Beautiful (Another one I'll be adding to my rewatch list)

First of all, what a gorgeous ensemble cast. This drama is especially a treat for all the romance readers out there. "We all have but one dream, to be sucked into the our favorite books."

Both the ML and FL did such a good job of portraying their characters. It was a bit draggy when the ML thought that everything was FL's fault, even when it didn't make sense. That lasted far too long for me. Apart from that their relationship was wow! Wow, as in, the chemistry between the two is just mind-blowing. When these two characters locked lips, sparks flew. All their intimate scenes were so well done.

SML was such a adorable and great guy. I was hoping to see his real-life counterpart once ML regained his memories, but that didn't happen. At least he got the happy ending he wanted.

Chuchu was one of the most annoying characters in here. Her one-dimensional character and childish voice just made it difficult to listen to her dialogues. (I also skipped most of the scenes with ML's family and their disputes over the company and fortunes, that part just wasn't fun for me.)

Despite that, this is pretty drama. No regrets on the time spent watching this.

Read More

Barely Any Annoying Cliches

The lead couple were kind of bland after a while, it was good to watch them get together in the first 10 episodes, after than it became too boring. They were both good together and good to each other, so a green flag couple.

The second couple was much more interesting however Shu Wen Bo was so damn insecure that he made Ruan Qing Xia cry so many times. This is a perfect example of asking people what they want instead of just making a decision for them.

The third couple, ML's sister and Dr Shao were pretty good together as well. Glad that they got the second chance.

Read More

Episode one is a bit bland, the setting is not so great, i might have given up if not for the lead characters. The pacing is also quite slow. I'm glad that I didn't give up. It is one of those shows where you have to pay attention to every scene. It was really well made.

Lu Zhao Xi (ML): He is adorable with the devil face he tries to make, its so embarrassing and cute at the same time. He was decent person from start to end. He did like to tease the heroine a bit and behave like a child pulling a girl's pigtails, but it was fun. Apart from that, there was no toxicity detected.

Ye Shi La (FL): She matched the ML's adorableness and was just as decent of a person as the male lead. Their romance was slow burn and they took time to understand each other. She often played along with the ML knowing that he was teasing her, but sometimes she took him seriously.

I liked the actress in the drama The Day of Becoming You, which also has a similar pace.

Read More

Needs season 2 to explore that ending. (An extra episode wouldn't hurt either)

The story was quite interesting.

The presentation lacked flow, as a viewer you start out believing that the ML hated the FL and wanted to kill her as revenge. But later the writer wanted us to believe that wasn't the case, he just wanted to end the cruel rebirth cycle and didn't exactly wish the FL any harm. Although I forced myself to follow the change, I'm was still not fully convinced.

However, it could be that he hated her just as much as he loved her, which is why his expression conveyed hatred so much making it so hard to believe. This could have been planned that way by the writers.

The ML was kinda great when you think about it and FL just didn't put enough faith in their relationship. Even when the ML was willing to put faith in their relationship, she decided to literally do away with the relationship and the guy. Very cowardly. She just didn't love him enough.

So, I was glad for the consequences she had to face for the actions.

*Spoiler Alert*
What's more, I was so glad that Han Jun Oh got to experience life. As much as you admire Do Ah, if it wasn't for Han Jun Oh, the show wouldn't have been that interesting. He was very adorable and I'm glad that his brother didn't have to mourn him.

I am glad that both Do Ah (ML) and Kang Young Hwa / Han Ri Ta (FL) got the fresh start, however I wish to see how Kang Young Hwa lived out her life, similarly for the other characters. Furthermore, it would be interesting to watch both leads live out their reincarnated life. Although I'm pretty sure there won't be a season 2, i was hoping that we could get a few extra episode where they could explore all of this.

Read More

Watch it for the comedic element and the actors (the romance part sucks so far)

In the original timeline, the FL was had to job, juggle it with managing the household, and taking care of the kids. Something that's pretty common in Asian culture and has been glorified when all it means is putting the majority burden on one person in the married duo dynamics. (Have seen many married women, some my friends other relatives do this for their husbands and there is always resentment present in such dynamics) That's one dimension of the FL. The other part was her being non-communicative and physically abusive to her husband.

The ML was so absorbed with his own life & job that he forgot that he was married to a women he loved (Similarly, the FL was so absorbed with all that she had to do, she stopped caring about the person she loved) We have no idea when the neglect started but it was mutual. They both dropped the ball in their relationship.
=>As I watched the Drama, I kept taking sides, in episode 1 I did not like the way the FL didn't give him any privacy. Throwing the crab bone at him to the point that he bled. Going full on crazy. That sucked. And that poor game console, what an overreaction. She didn't even give him time to tell her that he was in an accident.
=>At the same time in episode 1, it was easy to see that the FL took on the majority of the weight of their relationship. The kids they both had, but only one had to look after all the time. Her job was clearly more expendable then his. He failed to communicate just as much as her.

If put in her shoes, would you really be able to accept that your husband hated you so much that when he had the chance, he dumped you and got together with his first love? I certainly wouldn't. Kudos to the FL for being the mature one and realizing that they were both at fault here.

Oh we have Oh My Ghost cameos, as if Seon Woo wasn't enough of a treat, even Park Bo Young appeared as an actress in the movie that the ML was watching at the theatre. At least I think that it was really Park Bo Young on screen.

Okay. After all that, I didn't think that I would like them getting back together. But you gotta admit that they look great together and have a lot of fun as well. A majority of that is the credit to the actors playing the leads, they had good chemistry, whether they were fighting or enjoying each others company.

Read More

Slow paced. Not living up to its potential. I used the fast forward button far too many times.

I am here because I found out we finally have Wi Ha joon as the male lead. The story didn't sound that interesting to me & I feel like this is one of the drama's where you are not sure if they will end up together or not.

Ep 1: The beginning is very slow paced, the characters seemed boring in the beginning. It was somewhere around the 20 minutes mark that things finally started to get interesting. The interactions between the FL & the school teacher was so charged with friction. I liked the way the FL approached it rationally, not a fan of how the school teacher reacted. Have seen that reaction from a few men while having rational conversation. You feel as if you'll get hit for sticking to your convictions. The romance part is a bit slow. But I could see the potential in the final minutes of the episode. They have known each other for a while so there's no instant spark or meet cute that we usually see with other romances. The acting is okay, the story lacks.

Ep 2: The pacing was pretty much the same as the first episode. 20 minutes in and I wanted to drop it, but for some reason I continued. I got to see Wi Ha Joon's pretty smile at the end. I'm sad to say I'm not looking forward to watching the next episodes.

Ep 3: It seems that my patience has been rewarded with some witty communication between the leads. I love the witch and her hairstyle, she looks amazing! Her all black outfit was such a stark contrast to her greyish white hair. She is a character that has made things interesting. This episode has made me look forward to the drama now.

Ep 4: Kinda saw it coming. At least the FL was open to a different style of teaching that would benefit the student the in the long run. Here's to hoping that they'll do better in their next round against the witch. The witch clearly won this round.

Read More

Love the chemistry between the Leads

This show has given us another green flag in Yoo Ji Hyuk (ML). Just completed the final episodes and the show was worth the hype. All characters are pretty interesting, which makes you take in every minute of the show without hitting fast forward or skipping most parts.

Its interesting to watch Jung Soo Min hate the female lead (Kang Ji Won ) so much and still go on pretending to be her best friend, sabotaging her at every step. There was a time when I believed people weren't like that and the shows were too dramatic to show such characters. However, I have learned different, people get perverse sense of pleasure by putting others down. And to Soo Min making Ji Won's life difficult is like a drug. There is no self-reflection for this character.

Now, the female lead was actually a pretty terrible judge of character and its pretty common. It's lonely living a life suspecting everyone of a motive, much easier to trust people are telling the truth. I was glad to the sismance between Fl, Yoo Hee Yeon, and Yang Joo Ran. They did such a good job lending an ear to Kang Ji Won, however they weren't aware of her returning back in time. The second couple Yoo Hee Yeon and Baek Eun Ho took their time getting together but both were so adorable througouth the series. I do wish we had gotten to see Joo Ran and Lee Suk Joon together as well, but I feel very optimistic about their future so that's good as well.

The cast is pretty great as well, especially Song Ha Yoon, she did such a fabulous job portraying Jung Soo Min. This drama has made me see her in new light. I didn't recognize her as the lead actress from the show Devilish Joy. The ending left me wondering if it made sense that Min Hwan died and not her (Soo Min). While Min Hwan is a character that attack the weak, he isn't really brainy, so him in prison or getting out in the future wouldn't have made much of a difference. Eve still, did I feel sad that he died? Nope. He just stopped existing and things went about their way. Now, with the kind of hatred Soo Min is harboring for Ji Won, things might get tricky in the future if she was to ever get out.

Read More

Here for Ji Chang Wook

I have been putting watching it off for a while mostly because I wasn't that attracted to the lead pairing. And I also read a comment once that the the ML had a better chemistry with the FL's stepmother, which just solidified my opinion on the pairing so I avoided it. I just finished watching "Healer", which was another drama of Ji Chang Wook that I have been putting off. It was kinda meh for me. I liked Park Min Young's character better than Ji Chang Wook's in that one. Anyways so I'm here finally.

Ep 1 to Ep 4: I skipped most of the parts that didn't have K2, Anna, & the team chief. I'm not a fan of J4, she was sitting there in the kitchen bemoaning about the fact that she won't be getting any promotion or would not get the chance to meet a guy and talking shit about Anna, while not even realizing or caring that Anna wouldn't get to experience any of those because of her captivity. The shower scene was so funny. They wouldn't even let him get the soap out of his eyes.
My personal favorite is "Dora the explorer scene", where K2 becomes the child giving instruction to Anna through the scene and is disappointed when she doesn't follow his instructions. That was most of us when Dora acted blind.

Ep 5 to 10: I saw what the commenter was saying with the chemistry with the ML & FL's step mother. She is clearly very attracted to him when he is just probably doing his job. But the ML has this intense look on his face even with Yoo Jin, so its hard to know what he is thinking. But you can clearly see the difference between how he feels with the FL. He is always so excited when he watches the FL. (Seems stalkerish but since he is bodyguard...) I didn't much like him for the FL in the beginning because he left her behind when she was begging him to save her. But seeing that he was also in a predicament at the time, it is understandable. How many times have we gone out of our way to help others? Wow, Yoo Jin is really very pitiful, to be so vile inside to take out your frustration on Anna who she should have treated with care. The poor girl was so damn depressed she didn't need another round of mental beatings from her vile step-mother or so called "father". Yoo Jin & Se Joon both deserve each other.

Ep 11 to 16: A time or two I wondered if Jae Ha was being ignorant of Yoo Jin's feelings for him. But he was very aware, you would have to be blind to not notice, & its hard not to be aware of them when she let so many things slide for him. He pegged her right, she wanted to own him like a slave. I have long gotten over the prejudice I once had about Noona romances. So, I did see that there was indeed chemistry between them, if only Yoo Jin was another person with at least a little empathy I would have shipped them. This could have been a whole other drama. But she acted like a jealous youth even knowing that K2 had feelings for Anna as well. She has continuously mistreated, misused, and abused Anna. Her verbal abuse only increased once K2 came into their life. It was sometimes quite sad and pitiful to watch her make one mistake after another having nary a regret. Even when K2 was injured she went out of way to humiliate Anna. But she was such a complex character, I have to give kudos to the writer for this one. That women had beautiful brain. Liked how it ended. Didn't skip a lot of scenes because things got very intense and interesting.

This was definitely a good watch.

Read More

Worth a rewatch. The story isn't that interesting, but the leads keep you interested.

In episode 1, the ML & FL aren't linked romantically. They both have their own partners. The FL's partner after they have just returned from watching a movie, "Let's kiss each other until we break our front teeth..." Wow, I mean just wow. Oh God, what a great start! Couldn't stop laughing. Its only episode one and this guy is already so hilarious. Meanwhile the ML is proposing to his partner. But I do feel like there's a bit of imbalance between the two. His gf is so lovely and they shared a kiss, I wonder if this is going to overshadow the ML & FLs relationship in the future. But thankfully that didn't happen. Once he had decided to move on, the ML didn't give his ex any mixed signals, he was loyal to the FL.

The SFL started out great, but as she realized that the ML wouldn't forgive her, she quickly lost her way and tried to get rid of the FL (not murder her but still). Anyways since this is a kdrama, she was forgiven. She finally decided to move on.

In episode 3, when the leads and their respective exes were coming towards them, they played "You are just too good to be true" I just love hearing it anytime anywhere, reminds me of Heath Ledger singing it in "10 Things I Hate About You"
I guess they love the music too, I'm hearing it again at the end of episode 4 as well.

And what were the writers thinking when they wrote FL's ex. He seems like a overgrown toddler who was so hung up on the FL to the point of delusion. This when he was married to a beautiful woman, he was such a crappy husband to her. His wife and son were a gem though.

Read More

Actors did a tremendous job portraying such complex characters. (Did not like the romance)

Ep 1: It was a rollercoaster of emotions. I started out liking Young Soon, she was such a strong woman not just physically but at the time mentally as well. It was nice to watch Young Soon & Hae Shik's romance progress into marriage. They were good to each other and Hae Shik was so damn nice. One of the reason it saddens me to see how Young Soon treated Kang Ho. She isn't wrong though, being nice did get Hae Shik killed. That doesn't excuse the trauma she inflicted on her son. Even knowing her reasons doesn't make her a good mother. As if that wasn't enough, she has to blame her son for his father getting killed? Shitty parenting, right there. That's the kind of twisted mothers that we don't need. Her mental strength in the beginning was clearly a facade that shattered with the death of her husband. I read a comment somewhere from a twisted woman that she wouldn't forgive the FL for ruining ML's exam like that. How are people so emotionally stunted? Are you going to leave your partner who has just had an accident to fend for themselves to just attend an exam that can be repeated? That's right. Exams' can be repeated, you can't treat your people like shit. People who treat you well are precious. They need to be treated the same. Overall, such a good story with depth. The FL is an interesting but silly character, but that's exactly what the poor guy needs after being treated the way he was by his mother.

Ep 2: Since the drama was highly recommended by numerous Instagram accounts, I am sure that the ML isn't a bad guy but is plotting something. The mother and child are alive somewhere, no need to be fooled by only parts of what they are showing us. Even though, I detest Young Soon, it did seem like Kang Ho was harsh on her. But you could see that even with what he was doing, he was conflicted. I'm not sure that woman ever apologized for the harm that she caused to her child. I liked that he iced her out. He is giving her everything she gave him, except for the warmth she failed to give. Mi Joo's life seems to be going in a different direction. With the way, things were left hanging about their relationship in previous episode, it was natural to assume that Kang Ho broke up with her so that he could not be swayed by things and focus on his exams. I thought she was the aunt to the children but she is actually their mother. It would have been better had the father of her children been anyone other than Kang Ho, because once he broke up with her he didn't look back.

Ep 3: Did not think that Ha Young would be like that. I didn't like her for her interaction with Mi Joo, when she acted bratty. But she seemed to liked Kang Ho, so I figured everyone has a right to move on in their life. Right now, I'm wondering why she took the decision she did. Did she figure out the reason Kang Ho was hell-bent on marrying her? Coming to the Mom, she finally behaved in a manner of that a Mom should. She finally cared for him in the right way when he was paralyzed. So much for having a new father, who didn't look into what was happening with Kang Ho once he was paralyzed. I'm sure Kang Ho was disgusted to even interact with that guy, but he probably did so seeking revenge. I'm a bit divided on how to feel about her withholding food from him to motivate him. It worked, so I'm happy that she is aiding his recovery. But there could have been other ways. She is just someone who isn't equipped to find those ways and would instead stick to her character. At least, she knows that she is a bad mom. But not all of her accepts it, because she did say that she treated him that way when he was a child was for his own good. That was a cop out.

Ep 4: Although I don't like her for how she treated her child, I'm slowly growing to respect Ha Young for who she is now. It is good to see Kang Ho play with the kids, something he rarely got to do when he was a kid. In a way, this is like a second chance for him. I though Kang Ho had broken up with Mi Jo after he missed his exam. It was surprising to see that they picked up again, especially Mi Joo being so forgiving when he left without a word. This time around, he might have broken up with her because he wanted to pursue his revenge. Mi Joo life is going downhill now, her partner stole all the money and ran away. Now, she has to climb out of that hole and also find another way to make money for her kids. The only thing I didn't like about Mi Joo was that she kept her being pregnant from him. I imagine their lives would have been better had she told him about it. But you never know, he still might have gone down the revenge path.

Ep 5: With the way their past relationship was developing, I had a feeling that Kang Ho would abandon Mi Joo in the way he did. What a cruel way to dump someone who was there for you. It would have bee better for Mi Joo to end up with Sam-Sik. He is chaotic as hell but he would have been a better choice. Kang Ho really lucked out with his accident. He's going to be forgiven by her because she feels pity for him. I do not like it, especially since he made such a selfish decision and tried to buy off her love. This is the kind of romance I avoid watching. Let's see if he does anything to make up for the hurt he is caused once he regains his memory. If not, then I'm gonna feel more sad for Mi Joo and her children.

Ep 6 & 7: I have come to realize that the Drama's name is very apt. The Good Bad Mother, although so far a lot of it was bad with some rays of Good shining through. I was pretty shocked with her decision to give up on her life. Instead, I thought she was going to get some treatment so she could live at least a while longer. But I guess she felt pushed into a corner so its hard not to feel bad for her as well. Poor Kang Ho had to see her at that moment. He must have been so scared. I feel bad for Mi Joo as well. From the way things are going, it looks like she has more empathy than the past Kang Ho deserved. She is going to soften and probably look after him when his mother dies.

Ep 8 to 10: It must have hurt Mi Joo so much to have seen Kang Ho with another woman while she was there with their children. She will forgive him, but will she ever forget the pain? I want Mi Joo and her twins to be happy. I want Kang Ho to be happy as well, but not before he makes amends. Even when he dumped her like that, she still waited for him, only to be dumped again. I hope Mi Joo gets the closure she deserves. I didn't much like Kang Ho's explanation about how he loved her too much, when the idiot never even knew that it was to fight battles together and not leaving people in the dust after you have used them.

Ep 11 to 14: What bothers me the most about this drama is that it gives out the message that its okay to treat people poorly as long as you have a reason to do it. Young Soon had a reason for being an abusive mother. Kang Ho had a reason for abandoning Mi Joo then he got together with Ha Young. Mi Joo & her mother's reason for loving men who didn't love them enough. Well they all got what they wanted so a happy ending for them.

Kudos to the cast for pulling off such a great feat. I'm off to watch "Welcome To Samdalri" because some parts of this drama reminded me of my fav's Cho Young Pil & Sam Dal. My heart needs healing from all the stress this drama put me through.

Read More

Bright, Light, Humorous & Silly. (I'm enjoying it)

Ep 1: The poster & the name of the drama brought me in, I didn't think I would end up liking any part of it. Thought, it would be like Midnight Romance in Hagwon, but the first 5 mins of the episode were so hilarious. I hoped that the woman who was pestering our ML wasn't the FL but a supporting character. This just has me intrigued as in where is this going. By the end of the episode we still haven't connected the first scene to any of what's going on. It could be a future event or it could be just a dream she had in a future. Wow, what a rollercoaster of a ride. The guy we thought she was dating was actually two-timing her and when she finds out, he acts all high and mighty calling her a backup & a fake. Yup we have 1 disgusting character right here. But still, I didn't much care for how the FL was trying to go after the woman he was two-timing with instead of the two-timer. Him she was too lenient with, especially with how rude he was to her later on.

Ep 2: Lee Yoo Young, the actress portraying Kim Hong Do has such beautiful eyes. She is lovely, but this role doesn't suit her. I can picture in her in an all leather outfit doing something badass. In my opinion, she was miscast, apart from few cutesy scenes her portrayal seems kinda flat. Someone like Park Bo Young would have been a better choice. Coming to the character, she should have quit working at that place a long time ago. While all workplaces have their own issues, you still need to be able to depend on just one person to back you up. Things are going all wrong for her, from her superior copying her design to her childish cringy ex trying to frame her, it was ridiculous to watch. I liked 1st episode better. The thing where she didn't even realize that he was pretending to have not seen her was just too hard to believe. While I may not have liked this episode that much, I'm going to continue watching because I still have hope for this drama.

Ep 3: It was better than episode 2nd but not because everyone at her workplace suddenly grew a conscience. The gaslighting ex and his gf who stole her idea were just horrible, let's not even talk about higher ups who enabled them. They all deserve each other. It was kinda comedic when the designer Camille showed up suddenly to hire Hong Do, but I figured it was time something went right for Hong Do. The rest of the episode was a teacher taking care of her student, some of which funny as well.

But the drama was fun to watch.

Read More

Here hoping that it won't traumatize me as much as Ancient Love Poetry did.

I have been wanting to watch this drama for a while because I'm always curious about the next one in the series, be it books or dramas. Ancient Love Poetry started out nice but it was traumatizing by the end, so I didn't immediately watch this one. I know that this one is another trauma in the making since the ML didn't exactly have stellar parents.

Ep 1: Wasn't expecting to like the ML since I have only seen one scene where he destroys the FL (on YouTube), so was surprised to see him be a likable character. The graphics are not that good, I have seen better in Starry Love & Immortal Samsara. The Phoenix Queen Feng Yin seemed so damn fragile that her immortal essence was destroyed due to a little trespassing. Hua Shu's character behaved as I expected her to, so no surprises there.

Ep 2: Ah Yin is so adorable in all her forms. The little water beast reminds me of the little white snake from the "The destiny of White Snake" I wonder what happened to the second water beast that went unnoticed. The entire episode was Ah Yin doing her best to kill Gu Jin in all her adorable ways. In her defense, he was planning on eating her just like a certain grape fairy was planning to eat a phoenix thinking it was a crow that could get her powers.

Ep 3 to Ep 5: Gu Jin is so damn naive. Him handing over such a powerful artifact to the peacock is an example of how he shouldn't have been given the responsibility. Ah Yin who's barely a few years old can identify crafty people, but Gu Jin is just not bright. I would have liked the peacock if she was a worthy villain, but she was nice to Ah Yin only until she found out that there was a Master-Servant pact between Gu Jin & Ah Yin. Once she discovered that, she thought of Ah Yin as nothing more than a servant and decided to treat her lower than dirt. Yeah, so not a move a powerful woman makes.

Ep 6 to Ep 10: Gu Jin is really a dummy. He just gets swayed so easily. His elder brothers told him that he should go propose to the peacock and he goes there with that intention as well. If only he hadn't overheard or seen her with the other guy, he would still have went through with it, only to realize much later that he is being used. Anyways, now that he knows that he was used he said goodbye to the peacock and has started wondering why he keeps thinking about Ah Yin so randomly. I like Ah Jiu, he is a bit smarter than the ML and more perceptive of FL's feelings to which the ML is really blind. While I ship him with Ah Yin, I also think he and Yan Shuang make a great couple.

Ep 11 to Ep 15: The aunt Hong Chou with her sense of superiority is getting on my nerves. I'm watching this on YouTube and someone in the comments said that all the people interfering are the reason the calamity exists, left on their own Gu Jin & Ah Yin would have done well together. The one trope that I absolutely hate is the amnesia trope, the only time amnesia worked in favor of the leads was Forget You Remember Love (2020), and even with that the guy was an ass once he got his memory back. I get that it wasn't a complete memory wipe but it just wiped away Gu Jin's emotional ties to Ah Yin, which is plain to see as he acts much more detached from the way he was with Ah Yin before he realized how he felt about her. It is sad to watch as Ah Yin has been the one who has struggled the most with their feelings in the relationship. She was the one who fell first & had to keep it under the wraps because he was into someone else. Once he realized his feelings for her, they didn't even get to spend much time together before his affections was cut off by outside forces, again leaving Ah Yin into one-sided love. And the worst is yet to come.

Ep 16 to Ep 20: Hong Chou needs to stop making decisions for Gu Jin. She has always treated Ah Yin lower than dirt so there isn't much to like about her character. I loved how the peacock was scared of the underworld king & tried to frame Ah Yin. What a calculative woman. Lan Feng has weird taste in women, he knows what the peacock is and still loves her. At least the peacock has some feelings for Lan Feng, thanks god for that otherwise the poor guy would have been stuck in the one-sided mess. Gu Jin has really lost his marbles deciding to cut of Ah Yin in such a brutal way, no points to you. He could have lessened the blow but then who cares about Ah Yin's feelings, let's make one-sided decision for her. Well Ah Yin's life is about to end, so I wonder what could be the cause. Gu Jin possibly blaming her for being a calamity. (Makes me want to punch him)

Read More