Looking back at my watching history, it’s funny how you can see just when my life started to really change. Life started to get hard. Really hard and I found myself falling into a bit of a funk that made it really hard for me to watch dramas. My long-term job started going downhill, I had a knee injury that kept me pretty immobile, my job ended, and then I found a new job one that was terrible. Long hours and very little happiness. Sure looking back I know I had to go through these years in order to get to where I am now, you know, darkest before the dawn and all that, but it’s hard to look back! Upside, this was when I got hot into Kpop and I managed to spend what little money I did have on kpop concerts and schwag. We still have some great shows going on here, some idols next door, some more BL (good and bad), and a few jaunts through history. Also interesting to note, this is where my tastes start to change from romance to something a little…darker. Huh. I wonder why???
2015
Best
EXO Next Door
Ji Yeon Hee is a 23-year-old girl, who hasn’t yet dated because she blushes terribly and is completely paralyzed when she’s near a good-looking boy. One day, four members of EXO are trying to keep a low profile, and move into the house of one of the member’s grandfathers. However, it turns out that EXO members’ house is right in front of Yeon Hee’s house.
Living next door to a Kpop band??? I want to say this would be a dream come true but I watch variety and as an adult who values quiet, this would be a terrible plan. I still understand the sentiment though and this is just cute. Though Chanyeol as lead over DO? What were they thinking??
Late Night Restaurant
A late-night restaurant opens at midnight and closes at 7am. The owner and chef of the restaurant makes whatever his customers ask for.
This was a quiet show, each one was a story about the newest patron of the restaurant. It was quiet and cozy, and featured some great-looking food. Though if I went to a restaurant and they left it up to me as to what I’d order? I would never be able to order anything. Where we didn’t get much info about the man running the establishment, I always thought they could have had a season two, and I probably would have been into that one just as much as this one. Who can say no to pretty-looking Korean food??
Love Sick 2
A continuation of season 1 where Pun and Noh decided to friends and promised that they would be cool with each other. They are getting closer day by day but they tried their best to keep their distance because they both are in a relationship. Their friends are also facing their own problems with family and relationships but they all are trying to get through their teen life. How are they going to end up in the end? Are they going to listen to their heart or their brain?
I was so surprised when they came out with a season two for this show but am glad that they did. Though I will say that this is where the series writer started to take liberty with the story, branching off from the source material and you can tell. Anything that has to do with the girls storyline just FF through it. It was hard to get to the end and sometimes you just wanted to slap both guys up the back of the head, but they got there and it was SUPER cute.
Splash Splash LOVE
Dan Bi is a high school senior who has given up on math. On the day she is about to take the KSAT for college, she is transported back into the past during a freak rain shower. She finds herself hundreds of years in the past at the height of the Joseon Kingdom, which is suffering from a severe drought. She encounters King Leedo who yearns to learn advanced mathematics and falls in love with him. This is a romance that transcends space and time with two lovers who come to know each other on a deeper level.
This was one of the cutest shows. Usually, I don’t love historicals, I don’t love time travel, but this two-episode special was…special. The actress is just the best and to this day think she deserves to be a leading lady, and this series proves it. I didn’t even mind the ending…much.
The Village: Achiara’s Secret
Achiara is a small, quiet, peaceful village with hardly any crime. But on her first day of school there, English teacher Han So Yoon discovers a buried corpse. As the townspeople speculate on the identity of the dead person and the reason she was killed, So Yoon and Police Officer Woo Jae attempt to find the truth. As they get closer, the ugliness of the village is revealed.
Murder mysteries! For some reason I was super into this show. It was another one of the rare instances that I actually live reacted to it.
Worst
I Love You As A Man: Part 2
The story of An Zi Yan and Mai Ding is continued. Both decide to take a trip together to Sanya and on the plane, they meet another couple, who ironically has several similarities with them. But they have been together much longer and they will offer their advice. When they return from the trip, new obstacles will appear in their way. Strong opposition to their relationship from family members will put enormous pressure to separate them Will both lovers be able to overcome difficulties and stick together?
They seriously should have stopped this show after the first season. It was an angst bucket that ended on a cliffhanger. You can tell they meant to have a third season but never did, which ended up just ruining the story. Bummer. I really liked this couple. Possibly because I loved the name An Xian. It just rolls nicely.
I Order You
Yeo Gook Dae is a talented chef who is cheeky and charismatic but heartbroken in the past because of his divorce. His emotional pain is hidden behind his brash attitude and enthusiasm for cooking. His heart later on gets healed when he begins to fall in love again. 28-year-old Park Song Ah is idling at home after quitting her job. She goes to a homemade dosirak (lunchbox) shop at her brother’s request and meets three attractive men there. The pretty and delicious food that they make touch her, and she gets her heart stolen by one of them. A cute funny story about a couple who bicker constantly but their relationship gradually blossoms into pure innocent love.
SHE WAS AWFUL.
Noble, My Love
Kang Hoon is the handsome, conceited CEO of a large company and heads D.O.L’s Korean branch in Seoul. One day, he is kidnapped and dramatically escapes from the bad guys, but he bleeds so much that he blacks out in front of an animal hospital in a rural town. Yoon Seo, a veterinarian, finds him and treats him to recovery. Being kind-hearted, she won’t accept any payment from him but he won’t take no for an answer and buys the building her hospital is in, forcing her to set up practice in Seoul where she has both friends and frenemies from vet school. Even though he looks down on her, he pays her to pretend to be his girlfriend to avoid blind dates set up by his family, becoming more and more possessive of her time and attention. Can deeper feelings develop between a man so arrogant and a woman so genuine?
HE WAS AWFUL. SERIOUSLY, SO BAD.
Prince’s Prince
Park Shi Hyun’s younger sister is so engrossed in video games and her computer, she lives in an imaginary world all her own. Shi Hyun tries to get his sister to return to the real world, however his nemesis Lee Mong Ryong is trying to stand in the way.
You know what is never fun? Gaybaiting. I want to say that we’ve come farther than this and it wouldn’t fly nowadays, but I know I’m wrong. I wanted this show to be better than it was. I actually wanted it to be a BL. But Alas, I fell for that gay baited trap. Maybe now that BL is so popular that they could remake this.
2016
Best
Heroin
Ever since he was young, Bai Luo Yin had been living with his divorced, poor and rather careless father, Bai Han Qi, and his grandmother. When he turned 16, his biological mother, Jiang Yuan, announced that she was re-marrying and her partner was a rich, high-ranking official, Gu Wei Ting. Because of his mother’s death, Gu Wei Ting’s son, Gu Hai, had been harboring a deep grudge towards his father and did not approve of the re-marriage. Through a weird twist of fate, the 2 step-brothers with their wildly conflicting familial and emotional backgrounds end up being placed in the same class in high-school. With time, they slowly developed a different kind of feeling for each other.
Don’t get me wrong, there are issues with this show. ISSUES. But I actually really like Heroin (Also known as Addicted). The story of two stepbrothers who fall in….like? Its one of the few real BLs that have come out of mainland China, making it out before the lockdown on any LGBT content.
Love O2O
Xiao Nai is a gaming expert who, courtesy of his basketball skills, academic excellence, swimming talent and game company presidency, also happens to be the most popular student on campus. When he first comes across the gorgeous computer science major Bei Wei Wei, the infinitely talented wunderkind immediately falls in love. But it’s not Wei Wei’s looks that he notices; it’s the ridiculous mastery with which she is commanding her guild and owning everyone in an online multiplayer game that makes her impossible to forget. Now, Xiao Nai must use his skills both in real life and online to capture the adorable but dorky Wei Wei’s heart. But does their love have the XP to succeed, or will this relationship never level up?
Its funny. The first time I watched this show, I didn’t actually like it that much, I found it a little boring. But now its probably one of my most rewatched shows. Yep, its still slow-moving but Yang Yang is still one of the dreamiest people on earth. There’s actually a movie version of the book which you can watch on Netflix. It may or may not be better than this, but it also doesn’t star Yang Yang, so that’s a big black mark against it.
Rinsho Hanzai Gakusha Himura Hideo no Suiri
Criminologist Himura Hideo seeks the pleasure of murder scenes and announces “I’ve ever wanted to kill a person”. He appears to be a rather dangerous guy who pursues the ultimate crime. His buddy is the somewhat unreliable mystery novel writer Arisugawa Arisu who observes his investigations. His inferences keep missing the mark at times, but he regards himself as Himura’s protector. An unlikely pair for investigation scenes, the two of them make up for each other’s deficiencies as they figure out the complicated and mysterious “tricks” left behind by criminals, with exquisite logic.
This one was FUUUUUN. A recommendation from SaraG that I started and then BINGED in a day. Nom Nom.
Signal
Fifteen years ago, a young girl was kidnapped on the way from school, and Park Hae Yeong, who was an elementary school student at that time, witnessed the crime. A few days later, the girl was found dead, and the police were not able to find the culprit. As time went by, Hae Yeong started distrusting the police.
Fifteen years later, Hae Yeong is now a police officer and criminal profiler. One day, he finds a walkie-talkie that allows him to get in contact with Detective Lee Jae Han who is in the past. Police officers Hae Yeong, Jae Han, and Cha So Hyun then set out on a journey to solve cold cases.
While I had issues with the ending… you know how much I hate a good story that is ruined by the want for a second season, however, when I look back on Signal, for the most part, I just remember how good it was, so well written with an intriguing concept and some great characters. They keep teasing us with the possibility of a season two and I try not to hold my breath for it.
When a Snail Falls in Love
Detective Ji Bai has to train a new recruit, the criminal profiler Xu Xu. Although she is great at determining one’s thoughts, she doesn’t know how to interact well with people. But that’s not the reason why Ji Bai intend to fire her. She’s very talented in the art of profiling, yet lacks in physical ability, running as slowly as a snail. Still, impressed by each other abilities, the teacher-student pair slowly fall in love in the midst of their investigations.
I watched this as it was written by the same person (or the book was) as Boss & Me. I read the story and it was great. this is the story of a criminal profiler who is crazy smart and not afraid to stand up for herself. I always like that in a heroine.
Medical Examiner: Dr Qin
Qin Ming’s assistant resigned because of his unbearable and quirky temper. Li Da Bao of the Department of Mark Inspection was ordered to join the working group. At the beginning, Qin doesn’t trust the girl but later he finds that she has very good reasoning and observation capabilities, and has a very sensitive sense of smell. The critical Qin decides to have her on board. Later on, Qin along with his detective friend Lin Tao and assistant Li Da Bao uncover a variety of bizarre cases.
Though this one is from 2015, I literally just watched this over Thanksgiving. Another really strong female character, I loved her “don’t look down on me because I’m a woman” attitude and her fashion sense. Plus the detective is the lead from Go Go Squid and is crazy hot. It helps.
Worst
Dramaworld
Claire Duncan is a 20-year old college student obsessed with Korean Drama. She’s constantly glued to the screen watching her favorite actor, Joon Park, in ‘Taste of Love.’ Disappointed that her own life isn’t nearly as exciting as those within the world of K-drama, Claire desperately wishes that she too could live in the world of ‘Taste of Love.’ Thanks to a touch of magic, Claire finds her world turned upside-down when she is sucked through her smartphone into the world of ‘Taste of Love’ and comes face to face with Joon Park himself. Claire also meets Seth Ko, a waiter who was also magically transported into the world of dramas years ago. With his help, Claire learns to navigate this new place. But her presence begins to throw ‘Taste of Love’ off-balance, causing other dramas to splice into the series. As things spiral further out of control, Claire realizes she can no longer just watch the drama unfold. She’s now part of it, and it’s her job to set things right. Before everything falls apart completely.
Noooooo…. this was just bad. I heard they came out with a season two? Or there was plans to make a season two? But Nah, I’m good.
SOTUS
The “Gear” is one of the engineering mechanical devices in the cogwheel system (as in a clock). Having one signifies that one is a student of the Faculty of Engineering. However, to get one, all engineering freshmen must first undergo the SOTUS (acronym for Seniority, Order, Tradition, Unity, and Spirit) system. Arthit, one of the third year seniors, often abuses his power over the freshmen by making them do things against the rules. Freshmen students are practically powerless to complain or resist any orders given by their seniors. Arthit was seemingly unstoppable until Kongpob stood up against the abuses by the former. Continual encounters between the two developed from animosity to something much more affectionate.
I will probably be maimed for having this show on my list, but I just didn’t care for it. It was all the hazing at the beginning at the show, I just couldn’t come back from it.
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