Tense Political drama

Chief of Staff S1 (2019)

Likes
1. I believe that Jang Tae Jun can fix whatever problem he faces. He's that good at his job. But it is also scary because he can do terrible things but still come out as justifiable and better than the others.
2. I also love Kang Seon Young, she is as sly as Tae Jun but is a lot cleaner in handling things. She also doesnt back away even when against the old bad guys in politics.
3. I actually love them as a couple, i'm impressed that despite being in opposite camps most of the time, they are able to fight back and protect each other. I just find it unbelievable that no one knew of their relationship for 5 years yet each one can dig the dirtiest secret from each other. Lol. They even live in together and no one realized they had the same address?
4. I also like the bad guys.. i think they casted almost all of the usual baddies in dramas. I laos liked the supporting swuad, from Hyewon, who is willing to help Taejun, Manseok as Seonyoung's trusted aide, to Dogyeong the naive intern.
5. I was shocked twice and both were tragic. End of ep 8 when Taejun's mentor killed himself. And last episode when another person died. Totally didnt expect these plot twists. It's like saying you really wont survive politics if you are too clean. You need to be as smart and manipulative as everyone to survive. Even if your intentions are good.

Dislikes
A little stressful watching because every episode was tense and full of backstabbing, blackmailing and too many dirty politics. Do they really want the world to change or are they all just selfish?

Rating: 8.5/10

Read More

Glorious ending

The Glory Part 1 and Part 2 (2023)

Likes
1. Wow story was fast paced, acting was briliant. The whole revenge plot was perfectly developed and executed by Dong Eun. And the best part is she didnt even have to get her hands dirty. She merely exposed their sins, and they destroyed each other. I thought every bad guy in the story deserved their fate.
2. My fave scene of SHK was when she found out her mom betrayed her again and they had their argument in the apartment and the mom started the fire. Plus the last episode when she was crying after everything was done and she was at the rooftop. (It was just weird how Yeo Jeong's mom was there to stop her from jumping. Did she follow her?)
3. Yeonjin was so bratty and self entitled all through out. I cant believe the nerve of her! She bullied kids, killed 2 people, yet she refuse to admit them, and is even the one getting angry when caught. She had no remorse at all!!!
4. Loved the 2 male leads, cute puppy doctor Yeo Jeong who would do anything for Dong Eun and the hot ahjuicy Do Yeong who probably would have pursued Dong Eun in another life (my alternate ending).
5. Also loved Hyeon Nam. Hope she gets a chance to go to the US and see her daughter.
6. The other bullies were also evil. Plus Yeonjin's mom, the corrupt detective, Hyeon Nam's husband, ugly haired pervert teacher. Lol everyone got punished!!

Dislikes
1. Son Myeong O's disappearance went on for too long when he was obviously dead. And it was obvious who had the most motive to kill him, yet the writer tried to prolong the reveal by giving other characters possible motive.
2. Instead they could have focused on finishing Yeo Jeong's revenge on Yeong Cheon and showing the couple moving forward and living happily together.

Rating: 9/10

Read More

Gritty intense and brutal

The Glory Part 1 and Part 2 (2023)

Likes
1. Wow story was fast paced, acting was briliant. The whole revenge plot was perfectly developed and executed by Dong Eun. And the best part is she didnt even have to get her hands dirty. She merely exposed their sins, and they destroyed each other. I thought every bad guy in the story deserved their fate.
2. My fave scene of SHK was when she found out her mom betrayed her again and they had their argument in the apartment and the mom started the fire. Plus the last episode when she was crying after everything was done and she was at the rooftop. (It was just weird how Yeo Jeong's mom was there to stop her from jumping. Did she follow her?)
3. Yeonjin was so bratty and self entitled all through out. I cant believe the nerve of her! She bullied kids, killed 2 people, yet she refuse to admit them, and is even the one getting angry when caught. She had no remorse at all!!!
4. Loved the 2 male leads, cute puppy doctor Yeo Jeong who would do anything for Dong Eun and the hot ahjuicy Do Yeong who probably would have pursued Dong Eun in another life (my alternate ending).
5. Also loved Hyeon Nam. Hope she gets a chance to go to the US and see her daughter.
6. The other bullies were also evil. Plus Yeonjin's mom, the corrupt detective, Hyeon Nam's husband, ugly haired pervert teacher. Lol everyone got punished!!

Dislikes
1. Son Myeong O's disappearance went on for too long when he was obviously dead. And it was obvious who had the most motive to kill him, yet the writer tried to prolong the reveal by giving other characters possible motive.
2. Instead they could have focused on finishing Yeo Jeong's revenge on Yeong Cheon and showing the couple moving forward and living happily together.

Rating: 9/10

Read More

Romcom of the Year

Love To Hate You (2023)

Like
1. Finally a straight up romcom without murders or fantasy elements!! I wasnt planning on watching this until i saw the preview. Enemies to lovers? Top star and lawyer? Sassy lady vs Cool guy? Count me in!
2. I love Miran. She's feisty, assertive and can beat the guys in any game or fights. No wonder Kangho was so impressed at this "unusual" woman. He doesnt get to meet a lot of them in his work. I love the maturity of their relationship even the dates and bed scenes looked more age appropriate and natural.
3. I also like Kangho he looks cold but is actually playful and romantic when he finally got past his trauma. His bromance with his bestie was so funny and cute. I wouldnt have minded if they ended up together!
4. Probably this drama takes a jab at actors and actresses who look like they are friends in public but actually hates their guts in private. And all the insider rumors that go around the industry. Again, fans and netizens should also stop obsessing on their faves and let them live their own lives. Im imagining Lee Seunggi as I watched this show and how awful fans have been to him because of his upcoming wedding.
5. The ending although is not bad is also not especially fantastic. But it also feels like it's more realistic.

Dislikes
1. The second leads are cute but I wasnt as charmed by their story like the leads.
2. Sometimes the vocalizing background music didnt fit the scene.

Rating: 8.5/10

Read More

Xu Kai and the Cats

Likes
1. Somehow i always end up watching esports themed drama even though i'm not a fan of esports. But i appreciated the esports players after watching this drama. Didnt realize they also do a lot of trainings. I just thought they were naturally talented.
2.I liked getting a peek into the good and bad sides of the industry. I think it's the same as with showbiz where fans, rumors and fake news can make or break you. Fans dont own the players and we should respect them and their personal lives.
2. i like the ZGDX team and their friendship. Accepting Tong Yao as the only female player in the team. They also fight and argue a lot but they all grow and learn better.
3. I also liked that they showed the different teams and their sportsmanship with one another. The ending when Tong Yao won the championship and everyone (not just ZDGX) was cheering and praising her skills.
4. I found the romance cute from the first time they met until they got together around ep 21 or 22. One of the cutest confession scene when the kitty came out of Cheng's jacket, and Tong Yao was so happy she hugged Cheng. (I would have done the same 😁)

Dislikes
1. Got bored starting ep 23 and was fast forwarding to finish. I didnt like the forced issue with Cheng as the captain.
2. Wanted Tong Yao to be more responsive during the kiss scenes. She always looked wide eyed and wasn't playful like Cheng. So it felt like Cheng liked her more than she did and the kissing didnt look natural.

Rating: 8/10

Read More

Enjoy your life

Work Later, Drink Now 2 (2023)

'I don't know if we're better than before. We don't know if our future is better or not but we are the best to enjoy this moment.'

Likes
1. I thought this drama lost its magic. Glad they went back to the city and the story because nice again. Actually I watch because of the 3 girls and their relationships with each other, their memories about their parents, and the guys. They didn't drink as much as S1 though.
2. I always look forward to Sohee's story and her weird romantic vibes with Director Kang. They always show him as gross and dirty but she oddly feels attracted to him, esp when he does those little things to support her. We also get to hear Kang's story and why he is that way. He also has a lot of trauma (Siwon in fatsuit is too cute!!) And Sohee loves helping pitiful men. I think they are a match.
3. Jiyeon is the friend that I also love. She is too noisy most of the time but she shines when you need her the most. I thought the story with the siblings were boring but end up liking them too. They should bring Seonjung to their trio. She is also crazy. I also thought pairing loud Jiyeon with a guy with hyperacusis is interesting. But wait Jiyeon and So Hojun (funny cameo!) also works!! Alas she is still single by S2 end (but with 3 men) lol.
4. Jigoo is the most silent and boring (for me) but she is the most thoughtful. I love that she found someone who really likes her. Yoon Si Yoon fits right in with his lovely artsy vibe.

Dislikes
The first 3 episodes where they went to the mountains and how Jiyeon's cancer was miraculously cured. Was the time spent there supposed to mean something because they didnt really grow up when they went back to the city. Maybe it was just to wrap up Jiyeon's cancer story. Should she be drinking so much??

I dont know if there's a possibility of S3 because I'm going to miss the girls!! They can actually stop at S2 but the ending just begged for a new season!! Would love to see the girls evolve since they're now in relationships. They'll prolly continue to be crazy.

Rating: 8.5/10

Read More

Loved the Lee Brothers

It's Beautiful Now (2022)

Likes
1. Love the 3 brothers and their wives/girlfriends. I prolly would have dropped this if it weren't for them. Particularly loved the Dolt couple for providing the comic relief.
2. Hyunjae is the best boy. He is known to be the troubleshooter in the family but sometimes I wish he didnt always have to sacrifice himself or solve every problem. Mirae is lucky to have a solid guy like Hyunjae since she is weak.
3. Loved Soojae and Yuna but i preferred Yuna and Jungho. Still i'm satisfied with their friendship.
4. Loved the two dads, they were the stable rocks to their otherwise senstive wives.
5. I also loved the OST.

Dislikes
1. Too much focus on Mirae's mom, and the grandfather's actions in the latter part. The last 5 episodes with the sudden liver cancer storyline was unnecessary makjang. They could have just gave Soojae and Yuna better resolution and not a rushed one.
2. So many unnecessary characters. The whole extended family of the Lees (grandaunt, sis in law, uncle, Sungsoo and the kids) should have been cut out of the story and instead could have focuaed more on Soojae.
3. The supporting female characters were all either toxic, loud and/or selfish.

Rating: 7/10

Read More

Season 2 Please!

Good Job (2022)

Likes
1. Light and fun kdrama! Plot is simple but i like their silly disguises and solving cases.
2. The show was mostly carried by the great chemistry between the main leads Sera and Sunwoo and the second leads Jinmo and Nahee. They were funny, sweet, romantic.
3. I also loved the bromance between Sunwoo and his best friend Jin Mo and secretary Director Hong.
4. Also liked all the OST songs.

Dislikes
1. The villain is predictable (at least to me), felt like he tried too hard to be like Joo Dan Tae (lol) and I still dont really get his motive (sounds shallow).
2. The other "bad guy" was just too angry from episode 1 without really saying why he is that way to Sunwoo.
3. Detective Han was largely useless except for the last episode. Which was too bad coz he would have been a great part of the team.

Rating: 8.5/10 (8 for the story + 0.5 for the leads)

Read More

Loved Hawaii Pistol

Assassination (2015)

It was Jun Jihyun's birthday a few days ago so I thought of watching this old movie of hers.

The story is about a secret mission to assassinate 2 important people who favored the Japanese. And several factions try to outmaneuver each other to either prevent or succeed in the mission.

The movie is quite long at more than 2 hours but I wasn't bored!! The story is a little complicated because there were too many characters so I had to slowly watch to understand what was going on. It had lots of action, and double crossing, and deaths, and even managed to put in a little romance. The meet-cute at Hotel Mirabeau between Okyun and Hawaii Pistol is 😍

The main lead is Jun Jihyun and the men were great support, esp Ha Jung Woo who sometimes stole the scenes. And I finally watched JJ's famous court scene that is always reenacted in shows.

Rating: 9/10

Read More

Sometimes Blood Isn't Thicker than Water

Chronicle of A Blood Merchant (2015)

Review:
I didn't read the synopsis, I always thought this was a comedy, but it was so much more. This was adapted from a Chinese novel by Yuhua and changed to Korean setting. Ha Jung Woo is the director and the star of the movie. It's about a guy, Sam Kwan, who sold blood to earn money to marry the prettiest girl in town, Okran. 11 years later with 3 kids, there are rumors that the eldest son is not Sam Gwan's biological son but is from Okran's ex-boyfriend. The movie shows the love between father and son. Even though they were not blood related, Ilrak basically grew up with the family and have always known Sam Kwan as his dad and vice versa.

The first half was light comedy but in the middle, when Sam Kwan found out Ilrak, who is his favorite child, was not actually his, he stopped showing him fatherly affection. It was heartbreaking to see Ilrak look so confused from suddenly being the favorite eldest son to a shunned illegitimate child, whose fathers (real and step) refuse to acknowledge him.

Four major scenes (and SPOILERS so don't read if you want to watch) that made me cry were when Sam Kwan told Ilrak to go away and not join the family's dumpling dinner and Ilrak went to his real father's house, asking for dumpling but he got rejected. Eventually Sam Kwan couldn't resist and found Ilrak crying and hiding in the alleys and brought him home. Another was when the real father was dying and Ilrak was being forced to say "Father come back, don't leave me" as part of a ritual, but then he sees Sam Kwan watching from a window and Ilrak starts begging for Sam Gwan to come back and take him home. Sam Kwan interrupts the ritual and takes Ilrak home. Then Ilrak falls ill with the same illness as his real father, and Sam Kwan almost died going town to town selling blood to earn money for his surgery. They finally meet in Seoul and their reunion was so touching.

I can't believe Nam Dareum was so young in this drama!! So cute and great acting, from him. He had great chemistry with Ha Jung Woo. And now in 2022, he's grown up and serving the army.

Rating: 9/10

Read More

Is There Life After Death?

Yonder (2022)

Spoilers alert. The drama opened an interesting and controversial topic to discuss and debate on, which is about life after death. Or specifically, designing your own death.

Likes
1. From ep 1 i already knew the potential danger that may happen with the premise. By N By was exploiting people's grief and manipulating them thru religion and science to follow their dead relatives. I think they should be arrested for inciting mass murder/suicide. But the story was left open and didnt have closure.
2. I thought the people who chose Yonder were very selfish. Instead of wanting their family and friends to move on, they are also encouraging them to join them in "heaven". And a lot of them did with false hopes of happiness.
3. I feel bad for those who wanted to grieve, and were led on by By N By. I was disappointed with the sudden change of Jaehyun from a non believer upto ep 4 to suddenly joining his wife in ep 5. But am glad he was able to "wake up" and let go and also have friends who were able to bring him back to life.
4. The visuals were gorgeous, like the drama was supposed to be a movie.
5. I personally favor euthanasia but would rather that memories remain in my heart and not create a new life after death. Like Jaehyun said, "The reason beautiful moments are precious is because that moment can never return". And the memories were built from data that maybe real but are remade for illusions.

Dislikes:
Wish it were 1 episode longer to explain where Yonder is and what happens after and to everyone else. I'm surprised people were not able to find out where the metaverse is located, and raid the company.

Rating: 8.5

Read More

Money and Cars

Seoul Vibe (2022)

Likes
1. Fun, light action comedy flick when you have nothing to do on friday night
2. I like the cast, felt like everyone was having a blast shooting though sometimes yoo ah in is being so serious with his acting (lighten up!). And whew! No one died!
3. 1988 olympics didnt really have much to do with the story but i loved how they styled their car ala olympics style. And the old music (i was listening to 80s rap just this morning!)
4. The Prosecutor ahn scene was the main thing that struck me most in the movie. And surprise that the lead prosecutor isnt a baddie!

Dislikes
1. Felt like they tried so hard to make them look cool but the 80s vibe felt forced (did the writer grow up in the 80s or did the writer just googled the 80s?)
2. Too long and some parts were boring. It only gets interesting in the last part. The ending was also too unbelievable (are they trying to be f&f or mission impossible?)
3. I was expecting general bald will be some famous actor considering how they tried to conceal his face, so was disappointed when i saw who it was.

Rating: 8/10

Read More

Woo to the Young to the Woo

Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022)

Likes
1. Woo to the Young to the Woo! She's so cute and fierce no wonder she has a lot of support from friends and her dad. But of course she wouldnt prolly be treated so nicely if this was real life.
2. It's a role reversal where the male lead is the candy girl, meant to be the support for the female lead and he doesnt need to do much but look pretty and support WYW. I hope they give Junho a meatier storyline in S2.
3. Spring sunshine Suyeon is always nice to WYW. I hope she is also able to show her legal brilliance and win cases too. Her only fault is liking Minwoo.
4. Jung Myeongsuk is one of the nicest and most supportive bosses in kdramaland. I hope he gets better!
5. Dong Geurami and Hairy guy. WYW's dad. The entire cast was wonderful!

Dislikes
1. The last episode was a little underwhelming maybe because there's going to be season 2. Hoping that Atty Tae Sumi will have a better r'ship with WYW, including the genius brother.
2. Minwoo was so bad throughout most of the show but suddenly became nice in the end, without getting any "punishment" for his bad deeds. And don't understand why 2 girls are fighting over him.but i dont mind if he continues to be nice in s2 and introduce a new villain attorney.

Rating: 8.5/10

Read More

What would you do for money?

I didnt watch the original so I won't be comparing the korean version against it.

Likes
1. The production is very high class, the tension is high, they were the 'bad guys' yet i want them to get out alive and spend their money.
2. I like how they are able to outsmart the cops each time, although they are 'cheating'. I like how the professor thinks of their plans. I'm curious if this is all just a ruse or test since the professor was approached to be part of the Nokor Sokor team before or he has a grudge and is getting his revenge.
3. I like Berlin, although he is slightly unhinged. Tokyo is so-so, Rio is immature, Denver is dumb. I also like Moscow. Wish Nairobi is more charismatic.
4. Love Misun, she is so pretty, i dont understand why she would like Yeong Min the d-bag, he is not enough handsome andd he's crazy. Will Misun join the team eventually?
5. I feel bad for Woojin, being played by the Professor. What happens when she finds out the truth?

Dislikes
No one stands out to me. Maybe because we don't see a lot of their background history.

Hope they release part 2 soon!

Rating: 8/10

Read More

Kiss your future

"Was it bound to happen or did I make it happen?"

Likes
1. Loved Minhu, he was a jerk in episode 1 but he kept getting awesome in every episode! Kyesang isnt your traditional pretty boy ML but he is very manly esp with the kissing and bed scenes with Yesool. But he can also be cute and silly.
2. Mixed feelings with Yesool. Love her when she's in love but i hate that she kept running away whenever Minhu and Pilyo tried to confront her.
3. Jisuk can make viewers want the SML be the ML. He's so good at portraying the boyfriend or ex bf. I was fine whether Yesool ended up with him or Minhu. Just too bad that the relationship ended the way it was.
4. I didn't like whiny clingy Jiyoung but she was better when she is with Pilyo so I'm okay with this pairing.
5. The second couple Seungtaek and Howoo were so cute but didnt like that Howoo was too cold to Seungtaek when she started her residency. Inho the actor usually plays the bad guy in the drama so nice to see him being funny and cute here.

Dislikes
1. The last 20 mins of the final episode! WTH was that!!! They could have added more scenes between Seungtak and Howoo if they ran out of stories to fill the rest of the episode!
2. Yesool's mother who kept the whole dad's murder/stalker from Yesool was horrible thing to do.

Rating: 8.5/10

Read More