Saturday, December 26, 2015

175. Bubblegum 풍선껌 (2015) Korean

Lee Dong Wook, Jung Ryeo Won, Lee Jong Hyuk, Park Hee Bon, Bae Jong Ok

Drama Rating: 6.5/10     Neck Score: A

tvN needs to stop advertising shows as fluffy RomComs when they are emotional cry fests.  I had a feeling this one would be a cry fest, but I didn't expect it to be 75% crying.  All of the drama was literally family and disease related and the love triangles were not even existent.  You just felt sorry for the other peeps because they didn't really ever have a chance.  Like ever.  That's what you get when the lifelong BFFs finally realize that they should just date.  So, the mom drama was frustrating.  But that actress did a fairly good job with the Alzheimer's believability.  She was the nicest more innocent Alzheimer's patient, but whatever.  I was just glad that she wasn't putting a torn in the romance.  While I'm not like a huge fan of Lee Dong Wook, I do think he's a great actor.  I'm just not in love him with like Lizabreff and her mom are.  But, he and Jung Ryeo Won (who I am a big fan of) were literally one of the cutest couples ever.  They did the BFF/practically siblings turned lovers perfectly.  You knew how much they loved each other and how comfortable they felt with each other.  It was perfect.  However, them being torn apart for that many episodes was way too much crying.  Gosh, that needed to stop.  Then when it did, and it was all cute, suddenly it was over.  So it was a little draggy and anti-climatic?  I don't know.  It seemed like their break up was over nothing, because it was.  Whatever, I guess they learned from it and grew up a little.  Sweet and cry fest about sums it up.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

The Nicknames of The Heartless Cruel City

A while back I finally got around to watching Cruel City.  It was amazing.  My queue is filled with melodramas, dramas, and heavy thrillers that I want to watch but usually put off as I waste my time with the fluffy romcoms.  I get around to them eventually, but not as quickly as they deserve.  But I'm glad I finally got around to this one, because it was really good.


I actually really love crime noir things, which is why I try to save them for a special time, when I can really savor them, but it usually turns out that I never have time for them and end up not watching them for forever.  I'm learning to just start them and make time for them.  Because they will be that good.  One thing that is always good about crime noir is the rich assortment of characters who all deserve a great set of nicknames.  Half of them only have nicknames in the show anyway, because that is apparently how the crime world works.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

183. Nine Seconds - Eternal Time 9초-영원의 시간 (2015) Korean

Lee Joo Seung, Na Hae Ryeong, Lee Jae Hyeong, Mina Fujii, Park Lydia

Drama Rating: 4/10     Neck Score: A

I wanted this to be special, because I love Lee Joo Seung.  I literally only watched it to see what he would do with a lead role.  But this drama was blase at best.  So we've got a angry transplanted girl from Seoul who is now in the country, where her mom ignores her because of her new job.  Then you have a quirky boy next door photographer.  All good until you make that quirky photographer boy have an eye disease that is slowly making him go blind.  Boo.  Then you throw in every other trope, like the evil mom who is ignoring her one minute, and then telling her to never see that boy again, because you know, blind boys are bad boys.  Then you have car accidents, comas, and dreams.  And a magic camera which makes everything better... maybe?  All this in seven 15 minute episodes.  You can see why I'm not impressed.  I think I was playing games on my phone the whole time I watched it.  Things I actually liked: Lee Joo Seung's acting.  His easy-going, matter-of-fact, quirky character was likable.  I liked Na Hae Ryeong's character too.  She wasn't the typical Seoul brat.  She just had typical change issues.  I liked how their friendship and romance blossomed, even though it was pretty typical too, it was still nice and less forced.  It had it's cute moments.  The ending was weird though.  A little too opened ended, especially for a seven episoder.  Did they even try?  Did they try too hard?  Shrug.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

177. Cruel City 무정도시 (2013) Korean


Jung Kyung Ho, Nam Gyu Ri, Lee Jae Yoon, Son Chang Min, Kim Yoo Mi, Choi Moo Sung, Yoon Hyun Min 

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A+

While this was an amazing drama, the ending was still super hard for me to watch.  Mostly because WHY DIDN'T HE TAKE THE FREAKING GUN AWAY FROM HIM!  SOMEBODY COULD DIE THAT WAY!  Freaking Two-Faced Ahjussi.  Omo.  This drama is so good.  So dark.  I heard someone say they were watching this for them romance.  Um... what romance?  Do you mean bromance?  That is clearly the most important thing in this show.  I could start a drinking game: take a shot every time Soo is used as bait for a trap and almost dies.  Haha, I still love you, Fish bangs, and definitely love you in those suits. Rawr.  I was already in love with Paksa, so this was just a big indulgence to watch him being bad-a.  I think the best part of this show is the characters.  Not necessarily the police, although they are ok, but the drug peeps though.  Imo Noona was awesome.  I loved her, like a serious cool kids crush on her, because she was so cool... even though she was a little silly at times and had a weird crush on Paksa (but really, can you blame her?).  I loved how consistently loyal she was to all her friends.  Even Sapari Samchon was super relatable and well-rounded.  It was a good mixture of predictable and a bit less predictable, but that is me being too good at predicting.  But it had me on my toes, which was nice.  I do have to say that another thing I kept counting was how many times people were obviously drinking and driving.  Not shocking since everyone was constantly drinking, but then they would always have a brooding driving shot right afterward.  Um, no, Paksa, you shouldn't be driving after drinking multiple glasses of that strong liquor.  Haha.  Anyway, brilliantly good.

176. Because It's the First Time 처음이라서 (2015) Korean

Minho, Park So Dam, Kim Min Jae, Jeong Eugene

Drama Rating: 5/10     Neck Score: A

I started this drama because the Bromance, you know Paksa and Fish Bangs (Jung Kyung Ho and Yoon Hyun Min).  That was probably a stupid reason, since they were only a cameo. However the behind the scenes clip I saw done me in and I watched, because by the time the cameo happened I was invested in the characters already.  I think it was too long.  For a web drama it was a bit draggy in how stupid Minho's character was.  That was probably the worst part, now I have a desire to punch Minho in the face that I never had before.  I would just make fun of his dorky puppy looks, but now when I see his face I realize that he just wants a punch.  His face is just asking for it.  Just stop looking like a dorky puppy trying to act cool! (punch!)  But now that I've finally finished it, that has lessened (probably because Ji Ahn did punch him in the face).  Ah, Ji Ahn.  He's so cute!  Little smiley baby G-Dragon with a sexy man voice!  Aw.  I was super angry because I thought they were going to pull the first love crap.  They did, and it was still lame, but it wasn't nearly as lame as I thought it would be.  I thought it was going to go all I Need Romance on me, especially since it's written by the same lady, but it didn't, so it wasn't too bad.  But I did have to wait and read the recaps to see if I really wanted to finish it because FILWM Syndrome or something.  It was cute, but super messy.  A little annoying because it was so messy.  And why'd he have to go and make my classy Jeong Eugene cry?  Bad, Minho!  Go get punched in the face!

174. I Am Sorry, I Love You 我的鬼基友 (2015) Taiwanese

Jasper Liu, Bryant Chang, Andrea Chen, Zhang Yan Ming, Joanne Deng

Drama Rating: 2/10     Neck Score: A

I hated this show.  Bros before hoes, man!  They ruined one of the best bromances of all time because of some stupid twisted fate crap they tried way too hard to sell.  I didn't believe the characterless girl with the nerd for one second.  NOT ONE SECOND!  In fact they wasted so much time giving us all the drippy backstory with the ghost and the girl that all we wanted was for him to be alive again so he wouldn't be hurting anymore (didn't care about her one way of the other she didn't have any character).  Well, I guess her character was "nice and pretty" and "not afraid of ghosts" and "guilt complex."  I was shipping the childhood friend and the nerd so hard I had dreams about it.  They even made her in love with him, but then dropped it so hard it made me cry.  The end made me cry too.  Half because it was like beautifully tragic... well not even half, just partly, but mostly because I was so freaking pissed off!  They didn't even get to hug!  They were never alive at the same time!  I'm so angry!  I even waited a while to write this and I'm still too angry!  Ahhhhhh!  Either don't waste time on making us invested in the past relationship or don't pull this kind of crap with me.  I didn't care about the nard and the girl's love story so much I think I skipped past most those scenes because they were too boring.  Just boring.  I didn't care much about her mothering him until it somehow it became a romance.  Nope, wasn't there.  And that red string of fate triangle... yuck.  Just barf.  I just wanted my bromace to be alive together and they ruined everything.  Hate, hate, hate.  That Aaron song still gets stuck in my head, and I loved the bromance, but the show was total crap.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Let's Not Fall For Magic: Kpop Groups Actually Treated As Separate People!?!

I've been thinking a lot about the new trends in Kpop music videos.  Recently there have been a lot of things that I have liked.  There have been a lot of really good songs and also a lot of music videos that have been different enough to make me do the nod of approval.  One of the trends that I noticed was the one where our boys were actually treated like separate people.


You know how most groups have to go through that thing at one point in time where they hire one actress and the entire group interacts with her as if they are the same person or something.  It's weird, but they pretty much all do it.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

180. Love Cells 1&2 연애세포 (2014 & 2015) Korean

Kim Yoo Jung, Park Sun Ho, Nam Ji Hyun, Baek Sung Hyun, Im Seul Ong, Jo Bo Ah, Park Eun Ji, Choi Young Min

Drama Rating: 7(4)/10     Neck Score: A

I was bored one day, so I decided to watch Love Cells 2.  Don't ask me why I watched the second season before watching the first, I was probably just too late to search for the first one while the second one was right there in my suggestions feed.  It might be a good thing because it was so much inferior to the first season that had I watched the first I might have been doubly disappointed.  It was just boring.  The only thing good about it was Kim Yoo Jung and Im Seul Ong fighting and him distracting her with a laser pointer.  The rest was just over-the-top and not in a good way.  Then I watched the first one and I finally realize why everyone loved it so much.  It's hilarious and full of interesting plot twists.  It also made so much more sense with her having magic tools (awesomely advertised by Park Joon Hyung) to help him and there being the awesome Kim Woo Bin cameo as the King of Romance/Love Cell Hunter.  Also, Jang Hyuk cameo.  That man is amazing.  So much good acting with no lines.  It was over-the-top and in a good way.  It was hilarious.  It also left us surprised and in a good way.  Not so predictable.  So I highly recommend the first season and not the second one.  Unless you really loved the first and want more Navi.  Just know, it's highly inferior.


Thursday, November 12, 2015

173. She Was Pretty 그녀는 예뻤다 (2015) Korean

Hwang Jung Eum, Park Seo Joon, Go Joon Hee, Choi Siwon

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

This drama was just fun.  I had a lot of fun watching it, even if there were gaping holes at times.  Like, it bothered me at first that they had Seo Joon come off as such a jerk-faced butt head at first.  That seemed to be way out of character for him.  Even with stress and misunderstandings as an excuse.  But they made up for it in a big way.  By the end, they were one of my favorite couples of all time.  What a cute OTP.  I really had second lead syndrome for Siwon, especially when he was making all those amazing faces.  So much fun!  I also loved the friendship between Hye Jin (Hwang Jung Eum) and Ha Ri (Go Joon Hee).  We see so many bromances that it was refreshing to see a... what is the word for that?  Womance?  Yeah, something like that.  I shipped that friendship.  As frustrating as it was, I liked that they had the relationship grow before he knew who she was.  That made it more real and feely when he finally found out.  Then I could ship the OTP like crazy.  I liked how they showed the level of understanding between our main couple that made them perfect for each other and helped us (well me anyway) get over Siwon.  I loved Siwon to the end, but I knew that he was just friends material, because there was that level of knowing and understanding that was missing.  That might be why I loved it so much.  There was no bitca and no evil second male lead.  I loved everyone in the whole show.  When Ha Ri started falling for Seong Joon, I was worried for her because she was going to get hurt, and the guilt she was feeling, yeah no bitca there, just her being stupid.  And Siwon was like the nicest (and goofiest) guy on the planet who saw her beauty from the start.  Cute!  Although, I did think that his part was too drawn out and mopey at the end.  That was a bit boring.  I even cared about the silly side romance between Gold Digger and Happy Boy.  Anyway, no, it's not perfect, but it's fun.  And I have to give it major props for avoiding some of the major tropes, such as prolonged noble idiocy, bitcas, one year time jumps (with long distance relationships that magically last even when they lose contact), and makeovers that last forever.  They touched on all of them, but twisted them for the better.  Bravo!

172. Sassy, Go Go 발칙하게 고고 (2015) Korean

Jung Eun Ji, Lee Won Keun, Cha Hak Yeon, Ji Soo, Cha Hak Yeon (N), Kim Ji Suk

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A++

I don't normally like high school dramas.  I think cheer leading is stupid.  I liked this drama.  Why?  Because it wasn't really about cheer leading and it wasn't the typical angsty high school drama.  It was about being friends, working together, and for realsies high school issues.  Yes, it was still ridiculous and over the top a lot, but it managed to stay cute and fun thr whole way through.  This was probably because the bulk of the cast was dynamite.  I mean, Sissy Cute Neck (Lee Won Keun) was adorable.  We've appreciated him since his Phantom days, and he was literally the only good thing about Hyde Jekyll Me, so it was good to see him finally rocking a lead.  Eun Ji was just great.  A lead girl we could actually get behind, even when she was being way too nice.  Ji Soo, oh my freak.  He can even make bad writing and cheese crap good.  That boy is amazing.  I loved the bromance between Ji Soo and Sissy Cute Neck.  Best bromance ever, which lead to the best resolution of a love triangle ever.  I also really loved the childhood besties that were Eun Ji and N.  Even though N is not amazing yet, he wasn't the worst idol newly turned actor ever, and it worked for his character.  I heart Kim Ji Suk.  Can I just marry him now?  The teachers in high school dramas really get shafted a lot, but he really made his role awesome, but then I am also highly biased.  The worst part of this show was the ridiculous ways they neatly wrapped everything up in the end.  I like that they tied up all the loose ends and hinted at all the ships that we had (like the teachers), but it was admittedly cheesy.  So it was a good drama, but not like amazing.  I think the Ji Soo shippers might have had a harder time with it than I did.  I consistently liked it (except when they were smacking on my Kim Ji Suk, then I was angry).

Monday, November 2, 2015

VIXX's Leo Wins a High Spot on the Top 10 Sexy Necks List

VIXX is making a comeback.  I'm getting excited.  I've actually been meaning to add Leo to my Top 10 Sexy Necks list since Beautiful Liar, but I've been busy.  But really, my obsession with him isn't going to stop anytime soon, so I had better just put him where he belongs on that list and have done with it.  Because that man is beautiful, and his neck is glorious.


That's not the only thing that's glorious.  Pretty much everything about him is awesome.  He's like 100% swoon worthy.  I could just fill this post with pictures of him, and be done.  Actually, that's probably what this is going to be.  I mean, I already took up half my post about sultry songs just on Beautiful Liar, so.... Yeah.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

168. Yong Pal 용팔이 (2015) Korean

Joo Won, Kim Tae Hee, Jo Hyun Jae, Chae Jung Ah, Jung Woong In, Stephanie Lee

Drama Rating: 3/10     Neck Score: A-

Hmm, what can I say about this drama.  It's nonsense.  There was a time in the middle where I was at least enjoying the crazy mess of revenge.  People were being killed right and left, and the main girl was bat shiz crazy.  That was kind of fun to watch.  But the rest was a little boring.  Then it was extended.  Two whole episodes of nothing.  Absolutely boring and lame, and the whole time I was just hoping that she would die, only I knew she wouldn't, because I had heard it had a "happy" ending.  Well, it did have Stephanie Lee coming back, playing the deus ex machina to force a "happy" ending down our throats.  There are some very interesting dynamics that kept this show from just being a series of painfully obvious tropes strung together with a whole lot of crazy.  Joo Won's character really doesn't do anything but cry the whole second half of the show.  Basically he is a male "Candy" while Kim Tae Hee is the evil chaebol.  He does about as much as Candy and has zero power the entire time.  He rarely gets to act and have it be meaningful, he's just acted on and being pushed around (but he was one of the only actors who could act, there is at least that).  The role reversal was a bit interesting.  The amount of moral ambiguity and justification is ridiculous.  Literally everyone gets away with murder.  Is anyone actually punished in this show?  Not that we see.  Revenge is taken, people are killed, that's about all the justice that is served and there is no justice there.  I loved that the girl went bad guy and killed everyone (except the evil brother's death was lame).  It was so ridiculous how literally everyone died halfway through the show.  But then redeeming her?  No.  Forgiving her?  No.  Him going back to her?  No, no, no, no.  What lame sauce crap was that?  All I wanted was for her to die and him to move on and get together with Stephanie Lee like a year later.  Instead we got two episodes of boring and a lame-a ending.  What utter nonsense.  Boo!

Sunday, October 18, 2015

The Final Installment of My Adventures in Japanese Candyland!

Everyone, this is probably my last time reviewing the items of Japan Crate for you.  My free 3 month subscription is now up, and I am too poor to actually buy one for myself, as much as I want to.  It was super fun to do though, and maybe someday I will treat myself to something like this again.  It's totally worth it.


This month seemed to have a lot of chip type deals, and a lot of savory options, which is pretty good.  There was also some of the weirdest shiz that I have eaten to date.  WEIRDNESS!  At least I went out with a bang.  My last free Japan Crate. Sniff. I was looking forward to everything but that raisin flavored candy. Ew.  But that wasn't the worst of it.  The worst was much more.

Marlubs and Lizabreff (and Dongsaeng)'s Adventures: We MADE it to Vegas and saw BIGBANG!

Here it is, more than two weeks after that glorious weekend, and I am finally writing about it.  It all makes sense when I tell you how much work I had to put into being able to leave in the first place (like bribing coworkers) and how much catch up I did when I got back.  That is what grad school plus work will do to you.  Especially when I still wanted to play with my sister before she left.

But this was really a dream trip for us all.  Lizabreff and I went to the 2012 Alive Galaxy Tour in LA, so this was like part 2 of our BIGBANG adventures, but this was my Donsaeng's first Kpop concert, so it was like my first time all over again watching her be super excited and taking her fan girling to the next level.  Also, it was perfect because we all have our biases that we are obsessed with, so that gives me a good coverage of the concert from at least 3 bias views: G-Dragon, T.O.P and Daesung.


And yes, we went to ridiculous lengths to protect... our identities?  I guess that's what we're doing... Lizabreff wanted to (blame everything on her for the ridiculous stickers and photoshop that I didn't try to make look good at all... haha).  And these bias expressions are pretty much the same as our actual expressions anyway.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

171. Noble, My Love 고결한 그대 (2015) Korean

Sung Hoon, Kim Jae Kyung, Park Eun Suk, Kim Dong Suk

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A+

Pure fan service.  It was basically the Sung Hoon is a sexy, sexy man show.  It was a fluffy little love/hate love story, and since it was a web drama, with twenty 15 min long episodes, it gets right to the tension and chemistry, with plenty of shirtlessness to oogle at. Sung Hoon's voice is super sexy.  Their chemistry is good.  She is a good kind of plucky, and she stays plucky the whole time.  Everyone else is a bit annoying at times, but never in it for long, so no biggie.  That other dude though.  He was lame.  Just a plot device to make sexy voiced Sung Hoon get jealous, which of course is hilarious.  Basically it's super predictable, fluffy fan service and we love it.  My little sister, who watched it with me, was all "he's a jerk" at the beginning, and by the end she was super fan girling.  Nothing like a little brother to suddenly arrive and make our couple suddenly skinshippy and completely together.  She liked it when they were together and being cute.  Then, all past jerkiness was almost forgotten.  I thought it was hilarious how he was basically just the worst at trying to win a girl.  He loves her, so he throws money at her and gives her a hard time.  Yeah, that works every time.  Yes, he did get the girl in the end, but only after she finally figured out he wasn't really a jerk.  So hilarious, predictable, and fluffy show completely about a sexy, sexy man with a sexy voice and body.  Um, yes, please.

170. Thank You 고맙습니다 (2007) Korean

Jang Hyuk, Gong Hyo Jin, Seo Shin Ae, Shin Sung Rok, Shin Goo

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

How did this show make me like it so much?  It's about cancer, AIDS, dementia, single parenthood, and death.  Basically it's a feely sob story.  And I really liked it.  It was pretty well written and it had amazing actors.  I knew when I found out that it had not only Jang Hyuk but Gong Hyo Jin, Seo Sin Ae, and Shin Sung Rok in it that I would have to watch it.  They are all amazing.  I love Seo Shin Ae.  She's one of those child actresses who can actually act.  She was just perfect.  It was a heartwarming drama that was actually good (I don't tend to like those kinds) and heartwarming.  It left you feeling fuzzy and warm instead of like eye rolling and barfing.  That's a pretty good sign, I would say.  And it never made me feel burdened by its agenda, even when it clearly had one.  Anyway, it was pretty good.  It kept me watching even when Mr. Lee (Shin Goo) was making me cry.  He was awesome.  Mr. Lee!

167. Misaeng- Incomplete Life 미생 - 아직 살아 있지 못한 자 (2014) Korean

Im Siwan, Lee Sung Min, Kang So Ra, Kang Ha Neul, Byun Yo Han

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A

Painful, hilarious, relatable, and amazing.  It's just about office workers, but it had me on the edge of my seat at times.  That PPT test, boy was that intense.  Whew.  It was painful because it was so relatable.  I kept cry saying "I know how you feel [Geu Rae, Pyeontae, Baek Gi, Yeong Yi]!"  It was just office work, but it was life or death to us watching it.  No one was completely evil, not even the bitca of an executive director... well, Department Head Ma might have been the worst... that sexist pig.  But I did like how it followed the stories of all four interns, and they each had their own relatable strugs.  It made it hard to watch, and also addicting.  So glad I finally got around to watching it.  It was so good.  So many good characters, so many funny facial expressions, so many crying times, so many lol moments.  Just a good, well rounded drama.

165. Mrs. Cop 미세스 캅 (2015) Korean

Kim Hee Ae, Kim Min Jong, Lee Da Hee, Son Ho Jun

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

Well, the basic concept of this drama was good.  I liked that it was about strong female characters who kicked-a.  I also liked how the title character was an ahjumma who couldn't really run or fight anymore but she still kicked-a in awesomeness.  The cases they worked on were good at first.  Then it all went campy.  The writing was always bad.  The dialog was just awful.  It made the lead male come off as a pervert at first.  I was all "wut?  I started this show for this?"  But it was just incredibly bad writing.  I mean, it took 18 episodes for the younger couple to kiss, and I don't even know how the older couple suddenly managed to be together.  It was like random and not supported when she finally started taking him seriously.  I don't think it was doing Korean police any favors either, because it made them all come off as violent and hot tempered.  So much police brutality, tsk tsk.  The bad dude was also just way over the top.  If he can do something bat-shiz crazy, you can count on him to actually do it.  From smashing statues full of gold bars to ordering hits on cops, to laughing insanely as he fakes his own death by lighting a car on fire.  Yeah, the concept was good.  I was hoping for something as good as Angry Mom.  Instead, I got campy cheese that had some attractive men in it and some awesome bad-a women.  Yep, the women ran the show in this and the men looked pretty.  At least there was that role reversal aspect.  Everything else... meh.

Monday, September 21, 2015

"Please, please, please help me out! Sub for me Oct 2nd!!!!!" or What I Do For BIGBANG

I am super excited about the BIGBANG concert in Las Vegas, so much closer to me than the one in LA that I went to three years ago.  I am extra excited because my little sister is coming with Lizabreff and I this time, and it's her very first concert in general, as well as her very first Kpop concert.  I got her obsessed with Kpop and BIGBANG years ago.  She is in love with Daesung.  She's been writing statuses about coming all week, with stuff like: "I shall be leaving within the week to travel to [where my unni lives] and from there to Las Vegas for the BIGBANG concert!!!  I'm so excited!!!"  She used multiple exclamation points, it must be true.


But the biggest problem was that I just started a new job that requires me to work nights, and of course no one actually wants to sub that night, so I was a bit worried when I received no response to my initial request.  With the concert only two weeks away, I brought out the big guns.  The pleading sob story letter...  And yes, this is the letter I actually sent to my coworkers, with only minor edits to protect the innocent...

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Adventures in Japanese Candyland: September

I know I planned to only eat one of these a day to stretch out my Japan Candyland Adventure for a full week (plus a day, since there are only 8 things this month), but Lizabreff went and sprained her ankle this morning, so to cheer her up, we had a Japan Crate binge party instead.  Lesson learned: running is evil.  So are sidewalks and grass pot holes.  Haha.  Also, savoring candy for a week is fun.  Binge eating it with an invalid friend is fun too.


This month they must have run out of regular boxes, because I def totes don't have premium. It looked so empty too, with only the regular stuffs in it.  It was all rattling around in the box, haha.  Just so you all know, if you didn't already, when you get premium they give you three to four more items every month, and they always sound so good that you wish that you were paying for them so you could eat them, but you aren't, so you're sad.  I'm not paying for any of this, so it doesn't mean much to me... until my gift subscription runs out next month.  Sad day.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

The Summer of Action Dramas: or My Beautiful Bad-A Boys

I feel like the only shows this summer were action thriller types.  Well, the only good ones anyways.  Just kidding, I did watch some romcoms and melodramas, like Warm and Cozy and High Society, but I avoided most of those boring melodramatic looking ones (even if everyone else seemed to like them ok, because no).  But even if there were lots of genres represented, the bulk of the good ones really were action/thriller/psychological/mystery.  And I wasn't disappointed either.  But I do have to admit that I am hankering for a good romcom now... or even a not good one, but I refuse to watch that one starring Ugly Man (aka Virtual Bride with Ryu Soo Young).  I just like mixing up my genres at once.  However, it still seems like the action thriller trend is going strong, probably because they're good.


It makes sense though, because what else will draw you to dramas in the middle of summer... either super cheesy fluff or hard core action.  I like that they went the action route because that meant lots and lots of beautiful bad-a boys.  Rawr.

Friday, September 4, 2015

Kpop for That Sultry Sound... yeah, the sound ;)

There is a difference between sultry and just sexy... at least in my book.  Sultry has that special sound that can only be described as rawr.  Overly sexy can sometimes be too much, because sometimes you are just in the mood for a sultry sounding song.  Something that is perfectly exemplified through dance moves like these:


Sway those hips, boys.  Rawr.  Yep, that's where the sultry sound is at.  So here are my favorite sultry songs, for when I want to just listen to something that says "rawr!"

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

166. One Sunny Day 좋은 날 (2014) Korean

So Ji Sub, Kim Ji Won, Lee Jong Hyuk, Im Joo Eun, Lee Jong Hyun

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

Emphasis on the ONE sunny day, because there was only one day in the whole show that was sunny.  It rained every other day.  Not just rain, but pouring.  I guess this is my first web drama.  With ten 15 minute episodes, it's basically the length of a movie.  It was about as exciting as most Korean romance movies I've seen.  Slow moving and low on the skinship.  However, that is not necessarily a bad thing.  This is a journey of healing.  Ji Ho (So Ji Sub) is super sad and trying to get over this girl.  He's also a shy quiet type anyways.  The relationship is more organic in that slow movingness.  Also, the situations they find themselves in, and how they act in those situation has a more for real feel to them.  Basically it's cute.  The end.  Although they could have given us an abs shot... just saying.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Adventures in Japanese Candyland: August

This may seem like an advertisement for Japan Crate, it's certainly not hurting them, but I recently won a 3 month gift subscription in a work raffle.  I never win anything so that was exciting.  I might have been the only person to put my ticket in that drawing pot, but that would be my luck, wouldn't it?  No one has the adventuring spirit anymore, sigh.  Or maybe they just were being more practical (like putting theirs towards a $100 Amazon gift certificate).


Anyways, here I am, after the first month, writing reviews of all the candy I tried in this month.  It's been a pretty fun 9 days of candy stuffs.

Monday, August 17, 2015

KDrama Moments that Unintentionally Made Me Laugh

I finally finished the craziness that was Mask, and it had a lot of scream worthy moments.  The Bad guy was way too powerful and smart, and the way that everything was finally resolved was super lame.  However, until the lame preachy ending, it was as addicting as crack and had many moments that had me rolling.  As much as I hated the villain, I also loved him.  Mostly because he made faces like these:


How did no one spot that constant smirk that literally tells everyone he's the villain?  And he really knew how to play up the drama.  Especially when opening doors, peering through windows, or being a general creeper.  His door opening skills are literally my favorite part of that whole drama... unless you want to count like the OTP and all that stuff... haha.  But this situation is not alone in it's kind, I frequently find funny moments that make me laugh super hard when they really aren't supposed to be funny.  They just are!  And I just might have those spots cued up so I can watch them if I ever need a pick me up quick laugh.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

162. I Remember You 너를 기억해 (2015) Korean

Seo In Guk, Jang Na Ra, Lee Chun Hee, Choi Won Young, Park Bo Gum

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A+

What a consistently good drama.  Sad it didn't have super ratings in Korea, but it was competing with popular ones.  Maybe it's just because I like psychological thrillers, murder dramas, and all the actors in this show, but I just loved it.  Park Bo Gum!  Why do you have to steal my heart every time!?!  I loved how organic the relationship was.  All the relationships.  Even the bromancey type deal between the detective and "Dave."  But I loved how the romance took it's time and progressed at a natural pace for someone so unemotional as Lee Hyun.  Also big slow clap for Jang Na Ra, she impresses me every role, and this time she did good with the action, bad-a detective.  Basically everyone did a great job, especially Choi Won Young and Park Bo Gum- and super epic slow clap for Do Kyung Soo for once again rocking his acting skills for a creepier role.  He played a good psychopath.  Woo woot.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Female Leads Who I Just Can't Get Behind or Relate To

I couldn't write a post on Frustrating Male Leads without including a post about equally as frustrating female leads.  We want girls we can relate to, so we can put ourselves in their shoes and get all the feels when they get the man.  But sometimes all we get is a severe desire to shake some sense into the stupid things because they are just plain stupid, frustrating, annoying, and sometimes just bad actresses.


I understand that not everyone can be a good actor, but if they aren't, then why are they getting cast in lead roles?  Seriously, are they related to someone?  Are they a chaebol or an idol?  Sadly, sometimes they are not, and bad acting can make an already weak character unbearable.  So here are some unbearably not relatable female leads.

Monday, July 13, 2015

The Adventures of Marlubs and Lizabreff in KDreamland: Episode 1

Lizabreff and I have a very special relationship where we have to tell each other everything (we're besties in real life and Kdrama world).  So every time we have a weird/cool/fun/bad dream, the first thing we do when we wake up is text the other person what happened in said dream.


A lot of the times these dreams are based on Kdramas, Kpop or other K-things.  Those ones are usually wonderful.


These are verbatim what was written in the texts (unless there was awful spelling mistakes- which happens in the early morning when texting- and I couldn't bear to leave them) so you get the full experience of our conversation.  So without further ado, here is episode 1, a dream I had several months ago, which is still arguably one of the best dreams ever.

Friday, July 3, 2015

Male Leads Who Are As Frustrating As Heck

With the end of Warm and Cozy, we have to talk about the fact that Baek Geon Woo was probably one of the most frustrating male leads ever.  I wanted to like him, but couldn't, because he wasn't the same (or nice) for more than two seconds.  He was so freaking frustrating!


Anyways, it made us scream all the time.  It didn't help that The Producers also had two of the most frustrating male leads ever.  I seriously wanted to grab those boys by the shoulders and shake some sense into both of them.  So I made a list of all the most frustrating male leads.  There are so many that are just jerks, and for too long, and its just bah!  So here are the ones that made my list:

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Fall In Love With Me Syndrome, or why I don't trust Taiwanese Dramas

Fall in Love with Me was the drama that started so good that it hooked everyone and then turned into the craziest train wreck of crappy lame melodrama.  It was so bad that it became the new standard of badness.  However, it was worse than I knew.


It scarred me so horribly, that I find myself still having adverse reactions to it.  It's like I've got drama PTSD when it comes to Taiwanese dramas.  At the first sign of drama crap, I panic and wonder if I can even continue to watch, because I immediately panic.

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Kpop One Liners: Song Lines for the Occasion

Lately we've been using a lot of lines from Kpop songs in everyday life, like random inside jokes, etc.  Some lines are just so appropriate for the situation, that we have to shout out these wonderful lines in certain situations.  It makes them better.


Here are some of the perfect one liners that we use pretty much every day.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Of Filters, Genres, and Networks

Blogging all this time has brought some things to my attention, like the use of filters in dramas.  Sometimes these filters are used to make the drama work better, but honestly sometimes that filter is there for no reason.  I've also noticed that some genres lead to certain types of filters, and also some networks favor and abuse filters as well.


Filters can make the drama's atmosphere more intense, romantic, or funny.  They can make the images and people more beautiful, or they can make everyone look weirdly gray/porcelain, which tends to look weird or yucky (especially those with red or orange hair).  Extreme filters like that usually only do a few people in the show a favor.  People like Lee Soo Hyuk, who would probably look good with any filter because he already looks like a porcelain vampire.  But let's look closer at these different categories of filters.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Kpop for the Frustrated

Frustration happens to us all off and on.  Right now I am frustrated with life, meaning work and other businessy obligations that make me fall into a busy rut where I feel like a robot with no control.


When times like these come, I have to listen to a certain kind of music to get those pent up emotions out.  And yes, that means another Kpop playlist.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Second Female Leads Who Are The Rage Scream Causing Queens

I recently wrote a post about second male leads that make me want to punch them in the face, but there is a corner on the market for causing rage screams usually reserved for the second female leads of dramas, fondly known as the bitca of the shows.   Honestly, they make the bitcas over-the-top evil more often than not, while the second male leads are more often so nice that they are pushovers.  This list could go on for forever, because 99% of all dramas have a bitca. Still, why not make a list of the worst of all?  The ones so bad that they make us scream in rage at the very sight of their faces.


There were so many of them that I had to break this list down and organize it.  It's not that surprising that I could fit all these bitcas into four categories.  You've seen one, you've probably seen most, because they make mean, crazy, bitcas all pretty much the same.  The four categories are: "Don't Touch my Thing," Evil Ex/First Loves, Vindictive Bitcas, and Cray Cray Obsessive Bitcas.

Monday, June 1, 2015

Kpop for the Day Picker Upper

In the mood when you want to feel happy, laugh, energized, peppier?  I've got a playlist that I keep for these occasions.  Because my last Kpop post was sad and super personal, I figured the next one should be happy.  So I decided to make a list of the Kpop songs I listen to so I can get pumped up and feel happy.


I'll be honest, half of these are because of how ridiculous they are, or how fun the MV is (which usually means the song is fun too) and not necessarily for the song alone.  Sometimes the song is even sad, but because of how fun the beat/dance/MV is it makes me happy.  So here are some of the songs I listen to when I am super happy/silly or just want to feel happier, because these songs always put me in a better mood.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Second Male Leads That Make Me Want to Punch Them in the Face

Second male leads are the necessity of all dramas it seems.  Even if there is no second female lead (which occasionally happens) there is rarely never a second male lead.  More often than not, these second male leads are adorable and give us the syndrome of loving them (almost) more than the male lead and being heartbroken for them that they never had any chance at all with the female lead.  However, at least a third of the time these second male leads come straight from the devil.  They are so freaking annoying that you just wish they didn't exist.


With the end of Soon Jung and My Unfortunate Boyfriend, it becomes necessary to compile a list in honor of these second males leads that we hate so much we want to punch them in the face every time they are on the screen.  EVERY SINGLE TIME.  Ugh.  So here are some of the worst I have seen.

Monday, May 25, 2015

152. Falling in Love With Soon Jung 순정에 반하다 (2015) Korean

Jung Kyung Ho, Kim So Yeon, Yoon Hyun Min

Drama Rating: 5/10     Neck Score: A

The only thing that made this drama work was Jung Kyung Ho.  Seriously.  He made a total jerk cute and likable, and then his sudden transformation believable, and then totally cute.  Wow.  The plot was... yeah... not my favorite.  The whole return to me heart transplant crap... not cool.  However, it is sad to announce that this was probably the least lame part of this show.  I hated Fish Bangs (Yoon Hyun Min) so much, and the ridiculous dramatic crap of the show's other plot was just lame.  Murder investigation, potentially cool.  How they handled it, not cool at all.  It was basically just 10 episodes (at least) of Fish Bangs being super smart and one step ahead of everything, and being a smug jerk and then them miraculously getting the evidence they need at the very last minute.  Also, they never explained how the happy ending was quite possible.  They just sort of wrapped everything up in a bow.  However, despite all the crappiness, which basically equals a stagnant drawn out corporate makjang fest, the characters were fun (except for Fish Bangs who was one of the worst villains ever).  Well Soon Jung wasn't a very dynamic character, but not the worst I've seen.  She was never annoying and at least started out at a good place, even if she never really grew at all.  I really just fell in love with Kang Min Ho (Jung Kyung Ho), except I really miss his hair from the beginning.  Hair style change for the NOT win.  How could they mess with his luscious locks?  That swoop back of sexiness?  Sad day.  So basically I loved all the parts with Kang Min Ho in them, tolerated the ones with everyone else in them, and was yelling in anger and frustration at all the parts with Fish Bangs.  The problem was that Fish Bangs was in way too many scenes.  Oh well.  Whatever.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Kpop for the Brokenhearted

Sometimes, I wonder why I bother to like real boys, because that somehow just ends in hurt.  But then, so does most Kdrama crushes, either through relationship envy, too many feels, or just dying of frustration at the stupidity of drama peeps' choices.  However, real relationships are good, and at least we have Kdramas and Kpop to get us through those times when the inevitable hurt comes... as is does more than we'd like.  I hear sometimes it works out, but this time was not that time, I guess.


I find myself once again getting over a real life boy, maybe one of the hardest ones yet, because he was one of the best ones yet.  (He's even watched some Kdrama episodes with me, in seriousness, so that seemed like a winner).  Anyways, he's leaving so not much I can do about that, unless fate brings us together or I chase after him dramatically, buying a last minute plane ticket and running through the airport to stop him, etc.  It might just work.

Instead, I find myself drowning my sorrows in an unhealthy dose of sad kpop.  Is there such a thing as an unhealthy dose?  Only maybe there is, because I not only listen to a ton of sad songs, but I listen to them on repeat.  It works, ok!  These are the songs that speak to my wounded soul!

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Villains I Love to Hate, and Ones I Just Love Even Though They're Hateful

Ok, so I've been meaning to write this post since I forced myself to finish watching The King Face, because I hated Kim Do Chi that much, but school made me busy and I got lazy.  Also a bunch of other peeps wrote similar posts and I didn't want to be a crowd follower, so I waited until another hateful villain came along, in Shine or Go Crazy... but then more school happened.  So here we have it with Girl Who Sees Smells, and there is plenty to love and hate.

Ryu Soo Young- Successful Story of a Bright Girl

There are many types of villains that induce so many emotions from me, ranging anywhere from love to late.  Love to love them, love to hate them, just hate them, hate to hate them, there are all kinds.  The reasons for loving and hating them are connected to how well they played the part, how the part was written, how evil they are, how despicable they are, it goes on.  I tried to break this down into some examples.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

My Unfortunate Boyfriend, or No Min Woo's Sexy Abs, Face, Butt, and Lips

Previously, in my post More Men Who Make Me Watch Drama Against My Will: Hot Bods Edition, I confessed that I watched Full House Take 2 just for No Min Woo and his skinny, muscular body (and face that's prettier than most girls').


I also stated that I was probably going to watch The Greatest Marriage for him... but I never did.  It sounded too crazy and I was already watching too many shows at that time.  Lucky me, he's already in another drama and his abs seems to be what it's all about.  Yes!

Monday, April 20, 2015

The Girl Who Sees Yoochun Being Better at Comedy... and Everything Else

Why do all the good post worthy dramas have to begin/end right when finals and busy happens?  Here I am trying to catch up on all my posts when I should be writing papers and completing projects... or going to bed.  Whatever, I needed to post this because I love this drama.


It's Yoochun, of course I love it.  Also, it's Yoochun playing a perfect deadpan.  Yes, yes, yes.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Shine or Go Crazy for Goryeo Lee Gun- Another Nickname Post

What is better than Lee Gun?  Nothing, but what is pretty much equally awesome is fighting Goryeo Lee Gun, complete with facial hair and plenty of shirtlessness.


He's literally the only reason to watch this show.  Literally?  Ok, there are other reasons, but they are probably all associated with Jang Hyuk.

A Day in the Life of K-Drama Besties

Sometimes, it's the best thing in the world to have a best friend who is also a K-Drama addict.  K-Dramas are just part of our everyday life, and they work their way into our everyday conversation.  Such as when we are trying to figure out how to make our phones cooler (because of course we have couple phones).


Or when we are insulting each other in other languages, but using hangul to spell it out.  (시누 내구 or Shinu naegu = sinu nägu, which is "your face" in Estonian.  Which then lead to German and English "your faces," etc.)  Basically, we're just crazy and we love it.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Murphy's Law of Love: Sexy Stares and Skinship From Episode One

Taiwanese dramas are great.  But they are also even more tropey and formulaic than Korean dramas.  They tend to lean towards the fatey things way more.  They are super fluffy too, mostly.  But that is exactly their charm.  They are quick to the chemistry stuffs, giving us feels and awkward humor from episode one.


When discussing this, Lizabreff and I summarized that while Kdramas withhold to build the tension for the moment they get together (only to be broken up only moments later), Tdramas give you lots of moments with chemistry, sexual tension, and romantic humor, they drag the drama out with lots of ups and down.  They also have the one trick I absolutely hate.  The mid-series bitca.  I hate having the bitca show up right as things are going great.  Either have her there the whole time, or never there.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Lee Seo Jin, My Ahjussi Spirit Animal

While catching up on Running Man, I serendipitously found my ahjussi soulmate in episode 229.  He is literally the same as me- a lazy grumpy cat.


I'm not like that all the time... (looking around to see Lizabreff ready to contradict me... also to claim her rights as the creator of this post's title).  Ok, not always, but a lot.  Especially when it comes to things that are not worth it to me, like silly competition and random games.  I like to see Running Man go through it, but I can totally see myself completely acting like Lee Seo Jin if ever faced with a Running Man-like situation.  So here are some examples that completely made me laugh because I could completely relate:

Monday, March 30, 2015

Loving the Bad-A Bitca Female Lead Trend

There are a lot of dramas lately with actual feisty female leads.  Girls with foul mouths and actual heavy type problems (not that being poor and hardworking isn't bad, but it is over done).


I'm really enjoying these real women for a change.  So here are some of the strong, rude, bad tempered, and bitca-like female leads who fight hard against all odds.

Friday, March 6, 2015

Memery of 2014... 2015... It's Just Meme Time

Just for fun, I wanted to do a post of memes created mostly for shows in 2014, but maybe I didn't get around to making them until just now... haha.  I'm really lazy when it comes to getting pictures ready.


Anyways, here is some fun.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Need a Picker-Upper? Leave it to Aaron as he Boogies and sings "Rayayayayayayayayayayain!"

When Lizabreff and I first watched this MV, it was like constant laughter.  It was a great experience, so we had to share it.  This song is one of those up beat and catchy type deals, so most people would already be cheered up by that, but the MV is a series of priceless moments that will completely make you laugh at the glorious ridiculousness of it all.  Still, Aaron is naturally looking really good:


So we'd watch him do the silliest things anyways.  But that doesn't mean we aren't also going to laugh.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Blood: Is that good bad or just bad bad?

So I started watching Blood last week, and couldn't contain my laughter all the way through episode 1.  There were so many moments of utter hilarious delight, although I don't think they intended for that to be the reaction.  But there it is.


I know they are trying to be funny at times, but those aren't really the times that are funny.  But there is a lot of compelling points to the premise and plot... and then there is the bad special effects and overkill efforts to look cool and bad-a... well... do they equal out?  Is this an entertaining "good" bad show, or is it just bad bad, the kind you only watch when you're in "that mood?"