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.

255. Suspicious Partner 수상한 파트너 (2017) Korean

Ji Chang Wook, Nam Ji Hyun, Choi Tae Joon, Nara

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A+

Okay!  Here we have a solid middle candidate for how well we liked the four early summer dramas we watched together.  While this one started off fairly solid, it had problems in the middle.  I also really wanted to know how DF got that the plot was about a murderer with amnesia, because that didn't happen until way later and not enough for it to be the main plot point.  It was confusing (how did they know!?!).  The first couple of episodes, setting up the premise of her being framed for murder, were great.  The draggy part in the middle where Bong Hee's favorite line was "나 때문에!" and running away from Ji Wook... not so great.  It got old really fast.  Which was sad, because as a character she was the the best at first, but she became the worst by the end.

You know who was the best the entire time?  MANTIS!  I am pretty in love with Dong Ha.  He is a pretty amazing actor.  From Last to Chief Kim, he's proven he can be anyone and show such emotion with such subtle expressions.  This one was no exception.  How could he such a sympathetic and complicated person AGAIN?!?  He was what I watched for as soon as he came on, especially when the times got draggy.

Another surprise favorite was Choi Tae Joon, who was so annoying in Missing Nine, but so great in this.  I love this actor, but his character as murderous Tae Ho was a little much, but he was just an adorable loving puppy in this one, and from his fake annoying laugh to his actual good advice, he was the best.  I did think his story got a little shafted, but since I loved him, I forgave it.

Oh, and obviously Ji Chang Wook was unreasonably hot, cute and gave the best cuddle hugs.

The good part was that the ending totally made up for the slowness in the middle.  It wrapped up well, and with a decent twist, and then gave us a good denouement that was just cute and perfect after all the craziness.  It was a nice change, after some other dramas left us with a sour taste and ridiculous ending (still crying over Lookout).  This is a decently cute and fun murder romcom.  It's hard to do, but in the end, I guess it worked out, if you can forgive the middle stupidity.

238. Seven First Kisses 첫 키스만 일곱번째 (2016) Korean

Lee Cho Hee, Choi Ji Woo, Lee Joon Ki, Park Hae Jin, Ji Chang Wook, Kai, Ok Taecyeon, Lee Jong Suk, Lee Min Ho

Drama Rating: 4/10     Neck Score: A++++

Ok, so we all knew what this was before we started it, right?  A web drama commercial where a bunch of hot oppas were a little bit more of sell outs than normal for a CF.  But the good thing about it was that it was also a parody of all the drama genres and styles, because you can't take it seriously and I don't think it took itself seriously and definitely none of the actors did.  So it's a fun way to do a CF and its definitely a good way to look at the hot boys, so win-win?  It's ridiculous and hilarious.  So now here is a summary of what I thought of all the different stories:

Lee Joon Ki- creepy stalker who got away with it because he's the sexiest man alive.  I really think he got shafted by being first because it made his "first love/loved from afar" story line come off as creepy and stalkerish.  Especially the part where he has a slideshow of all his stalker pics he took of her.  That aside, he was probably one of the more swoon worthy oppas in the show.
Park Hae Jin- Tsundere boss?  Workaholic?  His story was one of the ones that made more sense, since it was just more natural since he was the boss character.  We also got lots of lovely forearm shots, and his swoony smile, so overall good.
Ji Chang Wook- Spy.  I kind of love how they typecasted everyone to their most famous roles.  Park Hae Jin was the tsundere/slightly creepy until you realize what is going on, and Ji Chang Wook was Healer again.  They went through all the thriller/spy stereotypes too, and it was hilarious.
Kai- the most awkward ever.  Kai = no acting.  Kai's hair = yuck.  It was just awkward, the whole time.  He was the tutoring student, so it was another squirrely, awkward noona romance.  And it was worse because there was zero chemistry on his part.  Just awkward.
Ok Taecyeon- absolutely hilarious.  He was the chaebol makjang character, and it was amazing.  I was just laughing the whole time.  The water slap, the kelp slap, the evil bitca, the evil mother, the birth secrets, it was hilarious and adorable.
Lee Jong Suk- this one was probably the most logical of all, as he was himself, filming a CF with her, and they were adorable together.  It was the one that was probably the most natural.  She also seemed to have good chemistry with him as well.
Lee Min Ho- was that even an episode?  I did like how awkward this one was, because she was assuming it was like all the others, and acting all full of herself, and everyone was like wut?  But then it was like just awkward the whole time, and Lee Min Ho's was like "what am I doing here?  Why did I agree to this?" the whole time too.  So this one doesn't even count.  It's just pure awkwardness.  Plus, he didn't even get an attempted kiss, so what is this 7 kisses thing?  It was like 6 1/2 first kisses.

Okay, so now, if I had to pick one of them to be my "kiss" choice, I would probably chose them in this order: 1. Lee Jong Suk, 2. Park Hae Jin (Hae Jin and Jong Suk might just be tied for first), 3. Lee Joon Ki (3rd now because of how stalkerish his story was), 4. Ji Chang Wook, 5. Ok Taecyeon- because I say no to that kind of drama in real life, 6. Lee Min Ho- because he's at least close to my age, 7. Kai- because that kind of awkward noona romance is a no.  This is probably a good indication as well of how sexy they were too, strongly based on the story lines as well.

And rating them based solely on their endings might put it at: 1. Ok Taecyeon-his ending was just too hilarious, 2. Lee Joon Ki- because his ending made his story much cuter 3. Ji Chang Wook- because his ending was bad-a, 4. Lee Jong Suk, 5. Park Hae Jin- both closely following the others in cuteness, 6. Lee Min Ho- because he didn't have an ending, 7. Kai- because his ending added nothing.

I could probably also rate them on how cute their BTS videos were, but that is just being silly (but Joon Ki was adorable in his) and basically just rating how much I love all these boys in real life (which would probably be a different post entirely).  So I will not, but they are worth watching (except I didn't bother watching Kai's).

Don't regret watching this.  It's pure fan fiction, so just indulge and enjoy.

Healer: The Best Drama We've Seen in a Really Long Time

Those feels!  No!  I'm going to miss this drama like I've never missed a drama before.  Why?  Because it was pretty much the perfect drama.  It was so good!

Not that I need to give any more reasons why, but because I'm going to miss it so much, I thought I would relive all the glorious moments that made Lizabreff cry and made this my new favorite drama.

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.

Healer: Abs in the First Episode, Sign Me On!

Why did I start this one right away?  Now I'm really struggling with the whole waiting thing.  This one had me hooked from episode one, and not because of this:

Although I am totes ok with him showing off his abs in the first couple of minutes.  What really grabbed me was the premise, with his Night Courier and his whole spy mercenary type deal and this messy web of relationships.  Super cool and fun.

10. Bachelor's Vegetable Store 총각네 야채가게 (2011-2012) Korean

Ji Chang Wook, Wang Ji Hye, Kim Young Kwang

Drama Rating: 1.5/10     Neck Score: B

I didn't finish this one.  There is a good chance I wont ever.  The.mom.is.literally.insane.  Seriously.  She's not just an evil mom in the typical sense, she is also certifiably insane.  I went through all this heartbreaking as kids crap and then I had to deal with it again when they were older. The moment the mom came to a full realization of what was going on and made her cray cray face, that was it.  I had to stop.  But all the mens in it are so sweet and good looking.  What might make me come back, despite by better judgement, is Kwang Soo Oppa.  His part isn't big enough to really justify this, but we all do crazy things for our oppas.