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.

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!

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.

When Following Peeps on Instagram Makes You Like Them Less

Following my biases and other Korean and Taiwanese stars on Instagram and Twitter is generally a delight.  Countless hours have been wasted browsing their goofy, cute, and fun posts.  But then there is always the problem of a little TMI.  You get less impressed with them because of what they post.  This has happened to me one too many times to not write about.


It just so happens that the monotony or the stupidity of their posts just annoy us enough to where we end up thinking less of them to even not being able to take them seriously any more.

145. Oh! My Lady 오! 마이 레이디 (2010) Korean

Chae Rim, Choi Siwon, Lee Hyun Woo, Moon Jung Hee, Park Han Byul

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

Omo, Siwon, you bias crusher!  Seriously!  He's just so completely sexy, adorable... everything!  This is a perfectly likable drama because you've got a completely likable and relatable lead, who has super ahjumma powers, and you've got Siwon, one of the sexiest peeps ever.  It's not so much a romance as it is a story about an immature star maturing and becoming a responsible, adorable dad with the help of the best ahjumma ever.  She's confident, quirky, big hearted, not afraid to stand up for herself, and generally just awesome, even if her character was pretty static.  At least she started out at a good point.  Also, that little girl was so cute.  Siwon's kids are totes going to be that adorable.  The end was a little weird.  I think they just kind of derped out trying to finish it.  Since the romance wasn't that strong to begin with, it was a bit blase at the end.  Still good though.  But the other dude.  Boo.  I didn't like him because he was all over the place.  Super self-righteous, prideful, cold and then suddenly good with kids and a nice person/busy body?  Can't keep it together with his wife but will bend over backwards to protect a random ahjumma that he randomly took a liking to?  Wut?  Whatever.  He was annoying, not because he was a bad guy, but because his character made no sense.  Also he was married, and he and his wife were the most frustrating couple in this.  Park Han Byul is the queen bitca.  I seriously think she is the best at playing bitcas because she is so hatable in every role.  Slow clap for her?  Anyways, to the important part.  Siwon's abs, Siwon's smile, Siwon + cutest little girl ever, Siwon's eyebrows, Siwon's decent acting.  This show was good.  Chae Rim was awesome.  Siwon was sexy awesome.  The end.

112. King of Dramas 드라마의 제왕 (2012-2013) Korean

Kim Myung Min, Jung Ryeo Won, Choi Siwon, Oh Ji Eun

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

This show was so great up until the last two episodes, and then it was just eh.  Not as bad as some, but I just didn't really pay attention to the last two because I had been informed that they were pretty lame.  It's a drama about people making a drama, so it's very behind the scenes and very, very meta.  Seriously makes fun of the industry at all levels.  I am so glad that I waited to watch this until after I was well seasoned, because I am sure that it was much funnier to me because of that.  Best part- Siwon!!!!  Seriously.  Siwon is a bias crusher.  He played his part so well.  He's like the younger version Doko Jin (Cha Seung Won's character in Greatest Love) and I loved every moment that he was on screen.  So funny, so perfect, and when he got his hair cut, so drastically handsome too.  I also loved PD Joo.  We probably shouted "PD Joo!" every time that guy came on screen.  Loved him, he was so cute.  Didn't love the turtlenecks that he kept on wearing though.  I think pretty much all the good people were awesome and amazing.  Lee Go Eun was awesome.  She was one of the best female leads ever.  Especially once she could read Anthony Kim.  Perfect.  I will admit that this drama gave me some serious anxiety, because it was chiefly about a writer, and every time they pulled crap on her and messed with her writing I would get so angry.  Grr.  The villains of the piece were super hateful most of the time.  So glad we got past them.  So basically, it was an awesome show and then the last two episodes were like eh, way sloppier than the rest of the show.  Mostly the very last episode.  I don't think it needed to be extended at all, but whatever.  It was pretty cleverly written before that, and having watched the kind of crap that drama writers have to go through, I might be a little more merciful... for a while.