I would like a refund of the precious hours of my life please.

Watch it if you’re in the mood for: A historical, political intrigue K-drama being peddled as a Romance. This drama's sky high MyDramaList ratings are the biggest example of why these ratings should not be trusted blindly.

What I did not like:
- Lack of Romance: I invested 20+ hours of my free time to get about 1 hour of total romance on screen. Do not watch it if Romance is what you are in for. I clearly was and was sorely disappointed.
- Mediocre acting in general: The main Female lead had 1.25 expression. The second female lead had 1 expression. The second Male lead had exactly 1.75 expression. The King's personal guard had 0.75 expression (though in all fairness his character was supposed to be expressionless, a la, stoic. So I think he gets a pass). Bleh.

What I liked: (There are silver linings to this dark cloud)
- Male Lead (Kim Soo-Hyun): He is good looking and he is a good actor. He cried very prettily throughout the show. He had to cry on so many incidents and every time he managed to cry differently. Though I did not cry with him. I was bored stiff of the show and was not emotionally invested enough in the characters, but yet, the guy did a good job crying.
- Teenage actors depicting the Male lead and the Female lead: I enjoyed their chemistry. They did a good job. I did not fast forward the first 5 episodes at all due to them. The last 10 episodes of this series I ran at 1.5x play speed in my Netflix.

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Romantic fluff where you keep smiling at your laptop while watching the series.

Watch it if you’re in the mood for: Arranged marriage trope with good looking leads and a gentle love theme. Their love story does not have unnecessarily stretched misunderstandings. Lacks skinship but still has decently enough flutters. Plus it's a short watch. This series needs better ratings so that this surfaces to romance seekers like me.

Why I liked it:
* ML: He was always kind and considerate when it came to the FL, treating her like someone precious. Also, grew mature for her.
As an aside, he is the least Japanese-looking ML I have seen. Frankly, he can 100% pass off as an Indian. I checked his bio to see if he has mixed blood!

* FL: She is really good looking. Her skin glows and her smile slays. I have to admit her picture can be posted in the dictionary next to the word "Kawai".

Just watching the 2 leads together being calm, considerate of each other, always so mannered towards each other, makes for a series with a flow like a gentle stream. Time well spent! Now if only someone can take the same plot and make a more steamier version with actual skinship that characterises a marriage.

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Hugs where you can feel the leads drawing strength from each other.

Plot: Emotionally hurt ML falls in love with the emotionally strong FL, who helps him overcome the trauma by being a role model in how to do it. Their hugs are what made me really get into the series and the angst in the plot, whooh! The ML’s portrayal (and looks) knocked it out of the park for me. The FL was quiet mediocre, but at least she got the hugs right. Small mercies!

Why I liked it:
* Male Lead: You know the standard trope: ‘good-girls-fall-for-bad-guys’? There is another related trope: “emo-hurt-boy-I-am-gonna-fix-his-hurt”. This is what the ML (Andrew) brings to the table here in heaps. He is justifiably hurt. His mother left him, his brother and father for a lover when he was young. He carries his hurt around, in his eyes, the way of speaking. If you meet such emo-hurt guys in real life, they have a way of plucking the nurturing strings of a woman’s heart who feels she can give him the love to fix it. The FL fell for this perhaps. And so did I :)
However, here the FL is also hurt, her birth being a product of rape. However, when she comes to know about it, instead of being emo hurt about it, she goes about making her father apologise, and then embarks on a journey to forgive the same father, to eventually ending up actually finding a place for herself in the said father’s life. This was perhaps inspiring to the ML, who thought there is no way he can ever forgive his mother. He saw the FL doing it, and it panning out well for her. Instead of burning in constant need for revenge, she found peace. I think she made the ML realise that forgiveness does not unduly benefit his mother who may / may not deserve it, but sets him free too.

* Angst: Hoo boy, this series had so much angst. Basically, the ML was engaged to a really nice woman, and fell for the FL. The ML’s brother was into the FL. While the FL turned the brother down firmly, the ML was cheating on his brother too by falling for the FL and low key making out with her behind his back. Technically both the ML’s fiancee and brother were not at any kind of fault, ML and the FL were cheating. Imagine the scene: The ML and FL are hugging, FL gets a call from ML’s brother, lies to him about what she is doing. The ML knows she is talking to the brother (who is bonkers about her) and lying, waits for her to finish. She puts the phone down and again comes back to hug him. Sheesh! It’s completely morally wrong, even if we see why they do so and try to stop themselves unsuccessfully. I love angst where all parties are in some way justified, it’s not black or white. Anyways, being morally grey himself helped the ML to forgive his mother.

* Voyeurism: So many people watched them making out and being morally grey, unbeknownst to them. The FL’s friends just happily gawked them hugging from the stairs, ML's fiancee watches them in the office when the FL faints and the ML embrace-catches her etc. etc. I thought it added zing to the scenes.

What did not work:
* The last few episodes are not subbed, so I will never know for sure how the ending panned out. The ML and FL conversations are the meat of the series and I missed them :(
* Angst: It could have been built way more. Feelings of jealousy / guilt their particular actions should generate were not touched upon.
* Kisses: They sort of wished to film it the way that we know they are kissing without actually showing them kissing. It did not work at all. It was so obvious on screen that they both did not kiss at all when they turned their heads.
* FL: Extremely mediocre acting, she was unlikeable in general.

No matter what I wrote in negatives, this series and Andrew’s portrayal stayed in my mind for days once I was done with the series. I recommend watching.

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Watched it when I was in my Nadech crush phase, was fully in love with him by the end of the series.

Watch it if you’re in the mood for: Some serious Nadech goodness. He is extremely charming, handsome, caring, sensitive, mature, thoughtful, jacked up, yada yada in this series. He did not do a single thing which Thai Lakorn ML's get bad rep for generally. Infact, he was downright an epitome of manly virtues.

Why I liked it:
* ML is all kinds of my dream man: Nadech was shown to be a great boss, lover, brother. He was quite mature. The kind of possessiveness he depicted as Nai Singh, is my favourite kind of possessiveness to see on screen. And I almost never get to see it done right. The kind where the ML asserts his rights on the FL once he has confessed to her and she accepts. Here he asserted it even without the FL accepting him. :D He portrayed it very well, without it being too in-your-face.

* Daddy vibes: Somehow Nadech was more fatherly to Mew than the guy who played her actual father. Nadech even asked the FL in the drama: Am I more kinder to you or Na Ram (the father)? Frankly, it was Nadech who was kinder, by a long shot. He was always teaching her stuff, patting her head, showing her different experiences, caring for her etc. In one scene, he even gives her food and says "eat this so you grow up fast!:D". I liked the protective vibes he gave out. In real life too, if someone has daddy issues (like the FL had ), it wouldn't be a stretch of imagination to see her falling in love with a guy who acts like Nadech. I wish this theme was explored more in the drama :D

What I did not like:
* FL: I swear Mew should be sued for spoiling the charm Nadech was oozing on the screen. She totally was not into him, shrank every time he got too close to her. He pours his feelings to her with soulful eyes and killer dimples, and she just nods. Damn girl, move. I was doing a better job of emoting to my laptop screen in response to Nadech's acting.
I don't think Mew is a bad actress in general. She was great in My Husband-in-law. Either she disliked Nadech on a personal level, or the Director was freaking blind to let her keep spoiling all these lovely romantic scenes. Her crass acting is singularly responsible for this series not being a solid 10. If you cannot do love scenes/can't stand the ML, why the heck sign up for doing them?
I feel bad for Nadech. He got his romantic acting A-game to this series. Way better than the various series he has with even Yaya. And Mew ruined it. Big time!

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The Male Lead had more chemistry with a Side character IMO

Watch it if you’re in the mood for: A typical revenge Thai Lakorn, but done right. A smouldering Male Lead, who has decent chemistry with the not-so-awesome, mostly-ok Female Lead. My plot twist is in the last para of my review.

Why I liked it:
* I concur with the other reviewers that the Male Lead carries the show. Gets the right amount of anger, angst, longing, confrontation etc in his expressions and he is good-looking as heck. The kisses are also nice, not dead fish pressing lips against each other. I don't know what the ML was on when he filmed this lakorn, but he had chemistry with everyone. With the FL, with Mee, with Aunt Mam, with Oil. I personally thought he can give a lingering glance to the wall or the door and I would be convinced that he wants to make out with the aforementioned wall/door. I feel bad for the FL to be honest. The ML brought his acting A-game to the lakorn, she was valiantly trying to keep up.
* This is where I get shot but here goes: I thought Sila had smouldering chemistry with Aunt Mam! Before I am killed for pointing that out for a character who was effectively a Mom-substitute for him in the plot, hear me out:
- The way they are introduced: She is taking a bath, he is in the shower and they are talking to each other on phone. Exactly what am I supposed to take away from such a scene?
- He was extremely protective of her, I would say even more so than for the Female Lead. And they took precious plot time to build that out too in scenes between the two of them. Maybe they did it to show that the Male Lead is a good character, not evil. But picture this: Aunt Mam is a victim of violence. Sila sees this and loses it, vows to burn it all down. She is sitting there in a thigh-high slit bathing robe sort of costume when he is falling to his knees crying. Whoa! My brain just can't seem to process it as him doing this for a motherly figure. The sexual innuendos were strong!
- It is not helped by the fact that I thought Aunt Mam was the most gorgeous female in this series, and Sila is well Sila. Smouldering hotness. Maybe my brain is automatically shipping the two most good looking folks in this series.
- Once I got on this train of thought, I couldn't help but see each of their scenes in a different light. Whenever she is calming him down, she is running her hands around his shoulders, down the length of his arms. You get the drift!

Takeaway: Someone make a May-Dec romance and cast Aunt Mam and Sila in lead roles. What natural chemistry! What good looking folks! What great actors!

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I don't believe in love-at-first-sight, but the lead pair here had Chemistry-at-first-sight.

Plot: Typical Forced marriage Thai Lakorn but with no rape scenes for a change. The ML was actually quite a gentleman.
You should watch it if in the mood for: A typical rom-com where the leads have great natural chemistry together and are drop dead good looking. Bonus is that their body language is in tune with one another and the actress is uninhibited in her portrayal of love scenes.
Why I liked it:
* MALE LEAD: He is a fine looking specimen and he is shirtless for a sizeable part of the drama. He is jacked up, which is a refreshing change from all these perennially lean Korean / Chinese male leads, who can never convince me that they can actually pick up the FL. His muscles and tall height is accentuated by the fact that the FL is actually quite dainty. When he hugs her, its like a bear hugging a maiden :) Also his big hands caught my eyes too. He was frequently caressing the FL in some form or other (caressing her hair, her arms, her shoulders). If you notice carefully, they are in some form of physical contact in a lot of their interactions. All this enhanced the chemistry for me.
* FEMALE LEAD: I might have called out the ML as the first point, but the star of the romance here is the FL, Mookda. She is drop-dead good looking. I read a comment on YouTube saying she looks like a Disney Princess, and I agree. Plus, man the girl can act! She has beautiful doe eyes which look even more striking when they are full of tears, she makes her lips quiver at will, and her voice cracks while delivering a sad line. She was so uninhibited with her body language with the ML. She kissed like she was into the kissing. She leaned into him, hugged, touched him. Frankly there was a scene in the last episode, where the ML was leaning in to kiss her cheek and she just turned her lips to him :D He still ended up kissing her cheek, it seemed like a little mistake in the scene which they let pass, but just shows that when she signed up to do a RomCom, she meant to portray that she loved the guy. (or maybe she really liked Mike, who knows!)
This girl is actually one of the best romance FL I have seen across Korean / Chinese / Japanese / Taiwanese / Thai rom com landscape. It's the FLs who always spoil a romance drama for me by being dead fish in the skinship scenes. FL, if you love him, why would you shrink if he touches you? Go Mookda! I will watch more of your dramas.
* CHEMISTRY: From the very first scene when they met in the Drama, there were sparks on screen. I don't believe in love at first sight, but I definitely believe in Chemistry at first sight. The ML and FL had really physical chemistry. They were just so naturally into touching each other, being in each other's physical space. Sighhhhh!

Tips:
*Its only 16 episodes long and you can fast forward all the second /third lead love stories, without missing much.
* The fight scenes are extremely well done. Kudos to the Action / Stunt director.

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A rare instance where the MDL rating of 9 is absolutely justified for the series.

Why I liked it:

- Main Love Story: As you may know, the FL had 2 suitors. There seem to have been fan wars about who she should have ended with. There were subtle clues sprinkled throughout the series, which were confusing to me personally. I thought some clues pointed to the main ML and some to the second ML. Both were quite outstanding suitors because I felt both were complimentary personalities to an extent to the FL. The FL was a generally sweet and happy-go-lucky girl, with no major outstanding qualities/ambition. One ML was really mature but child-like innocent at the same time and brought out the FL's protective & nurturing instincts. The other ML was quite caring and while he bickered with her, the FL brought out his protective & nurturing instincts. So in case of one ML, the FL would have been the primary nurturer, with the other one she would have been nurtured. Both work in real life actually. My take away was: who we end up with is driven by Destiny most of all. People are not fixtures, there are spectrums to behaviour. The same person can be dominating one in a relationship with one partner, and be dominated in a relationship with another partner. The opposite partner's behaviours brings out different personality traits in folks. So, I was fine whoever she ended up with, they both suited her. Kudos to the makers/actors for bringing to life such fine 2 suitors.

- Secondary Love Story: Ah, the FL's elder sister and friend's love story (Sung-Sung couple as I term them). You know there are commitment-phobic guys in real life They are often depicted in dramas too. There is another category of guys who exist but are not as frequently depicted I feel. The commitment-philic guys, who thrive on stepping up and taking responsibilities. Sung Sun Woo was that guy. Stepped up to the role of man-support for his mother and lil sister once his father passed away. Happily so. It's no wonder he fell for an older girl. His maturity level was higher than even his FL though she was older and mature herself. Even in his relationship, he is the one who pushed for permanence, happy to marry early. Though his FL was really aggressive, he tamed her so well. I freakin adore such guys. I love their love.

- Really slow burn romance, both of them. Done just the way I like them.

- Kisses: Swoon worthy and totally real. Especially so from the secondary couple. I truly think the secondary couple are a couple in real life.

Weird points:
- The FL had an adam's apple to rival the ML's. This is the first time I have seen an actress with such a pronounced adam's apple. Distracted me in a few scenes
- Whoever did FL's make-up needs to be fired. I could see her foundation / pimples in so many scenes
- The wigs of the 3 ahjummas were also terrible cause it was so obvious they were wigs

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The lead's chemistry had me convinced that they had feelings in real life.

Plot: Ummm, very teenager-ish plot. Apart from ML and FL falling in love, I could not care about anything else that was happening.
Watch it if you’re in the mood for: A teenage, school romance between a cocky, testosterone fuelled bad-boy (who is actually really good at heart) and a sweet, naive girl (who still has some spine and brains). What’s different is that both the leads communicate very well with each other throughout the series and never give a single moment of “gah-this-can-be-solved-if-you-two-just-DM-each-other’. Their chemistry is on fire, gave me a lot of feels and I was convinced that they liked each other for real.

Why I liked it:
*CHEMISTRY: The ML and FL had crazy physical chemistry. It is a testimony to their chemistry that even though they did not have a single lip lock in the entire series, they gave me more butterflies in the stomach than a lot of other romance series with a lot of skin ship. I always say, the romance is in the little details and the body language. Few scenes which got to me:
* When a sidey character hits the FL, the pent up aggression shown by the ML while bandaging her wounds (whooh).
* When he is pissed that she is turning down his proposal, banging his head against the almirah
* Mouthing silently “She is my girlfriend” through lips while introducing her to his mother’s grave
I so liked their chemistry that I watched a lot of BTS videos.
*MALE LEAD (Kim Jung-Hyun): The ML had a lot of screen presence, and he nailed the cocky characterisation of a teenage boy. Indifferent and vulnerable at the same time.
Korean MLs are mostly too feminine for me: They are pastel white, show no traces of facial hair, are almost never beefed up and have baby-like skin. Only their deep voices and strong jaws are a saving grace. In a country where all males enlist in the army, why are their beauty standards for men so feminine? Curious philosophical question :)
Anyhoo, this ML is not at all feminine looking, he always had traces of facial hair. Frankly his chapped lips in a few episodes were so hot to me.
*FEMALE LEAD (Kim Se-Jeong): A good FL is core to any romance. While viewers like me who are trying to get romance vicariously swoon over the ML, I am very cognizant that its the FL who has to work equally together to get the right sparks on screen. I really liked the FL. She seemed quite chill, her smile got to me too :D, so no wonder the ML fell for her.

My recommendation: Watch it folks. It’s an investment of 16 + hours in pure fluffy feels and it’s on Netflix!

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Lead Chemistry made me convinced they were dating / had feelings in real life.

Plot: Contract dating story. I am a sucker for those.
Watch it if you’re in the mood for: A light hearted, low angst love story which convinces you that the leads are actually in love. Sizzling chemistry of the leads in kisses and in interactions. Far-fetched concept of “Contract Dating” but they sold it as realistically as it can be. The Male Lead (ML, Ha Seok-Jin) has traditional masculine traits (aggressive, dominating, protective and take charge) and the Female Lead (FL, Jeon So-Min) has traditional feminine traits (nurturing, understanding & submissive). Such pairings are getting rarer in dramaland due to “wokeness” so it was refreshing to watch. They were well done too. ML was considerate and FL did have a spine.
Why I liked it:
* CHEMISTRY: The leads have crazy chemistry, I was convinced they were dating in real life. It’s not just the hot kisses (though they were HOT), the chemistry is in little details on how the leads react to each other through their body language. I read a reviewer say that it seemed like this series cast an actual pair dating and I agree.The way they lean into each other, caressing the hair, holding hands etc. The way the ML cared for her after she was recovered from the kidnapping, whoa! I got goosebumps. However, the credit goes to the FL for making their kisses so magical. Most of K-drama actresses kiss like dead fish pressing their lips. Poor MLs do all the work and plenty of MLs kiss well. However, here the FL was an active participant so magic on screen :)
The ML’s breathing has been audibly captured a lot: He breathes deeply / sighs in a lot of interactions which gave me flutters :) The breathing sounds were very strategically placed. His deep voice also did things to my heart. I became a fan of Ha Seok-jin after this show (do more such roles oppa!)

* PLOT SENSE: The plot made sense in why the leads would be attracted to each other. I see too many plots where the ML is an over-achiever, filthy rich person and the FL is clumsy / tomboyish, beautiful-but-not-aware-of-her-beauty, and somehow the ML falls head-over-heels. I never quite understand what the FL is bringing to the table apart from her looks because clumsiness/aggression-of-hitting-guys is not a quality I find endearing.
Here, it made perfect sense to me why the ML loves the FL and vice versa. ML had a broken childhood, has family members fighting over money with each other and is used to females being attracted to him primarily for money as he is depicted to be an abrasive sort of character. The FL comes from a loving home. Very early on the drama establishes that she couldn’t care less about the money he brings to the table. She is a school teacher, great with kids: this last trait the ML specifically admires. I think in fact that’s a common trait they both share, they both love kids. The series has shown instances where the ML goes out of his way to protect a kid, which catches the female lead’s attention and made her realise the good part of him. The ML was cognizant of all the troubles the FL had to face just because she was dating him: burglary in her house, getting kidnapped, hearing taunts from his family and exes etc. So when the FL falls for the ML, he did have the security that she has actually fallen for him alone, the money associated with him was actually a burden that she had to overcome to fall for him.
Personally, I think given the FL was shown to be submissive (see the scene where she just hides behind the ML when she realises her house has been broken into), she actually enjoyed the possessive/protective (yes, it’s a fine line between the two) nature of the ML.

*TRADITIONAL MASCULINE / FEMININE VALUES PORTRAYAL: The ML did one heck of a job portraying a man-child. He could look very child-like innocent in a few scenes and managed to turn alpha male when certain situations called for it. The FL is submissive and the ML is dominating, they both work that way. I think that is how it is in real life too, a pair of submissive / dominating partner can work well (any gender can assume any role). I am way more dominating than my husband, I know he enjoys it. I believe my dominance is within the boundaries he feels endearing, not stifling. I have read reviews calling the ML’s behaviour toxic. I am not sure I agree. As long as it is in the FL acceptance zone, it’s fine, even endearing. For example: The days my husband shows jealousy, I remember them for a long, long time. They are so few and far between and reaffirm to me that he still loves me in a profound manner. For some couples these instances might be more frequent, but as long as the other partner is touched by them and not stifled, it’s fine. I don’t agree with broad labelling of certain behaviours as toxic, life is more nuanced.
The FL was accepting of some behaviours like him being possessive etc because it was within her acceptance zone. However, she gave it right back when the ML stepped out of her comfort zone. For example: she absolutely refused to ever listen to any suggestions about her leaving her teaching profession for being a society wife.
They were not opposites but complementary personalities attracted to each other.

To end it all, the series summarised itself: There is a person with 99% unattractive traits, but if he / she has 1% of a trait that you find attractive, you can fall for that person, that becomes the charm of that person.
I think it slandered the ML unnecessarily though because he was shown to be a good person overall, even though if a bit controlling and possessive. As I said, it’s a problem only if the partner finds it a problem. The world at large and their opinions do not matter. Here, the partner clearly enjoyed the trait. I mean folks are literally supportive of BDSM relationships, but not this? I call double standards.
So, if you are in the mood for feeling romance vicariously, go watch Something about 1%.
Read my more detailed review on: romancevicariously(dot)wordpress(com)

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Dropped it: Plot is Golden, Female Lead is Wooden

Plot: A recently jilted-in-love, hot-headed cop gets into an arranged marriage with a homely, traditional girl. I am a sucker for plots where the leads fall in love post marriage. I am a sucker for plots where a hot-headed male is paired with a calm, mature female lead. It's a pity I couldn't even finish this series.

Why I did not like it:
* Female Lead: She lacked chemistry with the Male Lead. She shrinks when he gets too close. The moment the FL acts like she is uncomfortable in a hug / kiss scene with the ML who she apparently loves, it breaks the plot immersion experience for me completely.
Jirayu did a great job with his role. He was hot-headed but sensible, approached her with a smile, looked happy to be in her presence on screen. The FL was just meh.
Also, somehow her demeanour did not sell me that she was any sort of traditional / homely person.

Given how crazy I am about such plots, I demand this be remade with Mark Prin / Mike and Mookda in leading roles

PS: When you realise 'Padiwaradda' is Thai appropriation of the Sanskrit word "Pativrata": Mind Blown! :D

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Seven Tan acting summary: I love you so much that I will die for you but I will not hug / kiss you.

Watched till episode 15, and dropped it when I realised:

* I can predict the story progression with 99.93% accuracy including the episode number where they will actually kiss for the first time / sleep with each other / get pregnant

* My major gripe is with Seven Tan's acting here. She is cast so often in rom-com dramas. I have also seen "Under the Power". She is a good actress. So I fully believe her character when she is willing to die for the ML. However, she falls so flat in skinship scenes whether it be kisses or just simple hugs. And honestly that should be a deal breaker for casting an actress in romance dramas. Stop giving Seven Tan romance series because she cannot deliver.

P.S: I was looking forward to a good Wallace Chung drama. Now he is what a ML in a romance drama should be, he always delivers. His face can feature on the Mills & Boon novels I read. I will wait, for another drama of his which captures my heart like "My Sunshine" did. And oh yeah, Wallace Chung does not seem to age.

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