I originally saw this and couldn't wait to binge watch this -

It was a very quick and quirky coming to age story of Ga Doo Shim understanding her family's special gift with them help of Woo So, and ultimately deciding if she wanted to live as a normal girl after the age of 18 or continue in her family's footsteps. It was simple and quick and straight to the point where I enjoyed to story as well as all the characters.

I loved Ga Doo Shim cause she was a badass whenever she wanted to try and save people;
I loved Woo So and the passion he had for others as well as his cute little embarrassed run whenever he confessed anything to Doom Shim;
I loved Hyun Soo and his 10 year friendship with Ga Doo Shim;
& I loved Kim Il Nam and his comedic relief

This was very cookie cutter in all the things I enjoy from a spooky drama, but I couldn't go over a 9 due to the ending. It was a good ending, don't get me wrong - it was very classic, but when it seemed that the "world was saved" and everyone got to live normal lives, these characters who took on adult roles, eased into their high school lives quickly and it reminded me that I was watching a show about probably 15 or 16 year olds. Plus I guess I am so used to the ending being straight forward about certain things, while others could be open ended, but this drama didn't really answer anything... or maybe, I just missed it. It made me go back to previous episodes as I wasn't 100% sure what Doo Shim meant in her final words to Woo So. I also didn't understand what position Doo Shim chose about her life moving forward as this was the big question in the beginning of the drama.

Everything else seemed to happen and all our questions were answered, except for the two big Doo Shim questions.

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Watch Once, Hold In You Heart Forever

This had no business being so good, but also had no business being so sad. If you want to watch a movie where the first half is quirky and cute, while the second half will make you ugly cry, this one is a great one!

I knew what I was getting myself into with a "mob"-esq story, but Netflix recommended this to me and I didn't really feel strongly about watching something else so here I was in the same cycle. Probably going to watch a beautiful love story between a "school girl innocent" type and a "mobster with a heart of gold," and have it destroyed in the last few minutes due to "the mob life."

And this drama did have that element and storyline, but it was done in such a cute and quirky and sad way, that I was glued to the screen even though I knew something bad was going to happen. BUT unlike other "mob" stories, we got a happy ending or as much of a happy ending that we could have gotten with this tragic story.

I fell in love with A Cheng - we learn right from the beginning that he had a heart of gold, but for some reason was a debt collecting leader. He would go to collect debt from people and business owners, but instead of collecting money, he would help out in any way, and add their debt to his debt. In the beginning, we see him as a hero and maybe working on the inside to help out others who owe debt, but then we realize that he wants to help people, he just doesn't know how to do it any other way. He had a heart of gold, but didn't know how to handle every situation in another way - undercover, he was a hero and a caregiver, but to everyone else, he looked like the scum of the earth.

My favorite part of this film would have to be when he started pursuing Hao Ting - I loved the music score that they choose as if there was some kind of training montage that was taking place in the 80's but in reality, A Cheng was just convincing Hao Ting to date him romantically. I loved the funeral scene when A Cheng starts to realize that she was falling for A Cheng, and then when they go bowling and A Cheng decides to break out in song and dance. It was quirky! It was cute! It was cheesy!

But of course, there has to be a low cause not everything can be sunshine and rainbows. A Cheng falls back into old ways, and ends up in a dark place, which is when we find out some terrible news that changes A Cheng's life and makes him decide what is worth fighting for. I believe the reason why I ugly cried so much is because A Cheng was genuinely a great person who had his character and integrity put into question on multiple occasions by the same people who happened to be the ones closest to him. He had his bad days, which seemed to always be when everyone was around and he didn't always know how to express his words. And at those times when he needed someone there for him, it seemed as if those people would give up. A Cheng didn't take care of people because he wanted to be taken care of in return, and he didn't put his good deeds on a loud speaker for everyone to know. He did good things without thinking about it. He wasn't a perfect person, but he wanted to put more good out into the world than all the bad that was happening. And even til the end of the movie, even after the movie's climax settled, he took care of the people around him and made sure everyone was happy and taken care of.

Just remembering this film while writing this review gets me very emotional as A Cheng deserved a better life, but he was happy with what he had, and made everyone around him smile.

I hope Roy Chiu who played A Cheng won an aware for this movie, because it was amazing. It is definitely one of those films that you only watch once , but you hold in your heart for a while.

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For the first time, I am stumped about what to write in this review. I enjoyed the relationship between the two mains Bei Bei and Dr Zhou, and was sucked into the story and drama from the beginning. Both characters were genuinely good people who found one another, fell in love, and shared their love with one another and the world. Dr Zhou reminded me a lot of Zhao Nai from Love020, while Bei Bei reminded me of every role I've ever seen the main actress in, except for this time Bei Bei was a bit naive and overly dramatic but had one of the biggest hearts. She always saw the good in people, even when there was always someone trying to tear her and her career down. It was refreshing knowing that the only thing I didn't like about Bei Bei was how she just viewed life as a romance drama, and whenever there was a situation, she would react with a lot of flare. But it made it very enjoyable to watch as Dr Zhou loved Bei Bei's dramatics and never thought she was overreacting, even when the viewer did, and vice versa with Bei Bei loving the normalness of Dr Zhou. They loved one another for who they were, craziness and all.

This leads me to my least favorite couple, Dr Xiao & Di Di. I thought that they were very opposite of the mains. I loved Dr Xiao and thought he was very much a guy version of Bei Bei, as they had very similar dramatics and were very passionate people and I believe that Dr Zhou def has a type that he likes to surround himself with (dramatic, passionate, big-hearted people). This is why I couldn't get behind his relationship with Di Di. Di Di is a very strong-minded person, who after a failed engagement, is very set in her ways (which isn't a bad thing whatsoever), but when she finally opened her heart to Dr Xiao, she had this mindset where she liked him but would love him more if he changed his habits. And it was weird as a viewer seeing this relationship between Dr Zhou and Bei Bei form with total love of one another, and then seeing Di Di always needing something more from her partner. Given, Dr Xiao would do anything and change anything in order for Di Di to reciprocate his feelings, so he is also to blame for my dislike for them. And I know that every relationship is different and not easy, but I felt like there was always something with them two, and it got old quickly. It got to a point where I wanted to fast forward through their scenes but decided against it cause I loved Dr Xiao's character.

Overall, I enjoyed how this drama was a good balance of easy watching as well as being super dramatic where everything either ended up in best-case scenarios or worst. Such as at one point (SPOILER) Bei Bei got sick and thought she was pregnant and then told everyone...even though her and Dr Zhao had never been "intimate" that the viewer was aware of, especially when they have a talent of always getting disturbed while they are about to kiss. It turned out that her body just didn't react well to her intense dieting, and I am sitting here like...this is the theme of this drama. The obvious first reaction is never thought about until the very end when someone else had to tell the mains...yo...what?

Given, I did enjoy this drama as the dramatics were easy to laugh at and the mains would eventually get to the right place...eventually. But I do think this drama would have been better if there was less Di Di. Also, I would have been more interested in more Jiawei and him building his relationships. He was a very enjoyable character and thought his store moved a little too quickly for the few minutes he had at the end.

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Honor & Responsibility

Once again, I watched this film during my Mulan adaptation movie weekend and this one was my second favorite.

I liked this one a lot because it was a very smooth plot with an obvious goal - an ode to the Chinese Military.

This movie was less about the story and more about the hardship that soldiers face when they are protecting their motherland, but the passion they have for their country.

This movie started up right away, minute 12, Mulan taking the place of her father in the military, but the new bit of information we have is that her father and mother are told, by a shaman, that she will reach greatness, but go through trouble beforehand. Mulan is a headstrong woman that is loved by the people in her village but also feared due to her impressive fighting skills. Due to this, she is found out right away by two village men who feared her, when they sign up for the military but decide to befriend her and help her out. This movie also focused on Mulan's "misfit" group of soldiers and how they advance in the ranks after saving PrinceTuoba Shuo from the "mongrels". There is 0-1% romance in this film, but it was more of a respectful relationship between Mulan and the Prince. Mulan has one goal, and one goal only - to fight till the very end. And due to the film mainly being about Mulan and her group of soldiers, it hurts when soldiers start to die one by one. They try to add some comedic relief through some characters, but Mulan is serious 100% of the time, except for the one time she got a little drunk and danced.

My favorite thing about this movie would have to be Mulan's dedication to her homeland. Originally, she joined to save her father, but in reality, she also joined because she knew her love for her country would help lead them to victory. Mulan never gave up or thought about giving up and it made her into a wonderful general and leader. Even if it was just her against an army of 100, she would still fight. Logically, reckless, but passionate, telling the viewer that she would rather die fighting for her country than run away.

But if there was going to be a romance in the film, def Mulan and my boy Li Liang. Even though friends from the same village, they would be literally, a power couple.

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I feel a little bad about rating and reviewing this one, especially after reading all the positive comments and how a lot of people said this was their favorite U-Prince.

I kind of thought this was was a bit random for me. Don't get me wrong, T-Rex was super cute and optimistic and extremely caring of other people, but I saw him more like a younger brother than a love interest. If anything, a really good best friend. But at the same time, in the beginning, he was like a lost puppy, attaching on to the first thing he saw. Love at first sight? Idk. No idea what he saw in Baiplu. Potential? Even his friend Thesis from the previous chapter (the Gentle Vet) was like...dude...stop bothering her. He played an almost parental figure in this chapter, which I gained a new appreciation for him. Almost wished his chapter came after this one.

I was not a fan of the main female lead Baiplu, who just has a negative attitude about everything and didn't ever share her feelings and concerns with her boyfriend Him. I didn't know her reasoning for being negative all the time, and it seems weird and very "drama" like for her to meet someone who would help change her and make her positive.

I believe the only thing I really liked about this chapter was finding out why TRex was digging in her yard and getting that background story. Also, just T Rex's overall positive attitude was refreshing, and hard to have a bad time. I would love to be friends with him.

As for the romance, it was a bit too random for me.

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11/10 Johnny + Dilraba Chemistry

This drama reminded me of a mix between all the powerful girl boss moments of Dilraba's drama Sweet Dreams and Nice to Meet You. To be completely honest, this drama was a very stereotypical 45 episode Cdrama in terms of the plot, BUT it had a lot of western television drama vibes with its characters. Such as, I have NEVER seen a C drama nor K drama where the characters were super touchy and hanging all over one another. I thought touching was against the law in these dramas! It was really refreshing to watch a drama that had the elements of a cdrama, as well as the romance we see in westernized tv. This drama reminded me of Nice to Meet You simply because the two main female leads were designers, Zhou Fang in clothing design, and QQ in jewelry design, where their dreams are to open up a customization section. Plus, there were hella people behind the scenes trying to ruin Fang's career, such as the other drama, simply because of her relation to Song Lin. It reminded me of Sweet Dreams simply because I felt like Dilraba's character in this drama was all the good elements as well as her boss lady kickass vibes that weren't explored enough in Sweet Dreams.

I am not going to lie, I am a little biased, as I am a huge fan of Dilraba, and love her dramas, even though, most of them aren't that very good. So I was happy to give this one a higher score as this one is def my favorite of hers. But her chemistry with Johnny is what made me want to give this drama a 9. I would give their chemistry an 11/10 honestly because it seemed like they were a real-life couple.

But I ultimately gave this a 9/10 because it was just too long and I wasn't into the side characters. This 45 episode drama seemed to drag on towards the end. Yes, the ending was super cute and I teared up a little, but there was way too much filler even though, this drama was supposed to be about two people being dragged through the mud, but come out on top. And it goes hand in hand with my feelings about the side characters. I feel like QQ and Yu Lin were main characters in this drama, and if you cut out their bull crap, the drama would be shortened in half. Don't get me wrong, I loved QQ as a friend, and Yu Lin was an adorable person and friend, but as a couple...yuck. QQ was super back and forth all the time, which annoyed me for being such a strong character in every other way. Then we have Yu Lin, who was a cute puppy dog the whole drama, until the end when he would rather lie and put QQ in a weird position, rather than stand up for his relationship with her. It was annoying, BUT I did appreciate that the writer didn't force any relationship because it was a drama and everyone should be happy.

Overall, I am happy I watched this drama, and I will 100% rewatch episodes here and there. I rewinded so much watching this drama the first time, just to see the hot and heavy Dilraba and Johnny moments. Another point, SO MANY insinuated sex scenes and I AM HERE FOR IT!

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I had extremely high expectations for this drama, and it was beautiful to watch, but also boring. After watching the first few episodes, I thought this was going to be a mellow visual drama, which is what it was, and it was really well done. 10/10 for the person who directed, filmed, produced, etc. Visually, I was pulled in.

As for the characters, I loved their "tragic" backstories that haunted them to present day which ultimately led them together. I loved how it went from annoyance, to curious, to "friends," to finally lovers. And their romance was cute and passionate and mature. But...they were the only people that I cared about in this drama. I didn't care much for Oh Bo Mi or Choi Chang, especially as a couple. I liked Choi Chang in the beginning when he started to hit on Young Jae when she first moved to the area, but all of a sudden, he just stopped showing up and insta fell in love with Bo Mi. Bo Mi on the other hand, was just not my type of drama character. She was a tad annoying, but I have to give her credit for having passion for her job. But I think I didn't like her whatsoever was because she didn't go through any character development. I think the only other people I cared about in this drama were Kang San Hyuk's assistant (who is the REAL homie) and his teammates when he joined the forest rescue team.

There were some heavy scenes and topics in this drama that I have yet to see in other dramas (I don't watch medical dramas) and I thought they did a very good job going about every situation. I think my issue with this drama was that...it was boring. Some episodes were better than others, instead of having a consistency ratio. Also, having a degree in business, I was super lost whenever they talked business, which was a large part of the drama. I got some things, but not all.

Overall, I might watch this drama again just for the way it was filmed. It makes me wish this was a real place (maybe it is...I couldn't find it) so I can go visit it. Maybe Airbnb that little house. As for the plot, maybe not. It was def a "business" drama. If you cut all that business talk about and just watch the rest of the drama, maybe it would be more entertaining. For me at least. I also wanted to give this drama a higher score than what I have been seeing because, I have not seen another drama so visually pleasing before. Also, the romance between the mains was super sweet and loving that I can overlook everything else.

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I wanted to like this drama, and I did. I binge watched this all this past weekend. Literally didn't get up except to take personal breaks. I've been on this kick recently, where I've been getting into "older" dramas. I think they have a special and specific quirk to them, and this drama was no different. The background and scene set up was so beautiful, and I also loved the cheesy palace backdrops as it reminded me of an old telenovela. Fake, but you pretend it is real anyways because you are enjoying the storyline.

This drama would have to be my first dealing mainly on royalty and palace life.

I somewhat enjoyed most characters, but all the feels were there whenever anything happened to any of the characters. Maybe it is because I have been super emotional lately, but I lightweight did not ship the two mains together. Mainly because I felt like even though Shin Chae Kyun was super bubbly and brought life into the palace, she was too forgiving and let everyone walk all over her. Also, the Crowned Prince, Chin, was just plain an asshole. He would go around doing whatever he wanted, acting like he is doing absolutely nothing wrong, but when Chae Kyung, Crowned Princess, did one thing wrong, she was punished to the max. And that was basically what this drama was about. Chae Kyung is a commoner who finds out that her grandfather and the late king made an arrangement when they were back in the military that she would marry the crowned prince and unite both families. She agrees to the marriage to help her family, as they are living in poverty, despite knowing and disliking Shin. She struggles in the beginning, being married to someone who she knows is in love with someone else, Min Hyo Rin, and who also loves to put her in situations that make her uncomfortable and struggle more. The only person who acts as her sanctuary through all of this is Lee Yool, her new classmate and later we find out was actually the Crowned Prince until the death of his father, which lead to him and his mother's "banishment." Lee Yool is sensitive, understanding, and overall an amazing confidant, but creates havoc in the palace. Yool has been trained by his mother to one day take back his crown.

And it is interesting that I've been explaining everything from Chae Kyung's POV even though, yes, she is the main character in this drama, but I do feel like Shin was the one this story revolved around. He had the most internal struggle, yet didn't want to do anything until the second half of the series. I hated his excuses being that he was raised a certain way, so he doesn't know when he is wrong or not, and if he knows he is wrong, he doesn't know how to fix it because it goes against everything he grew up believing. Which ultimately broke Chae Kyung slowly and painfully. I felt extremely bad for her. Whenever her heart started to break, my heart would. After spending some time with the Crowned Prince, she started to fall in love with him and he almost seemed like he started to as well, but when he would start hanging out with his ex again and contradict everything. I did start to like Shin once Chae Kyung started to, but the moment that whole Thailand thing happened, I HATED him. Not only did he make her feel unwanted, but it also made her feel like she was the bad guy, keeping him away from his true love. And this doesn't happen once. It happens on multiple occasions, and then he comes back acting all lovey dovey. Fake News. This is why I loved Yool aka the Royal Prince. Regardless how I disliked the way he went about certain things, he was always honest and never sugarcoated anything. Chae Kyung always went to him because he was always there and comforted her. Yes, I did feel like he said some harsh things, sometimes about how the Crowned Prince will always love his ex more than he will ever love her, and that is not ok, but I do feel like there were good intentions there. He never acted fake around Chae Kyung. Yes, there were times where he would do things purposely in front of Shin to show him that he was a better man than him, but everything he did came as first instinct to him. Like, when they were all driving to Yool's party and Shin knew that Chae Kyung was a terrible driver, what did the two men do? Shin, at this point was Chae Kyung's boyfriend, offered to drive her and her friends, but once she says no, he leaves. Yool, the homie he is, who doesn't know that she is a bad driver, decides to drive behind her to make sure that they all get there safe. To me, that is like walking down the street with your man, and him instinctually walking on the side closest to the street. Yes, old fashioned and corny, but it is a little way of showing that he wants to keep you safe.

I did feel terrible for Yool though. He was the son of a king who died, and of a mother who wanted revenge, but not for what she has told Yool all his life. He loves his mother, but ultimately becomes a pawn in her selfish revenge plot. She lies and manipulates all her late husband's friends and supporters as well as her son to get what she thinks she deserves, yet well knowing that her revenge was never justified. I felt terrible for Yool because he was the product and pawn of bad fate created by his mother. A fate that would never let him get what he wanted - the crown in which was his birth right and the woman he loves. In the end, he (spoiler) ultimately decides that he will be take all the blame of what his mother did, instead of provided all proof it was his mother. Another reason why I felt bad for Yool was that any mother would protect her son at all costs, but instead, he let's her son take the blame for what she did, and then tries to kill herself. And after all of this, Yool still takes care of his mother and tries to let go of the woman he loves.

I enjoyed the first half of this drama, but after the whole Thailand thing, it was a battle of tug of war between Chae Kyung and Shin, with Shin always cheating. Like I said in the beginning, whenever Shin was clearly flat out cheating and causing a scandal, he thought he did nothing wrong and got his PR team to cover it up. But the one time there is a scandal with Chae Kyung that the only thing that is her fault was staying friends with Yool after rejecting him so many times, Shin blows up on her and the elders debate about banishing her. Like, ok, she doesn't have royal blood so it's more acceptable, but damn. Shin knew she never cheated, but decided at that point to tell her that he was falling in love with her, but now he thinks he hates her. He was the Prince of hurting his wife over and over again while she had plenty of opportunities to be like, "now you know how I felt whenever you were with your ex. the only difference is that you actually cheated." But she would never say that because she is actually a decent person. That is where the story got annoying - after her scandal, it was a back and forth game of I hate you because you wronged me, but I was wrong, so I love you again, but now I wronged you, and you hate me. Very back and forth and annoying.

Overall, though, I did love the story. When they were in a good place, everything was honestly perfect. There weren't many times where they were open about their feelings and lovey dovey, so when they did happen, they were that much more great. But when they were in a bad place, it was really bad. I loved the drama, and loved to hate Yool's mom, but damn, she was ready to tear down the whole monarchy for her revenge. She gave zero f***s. And honestly, none of this would have happened, if someone spoke up sooner. Shame on Yool for not stepping up sooner, but he did grow up believing that they kicked him out for an invalid reason. Also, shame on Shin's father, who magically learned his lesson at the end of the series even though nothing really happened for him to come to any conclusion. Maybe he realized that he was being petty towards his son for not valid reason. Also attacking Yool and Chae Kyung for fake drama even though he should have been more considerate, given his past. Finally, shame on Shin for just being a butthole. He's over here mopeing about not knowing what to do to make Chae Kyung happy, even though she was told him over and over again what he should be doing. Like, you are getting mad at your wife for opening up to a close friend, even though she has never seeked Yool out, when you have never tried to open up to her or comfort her. She has always tried to comfort you, even when you say you want to be alone, and all she wants is for you to do the same. I can truthfully say that even though I enjoyed this drama, I wasn't a fan of any character. The only person who I enjoyed in this drama was Yool, and he def got the short end of the stick. Yes, he was wildin' out and saying wild stuff, but damn, compared to what Shin was doing, I don't think he was bad at all. The only fault he had in my opinion was thinking that if he was able to get her divorced and banished, she would want to run away with him. Like...homie...no. That also goes for Shin's ex - she was wildin' out even more. This is why I didn't mention her. She wasn't as bad as Yool's mother, but shoot, she rejected his proposal and when he got married, she realized she wants him again, but not as the Crowned Prince or King, but as a commoner, so she does everything in her power to try to get him removed. People in this drama were wildin' out more than they needed to be. Entertaining, but painful.

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My roommate and I have this random fascination with Lu Han ever since watching him and Dilraba on Keep Running, so when she told me that he was in this "end of the world / alien invasion" film on Netflix, of course we had to set aside a night to watch it together. Was is good? Nah. Was it enjoyable? Sure. We will definitely have more inside jokes because of it. I loved how there was a "star" cast with the obvious Luhan but also Qi Shu (the "love interest" of Bruce Willis in the first Transporter movie) who played commander Lin Lan and Godfrey Gao (who of course played the famous Magnus Bane in the 2013 The Mortal Instruments movie) who played Yan Jiannan. And overall, the acting was fine. It was a very patriotic film about people who would die to save their county and even would monologue about their love for Shanghai before they sacrificed themselves. But that is all this movie was; an ode to how much these people had pride in their country.

But there was more to this movie that I disliked more than I liked. At first, we were making jokes about how we thought we were watching a B rated Transformers movie and kept shouting, "where is Michael Bay when you need him?" Also, we kept questioning if the "aliens" were robots themselves or if the aliens created these robots to fight their battles. We kept making One Punch Man references as well as Independence Day references. Asking ourselves if Will Smith would be able to defeat this evil. I think a 6/10 is generous, but it kept us entertained by fueling our jokes.

I thought the romance between Jiang Yang and Lin Lan was super unnecessary especially when they made us think it was one sided the whole movie, until the very end, after the credits, when they decide to show a few clips from before everything happened, showing that there might have been mutual feelings. But that was also the whole movie - they went straight into the action without any background. All I got from it was that there were 4 friends that were on the Grey Eagle team, who really didn't have anything special about them except for working well together. We didn't get any background information about the aliens or how long they've been attacking Earth. Maybe they had no information on them because they were super worried about killing them instead of understanding them. I felt like the writer was very lazy - more focused on the action rather than the story-line. Which made he not really "care" once people that we were introduced to started to die off. The only person that she kind of got to know was Jiang Yang, but it seemed like he had more of an one sided love for Lin Lan that didn't make sense. Or an unhealthy obsession.

Overall, I was confused the whole time, not knowing what the plan and plot was. All I got from this film was that the Shanghai defense team wanted to shoot the alien mothership out of the sky with a huge laser rocket that they had secretly or not secretly created underwater (was not clear whatsoever) which would take all their power (that was coming from whatever underground natural energy source that blue stuff was) which would ultimately make Shanghai cave in on itself. It didn't make sense that the commander of the aliens didn't tell its robot minions to attack the rocket laser as it was the only thing that could defeat them. Also, it didn't make sense that the aliens had such an obsession with Shanghai and didn't move on and then come back after destroying other major cities. They tried to make the ending sentimental and have the people who survived the attack honor the people who had fallen, which yes, was emotional, but after 5 years which took to rebuilt Shanghai, which I thought was still crazy fast, the person/people that survived the final battle thought of a single person instead of honoring the people that they actually fought alongside. The people that ultimately sacrificed themselves to give the survivors a fraction more of a percent of defeating the aliens. Also, one last thought. I never understood the whole, last resort, self destruct button which would reboot the whole system. Like, did no one think that major they could have had a better last resort option before this that would kill less people?? Just saying. Maybe another button that could turn on the backup generators if something crazy would happen? It seemed like a waste to sacrifice so many people in order to turn on a back up generator and also kill a single robot. I don't understand why some people were carrying around a gun that could kill the robot soldier in one blow, while other people were given handguns like that was going to protect them again anything.

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This was so close to You Are My Glory, so I knew I was going to love this!

Instead of an actress and aerospace engineer, we have a corporate girlie, whose grandpa is the CEO of the company, and a GPS engineer who is a prodigy in his field. The ML and FL are technically grade school sweethearts, who keep running into one another at different points in their lives, but seeming to miss one another.

I would sum this up as a sweethearts to strangers to friends to strangers to online lovers to strangers to coworks to lovers, romance. When I say they keep missing one another, I mean it!

I loved Janice Wu in this, a quirky yet mature businesswoman who wants to help her grandpa's sub-company not go bankrupt while correcting all the internal fraud that is being committed by the VP. I loved seeing Vin Zhang finally in a lead role, and not being a side character to a Dilraba drama... which is funny because I just said that this drama reminded me of a Dilraba drama.

In the 30-40 something episode drama, the writer and director took their time letting us get to know all the characters and their roles in the company as well as follow them throughout different projects - I felt like I was a part of the team! And I appreciate a drama that is well written and shot, not feeling like it is dragging... because I know these longer Chinese dramas and feel scary and boring when seeing how many one-hour episodes there are.

The romance was very cute, and honestly a bit sexy ... more than I have seen in a Cdrama before. I fell for both characters and wanted them to find love so badly with one another, and once they were together, it was sweet.

But going along with that point, I had to knock a point off because there were times throughout that I had no idea what was going on, and why the FL was crying or why the ML was comforting her or why the ML thought it was cool to start making out with the FL during an argument. There were also times when either one of them would be in a sales meeting and I had no idea what was going on... especially when the company seemed to be a huge factor or when the meeting ended up being fake? It is hard to explain even now because I feel like I was... on drugs and a part just flew over my head.

Other than that, loved this.

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This will be short and sweet since it took me about a year and three sittings to finish this. I wish I had written this review sooner, but I will keep it sweet and simple.

The reason why this took me so long to finish was that I felt like it went on and on and nothing really happened. But I mean that in a good way. It felt peaceful. It really captured the essence of what I believe it to be like when Yoon Hye Jin moved to a small seaside community, after living in the business of Seoul. We got to get to know the small community as we got to know everyone and their own individual stories. Yes, this was a love story between Yoon Hye Jin and Hong Doo Shik, but the drama was split up almost equally between all the other townspeople, whether it be the friendship between Kim Gam Ri and her two best friends near the end of their lives, Yeo Hwa Jeong getting a second chance at love, and Yu Cho Hui coming back to the town she loved, being around the people she loved, while learning to love and accept herself, when her family didn't. And there are so many more stories to follow... including... a fake kpop boy band, who I wish came out with more songs.

But what I thought was always interesting, was there there was always this hint of darkness in the background. It came and went, but it was masked by the easygoingness of this homey town.

It wasn't until the final few episodes, where coincidentally is right where I stopped watching almost a year ago, that this darkness was exposed. It made me ugly cry watching, as it felt like I was watching a completely different show, but I loved how the writer and director decided to "solve" the final obstacle. I truly felt that I was watching a show about mature people. Even if they do sometimes act like puppy dogs and gossip, when it really mattered, everyone stepped up and somehow knew exactly what to do to comfort one another, even if they couldn't find the words.

And because of that, I wanted to give this drama a high rating.

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It's been a while since I've written a review, so please bare with me as I try to find the words to describe this. It's also been a while since I have decided to watch a kdrama as well - before I would sit down and binge for a few days, and now I think it took me 3 weeks of watching a few episodes here and there before finishing. Recently, I realized that I watched a lot of "underground" dramas, instead of the popular ones, and maybe that is why I haven't had to desire to watch anything new... so I decided to pick a "popular" drama from random and that is how I landed on W.

I remember my previous roommate watching this one and loving it, a few years back, but also that she had a knack for spoiling plot lines... which is why I kept putting this one on the backburner. Now, a few years later, all I knew about this drama was that it was a love story about a girl and her "book boyfriend" and that Lee JOng Suk was in it... and I still can't believe this is the first drama I have ever watched with him in it.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the beginning and end of the drama. The middle was alright.. but I felt like there were 10 different subplots in the middle where I honestly forgot why certain characters would start blinking out of existence. I liked the newness and surprise from the characters in the beginning whenever they would meet in the comic world and how much Kang Chul had this childlike wonder when it came to Yeon Joo. Then at the end, when they were both in life of death situations, I loved how Kang Chul would do anything to keep Yeon Joo safe and happy. That being said... I am not sure if it was the 10 different subplots, or Lee Jong Suk's acting... but I could NEVER tell what he was thinking. Even when he would come out and say how her was feeling, I still didn't believe it. I felt that Kang Chul's character went through 5 different character changes, along with the plot changes... where I just didn't believe that he was in love with Yeon Joo until the very end. Then we have Yeon Joo... who was this spazzy but strong character in the beginning and then gradually just became this person that her dad and Kang Chul needed to protect. Eventually... I just didn't care much about her or her character.

I don't think I will watch this again, BUT I am curious to see another Lee Jong Suk drama to figure out if it was the script or it was just the way he acts. I feel like I've been a similar drama like this.. but instead of a comic book, a video game, and it was done a lot better. Don't get me wrong, I loved some of the subplots that were thrown in.. but others, I felt were unnecessary. If I was a mundane living in this world and waiting each week for an episode to be uploaded... TBH... I might have dropped it once there was a supernatural element to it. Plus...I would have been bummed by the comic ending.

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I want to start off saying that I loved how much representation there was in this drama, even though at times I felt that some things were offensive, but I have recently come to accept that Thai dramas have zero chill and I assume they don't get offended easily. That being said, I feel like I have dropped other dramas for less.

I enjoyed the story and how it was almost like Captain Pra's journey of understanding the LGBTQ+ community and learning to accept and love his older brother for the person she was born to be. And I apologize if I am misusing pronouns as the subtitles on youtube weren't the best - how Pra's brother used her/she pronouns, but everyone called her an older brother, whereas Noona's sister used she/her pronouns and everyone called her an older sister.

I enjoyed the premise of both Pra and Noona going "undercover" at the cabaret, Pra trying to arrest Decha for illegal drugs and Noona trying to figure out why her sister disappeared. Going off that, the drama did seem to drag a bit. I feel that 75% of this was about Pra and Noona annoying one another as well as falling in love. I believe this could have turned from 22 episodes to an easy 12/14. But maybe I am biased as I feel that Pra went through a lot of character change and development, and could no stand Noona's character. She was very unlikable and at some point near the end, even her sister was like... yo.. you have no right to be mad at Pra because you did the same to him... and he did it because he was on an undercover mission with the police force... you did it for shits and giggles.

I don't understand how I was able to sit through 22 eps just for the main characters to realize that they were both not who they said they were in the last 5 minutes. BUT I did enjoy the acceptance that Pra found in his heart as well as the relationship he had with his family - Pree, Parn and Tanu. Tanu was a down-ass best friend. I would fall in love with him too.

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Found this on on Tiktok, came for Kim So Hyun, continued to watch for Ji Soo.

This was a cute and quick short story drama about three students who lives were forever changed by one another, each finding their own love/relationships with performing the piano. Yoo Seul was born a prodigy, but hated performing due to the intense pressure her mother put on her. Jin Mok loved playing the piano, but was always told he would amount to nothing by Yoo Seul, her mother (his old piano teacher) as well as his father, and always came in second to Yoo Seul. Cha Sik was an aspiring Olympian, but after an accident, he wanted to feel closer to his birth father and decided to take up the piano.

All teenagers went through their own trauma, but when Cha Sik came into their lives, he helped unknowingly reignite Yoo Seul's passion for the piano as well as put Jin Mok in a position where he got praise from the people he always wanted reassurance from. I love love loved Cha Sik;s positive energy, as he always made every situation into a positive one, and always put 110% into his goals, either is be learning the piano in a short amount of time, or proving to Yoo Seul that she had made teh right decision trusting him to be her eyes. I loved that even though Cha Sik was going through his own internal struggle with his dreams taken away from him, he saw Yoo Seul's new reality, and wanted to help her out, to hopefully bring a smile to her face. I don't think there was an evil bone in his body, and always did everything for others, even though Jin Mok thought he was this loud mouthed selfish guy, and I cried at the end when we finally saw him breakdown.

I loved the ending, and I understand why everything happened the way it did. It gave everyone their own version of a happy ending, but I would be lying if I said that what Cha Sik gave up didn't mess with my heartstrings. But at the same time, I also don't think he really gave up anything, but in turn gave two other people an opportunity to fall back in love with the piano again, but on their own terms and together.

But with that, I had so many questions about the ending. Like did Yoo Seul every figure out who she was performing with? And based on that answer, what were the relationships of everything after that? I wanted a classic happy ending, knowing that everyone was together and happy, but instead we got a different version of a happy ending. Satisfying, but because I fell in love with Cha Sik, I wanted to know what happened to him and if he got his version of a happy ending. Did he get into music school or is piano now more a hobby? Is he still Yoo Seul's aid? Are Yoo Seul and him still friends after she found out what he did, or was that information never disclosed? and if it wasn't, what of Jin Mok and her's new relationship? Not saying that the ending we got wasn't satisficing, but it left so many open ended questions...but I guess his lie wouldn't have been as bad as the lie his mother told him in order to motivated him to play the piano...because that was rough.

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This is a lot better - if you are deciding either to watch this lakorn vs (what I like to call the reunion drama) Praomook, this one is the way to go. I watched Praomook with both Pon and Bua before watching this one, and I feel that, that drama was a step back in many ways. If anything, I felt that their chemistry was a lot better in this one, which makes zero sense to me as this one was their first together.

As for the storyline, I felt this one was a little more "justified" (and I use that word loosely) - we have a revenge story about a a boy named Peat who hated life because his father was never there for him and his mother, and around the same time his mother died, his father brings home another wife and adopted her daughter, Kiew, who happened to be the same girl he was starting to fall in love with at university. In a fit of rage, he is determined to get revenge on his father who was convinced was a adulterer, as well as Kiew, who be believed to be a gold-digger.

I feel like this story was broken out into a few different thoughts;

Peat having absolute zero trust in anyone, living off his prejudices and thinking the worst of people. He became almost this boy who called wolf character, where he kept doing bad, until the moment bad actually happened that he was not apart of, but it was too late and everyone associated him with anything bad that happened.

We very toxic friendship - Peat's friend group (him, Kriss, Chaya, and Katha) was this weird toxic energy where these people would do things to hurt one another, but Katha was trying to keep the glue together and justify that it is all love and we all get jealous sometimes. And I tried to accept this fact, but I feel like there is a line that is crossed when someone wants to seek revenge on you, so they kidnap your wife, steal from your company, pin it on you, and holds you at gun point. The way everything was fixed at the end was so casual, that I was anxious because how would you act around people like that after everything that had happened?

We saw a few different evils - Peat would emotionally manipulate people, but would mix his revenge in with his true feelings of love. We see this with his love with Kiew. It was almost like he was killing two birds with one stone - he got to act on his love for her, but also emotionally abuse her as a way to get back at his father. Both he can do while keeping her close. We saw Kriss's act out of jealousy and his love for Chaya. And maybe whoever is reading this will dislike me for saying this, but I enjoyed Kriss's chaos. I hated that he was doing this because of his love for Chaya, because honestly f*** that girl, but I felt that the story needed Kriss's revenge plot as a wake up call for Peat. I truly believe that Kiew's love wasn't enough for Peat to want to stop with his revenge plot. Maybe a 50 / 50. Kiew was his emotional support as she was always there to defend him and take care of him, but he didn't realize how much he needed that, until Kriss stepped up to the plate and all his thought out planning finally hit all at once. Then we have Chaya who I think was the true villain of this drama, right before Peat. Chaya was motivated by her interpterion of love - she acted like an empty vessel who would follow whoever he loved blindly. In this case, she was in love with Peat and everything she did was motivated by, if I follow him blindly, he will love me. If I help him ruin his relationship with everyone, all he will have is me and he will love me. I couldn't even count on my fingers and toes how many times she told Peat to love her, and asked Kiew to break up with him and convince Peat to marry her. But the thing I disliked the most about her was that she was like the devil on Peat shoulder - every time he seemed to come up for air and contemplate if his revenge was worth all the hurt he was causing Kiew, she would bury him back down and remind him that everyone sucks and is out to get him and all he needs is her. Honestly, her fate at the end of the the drama made me give this review and extra half a star.

Kiew, unlike Praomook, was a female lead I could get behind. Throughout her journey and emotional abuse, her morals remained the same, and if anything she became a stronger individual who spoke up and knew her limit. I disliked how long she supported Peat and his abuse, but I could empathize with her believing in her love for him and that he was acting out on revenge and wasn't being himself. She remained that support for him, even after all the bad he was doing, hoping that one day it would be enough and she would comfort him with open arms. But I did appreciate that she did have a line, and when Peat crossed it, she was out. And when she decided she was out, she committed. And it made me so happy that once everything related to revenge was figured out at the end, she was like, awesome, I am happy that you guys figured it out and have no more hate against one another, but you still abused me emotionally, and that changes nothing. Eventually, though, we get our happy ending, and all if forgiven (a bit too easily in my opinion). And I would be more upset, but I did enjoy all the lovey scenes between Peat and Kiew. I felt like there was so much love there between the characters and even maybe the actors.

I would say, if you enjoyed this one, don't bother to watch Praomook. Or you could watch that one first and then this one because this drama definitely saved the day.

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