2021 Watchlist

Completed 1/7/2021

Love the cast, acting, hugs, family, fast-paced plot, well woven story using the past and present. I like the way that whenever the show flashes back to the past, a little bit more is revealed, but it's not done in a way that feels too painstakingly drawn out.

The ML is such a soft puppy for the FL and I love it. I love when he says he's too scared to go on the high rides at an amusement park, but in earlier scenes we've seen him go after crazy dudes with knives with basically no fear.

Normally, I'm not a fan of drawn out staring moments in dramas, but these two always seem to do it in such a loving or angst-filled or drinking-in-the-sight-of-each-other way, that I actually like it. It feels like there is so much emotion between. They really have great chemistry together.

The family story line is one of my favorite parts. I love how devoted they are to each other. Hyun Moo makes me tear up cause he has so many thorns to hurt people, but he's really just craving love. That whole imagined scene of their family with having the monster father looming in their life was so cute and heartbreaking!

I always find it annoying when they don't make the police fully competent. There were too many flashbacks in the last few episodes (esp. ep. 31). It really took you out of the dramatic moments and slowed down the  pace a bit. I don't feel like all the characters got the ending they deserved, especially that one cop who sold out his colleague and withheld evidence about a dangerous criminal until it was too late.

From beginning to end, such a lovely focus on hugs!

Completed 1/10/2021

Realistic, makes you emotional for the girls and their lives. Because it's realistic, I get annoyed at the girls when their acting selfish, gossipy behind their friends backs, catty, thieves, liars, bitchy and whatnot (I'm looking at you in particular Ye Eun, but they're all guilty of it to some extent). And yet even with each of their flaws, they remain sympathetic characters, especially when we get the moments of strong affection and loyalty towards each other. Those are the particularly redeeming parts. The strong female friendship shown was definitely one of the highlights of the show.

I don't like when they end the episode on a cliffhanger and then start the next episode continuing on with the show without showing or explaining what happened with that situation. This show also ends with quite a few pieces that feel like they were not properly addressed (e.g. the original ballerina housemate that was replaced and had an awkward moment with her old roommate).

The pacing was good. The show was engaging the whole way through, but didn't go by too fast. I'm glad that this was a 12 episode drama, but I think it could have been alright as a longer drama as well just due to the slice-of-life nature of the drama in the first place.
 
The tone of the show had interesting contrast between light-hearted slice-of-life moments and dark traumatic moments, but it didn't feel unnatural, possibly due to its realistic reflection of life that many face everywhere.

Completed 1/10/2021

I really liked this drama. It was short and sweet. The music was good, the stories were funny and endearing. The romance was sweet. The pacing didn't feel too fast or slow even with just two hour-long episodes. All the characters were lovable, main and supporting (except the supporting characters from the FL's showbiz side of life). The acting was great, especially from the bumbling, devoted, lovable ML. I hope to see Kim Sung Chul in more lead roles in the future.

This drama had great production quality, and basically felt like a movie that happened to be split in two. It gave me some strong Sing Street vibes (but I enjoyed the original tracks from Sing Street a bit more). The songs in this were very enjoyable too. They had more of a soft indie feel, while Sing Street had that British rock feel.

Watched 4 episodes when it first came out in 2019 and put it on hold.

Completed 1/18/2021

The cinematography is new and fresh, but at the same time the weird angles, focus, and whatnot are a bit distracting and can make it hard to focus on what's going on. That distracting aspect can take you out from the moment. So it creates interesting perspectives, but gets to artsy at times.

Love that this drama is centered around complex, strong female leads. They all do a great job and have nice chemistry together. We even get strong female supporting characters too with the mother-in-law, the women on the TF team, and the black American head of Unicon. It's just nice to see so much female power, especially in the IT industry too.

Surprisingly, I'm more of a fan of the work side of this drama as the backdrop of an search engine company is pretty interesting to me. The romance is nice too, but I like seeing the women being competent at work a bit more. Ta Mi and Morgan's relationship is full of chemisty, and Jang Ki Yong is hella swoon-worthy as usual. Ta Mi and Morgan's relationship was frustrating with all their push-and-pull, and all the uncertainty and angst over their future, but it was realistic in a way where their problems were based on their values for marriage and both sides were valid and got you thinking about what their future would actually end up looking like together. Scarlett's relationship with her actor was really cute and wholesome, plus that makjang drama was 10/10. Even Ga Gyeong's strange relationship with her husband had it's cute moments and was interesting.

At times, things could feel a little drawn out (especially the long camera shots of characters), which got me starting to look at my phone, but it was generally an interesting and fun drama.

Completed 2/5/21

At the start of the show, the slightly disjointed and blunt dialogue between the characters gives made things a bit hard to follow and was a little unnatural feeling.

I do like Im Si Wan's character's change from this slightly emotionless straight-shooter into this more bright, happy, smiley (when drunk) character with the FL. It is very endearing. I'm also a big fan of how righteous his character is and how he does not bend to being a hypocrite and makes other see the injustice of things. This is a drama where I am actually really liking Shin Se Kyung's character for once too!

I really enjoy how straightforward the characters are because it feels refreshing and I like the realistic (not too cheesy) feel this drama gives off.

I just love when our main leads are on the screen together. They have such good chemistry and interesting interactions. It's so nice to see in the drama when the ML moves into the FL's place, it doesn't automatically mean more time together. I love watching him learn about her job, daily schedule, diet, etc. and then worrying about it. They're just so cute. I even like they're realistic couple fight, their bickering, and their awkward stages.

This drama just feels so real where we see the FL being on the wrong sleep schedule and busy with work so that she doesn't have time to be with the ML. The second ML crying naturally and being expressive. The natural discourse and presentation of different sexualities from lesbian to gay to asexual was really nicely done and felt so normal.

The writing and direction was really well done. I loved the way it showed normal everyday-life things that dramas usually ignore, the natural conversations and nicely written banter between such different characters who connected in spite of (or maybe because of their differences).

Completed 2/12/21

My favorite Korean BL yet, beating out Where Your Eyes Linger.

Really good, natural chemistry between the leads. That kiss scene at the end might actually be one of most affectionate, sweetest, and hottest I've seen in a k-drama. Loved watching them grow fond of each other and get close through cooking, basketball, working together, talking, and just hanging out.

I loved the opposites attract concept with Seo Joon having this really bright and confident personality that breaks down the walls of the colder (tsundere) Ji Woo that tries not to get too attached to others after being on his own for so long. The way they both would stare at each other, or smile at each other, or just interact was some pretty good chemistry.

The plot wasn't particularly amazing, but it served its purpose of bringing our leads together well enough, and I'm satisfied with that when it comes to such a short, lower-budget drama.

Completed 2/21/2020

Really laugh out loud funny drama. I love the misunderstandings and slapstick. The interactions between the king and the queen are always the funniest and most interesting. Shin Hye Sun is killing it as a ladies man trapped in a woman's body. It is so refreshing seeing Bong Hwan as the FL bringing his 21st century beliefs, actions, and attitudes with him as he lives in this historical time. Especially because he doesn't just let people box him in because of the Queen's body that he's in.

All the characters are so fun and interesting, even the villains are interesting foes. The drama doesn't let you get bored, even though the political intrigue is lacking in comparison to our main characters' interactions.

The ending seemingly tied everything together, but it left us with the same problem we had to deal with in Oh My Ghostess. Even though the ML and the man trapped in the FL's body clearly fell in love with each other's personalities, the show ended with them sepearted, but somehow we were supposed to feel like it was okay anyway. That's where the deduction for my rating comes in. I really enjoyed the way the show portrayed gender and sexuality before the ending. It wasn't incredibly upsetting because I had a feeling the writer wouldn't be able to end it with our two ML's together, but it still felt disappointing that it was brushed past with only little mentions of how the King felt like he had lost something and Bong Hwan laugh-crying when he saw the King's portrait in the book. It was also a bit strange that the world had seemingly been affected so little by the changes that the King and Queen brought about when we returned to modern times.

Completed 4/22/2021

First, I love the poster for this show so much. And the main OST track, "Today" by CITI is a great track. I really enjoyed the first bus meet too. It was cute! I loved that the show was centered around dance because I find the topic interesting and unique to k-dramas in general. There were some really cute moments in the show and the chemistry was pretty nice between the leads, but the pacing got really bad in this show sometimes, and the story sometimes seem really contrived and off. The last episode having Hong Seok leave all of a sudden after their night together, and then suddenly coming back after his boss has a random change of heart. The ideas were cute for the writing, but the execution was not up to par.

Completed 4/25/2021

Rowoon is just so damn fine and swoon-worthy. I didn't really like how he treated the FL at the start of the show after he found out she was being cheated on and decided to reveal it to her. Him calling her a fool and then taunting her about her anniversary in front of the coworker was pretty nasty, but he sincerely apologized for that and went back to his sweet self after cooling off, so I'm willing to let it go to an extent. The FL and ML have lots of cute chemistry together and Rowoon plays the sweet puppy dog younger lover role very well.

This drama is not super original since it follows the generic k-drama story line with a break up in the last couple episodes followed by the leads getting back together. It made sense with work and being a long distance relationship, but it did feel like average drama writing.

The storyline of the main siblings was fun and interesting. It was a shame we didn't get to see more of that. Both the sisters of the male lead had their own interesting stories that I wouldn't mind having seen more, especially the second sister with her husband's circumstances. Their daughter (the ML's niece) was super cute and a great actress too. The colleagues of the main couple were nice and supportive which was great to see. It felt nice and non-toxic to watch them interact.

I didn't really care that much for the second ML and his fiance since I found them both kind of toxic, but I think they ended up with a really nice ending where they realized how wrong they were for each other and were able to move on and actually care for themselves.

The last few seconds annoyed me though as they were kissing in the middle of a crosswalk of a busy street. It did make a pretty shot, but come on, safety...

Anyway, I watched this for Rowoon in a noona romance and got exactly what I wanted, so I'm happy and satisfied.

Completed 4/27/2021

I love this drama. I love:
- The relationship between prickly Chae Rok and caring grandfather-type Deok Chul.
- That the show is focused around ballet and we get tons of ballet scenes.
- The focus on familial love and relationships.
- The theme of trying new things and not giving up.
- That this show makes me feel a bit of an emotional mess with heartbreaking and heartwarming moments alike.

This was my go to show to watch weekly as it aired. The pacing was very solid and every episode of the 12 felt like it was used well. I enjoyed the side characters as well even though my favorite thing to watch on screen was Chae Rok and Deok Chul bickering or nagging each other. We even had an antagonist who changed his ways and showed growth, which I love to see. This was such a great new role for Song Kang.

Completed 5/1/2021

A well-written crime drama where each episode felt like we were peeling back a new layer on understanding our characters, the past, the present, and the truth behind everything. The only detractor for me as someone who binged it in about a week was that it could get very dialogue heavy at points and that made me feel a bit bored sometimes. The ending (which so often falls short in K-dramas) was well done and matched the slowly unraveling and dark feel of the whole show. All loose ends were wrapped up nicely as well.

I loved the relationship between the main characters as they used each other, tried to figure out each other, lied to each other, fucked with each other's minds, and overall cared for each other. Their twisted righteousness made their dynamic a great watch.

The OST was fantastic. It often made me want to stay during the credit portion just to listen to the music.

Completed 5/22/2021

Beautiful cinematography and directing.
Good foreign acting.
Song Joong Ki looks amazing. His acting is great too so far.
Love the use of Italy and Italian in the plot and script.
The FL was not particularly interesting or convincing at the beginning and her overacting seemed a bit off for me, but I think she was more natural or I got used to it after the first few episodes.
The villains were pretty good because you really could love to hate them. The kooky building members were a fun addition as an ensemble cast and they worked well together.
The genre of the show was a bit strange as a comedy for the first half of the show and then especially dark in the last few episodes as Vincenzo went full cruel mafia consigliere.
Overall the main drawback for me was how long the episodes were and how the show was 20 episodes. It made it a bit of a chore to finish the drama even though it was still decently interesting.

Completed 9/4/2021

Tear-jerking, but hopeful and beautiful. Filled with touching moments.

Completed 9/17/21

Very solid second season. I laughed/smiled and cried every episode. A great slice-of-life drama that feels human.

Completed 9/18/21

Interesting set-up, but I didn't really feel attached to any of the characters. The main guy is set-up as this smart gamer, but he acts kind of stupid a lot of the time (getting all physical, when they were told it was a game of wit was such a rookie mistake). The main girl is super athletic and cool at first, but she acts so weak for the main guy sometimes.

Completed 9/24/21

Beautiful production value with the different sets used. Interesting premise, and some nice twists like being allowed to choose to leave through voting, and people voting that way.

Very violent and graphic.

Interesting mix of characters.

Completed 10/17/2021

Fun revenge story for a night's binge watch. Nothing revolutionary plot-wise, but I was continuously pressing the button for the next episode at the end of each one, so the writing made it compelling enough for a solid binge.  Full of action and fighting, but nothing really special there either. There are some cool action sequences, but at times it does just feel choreographed.

Mob boss was pretty charismatic and great in his role. However, it felt like we never got enough back story on him or any other characters (besides the female lead) to really be able to grow attached and feel for them.

Han So Hee, Park Hee Soon, and Ahn Bo Hyun all acted well and their acting and interactions might have been the most compelling part of the show.

The ending was a bit meh. It was okay, but kind of felt full of holes and a bit rushed. A lot of the drama (especially the latter part) relied heavily on some

Completed 12/20/21

The premise is fresh and interesting, but the stupidity of most of the ensemble just makes you want to smack something sometimes. At first it feels like the script is written so that bad things can just keep on happening, but then you also realize that there are people out there who can that fucking stupid during a pandemic, so it's hard to say for sure that people wouldn't just do the same numbskull shit during a freaking zombie type pandemic.

The ending was pretty anti-climatic.

I didn't really get why some characters did the stuff they did, we never got backstory or real character growth that made it tricky to connect to them. An example is Andrew: what triggers him? how does he choose who to kill and not? Other characters (even the main woman) did some stupid stuff to make the show more dramatic, while making the viewer incredibly frustrated.

Why did they bother putting Sae Bom in the apartment place and quarantining it if they were going to want to use her for her blood and antibodies later?

I don't know. It's was fun and thrilling, but the plot-holes and characterizations make it hard to truly like.

Completed 12/23/21

Pros:
- Fantastic acting (from the main cast especially)
- Excellent pacing for the majority of the drama
- Solid music that added to the thrilling and dark theme of the whole drama

Cons:
- Kind of unbelievable how shoddy the investigation and forensics results could be (and then they go ahead and do what they should have in the first place at the end just because)
- Open-ended and slightly unsatisfying ending

Completed 12/28/21

Gripping story that brings you into its dystopian future not unlike our present day. It had me hooked from the first episode. The depiction of their world being controlled and corrupted by the rich few at the top of the country was disgusting, infuriating, and therefore a million times more satisfying to see brought to justice when our judge stepped in with his intricate and impeccable plans.

Great job with acting all around, but holy shit Ji Sung killed it with his portrayal of the mysterious and layered judge.

The main weak point was the lacking of characterization, background, and development from the non-main characters and even one of the more major characters, the female cop that was just there as motivation for one of the male leads.

I loved the OST for this drama. It added some great depth and emotions to make moments more thrilling, creepy, intense, sad, and more. I really enjoyed the use of several classical pieces in the drama that are actually on my classical playlist. My favorite track was the badass "Tempest" by Huckleberryfinn.

Completed 12/31/21

I originally started watching this drama when it first came out in 2019, but put it on hold a little over half way through. I was enjoying it, but it just wasn't the right time for me to finish watching it.

Now that I started watching it from the beginning again 2 days ago and am now finishing it up on the last day of the year, I found myself tearing up as the credits rolled past, and it ended with the beautiful phrase "the moon is beautiful" to translate into "I love you" for all the viewers.

I loved that it focused on books and expressed such a love for books and beautiful language. There is a line by the male lead that I particularly loved and fell for:
Dan-i: "When did you start to like me?"
Eun-ho: "From spring to summer. And from fall to winter. Do you know when the season changes? Do you know exactly when winter ends and spring begins?"

Also, the OST was fantastic. I especially enjoyed the Jannabi and Black Skirts tracks.

The main flaw: the erasure of our main female character's daughter for the majority of the show  when she is supposed to be a huge part of Dani's life and motivation to make money and live a good life. A bit less annoying, but still a flaw was the behavior of the second female lead at times (like putting together shredded trash papers of a friend - things that are shredded should be known as private or confidential).

It was not a perfect drama, but I love the warm and cozy feeling that it gave me, and that it left me feeling all fuzzy on the inside.