ranked kdramas

my favorite drama of all-time, easily

likes:

• the CHEMISTRY?? crazy
• amazing soundtrack (esp. the song the cast sings, so cute)
• the essence of the 90s is captured so beautifully
• kim tae ri absolutely steals the show
• the friendships!!

dislikes:

• the ending (but it is objectively well-done regardless)
• the flash-forwards, could've done without them entirely (I skip when rewatching)

rewatch value: 10/10  |  angst level: 9.5/10   |  chemistry level: 9.5/10

SO excited for season two, let's goooo

likes:

• Ji Hoon is an amazing actor
• the platonic (?) chemistry between Sieun and Suho <3
• the soundtrack. it will stay with me forever
• great fight scenes
• pretty much everything??

dislikes:

• that girl's wig lmao

rewatch value: 10/10  |  angst level: 9/10   |  chemistry level: 9/10

likes:

• character development is top tier
• park eun bin is incredible in this
• cute romance
• the whale animations <3

dislikes:

• court scenes feel mildly repetitive, but it is a law drama after all

rewatch value: 9/10  |  angst level: 5/10   |  chemistry level: 8.5/10

8.75/10

likes:

• the BEST ACTING I have seen in a long long time. both of the main leads carried their weight and beyond. Shin Ha Kyn was incredible from the jump. Yeo Jin Goo as well, but he especially amazed me in the last six episodes or so
• a near-perfect (...or just perfect) thriller/mystery plotline. well thought-out, thorough, everything wraps up neatly
• fantastic, fantastic OST
• the MLs, who supposedly share only a platonic relationship, lit up the screen with chemistry during every. single. interaction. it was just incredible to see and watch that only grow throughout the show
• details & intricacies make for an even better rewatch

dislikes:

• a few characters took too long for me to even care about -- and that made their scenes somewhat dreadful and draining
• there were a few too many times that I considered dropping bc it was too slow. I knew the ending would be worth it but it felt like a lot to get through

rewatch value: 9/10  |  angst level: 7.5/10   |  (bromance) chemistry level: 9.5/10

finished in feb. 2024. overall, I'd say this show is very unsatisfying. there were times that I was like damn this is a masterpiece and times I couldn't believe I was wasting my time watching. the writing is very inconsistent, and the character development is nonexistent. I'm ultimately scoring based on how well the show tied everything together by the end.

likes:

• the bromance CARRIES the show on its BACK. there is unexplainable chemistry between Ji Sung and Jin Young that needs to be studied
• the main female antagonist/villian (Sun Ah) was a very intriguing, nuanced character, but also kind of annoying
• Elijah. great character. great actress. wish we saw more of her
• found family vibes
• Ji Sung did an incredible job as Yo Han

dislikes:

• the writing is just bad
• surprisingly not enough trial scenes for me. for a show about judges, you'd expect more screen time for what judges do.
• also, what were the guidelines for the live trials? seemingly none. Yo Han could just pull a trial out of his ass and that was allowed. also the frequency? he was allowed to just not have a trial for days on end? so confusing.
• I have thoughts about the trend of characters that had bad things happen to them... avoiding giving spoilers but iykyk.
• there's only one consistently likeable main character imo
• some characters weren't given enough depth to have any meaningful impact (e.g. Ga On's "love interest")
• lots of plot armor being passed around to all the main characters. sometimes stupid decisions should get equivalent consequences.

rewatch value: 5/10  |  angst level: 6/10   |  chemistry level: 9/10

likes:

• loved the set location

dislikes:

• unnecessarily dark (there wasn't a good balance imo)

rewatch value: 5/10  |  angst level: 8/10   |  chemistry level: 8/10

likes:

• the chemistry between the leads is the only thing that got me to finish this
• more mature romance than typically seen in kdramas
• light-hearted & fun

dislikes:

• feels sloppy (the story, the production, etc.)
• the premise of man-hating woman vs. woman-hating man just doesn't sit right with me lol

rewatch value: 6/10  |  angst level: 1/10   |  chemistry level: 9/10

watched this waaay before rating it, so the score is based off memory. and I don't remember much.