This drama is of the "divorce redemption" genre. Jang Na Ra (who is as doll-like and ageless as ever in this) plays Ma Jin Joo, mother of a son and wife of Son Ho Jun's Choi Ban Do, both of whom are nearing 40. Their marriage has fallen into a contentious state and the show opens up with a handful of events leading to their acrimonious divorce. After they both throw away their wedding rings, they wake up the next morning to find their 38-year-old minds in the bodies of their 20-year-old selves. They each set about trying to reshape their fates with the ones who got away.The second lead syndrome is strong in this show, as both Band Do's first love (ballerina Min Seo Young (played by Go Bo Gyeol)) and Jin Joo's sunbae (Jung Nam Gil (played by Jang Ki Yong)) do wonderful jobs presenting possible alternatives that absolutely fit and make sense and would be wonderful. The ever wonderful Kim Mi Kyung plays Jin Joo's mother, Go Eun Sook, and along with the rest of the supporting characters add nice flavor to the stew. The drama is only 12 episodes long and it's a rambling walk up until the last three episodes, where it suddenly sprints. Bring tissues. There are many feels.

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My Shy Boss (aka Introverted Boss). I just finished this drama and found it utterly charming. It stars Yeon Woo Jin as Eun Hwan Ki, the CEO of a PR firm who suffers from crippling social anxiety. Park Hye Soo plays Chae Ro Woon, the irrepressibly outgoing young woman who ends up falling in love with him. The story struggles a little bit to find its footing in the early part of the series, especially as Chae Ro Woon pursues a revenge plot and spends some time doing things that will make you go 'who /does/ that?!?' but that resolved itself pretty quickly. The crux of this story is all about lack of communication and miscommunication. There are some fairly tragic outcomes due to people's inability to communication their feelings. Even with those, the show itself manages to keep a pretty upbeat feeling and wraps up adorably.

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Hwarang. Wow, what a satisfying ending. I looked forward to this show so much and I'm very glad that I watched it. It did struggle a bit at the beginning to find its footing, but once it did, it ran like gang busters. It also didn't help that the release was delayed and that it came up against Goblin and, to a lesser extent, Legend of the Blue Sea so that it suffered a little bit in comparison to those behemoths. The chemistry of the cast was absolutely wonderful and while the love story is central to the plot, it is not actually the main focus of the show. There's personal drama, political drama, and a good amount of good-natured humor along the way.

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This drama focuses on four friends who grew up together and are now in their mid-20s, struggling to recapture the dreams of their youth. Ko Dong Man (played by Park Seo Joon, of the very pinchable cheeks) is a former Taekwondo athlete who suffered a defeat at the top of his game and is now a 20-something guy getting by on his somewhat soul-crushing, mediocre part time job. His best friend is Choi Ae Ra (played by Kim Ji Won), the undeniable boss of this quartet, who dreams of being a new anchor but has to live with her job as a greeter in a department store/mall. Her roommate and other best friend is Baek Seol Hee (played by the adorable Song Ha Yoon), whose dream in life is to be a wife and mother, and who has been dating and half living with her boyfriend of six years, Kim Joo Man (played by Ahn Jae Hong - what a teddy bear), while she works as a customer support rep for a home shopping network. Joo Man works for the same company, but as a producer/buyer for the food segments on the home shopping network. While the story line follows Dong Man and Ae Ra's movement from friends to romantic partners, Seol Hee and Joo Man face the break down of their six year relationship.Throw in a surprise birth secret in the last third of the series for a bit of added flavor. This show was a lot of fun to watch - though I often find Park Seo Joon utterly delightful, so I'm not surprised. When hilarity ensues, it is very well done. The pacing is a bit off, as the ending felt a little rushed in comparison to the slow set up at the beginning of the series. There's also an early on plot line that felt almost entirely pointless, though thankfully it's wrapped up pretty quickly and never mentioned again once it's done.

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A while back, I watched Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo. I didn't exactly have a high bar set for it when I started it, but it was a thoroughly delightful series. It was funny and touching. The leads had great chemistry. It was a the kind of school based love story drama that seem to be a common theme. And it was entirely engaging. Lee Sung Kyung as the lead, Kim Bok Joo, was wonderful and poignant and funny in the role. I loved that her character was brash and loud and uniquely herself. And Nam Joo Hyuk as rising star swimmer Jung Joon Hyung was everything I wanted him to be. And he loved her thoroughly as she is and didn't seek to change her. Plus his sub story was heart wrenching. I highly recommend this show.

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Strong Woman Do Bong Soon.

Oh man, this was a great show. I can see why it's breaking records for JTBC. It stars Park Bo Young as the titular character, Do Bong Soon, a young woman with superhuman strength, and Park Hyung Shik as Ahn Min Hyeok, the CEO of a gaming company. Ji Soo plays In Gook Doo, the second lead, who is a cop and Bong Soon's childhood friend (and her crush). Much of the story is the pursuit of the killer and serial kidnapper terrorizing the neighborhood in which Do Bong Soon lives, and that plot line does admirably well at being creepy and challenging for the protagonists, but is largely just back drop for the truly delightful interactions between Bong Soon and Min Hyeok. There's a love triangle, but really only sort of (I'm ready for Ji Soo to actually play a character who gets the girl, though I'm not at all unhappy with his character /not/ getting to be with Bong Soon) because one of the three spent most of his life with his head in the sand. I love that Min Hyeok is intrigued by Bong Soon from the beginning and doesn't spend really any time at all trying to change her. I love that he embraces her strength and treasures it, and that he wants to protect her and keep her from harm, but also doesn't stop her from being an active participant in her life and in facing the various challenges that cross her path. The chemistry in this cast is just amazing.

Minus .5 on story only because some of the story lines get dropped so fast that there's not much satisfaction (and at least one semi-major one doesn't even have a resolution). The music in this show is catchy and delightful.

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This was my first Japanese Drama, as such, I spent a lot of time going 'oh my god, did they just do that?!' because it's definitely more "mature" than what I usually see in k-dramas. :) The story is primarily about Toyama Sakura, a hair stylist who is about to turn 40, who ends up dating a much younger man (Saeki Hiroto, who is some 14 or 15 years her junior). She also works with Tachibana Rintaro, who has been her friend for a long time. The obvious triangle is set up, but the story keeps you guessing right up to the very end. The cast in this drama is very appealing and I really enjoyed watching it. At 11 episodes, it felt like a quick and light little drama. There are a couple of points where the story line was a little murky for me, but overall it was a fun watch. It has something of a Sex and the City vibe to it, though certainly way more tame than that.

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I just finished re-watching Shopping King Louis because I wanted something that would be a nice break from all the melodrama that my other shows are currently going through. This kdrama is light and fluffy, like popcorn or cotton candy. Seo In Guk as the sheltered chaebol amnesiac Kang Ji Seong/Louis. He's bright and naive and delightful and beautiful. Nam Ji Hyun plays Go Bok Shil, the country girl who comes to Seoul to find her missing brother and crosses paths with Louis who is homeless and can't remember anything about himself. These two just fit together and there's never really a moment's concern that either of the second leads will come between them. Yoon Sang Hyun as curmudgeon Cha Joong Won is over the top and hilarious. The back and forth jealousy between him and Louis over Bok Shil makes me laugh every damn time. Seo In Guk is a joy to watch as Louis learns about the world while searching for his identity. Everything in this drama is over the top enough to actually veer into the category of caricature, but it does so in such a way that I never felt cheated when watching it.

I would definitely watch this again when I'm in the mood for a feel good time. I still give it overall 10 stars, even though I give the story only 8.5. Nothing in the story breaks ground, but the paths it treads are familiar and comfortable.

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Like For Likes. This South Korean movie really reminded me of Love Actually in the set up and tone. It's basically three interweaving romance plot lines that link together based on the overlapping relationships among the characters. It has Yoo Ah In as Noh Jin Woo, a Hallyu star who just completed his military obligation and is looking for his comeback project, and Lee Mi Yeon as Jo Kyeong Ah, the drama writer who put him on the map and with whom he had a one night stand as one couple. The second couple is Kim Ju Hyuk as Jung Sung Chan, a restaurateur who has a wide network of friends and acquaintances, and Choi Ji Woo as Ham Joo Ran, a flight attendant and his landlord, who end up sharing a home as roommates. The third couple is Kang Ha Neul as Lee Soo Ho, an adorably awkward and naive songwriter/composer who is hiding something, and Lee Som as Jang Na Yeon, the forward, bold woman for whom he has fallen. All the cast in this are great, but Kang Ha Neul's story line was particularly well done. Two thumbs up.

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Cinderella and the Four Knights. I just finished re-watching this drama and am just as delighted with it as I was the first time. It's a typical poor girl ends up sharing a home with rich guy storyline (in this case, with three rich guys). High jinks ensue. It stars Park So Dam as Eun Ha Won, a plucky, hard working, no-nonsense, poor young woman about to graduate high school. She ends up taking a job pretending to be the fiance of Ahn Jae Hyun's character, Kang Hyun Min, a third generation chaebol heir. Hyun Min shares an amazing home with his two cousins, Kang Ji Woon (Played by Jung Il Woo), the recently reclaimed illegitimate grandson, and Kang Seo Woo (played by CN Blue's Lee Jung Shin who does a great job making your heart break for him), the chaebol idol. This is a romance, there are birth secrets, there's some serious second (well, third) lead syndrome. Everyone ends up (mostly) where they should be. It's not the strongest story line ever, but it's a lighthearted series good for when you want something bright.

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I rewatched The Master's Sun. This is a Hong Sisters' show starring the Queen of RomCom Gong Hyo JIn as Tae Gong Shil, a woman who has been able to see ghosts since she woke up from a coma, and the wonderfully arrogant So Ji Sub as Joo Joong Won, the president of Kingdom Group, who has the unexpected ability to shield Gong Shil from the ghosts that haunt her. Supporting cast includes Seo In Guk as Kang Woo, a highly skilled bodyguard/security guard, and Kim Yoo Ri as Tae Yi Ryung, a somewhat high strung top star who has a serious inferiority complex with Gong Shil (who was much more popular than her in school). There is never a moment in this drama where I don't want Gong Shil to be with Joong Won and yet I still have second lead syndrome here because Kang Woo is so sweet. Some of the ghost scenes in this are pretty darn creepy (South Korean excels at creepy ghost makeup) and there's some good ghostly suspense/tension in several episodes, but it's not really "scary." And watching So Ji Sub and Gong Hyo Jin together is a treat worth the tricks.

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I'm glad I discovered this well into my k-drama watching experience, so that I had enough knowledge in Korean history to not spend the vast majority of the drama going 'uh. Am I supposed to know him?' This was a sweet little story, though the web drama nature of it limits the development of the characters. I love Kim Seul-Gi in every role I've ever seen her play and this one is no exception. She plays a high school senior who is overwhelmed by her upcoming CSATs and yearns to escape. Yoon Doo-Joon plays the king of Joseon and is adorable. This is a time travel drama, where a modern girl is transported back to Joseon and high jinks ensue. The web drama, as mentioned, limits character development because episodes average about 15 minutes a pop. That said, the short episodes make this an easy to consume, pop-corn-esque drama. It was rewarding and I'd recommend it especially if you're looking for something quick.

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This show embraces the tv trope that serial killers are like mice - if you see one, there's another dozen living in the walls of your house that you haven't seen yet. But that device can probably be forgiven thanks to the absolutely chilling and wonderful performances by Park Bo Gum and D.O. in their respective roles. Jang Na Ra and Seo In Guk were also delightful in this series. Very little was as straight forward as it might seem, so the twists were genuinely interesting. There are also some lapses of logic in the scripting that one could drive a homicidal box truck through, but most of those are pretty early on so you get over them and get to move on. :) The ending is an emotional roller coaster.

I definitely now want to see Park Bo Gum in something where he's not flat affect and uber creepy.

I don't know about rewatch value on this. The performances were engaging, but with the plot already laid out and the twists already known, I'm not sure that it would have as much impact the second time around.

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