434. A Little Thing Called First Love 初恋那件小事 (2019) Chinese

Lai Kuanlin, Zhao Jinmai, Wang Runze, Chai Wei

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

While I really like the high school to college dramas, they are all pretty formulaic. The male lead is always smart and popular, the female lead is awkward and has bad grades. Maybe she is openly chasing him, maybe it's a secret crush. Sometimes the male lead is a nice smart guy, sometimes he's a jerk. There will usually be a goofy friend or two who will make up the secondary couple. I swear there is usually a chubby best friend too. A third of the drama will be in high school and then it will reset in college, where suddenly the evil second leads will appear. I said reset because there was enough angst in high school to assume that they would just immediately get together in college, but because of second leads, misunderstandings, etc., it will instead drag out for forever and I usually get impatient. The male lead will always be the troop leader in the military training episodes, and will secretly help the female lead. A Little Thing Called First Love is no exception to this formula. But that doesn't mean it's not good in it's own right. It was very charming, and had just enough differences from this formula to make it more than worth it. And besides, I really do like this genre, so bring on those high school crushes.

413. All I Want For Love Is You 满满喜欢你 (2019) Chinese

Lu Zhao Hua, Liu Yu Han, Xie Zhi Xun, Han Ting Yu, Liu Yin Jun, Sun Yan Qing

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A+

I don't usually skip this many scenes... honestly I don't usually skip any scenes. I don't know if I was just not in the mood for this type of drama or if was just too invested in the main couple that anything delaying their already too delayed confessions and getting together was too much for me to handle. It might also be because of the sudden entrance of new players. I usually don't take too kindly to those at all. It's the typical high school drama with the smart/stoic boy and spunky/low graded girl that starts in the junior year and goes into college. Which means the second leads change as well. In high school we just had the best friends as love rivals, and everything was innocent and fine. Then all the sudden halfway through the show they enter the bigger world of college and meet even more annoying rivals that we didn't want to have to deal with. They probably weren't as bad as I'm making out, I just didn't want to deal with them. But the main couple was so cute that I kept coming back, even though I was skipping almost all of the episodes, since I refused to watch anything that didn't have the main couple interacting, or more accurately I probably just skipped through the scenes as soon as one of my hated love rivals appeared.

407. Triad Princess 極道千金 (2019) Taiwanese

Eugenie Liu, Jasper Liu, Chang Zhang Xing, Hung Yan Siang

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A+

I don't know whether to appreciate or loath this Netflix entry into Asian dramas. I like that more are being produced and the better accessibility of it, but they keep trying to Westernize the format too much, which I hate. The thing I like the most about Asian dramas is that they are short, one season shows with a well structured arc that then ends. Triad Princess suffered from this new short seasons crap that is being pulled where they give the drama a 6 episode season and then waffle about there being a next season, so that the drama has to be completely wrapped up, in case there is no second season, but still open ended enough for there to be naturally another season should they decide it was popular enough? I've already had the struggle of waiting what seems like a full year for the next 6 episodes of Kingdom, but that one didn't end so much as pause. This one seems like they hopes to get a second season, but it doesn't look like that's the case, so I am reviewing it now.

406. Well Intended Love 奈何BOSS要娶我 (2019) Chinese

Wang Shuang, Xu Kaicheng, Ian Yi, Liu Jia Xi, Huang Qian Shuo, Yang Hao Ming, Sun Jia Qi

Drama Rating: 4/10     Neck Score: A+

Sometimes, my morbid curiosity gets the best of me. In this case, I was in a bad mood (partially because I realized I had to wait another week for the next Pillow Book episodes) and was bored and I just wanted to watch something terrible. I had seen enough spoilers on the T-list to know exactly what I was getting into, but that really only scratched the surface. This might have been the most ridiculous piece of makjang I have ever seen. It was a terrible show about terrible people (with maybe one or two good ones) and you just have to sit back and let the terrible happen. Or just not watch it, which is probably what I should have done, but I guess sometimes I'm a glutton for punishment [insert some cat meme here].

Warning, serious spoilers. I guess I watched this so you all could satisfy morbid curiosity too, if that's a thing:

402. Crash Landing on You 사랑의 불시착 (2019-2020) Korean

Hyun Bin, Son Ye Jin, Kim Jung Hyun, Seo Ji Hye

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A+

I'm trying to not be bitter, but apparently I was way too angry with what happened in the last episode to do that, so I'm not sure how fair to the rest of the show this review will be. I have a bad habit (in all dramas) of investing too much into the secondary couples who always get shafted and never get enough screen time and then if there must be a tragedy it happens to them, because that way people will still view the entire show favorably because the main couple still gets a happy ending... well that's crap. Like I said, I'm bitter. Is this too many spoilers in the first paragraph? Oops. Well, honestly, besides the fact that my favorite couple got ruined, this show was fun. It wasn't super well written or even really realistic, but it was very enjoyable and addictive. It had that squee factor, I guess. It did the ensemble super well as well, which means that we cared about everyone in the show and not just the main couple, which is probably why it hurt so much. One thing the show could have more of though was editing. The episodes were just too long. I like my hour long shows please. Why we had to sit through an almost 2 hour final episode when all the joy was sucked out of it in the first 15 mins in beyond me. I was bored and disinterested for most of it. Probably because it was also draggy and I was in a bad mood by that point. But really, the rest of the show was fun to watch. Like I said, I'm obviously still too bitter.

359. Psychopath Diary 싸이코패스 다이어리 (2019) Korean

Yoon Si Yoon, Jung In Sun, Park Sung Hoon

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

I don't know if I've ever seen a good psychopath thriller comedy that isn't just a super dark thriller that also happens to be funny in spots. This was a comedy that just happened to feature a psychopath. I wouldn't say it's scary really, but I would say that the acting was super good and did a pretty decent portrayal of a psychopath serial killer. But, considering the premise, you do have suspend a lot of disbelief too. It's literally a show about a pushover who loses his memory and is handed his identity in the form of a diary detailing the murders of a serial killer. Rather than freak out and reject that identity, he tries really hard to live up to it and be the psychopath he thinks he is. I guess it helps that he was a thriller junkie and has every thriller and horror movie ever memorized. That part didn't get lost when he lost the rest of his identity, to our own entertainment.

351. The Tale Nokdu 조선로코 녹두전 (2019) Korean

Jang Dong Yoon, Kim So Hyun, Kang Tae Oh, Jung Joon Ho, Kim Tae Woo

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

This is super late, so I'm not sure I remember enough to write a lot... and I'm also getting over a cold so my head is still cloudy as well. But I do remember liking it a lot. It's one of the ones that I looked forward to watching every week.

However, this felt like two different dramas: one where he cross dresses and one where the second male lead goes mega evil to stage a coup. They tie in together well, but the flavors are so drastically different that you forget the other one existed. I much preferred the cross dressing story too. Maybe because Jang Dong Yoon did a fabulous job, but also because it was different and refreshing while the highly political violent half is basically every sageuk out there. Not a bad thing, I did like all of it, its mostly how much it changed that made me forget. What I loved about it was that the characters didn't change even though how dire the situations got. They grew and adapted, but their basic character stayed them. Nokdu was Nokdu whether he was dressing like a widow or playing the soldier. You could even see the gradual decent of the villain into extreme measures. Just kidding, that was mind-blowingly unexpected. As was the death of who we all thought was the real villain.... wow.

352. Melting Me Softly 날 녹여주오 (2019) Korean

Ji Chang Wook, Won Jin Ah, Yoon Se Ah, Lim Won Hee, Jung Hae Kyun, Shim Hyung Tak

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

This... wasn't great. I didn't hate it, but it did feel a bit burdensome to watch. It was ridiculous, not really compelling, and the episodes felt twice as long as they actually were, making it so I could only watch one episode a day max, and didn't mind if I didn't watch it until later that week when I had nothing better to watch. It just fell way short of its potential. However, it was still well acted, especially with the generational gaps, with the frozen people fitting in with their same age, but actually 40-50s friends. Like, Ji Chang Wook acted like a 52 year old in a 33 year old body well, by virtue of how behind the times he was, and his old fashioned standards, etc. The evil villain plot seemed like an afterthought, even though they were hinting about it the whole time, but it just wasn't well thought out, I guess. It fell short of the potential it could have had and instead slipped into the same bad tropes, making our second leading lady be needlessly stupid and occasionally evil- the stereotypical bitca. I do like how they redeemed that mistake though. They just should have not made that mistake in the first place, but baby steps, I guess. I think I agree with some of the opinions that were going around on Twitter (I don't remember who said it, sorry!) that Na Ha Young should have been the love interest, and that would have made for a much more interesting drama. Bridging an age gap instead of the typical bonding over the common ground of being displaced in time and age. Both work, but one is way more interesting and intriguing. Oh well. Even if it was weak at best, the actors gave it their all, and that went a lot longer than some dramas, because their actor choices were awesome, especially for the age gap. I believed all the younger people could grow up to look like those older peeps. It was probably the best part right there.

356. Put Your Head on My Shoulder 致我们暖暖的小时光 (2019) Chinese

Xing Fei, Lin Yi, Tang Xiaotian, Zheng Ying Chen

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

I guess I really liked this one, or at least it was what I wanted at the time, because I literally finished it in one weekend, starting it right after my last one and finishing it like two days later. That was not great because I was supposed to actually get things done that weekend, but oh well. I guess that's what this weekend is for... But it was super cute, and addictive, and I really enjoyed it. It was seriously cute from episode one. It was very slice of life and coming of age, with a cute romance between an ambitious to be in advertising accounting student and a genius physics student. I think that dynamic is literally one of the oldest tropes (spunky girl/staid genius) but this one did it much better than most because he wasn't the classic stoic genius kid, but he was a fairly realistic scientist. She was also not the typical spunky girl, because she also super practical and had all the street smarts he was lacking in his academic smarts. I absolutely loved how they portrayed him in that aspect, because he was so clearly in love with her for the start, but his approach to it was so logical and scientific that you wondered if they would ever be on the same page.

353. My Girlfriend 我不能恋爱的女朋友 (2019) Chinese

Timmy Xu, Bridgette Qiao, Zhou Yi Xuan, Wang Jia Ning

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

This honestly wasn't amazing or anything, but I still really enjoyed watching it. Not quite sure why because the story was a mess. It was very typical and full of those classic tropes, such as him having a temper and her having a "curse" so she couldn't find love. Of course she also has narcolepsy so every time she gets rejected, or something super awkward or stressful happens, she falls asleep. Which of course makes them meet under the worse circumstances, so she ends up owing him money and he can trick her into being on his show. All of it very typical and fluffy. But it also had some weird things that made it not typical. Yeah, Chi Xin had a bad temper, but he wasn't the typical possessive or jealous guy. In fact, I really liked how he actually never chased after her the entire time but became, instead, a best friend or even best frenemy, since they fought all the time. I also loved that during their brief time of forced living situation, she accepted those terms because of a misconception that was caused by his one moment of jealousy, which led him to jump into a kiss cam moment in the opposite way he probably intended. Kiss cams are also apparently the new accidental kiss, they seem to be happening a lot in Chinese dramas lately.

348. When the Devil Calls Your Name 악마가 너의 이름을 부를 때 (2019) Korean

Jung Kyung Ho, Park Sung Woong, Lee Seol, Lee El

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A+

If nothing else, I loved the soundtrack. One thing I love about most music dramas is that the OST quality is much better, not always, but this time it certainly was. I have been listening to the songs I bought on repeat since I finished it. I am now a Liver and Gallbladder fan girl too. But the soundtrack wasn't really the only thing I appreciated about the show. It certainly wasn't what I thought it was going to be, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It was just very different. But I did love the connection between music and art and having a soul. Also the concept that someone without a soul can't make music and can't cry.

I'm not actually sure what I expected anymore, but it certainly didn't end up being like that. I knew it was the story about a man who sold his soul to the devil. He made a 10 year contract with the devil to be young and successful at songwriting. The twist is that the devil didn't just give him inspiration, but he stole songs from other people to be that inspiration, effectively making Harib (Jung Kyung Ho) an accidental plagiarist. But he did sell his soul for it, so I guess it's not really accidental. Just unknowing. Then we have the devil who is a best a fallen angel. Also as close to a grade 1 soul, who is the most generous person we could meet.

350. The Untamed 陈情令 (2019) Chinese

Xiao Zhan, Wang Yibo

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A+++

Oh my gosh, obsessed! I literally watched it as fast as my schedule would allow, because it is very addictive. I am a bit glad that I waited until it was over (just because I was drama lazy and in a funk in general) because I could binge it as much as I wanted, but I am also a bit sad because I was late to the game and didn't get to join the live tweeting and conversation. I also knew a bit of what was going on because I had followed it so closely on Twitter. But it is totally worth all the hype. I haven't seen such a compelling story line in a while. Also didn't hurt that it was full to the brim with extremely handsome men, the major portion of which were also decent actors (there is also that handful that are not, but whatever, it's fine).

So it is a fantasy cultivation genre, where everyone is an immortal hero in training, so if you've seen any of those types of dramas, you'll be familiar with that, but what I like is that it spins that on it's head, since the story is about the "Untamed Hero" who isn't conventional to this cultivation and it raises the question of what is true. So there is a lot of mob mentality as people fear what they do not know, and also a lot of power hungry jerks who are willing to throw people to the mobs for their own gain. Basically there is a bunch of injustice and you might cry a time or two as crap happens in abundance. But, the storytelling of it makes it worth it. I remember wishing and wondering why certain villains had stayed alive as long as they did, but the pace was nice and there were several different arcs with different villains, so no one villain stayed alive for too long. Just longer than I wanted sometimes.

349. Melo is My Nature 멜로가 체질 (2019) Korean

Chun Woo Hee, Jeon Yeo Bin, Han Ji Eun, Ahn Jae Hong, Gong Myung

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

This was delightful. I love the dynamic between all the characters and especially the four housemate friends. They really captured what true friendship looks like with the way they interacted, or even just how they sat around in a room together. It was beautiful. I also loved all the developing relationships or mending relationships, with the four different couples. I also loved how meta is was, since it was a drama about a couple making a drama. Jin Joo (Chun Woo Hee) was essentially writing about her own life, so at times what was happening around her was represented in her writing process. Including the product placements. It was almost breaking the 4th wall at times as it played up the stereotypes and drama tropes. I actually laughed until I cried at the massage chair product placement scene. It was so perfect.

I loved the development throughout the show. Everything was super natural and progressed at a good pace. So much so that I thought we'd need 20 episodes to wrap up the whole show, but they managed to do it in 16 with a very interesting method, which totally worked, by playing up the meta.

I don't want to say too much without just telling every part that was amazing, but I loved the slice of life quirky humor and real situations, but also how it discusses real issues (like breaking the fart barrier) and doesn't shy away from being a bit different and meaningful. It was a very pertinent comedy. I really enjoyed it.

346. Before We Get Married 我們不能是朋友 (2019) Taiwanese

Puff Guo, Jasper Liu, Steven Sun, Phoebe Yuan, Nita Xia

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A+

I thought this was going to be an affair drama when I first started it, and the opening credits definitely seemed to confirm that, as well as the first couple of episodes. But the drama changed a lot as it went. Characters changed a lot as we got to know them and their motivations, but also as they grew and interacted with each other. Example: Chu Ke Huan came off as a douche (and borderline rapey even) in the first, maybe, three to four episodes. Li Hao Yi seemed like a nice guy, if not boring. Han Kefei seemed like an annoying and mean friend. But by the end, Ke Huan is clearly a sweetheart and the most observant and understanding guy, Li Hao Yi is an overbearing idiot, and Han Kefei is an MVP. It quickly showed that it wasn't about an affair, it was about character growth and realizing that just because something isn't wrong, or someone isn't bad, doesn't mean they are the right choice either. It's about self-discovery and getting out of a situation that would be eventually toxic, and maybe a potential affair (or should I just say meeting a person you click with more) can be the catalyst to realizing you need a change and need to change yourself. It also helped that Puff and Jasper have AMAZING chemistry. I loved them in Love Myself or You (aka Pleasantly Surprised), so this pairing was the reason I started in the first place. They did not disappoint in that aspect.

347. Go Go Squid 亲爱的，热爱的 (2019) Chinese

Yang Zi, Li Xian, Hu Yi Tian, Lee Hong Chi, Li Ze Feng, Chen Xi Jun, Wang Zhen Er

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A++

I had to see what all the hype was about. I'm admittedly on one of those weird blah watching kicks where I'm not motivated to watch or especially start much of anything, but this manages to hook me fast enough that I kept watching and then I quickly knew exactly what the hype was about. It's super addictive because you really just fall in love with everyone and especially all the relationships. I mean ALL of them. It's just as much about the friendships as it is about the romance. Also, the romance is absolutely fun to watch because it's two super awkward first timers who don't know what they are doing despite the age difference, and to see them bring out the best in each other and struggle to figure out what to do is pretty darn satisfying.

345. WWW: Search 검색어를 입력하세요: WWW (2019) Korean

Lim Soo Jung, Lee Da Hee, Jeon Hye Jin, Chang Ki Yong, Lee Jae Wook, Ji Seung Hyun


Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

I both loved this drama and got bored with it at the same time. I loved the three powerhouse women and their complicated and awesome relationship. I loved seeing them at work and together. For the most part I loved seeing their relationships, but I feel like there could have been less of some of them. In particular, I think they wasted too much time on the Ta Mi and Park Morgan couple, especially since it was a lot of the same things and was the main cause of the show being draggy. I'll be honest, I paid the least amount of attention to all of their scenes. On the other hand, I could have watched much more Hyun-Ji Hwan scenes, and ate up every second of Ga Gyung and her husband. I wouldn't have minded slightly more of them. But, ultimately, I just wanted more of the women being awesome.

This really was the show that we needed, focused on three women in the internet industry because it not only showed women in strong positions and highlighted some of the struggles women in the workforce face, but it also highlighted a newly powerful industry that hasn't really had as much focus: the internet search engines. Showing how much political and social power search engines have today was super fascinating, from the real time search trends, to social media and vlogging. Showing how it could destroy lives, cover scandals, or shoot someone to sudden fame was really interesting. I especially loved the constant discussion of ethics on the internet and how search engines need to be non-biased and impartial, fighting even the government to protect the privacy of the users.

343. Angel's Last Mission: Love 단, 하나의 사랑 (2019) Korean

Shin Hye Sun, Kim Myung Soo, Lee Dong Gun, Kim Bo Mi, Do Ji Won, Kim In Kwon

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A++

I think this show might be more fully appreciated if you happen to be a Myung Soo fan, which I am. I was sucked right in because of him. I love him and fully acknowledge he isn't the best actor, but I was super impressed with him in this. He is definitely getting better, which I love. Another you just have to know from the start is that it's one of those impossible situations full of forbidden love, so it's going to be a cry fest at times and then fall apart at the end because the set up make a happy ending that makes sense almost impossible. That is, it's possible, but the writers seemed to not want to use logic, so it kind of got weird at the end. But Myung Soo still made it worth it for me. Also, Lee Dong Gun. I love him. I especially love how he can be the second male lead/antagonist/villain and still rock it, being lovably loathsome, etc. Not that his character here was loathsome, he was an antagonist at best. But he rocked it, despite the writing of his character being weird. Like motivation-wise.  Basically the writing wasn't terrible, but it went downhill a bit as the drama progressed and went to pot by the end.

342. The Secret Life of My Secretary 초면에 사랑합니다 (2019) Korean

Kim Young Kwang, Jin Ki Joo, Kim Jae Kyung, Koo Ja Sung

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

How did I forget to review this when I first finished it? I loved this drama and was completely lost when I finished it because I didn't know what to watch! I totally love watching anything with Kim Young Kwang in it, but he really was made for this role. Or this role was made for him? He shined like he never has before in this. I loved it. And now I'm a super fan of Jin Ki Joo too. She's so cute and great in this. I thought she did a super job too. And most importantly, they had the best chemistry, which for a romantic comedy, is super important.

But what makes this drama so delightful was that it wasn't a classic love triangle. I hate love triangles, they are so overdone. They are so badly done half the time too. So having two couples to love was absolutely wonderful. I absolutely loved Veronica Park. Kim Jae Kyung did a fantastic job making a lovable, over-the-top, MVP, rich girl who really was one of the smartest people in the show, even if she didn't mean (or want) to be. I loved her romance, I loved the friendship, both with Gal Hee and her little sister, she was just fabulous!

338. Her Private Life 그녀의 사생활 (2019) Korean

Park Min Young, Kim Jae Wook, Ahn Bo Hyun, Kim Bo Ra, Park Jin Joo

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

I think the only thing that sold this show for me was the OTP. Ryan Gold and Sung Deok Mi were #relationshipgoals. They were the most mature and well grounded couple in the history of rom-coms. They talked things out, supported each other, and were just generally super cute. That being said, there really wasn't much else to the plot. Nothing was super compelling, and because our couple was so good at working things out, nothing was a huge deal and was resolved in the same episode. Mind. Blown.


I even started calling it: Ryan Golded. When the previews make it seem like a trope is going to happen and it's going to cause the usual drama, but instead they solve it in a logical and swift manner so it's not even a problem. Dramas would be a lot shorter if everyone took this approach. But because of that, I do think that it was a bit less compelling than some. Maybe we're all just so used to a bit of makjang/horror/melodrama/any other genre being thown into our rom-coms that the lack of a strong plot or even something compelling, made it a bit boring. I was literally just having a conversation with the t-list about this. But I don't think it was the ridiculous drama that was missing, they tried to throw that in a couple of times and we didn't like it (I'm looking at you, episode 15), I just think that the plot wasn't very strong to begin with. It was a series of little instances that all centered around a group of people, with the OTP at the head.

339. My Fellow Citizens 국민 여러분 (2019) Korean

Choi Siwon, Lee Yoo Young, Kim Min Jung, Tae In Ho, Kim Eui Sung

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

While I loved this one a lot, I also think it could have been better. I loved those moments where the couple became a power couple, working together to track down and catch the bad guys. He had the conman brains and she was the muscle that made the thugs run. It was awesome. But, that didn't happen as much as I wanted, and a lot of the show was full of instead their marital problems caused by the fact that he was lying to her about being a conman and felt super guilty about it. The driving force of the show was that he would do anything to keep her from finding out, because then, being a cop, she would probably leave him.

So, with that being said, it was still super fun. It was a political comedy, the romance was very secondary because they get married at the beginning, so obviously there isn't going to be that "will they won't they" aspect. There is just the "will she actually figure it out this episode" aspect of it. That was also a strong point, because then it could focus completely on the comedy, and really everyone was funny.