My strange couple

Our male and female lead have known each other from high school. He was accused of guilty in an incident, but we don’t know the truth yet. Later in life, they reconnected when he decided to go back to school where she's works as a part-time teacher...

First thing I have to say: this premise is jarring. I have never seen adults mixed in with high schoolers in one class, but it doesn’t really matter. What I’m so intrigued by first place is the over-the-top extra-ness of the show. Every aspect of this show is operating at >100% level. The music is just so dramatic, as well as the acting and the filmmaking. Normally I dislike this tone, but here they all works together, so kudos to that. Yoo Seung Ho’s acting pulls it off. You can tell that he’s just having so much fun with his role, and his enjoyment seeps off of the screen.

Now, for the storytelling, I think they nailed the present and past storylines switching really well. Like you might have questions during the present time, and then you’ll see it unfold in the past, and then it ping-pongs back and forth. The writers know how to pique your interest. The questions keep you engaged because you'll have one answered, and then you're given another one.

My con comes a bit later when something happen to the couple, and the female lead response to it really rubbed me the wrong way. Since then I feel a trust issue that relationship wasn't genuine and so, it felt almost like a chore to finish the show. The ending was satisfying; it tied all the loose ends.

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Right away from the start, they go BAM BAM BAM!

Empress Ki follows a Goryeo woman's journey, forced to leave her homeland (Korea today), who becomes the most powerful woman of a Yuan Empire (China today). Her love is torn between two powerful men of both kingdoms. A story about vengeance, lust for power, loyalty, sacrifice, the blurry line between good and evil, the ugly side of human nature and lastly one woman's quest for justice.

The short verdict to the drama that embroidered me with fantastic emotions:
The pacing is exceptional, will captivate you all the way through, trust me. It has amazing cinematography, love triangle, glorious acting, OSTs and all elements that granted me a million feelings while watching. This drama is one of the most impactful sageuks I've watched so far!!! No skip-watching, no boring scenes... nothing, just enjoyment and excitement through the whole drama! They know where to go and I immediately was along for the ride.

I am utterly in love and honored to have witnessed characters that made me feel all there was to feel and more, to whom I gave standing ovations: Ki Seu Nyang, a true leader; charismatic, smart and unpredictable. Ta Hwan, totally emote with such depth as I got goosebumps witnessing his fear, anger, rage, and him being deranged while still exuding his burning passion. Danashiri, the ultimate villainess who is multidimensional, intimidating but also so endearing. She’s a character on another level, who despite being stronger than our heroes, also showing the fragility of being human.

Regardless the divisive opinions around it I applaud the ending. It's a drama depicting realistic human nature, there's no idealistic changes in the characters' personality. That is the beauty of Empress Ki.

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Everything about this drama is just comforting and ideal.

Ji Ho (Jung So Min) is a writer in her 30s who was looking for a new room due to her family issue. She ends up living with Te Hee (Lee Min Ki), a single man who's only close to his cat and has chosen not to marry, in a 2-year-contact marriage with no romance expectations to avoid misperceptions of their cohabitation. It’s only a matter of time before the two share their true selves on how they fit living together.

It’s amazing how this drama presents a lot of difficulties that young adults face in their 30s in the most peaceful yet meaningful and entertaining ways. It also does a great job fleshes out the many societal aspects, like patriarchy, marriage, nepotism, gender discrimination, etc.

The cohabitation that act as a glue among Se Hee, Ji Ho and Uri (the cat) is the most memorable part for me. So many funny and endearing moments that happen, I really love their growing relationships! I enjoyed the relationships between the other couples too and the friendships among the three girl friends.

In my opinion, Se Hee has the best character growth, from being an anti romantic and closed off personality, to an understanding & loving partner, able to express himself well to Ji Ho. Ji Ho, I really like her personality and her mannerisms throughout most of the drama. In the later parts, I don’t understand her problem that led to some complicated situations. But I’m satisfied with most episodes and overall, Because This is My First Life is a really good drama that will entertain you, make you feel safe and secure.

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beautiful, creepy, meaningful and lustful

Despite being a skilled worker, Moon Gang Tae (Kim Soo Hyun) struggles to settle in one psychiatric ward for longer than a year; which seems to be due to his and his brother's Sang Tae (Oh Jung Se) trauma and current situation. One day, he met a successful author Ko Moon Young (Seo Yea Ji), who writes dark-toned children's fairytales and who is obsessed with him at the first sight. There are reasons of why these people are the way like they are, and those reasons seems to be darker than as it seems as first…

I really enjoyed this drama for the cinematography, vibes and unique animated visuals of the fairy tales. They’re beautiful, creepy, and perfectly represent our female lead, Ko Moon Young. It’s fun how she was introduced as a dark fantasy writer aimed at children, who has a kleptomania for knives. Seo Ye Ji was phenomenal portraying her every movement and talk, showing Moon Young’s psycho and powerful aura. At times I got bored with the plot, but she’s the reason for me to keep watching. Her chemistry with Gang Tae, can only be said as seductive. The tension between them was intoxicating, especially the firsts times when they were enemies. Another thing, the Moon brotherhood were so genuine and emotional. Sang Tae’s appreciation towards art was so endearing and self-soothing. When he sees a mural, the world is more energetic and warm for him and I love the emphasize on that aspect.

This drama also has perfectly engaging OSTs. The OSTs blurred the lines among the various genres in this show; romance, comedy, suspense, and a bit of horror. The only thing that was not as engaging to me is the mystery subplot, it was predictable, too long and anticlimactic. Other than that, as mentioned, everything was beautiful and worth-watching!

Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge
edited Mar, 2024

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An untapped potential …till the end :/

A quirky smart attorney charges his clients only $1, to open justice for all the poor and downtrodden. He got to work together with a rookie prosecutor who went up and lost against him, with her motive to join a prestigious family law firm.

In my opinion, the charm is mainly the lead character rather than the story or its development. The plot deals with corruption and bribery within the justice system. It has a lot of hilarious moments and gives a fast gratification feeling from the entertaining verdict of each court case. However, this legal drama is constantly teasing me to be exceptional but fails to awe me. The constant tone shift between the comedy and the serious story doesn't sit well with me. I describe the humour to be at most chuckle-worthy though mostly fell flat to me, subjectively.

Everything is tied up well but it left me feeling a bit hollow. I'm sorry I can't pinpoint why, but I feel like there's something missing that would have made it more enjoyable. Who else is watching One dollar lawyer? Let me know! Maybe you can defend it for me!^^

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A decent mystery plot and family reconciliations

My Perfect Stranger is a well-grounded story told in a comfortable pace, the twist is unexpected but the reason for the twist is not so convincing. I appreciate that they tied all the loose ends in the end, no suspense in disbelief.

But for me it's really forgettable. I'm not thinking about it when I'm watching it because somehow it's not so exciting, so I didn't feel hooked to keep watching. i completely forget about it once I finished it. I don't buy the chemistry of the leads, and I wish they become good comrade.

I think it's a show worth to watch on the side of watching other shows, especially if you enjoy following a decent mystery plot and family reconciliations. But mind you that it has unexpectedly a lot of physical and verbal violence.

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Amazing scenes and acting; You tear up just from watching two people talking about rice.

"Pachinko" is a visually stunning family saga based on an American adaptation of a novel. It spans four generations as the characters struggle to survive and grapple with their identities.

What makes "Pachinko" attractive is its exploration of the characters' journeys across national boundaries. They start as ethnically Korean individuals born on the Korean Peninsula and end up in Japan due to various circumstances. This global perspective is reflected not only in the storyline but also in the show's production; Despite the way they're shot is very different from K-dramas, the quality and acting are great.

However, I'm not a fan with the alternating past-present short sequences because it took me out of the show. The shows also heavily spent time for telling another second-lead story which I wasn’t really invested in. I am more interested on our female lead’s past; the bitter life she suffered from the Japanese colonization and the aftermath of that.

Final remark, I don't feel closure of the stories told in season 1. I would not say the drama ends on a cliffhanger but maybe a somewhat open ending?

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Wonderful show which flopped its' ending

If you have seen your fair share of rom-coms, this is going to feel very typical especially in the first episode, while they're establishing the characters well. With all that said, there is magic in the script: I feel like the writers want to say about fandom culture or they at least want to touch on it because they represent the fandom culture not only positively, that it's a community, it's a way to bond with people in a way to support the artists you love, but also some of the negative sides which is obsessive tendencies and how those can lead to crossing the line and becoming a stalker. I really love how the writers are balancing the whole fandom culture exploring many different facets of it.

The show's big problem that really turned me off was near the end when the show started to focus primarily on the male lead's past and how that connects in such a dramatic way with the female lead. I thought the writers of the show really lost sight of what the show was about and I was hoping the show should have focused more on the fandom side of things because, in the end, the fact that she is a super fan doesn't contribute a lot to the main story, and I was quite disappointed because the portrayal of fandom culture and a commentary on fandom culture part is the thing that I was very excited to watch.

Overall, I really enjoyed Her Private Life, I think it has many wonderful qualities loved the characters, and I love the interactions between the characters. The romance is incredibly mature and I love how they support each other, it is wonderful. All the leads and the side characters, everybody is perfectly cast and doing a wonderful job. The leads have such strong chemistry together. This is a show you could very happily binge or at least I was very happy to binge.

I would recommend Her Private Life to you if you like shows like What's Wrong with Secretary Kim. They both have the same female lead, and she's great in both of them as well as The Liar and His Lover or Touch Your Heart. So if you liked any of those three shows I would give this one a chance.

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A fun representation of all of K drama classic tropes

Kim Mi Soo is a capable secretary of a narcissistic vice president of a family-owned company, Lee Young Joon. After 9 years of working diligently for him, Mi So now wants to resign to focus on her personal life & romance. But twist, Lee Young Joon actually finds her presence irreplaceable in his life.

Now, there are a few other layers of convoluted messy chilhood connections happening with the show, as expected by the K-drama formula, but I'm not going to touch on those because they could be considered as spoiler. And if you want to know a bit more about the show, you can just watch the trailer, which will give a bit more information about the plot setup than I just gave. I'm going to go right into my pros and cons briefly as I should be doing schoolwork.

Pros:
- Fun and entertaining to watch
- Very good chemistry between the leads
- Nostalgic feeling for fans of classic K-drama tropes
- Enjoyable friendships between characters, both leads and supporting

Cons:
- Forgettable characters and plot
- Lack of emotional investment
- Pacing slows down in later episodes

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Park Eun Bin and Choi Myung Bin saved the ship!

During the Joseon dynasty, the crown princess consort secretly gives birth to a girl and boy twins. While the boy will eventually inherit the throne, Confucianism values really condemn twins especially if it was a boy and a girl because they just don't think a man who shared a womb with a woman will have legitimacy. Therefore to protect the prince's future legitimacy, the King orders that the girl and everyone involved with the childbearing be put to death so no one knows about this situation. To protect the girl, her mother fakes her death and cast her way to live out her life in the countryside. Many years later, this girl the female twin ended up taking her brother's identity as the young prince because an incident killed the prince. The only people who now know her secret are her chief servant and her personal eunuch.

I have quite a lot of pros and the first is the portrayal of every character, especially our female lead. Her charisma and deep voice make it very believable, she is just like a very pretty boy in her prince costume. Although her figure is very slim and her small arm is very obvious she gives a lot of confidence with only just a cold stare. The only thing that I think could have made it better is if they did something to hide how short she is she really is because the height difference between her and her male lead co-stars is really noticeable.

Next, the pacing because overall I think it's very good, I'm completely absorbed by every episode up until probably episode 8. The child actors and actresses are doing a great job to make me emotionally invested right from the first episode. The child actress who played the twins, Choi Myung Bin, really shines in her roles! She pulled out the duality between the different twins' characters very naturally. Another pro is the OSTs are hauntingly beautiful, my favorite is "The One and Only", and "Shadow of You".

My con is mostly on the romance plot dominates the middle part of the story. I am not as engaged and I think that's because of the romance. Even though the romance is beautiful and I ship the couple, it is very heavy-handed and slow-paced. I'm watching the show because I really like our female lead and I want to see her navigate situations and crises, like her dealing with the envoy from China, fighting her grandfather's dictatorship, and keeping her secret. I think they are the strength of this series not so much the romance. Lastly, the action scenes are done incredibly well, but they're so sparse so I wish they are less melodramatic and had more action scenes.

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A complicated poem saved by the bell

Choi Yu Jin fled to America after his slave parents were murdered. Due to the harsh treatment which he endured for being a slave in the Joseon period, Eugene feels no love or kinship towards Joseon. In America, he is known as Eugene Choi and has climbed his way up to be a distinguished figure by joining the American military. Several years later, he is stationed in Joseon during an American expedition. There he meets a noblewoman Ae Shin who by day seems to be a quiet lady but by night she's running across rooftops with her sniper rifle, secretly fighting for Joseon's independence. He falls for her but he isn't alone as she is also loved by her joyful quirky fiancee Hee Sung and a yakuza Dong Mae whose heart is a black box. Neither of them is really sure if the other is a friend or foe. This makes three relationships that look like they can never be: Ae Shin and Eugene, Ae Shin and Dong Mae, Ae Shin, and Hee Sung. This is not a love square but a love pentagram because there is also a mysterious hotel owner Kudo Hina who is also a fencing master. So there is lots of love but no one's really happy, yes it's very sad.

A few things that draw me into this drama are first, I know this is a show of quality and I'm gonna enjoy it. There is an artistic flavor to how every scene is set up and shots from the color grading to the music to the overall backdrop are very breathtaking. However, it's not glamorizing life, for every gorgeous breathtaking sunset there's a brutal portrayal of war and violence and death and these scenes are visually engrossing. Second, it was deeply rooted in real important history and also it is set in the early 1900s which doesn't feel that long ago, there was real political scheming in this drama that still left an impact on today's society.

The five leads came from multiple cultures but don’t really belong anywhere, their stories are so full of heart and their arcs are so noble. I think a lot of diaspora like me can relate to Eugene as a character who doesn't belong to either Joseon or America, he's in this gray area. He is a very nuanced character and he holds the whole drama together. Even though he's happy being accepted by the American, as the show progresses he becomes more and more interested in the Korean culture and he wants to find his roots. I just love that his one bullet was used with such wisdom and just such grand effect. Ae Shin is a very compelling character, I love Kim Tae Ri played this role with such unbelievable complexity and nuance that I want to watch her and everything that she does: she gets a lot across with simple looks and she also has an extremely royal noble way about her presence. Kudo Hina, the hotel owner is truly one of the best most complicated female characters and the script took her exactly where I wanted it to.

I absolutely loved the iconic Dong Mae with the double swords at his hip and his sweaty hair, open chest, and half ponytail. Simply Yoo Yeon Seok acting was amazing as the dark and tragic Dong Mae. Hee Sung is such a man with tremendous growth, he goes from this total privilege boy to a guy running an underground newspaper to spurn on the resistance and I was so proud of him at the end. I really loved when he realizes his fiancee is not going to be with him and he respects it, he still loves her but he is respectful. His character was so well written and played so amazingly by Byun Yo Han.

However, I didn't enjoy a significant chunk of my watching experience as the story goes on because this show is very heavy with political maneuvering. It's really taking 20 episodes' time to set up and I got bored but I keep watching for the main characters. Also, there are a lot of different languages being spoken there's Korean, Japanese and then there's American English with a very weird accent. I'm very sensitive to dislike English-spoken very weirdly in Korean dramas. It feels like they're trying to over-pronounce things correctly. These elements dominate the screen time and are really too dry to watch. It is so unfortunate because there are a lot of actions with gunfights and fist fights within each episode and when they do action, these scenes are so well-choreograph almost perfection! I wish there had been a bit more action and bromance moments.

This drama has a fantastic and unlikely bromance between Eugene, Dong Mae, and Hee Sung at its core. Whenever they were on screen together, they made me so happy because they blurted out humor and heart to the drama. I was not expecting these three weird trio were going to be so beloved and it was definitely the highlight of the drama for me. Without giving any spoilers, the finale is an absolute masterpiece, which is really impactful! I dropped my heart because it just gave such cathartic blows. It feels like I was being rewarded for all the time I sit through and overcome the frustrations I had in the first 20 episodes. Thus, my overall impression is actually really positive as time goes by. I'm glad I watched it and the way it impacted me when it's done makes me feel like I came out a better person. If I can divide my enjoyment value, I would give up 1-20 a 7 and ep 21 - 24 a 10.

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Great characters, great moments, and a great story of Woo Young Woo

An autistic attorney Woo Young Woo works at one of the top law firms in the country. Her life is eccentric and weird, but meaningful and valuable. Despite having a disability to interact, she manages to defend her plaintiffs in court cases with her creative reasoning and wit. These cases are unique as they tackle a lot of really important social issues that are rarely discussed, such as false homicide, defamation, patent battle, North Korean defector issues, and heritage tax issue... and they're handled in a very organic and non-preachy way. There are a lot of character development moments that happen thanks to these cases. For example, our female lead is given a case with another autistic person who she's defending and she had some challenges dealing with that because some people said her thought process is not justifiable because they're both autistic but of course just because two people are on the autism spectrum does not mean that they're the same.

Each episode hinted at Woo Young Woo's parent's backstories and it doesn't end with suspenseful cliffhangers, yet I want to keep watching. Without giving away any spoilers, her mother's backstory is a bit of a mystery and all the clues we have throughout the episodes lead to some wonderful interactions and moments. The mother-daughter relationship is not what you think of and I love that it's a really refreshing part of the show and it's not following any stereotypical kdrama formula.

I love the subtle adorable romance because it's very rare to watch an autistic lead in a romantic relationship. But beyond the romance, what I enjoy most is the whole cast with great strong personalities. I really enjoyed her friend Dong Geu Ra Mi, the episode when she became friends with Woo Young Yoo is so cute. Woo Young Woo's colleagues, friends, and everybody else included got their own satisfying arcs on their work-life balance and dating. The most memorable one is her direct boss, he's just such a wonderful person. At first, he was a bit ignorant and pessimistic about Young Woo's autistic behavior, but quickly apologizes and makes adjustments to interact with her. It's like really nice to see that kind of character on screen, he's also had issues with work-life balance and his ex-wife later on in the series. Attorney Woo herself also learns to understand her coworkers' points of view and communicates her thought process.

The humor is very genuine and believable when characters interact together, because they introduced lots of little character quirks and mannerisms in episode one to look at that left a good impression on me and they use these details as a source of nitpicks and icebreakers. The fact that our female lead takes three counts before she walks into a new room and keeps organizing everything to be perfectly tidy. Later on, her boss also tries to do it at one point and he quickly gave up. It's really funny, it's such an inside joke moment.

Acting, I want to highlight our female lead. Without discrediting anybody because they are all great, Park Eun Bin deserves a standing ovation. She is Attorney Woo! I'm so happy the show waited for her because I can't think of anybody else who could be Woo Young Woo. She originally turned this role down because she wasn't confident to portray the role correctly and she didn't want to hurt anybody so she turned it down and then she went off and did The King's Affection (Btw, she's amazing here too!!). When she was done with that the offer was still valid and that's when she took it.

All of that said, even though I like the romance, there is a small miss I feel from our male lead's role. Don't get me wrong, I really like him 90% of the time, his love and care are very sincere, like when he's trying to care for our female lead or calm her down when she's having an episode or when she's over-stimulated, also when they're just hanging out on really unique dates. But there's a part that is missing is that he is sometimes quite stiff and his subtleness isn't coming across as perfectly. He just stands there and smiles at her it doesn't work for me but nevertheless super cute romance I love what it represents and overall I ship them wholeheartedly.

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It's a nice story but lacks external conflicts.

My strongest opinion being the OST ruins the mood. I was ready to feel sympathetic for Yeo Joon's pitiful backstory, but the problem is that these emotional scenes are presented with happy cheerful music. I wish they had put one more sad song to save this issue!

The story feels flat, it lacks external conflict. The fact that they're dealing with a group school assignment issue for more than 10 episodes is too long. Furthermore, there's no real character development despite their many screentime. I appreciate the friendship between Nam Soo Hyun and Yeo Joon, but it feels very lukewarm.

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Halfway and I lost interest, too much self-pity and crying

I wasn't loving part 1 as I found the dynamic between the lead is a bit childish and drags. Part 2 comes and first 4 episodes hit me with massive emotional train wreck, so painful yet so beautiful. What stands out to me compared to the previous season is this new dynamic among the hunter woman, Jang Hyun ang Gil Chae. She has so much passion and her motivation is interesting, so she elevate the stake. I'm in for their painful future stories.

Cinematography is just as stunning as the previous part. The shots are very captivating, that you can't help but admired. Trigger warning: the torture scenes realistically gruesome, comparable to few historicals Mr. Sunshine and Empress Ki. I guess it is to highlight the degradation that Joseon went through during this historical time. Great and emotional acting by all cast! Namkoong Min has rightly been receiving praise for his accolade and I enjoyed his chemistry with Lee Chung Ah. Honestly, they look great together in all situations.

Even if it won't happily ever after, at least I hope the struggles of our heroes come to an end soon because all of them goes through so much pain already. Every little hopeful moment counts, even though I don't know how it's going to end.

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A fun take into the behind-the-scene-of a BL drama making while being BLs

A passionate rookie actor Shirasaki Yuki (Niihara Taisuke), lands a role to be the co-star of a famous actor he knew in his university days, Hayama Asami (Komagine Kiita). As their relationship starts on screen, Shirasaki starts wrestling with his feelings, both in his character and in real life, as he confronts how he feels about himself while exploring how he could feel about Asami.

This is a delight, wonderful, and fun take into the behind-the-scene-of a BL drama making while also being BLs. This drama explores the romance between Yuki & Asami who are in different stages of success, Yuki feels a burden to find authenticity in his role while Asami has the burden of being successful, but they unite beautifully well on screen amidst unrequited love and burgeoning feelings. I LOVE their flirting moments and the instant chemistry, and those are my two essentials when it comes to enjoying a romance.

The pacing was fast at first, but later episodes felt significantly slower. There was a moment of frustration, but i take it as a part that shows their insecurities and fear of failure, not only in love, but also in career. Both of them want to succeed as actors but afraid that they're not good enough to succeed in. Finally, the ending was perfect and sexy, it had me blushing a lot, leaving me feeling so happy! Would recommend this to anyone.

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