And this is where life got real crazy. I moved to Colorado, hired onto an amazing job which, unfortunately, came with a huge amount of overtime. Great for the pocketbook and experience, but not great for the drama watching time. But looking back, I do like where the variety took me from different countries to genres. I have a mystery time travel from Japan, Korean zombies, a great high school noir, and some good old fashioned romances both of the chaebol and underdog variety. This is also sees the start of our dear friend Alix’s descent into BL and the rise of our BL and Bubbles weekend watching marathons. Good times.
2017
Best
Erased
Fujinuma Satoru is an aspiring manga artist who has the ability to travel back in time moments before a life-threatening incident, in which he is able to prevent those from happening. When his mother is murdered by an unknown assailant, Satoru’s ability suddenly sends him back eighteen years to when he was still in elementary school, giving him the opportunity to prevent a kidnapping incident that took the lives of three of his childhood friends; two classmates and one young girl studying at a school nearby.
I almost forgot to put this on the list and that shows I’m sure there are things I’m forgetting. This show was so well done. SaraG started the show, got me to watch, I got hooked on the first episode, and she was like “COME DOWN TO MY HOUSE AND WE WILL WATCH TOGETHER.” and we did and it was AWESOME. So well plotted and acted.
Fight For My Way
Can you still go after your dreams without the right background? Ko Dong Man has always dreamed of becoming famous as a taekwondo athlete but now works as a contract employee in a mundane job. His bickering longtime friend, Choi Ae Ra, aspires to become a television anchor but works instead at the information desk of a department store. Their friends, Kim Joo Man and Baek Seol Hee have been dating for six years but face a new threat to their relationship. Can the four friends achieve their individual dreams despite having “third-rate” qualifications?
I’m a huge fan of the underdog and that’s what this show is, a series of underdog friends just trying to make the decision, continue as they are, or risk everything and attempt to reach their dreams. Plus a shirtless, sweaty Park Seo Joon? If you haven’t seen this show, what are you waiting for?
Long Time No See
The renowned hitman, “Flying Dagger’” starts dating “Wild Dog” who isn’t really what he seems to be. While both of them hide their secrets, they cannot help falling in love with each other. They run into danger as gangsters chase after them. Will “Flying Dagger” reveal his secret identity? Will they be able to overcome obstacles and keep their love?
Mad Dog
Choi Kang Woo, who is a former police and leader of Taeyang Insurance’s investigators team, decides to create his own investigation team, after an airplane crash that took the life of his wife and son. He then meets Kim Min Joon, a genius former swindler whose brother was also a victim of the crash, thus begin their rivalry and cooperation.
The drama portrays the reality of Korea through diverse insurance crimes that are prevalent in the country. There are the ‘copy cats’ that imitate and improve the existing crimes, and the ‘mad dogs’ who catch these bad cats.
I wanted to watch this show from the first time I heard about it, and while it was weirdly hard to get my hands on, it was completely worth it in the end. This is the first time I’d ever seen Woo Do Hwan and he remains one of my favorites. (Just this last weekend SaraG and I got together to watch Divine Fury where he played a scaly bad guy.)
2Moons
Wayo Panitchayasawad is a freshman at a university that is also attended by his long-time secret love, Phana Kongthanin, a second-year student. As the Campus Moon, Pha is extremely popular but he does not seem to enjoy popularity at all. When Yo becomes the Moon of his department, the two meet on a daily basis. Their relationship starts quite rough since Pha seems to pick on Yo, but things change.
I don’t know if I can call this good but whenever I think back on the series, I think fondly on it. I had come down with a sweet case of Bell’s Palsey and this was the only thing that made me feel better. So for that, 2Moons gets put on the list (though 2Moons2 might be better.)
Worst
The Boy Next Door
College students, Park Kyu Tae and Sung Gi Jae are two awkward neighbors that have a small disliking towards each other. After an accident the two boys move in together. They soon figure out that they are both friends with Kim Min Ah. The two end up in hilarious, awkward situations that leads Min Ah and her closeted boyfriend to believe they are gay.
More gaybaiting. Every episode is just them finding themselves in BL situations.
Devil Inspector
A comedic mystery that follows two genius high schoolers and a female police detective as they solve cases that arise while following the disappearances of the boys’ parents
Not sure what I have to say outside of this synopsis. There were high school detectives. Or the police are so bad that they have to bus in high schoolers. Why was this a thing? Who knows. Why did I watch it? Perhaps I lost a bet.
2018
Best
HIStory2: Crossing the Line
Qiu Zi Xuan was an excellent volleyball player in the past, but he had to give up on his dream due to an injury. He still participates in the volleyball-related activities, arranges and helps them with training, and watches them improve.
During the training, he meets Xia Yu Hao, a guy with a really bad temper who gets easily infuriated with people that make him angry, but he strives to acquire what he persistently wants to achieve. Zi Xuan thinks he’s the one who can reach his dream instead of him. He hopes that Yu Hao can achieve what he couldn’t in the past.
This show was super cute! You don’t expect Yu Hao to be as endearing as he is. He comes across as the trouble high schooler but once he spots Zi Xuan, he’s hooked and cuteness ensues. It’s just really sweet.
Love by Chance
Pete is a handsome and rich university student who is incredibly timid. His shyness stems from his trying to hide that he is gay. One day, Pete gets hit by a boy on a bike. The kind-hearted boy, named Ae, apologizes and helps him up.
In the past, those whom Pete trusted often used him for his wealth. Ae now steps in so Pete won’t be taken advantage of by his frenemies. Over time, Ae looks out for Pete and protects him from the world. Somewhere between their intense closeness and shared soft touches, Ae develops feelings for Pete that go beyond friendship.
Pete doesn’t want Ae to know the pain of being ridiculed for dating a man, so he ignores his own feelings for Ae. But Pete falls deeper and deeper in love with the kind-hearted boy on the bike, who once hit him purely by chance.
This is the show that started all the BL and Bubbles weekends! Once my friend Alix watched this she got me to watch and then we started watching BLs together while drinking bubble tea. So many memories I’ll always look fondly back at this show. Plus I love Ae and Pete so much!
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim
The series revolves around the narcissistic Lee Young Joon, the vice president of a company run by his family. He is very self-absorbed and thinks highly of himself, so much that he barely acknowledges the people around him. Lee Young Joon has a capable and patient secretary Kim Mi So who has remained by his side and worked diligently for 9 years without any romantic involvement. However, Mi So now wants to set her life & focus on herself so when she decides to resign from her job, hilarious misunderstandings ensue. After 9 years of their strictly-workplace relationship, can it now develop in something more?
I might not remember a ton of this show but I do remember I really liked it. No idea why I don’t remember the particulars. Its weird. But I guess that means when I go to rewatch it the whole thing will be a surprise. Like watching it for the first time all over again.
Dokgo Rewind
“Dokgo Rewind” is based on webtoon of the same name, and it is prequel to the webtoon “Dokgo”. The story begins one year before “Dokgo” (before Kang Hyuk seeks revenge for his twin brother).
Kang Hyuk and his mischievous friends meet Kim Gyu Soon and decide to help him protect his sister. Things escalate and Kang Hyuk and his friends end up fighting against high school delinquent gangs.
This was my thanksgiving show one year! A high school noir series where all the high schoolers except our leads are at least in their thirties shouldn’t be as good as it is. BUT IT IS. The series ends on a cliffhanger, but going along with the noir, almost graphic novel feel of the rest of the show, it fits. Plus some GREAT fight scenes.
Worst
YG Future Strategy Office
K-pop star Seungri, BIGBANG’s youngest member, tries to lead a team of bumbling staff at YG’s Future Strategy Office in this mockumentary sitcom.
Nah, I’m good.
2019
Best
HIStory3: Trapped
The story of a police officer who becomes trapped in the underworld, as he develops feelings for a gang leader…
Four years ago, a veteran cop and an elderly gangster were killed in a gunshot attack. The only survivor and the dead gangster’s protegee, the enigmatic and ruthless Tang Yi, is now the new gang leader, who will stop at nothing to find the murderer and plans an elaborate trap to lure him out of hiding. Honest police officer Meng Shao Fei is obsessed with knowing the truth behind this case, to avenge his mentor’s death, and spends all his spare time tracking Tang Yi and trying to find what he is up to. When Meng and Tang Yi are kidnapped together and forced to survive in a cold mountain, things start to change between them.
This is the first long-form BL drama of the HIStory series. The story of the mob boss and the cop is irritating at first but once Meng chills the fuck out and they start becoming friends, the story takes a great turn and is a highlight of the HIStory collection.
Kingdom
No sooner does the Joseon King succumb to smallpox, do the rumors of his death begin. The Cho Clan, the clan of the pregnant Queen and her father, Chief State Councillor Cho Hak Joo, declares the Crown Prince a traitor.
Questioning the circumstances surrounding the King’s death, the Crown Prince and his guard, Moo Young, set forth to locate Lee Seung Hui, the last physician to treat his father. But the two end up stuck with Assistant Physician Seo Bi and a mysterious man named Young Shin in a village plagued with a terrifying disease.
Joseon zombies. Enough said. Except I can’t believe this show is a show and not a movie, it’s very much movie quality.
Put Your Head on My Shoulder
On the cusp of graduation, an accounting major searching for her career winds up living with a genius physics student who shakes up her daily routine.
Situ Mo is a graduating student. As someone who got used to having her whole life planned out for her, she is at a loss about her future and can’t find the courage to make a decision for herself. Because the school districts have merged, physics major Gu Weiyi barges into her life. They clash repeatedly without noticing that they are slowly walking into each other’s hearts. To their surprise, they accidentally end up having to live together.
This show is ADORABLE. Nothing terrible happens. They are cute, they forced cohabitate, they catch feelings, they get together, everybody is happy. Don’t you love that sort of show?
Worst
I Am Your King 2
The King game has one rule, which is the one who holds the king card can command anyone to do anything he wishes. However it may lead to several outcomes. Some friendships will be broken, while some relationships will blossom.
This show is hella creepy. Essentially a bunch of college kids playing sex games with high schoolers, one of which is a brother to the college kid. The brother duo ends up in a love triangle with the high schooler. Its Creepy. Its Gross. The only way they could have redeemed it was if the two high schoolers had ended up together, but since they decided nah, the creep college kid was end game, it remained trash.
He She It
A tragedy of complicated relationships among teenage friends.. Difficult decisions of following the heart or following the rules.
A BL where the one straight-up MURDERS the other in the first episode rather than let the news about their on-the-downlow hookup get out? And then the dead guy haunts for the rest of the show? That’s it. That’s the plot. I’m irritated.
He’s Coming to Me
On his birthday, Med, a kind heir to a rich family, dies mysteriously and becomes a ghost. For 20 years, he waits in the graveyard for someone to visit so that he is able to reincarnate. However, his plan for reincarnation changes completely when he spots Thun, a young boy who is able to see and talk with him during every Ching Ming Festival.
A few years pass and Thun, now a university student, reveals that Med was killed and promises to identify the reason behind Med’s murder and takes Med to live with him. As they solve the issues relating to Med’s death, the boys find themselves falling in love with each other despite the obvious that they must be apart one day.
THE GUY IS DEAD and SPOILER ALERT, REMAINS DEAD. Does the other guy die to be with him? Nope. They just awkwardly remain dead guy and not dead guy.
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