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  • Location: Las Vegas, NV
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  • Join Date: July 5, 2021

Rowena

Las Vegas, NV

Rowena

Las Vegas, NV
Completed
Cheese in the Trap
2 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
I watched this show because I’ve become a pretty big fan of both Kim Go Eun and Nam Joo Hyuk and they’re both in this show. I had really high hopes for this one since I’ve had a good running streak of really great Korean dramas set in college. I really enjoyed Weightlifting Fairy, Kim Bok Joo and so I was riding that high when I started this one.

So this show follows our main female lead, Hong Seol. She’s a struggling college student that is trying her best to stay afloat. She’s working, she’s studying, and she’s trying to figure out how she’s going to pay for next year’s tuition because she doesn’t have a lot of parental support. Plus, her family isn’t well off and whatever money they have was used to send her younger brother abroad to study in the states. So yeah, Seol’s on her own. She doesn’t have a lot of free time but the free time that she does have, she spends with her two best friends. When she meets Yoo Jung, a rich guy that all the girls love, Seol isn’t that interested. They have nothing in common and she keeps catching him doing weird things. Things that she’s not a fan of and because of that, she tries to steer clear of him…but he keeps showing up wherever she is, and…he’s interested in her. Getting to know him wasn’t in her plans but because they keep bumping into each other, she gives him a chance.

This show started off really strong. The main character, Hong Seol did a great job of hooking me into what she had going on. Between her and her two best friends, I was really rooting for this show to be a huge success and it almost was. The lengths that the hero went to get shit done was low-key a turn-off. He had a God complex that didn’t sit right with me throughout the entire show and even in the end, I wanted to knee him in the balls because ugh. There are only so many times that I can forgive someone for doing some creepy shit and letting it slide. Even after understanding the way that he thought and the way that he was, I still didn’t like it. Or him for that matter. I was much more invested in Hong Seol’s relationship with Baek In Ho (the second lead) and that almost never happens. I’m usually a stickler for the main couple no matter how much I like the second lead but this is the first show where that wasn’t the case.

I wanted to like this show because of Kim Eun Go and Nam Joo Hyuk but even with that strong start, the middle and the ending didn’t do anything for me and that bummed me out.

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Completed
Taxi Driver
2 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 8.0

This was a definite treat and I’ve already watched it all the way through twice.

This show is about a deluxe taxi service that seeks revenge for those that can’t avenge themselves. People who have been failed by the system that is supposed to protect and serve. I’m a bloodthirsty bitch so when I read the summary of this show, I was all the way in. The show starts off strong and I was heavily invested in what was going down. I enjoyed the darker tone of the show and seeing the Rainbow Taxi team seek their own justice for the wrongs done to their clients. Every case made me cry and the lengths that the Rainbow Taxi team went to, to make sure that their clients got the justice that they deserved made me happy.

The acting is pretty top-notch and every actor really brought a different aspect to the show that made the show that much better in my eyes. There was a writer switch-up about halfway through the show and I noticed it. I enjoyed the first half a lot more than the second half but the second half didn’t turn me off the show completely or anything like this. The ending was a little disappointing but that was because it ended with an addition that I didn’t care about for the entire season and didn’t want in the end but it is what it is.

Overall, this one is probably my favorite drama of the year so far. I highly recommend this show if you’re looking for a good vs. evil drama with lots of action, a team of do gooders with a dark side. This was a definite treat and I’ve already watched it all the way through twice.

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Completed
Uncontrollably Fond
2 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 10
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

If you want to cry your eyes out & rage watch something then this is the show for you.

This was the first drama that I’ve watched Kim Woo Bin as the main male lead. It won’t be the last, at least I hope it won’t. His character in this show pissed me off at least twice in every episode but I couldn’t help but love him anyway. I hated the way that he treated No Eul in the beginning and his asshole attitude made me want to punch him in the nuts many times over but for some reason, I’m sure his good looks helped his case plenty (gah, I’m so shallow!), I still felt for him. I wanted to smack some sense into him and then hug him better. His character was complicated and his story was a hard one to get through but I thought Kim Woo Bin’s acting was fantastic and I ate up every scene he was in.

Bae Suzy was the female lead in this one and she was another fantastic addition to this cast. I loved her character, I loved the complexity that she brought to No Eul’s character and I just thought she was a great noona to her younger brother, No Jik (even though there were times when he didn’t appreciate her efforts). I also wanted to punch her in the gut more than once each episode. I kept giving her a break though because she was dealt a really shitty life hand and I don’t think I could have survived what she did. As each episode passed, I grew to love her character more and more. My heart hurt for her and though she did stupid things that pissed me off in the beginning, I’m glad that I stuck around because she was one of the strongest characters in the entire show and I really admired her.

The second lead made me want to punch a hole in a wall. I don’t think that I’ve watched a drama where I was so adamantly against the second lead. Everything he did pissed me off and it was like every chance he got, he did something else that made me want to punch him in the dick. Even in the end, I don’t know that I completely came to like him but I didn’t hate him either.

Kim Woo Bin’s Mom in this show pissed me off. It’s one thing for her to be disappointed and hurt with his life choices but for her to take it as far as she did? Manipulating and spreading those hateful comments? That’s stupid, immature, and just flat-out mean. You don’t do shit like that to your kids, no matter how disappointed you are in them. When Joo Yeong finally let his Mom have it, after enduring five years of his mother’s manipulation, I was a giant ball of tears…and even after their big blowout, she still pissed me off. She was such a terrible person. She cared more about the man that left her than her own son. She made him feel like an outsider in his own family and considering everything that he was battling in this show, with every episode where she didn’t back him, it made me hate her more and more.

I’m telling you, this show was so damn messy and I’m not typically the audience for that kind of shit cause I can’t get through shows like Penthouse and Sky Castle (though I’ve tried) but as mad as this show made me, I was compelled to continue. I needed to see how everything came together and I needed to see it all through to the end. I ugly cried through so much of this show that I had to keep pausing to catch my breath and wipe my face cause I couldn’t see the screen. There was much to unpack throughout the entire course of this show and piecing each piece together kept me going but it wasn’t without its drawbacks.

This show touches on a lot of subjects that had me sitting up to take notice. There was much corruption in the people that are supposed to uphold the law and seeing the rich feed on the poor made me just as mad as the characters did. Despite all of that, I watched every episode and I’m not sure what that says about me. Haha. Was the show good? Yes. Was it hard to get through? Also, yes. Would I watch this show ever again? Probably not because that ending? I’m still sorting through how I feel about it. So if you’re in the mood to cry your eyes out, and rage watch something then this is probably the show for you.

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Completed
Signal
1 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 6.0

A solid suspense drama and the walkie-talkie business was one of the highlights of the show.

So Signal is about a detective from 1989 and a cold case profiler in 2015 working together through a magical walkie-talkie to solve and prevent crimes from happening. Solving them in 2015 helps prevent them in 1989 and through trial and error, Lee Jae Han, the detective from 1989, and Park Hae Yeong, the cold case profiler from 2015 figure out what went wrong and how to fix them in their own times. The concept behind the show is was initially drew me to watching it and I’m glad that I did because the actors really brought this story to life. It totally made sense to me that there was a magical walkie-talkie helping a man from the 80’s help a man from 2015 solve crime and beat the bad guys.

I also thought that the cases that they worked on together were interesting. From the kidnapping case to the rape case, to every other case, each story really stood out and had me thinking about them long after I turned the final episode off. These characters really go through it personally and professionally and they had to overcome so much to get to that end. There were times where I had to walk away from the TV because what was happening was too much for me and my blood pressure but I will say that the villains played their roles really well in this one because I hated their asses so much.

Overall, there were moments when certain characters and cases made my blood boil but I’m glad that I stuck with this show because it was a solid suspense drama and the time through walkie-talkie business was one of the highlights of the show for me. I love the friendship that blossomed between Lee Jae Han and Park Hae Yeong. I thought the way that their friendship grew and grew with each case that they worked on was just so stinkin’ great.

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Completed
My Roommate Is a Gumiho
1 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 8.0

A fun drama that didn’t take itself too seriously.

I started this show because I’ve become a big fan of the female lead, Lee Hye Ri. I loved her acting and her character in Reply 1988 so I was looking forward to seeing what she brought to this new character, Lee Dam, and I wasn’t disappointed. My girl can act and she’s funny as hell. She plays the goofy heroine extremely well and I was here for all of it in this show.

This was the first show that I saw Jang Ki Yong front and center and holy shit, this man is beautiful! He plays the loner immortal role really well too. Seeing him bring Shin Woo Yeo to life was a delight and a half. I loved seeing him fall in love with Lee Dam, even when he didn’t know and understand that was what was happening to him. Lee Dam was the perfect match for him and I completely adored their romance.

This story was complex and it was full of baloney but holy cow was it a lot of fun. I laughed, I smiled, and I cried throughout much of this show and through it all, I was entertained as hell. I loved the friendship between Shin Woo Yeo and Yang Hye Sun. The way that they both tried to live as humans and how often they got everything so wrong made me laugh so much. Their chemistry was fun and seeing them interact with all of the young college students, when they were hundreds of years old just made this show all the more fun. I also really loved the friendship between Lee Dam and her crew. They were so ride or die for each other and every single time that they got drunk together or fought together had me cracking the hell up.

Lee Dam was my kind of character. Someone I wanted to be and someone that I wanted to be besties with. She was a lot of fun but her moral compass was screwed on tight in the right direction. She was weird and she made no apologies for that. She liked what she liked and to hell with what anyone else had to say about it. She was also extremely loyal to those that she loved and to those that loved her. She was honest and just an all-around great person and I adored the hell out of her.

The second lead was someone that I had never heard about until this show and though I liked his character well enough, I wasn’t rooting for him to win Lee Dam. I did feel bad for him though because he had it bad for her and no matter what he did to win her over, she would not be swayed from Eoreushin. Even when outside forces did whatever they could to help his cause, she would not be moved. When we first met the second lead, I didn’t care for him and he really grew on me the more episodes that I watched. In the end, my heart really hurt for him and I wished him well. I hope he’s happy, wherever he is now. Haha.

The story started off strong and though there were times when things moved at a weird pace, I enjoyed every single episode. I enjoyed the main romance, the secondary romance, and I supported the hell out of all of Lee Dam’s loved ones. I was rooting for everyone and everything to work out in the end and I wasn’t disappointed. The beginning started off strong and I respected that since a lot of books and dramas have that weird beginning hump that you have to slog through to get to all of the good bits. The cast was delightful and the acting was great. Overall, this was a fun drama that didn’t take itself too seriously and I have every confidence that you’ll like this drama if you give it a chance.

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Completed
Racket Boys
1 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

Recommended if you’re in the mood for something light, funny, and full of hope.

This show was so damn wholesome, I couldn’t stand it. Between the badminton teams (both boys and girls), the folks from the village, and just every damn thing – I was in constant love. I watched this weekly, as the episodes were releasing so I had a bit of a wait between episodes but that didn’t diminish my love for the storyline, the characters, and every dang thing about this show. I finished each episode, every week with a giant smile on my face because I loved it all.

There was a slight pause in the airing of a week’s worth of episodes due to the Summer Olympics and I was really bummed about that. I was watching both the Olympics and this show so I had a little attitude during the break but alls well that ends well and this show definitely ends well. It felt like every episode was a freaking season finale but we only had a week to wait between seasons.

I really adored the boy’s badminton team. Seeing them struggle to be taken seriously with the constant threat of shut down (of their program and season) and just overcoming obstacle after obstacle had me rooting like crazy for the whole lot of them. I loved how close they got to each other. I loved their ups and their downs and I absolutely loved the way that they teased each other and supported each other. I loved their truth bench and how different each of them were from the other. They became a family in the real sense and I loved it to pieces.

What I loved a lot about this show was how every character was a three-dimensional character with flaws and not cookie-cutter characters that fit a mold. I loved that each character had charms that were specific to them and they all had their own unique situations and struggles. On top of that, the village as a whole had struggles, and seeing each village member come together to bring the bad guys down just made this whole show that much better.

This show introduced me to new actors that I wasn’t aware of before and it also showed me that actors who played characters that I absolutely hated in other shows had what it takes to make me fall in love with them in this one. I couldn’t stand Choi Hyun Wook’s character in Taxi Driver but I adored the hell out of him as Na Woo Chan in this show. There’s a lot to love about this show. It has charm in spades and a cast of characters that you will come to adore with every fiber of your being. This show has grit and it has a heartwarming story that will hook you right from the jump. I absolutely recommend this if you’re in the mood for something light, funny, but full of hope. This drama doesn’t disappoint.

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Completed
True Beauty
1 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 10
Rewatch Value 7.0
I heard about this show before it came out so I was looking forward to watching it once it started airing and I didn’t waste any time once it started up. I will admit that I didn’t read the webtoon so I went into this drama without any knowledge of the storyline. Cha Eun Woo is an actor that I like and I was looking forward to seeing his fine ass in another drama.

True Beauty was an engaging and entertaining k-drama and I really enjoyed it. There were some parts of the show that I didn’t care for but overall, it was good. Let’s break down my thoughts about the bigger parts of the show, shall we?

The romance between Lee Su Ho and Lim Joo Kyung was a super cute one. I really enjoyed seeing both the past Su Ho and Joo Kyung and the current Su Ho and Joo Kyung. Su Ho was such a loner and needed someone like Joo Kyung in his life. Especially considering his home life and everything he went through on that front. Joo Kyung needed someone like Su Ho in her life as well. He was completely loyal to her and didn’t care what she looked like. He was so emotionally invested in her happiness that it made me happy.

The love triangle never really felt like a love triangle to me because Lim Joo Kyung loved who she loved and never once did she waver in that. Not even when Su Ho was being an ass for years. She was faithful to him and to their relationship, even when he didn’t deserve it…she was Team Su Ho. I completely understood it and rooted for the two of them to figure themselves out. She never had the chance to hide her true self from him and I loved that she never forgot it. He loved her no matter what her face looked like and even though Seo Joon did as well after a while, I always rooted for Su Ho and Joo Kyung.

The supporting cast was a memorable one for sure. I think of all of the groups of friends covered in this show, my favorite was probably Su Ho’s friend group after he fell out with Seo Joon. I liked all of the boys but my favorite was Su Ho’s group because they were so freaking funny with how jealous they got of Seo Joon. Su Ho was theirs and they didn’t let anyone (even Su Ho) forget it.

Seo Joon’s squad was a loyal squad as well and though I did like them, I liked the nerds a smidge more. Joo Kyung’s new school squad wasn’t my favorite for obvious reasons and there were times when I wanted to smack some sense into Joo Kyung herself but every single time I thought that, Joo Kyung came to her senses. I loved that her personality never really changed throughout the show. She was just as kindhearted in the end as she was in the beginning and though she lost her way a time or two, she always came through and her friends benefitted from her forgiving nature. Aside from the school friends, I also really enjoyed getting to know Joo Kyung’s family and the secondary romance between her sister and their teacher was a fun addition to this show. The teacher reminded me of how extra Joo Kyung was but they were both such charming characters that it worked in their favor because I was a fan of theirs throughout the entire show. I loved seeing Joo Kyung’s younger brother and Seo Joon’s younger sister bicker their way to becoming close and I really enjoyed seeing Su Ho and his father work on rebuilding their relationship as well. Lots of great characters for sure.

There was a lot to offer with this show and for me, personally, I never once got bored with what was happening. There are plenty of shows with slow beginnings or middles that drag but I didn’t find that to be the case with True Beauty. Each of the main characters shined in their own way and brought something different to the table that made tuning in every week a delight. I’m very happy that I gave this show a try and I’m looking forward to more acting goodness from this cast. I definitely recommend this show if you’re looking for a fun high school romance with charming characters and some deep plotlines that will keep you glued to your screen. This was a delightful k-drama and you won’t be sorry, I don’t think.

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Completed
Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
0 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers

This show was a damn good show and I just adored it to pieces.

This show was brought to my attention by my k drama bestie, B Nice and it was such a big hit with me that even till this day, and many dramas later, I still find myself watching my favorite scenes from this show over and over again. The triple threat of Park Hyung Sik, Park Bo Young, and Ji Soo was a major score for me. I enjoyed all of their characters and they brought this story to life like nobody else could and I loved the hell out of their work in this one.

So this story follows our main lead, Bong Soon. Bong Soon has grown up in a family where the women have super-human strength and she’s no different. She can pick up a bus full of people, punch through houses, and she benchpress everything. Trying to get a job at a gaming company is out of reach for her but her luck turns around when her strength gets her hired on as the CEO of her dream company’s bodyguard. An Min Hyuk is intrigued by the small little woman that he witnessed kick the shit out of a bunch of bad guys who bullied a bus driver and the kids that he was driving to school. He follows her to the police station where she’s giving her statement to her detective friend. The more that he sees of the woman, the more interested he is in her. He needs a bodyguard and thinks that this woman has just what he’s looking for in a bodyguard. It doesn’t hurt that she’s easy on the eyes, not that it matters anyway. Bong Soon ain’t trying to look his way. He annoys the hell out of her and thinks he’s gay so he’s out of the running for our girl.

Bong Soon has grown up with a huge crush on her childhood friend, Kook Doo but she’s never felt it was the right time for them and it’s thrown in her face when she finds out that Kook Doo’s got a girlfriend. She’s hurt and she’s frustrated but she can’t help who she loves any more than she can help the strength that she has that others don’t. But she has to try to get over him because she’s not a homewrecker so when she gets closer and closer to her annoying boss, she starts to realize that he’s not as bad as she initially thought. He’s actually a really great guy and he’s not gay either, haha.

Seeing both Bong Soon and Min Hyuk grow into their feelings for each other at the same time that they’re fighting bad guys left and right, was a lot of fun. This was a comedy, a romance, and even had some action thrown in and I was here for it all. I am such a huge fan of the three main leads because of their work in this show. I loved the romance in this, I loved the friendship that developed between Min Hyuk and Kook Doo and I really, really loved the couch scene.

I was a giant ball of emotions when I watched this scene. The way that he kept putting himself out there for her, hoping that she would stop looking at the guy that’s not looking at her and look at him instead. He was so good to her and he loved her so much and gahhhhh, I loved it! They’re one of my favorite couples to date. This show was a damn good show and I just adored it to pieces so I definitely recommend it to everyone.

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Completed
Record of Youth
0 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

Great show but the ending? Meh.

This drama started out with a lot of promise. I was really enjoying everything that was happening in the first half of the show. I was enjoying it so much that heading into the second half of the season brought about some anxiety as I just knew that the other shoe was going to drop and everything was going to go up in flames. I was right that everything was going to change in the second part of the season but I was less invested in what was happening in the second half.

So this show follows two best friends who are both actors and a makeup artist who is fiercely independent and a huge fangirl over the main male lead, Sa Hye-Jun (Park Bo Gum). Sa Hye-Jun is a twenty-something-year-old actor and model who is looking for his huge break. He’s a struggling actor, working multiple part-time jobs to support himself and seems to only get the crumbs from his much more successful, and rich best friend, Won Hae-Hyo. The story follows the both of them as they struggle, Hye-Jun struggled with staying true to himself and to his beliefs in the harsh world of entertainment, and Won Hae-Hyo struggles with being in the shadow of Hye-Jun’s spotlight for the first time. He’s not used to coming in second behind Hye-Jun in anything and realizing the truth about every job he’s ever gotten, every follower he’s got on social media bites him in the ass so they both struggle with being jealous of what the other has.

When Ahn Jeong-Ha comes onto the scene, she’s proud to be a fangirl for Hye-Jun because he’s everything she hoped that he would be before she met him. When they became friends and they flirted their way into a relationship, I was so invested in their relationship and in their lives apart from each other. They were interesting characters who didn’t have it easy but were optimistic that eventually if they worked hard enough, their efforts would pay off. They understood each other better than anyone else in their lives and seeing them grow to care for each other on a more personal level was a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed a lot of what this show had going on. The relationship between Hye-Jun and his grandfather was a good one. The relationship between Hye-Jun and his two best friends even though they were all idiots at different points in the show. I liked the friendship that sparked between Ahn Jeong-Ha and Hye-Jun’s manager was another fun friendship that was enjoyable. I liked that they all had their own struggles that they were dealing with but were still there for one another when it was needed. I liked that their friendships weren’t perfect but they were trying to be good people and when things fell apart, that was where I was left feeling confused AF. I didn’t understand what drove Jeong-Ha to do a lot of the things that she did, where Hye-Jun was concerned. It felt out of place, and character with what she felt and acted throughout the entire first part of the show.

A lot of the issues that Hye-Jun suffered through with his family, his friends, and then with the work stuff didn’t make sense to me. Like Hye-Jun’s Dad. What in the bleeping hell was his problem? He acted like Hye-Jun was irresponsible. The boy was damn near killing himself working so many different part-time jobs so that his parents didn’t have to support him and his acting jobs, but that didn’t stop his Dad from bitching at him for breathing. The way that the Dad’s lopsided support system worked got on my hot damn nerves because Hye-Jun was paying for crimes that were not his to begin with. I was glad that the Mom supported him and loved him through everything. But the Dad and the brother got on my hot damn nerves. The Dad eventually wins me over but even until the end, the brother annoyed the shit out of me.

Overall, the acting was good and the story was a solid one but the second half didn’t capture enough to keep me in love with what was happening to the characters and I just thought the second part of the season was weaker than the first. So it had a strong start but the end left a lot to be desired and I’m not used to that with the k-dramas that I’ve watched so far. I really finished the last episode looking lost as hell.

Because, honestly, WTF kind of ending was that? It left a lot to be desired and I’m not a fan of those, leave it up to the consumer to figure out on their own BS. Tell me what the heck happens to them and leave no detail spared, please. So he comes back, sees that she’s wearing his shoes and …that’s it? Nope, didn’t like that shit. At all but I didn’t hate it enough to give this drama less than 3 stars so the strong start really saved this one for me.

I became a big fan of Park Bo Gum, Park So Dam, and Byeong Woo Seok so I’ll be on the lookout for more of their stuff for sure. Oh and another really big highlight for me was the Park Seo Jun cameo. OMG, every time he came on the screen, I was Hye-Jun’s manager. Haha, she was great and Park Seo Jun was fan-freaking-tastic too. I always love seeing him on my screen. So yeah, those were great and if the ending had matched the strong start, I would have given this one a higher grade but oh well…life’s not perfect.

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Completed
Law School
0 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

The beginning was a little slow but if you stick it out, you’ll come to love everyone.

After watching and loving, Reply 1988, I knew that I was going to keep up with everything that the cast members are in. I haven’t gotten around to watching any of their older stuff but the first show that I watched afterward is Ryu Hye Young’s Law School. It’s funny how she plays similar characters in both Reply 1988 and Law School, but she carries both of these characters very differently. In Reply 1988, she was mean. She was smart and she was strong but she was mean to those around her and it annoyed me until she won me over with how loyal and fiercely protective she was of her loved ones. In Law School, she’s smart and she’s driven but she takes care of her friends and she cares about them all. She’s the kind of friend you want in your corner.

I’m so glad that I watched this show all the way through because the beginning took some getting used to but I kept watching because I enjoyed the overall story being told and I needed to know who the hell killed the professor.

Han Joon Hwi was a great character. He’s a smarty pants, know-it-all, who doesn’t live his life for others. He does what he wants, when he wants, and makes no apologies for his choices. He is driven with a snarky personality that will make you question if he’s capable of doing everything that he’s accused of. He’s certainly got the brains to pull it off, but does he really lack the morals of going through with the crimes?

I was Team Joon Hwi from the jump and I never once wanted to jump ship. I loved seeing him crush heavy on Kang Sol A, I loved seeing his friendship with her grow with every single episodes. I loved that he remembered exactly who she was and she didn’t. I loved that he tried to protect the girls in his friends group in a way that made them comfortable. He let the girls decide how to help themselves with his help. There was much to love about him and I really did.

I’ve seen Kim Bum in only a couple of shows and I think of all the shows that I’ve watched him in, his character in Law School is my favorite. I thought he brought Joon Hwi’s character to life beautifully. There were different sides to Joon Hwi and Kim Bum did a great job of showing us all of them. I’ve become a fan of his in this show and I plan on watching and supporting his career more in the future.

Kang Sol A was my kind of character. She was fun, smart, spunky, and such a crackhead. She was so driven to succeed, that she went above and beyond to try to get good grades. She was busy with school but she made time for her family, and for her friends. She didn’t have the perfect life but she didn’t pretend that she was fine when she wasn’t and she didn’t pretend to be someone she wasn’t. She was who she was and you either liked her for that or you didn’t. She didn’t mess around with how other people thought of her. She did what she felt was right at all times and though she wasn’t perfect, she was still a good person who knew her worth.

I hella shipped Kang Sol A with Han Joon Hwi. I thought they were so cute together. Him crushing on her so obviously and her being annoyed that he was bothering her while she was trying to study. I thought they made such a cute couple and though the ending gave hints but no confirm details about their dating life, I’m going to believe that they’re together and living their happily ever after…together.

Ryu Hye Young did such a great job of bringing Kang Sol A to life. I liked her in this show a lot more than I did Reply 1988 but loved her acting in both.

There were some familiar faces in this show and I was glad to see them. I thought the cast of characters, all of the law students especially, were a fun bunch. They were all going through their individual struggles but seeing them study together, grow up together, and cheer each other on made me enjoy this show that much more. I loved that their relationships with each other felt real. There were some that were closer than others, some didn’t even like each other, but at the end of the day, they were a team and they came together to get shit done when it was needed. I loved the way that they all rallied behind Ye-Seul to help her out, even when she didn’t want it. I loved how Joon Hwi made sure that Ji Ho didn’t fight his battle against the prosecutor on his own. I loved getting to know each of them and they definitely made watching this show, week in and week out, an enjoyable experience for me.

So this show follows a bunch of ambitious law students and their professor, Yang Joon Hoon, who is on trial for the murder of another of their professors, Seo Byeong Ju. While Yang Joon hoon is on trial, loads of stuff pop off and the students band together to figure each case out. Each episode packed in some interesting cases and introduced compelling characters. I tuned in each week, excited to learn more.

The show deals with a lot of real life topics and each case brought a little something different to each character and to the show as a whole. I loved working through each case, developing my own thoughts on each case, on each character, and had a lot of fun getting to know everyone. From plagiarism to murder, to domestic abuse, there’s a lot to unpack but these characters did a great job of carrying each story from beginning to end. The ending left some to be desired but I did like that everyone grew up to be the kind of lawyers that I was proud of. I came to love each law student and professor and even the bad guys were great bad guys because I hated them with a passion.

Overall, this was a good way to spend a couple of hours every week catching up with my law school friends and I’m super happy that I watched it through. The beginning took some getting to used to and was a little slow but if you stick it out, I have no doubt that you’ll come to love everyone the same way that I did. I definitely recommend it.

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D.P.
0 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.0

I think this drama sheds light on the broken military system in Korea and is a good watch.

I’m a pretty big Jung Hae In fan, ever since watching him in Goblin (yeah, he had a very small part but still, he made an impression) so every time that I see he’s coming out in something new, I put it on my to be watched list because why not? Now, some of his shows pissed me off but mostly it was the hot and cold act of his female lead I’m happy to report that even though this show pissed me off plenty, I still rather enjoyed the show as a whole.

This show follows Ahn Joon Ho, a young man who reports for his mandatory military enlistment and finds a whole lot of dickhead bullies. The more senior military members hella bully their juniors and the bullying leads to a lot of guys deserting their posts. Ahn Joon Ho keeps to himself a lot but when he’s recruited to work for the military defector arrest team, being alone isn’t an option anymore because my guy gets himself a partner. His partner was a delight in the midst of so much darkness and I hella loved their pairing.

This wasn’t an easy show to watch by any means. It’s a heavy watch that doesn’t stop being heavy throughout the entirety of the show. On the upside, the show is only 6 episodes so you’ll breeze right through each episode and there’s enough packed into each episode to make the viewing worth the heaviness. There was also a lot of humor sprinkled into each episode to ease the heaviness some. I laughed a lot, and I also teared up at some of the stories of the defected soldiers. There were times when I got so angry at what was happening and at the folks causing so much trouble in these poor guys’ lives but never did I want to stop watching.

The acting is pretty fantastic throughout. Each actor gave what they were supposed to give and I appreciated their efforts because I was glued to my seat through each episode. I believed everything that was showcased so the bad guys did a great job of making me want to kick each and every one of them in the balls and the good guys did a fantastic job of making me cheer for them. The ending was a little too open-ended for me but that didn’t detract from my viewing experience too much. I definitely recommend this show if you’re looking for a kdrama with a meatier story. I think this drama sheds light on the broken military system in Korea and is a good watch. It doesn’t hurt that you’ve got some eye candy in Jung Hae In and some other swoony actors so yeah, give this one a go.

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The Red Sleeve
0 people found this review helpful
by Rowena
Jun 25, 2022
17 of 17 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 6.0

I’m not normally big on watching historical dramas but I’m so glad that I watched this one.

I planned to watch this show because I enjoyed Lee Jun Ho in all of the stuff that I had seen him in before and was looking for a new show to support. I’m not normally big on watching historical dramas but I’m so glad that I watched this one.

I’m not going to get into an in-depth description of what this show is about, you can read the blurb above, so I’m just going to jump into my thoughts on the show as a whole. From the casting, to the scenery, the dialogue, and the acting, I enjoyed every aspect of this show. I will say that there were a bit of a slow down in the middle but it didn’t last super long and I was heavily invested in what was going on so that didn’t bother me too much.

The main lead, Lee Jun Ho, did a tremendous job in bringing his character, Yi San to life. I felt his every emotion and though I spent a lot of time frustrated with how he treated the female lead in the beginning, I didn’t hate him because he’s the crown prince and of course, he’d act the way that he did. I cried a lot at different parts of this show and it was mostly with Lee Jun Ho’s delivery of different scenes. My heart hurt for him as he survived assassination attempt after attempt, on top of all of the shit that he had to survive with his abusive ass grandfather, the current King and all of the emotional baggage that came with the death of his father. There was a lot to unpack with his story alone, now add in the female lead, Sung Deok Im, played by Lee Se Young, and the story takes off even more.

I really enjoyed this show. The romance between Yi San and Deok Im was compelling as hell because he’s the Crown Prince and she’s a court maid assigned to work in his house. She’s strong, she’s smart, and though she finds herself falling in love with Yi San, she understands that becoming one of his concubines doesn’t lead to anywhere good for her. So there was struggle in all parts of her life, but also in Yi San’s life. Seeing the way that these two came together in love was a whole lotta, whole lotta. There was a lot of drama, there was a lot of hurt feelings, and worrying over each other so they really had to work for their happy ending and the way that this show came to an end was satisfying as hell.

Overall, this show had it all. A charming cast, a romance that you rooted for, and the backdrop of beautiful Korea that left you breathless. It was a beautiful drama from beginning to end and though there were parts of the show that dragged a bit for me, I still heavily messed with this show. Lee Se Young is a new to me actress but I enjoyed her portrayal of Deok Im, even when she frustrated me with her constant refusal to follow her heart but in the end, alls well that ends well and I was a happy camper. I hella recommend this drama if you’re in the mood for a good historical royal romance with a beautiful cast, setting, and romance. This hits all of those notes and more.

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