Monday, April 30, 2018

297. Prison Playbook 슬기로운 감빵생활 (2017) Korean

Park Hae Soo, Jung Kyoung Ho, Krystal Jung, Lim Hwa Young, Kim Kyung Nam

Drama Rating: 9.5     Neck Score: A

I started this much later than most people because I had to wait for it to come out on Netflix, and then by the time it did I had half forgotten it and was too busy. But everyone kept talking about it, and going on about how much the loved it, and could watch the antics of the Cell 2-6 boys for another season, so I kept it high on my list. I didn't 100% believe that I would fall in love with everyone to that extent. But how right everyone was. It maybe took me a couple of episodes, but especially by the end I was watching them with every minute I could space. It was hard, because the episodes are longer than an hour. Some being closer to 2 hours. But it is so worth it. I really could watch another season of my babies.

Omo! The feels! I have never cared so much about a cast of characters! My babies! No! Don't hurt my babies! They were all in prison for a reason, and yet I cared about them so much. Everyone was lovable. Even people you didn't think would be. From the prisoners to the guards to the family members. Everyone was just so lovable.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

295. Laughter in Waikiki 으라차차 와이키키 (2018) Korean

Kim Jung Hyun, Lee Yi Kyung, Son Seung Won, Jung In Sun, Go Won Hee, Lee Joo Woo

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A+

No! Waikiki is over! I miss it already! I haven't laughed that hard and that consistently for a long, long time. The show was the perfect combo of all the kinds of humor. Physical to situational. Even when you thought that you could predict what was coming, it still surprised with how funny they carried it out. They were all masters of comedic timing, physical comedy, and the awkward. It was the best.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

298. You're My Pet きみはペット (2017) Japanese

Noriko Iriyama, Jun Shison, Terunosuke Takezai, Yurina Yanagi, Kayo Noro

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A+++

I'm not quite sure how to start this. I watched the Korean movie version of this a while ago... twice... so obviously this adaptation made me super curious. It was much better, in fact. Partially because it has more time to develop the plot and characters, but also because that kid was just perfect for the role (although I have nothing against Jang Geun Suk). He made the perfect Momo. That perfect combo of cute puppy and suddenly sexy.

Friday, March 30, 2018

286. Witch's Court 마녀의 법정 (2017) Korean

Jung Ryeo Won, Yoon Hyun Min, Jeon Kwang Leol, Kim Yeo Jin

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A+++

We finally watched it! And I'm so glad we did! We started watching it around the time it came out as our girls night with my sister, however the first two episodes proved more than we wanted her kids to see, so we had to choose a different one for that. (We ended up watching Two Cops). So as soon as we finished one of the other dramas we were already watching we started again, and it was amazing.

I love it because it is about her and it stayed about her. In fact while they had a good partnership, Fish Bangs (Yoon Hyun Min) had more of the role that the female leads usually get, the "Man Candy" if you will. I loved their relationship. They were so good for each other. The writing was so strong from start to finish. It was full of wonderful character development, especially for Ma Yi Deum, our wonderful leading lady. Jung Ryeo Won did amazing in it. She deserves all the awards!

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

290. Two Cops 투깝스 (2017) Korean

Jo Jung Suk, Hyeri, Kim Sun Ho

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A+

I don't know how we were so talented at forgetting what was going on in this show every week. We didn't watch it while it was going, but we did watch it once a week on schedule for our girl's night with my sister, and it was surprisingly forgettable. I liked it when it was going, but it wasn't very compelling. The parts that gripped me the most were the bromance (naturally) and the second couple. I loved the second couple. They were my OTP... well, if the bromance wasn't the OTP for reals. We especially forgot that Hyeri was in it, because she really wasn't important to the plot at all. In the second half especially because that's when the true drama began. When it became about the bromance instead of the love triangle.

So the plot wasn't bad or anything, it was that the writing was pretty sloppy. Not super bad, just all over the place. This made it hard to follow, easy to forget, and not very compelling. They were too draggy with the whole partnership thing. It took them half the drama to figure out how the possessing part worked. They didn't trust each other for forever, and fought all the time. This just made it less watchable.

But I have to give mad props to Jo Jung Suk for pulling off both characters so well. You knew that it was Gong Soo Chang in Cha Dong Tak's body. It was beautiful. He was amazing. I really loved Maknae (Kim Sun Ho) as the spirit of Gong Soo Chang as well. All I wanted the whole time was for them to be partners and the bromance to be real. It took way too long, but when it happened, it was awesome. It kind of made up for everything else.

We also all struggled with the endless scenes of the bad guys talking in the sashimi restaurant. Literally every time the Blueberry Tart (my name for that pie faced villain) was on the screen I zoned out. It didn't help that my sister's kids were constantly distracting me, but it is much harder to want to pay attention if the bad guy gets too many boring sashimi restaurant scenes. It did spark a realization though. You know someone is the villain when they hold their meetings in the private room of a sashimi restaurant. Only villains and corrupt politicians eat there. Good guys all eat samgyeopsal at BBQ places (unless the boss is buying the beef).

You know who else stole the show? Lee Si Eon as Yong Pal the gangster. I never thought he was not good looking or anything but dang he was sexy as Yong Pal! The gangster style suited him with the bright colors and sexy slicked back hair. He rocked the thick fur collars like a boss! He and his boys were the highlight of the show at times. He's the best! Avengers for the win!

So maybe if you have more patience and focus this would be a better show, because like I said, our main two boys were amazing and it was good for the most part, it's just that the pacing and writing held them back for so long. It was a good halfway through the show before the actual plot happened. They became a team, they started focusing on the real case instead of a bunch of little ones like a serial would, and then magic happened. Bros before anything else!

The ending was almost lame. They did try to throw some mopiness in the last episode. No one wants that. But I would say that the very end was nice enough that I forgave the rest of it. It was never horrible, just hard to get into. I've never forgotten about a drama so much, and we faithfully watched like once a week. It was super strange. So a solid meh? A "shug it was okay?" I liked it, but it didn't love it. I guess I was just not that into it, it's fine. That bromance though.

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Women Who Make Me Watch Dramas Against My Will: Ahjumma Edition

So, it was recently international women's day, and I was busy all day. Oh well. But I thought that I could at least celebrate it late with the next installment of Women Who Make Me Watch Dramas Against My Will, and no better edition than the one dedicated to the ahjumma.


Whether they play the moms (evil or good), the aunties, the neighborhood ahjumma, or the bad-a mentors, these ahjumma are like the backbone of the drama world. A show is always going to be better with a well placed ahjumma. I realized going into this that it is an infinite list, because there are so many wonderful ahjumma in the world. So I had to try really hard to narrow it down and put my personal top favorites. The cream of the crop in my opinion.


Wednesday, March 7, 2018

288. Hwayugi 화유기 (2018) Korean

Lee Seung Gi, Cha Seung Won, Oh Yeon Seo, Lee Hong Ki

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A+

Why does it have to be a thing when the Hong Sisters have a really great, funny drama that you're all invested in and then when it comes to the climax it's underwhelming and then takes a nosedive to mediocre in the last few episodes? Why does that have to be a consistent thing?! It's like they paint themselves into a corner they can't get out of without a bunch of crap happening. I hated the last few episodes of Master's Sun and Big. I think I may have even mentioned this in the review for The Greatest Love (which is one of the few that doesn't fall into that trap). Hwayugi is no exception. By the last episode we were not having it, it was boring and unnecessary, and we only made it through it through cracking jokes about how boring and lame it was. No one wants a series worth of mopiness shoved into the last episode. What makes it worse is that it was so good up until the last bit, where it fell flat on its face. So good that I probably would have given it an 8, but the ending knocked it down a whole point, and I had to think hard on the rest of the show to give it a 7. It almost went as low as a 6, that is how lame the ending was.