Dramas – 2024 Completed

When one of my favourite actors star together with one of my favourite actresses you know I will watch it. Like– both Wookie AND Shin Hyesun??! When I saw the announcement for the first time I was so happily surprised ^^

Their acting was great and I loved both of their characters. I for some reason expected them to be a bit more cliché, but I'm happy I was wrong. Yongpil was a lot kinder than anticipated and Samdal was just super cute. I liked all the other characters as well. The only thing is (if I can criticise) that Wookie and Shin Hyesun played the roles of childhood friends so well that their romance fell a bit flat. It wasn't nonexcistent, I just think that they have had greater sparks with other actors/actresses. But their friendship spark was good :)

Side note: having watched the majority of Wookie's dramas/movies, seeing him talk to Samdal about being cheated on hits a bit different knowing that his characters in other dramas have been cheated on many many times.

Side note #2: Healer and his hacker got reunited as well as Jeha (K2) and my favourite secretary~~ ^^

(Side note #3: sometimes Nico looks like Wookie. I have been noticing it a lot, haha)

Overall, it was a nice watch. However, currently not watching as many dramas anymore, I'm not sure I will rewatch it.

Well, a contrasting concept of taboo relationships, suicide and also comedy. Althought it's a student-teacher romance, I enjoyed watching it. The comedy sprinkled over every scene was a fun change of the otherwise serious and possibly dark rest of the plot. In real life however, there would be a problem. Not the student-teacher thing, but the fact that she is underage. So it's fine for fiction, and I know that the age of consent in Japan is 15 (I think) right now, but still...

The school setting with romance genre and suicide tag peaked my interest, but I stayed for the comedy. I really liked the opening and ending music as well.

Oh my... wow. First of all, so many famous actors! I didn't check, I just decided to watch it because of Seo Inguk and the score, I didn't even know/remember that Dohyni is in this! Like every episode were filled with talent. The story is already good, but I believe it has such a high score because of the fantastic acting from the amazingly talented cast!

The story is super interesting. All of the lives/deaths he experience are engaging. I'm so curious who it is he (spoiler) fell on when he took his life. It's a bit dark but when I had those thoughts I would always plan in my mind to chose a building that is remote so that I wouldn't hurt anyone else (would I chose that method)... anyway, enough about that.

I'm off to watch part 2 now.

"You're not really living when you live in constant fear"
"People are happiest when they can truly be themselves, because life would be meaningless if you can never really be yourself"

This drama is all about suicide prevention and I think it does a really good job at relaying that message. It makes a lot of sense why so many famous actors are part of this; they stand behind the message. I didn't enjoy the drama Tomorrow very much because they said that suicide is a sin. We mustn't weigh problems and compare them. But I think that they presented the message in a much better way in Death's Game than in Tomorrow.

As for the storyline of the drama, I feel slightly wronged by the ending. It's possibly the "best" outcome, but like.. then give me at least one more episode. The guy from Flower of Evil came and harrased people in this drama as well, he needs to be stopped all over again now, no? Or does the main character live as all those people at the same time in the same universe? Then will he become his mother? Not likely, right? Then one more episode and we're good. That's my opinion.

The quotes at the top resonate a lot with me. I'm afraid of everything, even being happy, This is what mental health issues can lead to. My true self is social and curious about life. I want to embody the true me :)

It's a drama that makes you reflect. I can't say it hit me that deep, but I do relate and have empathy. Worth a rewatch for sure.

This started out as a simple BL with a fantasy element. The first 3 episodes were an entertaining buildup to the 4th suddenly super cute episode. Then from episode 5 everything started to change. It got choppy and it felt like scenes and moments were skipped, leaving me a little confused. Then it turned to almost psychological horror tbh it was scary. Then by the end it became abstract, sad and philosopical. A good ending tho, but it was quite scary and depressing leading up to it.

I liked the characters and the message about finding your own happiness. In this case they found their own happiness together. A very cute love story. Yeowoo was especially such a cute innocent bean~

Might rewatch one day if I feel BL deprived and philosophical.

Omg what is this ew the main character is so disgusting... She acts so stuck-up despite saying over and over how sh*t her life is. But her life isn't sh*t, like– Her father is so kind! Why tf does she treat him so bad?? She lives in an alright house and she has food and can go to school and she has a nice family, what is the problem, girl?? She turns super greedy and she just got what she deserved honestly. Like why did she wear someone else's clothes and take photos of herself in someone else's house; of course there are consequences!! And I agree with her classmates, she should apologise for lying like what?? She progressively get worse throughout the whole drama. She is made out to be this smart kid but she is never smart seriously. What I hated the most about her was how she used Seo Doeon like force him to be her boyfriend and then blackmail him for money and favours like he just wants to know who killed the girl he loves and she uses that against him and then tells him off not f*cking knowing anything about their story together the audacity of this f*cking b*tch. The title is about mc, ok I see, makes sense.

The storyline and mystery is out the window as well together with that sh*t ending. So many wasted characters as well. I just completed this because it's so f*cking bad I had to write my anger down.

It was cute~ I really like that the male lead is Korean because it was fun to hear both Japanese and Korean in one drama. It's also fun to see main lead couples who are from different nationalities presented in dramas as it's something common in reality yet rare in dramas.

But it was once again the misunderstanding cliché a lot because of the female lead's bad communication. Around the middle of the drama I felt frustrated a lot because of this.

I found a new favourite character tho! Hanaoka~ I liked the male lead too and I don't have SLS, but Hanaoka was just a really fun character ^^

It was good and entertaining but I honestly didn't find Harin that scary. I liked Song Jaehyung the most because she was so unapologetically herself. I had hoped to see some romance between Yerim and Eunjung, but it seems I have to stick with 23.5 instead (not that I'm complaining about that at all, 23.5 is super cute so far).

Overall it was good but there are many shows with a similar premise that outshine this one.

As someone who only have seen 7 episodes of the anime back in 2015 and only remember the basic idea of it, I enjoyed this live action tv series. I decided to watch One Piece because it has such a good score despite being a live action adaptation (rare). I don't plan on watching the anime because the episode count is far too overwhelming but I would watch the 2nd season of this adaptation if it's well recieved by fans.

My favourite character was Koby because I really liked his personality, morals, character development and competence despite appearing as a character I assumed would be made out to be "weak" or easily swayed and manipulated (I hope I'm making sense). Now, I can't criticise too much because idk how he is in the anime, but personally I just found the acting of Koby a bit idk extreme in the less flattering ways in my opinion. But he is still my favourite as a character.

Tbh I'm surprised this is on MDL but ok, not complaining.

Ahh, how nice~ I've been following Lovely Runner for over a month as it was airing and today it's finally completed.

I feel like there have been a lot of time travel dramas lately and I like it! ^^ Lovely Runner is one of the dramas that did it well. I can definitely see myself rewatching it and maybe raising the score next time.

I'm not very good at writing these short reviews anymore, haha ^^; Well, I enjoyed watching Lovely Runner every week~ It made those days happier :)

What an atypical drama; quite unique. It's a very unusual family dynamic with a single father living with his parents and daughter. All characters have major flaws but that's exactly what makes them so compelling. The romance is cute but that's the least interesting thing about this drama tbh. I just don't think I've seen anything like this before, at least not this combination. I like that a lot. Good! :)

Rewatched June 19th – 26th.

I rewatched it because of &TEAM. The first time I watched it I mainly focused on the ENHYPEN members so my memory of the other I–Landers were less vivid. K and Taki remained in my memory, but Nicholas an EJ... Actually, I did remember the イケメン Nico entering, his b–boying and his silly interraction with Rain, haha ^^

There are so many touching scenes between K and Taki~ Their bond is so precious. Everyone relied on K so much and it was a joy to see him thoughout all the episodes. Taki looks so different compared to now (maybe that's why he is a bit of a mystery to me even now? haha). EJ is so wholesome and the segment where he talks about his time at BigHit; "you have potential"... wow, it made me emotional. And Nicholas...! Ahh... I actually watched until middle of ep.7 in December last year but I cried so much during his elimination that I couldn't continue. I cried this time as well ㅠㅠ But I had to remember that he is now in &TEAM <3

Quickly about K being "problematic": no. Maybe it's my bias pov that's changed or maybe I've changed, but K was just being straight forward, speaking his mind. I'm like that; I can relate to his feelings, the perspective of communication. Openly sharing your thoughts and feelings is a good thing.

My shock when I saw that EJ, Nicholas and Taki were watching K from the audience in the last episode! That must've been such an emotional experience. I saw Nico wiping his tears during K's speach and my heart just </3 ow

I'm happy they are together in &TEAM now <3

Cute

Rewatched June 26th – July 3rd.

I think that &Audition is much nicer compared to I–Land. In I–Land they were constantly competing against each other, constantly ranked, forced to compare each other and they were divided into basically "peasants" vs "upperclass". But in &Audition all the participants are working together. They may be divided into teams often but they all have to get good results to advance to the final round. It creates a friendlier atmosphere where everyone is sincerely cheering for each other and wanting everyone to do well. This environmet brought out the best parts in every participant and I think that's a lot better than that tense atmosphere always lingering in I–Land. &Audition is just a lot friendlier and kind of wholesome. Of course it's serious as well, but the participants are all on the same side, holing each others' hands and patting each others' backs.

I rewatched &Autidion to try to understand the members even better. I was reminded of the moments that Nicholas became my favourite member during &Audition~ It was nice to rewatch it~♡

Rewatched July 4th.

This was so much better than what I was expecting! These slightly older good shows have more low scores on MDL even though they are just as good as some of the modern ones, just in different ways. And the intro really hyped me up for every episode, haha, I love a good intro~! The romance was probably the least interesting part tho. And it's amazing how good of an actor Kwon Yul is if I'm able to hate his character in two different dramas, this one and in Kamjatang.

I can see myself rewatching this someday.

Takahashi Fumiya and Shison Jun starring together in one drama, I knew that this was something I shouldn't miss. It's taken me a while to start it however and I think it's both because of it being about cooking and also I think I was spoiled what happens to Kai (I forgot it before I started watching this tho). But now I finally decided to watch it. 

It was intense to say the least; very dramatic with little to no filler scenes. It is fun to see prodigy characters, I have to say. The thing that bothered me tho is what happens to Kai. I expected it almost from the beginning yet I decided to continue watching. Watching those things are hard for me but I'm glad I challenged myself to keep watching.

The OST is great btw

Rewatched July 25th – 28th.

I just felt like rewatching this. It really is a hidden gem in my opinion. I raised the score from 8 to 8,5 upon rewatching it this time. I hope to see a 2nd season someday as well.

This was really beautiful. I haven't watched a lot of dating shows because I often lose interest after a while, often because it's either too plain or too much drama, often induced by the short time span. But this one was entertaining throughout and just wholesome with minimal drama. The way the participants opened up to each other more and more and improved their communication with each other was really nice to see. The gentle giant leaving triggered a big part of it I think. I actually cried when the two participants left early (ep. 5 & 9). Getting to know everyone's boundraries, what they like and what they don't like, and their views on love and romance, I could see myself comparing myself to them and relating to some.

Magic cat~~☆

It's a fun drama. The concept is entertaining and I actually like the really slow burn romance.

However I think that the acting between her when she is young and when she is older doesn't really match as well as it could. Also the climax of catching the killer was quite unsatisfying (spoiler) though it's always cool to see a female killer for a change. The prosecutor promised to pretect her but he didn't really do that very well tbh.

But I liked this drama. It was a nice one time watch.

I don't know for how long I've been putting this show off for. Finally I watched it and I liked it. The cases were interesting and often unpredictable. There was a moral lesson around every corner but that's how it is for most Jdramas, haha. It's not like all cases were murder and super intricate, but I was always engaged in the story and wanted to know how it would turn out. It also brought light to the consequences of "smaller" crime (like the prank callers). The characters were likeable and didn't follow the seemingly obvious steriotypes they appeared to be. Although I have warmed up to episodic series by now, I still like it when there's some connection so I was pleasantly surprised to see how some cases were connected and spread here and there over multiple episodes before the final episodes that actually covered them fully.

I also forgot that Masaki Suda was in this so it was fun to see him again :)

I kept away from this show for its medical genre but after watching MIU 404 that takes place in the same universe, I thought I could give Unnatural a try. The first episode was difficult to watch but I decided to watch the 2nd episode and after that I started to like Unnatural. It was really good with interesting and touching stories. The cases were more emotional compared to those in MIU 404 as they all had to do with a passing of someone. The main characters were very likeable and well made as well. The only thing is that the series feel unfinished. I think one or two more episodes would have tied all the loose ends. But maybe that was intentional.

Todome no Kiss and Vincenzo meets the Kieta Hatsukoi cast (+Hasebe) in Trillion Game, however it's somehow more "normal". It's alright, but it's missing something.

Gaku best boy~ ☆☆☆☆☆

This was a really cool drama. There was a very equal amount of English and Japanese in my opinion and that's a crossover I haven't seen before (although I'm aware that there are others). It's not my type of sereis but I still enjoyed it. I think that those who like this type of shows will really love Shōgun. I watched this together with my mother and she enjoyed it as well. There were some complicated words sometimes and the politic aspects could be hard to follow at times but we could still follow along. I will probably watch the 2nd season as well when it comes out.

The curse words are really creative in this series and made me chuckle, haha

Ahh episode 1 to 6 were so good!! I was so hyped the whole time; 9/10! But then, damn, episode 7 was kinda boring and then it went downhil with stupid classic tropes that I hate the most: lovers separated and unneccessary breakups. So annoying!! Why why why??? Episodes 7 to 9 are 7/10 at best, maybe 6,5. At least episode 10 was better: 8/10. So for now I'll give it an 8/10.

I'm not talking about anything interesting in the short review haha but idk what else to say. I forgot how to write these, haha. I do think I could rewatch this someday.

Oh yeah, it's Aoki (Kieta Hatsukoi), that's why I decided to watch this in the first place, haha. I was surprised to see kiss scenes (since he's an idol) but it was great~ Their chemistry was pretty good, that was also a pleasant surprise! And the song, I Wish by なにわ男子 (his group) as OST for this drama is really cute and addicting. They are on Spotify now which makes me happy~ ^^ Now I can add their songs to my playlist (had they been on Spotify two years ago, the OST for Kieta Hatsukoi would definitely have made my 2022 wrapped haha).

This is my type of series for sure. It might not be the best of its genre, but it's a good contestant. 8,4/10 is the most accurate score for me right now. A little bit more depth could've been added to the characters and maybe made the bigger villains a bit scarier. This is a censored adaptation of same sex love. I think this would've been even better if it had been a proper BL. The two had great chemistry. Thinking about the age difference it might not be the best choice, but if they tweaked their age a bit then I think it would be fine. It doesn't need romance technically, but I think it would've been a lot more emotional if it was included.

This felt like a mix of The Dude in Me and A Shoulder to Cry On (the actors even look kind of ssimilar, but without the BL then). Would consider rewatching it someday.

This was cute~ I liked the characters and the acting was really great. The story was alright but it's the characters that makes you keep watching; it's a character driven story. I feel like it was the perfect length for this story but I would have liked to see better kiss scenes and not the Japanese peck or whatever it is haha ^^; But the chemistry was still really good.

Rewatched August 26th – 28th.

No matter how many times I watch this drama I still cry just as much every time.

Very entertaining short drama with interesting characters and great acting. A battle royale that's usually less serious and thrilling than murder, yet they make it out to be the same and they execute it quite well. I liked it more than I thought I would.

Rewatched September 2nd – 4th.

Imagine how dangerous it would be if this was the standard for a drama...! I had a really great time rewatching this and I hope to watch it again someday in the future. :)

(I love this OST so much: https://open.spotify.com/track/0grAbqXDOJDerhzeYB4wy3?si=662cb7c857844851)

An entertaining drama with likeable characters and interesting cases. My expectations for this drama was very low because I assumed the drama would have a different vibe/characters, but the drama was very good. It got better and better the more you watch which is rare (often it gets draggy in the middle, but not this drama). The last case was a bit cliché maybe but that is a charm in itself.

After watching Flex X Cop and liking it a lot, I remembered that Ahn Bohyun is the male lead in this drama as well so I decided to watch it. I had previously seen 6 episodes last year but put it on-hold as I got bored from waiting for the next episodes to be released (I watched it whilst it was airing). Now over a year later I rewatched it from the beginning and completed it.

As someone who is spiritual and believes in past lives, and with Shin Hyesun who is one of my favourite actresses playing the female lead, this drama peaked my interest from before it was released. Unfortionately it didn't live up to my expectations. The story isn't very seasoned and the outer conflicts were just very bland. There is depth, absolutely, but it's missing flavour. It being an adaptation from a webtoon makes a lot of sense as this story would be great in such a format, but when creating a drama series you need to add more and change things up which I got the impression that they didn't really do (however I haven't read the webtoon so idk).

I also didn't find Ban Jieum to be that likeable. I didn't dislike her, but I just didn't connect with her which is a pity. But Moon Seoha had no business being that wholesome like what he spoke in tiny the whole drama and despite Ahn Bohyun looking very big and manly Seoha was just so fluffy~

This warmed my heart <3 So cute and wholesome~ Likeable characters, good storyline and a lot of smiles. Binged in one evening ^^

Watched this whilst I was on vacation in Tokyo this November. Enjoyed watching this a lot after eating convinience store dinner, haha, often whilst eating mint choco ice cream.

The story was good and both of the leads were really well crafted characters. A very enjoyable watch. Dano is an innocent bean~

I felt like the ending was missing something so I don't have the confidence to give this a 9. Still liked it a lot.

I've been lookign froward to this drama for a while as I enoyed watching Love Mechanics. I liked it more the first few episodes, but then it got a bit repetitive. It's alright, but the only thing that made me want to complete it was War Wanarat and his chemistry with Yin Anan Wong.

Gosh, War Wanarat is such a great actor and also so good looking. I had higher expectations of his character than what I got, but his acting still somehow makes up for most of it.

Not sure what else to say besides that it was alright. Don't think I'll rewatch it tho. Maybe my score is a little harsh, but I rated it based on my enjoyment.

7 stars for Ji Changwook~!

Starting the year with Wookie and ending it with Wookie, I'm not complaining~ As for this drama, it was nothing special tbh, I mean as far as the story goes. There are so many drug related crime dramas/movies so Gangnam B-Side doesn't stand out at all. I guess it's because things like this actually happen in real life as well...

As for the characters, they were also nothing special. There was definitely character development in all directions, so they weren't plain. I just didn't connect with them. The acting was good tho and of course I especially love Wookie's acting ^^ His character was really cool :)

Probably won't rewatch but might save some pins on pinterest.

(P.S. Yukiakari was released today and seeing Nico wearing that thick furry coat just makes him and Ji Changwook look more similar after watching him in this drama as Gilho).