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.

284. Bride of the Water God 하백의 신부 2017 (2017) Korean

Nam Joo Hyuk, Shin Se Kyung, Lim Ju Hwan, Krystal, Gong Myung

Drama Rating: 4/10     Neck Score: A+

I wasn't going to watch this one, because it was obviously going to be not amazing.  But I kept watching all the clips and spoilers about it, and hearing about it from others, that I thought I would give it a chance.  Plus, I was having Gong Myung withdraws after Revolutionary Love finished, so I need to see it.  Plus, as everyone said, it's got a lot of pretty in it.  That's pretty much all it had in it.  It's rare to see something so fabulously bad as this.  It wasn't just because the actors were not the best.  I've seen Nam Joo Hyuk and Shin Se Kyung do decently well before, just not in this drama.  Although neither of them were so terrible that I wanted to cry or die even (most of the time), they were both not on their form at all and left much to be desired.  Really it was a combination of bad acting, directing, and writing.  I blame the writing the most for my lack of enjoyment.  It was just so bad, I didn't feel connected to the people who should.  I didn't care about the people I should, it was all just a big mess.  A big, pretty mess.

So, my biggest problem is that I just didn't care about the plot of the drama.  It just wasn't compelling to me at all.  In fact, I was probably watching it for all the wrong reasons, because I was way more compelled by the secondary couples and antagonist than the main couple.  It probably wasn't the best idea to watch a drama for Gong Myung when he wasn't even really in the first four episodes.  But he remained one of my favorites in all the other episodes.  I also related and cared about Lim Ju Hwan's character and story way more than anyone else.  So here is a list of the things I liked and cared about:

279. Revolutionary Love 변혁의 사랑 (2017) Korean

Choi Si Won, Kang So Ra, Gong Myung, Lee Jae Yoon

Drama Rating: 5/10     Neck Score: A++

This one was a sad disappointment because it had potential in both theme and the cast of characters, but it was written so badly that it became a joke.  The one thing it did great on was character development.  It was the selling point of this drama for me, and why I kept watching.  It never got super bad.  It just got so unbearably cheesy that it was impossible.  It was super sloppy in the execution, and the love story was practically not there, which is why Curdy was constantly having second lead syndrome for Gong Myung.  Can you blame her?  I cannot.  I am in love with him too.  I might have finally started Bride of the Water God just to see more Gong Myung, because I miss him already.  It probably didn't help that Kang So Ra just didn't have romantic chemistry with Siwon and she totally did with Gong Myung.  It's like she was Siwon's noona the whole time (like she dated his hyung Leeteuk and never got over the siblings relationship, haha).  I believed that Byun Hyuk was in love with Baek Joon, but we never really knew how she felt, and I would have believed right up until the very end that she could possibly end up with Jae Hoon.  But, as I liked to point out, the opening only shows the three of them being friends, so that it what is important, right?

I really loved how Byun Hyuk started out as a worthless chaebol who always caused problems and Jae Hoon had to clean up after him, but by the end he was a revolutionary force for good.  The progression from worthless, clueless pup to a hero of reform is a fairly natural one too, so that it's a gradual thing, and he learns from each experience.  I loved that part.  But sadly, they put all the effort into the character development (which I love) that they had no idea how to wrap it up or even move the most basic plot along.  I thought they gave Jae Hoon (Gong Myung) a decent character arc as well, we got to see why he was the way he was and were given plausible reasons for him to change, and then saw him change too.  I feel like Baek Joon got the least development, because she started off pretty great and her changes were more minor, but that doesn't mean they weren't there.  She went from having no hope, but being driven by her experiences to wanting to make plans and decisions, even if they mean completely changing her focus in life.  Still decent development.

254. Drinking Solo 혼술남녀 (2016) Korean

Ha Seok Jin, Park Ha Sun, Hwang Woo Seul Hye, Min Jin Woong, Kim Won Hae, Gong Myung, Key, Jung Chae Yeon, Kim Dong Young

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

I started this for Key, straight up.  I had heard good things.  I don't remember why I didn't watch it when it came out.  I remember Lizabreff was really excited for it, but we just never got around to watching it.  Which is weird.  But then I started watching it without her, which is also weird.  But that's what happened.  I was not disappointed.  Ki Bum was the best part of the whole show.  Di ro ri!  I'm pretty sure he's my spirit animal.  I mean, I guess Ha Seok Jin was a bonus... JK, I loved everyone in this whole show.  There was no one that I didn't like, and that was the beauty of it.  It was about people.  Flawed people who are dealing with a lot of crap.  We have the exam school teachers, who all have their own struggles, and the students, who are living under the cloud of the civil service exams and having to study all day every day.  So everyday someone is going to be drinking solo, for some reason, good or bad.  Or Ha Seok Jin will just drink solo every day because he's high quality trash and it's his time of "healing."  The show is basically advocating alcohol, but trying to also promote healthy drinking habits.  Really, I was all about those "high quality" snacks during all those drinking scenes.  They made me so hungry and jealous.  I loved how the characters all developed well and how I cared about everyone's story.  I was shipping everyone, even if I knew they were bound to be alone, because they were the second male lead.  Everyone had their times of being sad, but it usually wasn't stupid, it was realistic.  Only sometimes it was stupid.  Then everyone ended fairly happy, which is also good.  It was a good ending, although the last episode was so long that I am dead tired now because I stayed up too late to finish it.  It was a little slow paced, but there were a lot of loose ends to tie in the last episode.  I felt like they gave all the other characters besides the main couple more time to resolve, but since I loved them all that only seemed slightly weird.  They were trying to leave it open, I know, but it was a bit too open maybe?  I don't know.  It was still good, just too long for after midnight.  This noona is getting too old for that.