Links are to translations, Novel name (drama name if different)
How Dare You!? by 七英俊 Qi Ying Jun (donghua and drama of the same name)
Lost You Forever
Black Moonlight Holds the BE Script (Till the End of the Moon)
Thousands of Peach Blossoms Bloom in a Lifetime (The Blossoming Love)
Love of the Divine Tree
Marry the Villain (The Tower of Whispers, unauthorized mini drama)
Chasing Jade (Pursuit of Jade)
Love Beyond the Grave
A Dream Like the Beginning by Xing Zhi 行之 (A Dream like the True Love, mini drama)
Written by Lin Yan Nian 林言年 (Fortune Writer, mini drama)
How to Stop the Villain from Going Crazy by 爆炒小黄瓜 (The Phantom of the Opera fan fiction)
The Poor Princess by 风流书呆 (Pride & Prejudice fan fiction)
By Guan Xin Ze Luan (关心则乱)
Love Like the Galaxy
A Decade of Nightscape Lights (Generation to Generation, not yet released)
By Bai Lu Cheng Shuang
Love in the Clouds
The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir
By Peng Lai Ke (蓬莱客)
The Marquis is Innocent (The Prisoner of Beauty)
Spring River Flowers and Moon
By Fu Hua (扶华):
Offering Salted Fish to Master (When Destiny Bring the Demon)
Happy Ending with the Second Male Lead, a short story series that includes the mains from Offering Salted Fish, they are the first short story, Tsundere Emperor Dog × Salted Fish Queen
The Girl who Cured the Crazy BOSS is Majestic and Mighty
The Daily Life of Mei Furen Doting on Her Husband (Moonlit Reunion)
This post is for tracking/reference and will be edited
To Read:
Spring Banquet by Bai Lu Cheng Shuang
Wishing You Eternal Happiness by Peng Lai Ke
Bu Bu Jing Xin
Deng Hua Xiao
A Ming Dynasty Adventure
Little Phoenix Is Not An Immortal
The Disabled Prince Stood Up
I became the Male Lead's Sister-in-Law
1000 Miles of Bright Moonlight
Concubine Daughter's Survival Manual
Reviews below:
How Dare You - this novel is amazing. A meta exploration of transmigration, the male lead is fully unhinged and deserves to be, the female lead reminded me somewhat of the heroine of Salted Fish but she was also just great. Story stayed strong and interesting the whole way through. Also, most faithful adaptation I've ever seen in my life.
The Poor Princess - this is one of the worst novels I've ever read, all that kept me going was sheer curiosity about how Mary Sue the female lead would become and how little research the writer did about the Regency era. This was more research than enjoyment.
How to Stop the Villain from Going Crazy - I wasn't sure what to expect from Phantom of the Opera fan fiction and I'm ashamed to admit that I've only watched the musical, but I very much enjoyed this. Erik was really not toned down, most black and insane male lead I've ever read. The female lead discovering that she's turned on by death threats and being like, "That's messed up but whatever" really made it work.
The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir - make sure you read it at the link provided because the translator had the best notes ever and did a great job. The novel itself was wonderful, it felt like nothing was happening and yet everything was happening. You didn't know what the ML was up to and then it became clear as it went on. The ML is a Trash Husband but I warmed up to him in the end. Read all 500 chapters in like 4 days so that is my endorsement.
A Decade of Nightscape Lights Guan Xin Ze Luan - this is one of the most hilarious novels I've read in a long time. The main characters were both menaces, especially the ML, and it was so funny. My only problem was that I wish we had a family/sect tree. There were SO MANY characters and their little stories were important because they would come back, but sometimes when they did reappear I'd totally forgotten who they were.
Love in the Clouds by Bai Lu Cheng Shuang - this could have been my favourite except for the ending, which I didn't love, but a really fun novel. I love the beginning of Trash man x Deceptive woman and the buildup to the love story was so satisfying. Reformed Rake & I Don't Care About the World Only You in It tropes, which were done so well
Lost You Forever by Tong Hua- this is a fantasy novel about four people who go through significant trauma and then deal with it in healthy and unhealthy ways. One of the most amazing things to me is that two of the main characters are injured leading to a permanent disability. They learn to work around their limitations, but they are never magically healed. The female lead is a gender-fluid princess who lives for three hundred years as a male doctor (she can shapechange). One of the main characters is a nine-headed snake creature who can take human form. Adaptation is fairly faithful but falls off at the end.
Chasing Jade by Tuan Zi Lai Xi- a teenage, orphaned, female pig butcher finds a man nearly dead in the woods, drags him home, and fake marries him so she can keep her house. He is shockingly well-educated and maybe was almost assassinated, but she doesn't think much about that. She's got a little sister to feed and pigs to butcher. This might be the female lead with the most himbo energy I've ever read and I love her (adaptation not yet released)
Marry the Villain/Redeem Him by Bu Ding Liu Li - this is my favourite so far, but it's very wild. A girl is sent to the prince regent's residence as a gift and she's the only woman he doesn't kill. She spends two terrifying years with him, as he murders people for fun, but he's kind/indifferent to her. She dies. He refuses to bury her. Her angry ghost wakes up back in her childhood. At first she wants revenge, but she happens to find him right before a life-altering injury, so she saves him instead. She ends up entangled with him again on Life 2. The Tower of Whispers is a very loose mini adaptation.
Love Beyond the Grave by Li Qing Ran- fantasy about a woman born dead who is the king of the ghost realm. She doesn't have normal senses like a human, but she can make a deal with a human to borrow his. The male lead doesn't find this scary at all, but really cool and he's totally down. He is a military general bent on reclaiming land and he will not tolerate anyone stopping him (adaptation not yet released)
Offering Salted Fish to Master by Fu Hua- this is probably my second favourite. A Gen Z worker drone is sucked into a fantasy novel and she decides to treat it as a vacation. She entrances the male lead simply because she's the only person in the universe who doesn't want anything from him. She literally just wants to take a nap and have a snack. She is dragged into the plot, half-asleep. When Destiny Bring the Demon was a fairly faithful adaptation.
The Marquis is Innocent by Peng Lai Ke- this comes with a ton of content warnings (dubious consent, sexual assault, dismemberment) but it's such a unique novel. Two enemies marry and their marriage evolves through a series of sex scenes (it's porn with plot). The reason I liked it and was even able to read it (do not like reading SA), is because it felt very period. The husband doesn't have a concept of consent. The wife is annoyed, but knows that sex is part of her duty (she isn't usually frightened or feeling violated, more like, "fine"). He eventually becomes obsessed with her and then they fall in love. The Prisoner of Beauty was a loose adaptation (otherwise it would be rated 18+) and it really went downhill at being faithful halfway through.
Spring Flowers River and Moon by Peng Lai Ke: I mostly enjoyed this novel, but I didn't find it did as good as a job at the love story as The Marquis is Innocent. I understood why the ML loved/was obsessed with the FL, but her reason for starting to love him was less clear. They also didn't spend a ton of time together, which was realistic but I wanted more sometimes. Also, the white tiger was kind of magic realism but it felt disjointed from the rest of the story. Lastly, I wanted those two royal siblings dead and it just got annoying that they kept escaping.
In an effort to get writing again, I've decided that I will attempt to post something every day in July. It might be fic updates, it might be drabbles, it might be some of the prompts that have been sitting in my inbox since last October. We'll see how it goes!
Jul 1: Grey Hair (a galladrabble)
Jul2: Territorial (Mickey vs. Squirrel)
Jul3: Cleansed (First shower after prison)
Jul4: It’s Not Even the 4th Yet You Fuckers (in which I am angry at my neighbors)
This is the post where I’ll be keeping track of my donations as a result of that deal I made with y’all in December, so you guys know I’m not cheating you
I don’t have a job yet, but since I exceeded my goal and I just got my stimmy check from Uncle Sam this morning I thought I’d get a partial early start. I’m going to round up and say that I got donated a total of $1650, so I’ll spend a total of $2200. This will be my only donation before getting a new job unless something else unexpected happens (like the checks bumping up to $2k)
Anyway, I found a site that has a 2-for-1 deal right now on bulk orders of custom-printed masks, so I ordered 200 masks shipped to the Birmingham Free Store that all say “abolish the police”
(always be nice to customer service workers)
That was $249, so to make things simple for myself I donated another $51 to the Zapatistas via Schools for Chiapas, since right now they’re matching all donations, to make it an even $300
Collection of Medically Necessary Kisses, Cnovels read (with links)
Fangs of Fortune: this drama is so fun! Found family demon hunters solving demon murder mysteries with a ton of queer sexual tension and banter. Also, VERY pretty, like the costumes are all works of art and I don't know how they did it. The scenery, the CGI, it's all top notch.
Text posts, Wen Xiao, Zhu Yan
How Dare You!?: it was so faithful and so good! The acting was amazing, they followed the original story so well. I'm in awe.
Novel translation, Text posts
Love of the Divine Tree: it's like a long fix-it fic for TTEOTM, complete with a destined Demon Child, but instead he gets forcibly adopted by someone who loves him into sanity. I loved it.
Why you should watch, text posts
The Blossoming Love - Loved this ride or die couple, she's like a very pushy cat and he's a Victorian Maiden who can kill people. The ending got a bit slow, but overall great!
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When Destiny Brings the Demon - the best female lead ever: queen of the lazy and unmotivated. This could have been my favourite overall if the secondary characters weren't so badly done. Ruling and the Snake's romance was not good and Feng Qi, the attempted triangle interloper was the worst
Text posts
Love Between Fairy and Devil: it was as good as everyone said. I really liked the Dragon/Scammer romance, the mains were amazing, and it was a fun fantasy plot. I liked that the two weddings were predicted early but came true in the weirdest possible ways.
Love Like the Galaxy: the characterization and writing in this drama was just amazing. Cheng Shaoshang was such a believable and consistent character and I love her so much. Again surprised that they let a male lead be that very unhinged. I wanted to ship them the second I met them, they are so perfect for each other.
Legend of the Magnate: This drama was beautiful, interesting, and solid all the way through. Cutest couple. Interesting side characters, and great pacing.
The Double: I came for the Very Extra Fan Boy (ML) but I stayed for the really interesting villains. Justice for Princess Wanning! Smart characters who stay smart the whole time my love!
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Blossom: Historical rebirth where a wronged woman goes back in time and tries to change the past. I liked that the male lead was almost always about five minutes from regicide or patricide (justifiably). The intelligent female lead stayed smart throughout
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Cdramas I liked:
The Sword and the Brocade: I love the idea of super introvert who just wants to relax and not come home to the worst holiday dinner ever every day as a polygamous husband who is just sooo done with it. I loved watching Shiyi overcome all the difficulties of living as the wife of an important family.
Veil of Shadows: I feel like it leaned too hard into mystery at the expense of emotional contention. I never felt like I totally knew what the characters wanted or who to root for. Very pretty though.
The Romance of Tiger & Rose: writer getting sucked into their own story is the best trope! This drama was really funny and cute. The meta jokes were fun, the fruit writing room discussions were hilarious, and the acting was so serious despite the ridiculous premise.
Fated Hearts - this drama could have been a favourite if they didn't drive me insane with the Stupid Princess storyline. The main couple was great. There was lots of action. But yeah, it's like they were trying to gaslight us into rooting for some weird girlpower with the princess
The Wanted Detective - this was a fun watch and the crime plot had good twists. No going to blow anyone away but it's worth enjoying.
Love in Pavilion - I'm using a poster with crying because you need to be prepared for the tragedy of this drama. You have been warned. Beautiful, very good choreography, very cute characters, watch them all die.
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The Demon Hunter's Romance - I didn't like the final outcome, but the drama was fun to watch. The demon cases were interesting, though the Inn of Evil Dolls was creepy. Review
Lost You Forever - I loved the first part where Xiao Yao is a doctor, I found the middle part frustrating and hard to watch because Tushan Jing was so miserable and trapped. I liked Snake Boy the whole way through, though I didn't ship him with Xiao Yao. Hated Cang Xuan. Felt like too much unnecessary angst in the middle. I did rewatch every scene where the final couple are together and happy because I love them so much and ship them so hard.
Fan fiction I was forced to write, oh no and again
Till the End of the Moon - it was so insane. It did a very good job at what it was trying to do. Wow. What a crazy show. I will save my Poor Little Baby Demon Boy and wrap him in blankets.
A Moment But Forever - I really enjoyed a lot of this show, especially how broken the male lead was by being betrayed and tortured and his emotional journey. The female lead was awesome, loved the steampunk, and the weapon spirits. Unfortunately, the second couple bored me to death and the ending was unsatisfying.
Story of Kunning Palace - I enjoyed the palace intrigue, it was frequently very funny for the first half. The only male characters I really liked were Yan Lin and his dad and I don't ship the main couple, but I still had fun so it's all good. I didn't like the male lead at all but he was interesting.
Perfect Match: cute and fun. The storylines were a bit unbalanced though and I think they did the best job with 4th sister. I wish we had a bit more of the other couples as the show went on, because I always loved the little domestic moments. It was very much Cdrama Pride & Prejudice!
My Journey to You: it's enjoyable but it didn't blow me away, I think I like xianxia better than wuxia. The Serial Killer Vibes Poison Brother was my favourite.
Other Cdramas I have watched (but fell off for me):
Pursuit of Jade - I honestly didn't think you could fuck something up THIS BADLY after an amazing first half but it turns out it is possible. Just don't watch the second half and read the novel instead
The Rebel Princess/Monarch Industry - I really liked the first half, but the second half I thought the main couple was apart for too long and too many people wanted to kidnap and marry A'wu. If she's a representation of power than fine but as a human these men can find another, unmarried woman. The costumes were cool though and I loved the main couple.
Love in the Clouds - the main couple just didn't work well for me, but I like the side characters and the general plot. An interesting watch but it didn't grab me by the throat. Then I read the novel and now I hate it for ruining such a good story
Love Beyond the Grave: when it followed the novel, it was perfection, when it didn't, it was boring and illogical. I can't hate it because some of it was amazing, especially Ep 8 and the wedding, but they did the characters so dirty with the official ending.
Minis:
Affinity - this drama is insane in the best way. So many beautiful make-outs because kissing is literally medicine. Dub/non-con if that bothers you. There is a dragon.
Doppelganger/Jiang Song: fan translation for the first 22 episodes, this drama was like someone wrote a really unaware self-insert fan fiction. It was never fully explained why none of the characters acted like the "author" expected, but it still kind of worked for me.
Fortune Writer: This is one of the hands down best things I've ever watched. I love you self aware characters who are morally grey and only want free will. You are all the best.
A Dream Like the True Love: Hard to watch because of the whole rape and torture thing, but honestly it's very sweet. Interesting gender flip with the male lead being the one who is a suffering "concubine"
Gemini: a cute little murder puppy is in love with his fake twin, who died, so he brought her back to life in a different body and now they are making out about it. Really solid production quality and good all the way through!
The Tower of Whispers: a unauthorized and loose adaptation of my very favourite Cnovel, Marry the Villain. The male lead is just as unhinged as I hoped! The first part was fairly faithful and then they changed the second half, but it was fun
Echoes of the Self: this mini is sooo pretty and so interesting! Reborn not as herself, but as a different person, the female lead is trying to manage her baby self and change her fate. The male lead is very cute and smiley. The ending/second half wasn't as good, which was too bad.
A Familiar Stranger - Girl gets face-swapped to marry the love of her life as a different identity. Somehow very sweet love story and the cutest little child wing-woman
Qingchuan's Veil of Vengeance - this mini was great. Complicated revenge plot, the male lead was the most adorable person I've ever seen, and it was pretty
Butterflied Lover - very pretty, the couples were very cute, but the world-building wasn't all there. I needed more information about the Butterfly Slave/vampires. Probably the most I've enjoyed a Born Yesterday/Husband Raises a Wife plot, but the second half fell off for me. Also, I don't like it when the husband does all the housework, which seems to be a trend, I like equal division.
Dropped:
Generation to Generation - I wanted to love this drama because I loved the novel, but for some reason the tone just didn't work for me and the dynamic between the mains came off as toxic instead of funny. They also made the female lead very boring. 27/37
Sword & Beloved - The drama seemed to totally change track halfway through to mostly being about a very cute fox but I just started to get bored. 29/36
Love Game in Eastern Fantasy - I might finish this eventually, I just found it slow. The costumes are beautiful and Mo Sheng is interesting but the two "real" main characters are so flat and boring 17/32
The Legend of Shen Li - the female lead just came off as dumb to me and I didn't know what the point was 9/39 review
The Prisoner of Beauty - started really strong but then it got so fluffy and low stakes and I just didn't care anymore. By the end, it seemed like both mains were just too over-the-top saintly and too many canals 31/36
Feud/Lament of the River Immortal - this is a revenge drama but you have no idea why the FL wants revenge and that just does not work. I think they wanted it to be a mystery but it just left me emotionally detached and bored (also her reasoning is suuuuper dumb). 20ish/36 baffled
A Dream Within a Dream - really failed to deliver on a glorious beginning. The female lead was so badly written I couldn't stand to watch her anymore, the male lead loved her for no reason and descended into masochism frustration comparison to other meta dramas 24/40
Aligned Reverence - mini, 16/24. Not bad, but it wasn't keeping me interested.
On hold: Moonlit Reunion (13), Shadow Love (6), Joy of Life (5), The Ingenious One (2), In Your Radiant Season (5) & Gentleman Jack (S2)
I do not care about spoilers, but I do tag for them. Feel free to spoil me all you want
My to watch list, Venn Diagram of my favourite kdrama things, favourite male and female actors, my parent trauma tracking, my Truck of Doom tracking, and my Text Posts
I occasionally write k/cdrama fan fiction
My Main is about Jane Austen
For tracking purposes. But feel free to suggest me new dramas. I may watch them eventually
Idol I - this drama had the most perfect sad wet puppy of a male lead and a great competent female lead. The mystery was well done and then we got a whole episode of happy ending! Perfect
Head Over Heels - Looked like a high school romcom, actually amazing. Ghost fighting shaman meets fairly serious depiction of mental health issues. Male lead who is both depressed and nice! Female lead who is cute and compassionate. Healthy love triangle!
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When the Phone Rings: What a fun insane show! It was bonkers from beginning to end. The acting was great, the OST was awesome, the story was insane. Everything you want in a makjang drama.
Text Posts
Alchemy of Souls: Visually beautiful, wonderful soundtrack, casting is amazing, story is very well thought-out, world-building is on point, loved all of it.
Trope subversions, Love Maps, Plot driven by fear
Moon in the Day: The most angsty enemies to lovers you will ever find in your life. It's completely enthralling. The past scenes with Do-ha are amazing. There are some plot holes and the secondary characters aren't very well developed, but I don't care. It was so good!
Text Posts, On the ending, the emotional journey, Webtoon vs. Drama
Doom at Your Service: The world-building is really well done, as is the symbolism. Doom is so weirdly lovable. Also has a great soundtrack.
Extraordinary You: the story gets a little drawn out in the middle episodes, but the concept is so gripping that I forgive it. The main character is really spunky and fun and the villain is probably the most interesting character in the show.
Lovely Runner: This is one of the cutest dramas I've seen in a while. Top tier cuteness. The story was really fun and I laughed a lot.
Text post, Another, Google Searches
W: Two Worlds: So good! So unpredictable! So Male Lead who was smart and actually acted smart! This is the dark companion of Extraordinary You and I loved every minute.
Happiness: the whole point of zombie horror is that the humans are the real monsters and Happiness delivered on that 100000%. Turns out Park Hyung-sik can also be serious and very good at punching people! Han Hyo-joo was also amazing. The slow burn romance was so cute. Loved it so much. Also, more of a murder mystery than a zombie show.
Zombieland Rules, Webtoon vs. Drama
Sh**ting Stars: the voluntarism in an unnamed African country wasn't great, but the rest of the show was so heartwarming and cute! There were lots of lovable characters, mature relationships, very cute friendships, and hilarious antics.
The Forbidden Marriage: The plot had lots of fun twists and the resolution was satisfying. I wish we got more So Rang hijinks in the later episodes, the hunting episode was my favourite with her running around everywhere like a maniac.
It's Okay to Not be Okay: My only critique is I wish they did more of the animations for fairy tales, but it's so good. The female lead had the most amazing outfits. The story is so good and the way they portrayed the brother's autism.
Revenant: I'm not usually into horror, but this wasn't too scary. It was very well written, the threads in the mystery all came together well. The characters were interesting and the supernatural stuff was cool. Really great acting.
Flower of Evil: Everyone was right again, it was really good. So many twists and turns, such good romance, so many good reveals. Loved it. Loved it enough to forgive the amnesia part.
Marry My Husband Japan - I have watched one single Jdrama. I liked this adaptation better than the Kdrama version (it's below). It was less of a soap opera and more human. The lighting was beautiful. I liked the ending better too.
Kdramas I have liked:
Perfect Crown - the plot is a mess but who cares? The hot people are in love and they wear hanbok while holding huge tablets. It was like watching the behind the scenes of a sageuk. Fluffy fun.
Moon River - generally good, but I got so frustrated by them not just killing the main bad guy that I almost gave up. The acting for the body switches was very good, but the main characters just didn't really click with me.
Bon Appétit, Your Majesty - when I watched the trailer I was like, "This is an insane concept" but then I enjoyed the show. It was a mashup of Chopped Joseon edition, court drama, and romance. Entertaining!
The First Night with the Duke - a very cute transmigration romance that was consistently good the whole time. The female lead had the cutest sitcom family ever and I loved them.
Newtopia - similar vibes to Shaun of the Dead, a fun zombie comedy, though it had it's heartfelt moments and a lot of gore. I wouldn't check this out unless you have a high tolerance for blood. The last two episodes especially were a bit frightening
The Haunted Palace - the king should have been the main character, he's was the main reason I liked the drama. I liked Yeo-ri (FL) but I wasn't as fond of the Imoogi, I didn't care about their love story. But the ghost hunting was fun
Vincenzo - technically I'm at 19/20 but I don't want to watch the Himbo die so I might just stay here? Overall it was an enjoyable watch but the genre (Revenge comedy) didn't really click with me. There were often no consequences to anything anyone did and eventually it got a bit silly. The end of 19 was kind of a character assassination of Vincenzo.
Light Shop - it was pretty and creepy and well-acted, but I was left wanting more depth.
Family by Choice - this drama always felt so calm and happy, even when something terrible was happening, because Noodle Dad was always there to make everyone feel better. A great comfort watch.
The Judge from Hell - very interesting premise and solid execution, Justitia was believable as a demon and I like that she an Da-on met in the middle. The ending kind of dragged and it had some unexplained plot points (like the defeat of Satan)
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Penthouse War in Life (S1 - 3): This is an over-the-top rich people problems revenge drama and it delivers. The writing was surprisingly good, the acting was great, and the costumes were very fun. Seasons 1 & 2 were very cohesive, S3 jumped the shark right away and everything that followed was nonsense, especially the ending. But hey, what a ride!
Twinkling Watermelon: It's good, it just wasn't for me. I enjoyed the female characters more than the main male characters (especially young Yi-chan, he really annoyed me). Eun-gyeol was too unrealistically perfect at everything. But it had nice character development and I shipped all the couples.
Kingdom: Loved it! But I refuse to put it in my top kdramas since S2 ends on a huge cliff hanger and apparently they aren't making any more. Boo to Netflix. This was more gory than Happiness, but I loved having zombies in a historical setting. (This one doesn't go in my terrible ending category because it's just the last ten minutes that suck, not the last one or two episodes)
Ending fix, why the ending sucks
A Shop for Killers: an interesting action drama. I was surprised by one or two of the reveals but they were well written, I liked the non-linear storytelling and Jian as a character. The backstory about Bale got a bit too dark/gory for me but I should have expected that with this genre.
Haechi: Really strong beginning, lots of action, I enjoyed the court drama and the action bits. The only problem was that once the main character stopped being a scrappy underdog, it was just a lot of him winning which got slightly boring. The ending was very pro-monarchy, but from everything I've been able to read in English, this guy was a good king so good for him I guess? Also, the female lead went from interesting to doing nothing with heart eyes.
The Atypical Family: A very interesting superhero/time travel story with a fun ensemble cast. I didn't love any particular character (except I-Na), but the story was really fascinating and I was never bored.
Doctor Slump: Very cute and relaxing watch. The FL's family was really cute, especially her mom! The focus on mental health was nice, though there was a bit too much of an idea that a relationship can fix your depression/PTSD. But still good!
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Daily Dose of Sunshine: this made me cry multiple times. The visuals for how different disorders feel was fascinating. Good resolutions for the characters. I loved it all despite the unrealistic endings.
Extraordinary Attorney Woo: I'm blown away by their portrayal of autism. They don't shy away from making her ticks and mannerisms off-putting, awkward, and even somewhat annoying, but Young-woo has joy, she has imagination, she loves life. It's so much better than anything with an autistic character that I've seen in Western media. Not 10/10 because I did get a bit uninterested in the later cases when I wanted to know where the love story was going.
Choi Su-yeon
Oh My Ghost: I loved this one! Park Bo-young did an amazing job playing an oppressed shaman and possessed-by-a-ghost. It was very well written: there weren't any ridiculous sideplots and I was never bored. I did think the ending dragged a little bit, but overall I loved it.
The King's Affection: I think it probably could have been cut down to 16 episodes instead of 20, but very good. The female crown price is so scared all the time and I want to hug her, but also badass! It's a very hard line to walk but they do it well. Also, the bodyguard who is also an assassin is so hot and the costumes are great.
My Lovely Liar: very cute and occasionally very scary. Probably one of the most normal relationships I've seen in a Kdrama, no destiny or fate just two people who like each other. The murder mystery was well done, though I'm not sure how I feel about the final reveal.
Hospital Playlist: The epitome of slice of life. I enjoyed all the characters, especially Lee Ik-jun, The Ghost, and Long Winter (Jang Gyeo-ul) and the cute kid! I love the mom and the hospital director hanging out together. The band! I cannot stop listening to their songs!
What's Wrong with Secretary Kim: I liked that for once the big trauma didn't come from the parents, what a twist! I actually loved how ridiculously narcissistic the ML was and I loved the competent and mature FL. They didn't have any ridiculous misunderstandings and they never broke up. And the ML's friend was very funny.
King the Land: The show got better as it went on. The female lead was so competent and sure of herself. The parts about the friends' struggles was heartbreaking a lot of the time. I also loved how positive the female relationships were.
Kdramas that are So Bad They Are Somehow Good:
Dear Hongrang- Was it actually good? No. Was it mostly running on vibes? Yes. Did I enjoy myself? Yes. Also, amazing OST
Buried Hearts - the point of this drama was to watch Park Hyung-sik suffer beautifully, and suffer he did. Honestly not even sure what else happened, except him thinking at one point he had sex with his own sister. The ending was satisfying to me, now that I think of it.
Perfect Marriage Revenge - This show did exactly what it set out to do, be completely over-the-top dramatic. The male lead looks like a Ken doll dressed by an eight year old, the mothers have the most over the top outfits and hairstyles ever, someone eats DNA test results, it's a delight to watch.
Hwarang: really great acting despite a mediocre script, but man so many plot holes and unresolved plots. I never totally decided if the Queen Dowager was actually trying to help her son or just holding on to power and I feel like they should have made that clearer. Also, what was that love triangle??? But I did enjoy myself the whole time.
Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale: the acting was good enough that except for the first episode, I enjoyed myself the whole time. Also so many good kissing scenes! Fun subversion of the Cinderella trope.
Kdramas with Great Beginnings and Terrible Endings (I don't mean sad, I mean they squandered their potential):
Dear X: After following the manhwa for the first 8ish episodes, this drama deviated drastically and drove right off a cliff. The ending was nonsensical. Such a waste of talent! Let Ah-jin be monstrous!
No Gain No Love: this drama barrelled through every sexually conservative expectation for Kdramas. They really defeated a bad guy with glow-in-the-dark dildos. Who would have ever imagined? I loved the leads, but the ending was lacking in that Hae-yeong never achieved her career ambitions. The love story was great though.
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Because This is My First Life: The ending was terrible and gross, but the female characters were so well written and fleshed out that I can almost forgive it. I related so much to all of them. Also, the best explanation ever for why a woman would choose a marriage without love.
Queen of Tears: I loved the set-up but for me it lost it's way at the end. Too many dramatic moments and the Magic Cancer surgery and Magic Amnesia Month were just too much of a strain on my ability to suspend my disbelief. But the performances were very good, from the leads and the secondary characters, and the premise was good. I enjoyed like 80% of the show.
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Captivating the King: I'm struggling to rate this one. The ML was amazing, but the FL seemed to just always be wide-eyed scared/worried. The writing was great for the first half, but the ending was ambiguous in a way I didn't enjoy. The intimate scene in Ep 8/9 was awesome, but then we didn't really get more. I wish they had stuck the landing. Smart character became dumb.
Marry My Husband: very fun drama, I especially enjoyed Su-min and Min-hwan, who were some of the most deep villains I've seen portrayed. However, I hated the Yu-ra storyline and I felt like the ML kept the secret of his death for way too long. Also, no happy ending for the secondary couples! I wanted more screen time with them.
Webtoon vs. Drama, Text Posts
The Story of Park's Marriage Contract: It was fluffy and fun, I loved Sa-wol the maid, we should have had more of her! I hated the ending though, so much. Just so bad.
Other Kdramas I've watched:
Hyper Knife - what did I just watch? It made so little sense. They made blood very pretty though, somehow, and Park Eun-bin did a great job... at whatever it was she did
Cinderella at 2am: It was cute, but I ended up liking the second couple more and I wish they'd had more screen time. I don't think the male lead is a very good actor either.
Perfect Family: the story was engaging enough but it had such a weird ending. Like not dissatisfying, but just strange? Also, my favourite actor was dead basically the whole time, which I knew going in but it still made me sad.
The Red Sleeve: full review here and also here, but basically, I loved the Crown Prince's story, but the female lead fell flat. They never sufficiently explained the FL's emotional journey and they also kept ruining female characters. Justice for the Queen Dowager! The FL felt like she existed just to help the ML
Soundtrack #1: I hate endless, hopeless pining and that's all this was. It had it's cute moments, but I always felt like the male lead was in pain and I didn't enjoy that.
Hospital Playlist 2: Somehow it wasn't as good as the first season, I found myself actually getting bored. But it was nice to see all the couples get together.
Goblin/Guardian the Great and Lonely God: The roommate stuff is hilarious! It did move slowly at times, I wanted the Grim Reaper/Sunny stuff to move faster. I got really annoyed at Kim Shin for not being honest with Eun-tak. Sometimes the product placement annoyed me. But it's very beautiful and I was very invested in everyone. Problem is, I don't think I ever want to watch it again.
Tale of the Nine Tailed + 1938 - It's fun, but the lore/world-building don't make a whole lot of sense. The Serpent is pretty over powered in S1 and really ought to have won. 1938 was better but the female mountain goddess made zero sense as a character. Lee Rang is probably the best part of the whole series, and his little murder fox girl in S1 or mermaid girl in S2.
Castaway Diva: I love the songs and the found family parts, but the story was lacking. Especially the older singer's story made very little sense and didn't come to a satisfying conclusion. And why not show us a little of the main couple being together?
Hotel del Luna - I enjoyed the ghost parts but the dynamic between the main couple was a mess. He is so unconditionally nice and she is such a jerk to him!
Strong Girl Bong-Soon - I loved all the parts with Bong-Soon and Min-hyuk, like he was the cutest, sweetest boy ever, but everything else was kind of annoying. And the kidnapper parts were really creepy! I just wanted Bong-Soon to smash more things. I also hated Guk-doo and I wanted all the women to dump his ass.
Business Proposal - It was cute, but it bothered me that Ha-ri wouldn't just talk to Tae-moo about her concerns about dating him. Ha-ri may be the only female lead ever with a healthy family dynamic, yay for her! The secondary couple was fun.
Death's Game - I enjoyed the genre and actor switches at first, but then it seemed to veer into being about the serial killer CEO and then back to being about suicide and the resolution left me unsatisfied.
Webtoon vs. Drama
My Demon - It was fun, but the world-building wasn't great and the ending was fine. I felt like it tried to be Doom at Your Service but failed (there were many, many references/thefts).
Destined with You - I really liked some parts of it, especially the leads and I actually liked the office romance with Hong-jo's boss (until the last episode), but they left so many things unanswered that I wish were revealed! It's like the writers forgot it was a fantasy drama halfway through and just went in a totally different direction. It makes me angry.
The Uncanny Counter - The concept was good, the actors were good, the chemistry between the actors was amazing, but the story went way off the rails. So Mun just became way too over-powered and the plot needed more balance. I wanted more demon catching and less mayor stuff. I did like the bully being saved and reformed.
100 Days My Prince - I hated the main couple, he was just too distant and she should have figured out who he was like 10 minutes in. It felt like they only got together because he was obsessed with her, I would have preferred the nice face-blind guy. I ended up liking the peasant friend couple and the murderous princess and her assassin boyfriend better.
Started but not finished:
Melo Movie - I finished Ep 2 and it frustrated me that The Trope Guy fell into a stupid trope. Maybe I'll pick it back up.
Hometown Cha Cha Cha - I hated it. Dropped at 9/16. Review. Frustration.
Moving - I started it, it seems really slow. I think I'm four or five episodes in.
The Crowned Clown - First episode was way too dark!
Live Up To Your Name - Acupuncture is magic?
Moonlight Drawn by Clouds - the first episode seemed bonkers
Strong Girl Nam-Soon - could not even force myself to watch it. Total mess
The Impossible Heir - Even Lee Jae-wook couldn't save this messy plot. I got so bored I dropped mid-episode
My Sweet Mobster - stopped watching at Ep 10, I couldn't handle the jealousy and I found the FL really boring.
River Where the Moon Rises - the pacing is bad (always seems like they are running around) and for some reason I cannot with the ML's super white teeth in the year 500 A.D. Ep 11/20
Our Blooming Youth - it has it's moments, but it started out creepy and most of the time is just silly. I do want to know how the mystery unravels but not enough to care right now 12/20
Fated to Love You (You are My Destiny) - I really liked the first episodes but after the miscarriage, it just seems like unnecessary delay of getting them back together. 14/20
