189. My Daughter, Geum Sa Wol 내 딸 금사월 (2015) Korean

Baek Jin Hee, Yoon Hyun Min, Park Se Young, Do Sang Woo, Jeon In Hwa, Son Chang Min

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

This show is long, overly dramatic, and ridiculous, and I loved it.  I guess sometimes you just have to watch 50 episodes of cray cray.  I was so entertaining to see all the craziness.  I especially loved telling Lizabreff about all the crazy things that were happening, because she couldn't even handle hearing them.  She'd look at confused and weirded out, wondering how there could be that much ridiculousness in one show.  I mean there were 51 episodes, but there was enough crazy for at least five shows shoved into this one.  The bad peeps are just so bad.  They kind of boggle my mind at how entitled they think they are.  They can't fathom someone getting revenge on them for the nasty things they have done in the past.  They are outright offended at their getting their just desserts, and then they act as if the law couldn't possibly apply to them.  In fact they are the perfect bad peeps to make you super happy and excited to see their demise.  You just can't wait to see them get what they deserve.  But then it's also about stopping the cycle of revenge.  But whatever.  I watched it for Fish Bangs, and I don't regret it at all.  In fact, I loved every second he was on screen.  Sadly, the crap had to happen to make him act dumb for a while, but he was one of the most likable chaebol leads I've seen in a while.  I also just laughed as I saw Son Chang Min act out the villain.  Even he couldn't take his character seriously.  I loved all of the senseless growling he did, because his character was that crazy.  Well, it looked like he was enjoying himself, even if he is a better actor than that role was written.  The worst part was probably how easily the bad peeps were able to bounce back every time.  It's like no one took anything against them seriously.  They were all like cockroaches.  Indestructible to a ridiculous point.  But then, so was Hong Do.  Baked Potato must have almost died like five times in the course of the show.  That's the kind of ridiculousness that was going on.  We even wrote a song about it.  But if you want something overly dramatic and entertainingly so, this is definitely that.  I loved watching it.  It was just pure dramatic entertainment.

188. Moorim School 무림학교 (2016) Korean

Lee Hyun Woo, Lee Hong Bin, Seo Yi Ji, Jung Yoo Jin

Drama Rating: 2/10     Neck Score: A+

I think the thing I said most while watching this show was: "What is this drivel?"  This show was nothing but a bunch of pretentious crap.  It was basically a CW show.  It tries so hard to be cool and instead it just looks ridiculous.  I felt so bad for those actors who were actually good.  I wondered how they felt being in such a crappy show.  You know who I'm talking about.  Lee Beom Soo and Shin Hyun Joon.  Why would they ever accept a role in such a lame show?  I even felt sorry for some of the kids who I know can do better if they have a better script and direction.  Like Lee Hyun Woo or Jung Yoo Jin.  Well, actually Jung Yoo Jin was the only kid I actually cared about.  Because of that I wanted her and Hong Bin to be happy together.  I think in terms of actual character growth and development, Hong Bin's character was the most interesting... and frustrating.  Everyone else was kind of boring.  Well, the entire script and plot was just lame crap anyway, so that's not saying much.  And with Hong Bin's acting abilities still being baby, there was plenty of ridiculousness.  Also, I don't even know what to say about how bad the martial arts were.  If they were going to do a show about a martial arts school, could they have please just hired martial artists to do those parts, if not the whole show?  Everything made me cringe and laugh because it was so bad.  Especially the teachers.  Most of them just came off as pretentious losers.  Boy this show was lame and boring.  I couldn't even pretend to care.  The only time I enjoyed watching it was as I was mocking it profusely.  Then at least I had something to laugh about.  But then the ending was so cheesy that it made me want to barf even as I laughed.  So it was boring, boring, barf cheesy!

Jung Hwan Syndrome: Why I'm Done With Love Triangles

I've never actually liked love triangles.  Why would I like that level of uncertainty in a show that I came to see a romance in?  Love triangles aren't romance, they are lame.  I suppose I tolerated them as a necessary evil in all K-dramas, but there are different types of love triangles.

The kind that is most tolerable for me is the one where even though there is a second male lead, you know that he never really had a chance and that he really isn't an issue, but is a bit annoying or makes the male lead actually act instead of being a scaredy cat bum or whatever.  The type I hate the most is the one who for some reason gets way too much screen time and makes the love story plot weak and disconnected.  I'm all about a reasonable build and flow that makes sense and allows me to build the right kind of feels instead of last minute forcing them down my throat.  Does this make it a little formulaic?  Maybe, but at least I am seeing the romance I want blossoming.

More K-Dreamland Adventures with Marlubs and Lizabreff: Hello 2016 Dreams!

So far 2016 has been good to us in the K-dream department.  So many good dreams featuring our favorite K-pop and K-drama stars.  Apparently there is nothing more validating and helpful than a superstar K-pop group telling us we are awesome and amazing, or having a K-superstar saving us from gangsters.

Hurray for the best kinds of dreams.

Wake Up! Geum Sa Wol's Impromptu Jam Session

Now that Geum Sa Wol is over (even though I'm still waiting for the last episodes to get freakin subbed- come on Viki!) this is the perfect time to unearth an amazing creation that happened as I was watching the first 5 min of episode 20 of My Daughter, Geum Sa Wol.

Lizabreff's dongsaeng was over, playing on my guitar while waiting to get picked up from our house, and she came downstairs right as I started watching episode 20.  She's totally into K-dramas too, so I ended up having to pause and explain to her what was going on.  This turned into magic.

185. Cheese In The Trap 치즈 인 더 트랩 (2016) Korean

Park Hae Jin, Kim Go Eun, Seo Kang Joon, Lee Sung Kyung

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

Problem #1: I started this show 100% for Park Hae Jin.  Problem #2: The PD is an idiot or something and cut all of Hae Jin Oppa's scenes out.  Problem #3: that gave Freaky Eyes (Seo Kang Joon) too much screen time.  I actually thought he was pretty likable in this show, but why are we wasting so much time on the 2nd male lead?  It makes no sense, the PD must be crazy.  Problem #4: After episode 6 this show stopped making sense and being likable at all.  It was like stuck in a loop of not progressing and being overly dramatic that made me very sad.  I started getting less and less interested in the drama as it went, and every preview made me want to watch the next episode even less.  I finally found the webtoon in English, hoping it would make me like the show again, but it made me hate the show more, because the webtoon actually made sense and was infinitely better than the show.  It made me angry that the show kept getting farther and farther from the webtoon, shafting my leading man and making no sense ever.  So upsetting.  What makes this more upsetting is that the show gripped me in the first episode.  I was already excited for Park Hae Jin, but the show itself was interesting and different, and then it went to the same old lame stuff while also being ridiculous.  I mean, who cuts the male lead out of the show?  That makes no sense.  The character was complex enough without it being further misinterpreted without enough screen time.  The editing also made the once interesting female lead character of Seol into the typical boring, confused, pushover girl for most of the second half too.  She still had good moments, but they were just moments.  Problem #5: that was the most lame-a ending in the history of once good shows.  Well, it was right up there anyway.  Literally this show is Fall In Love With Me bad, only it is worse because it fell from a higher spot.  It definitely had a similar fall for me enough to make me feel FILWM syndrome only this usually did live up to the predicted lameness.  It wasn't quite so bad as FILWM, until the last 2 episodes which were just lame.  So it wasn't as epic, but it was probably just as disappointing because of how much ruined potential there was.  So, I basically forced myself to finish it, only paying attention to the parts with Park Hae Jin, which were way too few and far between.  Sadly, this show had such good potential, as the original material (aka the webtoon and the actors' capabilities) was so good to begin with.  But in the end, it was just disappointing.  Disappointed!

186. Bromance 愛上哥們 (2015) Taiwanese

Baron Chen, Megan Lai, Bii, Li Shao Xiang, Yuan Chen, Mandy Tao

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A+

This was not a great drama.  It wasn't even that good.  What it was was super sexy.  I mean there is super hot Baron Chen constantly making sexy eyes at Megan Lai, like from episode 1, when he is supposed to think that she was a man.  He was still pretty visibly hitting on her, which is weird, but since she wasn't a man it was like "instinctive"...?  I guess.  Well, as weird as it was it made it very, very addictive.  The chemistry between that couple was great.  Also, there was good interactions with the side characters for the most part.  Also, can I say something about Baron Chen's hair.  It's super amazing.  I like want to touch it.  Sadly, Bii's story line was pretty boring.  They didn't even kiss, which was lame because she tried to hint to him that he needed to, but he didn't still.  I wonder if it just got cut out or if they needed to keep them the "innocent" couple since the main couple was clearly gender bending and on the sexy passionate side.  That little baby doll girl was pretty annoying too.  She was just all over the place and pretty lamely written.  Oh well.  There was the lovely Bii soundtrack, which makes up for that, because Bii has an angel voice.  He even like live voiced it once and it was amazing then too.  I'm still pulling for Sean Lee (Li Shao Xiang) as a male lead.  Let's see, he went from 3rd couple dude in Love Family to 2nd couple chef dude in Love Myself or You, now he is 2nd male lead in this... can he be a male lead in 2016, please?  #SeanLeeForMaleLead2016!  He is in a show but it looks like he's the 2nd lead/2nd couple from the poster.  Anyway, ahem.  The plot was dumb.  They threw a bunch of gangster crap, cancer crap, awkward love triangle, pretty much everything, but none of it so intensely that the show was actually about it.  It was basically about them falling in love, which is good, but that meant that it was a little all over the place because everything got resolved so quickly, including the part where she lied to him about her gender... so it's not a good show, but it's addicting as candy, and about as fluffy as candy... so super enjoyable to watch.  Plus, Baron Chen's hair.  Woop.  Lizabreff was always commenting on his "bedroom eyes" which are magically sexy/sensual and adoring at the same time, which makes all of us swoon along with our lovely tomboy.  I love how she stays strong the whole time too, being super aggressive in the relationship too.  Anyway, it's enjoyable and that's about all I can give it, but hey, that's enough.