tv dramas and miniseries

I really loved the pacing of this murder mystery, and how things were revealed. I especially loved the old cop/young cop bromance dynamic. There are a few things I wish were handled a little differently, but overall, despite the gruesome subject matter, I found it quite enjoyable.

This is a time-travel/do-over drama but what I really love about it is that the protagonist doesn't do anything like memorize lottery numbers to get rich. That's not the measure of success here. Instead, it runs on the idea that no matter how many times you live your life, it will probably be mundane, but as long as you be with your friends, it will be fulfilling. This is the second drama I've watched writen by Bakarhythm and I have much respect for how he portrays female friendships and that they don't revolve around men.

One of the first k-dramas I ever watched. It was recommended to me by a friend who enjoyed it much for the same reasons I eventually did. It's not good, any praise its ever received is undeserved or overblown, or must have originated from another dimension. And yet it's one that really sticks with you. Maybe it's the culture shock, because despite nothing about it making any sense, it presents itself so confidently. Anyway this is just one adaptation of many. I think they're all about the same. Girl next door/reader-viewer self-insert becomes the subejct of bullying/affection of the four most handsomest most richest boys at her high school. In this adaptation in particular, you can see foundation working its hardest to cover up a five o'clock shadow or two...

Honestly a really unique combination of characters that's not so centered around lovey-dovey moments. But I was actually far more interested in everyone else more than the main couple.

You can tell it's based on a manga but I really loved it. Wanko is so cute! She gets bullied a lot but the premise is so silly I think it actually balances itself quite well. It's very fun and lighthearted. Also, lots of nostalgic (though occasionally ita) Angelic Pretty! It was way too goofy for me to sit through when I was younger but I enjoyed it a lot as an adult.

Marriage propaganda carried hard by Koi. I never expect much from a drama's soundtrack but I suppose Hoshino Gen has every reason to flaunt his talents. No but the show itself is fine. It's definitely pushing a narrative but it's competent enough. The leads are married so it might be a plus that the chemistry is real.

I love the creepy backwater village setting but the protagonist's intelligence seems to decline over time for the sole purpose of continuing the plot. I think his motivations could have been handled better if they were going to take the time to justify them. Everything just gets so over the top to the point of being silly. I wish it didn't take itself so seriously.

I honestly thought it was really overrated. Pretty much the whole plot is explained beforehand and then the things that were stated would happen...happen. The depictions of abuse did not feel exploitative but the story is so firmly cemented in fiction that their impact kind of falls apart very quickly. Perhaps it's a cathartic watch for some people. But if there's a Korean equivalent to Oscar-bait, I think it would be this.

Really funny and charming, and centers around female friendship with aliens as just a fun motivator of the plot. The vast majority of the drama is just a couple of characters sitting around and talking but seeing their interactions and relationships is really enjoyable. I also really loved the visuals! At first it's hard to tell what era the drama is set in, but I think it adds to an otherworldly but cozy sense of timelessness. Really fantastic performance by all of the actors as well.

A classic that I think gets overlooked as a “much watch.” But at the same time, it is also a little overhyped. Still, it's a silly romance with some touching moments.

I do not think I'm the target audience for this drama. I was an infant when it originally aired, I do not care about baseball, and I will never relate to the struggles of an early 20-something boy dying from cancer. And yet I found it incredibly fun. It might not have aged particularly gracefully, but it has such an earnest recklessness to it, and the cheesy visual effects only add to the charm. Nya!!

I discovered this shortly after reading the manga and watched I think the first two seasons, and as of writing this I see that it's perhaps still going. While still fun enough, it deviates from the manga a bit, and the source material is a top-tier parody of the genre. I think live-action BL is less established and can't rely as much on its own tropes, and some things are just inevitably lost when translating manga to live-action. So, I would say it's solidly OK and can stand on its own for the most part. But I don't really like live-action BL just because it always feels like the actors only take on these projects as a last resort, and their faces never carry.

One of the best, if not the best, Korean miniseries I have ever seen. I really enjoyed how it handled motherhood themes without children really being present at all. Life is bleak and unfair for all of the female characters, but the raw pragmatism is really refreshing to see from a country of which half the population likens feminism to terrorism. There are no happy endings, but the conclusion is narratively satisfying.

Really interesting drama that is actually true to the title. I mean that is basically the plot. It navigates both sides of the situation, the shitty husband and unfaithful wife. In some ways it may have been too forgiving to both. But I suppose it's a fairly realistic portrayal of a complicated relationship. As it turns out it is based on a true story though I'm not sure how accurate it is since it's a remake of an adaptation of a published compilation of message board posts.

This one is a wild ride. The budget is generous, the actors gave it their all, the writers started with a plan (I think?), and yet it does nothing well other than pure excess. Go in with the right mindset and it's so bad it's good. A bit of a slow burn and certainly goes on for far too long, but it really is my favorite trainwreck.

Full review here.

First k-drama I ever watched and how I discovered Clazziquai Project! It's cute if a little boring. After over 10 years I still have not tried vongole pasta.

A fairly typcial time-travel revenge drama, other than that it's very specific about the points in history the protagonist takes advantage of. Pretty well thought out. Unfortunately the last couple of episodes retcon the entire drama, which is annoying and pointless, but apparently the ending is handled better in the original webtoon (I haven't read it). It's good and engaging up until then, which is a real shame.

This was my introduction to the School series, which was convenient as I was also in high school. I think you do probably need to be the right age for it, but the bromance is really wonderful and it's stuck with me all these years. Maybe for fujo reasons. Well, what else are you supposed to do with troubled male teenaged youths?!

Interesting premise for a group of rich housewives living through their children, but the ending is pretty tacky and kills all of the build-up until that point. A weak last couple of episodes is astoundingly common for k-drama, so it should be expected. It hurts a little more than usual here, though. Still, it's refreshingly suspenseful and uses its tropes well until that point.

I didn't realize immediately that this drama is based on the true story of Hosoki Kazuko, a fortune teller and variety show talent who passed away just a few years ago. Apparently she was active up until 2019 but I didn't watch much Japanese variety then! Anyway, the drama itself is incredibly interesting. Hosoki is a badass girlboss up until the cracks in her story and presentation start to show, but you can't exactly hate her for it because it's not like she didn't desperately work toward the success she obtained. Her personality flaws are apparent from the very beginning, and the viewer is shown right away how selfish and greedy she can be. But somehow she's still quite a sympathetic character. The moral lesson is pretty heavyhanded toward the end and the post-war flashback was a little overused (I'm sure they wanted to get the most out of that set which is reasonable), but the cast, storytelling and visuals were all really fantastic start to finish.

This has much of the same cast as Tiger & Dragon, in similar roles at that, was also written by Kankuro Kudo. I watched this after re-watching Tiger & Dragon, and it was a little bittersweet seeing everyone aged, especially Nishida Toshiyuki (who passed in 2024). Well, everyone except Nagase Tomoya. He's still beautiful. Anyway, because there are so many similarities, Story of My House is also quite eccentric and cozy. But also a bit depressing. It was filmed during Covid, so there's a lot of performative mask-wearing and hand-sanitization despite Covid not really existing in-universe. I found it a bit traumatic to watch lol But it was also cathartic to see how a messy family deals with an aging parent. No one really knows how to die! I have mixed feelings about the plot twist.

I get this one confused with Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo. This is the more superhero-esque one. It's fun and playful, and Park Bo-Young is always a very cute female lead! I enjoyed the character interactions though I remember nothing of the plot.

It's actually quite a good introduction to rakugo! And the sort of parallel meta storytelling where the rakugo performed by the character was related to the episode's plot was done really well. A must-watch for enjoyers of comedic yakuza antics. I've watched it more than once! It's a comfort show.

It's really gratutious in sex and violence. Despite this being a novel adaptation, these choices felt motivated by nothing more than wanting to seem like a proper N*tflix show. It's honestly really hard to root for anyone other than the police, which is disappointing. The cat and mouse game is really weak, and the main protagonist's ambivalence isn't very convincing. It's also very difficult to suspend disbelief considering how little effort the crime ring puts into covering their tracks, especially when you're shown that they clearly have the means to do so. Pretty good PSA otherwise though!

A group of misfits get super powers and go fight demons. It's surprisingly competent for such a juvenile premise. The main villian is not too complicated but stakes are still present. And I appreciated having older characters take lead roles in ways that still felt appropriate to the story. Season 2 throws this all away for some reason and decides to speed-run its self-imposed power creep and dedicates 20 minutes of telekinetic air choking to each episode. I don't think that's an exaggeration at all. Season 1 is fun enough, skip season 2 if you value your time in the slightest.

An interesting mix of action and occupational drama. Pretty violent and brutal towards the end, but the high budget isn't wasted at all. The cast is great, so it's disappointing the side-characters weren't leveraged as much. Some more logical options for the plot were sidelined in favor of a little too much back-and-forth chaos I think.

Vivant is a little trope-y, but it's well-written enough. There was clearly a vision and a plan and they stuck to it at all costs. The goal was to make a high-stakes spy drama partially set in Mongolia and Vivant did everything it promised to do. The plot twists are a little too easy to anticipate, but it respects the viewer in such a way that you feel neither bored nor cheated. Nothing too groundbreaking plotwise, but it also doesn't disappoint.

I really loved the atmosphere and Monkey's Paw-esque stories. The main plot isn't very interesting though, and I really wasn't inpressed with Song Ji-hyo's acting.

Have you ever wanted to date the protagonist of your favorite generic action Webtoon?! Lots of weird implications that go untouched and unexplained, which is kind of a shame. Since it gets into nonsensical reverse-isekai territory already, there was room for some liberties to be taken but this seems to be the result of writers making it up as they go.

It's very fun and silly! The actors did a great job performing with the appropriate amount of goofiness. And the costumes are really something! Also, I liked how it approached issues that are actually grounded in reality. The main protagonist is a little pathetic, but I think the drama did well to make sure she wasn't irritating. I thought season 1 was a little more interesting than season 2, but seeing the characters and their antics return was a delight.