances in this show were a bit of a mess but the acting, the writing, the music, and the cinematography more than made up for it! This show was everything shows like Riverdale and The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina wished they were. Once I realized that magic was real in this world I was so on board with the mystery and I loved all the twists and turns we got. Wednesday was actually able to solve problems without feeling like she had plot armor around her and I loved her relationships and her character growth. 

Coming in at number 2 is Bridgerton! While I'm so torn over whether I feel like season 2 was better than season 1, the fact that I binged this show the day it dropped and enjoyed it so hard makes it a no brainer to be so high up on my list. I just absolutely adore this show and the low stakes world it has built. We don't have nearly enough fun popcorn shows airing which makes this one feel like such a refreshing take. I truly thought that Anthony and Kate had more chemistry than Daphne and Simon no matter that I didn't particularly love the love triangle we got. I only imagine we went with that over another forced marriage cause it would be too similar to what we got with Daphne and Simon last season so I'm able to let it go not to mention the fact that it felt very in character for our characters to act the way they did. I can't wait to see how our characters grow and I'm excited to see which Bridgerton child is up next. Logic says it's Colin and Penelope over Benedict who is technically the next book Bridgerton!

And finally my number 1 show of 2022 is Leverage: Redemption! I feel like I've gushed about this show up and down all over my blog in multiple places before but in case you haven't heard the spiel let me sing it out again. This show is everything I look for in entertainment. It follows a group of con artists who work to scam bad guys out of money and prestige in order to help the people the bad guys have wronged. Each episode stands alone in terms of story but there's usually an overarching story hidden in the background that comes to a big end at the end of each season. The cast of this show is perfection and they're all competent and badass and I love watching them win over and over again. I do miss Nathan Ford as the leader from the original show and Hardison's cameos aren't enough to tide me from missing him weekly but Wilson's addition is definitely a welcome one as is Breanna. Each con is different and unique and I have so much fun watching it.

And that's the end of my Top 10 TV shows of 2022 list! I'll see you all tomorrow for my Top 10 Asian Dramas of 2022!!

xoxo Allie

Top 10 Movies Of 2022

Hello all my lovelies! I hope you've all 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, Top 9 Movies of 2020, and Top 10 Movies Of 2021 as well as my Favorite YouTube Videos and My Movie OTPs & Ships lists! 

Coming in at number 10 is Black Adam and guys to be completely honest I was so epically bored during so much of this movie! The only reason that it's even on my list of top 10 movies is cause I couldn't think of anything else that could take it's place! The saddest thing is that I didn't even go into this movie with high expectations so the fact that it fell even lower is really saying something. The movie's pacing was so off the whole time and there was so much focus on so many different characters that it felt like two different movies were shoved together. The fact that this movie is supposed to fit into the same world as the Justice League and Suicide Squad confuses the ever living hell out of me cause all of a sudden we have Amanda Waller running a superhero team in which we can enough heroes out there to have a shifting roster? Having said all that I did like the idea of Black Adam focusing on the fact that sometimes heroes aren't perfect like how they can ignore full countries being taken hostage by international gangs but the second a powered person shows up they arrive. I also loved Dr Fate's character and it was fun to see Aldis Hodge who I adored in Leverage. Superman's appearance deserves a shout out too but it has been soured since the movie released with the fact that Henry Cavill won't be returning as Superman again. 

At number 9 is Thor: Love And Thunder. I went into this movie curious because while I did enjoy Thor Ragnarok I had a few tonal problems with it. Unfortunately rather than fix those problems I feel like Love And Thunder doubled down on the abrupt shifts in tone which took me right out of the movie. I can't help but feel like this movie should have almost completely been about Jane and not Thor. I understand on a meta level why it had to be this way but I just could not get behind anything with Thor whereas Jane pulled on my heartstrings constantly. I also really hated everything with the Asgardian children and honestly that might be a little of me projecting cause I'm so tired of every big show suddenly making their leads parents. The only show that this has ever worked for me is Superman & Lois and that's only cause the kids there are fully grown themselves. It was also confusing how little screen time Gorr got for how much he was hyped up to be this big bad villain. All in all I'm over this and ready to move onto a different superhero who can balance humor with darkness.

Coming in at number 8 is Everything Everywhere All At Once. I didn't actually end up seeing this movie in theaters cause to be completely honest I didn't know anything about it until after Doctor Strange came out and everyone was dissing that movie to say this one was better so when I saw it come out on streaming I turned it on out of curiosity and I have to say it did not disappoint. It was everything everyone was gushing about! I loved the way it played with the multiverse and how it made you care about every version our main trio. I could not believe how emotionally invested I got into our characters and this just goes to show you that film makers should never use the excuse that there isn't enough screen time to invest in character development. The pace of the movie was perfect with the plot being slow enough to let you sit with scenes and fast enough to make it feel like things are happening. I laughed so hard at the rock scene but I also really loved the speech the father gave to the mother in the world she was a celebrity.

At number 7 is Doctor Strange: Multiverse Of Madness and I know you're laughing at me cause I literally just said that Everything Everywhere All At Once had a better multiverse but sue me I'm a sucker for comic book movies! I know that this movie had it's faults like America not needing to be a character in this or really even Christine who I was over in five minutes after of this movie but all in all I just had so much fun with this movie's plot and pacing. Yes I agree that this was a strange shift in Wanda's character after Wandavision where it felt like she was starting to heal but I could sort of understand why she went full on villain here after being corrupted by the Darkhold though I do wish we could have seen the transition on screen. Like what if Wanda originally showed up to help find America and Strange after they dimension hopped on accident but by using the Darkhold more and more to dream hop she actually got more and more corrupted into wanting to steal another Wanda's kids instead? Having said that I still loved the way this movie felt the closest to a horror movie the MCU could make (outside of Werewolf By Night) and I adored the Illuminati cameos!! 

Coming in at number 6 is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. My goodness did this movie had so much to do in it's limited screen time. We had to mourn Chadwick and figure out a way to move forward and on the whole I do think this movie was able to do that. I liked that we focused so much on Shuri and her grief and made it so though we were all trying to guess who the new Black Panther would be out in the real world, watching the movie made it clear that there was only ever one person who could take on the mantle. I do think that Riri wasn't exactly needed in this movie but everything with Namor was so incredible and interesting to watch that I didn't mind what didn't work. High key I was sympathizing with Namor more than anyone else and I couldn't help but feel like he stole the show. I was honestly shocked when he killed Shuri's mother and I was shocked that she was able to start to forgive him by the end and I can't wait to see where he shows up next. I am torn on Tchalla's son appearing at the end cause though it was sweet in the sense that Shuri knows she's not actually alone it was a bit cheesy to be like yeah he had a child offscreen.

At number 5 is Glass Onion. Though I wasn't the biggest fan of Knives Out you all know I love murder mysteries so I was definitely going to check this one out but then I started to hearing rave reviews and it made me even more curious. Rian is like really known for his plot twists and while sometimes they work and sometimes they feel lazy, here I thought the twist halfway through the movie was fascinating. The first half of this movie low key confused me cause it felt like a super straightforward and simple Agatha Christie style whodunnit only not as well done as one of her stories cause a good whodunnit is all dependent on the characters we're introduced to and here they all felt super one note and boring. That's when the twist hit and bam I was back on board! I do think the villain was kinda obvious from the start but I don't entirely think Rian meant to confuse us but instead make us look as society as a whole so it was fine for me.

Coming in at number 4 is Death On The Nile which is the second Agatha Christie murder mystery movie that has been released recently. Though Murder On The Orient Express is still up there as my favorite murder mystery movie this one was still a ton of fun. I love the way Agatha Christie writes her mysteries in a locked room scenario where we slowly remove each suspect from the list one by one. I was on board with the whole mystery and I loved the answer we got at the end cause I totally didn't see it coming just like with Murder On The Orient Express! I do think that Hercule's backstory was a bit unnecessary especially given that this is his second movie outing and it did take us away from the story each time but I've only seen this movie the one time in theaters so far and I feel like I need to give it a second shot to see if I feel the same way again.

At number 3 is Rosaline! I absolutely adore period pieces but what I adore even more is unique takes on stories that we know so well! After I watched Extraordinary You (the kdrama about a minor character in a rom com webtoon who comes to life and realizes that she's in a comic) I've had a soft spot for side characters finding new stories as well. I was a little thrown to find out this was actually a modern take on the story with how characters spoke as if they were in 2022 but once I realized that I was on board. This movie was absolutely hysterical and I loved the way it poked fun at the story of Romeo and Juliet and I loved that Rosaline was able to find herself a new love by the end. It was extra funny to see that our main lovers didn't even know what to speak of together once the excitement of being star crossed lovers wore off! If you like comedies this is for you!

Coming in at number 2 is The Batman! I mean at this point you should know that superheroes are everything to me but I was surprised at the fact that is a DC movie that ended up so high on this list rather than a Marvel one and low key when I was making this list I even forgot I had watched this movie this year cause it came out so early in 2022! I truly had a blast watching it. I mean yes there were some problems with the fact that I didn't really love Catwoman and Batman's chemistry and yes I wish we had gotten a bit more Bruce without the mask but I can pretty much either forgive or explain away any problems I had. I also loved that we went with Riddler as the villain here rather than another freaking version of the Joker even if I wish that Batman was able to a bit more detecting on his own. I loved the dark take on the world and the ending was so hopeful despite everything.

And finally at number 1 my favorite movie of 2022 is Bullet Train! I cannot tell you just how much fun I had watching this hilarious movie! I had been seeing trailers for this movie for months before it came out and I was so into the vibe but I was a bit worried going in cause I was afraid that sometimes when a trailer looks really cool it's just cause they picked the best scenes from a movie to showcase like was the case in Don't Worry Darling. Fortunately I was not able to find a single gripe I could have with this movie! It was so funny from start to finish and I had no problem with the pacing or the characters or the plot. In fact I found the plot twist to be so good! If you haven't seen this movie yet do it!!!

And with that we've come to the end of my Top 10 Movies of 2022 list. I'll see you all tomorrow for my Top 10 TV Shows of 2022!

xoxo Allie