For when you need your Lee Soo Hyuk fix

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a “liked”.

I just watched this for the second time and thought I’d do a review.

Things I liked:
This was a short, sweet, and to the point little fantasy where LSH is actually the male lead who (supposedly?) gets the girl in the end. It was a drama about emotional healing and facing one’s feelings.

Things I disliked:
ML’s back story could have been fleshed out a bit more—but as this was a mini-drama, I get why they did not. It was unclear how much time the FL actually spent working in the shop. If not, she fell in love awful fast. The inaccuracies around sewing and tailoring: I’m pretty sure you cannot make a custom outfit in 3 days; you never actually saw them making anything; that is not how you cut out patterns; and the clothes never actually looked that spectacular.

Inconsistencies aside: check it out for LSH. Its free to watch on YouTube. ?

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All would have been solved in women were allowed to have more than one husband....

This drama had been on my watch list for some time (upon recommendation of my sister). I enjoyed it enough to get all the way through, but I do not think I'll rewatch it. In my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," and "nah," this drama rates a "liked" but no rewatch.

While this may be tagged as historical, it bears little resemblance to actual history--even if any of those characters existed in history (which I did not bother to look up). There was definitely no ancient Chinese doctor who could perform plastic and voice surgery. lol. But anyways, if you suspend historical reality, then you can enjoy this drama. This drama showed a good buildup of a relationship between the leads, featured an intelligent and fearless female lead (who, best of all, did not suddenly get helpless just so the ML could save her), and there minimal misunderstandings and stupid sacrifices for one another. There was a lot of "background", as in the characters would talk about something and then it would have happened by the next scene (so you don't see many battles, ML assassinating the emperor of the Qi, etc).

Personally, I did not mind Jin Han in the role of ML. At first, I was not sure about him as ML, his appearance fits better with Western, rather than Asian, standards of handsomeness--and I also saw him for the first time playing a sociopath in Princess Agents (but then playing the ML in "Our Glamorous Time") so I was a bit hesitant. But he did alright--especially the more comedic bits (I loved him and his two brofriends). He could be a little too dramatic at times, but it was tolerable. And its nice to have an ML in a drama who (almost) weighs as much as me...

This is my first time seeing Peng Xiao Ran in anything, and I thought she did just fine.

Du Ya Fei did a good job as Lu Yun Qi. He was a properly creepy/repulsive character with almost no good side except that LYQ kept Jiuling's family safe and never forced himself upon either her sister or her. I did not quite buy his change of heart at the end, since before that DYF played the character as a sociopath, but they had to tie up a happy ending in some way so him becoming a witness was a way to do that.

Side characters: Zhou Zhan as Fang Cheng Yu--I feel bad for the actor that he, a man in his early twenties, can convincingly play a fifteen year old boy. I really thought the actor was that young. He was cute though, especially with his crush on his "cousin"/wife/ex-wife. I kind of shipped ZZ's full sister with Ning Yun Zhao--that would have been a nice tie-up and they would have been a cute couple (but that mother would have been a bit of a nightmare...). I loved the ML's brofriends, they were hilarious and the three of them were able to convey hilarity without even needing to speak. I like the portrayal of supportive families (the Fangs and the Zhus).

A random drama questions: Why does anyone ever want to be the emperor!? (At least as the job is portrayed in Chinese & Korean dramas). It seems to be absolutely no fun and while you may be the person in charge, you're not actually in charge because every minute of every day is ritualized, you can't marry whom you want (or if you do, your actual wife [or your mother or grandmother] can make their life a living hell), you can't go anywhere you want, and you have to deal with annoying ministers all the time--and you are never alone while at the same time very lonely. Also, is that really how governments functioned back in the day? At anytime, anyone (with almost no evidence) could be accused of treason and their entire family for three generations killed? Even if you were a celebrated general? A long-serving minister? Seems like absolutely no one would want to risk doing anything for their country. Or maybe that is really what happened, and why kingdoms eventually collapsed and/or were conquered.

Not a waste of time, not the best drama ever, but a good watch for when you want to escape reality.

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Meh…

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a ”meh”.

What I liked:
Despite the low budget, they did a decent job of settings and costuming; this was one of the few Republican-era dramas where I felt the costume designer did an okay job of historical accuracy with the Western clothing. They did not try to do things with their low budget that they couldn’t and kept to only three or four sets. I liked that though our FL seemed silly and naïve at first, she actually had a bit of steel running underneath, and it developed over the series. As shallow as this is, I also liked how nice both MLs looked. ? I hope to see both of them in more productions. Dai Gao Zheng did a good job of portraying a bad boy with a heart of gold and Vincent Wei did a good job of playing the opposite.

What I did not like so much:
There were some simple things that even a low-budget drama could have done better. For example, the way Fang Tian Yi’s subordinate handled his firearm, he would have accidentally shot himself and others a long time ago (e.g. reholster your gun before you carry your drunk or injured master around!). The scene when the ML shoots the guilty men could have been done better—I just don’t see that many people going so quietly and calmly to their death. I also would have liked to have had a better idea of how much time passed. For example, they implied that the FL had been the maid for the ML for quite some time, but they never give you an idea of how much time really had passed. I would have liked to have seen more of their interactions during that time. I know it was a mini-drama so a lot of detail just isn’t given, but it would have helped. I was not mad at the ending, either. I would have been fine with a happy ending, but I wasn’t mad at the sad one—which is strange since I usually prefer happy endings. I do not think the sad ending was necessary, but I liked that the FL took over the ML’s role as governor. I did not like how Granny was always happy to have a servant beaten to death but then we’re supposed to see her as a sympathetic character at the end. No thanks.

Content notification: There is assault. Its not shown beyond enough to give you an idea of what happened, but it still happens.

I did not find this drama to be a waste of time, but I don’t think I’ll watch it again.

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And on the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the...script writer's lack of creativity?

In my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," and "nah," this rates a "liked" with potential to rewatch. I'm reviewing both seasons in this review since I suspect two seasons was just a way of getting around the forty-episode cap?

This was neither the best xianxia nor the worst xianxia I've ever watched (it that is even the genre we can put it in). I have actually never watched a drama with Dilraba as the FL and I thought she did fine (though when she was dying, instead of looking tired and ill, she just looked a bit stoned, but that's a minor complaint). I neither love nor hate Allen Ren, but I thought he did well in this one--and his wig designer did a nice job of finding him a flattering look (AND best of all, there were not two long dangly bits of hair on either side of his face that I spent the entire drama wanting to snip off! [I'm talking about you, Novoland: Pearl Eclipse!]). I felt that both actors were playing characters they were used to playing and were good at playing--nothing challenging for them, but that did not make it a bad drama.

As the title of this review implies, the dying and coming back to life did get repetitive. I seriously said out loud "Oh you've got to be kidding me!" when they showed the SML in his father's wheelchair with basically the same injuries at the end. Poor guy, he loses his girl and his mobility--his death when he fell of the cliff made way more sense. This is basically the world of the gods and immortals, so surely you can play around with some more plot devices than resurrection? I mean, there's not a lot of restriction on reality. And if this was a xianxia--where were the rest of the gods? Why was the Heavenly Realm just a kid and three older men?

The "I'm going to sacrifice myself for the sake of the world [and not tell my partner about it]" also got a bit old. I feel like a lack of communication can sometimes just be lazy plot/script writing (on the other hand, events in my own life have led me to sympathize a bit more with people who do not wish to tell the truth so as not to hurt someone else...).

I also appreciated that Dilraba's character never gave up her desire for independence and freedom. Even when ML was playing the dominant, possessive lover, she never gave in and always tried to escape no matter what--even though she loved him and understood why he was doing what he was doing. Whenever he told her she was his, she replied that she was her own, not his--which I love b/c that machismo BS in dramas makes me mad and I love that the character refused to put up with it.

I liked the scenery, costumes, and music. Sometimes, I felt the songs were overused, but as it must cost a lot to get a couple of fresh songs written solely for a drama, I can imagine them wanting to wear them out a little. :)

If you like xianxia, the main actors, and/or a drama that won't make your brain work too hard while at the same time not boring you to death, this drama is worth the time.

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Wanru’s Somewhat Rambling Journey

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this started as a “liked” but ended up a “meh”.

Spoilers ahead b/c I didn't follow the rules of writing a review. :D

The deets:
Young woman with a mysterious past (with hints that she’s been transmigrated from our world into an alternate one) who lives on the streets and makes money by scamming people tries to scam the wrong person and ends up being forced to take on a false identity. She apparently is identical to a developmentally delayed daughter of a powerful pugilistic clan. The lady of the clan has decided to sacrifice the life of the developmentally delayed daughter—who is the daughter of a concubine—in exchange for healing son by blood. But since the lord of the clan really likes his daughter, she decides to replace her instead with our FL. Our ML notices right away that something is not right with his half-sister and quickly figures out she is fake (which helps with the ”ick” factor of him falling in love with his half-sister’s face and name; they were also raised separately so he didn’t grow up with her, either). The half-sister is betrothed from infancy to our SML (more costume/period dramas with Deng Chao Yuan please!) who turns out to be a very decent guy. All three meet up at a pugilistic academy for young people where about half the action takes place until the plot kind of falls apart and they spend a lot of time hiding out in luxurious bamboo houses in the woods while they fight the machinations of various powers-that-be in the pugilistic world.

Things I liked:
The story started out very interesting. It’s a short drama, ~30 minute episodes with a total of 24. For being relatively low budget, it kept me very interested basically until the end of the “academy” arc. The fight scenes were really well done. I didn’t have any objections to the way the three leads were written, they were all decent people, their motivations seemed solid.

Things I did not like so much:
This drama could not decide if it was a BL between our two male leads or a reverse-harem between all three leads. The most believable chemistry was between the two male leads and the chemistry between the ML and FL was a bit forced. The ML went from really disliking her to suddenly liking her and she went from crushing on the SML to suddenly falling in love with the ML. As if the script writers and director were suddenly like “oh crap, this is becoming a BL, we’d better put a beard in there STAT!” The storyline kind of fell apart after they left the academy to try and run their respective clans in the pugilistic world. It got draggy and asked one to suspend one’s disbelief A LOT! The FL supposedly had minimal martial arts yet could hold her own against trained killers whenever necessary—but only until the point it was time for a male lead to rescue her. Seriously, were the heroes live-streaming all their actions!? The evil guys ALWAYS knew what they were up to and yet the heroes were always relying on pigeons that magically found their target to matter where they were. And also, everyone could apparently travel huge distances in a couple hours. I get that in a wuxia you have to suspend your disbelief a little—all the flying round & stuff—but there’s a limit. The ending is happy but ambiguous as in the FL never really settles on her choice of male lead.

Should you watch it?
I found it free on YouTube. It’s relatively short. The male leads are easy to look at. The FL is sweet with a good heart and not a complete idiot. It was pretty decent at first and by the time it gets less interesting, you don’t have that much farther to go to get through it.

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This drama hasn´t lost me yet!

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “liked”.

The deets*:
This is a xianxia/xuanhuan with a random mix of immortal and mortal living together without a great deal of explanation as to why. A “young” deity is hiding out in a small village mostly populated by mortals, living as a man despite being a woman. They imply that she actually IS a man, but I’m pretty sure censorship made the writers deliberately keep that part vague. Some other immortals move next door and one of them turns out to be her cousin because our young deity is actually a long-lost princess with a tragic backstory. She recognizes her cousin right away, but he has no idea who she is despite the fact that he’s supposedly a powerful immortal and she isn’t—and despite the fact that the other MLs almost immediately recognize that she is female (despite the fact that she, actually, for real, is not). During this time she rescues an immortal male descended from fox demons and attracts he attention of a blood-sucking nine-headed demon (the aforementioned MLs whose girl radar was NOT broken, unlike Cousin’s). For some reason, our FL is desperate to stay away from the notice of any of her relatives and then decides, “nevermind, I’ll go back to being myself”. Hijinks ensue as she returns to her role as the eldest princess of an entire kingdom while also being the granddaughter of the king of a neighboring kingdom with an ambiguous relationship with her cousin who wants to inherit their grandfather’s throne.

*I know it says not to do this, but how else is someone who doesn’t know if they want to watch this understand the rest of the review?—those descriptions on the main page aren’t always accurate.

Things I liked:
OMG has Yang Zi been wasted before! I have been unable to complete her previous three xianxia dramas because she literally played the same character each time (naïve, vacuous, with a heart of gold)—and I have pretty low standards for xianxias so its saying something if I can’t get through one. But she had some serious acting chops hiding in there this whole time! She’s practically unrecognizable and her portrayal of the different versions of the FL appears effortless. It also doesn´t hurt that all of her MLs are easy on the eyes. Please check out AvenueX´s initial impressions review on YouTube for other positives about this show as I agree 100% with her assessments.

Things I did not like so much:
Who, exactly, is the love interest here!? I mean, at least from the FL’s point of view. Obviously, it starts with Tushan Jing (seriously, who forgives and forgets with after YEARS of torture!? C’mon, there´s kindhearted and then there´s just stupid). Every time demon boy gets a little vulnerable, he does something cruel and stupid to chase her off. Cousin is literally, well, her cousin. I get that in the ancient societies this story is based on, marrying one´s cousin was not considered incest in the way it is today, but it still makes me hesitant to root for him. Finally, there´s Chishui Feng Long, who out of all of her options has the least amount of baggage which, of course, makes him the least exciting choice. lol. The only other thing I struggled with was the huge gaps of time. I get that the leads are immortal, but as a puny mortal myself, I have trouble considering 300 years to be the equivalent of the passing of just 3 years.

Should you watch this?
If xianxia/xuanhuan is your thing, definitely. If you´d like to see Yang Zi break out the box acting-wise, definitely. If you´re not into fantasy, then this won´t make a whole lot of sense or be interesting.

Myself, I´ll definitely be watching Season 2!

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Someone please send the director to film editing class…

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “meh”.

First major dislike: That with some decent editing, this could have been a really good mystery drama. It had everything it needed already: naïve housewife relies on husband for everything only to find out he’s been embezzling money and she’s now millions of won in debt; hints that someone else died in his place and that he’s really still alive; a mystery to be solved; a tall, handsome, and mysterious man who offers to help; most episodes ending on a cliffhanger. The problem is that it was soooooo slow! Completely unnecessary amounts of detail. For example, there was one scene where someone rings the doorbell. The camera shows the FL pouring herself a glass of water, then walking to the door, then opening the door—all in real time. All of that could have been cut out—all you need is the sound of the doorbell, jump cut to her opening it, 10 – 20 seconds saved. And that happened all. the. time. Maybe some kind netizen will re-cut this. That’s really all it needs to be a decent mystery.

Second major dislike: I get that it was a romance…but…someone who was deeply in love with her husband for 10+ years then has to go through discovering a ton of things he hid from her is sooooo not ready to be in a relationship with someone else right away. She needs to take, like, 2 – 3 years to herself to get her $%&# together. This is probably the one drama where the a lead taking off for a couple of years in the last episode then to come back and be ready to be with the other lead (while they lovingly waited for them) would actually have worked.

This is one of my few reviews that mentions the soundtrack: I actually liked it! In fact the credits song for the first 10 or so episodes is quite good and they used it well throughout the drama. Usually I find soundtracks tiresome after awhile, but this one I enjoyed.

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Its no secret I like this drama.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “loved”.

What I liked:
I have watched this at least three times. Its one of my favorite KDramas ever. The main reason is that the FL is in the same profession as me (except that I hated being a foodservice dietitian and that is her primary area of practice). Well, to be truthful, the main reason is Sung-Hoon (thank you for showing him in swim trunks!!!) but having the same profession as the FL (and to have it accurately portrayed) was a big reason for me, too. Minor additional point of similarity with the FL: I love the scene where she introduces his dinner but gets distracted by his arms and instead announces she’s serving him “vein pasta” that night—because forearms and hands are a major attraction point for me, too.

Other things I liked: the comic relief of the personal assistant; the chemistry between the ML/FL; the SML (and yes, I had SMLS but not too bad since he had plenty of opportunities to confess before she met the ML again; I had watched 100 Days My Prince before this so was happy to see Kim Jae Young again—seriously, that boy needs to do more costume dramas!). I loved the mother and felt bad for her that she could not connect with her daughter. I get the impression that Korean society is very conservative about sex and her sexual liberation was brave. I liked that she did not apologize for who she was and the decisions she’d made in her life. It was just sad that they so negatively affected her daughter.

I love that in the end, the ML chose the FL, chose to stop being a chaebol and go it on his own rather than be under his father’s thumb—while at the same time maintaining a father/son relationship.

Things I did not like so much:
I did get frustrated with the FL’s need to keep secrets (her half-brother), her vulnerability to what others thought about her, and her dislike of herself for having had a one-night stand. She lied to both herself and the ML (though it does all work out in the end). On the other hand, given the bullying she experienced in high school as the result of her mother’s line of work plus the tendency (at least in Kdramaland) Korean society to hold children at fault for the ‘sins’ of their parents, I can see why she was so on edge all the time.

I did not like the jealous girl trope. First of all, if someone has barely noticed you for twelve years, that sounds like a personal problem. You need to get some self-esteem and move on. And why do these characters always think that as soon as they get rid of the FL the ML will magically fall in love with them!? Its lazy, tropey writing and I wish they could have come up with something better.

Minor point: The ML’s dad did a good job acting but there is no way someone who looks like him fathered someone who looks like Sung-Hoon. C’mon.

And I got tired of the “she’s not good enough for you” argument as well. That may be a cultural difference I’m not used to or don’t understand, but why people treated the FL like dirt because of who she was dating was so ridiculous to me.

Final thoughts: This is a favorite for me, personally, but I know its not everyone’s cup of tea. I recommend it, of course, but you do you. :)

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A good movie as long as you completely disassociated it from the series.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “liked/loved”.

Things I liked:

I liked the way the movie was put together; I get impatient with long backgrounds or set ups and I like that they just jumped right in and then made judicious use of flashbacks to give the appropriate background. I liked most of the way the characters were portrayed.

The ML and FL were two socially awkward introverts (one of which with some childhood issues he still needs to work out) who found each other. I felt that their interactions were believable and that FL stood up to the ML when she needed to. I liked the always-supportive friends in the background. The first time I watched it, the beginning did not make a lot of sense, but it all wraps up nicely by the end. I also liked how they explained how the ML started to notice the FL and how he planned to get closer to her after learning about her personality.

I did not get SMLS (thank heavens, it’s practically pathological with me) but I liked the brother and sister duo—and that they started to get their lives on track by the end.


Things I did not like so much:

I wish this was truly a stand-alone movie without any relationship to the show. I’ve not watched the show, but from what I’ve read in the reviews here on MDL, it’s quite different in terms of character development and portrayal (and I’m really wishing I never read the reviews of the show…). To me, it kind of puts a shadow over the movie because the movie ML seems to be a much more sympathetic character than the show version and the FL much less of a pushover. In the movie version, I don’t see the ML being so much manipulative as a ‘mastermind’ who uses the resources at his disposal to protect those he cares about.

I do wish the ML would have acknowledged his childhood issues and agreed to therapy or something—he may have been angry at the kids who moved to his house when he was little, but it was not their fault. And if they had been reporting on him to his dad—what else could they have done? The guy was paying for their room, board, and education.

I was not too sure about the believability of stalker-guy’s character. He was so extreme. One moment he was violent and full of rage, the next cowering and horrified by all the attention. That character did not appear stable enough to maintain a university enrollment long enough to stick around and cause trouble—unless put there by the screenwriter/director/etc.

Final thoughts: I liked this and have re-watched it at least three times. I’ve never watched the drama. Just pretend it’s a stand-alone movie, not associated with any drama and I hope you enjoy. ?

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Looking for a decent thriller? ‘Search’ no further.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a “liked”.

Things I liked:
This was a relatively short and to the point thriller, mystery, drama. I found both the premise (radioactive mystery zombie-things) and the setting (DMZ) to be unique (to me, anyway). I had just finished re-watching “Descendants of the Sun” and was in the mood for some more Kdrama set in the military setting. I thought the characters were decently three-dimensional (though they never quite explained why ML was so happy to get out of the military) and those that weren’t did not have a huge role anyway. I liked the fact that our FL was a bad@$$, both at fighting and at thinking. She didn’t suddenly grow all weak just so ML could rescue her. I liked the inclusion of the villagers, including the former special ops soldier (though I kind would have liked her to have a bigger role in the final battle). I liked that it there was mystery, suspense, a decent conspiracy going on behind the scenes, and that the ending was (mostly) happy.

Jang Dong Yoon clearly spent some time working with the dog trainer. It was cute the way the second dog kept looking at him, she’d clearly been working with him a lot and she was always looking for his next command.

Things I did not like so much:
Honestly, there wasn’t much. There were a few inconsistencies here and there as there always are. I would have liked to have known for sure if the FL and ML got back together, but it was open to interpretation. I thought the cascading shot-blocking to protect the (invincible) radioactive dude was a bit cliché. And doesn’t their combat gear include bullet proof vests!? (Yes, I know the politician’s son was not wearing combat gear, but what about the sergeant who was going to get married? That was an abdominal shot, shouldn’t his battle armor cover that area?) And are there really congressman powerful enough in Korea to direct entire military battalions?

Conclusions:
For me, this was a decent, relatively straightforward thriller that had no plot holes big enough for me to give up in disgust. It was nice and short (10 episodes) and I, personally, thought it was worth the watch. Even if I did start because I thought the ML was Kim Soo Hyun, not Jang Dong Yoon (no idea why I thought that at first…)—despite that disappointment, I recommend it. :)

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Hoo-rah!

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a “liked”.

I just recently re-watched this since I decided I needed some more Song Joong Ki in my life and Arthdal Chronicles next season isn’t out yet. ?

Things I liked:
The bromance between Seo Dae Young and Yoo Shi Jin. They were my favorite couple in the drama. :D I also thought the funny moments were done so well—for example, the two MLs running desperately across the camp to prevent their girlfriends from opening a care package from other women was hilarious. The comments the women made as they watched shirtless soldiers run past were so funny. I liked that Kang Mo Yeon was skilled in her job and while, yes, she did need saving by our male lead, it was not the situation where a suddenly ace female martial artist no longer functions just so the ML can run around rescuing her. He was best at military stuff, she was best at medical stuff and they both did their jobs well. I liked their chemistry, too (& the chemistry of the second leads). I go back and forth about her going back and forth about dating YSJ. She had some legit concerns about the stress his job would cause her, on the other hand it just seems unfair that someone risks their life for their country and then can’t date because of it. But, having been in a relationship with someone with PTSD and TBI as the result of their combat experience, I can definitely understand her caution. Minor like: I like that they poked a bit of fun at the domineering CEO trope. He did all the things that CEO male leads do in dramas such as overwhelming the FL with flowers and investigating her life—but in this case, it backfired. Thank you!

Things I didn’t like:
The show really could have ended when they got back from the medical mission. The story didn’t have a point afterwards. Or…they should have had the evil dude go to South Korea and finish up the drama/action there. There were some medical inaccuracies and some plot holes but nothing that ever stood up and shouted.

Random question: Do Korean soldiers really have to verbally chop all their responses to their superiors like that when at attention?

Its a good watch. I'd recommend it for Song Joong Ki and to get a peek at one production's interpretation of military life in South Korea.

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Second time was not quite the charm.

I’m reviewing this after re-watching this drama—I’ve watched it a total of two times now. I should have left well enough alone but it was dubbed and its nice to have a K-Drama that you can watch while doing other things.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a “liked” the first time I watched it, a “meh” the second time I watched it.


What I liked:
I liked the fact that this drama did not appear to take itself too seriously. There was a good use of situational comedy, sound effects, visuals, etc. I loved the dinosaur metaphor for the male lead, especially when he’d call, or text and the image would pop up on her phone. I also loved that they had an ‘actual’ kdrama going in the background and made fun of it throughout the show, especially the silly things like two people falling on each other and accidently kissing. I liked the second couple. They were cute (even though they went through some immature moments, they resolved them quickly and had a much more communicative relationship that FL/ML, see below). There was believable chemistry between the FL/ML, too. I also liked that the drama itself was short and did not appear to have much in the way of fluff. I appreciated the fact that I did not get SMLS in this drama (the SML did not realize he wanted her until someone else took her attention away from him...you snooze, you lose, buddy).

What I did not like so much:
The fact that the FL appeared incapable of telling the truth…ever. She went to all these unnecessary lengths to hide everything from everyone all the time. Her attempts to hide her identity as an employee were ridiculous since she never tried to really alter her appearance. Then when they finally did get together, she kept trying to hide the relationship even though ML was comfortable being open. She even lied to ML with no justification—for example, when his grandfather called her, she outright lied to the ML about who it was. After a while, she was so neurotic I just could not see why the ML even liked her—their whole relationships was built upon falsehoods and she continued the trend, even after it was unnecessary. I don’t remember noticing this as much the first time I watched it, but it really bothered me the second time.

So…should you watch this? I rather enjoyed it the first time, but I would not recommend for a re-watch.

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I raise my glass to “Moonshine”

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a “liked”.

Things I liked:
I liked all the characters—I really felt that most were three-dimensional with believable back stories that explained how they had gotten to where they were. The mystery was interesting. I also appreciated (weirdly enough) that there was no “good guy” in the court (apart from the Queen)—neither the Prime Minister nor the Royal Secretary were particularly good people, and both had done a lot of damage to the kingdom. I had a bit of SMLS going there for a bit, but I was happy he got the SFL in the end. I liked the sismance between the SFL and the FL and that there was no silly jealous girl trope going on. I liked that the female characters were strong and rarely needed ‘saving’ by male characters. I liked that the ML proposed to the FL with a comb which is better than the Western convention of the ring that I sometimes see used in Joseon dramas (though he did go down on one knee…). Even though the royal family was involved in the plot, I liked that the two main leads were not royalty in and of themselves.

Things I disliked:
There wasn’t much I disliked beyond minor plot points/inconsistencies (for example, they should have used a young actor to play the Royal Secretary during his flashback scenes--the actual actor was too old to pull that off convincingly; the fact that guns during that era were [a] not accurate no matter how good a shot you were and [b] had to be re-loaded via the muzzle before you could shoot again...). I kind of disliked portraying alcohol consumption as this great thing since (while I get why Prohibition is a waste of government time and money—as we should know in this country from our own experience), there have been legitimate reasons to restrict alcohol consumption, especially in patriarchal societies where women and children depended on a functioning male to work. If he was incapable of work (and/or violent) due to drink, then it was the women and children who suffered.

I felt this was a decent historical drama. It wasn’t grippingly exciting but nor was there anything to make me drop it in disgust. The male leads were nice to look at, the female leads were no wilting flowers. All in all, a worthy watch.

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Not sure how I feel about this one?

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was mostly a “liked”.

Things I liked:
I started watching this for Lee Soo Hyuk and this is one of the few that he’s been in I could actually finish (see my review on ‘Scholar Who Walks the Night’; I’m not criticizing LSH, just rarely finish a drama he’s in). I enjoyed LSH in this. He does stoic bad@$$ very well—but his character also had range and we got to see him happy and sad as well. I liked all the characters, I liked their complexity, I liked their back stories. I like that they took on mental health and suicide—though it is also what made it hard to watch at times. Like most probably, I like the idea of an afterlife where we are rewarded for good and punished for evil.

Things I did not like so much:
Mental health and suicide are not a ‘one and done’ thing. For example, an eating disorder is a lifelong struggle and that episode made it seem like something that got fixed almost instantly. Sometimes I fast forwarded just because the content was triggering.

Honestly, I found myself more interested in the back stories than the stories of the people they were trying to save and often fast-forwarded until we got to back story again. I did not quite get why suicide was treated by that version of the afterlife as something worthy of hell—that seems more consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition (please correct me if I am wrong if you know more about Buddhism or Confucianism). Especially during the era/country when/where Goo Ryun died, suicide was encouraged and expected of widows and women who had been assaulted (at least that is the impression I get, so please correct me if you understand that history/cultural era better).

Minor point of dislike: The actor they chose to play an adolescent PJG could not have been farther apart in looks and build that his 'supposed' adult self. At that age, LSH could not have weighed more than 100 pounds and that kid looks like he has more muscle than the adult PJG he's supposed to be the younger version of. I get that it is hard to get that right and I'm on the fence about whether I prefer the older actors trying to play their own younger selves or just getting younger actors to do it instead (especially when its adolescents who look so much more like their adult selves than kids do).

I kind of wish there would have been more of a resolution between Park Joong Gil and Goo Ryun. Their ending was a bit ambiguous. You can tell that Choi Joon Woong will eventually get together with his girl since it showed their strings connected, but I wish we could have known what would happen between PJG and GR.

Conclusion:
I don’t know how to think about this one. There were times I sincerely cried, there were things I simply could not watch, there were things I thought were misrepresented and could have been done better. There were also things I enjoyed. If you’re a major LSH fan, I’d recommended it. He does well and looks well in this.

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My first JDrama and first JDrama review

This is my first JDrama (I’ve watched a couple of movies, but this is my first ever drama series) so much of my confusion or misunderstanding may come from not yet being familiar with the Japanese culture as portrayed in dramaland.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this rates a “meh”.

Things I liked:
This may be shallow, but I really liked the FL’s clothing. Her stylists did an excellent job. One thing that bugs me a bit about most c- and k-dramas is that the FL always seems to wear clothes that are too big for her (which may be a fashion trend, so no judgement on those who like it that way), just for me, I liked Harumi Junko’s style (though, of course, a underpaid tutor like her would never actually be able to afford such a wardrobe. And if her back hurt so bad, why was she always in heels!?). I think all the actors did well in their roles, there was no one I felt was just phoning it in.

Things I did not like:
I shipped her with Yamashita Kazuma because (a) he was not her cousin (was she ACTUALLY related to Yakumo Masashi!? Or was ‘cousin’ just a translation of a Japanese term that does not actually mean they’re related?—because if they weren’t actually related, then I truly felt Masashi was the best fit for her); (b) he wasn’t 15+ years younger than her; and (c) they had the strongest chemistry. Then the script writers took a rather lame approach to getting him out of the picture which was disappointing. I’ll probably get hate for this, but a fifteen-year age gap regardless of the gender of the oldest/youngest is going to be hard going for the FL & ML. And I just don’t see someone in their late teens really knowing what they want for the rest of their life—enough to stick out what is going to be a socially/culturally difficult relationship. (Though she brought up all those points so I’m glad at least the script writers had them talk through/think through those challenges). The other thing I felt was lacking was a point to the drama. Getting a kid through a test just isn’t an exciting plot point. It just seemed like a ‘slice of life’ drama about relationships and tutoring which (for me, personally) isn’t exciting enough of a plot.

Since what I liked was less than what I did not like, I rated it a ‘meh’, but I still got through it which is why its not a ‘nah’—(though I have gotten through ‘nah’ dramas before…)

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