I will never understand why Netflix doesn’t promote their original productions that are actually good. Are they hoping for the word to mouth will help users find quality series and films? If yes, then here I am doing that. If not, their loss in my win because I get to talk about Call Me Chihiro without any filter from the streaming service.

The story follows a young and charming woman named Chihiro. We know from the beginning she used to be a sex worker but now lives in a small seaside city, selling bento (Japanese lunch boxes). Her outgoing personality and easy smile is infectious but it’s clear she also has a rich inner life. Chihiro goes around town making friends. A collection of lost souls, each with their own issues, brought together by her. Her life experience allows her to read a room and people with ease, and she’s mainly a listener but when he shares her thoughts you soon can see she’s wise beyond her age and is able to help others.

Despite her constant kindness towards others, Chihiro’s existence is stray-like and detached. She doesn’t shy away from relationships with others but she doesn’t exactly share herself fully. There’s a loneliness and resignation about her. She knows she is not leading a happy life but more like a collection of happy moments and that’s fine with her.

Call Me Chihiro is a fairly quiet little movie, about every day life and the people who make up our world. This isn’t a grand epic, with huge scenes of spectacle, it is very much a calm, occasionally sedate story from start to finish. At times its rhythm reminded to the waves of the ocean, constantly and endlessly reaching the shore. Sometimes calm and peaceful, others more harsh. On this, Call me Chihiro is the quintessential Japanese film about shading appreciating the small gestures and accepting everyone, no matter how poor or rich their background because in the end none of that matters. It’s your actions that speak volumes about the kind of person you are.

Arimura Kasumi remains, to me, one of the most interesting and talented Japanese actress working today. She certainly knows how to carry a story but also when to let others shine. The character of Chihiro could have easily end up being a rather flat but thanks to Arimura’s performances we easily accept her and are willing to go with her on this journey of self discovery and worth. By the final scene of the movie, we understand Chihiro’s decisions and loneliness. Most importantly why, by the end, she is ready to start anew.

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Meeting and letting go.

Hwa-sun is a location manager based in Busan. Her ex boyfriend, Do-young, a former film student with aspirations to become a successful director left many years ago for Seoul, where the film industry is bigger. She didn't want to go and he didn't want to stay, and despite the love between them, their relationship came to an end.

In present day, they are reunited through Do-young's new project. He's back in Busan for it and believes Hwa-sun is the right person to help him finds the locations he wants. It's obvious they have both kept themselves busy and achieving success in their respective fields. While Do-young choose the fast lane and became an up and coming director, Hwa-sun has slowly build a reputation and renown name among the industry insiders.

As they walk together the streets of this city that once saw their love bloom and wither, they find themselves revisiting their shared history, they also contemplate their choices and where they are at now. What happens when growing up means letting go? Would they have done any different? Can they find closure to this open wound?

Cinema Street it's a beautiful love letter to that one love that helped you grow as a person but also pushed you to want to become a better version of yourself. This rhythm of the script is contemplative but never boring. Han Sun-hwa and Lee Wan deliver good performances, nuance and mature, as two people finding themselves (perhaps for the last time) in front of the one that got away. The cinematography is what you would expect from an indie film set in Busan: beautiful to look at.

Overall, I really enjoyed this film and I hight recommend it to anyone.

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Sweet and endearing!

The Love You Give Me is a fun, endearing and sweet story about second chances.

Wang Yuwen and Wang Ziqi reunite, after working in their hit drama Once We Get Married, and prove they still got it. Their easy going and sizzling chemistry remains top notch and carries the entire show effortlessly.

If casting directors want to reunite them for a third time in a drama, they have my blessing. Please and thank you. Watching these two work together is a joy and pleasure.

My one complaint about this drama is that it could have been a few episodes shorter; the antagonist storyline ran too long. But overall this is a solid and entertaining watch you can simply sit back and enjoy. Maybe get mildly frustrated with one or two characters.

The opening and ending song are good as well.

I recommend it!

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Warm and fun

Following the structure of Love Actually but using quintessential korean elements, A Year End Medley follows a group of people learning to live through heartbreak and disappointment, first love and second chances, and figuring out the best way to support your friends.

This film knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything else. The director fully understand what needs to be done to get the viewer invested in every storyline. That's a difficult task when you have a cast as big and star-studded as this one, where everyone is bringing their A+ game. Even the random 30 second cameos that you don't expect are really fun to watch.

The music is fun and catchy, making you feel at ease and immediately in the happy holidays mood.

I really liked this film. It left me a big smile and a feel good warmth when it ended. I recommend it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Entertaining but a missed opportunity

This drama has all of the right elements: a solid cast that delivers, good directing and an interesting subject matter. The story started strong, I was even on board with the murder mystery but, in the third part of the drama, the script started to loose its footing. No longer able to figure out what story were they telling.

In many ways, I feel there were several missed opportunity. Crash Course in Romance could have told a good and solid story commenting on society’s prejudices on what a family should be or look like. There was also plenty of room for a proper storyline about the mental health of students going trough an incredible amount of stress and how they coped. How the competitive mothers are willing to bully, adults and children alike, in order for their kids to get into university and their impossible expectations that directly impacted in every aspect of the kids’s well being. By the end of the last episode, male lead doesn’t see anything wrong about kids pushing themselves this hard, except when they collapse, which in my book that means very little character development. Male lead also suffers from half of the story of a eating disorder and we are supposed to just, what?, let it go? There’s never a proper follow up on it or how it was connected to the murder mystery that the drama concentrated most of its time with. A mystery that was resolved in one scene alone, rushed and swiftly under the rug. Almost like we didn’t spend fifteen of sixteen episodes trying to figure out what was happening with this particular storyline.

We only got proper real development and resolution about the issues regarding the kids and mothers, on the last episode, in a epilogue like montage showing us where each character was. The character growth, throughout the run of the drama, came there was came from the teens and the leads. Everything else was almost like an afterthought.

None of this means this is a bad or frustrating drama. On the contrary, despite its shortcomings, is a really fun story with lovable characters. I can recommend it for that alone: entertaining value.

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Nothing new under the sun

A saying goes “there’s nothing new under the sun” and sadly this is the case with the korean drama Let Me Be Your Knight.

It’s not that it’s a bad drama, it’s simply too predictable and cliché ridden, bringing nothing new to the genre or stories surrounding a candy heroine and a group of haughty musicians in desperate need to learn how to be a real band.

The chemistry between Tae-in and Yoon-ju, the two leads, was decent enough and the development of their feelings was coherent, but it lacked the factor that makes you want to cheer for them at all times. I found myself more than okay if they didn’t end up together.

The rest of the characters are charming, quirky, annoying and cute enough for me to not be bothered. I found Shin’s storyline with the actress the most compelling, but it conclude in a lukewarm way. Basically destroying everything that happened before.

I suppose my biggest issue is the script. It honestly feels like the screenwriter wanted to add all the storylines and formulas we have seen before because they didn’t know what this drama is actually about or where they were going with the characters.

Let Me Be Your Knight is a simple and stress free drama. The acting is decent enough to enjoy as a binge-watch over a weekend, if you have nothing else to do.

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A feel good romance!

King the Land follows the traditional troupe of classic contemporary romances involving a Chaebol and Candy leads but this drama gives it a new life and breath to the story by making the characters (all of them) well rounded, with background stories, and agency.

Won is a great leading man. At first he comes across like any other chaebol character but quickly you realize he's nothing like it. He's confident, not cocky, has good manners and treats everything fair and square. Those who cross him had it coming tbh and even then he doesn't resent them for what they did. He simply puts them in their place.

Sarang comes from a working class family, and her parents passed away, but she never feels inferior to anyone and treats people with sincerity. She's also an independent, fun and lovely young woman who likes to go dancing with her friends, date and hanging out with her grandma. Sarang it's not, under any circumstances, the typical Candy heroine shouldering a hard, pitiful life. Sarang's life is full of color, warmth and joy.

Pyung Hwa, Da-eul, Ro-woon and Sang-sik complete the found family group of friends and they are equally enjoyable to watch. They all have strong, nuance personalities and have to deal with their own issues. They are not just background decoration for the leads to rely on when something happens.

The story is solid, angst free and really fun to watch. It's nothing new but, at the same time, the characters make it feel fresh. I particularly enjoyed the soundtrack, which I found to be perfectly placed at all the right moments. The cinematography it's also good, editing and directing wise there's no complains.

Overall, I recommend this drama to fans of rom-coms looking for a quality watch!

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This was precious, and everything is alright in the world. Granted, Suspicious Partner wasn’t a perfect show but it was a good one, particularly when it came to presenting well-rounded characters and their personal journey to become whoever they were meant to be. Let’s put the romance aside for a moment and concentrate on what this show really did right, which was giving each character their own personal story and life, apart from the main murder-mystery story and couple. It wasn’t all about one or two people, it was about all of them, which is why it was so easy to fall in love with each and every one of the characters the more you got to know them with each passing week.

We were introduced to Ji-wook as a grumpy, hard-ass prosecutor but soon found out he had vulnerabilities that ran deep into his past and soul. Ji-wook, though, wasn’t a wounded hero. He was a well adjusted young man, from a loving and caring family, with a flair for angry rants and soft spot for dirty but pretty leading ladies. He wasn’t perfect, he made mistakes -which I’m glad Bong-hee called him on it today- and learnt from them. At the end of the day, he was a better man that the one we met in the first episode.

Same goes for Bong-hee who from the first scene was shown as a badass, independent and courageous young woman but if you look deeper you could see she had insecurities about her personal and emotional life that she needed to overcome in order to become a more grounded person. Bong-hee never once disappointed me, even when I wanted to tell her to make up her mind quicker, because if she always did something right was to respect her own times and admit when she was wrong.

Ji-wook and Bong-hee are going into my TOP 5 list of Favourite Couples of all time. Their chemistry exploded in the screen ever since the subway pervert indirectly push them together (Where is that guy? I wish I could have seen him one las time!). Maybe it was fate that made their paths cross several times but ultimately it was their choice to stay in each other’s lives. They kept on choosing each other over and over again, even when everything was going to hell and they made some questionable decisions, they kept fighting for each other because of the love and friendship they shared. And if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

All of this it’s really important to me to have in Dramaland because I don’t want perfect characters that don’t show improvement, a difference or understanding of who they are as people, between who when the show started and when the show ended.

The law firm shenanigans were one of the highlights of the show, of course, but then again every time more than two characters got together in the same place, you knew something good was going to happen. I love how at the end they just kept on running their business on Ji-wook’s house even after he and Chief Bang were long gone, back to the prosecutor office’s. Like it was a matter of fact that it was the place to be and grow for them. CEO Byun remains one of the best Dramaland Fathers, funny and caring, who in his own way wished only the best for his kids. Same goes for Chief Bang, the most extraordinary Ship Captain I have seen in years, he was the perfect Hyung for all the crazy lawyers.

I wish Yoo-jung could have been better explored, especially because it would have give her more redeeming qualities and I would have grow to understand her motivations better. To this day, Yoo-jung remains the woman who did a wrong and ran away, and didn’t properly apologize to either man. I do get she took her punishment quietly, in a way that because she had no other friends other than Eun-hyuk and Ji-wook, by going away she ostracized herself but in contrast and comparison to what Eun-hyuk went through to get his friend back, she falls short.

I spent a good portion of this show wishing for Eun-hyuk to be showered in love and I got what I wanted, just not how I thought it would look. I like the idea of Eun-hyuk and Yoo-jung starting over because they need to get to know each other as adults in order to figure out if they want to be in a relationship, especially her who had never seen him as a love interest before. But I thought the writer would break the Second Leads Get Together Law and actually make him realize he can do better with someone else *coughJi-haecough*

As I mentioned in a past review, I think Ji-hae was one of the better and most improved characters through out the show. Her growth is clear when instead of making a move on Eun-hyuk, knowing he’s with Yoo-jung, she makes the choice to try to move on from her feelings for him.

The frenemy-ship between Bong-hee and Ji-hae was another highlight for me, and every week I was looking forward to see what these two would do. I love that Bong-hee ended up living in Ji-hae’s apartment for a year and I wish I could have seen more of that living arrangement, the same way I would have love for the three girls to form a bond sooner so we could have gotten more drinking scenes of them, and their exasperated men picking them up. Pffft!

Of course I cannot possible end this without mentioning Hyun-soo. This writer has a knack for creating complex criminal characters in a way that you actually grow to care for, despite their actions. There wasn’t a moment in which I didn’t try to figure out Hyun-soo’s motivations or mind, what had happened in his life for him to become a serial killer. Or what had happened to that young girl he loved so much. The truth gutted me because even when I didn’t agree nor validated his actions, I understood in some level where he was coming from.

With such a compelling story and charismatic cast, Suspicious Partner it’s a show I will make sure to come back to again, and again. And again.

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Beautiful

A Poem A Day’s story was a slow burn but I find myself happy with the journey and satisfied by its end. The relationships between the characters was low-key, there was never a big *gasp* moment, the good and heartbreaking things built up slowly just like in real life. And the poetry put words to feelings they didn’t dare speak of at times.

I instantly fell in love with Bo-young in particular, flaws and all. She was hardworking and kind, full of emotion, but she needed to learn how to stand up for herself and speak up instead of just accepting the cards life deals her. Each time we saw her getting her hopes up about getting a full time job at the hospital, only to end up as deflated as her when things didn’t work out. And the worst part was the she just took it like that was it. That was her life. But Bo-young’s also had an amazing resilience and optimism, which always made her get back in her feet and push the story forward.

Lee Yoo-bi choose an amazing lady to play and she did it with grace and charisma, in a quiet but strong fashion that makes Bo-young one of my all time favorite leading ladies. She made me feel exactly what Bo-young was feeling and with the same intensity.

Which is why I’m so happy Bo-young not only got the job but also a colleague, friend and lover who truly appreciates who she is and everything she does in Dr. Ye. He noticed everything about her (and everyone) which is why I was a Ye Liner since day one. Dr. Ye Jae-wook was respectful, kind, smart and supportive in a quiet but unyielding way. The kind of person Bo-young really needed by her side when the story started in order to built up her confidence.

And I loved seen his development too. From the quiet, mysterious new perfect doctor at the hospital but a (perhaps) not so perfect personal history, all the way to becoming a dork with heart eyes for only our leading lady. He might have been portrayed many times as perfect through the eyes of others but I don’t actually find him to be perfect since his strong-headed personality was extremely infuriating at times.

Plus, I still think Dr. Ye trying to be low-key about his relationships with Bo-young was one of the cutest things I have seen all year. And the rest of the staff was so freaked out by his sudden attentive behavior. It was the best.

The show was also smart enough to set up Min-ho with all the usual leading man characteristics and behaviors only to throw us off when we realized he was actually the second lead. And it’s exactly all those traits that other shows disguise as “charming” what made him lose the girl in the end. It was a surprise how A Poem A Day called us out on our own acceptance of nasty leading men behavior. How we naturally continue the “pulling pigtails” myth.

It’s not that Min-ho was a bad person, not at all, and through the story he grew to be more attentive, kind and caring towards others. But his teasing of Bo-young was borderline bullying at times, going as far as ridicule her, the things she loved and everything else she did in private and public.

When Bo-young gifted him the poetry book for children I understood that Min-ho still had a long way to go before he could be able to properly love someone, in a way where he could respect and cherish them. In part it’s his family’s fault, they never cared enough to be like that with him and always treated him like second best but there’s a limit to that excuse since he was also a man with his own mind who knew right from wrong.

The Min-ho at the end of the show was a completely different man, going through heartbreak and rejection from the person who could have give him everything he has been looking for in his family is, in my opinion, his biggest regret at the end. Because now he’s aware that he missed a very important chance and person. Now, he can begin to truly appreciate the feelings portrayed through poetry in a way he couldn’t before.

As for the rest of the characters, they were fun, colorful and full of life. Each with their own poem, emotion and troubles. They managed to have their own spotlight and become the lead of the show when the time called for it, and then make way for the next person. I like how they also got their time to shine.

tvN has delivered one of the most beautiful slice of life tv shows I have seen in a long time. Giving light to those unremarkable moments that shape us. I used to wonder who the “you” was in the title, now I think the it was directed to us, the viewers, who look for extraordinary moments on television and perhaps forget to appreciate the small ones that belong to us and only us.

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Love in the time of COVID-19

Set in the early months of pandemic, two strangers find themselves as neighbours at a recovery center after testing positive for COVID-19. Without ever seeing each other's faces and talking through a paper cup phone they become confidantes in quarantine and share secrets and worries.

This was a really well done rom-com. The isolation from the outside, made it possible for these two people to get to know each other with out anyone's interference and they manage to create their own world which resulted in a very cute bubble. Every scene the leads "shared" was really fun, butterfly-inducing, blood-warming and heart-skipping. The characters are nuance on their own, not just as a couple, Hee Joo struggles with work life and whatever she will be able to find her way in life. On the other hand, Ki-joon has found success as a pastry chef but hasn't spoken to his sister in four years after a disagreement they had. Both characters have their own problems and with the help of one another they get the courage to do better. I love it when a drama portrays a green flag couple that manages to become the best version of themselves with each other's support.

The drama also tries to portray some of the struggles of this time period in human history, but only a surface level. It's more like the background to justify how the leads met. Props to Go Ae Ri who had to perform in a full body suit as the doctor attending the leads and somehow managed to show every emotion. Her eyes said it all.

Speaking about performances, I am shook at Kim Gun Woo's performance. For half the drama special I knew he looked familiar and then it dawn on me he was one of the nasty lead characters in The Glory. MY GAWD THE MAN HAS RANGE. In here he plays a charming, open-minded and sweet young man that made me fall for him.

Han Ji Eun gave a very solid performance (no surprise). I thought her character to be deeply relatable and that is one of the strongest points of this drama special, because one can see themselves in her and so you could be living that situation, share her concerns over the future and the world.

Overall, I thought this was a very cute drama that left me with a big smile and that's a big win for me. I absolutely recommend it!

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The best revenge is massive success.

There’s an argument to be made about how Perfect Marriage Revenge had a perfect execution because it was a 12 episodes long drama and didn’t have time for unnecessary conflicts. Everything took its right time and was resolved in a cohesive way with the characters development.

Both leads were compelling and had amazing chemistry, but the secondary characters were equally interesting to watch. All the performances outstanding and you can tell the actors are enjoying themselves in their respective roles.

On a story about a woman looking for revenge against her own family, this kdrama had a perfect balance between makjang and romcom. Making it an easy and fun watch. I highly recommend it!

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One of 2023's best cdramas.

From the very start I was very impressed with this drama. The first episode felt grounded in reality and presented all the main characters as young adults behaving like such but also with a level of maturity that felt respectful. Sometimes youth dramas don't know how to balance the growing pains, friendship and romance but You Are Desire does it perfectly.

Xia Feng Yan created a story with solid development based on actual growing from well rounded characters that act and react in ways that feel natural. I am amazed this is her first project and I will keep an eye on her because she has a bright future.

Deng Ke (My Huckelberry Friends) also started in the industry as a screenwriter before transitioning into directing, so it was a perfect fold for Xia's story. He understood the assignment and complemented the script with beautiful cinematography, camera movements and choice of cast.

This drama could have died in the hands of a lesser cast but Zhou Yiran and Zhuang Dafei carried the drama flawlessly. Most of the story centers around them and how they interact with others when loneliness has been a part of their young lives for a long time. The supporting cast were also at their best, each with their own lives and struggles which made them well rounded individuals and not an artifact to push the leads's story.

All of these elements created a beautiful group of people dealing with different experiences. A slice of life drama where we understand the world is not always fair and parents make mistakes; where people need to learn to grieve in a healthy way. That families can all look very different from each other and that's okay as long there's love. That you don't always pass the university exam and your workplace might suck. A world where you fall in love and support one another as you grow together with a clear understanding of each other. That life can be sweeter when you are surrounded of good people who truly appreciate you.

Overall, You Are Desire it's a wonderful story that enjoyed from the very first episode to the last one. Criminally underrated, for sure, as I don't understand how more people are not talking about what is probably one of 2023's best cdramas.

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When I tell you there's nothing interesting about this drama, I mean it.

I started watching The Love Equations because I remembered all the good comments about it. The first few episodes were nice and I was excited for a cute drama. Now I understand they were probably because this drama it's probably how they discovered Gong Jun.

Luckily, I have seen him in Begin Again -a drama from the same year as this one- and other more recent projects, which is why I can say he delivers a good performance, perhaps the strongest in the entire drama, but the story is no good and the chemistry is simply not there.

The story overall is filled with scenes and plotlines poorly developed, particularly when we are dealing with subjects such as mental health. I understand this is a character driven drama but when I tell you there's nothing interesting about it, I mean it.

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Don't miss out on this found family! Their affection it's the real deal.

This drama was a pleasant surprise. It's not that common to see a kdrama that has as leads a single mother and her grown daughter, mostly because of the stigma this kind of family stills carries in South Korea.

Thankfully, Not Others manages to not make it all about the stigma of teen pregnancy or single motherhood, it finds a good balance between every day life events, criminal investigation and rom-com. Particularly because Mom and Daughter are so unbothered by it that they carry on with a "it sounds like a you problem" when someone points out they are, within their society, wildly unconventional.

At the heart of it, there's a story of two women making their way in the world through hardships, love and growing pains. About how it's possible to choose your family and make that unit be whatever you want, not what it's expected.

My favourite part of this drama was the performances. Jeon Hye Jin and Soo-young shine as the outspoken Mother-Daughter duo. Their characters are kind, smart and brave about their live choices. They have great chemistry with each other and make you feel everything.

The rest of the cast delivers solid support. Kim Hye Eun plays the rich, cool aunt and she's a hoot in every scene she's in. Park Sung-hoon in a great counterpart for Soo-young and Ahn Jae Wook delivers as the lovable fool supporting whatever his ladies wish for in life.

There's also a murder mystery surrounding the central story that manages to keep it all very centered and makes all the characters interact with each other making their world better developed.

Don't miss out on this found family! Their affection it's the real deal.

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The perfect combination of sexy and cute

This was a sexy and cute love story between two office co-workers who start a BDSM relationship. I don't really know much about this subject but one of the key things that made me like this film, it's the equality between them despite being in a dom-sub relationship. Everything is a mutual agreement based on preferences and needs from both sides.

The film never centers around sex itself, but mostly on the mutual agreement based on preferences and needs of both sides. This allows for the story to explore on other aspects of the relationship through contrasting colors indicating the character's emotional state.

Leading man Jung Ji-hoon presents himself as a clean-cute, friendly and career oriented. The story goes deep into why he has a need for BDSM and particularly being a submissive person in the relationship. It has to do with unfair expectations society has on man, but I won't say much because I feel like he explains it perfectly. Lee Jun-young plays the character really well and doesn't shy away from the physical acting, which is hilarious and smut.

Jung Ji-woo is the perfect counterpart for Ji-hoo. It's clear she has been raised in an open minded household and as a result she is an independent and outspoken young woman, who is not afraid to call out her boss's sexism and misogyny. It brings her most headaches than she deserves, to be honest. This character trait is what allows her to go into a BDSM relationship filled with curiosity and excitement, as she finds the physiological release she needs. So-hyun's performance is excellent. Quiet yet strong.

The production is solid and very entertaining. And I think they did a good job presenting what is BDSM and all its nuances.

A very entertaining watch and I highly recommend it.

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