✦ Shows I’ve Watched in 2026 ✦

Waiting for release

Airing: Nov 2026

Waiting for release

Airing: Oct 2026 (Leaked Assumed Date)

Waiting for release

Airing: 9 Oct 2026

Waiting for release

Airing: 30 Sept 2026

Waiting for release

Airing: 22 Sept 2026

Watching

Watching

Main hosts: Yoo Jae-suk & Yoo Yeon-seok.

Episode 1: Hwang Jung Min + Jung Ho Yeon.

Episode 2: Jung Hae In + Heo Sung Tae.

Episode 3: Cha Tae Hyun + Jin Ki Joo. Episodes with Cha Tae Hyun are always fun, this guy is a legendary guest of this show at this point.

Episode 4: Hyun Bin + Woo Do Hwan.

Watching

Completed

Screenwriter: Park Hae Young (My Mister | My Liberation Notes)

Nuff said, my goat.

It’s not perfect, but the way she writes really lets you experience emotions that are hard to pull out of your usual K-drama, and I just have to give a higher rating for that.

On another note, Go Youn Jung has truly grown into a loveable actress now, her performance are leaps better than her early roles imo.

9.5/10.

Completed

Good tension, good chemistry, good dialogues, best and lovely FL.
VR scenes were good, but I wished they did even more with it.
Acting was perfect from both parties; I’m a fan of Lu Yu Xiao now.

9.5/10.

Completed

Zhao Jin Mai <3

This couple’s relationship was so healthy, that I almost gave it a 10/10 at one point, any imperfection in comparison became insignificant to me.

9/10.

Completed

8.5/10.

Completed

7.5/10.

Completed

The first two episodes were the best.

Nothing too crazy, face-slapping the bullies.

At this point we’ve seen it all with the number of bullying kdrama out there.

6.5/10.

Completed

Highly engaging at the start, but the plot quickly turns flat. The romance was also a bit too cliché at times, such that it appears rather forced (and btw I’m someone who is usually fine with clichés).

What a waste honestly.

6.5/10.

Completed

Bruhh, ts is so disappointing. It started off strong with engaging ghost plotlines and fun dynamics between the leads. But then, the writers threw all that away for a dumb, generic obsessed villain 2ML and boring family business drama. Why ruin it when the supernatural element had much more potential? Where are all the ghosts?

Sighh, with what we have, at least the last episode saved it somewhat.

6/10.

Completed

That ending was absolutely insane. I don't think any other K-pop idol variety show could ever top this level of intensity.

8.5/10.

Completed

This is honestly so fun to watch. I love how competitive they can get, their playful banter, and how hilarious their occasional outbursts are.

Favorite Players:

• S1 — SeoYeon

• S11 — Kotone

8.5/10.

Completed

Gave it a slightly lower score than previous seasons as I looked through my past episodes comments + the maze game was partly a reused concept.

• Episode 4: I’ve never really disliked a player across all University War seasons, but this Park Sangyeon really gets on my nerves. He was way too egotistical, yet his performance and results were always subpar compared to his confidence. I honestly felt bad for the entire Yonsei team since they deserved better. It’s even more frustrating that the best girl, A-in, who is arguably the most competent female player this season (I take this most competent female player statement back after finishing the show), had to be dragged down by him. I guess he didn’t learn much from his experience in The Devil’s Plan Season 2.
  
  
• Episode 5: Yep, KAIST deserved it. I think they’re the strongest, alongside SKKU. The redemption game could’ve been more interesting if each team was given two priority cards instead imo, so there’d be more leeway for challengers.
  
  
• Episode 8: Deserved. I was rooting for SKKU but SNU Med won me over too. Both teams are well-balanced and everyone can pull their own weights. Neck and neck finals.

Favorite Players: Lee Seunghyun (SNU Med) & Kang Jihu (SKKU).
Least Favorite Player: Park Sangyeon.

8.5/10.

Completed

Yoo Jae Suk + Lee Kwang Soo + Ji Ye Eun + Byeon Woo Seok

7.5/10.

Completed

The puzzles were actually pretty solid, feeling somewhat like The Great Escape but redesigned and built as a competitive PvP mode.

While the finals were a bit simple, it felt befitting to the ‘Treasure Hunt’ theme, so I’m okay with it overall. Both players were deserving finalists who had teamed up throughout the show, and both happen to be MENSA members with an identical IQ of 156 too.

P.S. Oh Hyunmin underperformed and was on one of the first two teams eliminated; it did seem that he was quite overwhelmed by the leadership role he set himself up for.

7.5/10.

Completed

Main hosts: Yoo Jae-suk & Yoo Yeon-seok.

Episode 1: Lee Je Hoon and Pyo Ye Jin. My god, why do they always fail whenever schools are involved.

Episode 2: Choo Young Woo + Shin Si Ah.

Episode 3: Cha Tae Hyun + Kim Do Hoon.

Episode 4: Kwon Sang Woo + Moon Chae Won.

Episode 5: Oh Hae Won (NMIXX) + Sullyoon (NMIXX).

Episode 6: Lee Sun Bin + Kim Young Dae.

Episode 7: Zo In Sung + Park Jeong Min.

Episode 8: Kim Sook + Song Eun Yi.

Episode 9: Ji Ye Eun + Jung Sang Hoon.

Episode 10: Ra Mi Ran + Joo Jong Hyuk.

Episode 11: Kim Dong Hyun + Choo Sung Hoon.

Episode 12: Esom + Kim Kyung Nam + Jeon Seok Ho.

Episode 13: Park Sung Woong + Lee Sang Yoon.

Episode 14: Yoon Joong Sang + Kim GUn Woo.

Episode 15: Park Hae Soo + Lee Hee Joon.

Episode 16: Yang Se Hyung + Yang Se Chan.

Episode 17: Park Bo Young + Lee Kwang Soo.

7.5/10.

Completed

I’m totally new to them so I’m still figuring out who is who and what their personalities are like. That makes it a bit tough to rate this season fairly, so I'm just treating it as my baseline for now.

Players who caught my attention:

• S1 — SeoYeon (All-Rounder)

• S11 — Kotone (Potential)

• S5 — YooYeon (Competitiveness)

7/10.

Completed

The theme of the finals couldn’t have been more perfect for our winner.

7/10.

Completed

7/10.

Completed

6/10.

Completed

The first 6 episodes were a decent 8/10. Unfortunately, it went completely downhill from there. Episode 7 felt like a 5.5/10, and Episode 8 & 9 plummeted to a 2.5/10 episodes. Episode 9 was a massive failure and a huge blunder by the production team, and it was also my absolute biggest complaint this season. Since I place a lot of importance on the process and the ending, this severe drop-off totally ruined my enjoyment.

_____________

Episode 9: The production team went completely bonkers. Designing a semi-final with eight players (Episode 9) around a highly unpredictable, luck-based elimination game with no deathmatch is crazy. I’d take any high-stakes deathmatch over any of this dry, boring, repetitive gameplay, especially so given the 3-hour runtime. Worst semi-final format and game ever. A semi-final loss should feel like a reflection of skill, not a byproduct of poor game mechanics.

Episode 10: It was an okay finale (for what we were dealt with), except that we didn’t get to see a 1v1 face-off between both the “brain-type” players who were in conflict throughout the show, which were a shame. Basically, it was eh.

_____________

6/10.

Completed

This program would have been entirely cooked without Jang Dongmin, since no one even played well apart from him. Words can’t get through the other players, they’re really like wall as Jang Dongmin mentioned. At most they only deserve credit for their debate skills, and maybe just a bit of credit to Faker too.

6/10.