219. Cinderella and Four Knights 신데렐라와 네 명의 기사 (2016) Korean

Park So Dam, Jung Il Woo, Ahn Jae Hyun, Lee Jung Shin, Son Na Eun, Choi Min

Drama Rating: 4/10     Neck Score: A

Fluff.  Fluff that turned into crap.  Well, it was already pretty crappy fluff, but it was just nonsense by the end.  The biggest problem: the pacing, which is really a writing problem.  They had Ji Woon (Jung Il Woo) being Emo Boy for too long.  Then they gave us exactly five scenes of them being cute together, so they would have something to constantly repeat in all those mopey flashback sequences, before ripping them apart again.  Then they had random corporate drama thrown in at the end, trying to change the genre of the drama, but it was magically solved in two seconds, because it was the last episode and it had to.  To make this all worse, this show was pre-produced, so they had time to make it better.  They had time to write it well and edit it well, but they didn't, and so it remains crap.  The great thing about it was that there were good moments.  Jung Il Woo is like the king of cutsy, so when our OTP was being cute, boy were they being cute.  But like I said, it was only like five scenes.  Also, we had to endure him being emo for too long so his cutesy potential was limited.  Park So Dam is like the cutest thing ever.  I love her and think she is a great actor.  Of course they had to mess up her character with bad writing at the end, but she acted it consistently well.  Ahn Jae Hyun was born to play a butt head.  Lee Jung Shin is adorable.  Choi Min is a sexy man, especially in those double breasted suits.  Mmmmm.  Worst parts of the show.  That mopey girl, Son Na Eun.  She made Ahn Jae Hyun look like he could act good.  She's runner up for the stoneface award, but she has her one talent.  Lame crying while sewing, or just while blankly staring into a distance not worth staring into.  There was also way too many plot holes.  Why didn't anyone ever believe in DNA tests?  You'd think that this would be the first thing you'd do.  So much drama could have been avoided!  But then what would they have done for 16 episodes?  Haha, it was so bad, but still strangely enjoyable to watch, but only if you are making fun of it the whole time and/or a huge fan of Jung Il Woo.  I might fit into both of those categories...

169. Twenty Again 두번째 스무살 (2015) Korean

Choi Ji Woo, Lee Sang Yoon, Choi Won Young, Kim Min Jae, Son Na Eun

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

It is a bit ridiculous how long it took me to watch this.  That was not because I didn't like it, but because I was watching it with Lizabreff's mom, and let's be honest, moms are busy.  So after it became apparent that she probably couldn't finish it with me and me being on a dearth of shows I actually wanted to watch, I finished it without her.  I really needed a show like this right now, so it was no surprise that after I started watching it alone I finished it in like two or three days (I think we had only watched like 6 episodes together).  This show is cute.  Well, basically Lee Sang Yoon, aka Dimples, was cute.  The show was also cute.  I loved how it was about Ha No Ra (Choi Ji Woo) learning to be her again, realizing what she had lost and what she could still gain.  I loved the things that she never regretted and the things that totally pissed her off.  Also, it made me want to eat ddeokbokki.  I also really loved how her son's college experience was almost a foil for her own life and how he too had to learn things about himself, his mom, and what he needed to do with his own life.  There was a lot of learning and growing that was awesome.  There was also a bunch of hilariously adorable Dimples being petty, jealous, and ridiculous.  It was so much fun to watch.  I want one of those, please.  I also have to give a slow clap for Choi Won Young for being an amazing actor and playing her idiot, narcissistic husband so well.  I love that actor, but he was thoroughly loathable in this show.  Good job.  It did get a bit draggy at the end... well the last episode was a little lack luster and anti-climatic.  I think that it was because they wanted to portray a new beginning rather than and ending or happily ever after.  But this made it a little slow and unexciting at the end.  But it was certainly cute right up to the end with a lot of good resolutions.  No weird loose ends.  Yay.