212. Thumping Spike 두근두근 스파이크 (2016) Korean

Hwang Seung Eon, Song Jae Rim, Lee Tae Hwan

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

I shouldn't be allowed to watch sports dramas, haha.  I have to admit I watched this one purely to the eye candy.  It was way too long for that reason.  I mean, Rim and Puppy were super hot, as well as all the other volleyball players, but the plot was so drawn out.  I don't care about sports enough and to me all sports shows are exactly alike.  We have the underdog team who are last place.  We have the star athlete who is down on her luck because of an injury.  We have the romance between the athlete and the star player of the team which starts out as a love/hate relationship.  We have administration who wants to abolish the team.  Sound familiar?  It's the plot of every single sports show ever.  I did like how she had to be the coach because she beat up Puppy in the men's room.  I also liked how even though he was a high schooler, Rim was not a minor.  Although making him 20 was a stretch.  He was way too sexy and savvy to be 20.  Like knowing how to kiss, etc.  He also acted very oppa around her, like he couldn't turn off the fact that he's older than her in real life.  The representative of the company was super gross and smarmy and they couldn't make up their minds whether he and his secretary were completely bad or not.  But he was shudder nasty every time he was on the screen.  We watched it all in one sitting, which was a mistake because I increasingly would stop caring with each episode.  Also, it increasingly got cheesier every episode, up until that amazing fly through the air spike that brought them to victory, because that is how every sports drama ends too.  At least the actors did a good job.  Really the only thing that got us through this show was how cute all the boys were and the fact that we were live tweeting it and it was hilarious.

Another List of Men Who Make Me Watch Dramas Against My Will: Flower Boy Edition

This might be the last of this series... I can't think of any more editions, but the Flower Boy edition probably has the strongest motivation of all.  I used to have a huge weakness for flower boys... I still do, but not as much as I used to, and that lead me to watching some horrible, horrible shows, because sometimes even the flower boys can't make up for the silliness... (cough, Nail Shop Paris, cough cough).  Oh these Flower Boys...

I think that there might be more ridiculous shows with flower boys in them than any other handsome type man shows.  There is like a trend for dumb flower boys dramas that have super hot flower boys but no actual plot, or if there is a plot then it's ridiculously overly dramatic and over-the-top.  I mean, Boys Over Flowers is the king of flower boy dramas, so that should tell you something... but then again, all of the actual "flower boy" series are pretty good.  Such as Flower Boy Ramen Shop and Flower Boy Next Door...

143. Unkind Women 착하지 않은 여자들 (2015) Korean

Kim Hye Ja, Chae Shi Ra, Do Ji Won, Lee Ha Na, Lee Soon Jae, Song Jae Rim, Kim Ji Suk

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A

What I liked about this show was that it was about the women, and they were real women who were not afraid to get out there and be mean, and hurt each other, and then make themselves better because they realized that blaming other people just makes things worse and you don't progress, etc.  There were some infuriating parts, and some unrealistic parts, but on the whole I really liked how there was character progression, for pretty much everyone.  I was surprised that one of my least favorite parts was Song Jae Rim's character.  I liked him at first, because he's sexy, but then I realized that his character was a bit annoying and immature and I really hated how they drew out that tension with his romance.  But it's probably more because as sexy as Song Jae Rim is, I am absolutely in love with Kim Ji Suk.  Someday he will get the girl.  Goodness knows his character deserves it 9 times out of 10.  But I really loved how it was about a bunch of women who sunk pretty low on the crappy life scale, for lots of different reasons, and then they all pulled themselves up through their own efforts, and not because some man saved them.  The men were all very secondary in this, and that was perfect.  They were also all pretty sweet (even when they were immature and annoying).  It was a show about women, and it was the women who did everything.  I loved that.  I do have to say though, that the older sister's romance was adorable, and ahjussi was the sweetest man ever and I want a man just like him.  But he didn't solve her problems for her.  He let her be strong, and they worked as a team.  It was great.  And the friendship between the grandma and her "rival" was the cutest thing ever.  It's a great drama, especially if you have a mean sense of humor (which I do) and you think that snarky smack talk is funny (which I do) and you like a lot of character development, which is the best.  Nothing is worse than a static character... especially when it's a lead (and it's typically the female lead- boo sexist writing!) so yay for good character arcs!