The business part of this drama is kinda heavy and a foreign subject to me, but ever since the 1st ep I compared the terminology of this to a medical drama; they have their own acronyms and dynamics that I know zero things about, so that shouldn't stop others from watching them.

It shouldn't be a spoiler to say that there's murder and suspense in this drama. now it's not the main focus of this and they don't try to investigate, but that tension adds alot to the structure of the story..
the simple version of the story is "power struggle", good vs bad, greed, and the basic "they are trying to steal our money"..

that tension and the characters are what made me stay, I honestly love how layered and realistic the characters are, Lee Hye Joon is the most level headed normal female lead in dramaworld.

Lee Sung Min is honestly such an amazing actor! I mean maybe korea always knew/admit that, but in some ways I feel like he's underrated or maybe he just focuses more on movies. but his character here was just so beautiful.
it's like the events of this drama didn't just randomly taint him, and I feel like that happens alot of characters like him, they are like driven by hate/evilness...
basically, no one was the "bad" guy, no one was evil, but also no one was pure good/righteous. they were just people driven by their background. their past made them who they were and that just means the writers did a really great job making them. I first gave the story a 8.5 becasue the business aspects were lost on me, but the characters actions and words/dialog made me change it.

and yes, Eugene Han.. rather than saying he's the reason I continued this drama, I prefer to say "he was the cherry on top". he's such an intriguing character, and I'll only say this as a fangirl, but he is the cutest xD

also, the pace of this drama is actually really nice, like by ep12 usually most dramas go downhill, but here it actually feels like a solid 12eps have passed and we have enough time for the rest of the story. it doesn't feel draggy or rushed.

and I'd actually either love a 2nd season, one episode of romance based plot with these characters, or a romance drama written by these writers. honestly, if only they focus on their characters in a romance genre instead of following the usual patterns xD


the ost of this drama is gold! I mean they have Elaine singing the main song so~
I rarely rewatch things, but I kinda have a nostalgic feel about this, I miss the characters so I might rewatch it one day xD

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I really appreciated the fact that the FL did her own acr. she had her own enemy, her own fight and she didn't need a guy to save the day or define her character. She was AWESOME!
Kim Nam Gil and the bandits were like the minions, they were loud funny and a whole mess xD

even though I loved the plot, it was kinda draggy and the cgi was horrible xD I wish they focused more on the 2 mains together.. they had sizzling chemistry~
overall the double villain thing was well done, it gave both mains their own identity; the bandits and the pirates fighting their own fights while coming together under one main objective~


the ost was nothing special and I'd just watch the sequel when it's out so there's no need for a rewatch ;p

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usually I don't watch jdramas, but even I can tell that this is a beautiful thought provoking story.
I personally don't have kids, but I've heard so many of the same lines used in this drama in real life that it was hard to not relate to this.
people live by other's expectations, they feel weak when they think they're not "following" the pattern, they have a hard time admitting that they are struggling and everyone just lacks empathy. they criticize what they don't personally feel.

there are so many rules of society. "you can't keep your kid happy/quite? you are a bad mom". "you don't cook for your family? you are a bad housewife". "you don't have kids? you've failed as a woman". and there are of course other examples, even directed at men "your wife makes more money than you? then you are not a man". "you want to see a therapist? you've failed as a human". "you want to quit your job and stay at home? that's not what men do"..

who made these rules? why should we force others to live by those rules? does putting others down make you a better person? would showing weakness mean you are not... what? grateful to your life?

everyone struggles with something, but again, you can't just look at people through your experiences.. don't judge people. it's also so easy to misjudge people, so everyone should just communicate more..

anyway this is making me emotional :) basically they did a great job convening the different struggles, the slow growth of the characters was also heartwarming and inspiring.

the ost was nice and I never rewatch stuff, but this does make me want to watch more jdramas ;)

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I'm actually really conflicted on the rating.... I give my 10s easily, but I have this feeling that something was missing..

I feel like this drama just tried to push the limits, and at a certain point they got caught up in their own plan of "how can we make this even more shocking". I kinda started to lose interest by ep12 ish, and I think that's when they tried too hard to add more conflict so the story doesn't end, but they didn't want a rushed ending so they made ep15 seem like a pre conclusion, but then they kept adding conflict after the resolution becasue they had 2 more hours to go.
like the "I'm sorry", "I'll kill you", "let's forget this", "I'll kill you" dance...

for one thing, I'm glad of how they handled Ye Rim and Je Hyuk, but just like the rest of the story I feel like they gave us too much buildup/middle ground and not enough cleanup/closure?

like they never talked about Hyun Seo or In Gyu again. so what? was it suicide? was it not? why did they play us to think it might be Yoon Gi?
and the son running away? then they didn't show his face at the end? why because he looked older or they couldn't film that scene with the real actor? becasue it was a last minute thought?

when Tae Oh tried to kill himself I got the desperation, but it was a slow street, even if the bus/truck hit him he'd have only broke a bone or two. it was not going that fast, but I was emotional when they revealed that he wasn't dead. otherwise I'd have given it a 1 ;)
also all of those scenes making it seem like they were going to kill the son? come on that was a cheap move..
which makes me wonder if the son running away was the writers "punishment" for Sun Woo, because at the end of the day she was not blameless in that mess

but I do admire them for breaking away from the revenge mold, usually it takes them 10eps to uncover the secret and 5eps of omg I can't believe, with 1 wrap up party..


the ost was great and I never rewatch stuff

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slice of life

in 2021 dramas were in a slump, and I was in a deeper slump, but this drama was really fun. it was emotinal, it was layered with great sismnace, women that depended on themselves, and best of all the non existent romance that was better than 90% of romance genres

my favorite part was shipping jena and jaehyuk, whether it sailed or sunk didn't matter cuz that chemistry was FIRE. jena looovved to get on jaehyuk's nerve, and he was so mushy and overreactive despite being "evil" and cold that it was all just too adorable
atleast now I have material for my article about ships ;)

I also really liked the music alot ;) I high key stan KillA the most xD and I wish they'd release all of the songs.

I do admit the trauma and the drama got to penthouse's ridiculous makjang level, like they should've stopped at ep6(?) when jena and hyunji had that greatly acted emotinal breakdown scene

everything after it (and before it) was like SSSAAADDD, oooh light of hope, nope SSSAAAADDDDD, well maybe hope BUT NO..
as a youth slice of life sismance drama about idols, this was great and fun and I NEED hani and shiyang to reunite!

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Do You Want Some Cheese With Your Chicken?

Don't be confused. This is not a 7 first kisses sequel, it was not supposed to be an advertisement drama special..

the moment the production decided to add more lines for the product placement than the plot/character development was the moment they threw away the viewers worth.
honestly I don't think I've ever seen a drama so bluntly advertise their sponsored products this much. "I've never found this fried chicken outside of korea", "this makes my skin moist", "this boosts your stamina", "this mask is a best seller" and blah blah blah ;/ if anything they made me want to buy those products even less.

one of their biggest problem was how they show you an event like ep11's over dramatic ending and then the next ep they start from a pre setup and repeat everything again and get to the point only halfway through the ep. (that's not how cliffhangers work)

the lines were so cheesy and cringe worthy it was embarrassing, and the acting from the 2 mains was mediocre and the only reason it was acceptable was becasue everything else sucked.
the romance lacked substance and it was too rushed that it made it seem like taeul only loved yigon's money. they had zero on screen chemistry and no amount of neck kisses (which was just 1) could save their so called love.
speaking of kisses, they start with the cliche open eyed fish kiss, gave 1 neck kiss and went back to "covering their face with a hand or something" so it looks like they're kissing but it was obvious they were not ;D and I don't personally care for kissing scenes since they don't add to the romance but enhance it, and so if the actors feel uncomfortable having more than 1 kiss they shouldn't be forced into it.

the plot was a literal zero. an empty flashy mess of a story. nothing was consistent, nothing made sense and nothing was explained.
this is what happens when the writer gets a deal to make their drama after only writing the 1st couple of eps, it was obvious she only had the start idea and the end (which was a total cheap move full of fan service) so she was lost most of the time.

now the directors all take the other part of the blame. the switching between the 2 worlds was so bad that no one could tell which world they were in until someone's name was mentioned ;/
the audios were always such a mess, the chewing were too loud and every sound felt artificial, like ep11's footsteps. it felt like a zombie apocalypse..

they had so many side plots and characters unrelated to the main plot that it was hard to know who was who and what purpose they held, but worse part was that nothing was explained and thus they were just fillers..
everything big and flashy uncle evil seemed to work towards was pointless. he looked scary and evil but was caught in 1second, they talked big of time stopping but it never became an issue..

so to sum it up we had 1 ep of plot, 14 eps of fillers and angst and 30min of resolution followed by 55min of fan service~
as if the 2 worlds was not confusing enough they had to add time traveling, but alas how else would they have had saved their empty black hole mess of a plot?

Jo Young / Jo Eun Sub and Myung Na Ri / Myung Seung Ah were the highlight of the show for me, both as actors and as characters so I'm incredibly disappointed by the wasted potential. they could've had 2 more couples in this and increased the level of uwu but anyway, the Jos and the Myungs had better chemistry and more believable love lines and though I was happy with their end, I was again disappointed that they didn't really show them together much...

young was such a cold, professional no nonsense kind of a guy but his social life (shown only as laptop sticker -I wonder whose idea was that) and his interactions with both eunsub and their puppy twins showed how much more of a sweet warmhearted person he was. I wish this drama was about him ;(
https://mydramalist.com/35039-the-king-the-eternal-monarch#comment-3574531
eunsub was laid back, easy and friendly that people (ie the 2 mains) took advantage of and forgot several times, but his interactions with young was beautiful, they were the only 2 sane unselfish people (beside the Myungs). and in the end I loved his growth to a solid reliable man~
also since I don't want to share spoilers here I'll link my comment https://mydramalist.com/35039-the-king-the-eternal-monarch#comment-3565969

the music was a repeat/ripoff of goblin and they did nothing to add to the already non existent mood, and I didn't even want to watch this the 1st time let alone rewatching it (though I have rewatched WDH's scenes alot)

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I'll really miss this!!!! this is the ideal cliche romcom! the fluffiest of the fluffs!! a really well balanced cliche that had it's own "flavor" and interpretation of the usual cliches.
I loved all of the characters and their relationships!
Do Min Ik is the sweetest most adorable playful male lead, Jung Gal Hee is the ONLY acceptable cute female lead, Veronica Park is legendary, Ki Dae Joo had the cutest smiles, Gal Hee's mom and brother were great support and comedic relief, doctor Goo Seok Chan and the 3 secretaries..
to give a critical non biased opinion other than "fluff"... this had a weak plot that was carried solely by the actors, and yet it was able to pull itself together and wrap things up perfectly?

I don't want this to end! I demand a 2nd season! the adventures of my secretary's married life? I want more....


my rewatch values are either a 1 or a 10, and I'll love to watch this again~

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best of cdramas

this was a great cdrama, and before the buts I'll talk about the good points:
1- the fl was the main hero, she woke up 1st and she "solved" most of the problems, though at points they did seem to always praise the ml (once the cop even praised him for remembering "something" but at that timeline the fl did all the work)
2- each passenger had their own lives, as the leads suspected them all, each one of them revealed their own struggles and hardships (I do think they glossed over them too fast, but in the end they were all "heroes" eventhough most time lines they didn't want to intervene)
3- the cat guy UWU
4- the different interpretations of how each action resulted in a different reaction (though they were a little too repetitive at times)
5- I'm glad the final showdown was done by the fl

now for the buts~
1- I think one pervert one time was not enough for her meltdown. if someone touches you, SCREAM right away. there were many people there, her story felt like a simple "backstory" on why 2 people wanted to blow up a bus..
2- going to prison for terrorism and mass murder attempt probably has a higher jail time than sexual harassment, which is sad cuz that dude deserved worse...
3- I thought this was like that ep of "Mystery to Iunakare" where the kidnappers took the bus with all the suspects of that event, though indeed it'd have been harder to track down the pervert which results in my "solution"
4- this should've been revenge. like they did find the pervert but he got out easy and they wanted more..
5- at one point the ml was too controlling, the fl was the hero that did most of the job while the ml always nagged her
6- this needed half the ep counts, they had too many repetitions
7- I'm not into cdrama osts

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1 plot, 100 subplots

the keyword here was 18 "again", they just kept repeating things and branching out their subplots more and more. I don't blame them becasue they had to make a 2 hour movie into a 16 hour drama but they should've atleast only did 8eps. or at some point they should've made the ml forget his family and try to live his dream as it was intended, but after his wish suddenly he was chasing his kids and hanging out around his wife/getting jealous every two seconds.

the good;
the family bonds
the friendships
the friendships in the family
the acting was nice
the directing was beautiful (ie the cinematography)
the comedy was sometimes good


the bad;
the existence of the 2nd lead
the 2nd leads backstory and his over confident and selfish personality (his flirting got on my nerve)
Deok Jin and Hae In's over complicated dragged out romance (we can't be together for blah blah reason)
and basically every plot unrelated to the fact that the ml was young again
the 1st ten or twenty mins and the last 5mins were the only thing plot related, suddenly they'd go out to eat
ep14-16 and the endless breakup was just horrible that made me reduce my ratings from 8.5 to 7
the ost was nice but that Hello Hello song was overused that it got on my nerve
there's a saying, "if you don't have a plot add a stalker" and guess what, they did
the work drama around the mom was "realistic" but they even got to ruin that, for 1- everyone randomly hated her, and 2- suddenly everyone forgot (I'm mostly talking about the boss)


and I never rewatch stuff

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pure, healing and beautiful

the plot is nothing special, the story is really basic but somehow this is one of the most beautiful dramas I've ever watched, and not just in 2020.
there are 2 things I love that as long as they don't mess it up then I'll give the drama a 10/10 without a second thought. one is a strong independent smart capable diverse female character, honestly they can never go wrong when they have a female character that carries her own weight if not more.
And two is character driven slice of life healing dramas, I LOVE these types of stories, they are just raw and emotional and sad but beautiful enough to make you feel jealous

at a certain point in the drama they handled the mains "complicated" bickering relationship, they focused on Moon Sang Tae's natural jealous feelings because he was no longer his brothers "one and only" and it could've gone really badly if the writers used it for cheap angst but they handled it so beautifully that the developing relationships became 1000x better.

"mystery" wise I do think they lacked a little, but it's becasue they didn't use it for cheap thrill and looming danger but it was the base for their healing.
even throughout their "inevitable breakups" it was never about their selflessness or selfishness but it was another natural step to overcoming their past and struggles.
I was worried after ep14 that things might get off track but they stayed true to their story and I'm really pleased about where it's going

side character wise, again they lacked in delivery, the side stories and the effects they used to deliver the stories were beautiful and heartbreaking but I felt like they weren't 100% invested in their stories and they felt like mere time fillers, like Yoo Seung Jae never got any character depth and even though Jo Jae Soo was Moon Gang Tae's best friend for 10 years I couldn't understand how they all miraculously ended up in ok town (I'm sorry I don't know the name of their location xD)
that didn't make their unexpected friendships and familial bonds any less meaningful, but I wish they gave them a little more thought

the editing is beautiful, moonyoung's fairy tales and the use of fairy tale resembles, the ost and moonyoung's OOTD's just made this drama more enchanting and amazing~

I never rewatch stuff but it's only ep15 and I already miss them so much that I'm crying so I'd like to rewatch this again and again and again ;D

watching the ending I'm even happier now, this drama didn't use the past connections and the trauma as the main dish, it was always just the spice.
like in itaewon class the revenge and past trauma was the last big fight and the end was just a cleanup but this, it was always about the "cleanup" and I'm really satisfied with everything

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I started this for Jung Gun Joo, I did not want to watch that baseball drama, and I was cleaning my ptw that I came across this. (I think I deleted like 100 shows from there, maybe even more ;p)
anyway, beside the ex's arc being a little frustrating, I really enjoyed the characters, especially Dain (that turned out to be ellie from www). and Jae Yeong who was 2nd guy's right hand man in Nokdu! he has a great voice, and he looks better in modern dramas ;p
the 2ndery couple were cute too, and the whole story was the type of noona romance I look for, it was undramatic and bright~
overall it was a nice slice of life fresh story. it kinda teaches you about letting go and moving on which gave it a feel of realness ;)

my rewatch values are either a 1 or 10, there's no inbetween~

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this is one of those slow burners, and they just talk, there's no action or thriller (totally different from what I thought it'd be)... but still I was never bored, their dialog was smooth and natural that I enjoyed listening to them.. overall, it was a feel good movie about humanity and trust?

Kim Hyang Gi was really amazing, she acted with her whole body, there was a scene where she had her feet tilted and her toes were moving, I mean, it was not the focus in your face "oh look she's being autistic" but like she was deep in her role just unconscionably moving?...

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plot = 9
writing/development = 5
directing = 10
mystery/killer = 1

the theme of this drama was great, the the 2 (or more) parallel worlds and the butterfly effects that ensue from the smallest of interactions, each choice and the aftermath and the way the worlds were different were really clever.
the acting from the 2 mains was amazing, I'm not a big fan of Yoon Shi Yoon's previous projects but I could see the great improvement and he finally broke away from his type castings.
I've been a fan of Kyung Soo Jin for a while and I'm glad she finally got a main main for well made drama.
the "killer vibes" were way too obvious and their "revelation" was too shallow and uninteresting.

at some points I thought this drama should've been longer, the "romance" and chemistry between brown DW and blue SK made 0 sense, well maybe it made 1% sense in the form that "I'll love and protect every you ever existed" and in some ways the miserable life blue SK lived through made brown DW have a bigger sense of "prince complex, ie I need to save you"
I wish he didn't have romantic feelings for brown SK, or I wish they gave us more eps so brown DW and Blue SK actually bonded beyond "I loved you in another world"

and in some ways with the last ep, that was blue SK finding brown DW, so like why didn't he look/find the "white" SK? what made blue SK special? since white DW was a "higher up -can't think of a title ;p" would white SK also be "happy" and well established and independent for brown DW to feel useless around?

so in some ways both brown DW and blue SK were the most miserable forms of themselves and they found "comfort" in each other but what about brown SK? was she nothing? so basically the whole doppelganger love was a fail.


now for the killer vibes it took too long for them to be literally the 1st person one suspects but that ending ep where the mom went through 4 worlds and had to suffer through loosing her son, plus killing her own counterparts was actually really clever I wish they focused more on that.

basically this is one of those "got a 12ep deal because they didn't know how to plan out their plot"..
the directing was beautiful, clever and really well done. and the ost was nice but I feel like they only had 1 song that was overused, and I never rewatch stuff ;D

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always choose the 2nd lead!

1st of all I have to say, I'm a huge fan of both SYJ and KKW, but I'm not biased when I say their acting performance was amazing!

I'm not sure if they were purposely "obvious" cuz they just wanted the journey not the shock value, or if it's just as I call it "mystery genres are dead"

I have lost hope in all crime genres and mysteries, it's been atleast 5 years since I thought a twist was shocking or revolutionary so it's nothing new for a twist to not faze me, and indeed I saw through it all but still it was a great watch


now for the story, to be honest, with stories like this there's always 2 options; it's real or it's fake. we've seen so many stories about having visions of the future so it's not that shocking to see her believe it, but I'll say the writer played it too safe by making all the "unfortunate" events around girls and worse, those girls didn't talk

so the only outcome is, memories, ie recalling which shows how a good title can atleast hide the plot, or they never intended to


so basically their plot twist was obvious, they wanted to make us doubt Seon Woo because that's where it usually leads to, the girl who forgets and the killer who pretends to be her husband, Secret Obsession had that plot to T. so even if the 1st time it seems "twisty", I knew they weren't going there..
also, actually the point I liked this was how obviously Seon Woo loved her. though as an actor I know he can pull both the sweet and the dark so I didn't doubt him as a serial killer but it was a nice subtle touch. as if to say "never doubt him"

also the fact that Yeom Hye Ran came and heavily implied that her husband abused her was a clear sign, also the way Seon Woo acted when he finally got caught, as if he was begging Soo Jin to believe his lies..



now the only thing that shocked me was how Ji Hoon was alive xD I thought that was another recalculation leading to the moment she got hurt, but it was wrapped up too fast and I hated how they had to kill Seon Woo cuz you know, he killed before and he's a main so he can't have a happily ever after

so I refuse to acknowledge that ending and will think they both finally fled their misfortunes and lived happily ever after

ok, I'll complain more on how both events would've been "self defense" so they reeeaaalllly didn't need to hide it or even worse bury a live body..

the ost was basic but I appreciated the low volume on the chewing, and I'd actually want to rewatch this but I would want the fire and hospital scene cut xD

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Corporation lab rats

The synopsis is too simple, the drama isn't complicated or nitty gritty as I initially thought. After watching squid game and alice in borederland, the fight for money seems like a fantasy death match

But in reality we all live in a twisted trap, work.
This drama used their metaphors and connected 5 different people in a really well thought out web of connections.
Character A has an intersection with Character B, Character C has an intersection with Character B, but he also meets A, D and E..
It seems complex but it was so smooth. Also it's so short yet so full of content, honestly one of the best scripts of 2022

The metaphor does revolve around money. People need it, people get inslaved by it, people hate it but people need it



As an interior designer actually it's literally like 1ep, we draw, delete, draw, calculate, delete, given weird tasks like break tiles, glue fabric, and 90% of the time it's the mood of the team leader

I wanted to be a designer cuz I love creating, I love art and I didn't want to be stuck in a cubicle. But in the end we're all lab rats of corporation.

The 2nd ep uses the metaphor of games, does life give you a 2nd chance?


I also adored the little fashion queens♡ ep5 didn't feel connected until you get to ep6 and it becomes the bow that wrapped the story together perfectly
The revelations of the last ep were my favorite, it was shocking, it made sense, it was sad and it was really well acted

Tbh I wished for more, most of the stories felt uncompeleted and eventhough the stories were like a spark of the real meaning I became attached to the characters

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