Watched - 2022

Watched in Jan. It was funnier in the first half but maintained the gag aspects relatively well until the last few episodes. The bandit arc was definitely weaker than the first arc but I still enjoyed it. Some of the plots that Ning Yi came up with were hit or miss, though. The last plan he executes in the show, in particular, was just a bunch of bad ideas. Overall, it was a decent show with a lot of wasted potential and the lead actor was really, really good. I think I would want to watch season 2 whenever it airs.

Watched in Jan. I wrote a (spoilery) review for this! 

Link: https://mydramalist.com/profile/Chocobana/review/186987

Watched in Jan. This was a really good show with mostly well-written characters. I enjoyed the bonds between the characters the most. One thing that constantly bothered me was the way the female Go players  were written. There was a very small number of them to begin with, and those few characters were generally incompetent and did not treat their games seriously. The only one who partially redeemed herself was Bai Xiao Xiao.

Watched in Mar. Really enjoyed the developments in the mystery and the eventual reveal. The mechanics of the time loop were not really explained but there's room for interpretation. The ending felt somewhat abrupt and I wished we saw more relationship development but the romance was merely a subplot in the show. This is one Chinese show that could have actually been a couple of episodes longer.

Watched mostly in Mar (finished the last episode at the beginning of Apr). This was mostly a good show with amazing acting from the cast. The pacing and development were a little slow. I also disliked some parts about the ML and the fact this had a bittersweet ending (which I realize is realistic according to history). It's a pretty solid show otherwise.

Watched in Apr. This was a show that depicts the establishment of the first behavioral unit in S. Korea and all the hurdles they ran into in the process, not to mention the emotional toll facing evil took from them. The cases are definitely important and feature heavily in the plot but it's clear that the drama is not meant to be pure crime/thriller--the cases are also directly based on real crimes committed by serial killers so most Korean viewers likely were familiar with the cases that it would have been difficult to create twists. While the pacing was slow at times and the characters took a longer time to realize things that the viewer already knew, it was still a really good show. The only real negative for me was the time wasted on some police characters who kept getting in the way of the behavioral analysis team.

Watched in June. rtc