194. I Need Romance 2012 로맨스가 필요해 2012 (2012) Korean

Jung Yu Mi, Lee Jin Wook, Kim Ji Suk, Kim Ji Woo, Kang Ye Sol

Drama Rating: 4/10     Neck Score: A

Also known as I Need Nasty 2, this one was every bit as bad as the first one, except I actually liked both male actors okay, because neither one was Yul (Yuuuuuuuuuuuuul! <hiss hiss>).  The problem was that it was just as frustratingly as predictable.  Basically it's a show full of idiots and sexy time.  The end.  At least in this one her dumbo boyfriend didn't ever cheat on her but instead just lied to everyone, including himself, for the entire show, unless it was too late and then he tried and failed, and then there was a magic year gap that somehow made everything better.  Yeah right.  The main girl once again comes full circle and ends up right where she started, we hope this time wiser maybe.  But we're not holding our breath for fear of passing out.

Here is the list of the couples in the order I cared about them:

1. Awkward Couple- Woo Ji Hee (Kang Ye Sol) and Kim Tae Woo (Heo Tae Hee).  I wish this couple had gotten more screen time.  They were awkward and adorable.  But they almost magically got together because that's how little time we actually saw them.  Sad.

2. Married Girl and Stupid Oppa- Sun Jae Kyung (Kim Ji Woo) and Han Jung Min (In Gyo Jin).  This couple was so fussy and sensitive.  But at least we saw them trying to work things out. They were more frustrating but at least I had hope for a reasonable reconciliation.  PS, the only reason he is known as Stupid Oppa is because of Birth of a Beauty.

3. Kim Ji Suk and the Ginkgo Tree- yes, this relationship counts for more than most.  As a kid, his character took care of a ginkgo tree because he was lonely.  He watered it everyday too.  Cute.  Then he gets a baby gingko tree that is supposed to represent his relationship with the main girl, but I cared more about him longingly looking at it every time they were broken up or had a fight than the fact that they were broken up or had a fight.

4. The Main Love Triangle Crap- Tsunami (Jung Yu Mi), Dumbo (Lee Jin Wook), and Mr. Perfect (Kim Ji Suk).  We've got a messy, messy love triangle that is full of lies and too much past.  Just too messy to actually care about.  Tsunami Yeol Mae (Jung Yu Mi) is smothering and selfish, but I loved how she was honest and tried. But Dumbo- aka Seok Hyun (Lee Jin Wook) on the other hand is cryptic, slithery-outy, and lies to everyone including himself.  There are obviously reasons he keeps lying to keep them from being together, but we honestly just don't care.  Then there is Shin Ji Hoon (Kim Ji Suk) who is like the perfect nice guy, if not a bit too aegyo.  Nice guys don't win in this shows (not yet) and so while we love how cute he is, we know he doesn't really have a chance.  Especially when the break up is based on frustrating lies and he is literally too nice for her.

So the show had lots of sexy time, even more frustrating lying and fighting, etc., and the longest, boringest drawn out ending ever.  Well... what did I expect?  It was I Need Nasty 2.  Blech... but also yes, cuz hot men and relatably flawed bitca women.  This one is a step up from the first, but not as good as the 3rd, from what I hear.

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.

Madame Derp Face Antoine: Bad Nicknames That Are Clearly Out of Love

I'm super enjoying Madame Antoine right now, and mostly because besides being funny in its own right, it is the perfect ground for Derp Face (Sung Joon) to do what he does best.  Make derp faces.  If I tried to capture every face he makes that makes me laugh, I would basically just have to be constantly taking screenshots the entire time instead of enjoying the show.

Which brings me to the perfect time to discuss this topic, which I had been meaning to since I admitted that I was crushing on Fish Bangs: my habit of creating horrible nicknames out of endearment.

131. Liar Game ライアーゲーム (2007) Japanese

Matsuda Shota, Toda Erika, Suzuki Kazuma, Hiroko Taguchi

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

I don't know if I should have watched this first, but after I loved the Korean version of Liar Game, I had to watch this one.  The only problem is I tried watching it too soon and got a bit bored because I knew what was going to happen already, which was sad, because this is so good.  I also have to compare it to the remake, because I watched it first, which is sad in some ways, because this one was first and very well done.  Well, being from 2007, it is also super dramatic and a bit cheesy in how it is dramatic.  Like a million fast zooms to each character's face every time anything sneaky or dramatic happens.  Also, this one comes off a lot more sinister and sketchy in how people get roped in and trapped, etc., since this is literally a con set up by super rich and cynical people rather than a game show.  I think it probably would be better to watch it first.  I still loved it.  It has many points that I liked better.  One big one is Matsuda Shota.  He does happen to be on my list of 10 sexiest necks, and with reason.  Rawr.  Lee Sang Yoon did a good job, but Matsuda Shota did a million times better.  He rocked it.  I did miss Shin Sung Rok, but what can you do?  Even if you don't decide to watch this one first (I didn't, but I think it would be good to) it is worth watching.  I am also planning on watching the second season and the movie as well, it's that good.  Sinister games, good honest people winning with their goodness, bad boy con artists with secret soft hearts, what more could you want?

193. High End Crush 고품격 짝사랑 (2015) Korean

Jung Il Woo, Jin Se Yeon, Lee Si Eon, Yoon Bora, Moon Se Yoon

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

This might be one of the best web dramas I have seen.  I mean, it's twenty 15-min episodes of Jung Il Woo going crazy because he has a crush on Jin Se Yeon.  Hilarious.  So we have a super successful, top of the food chain CEO of an entertainment center who doesn't believe in one-sided loves, he thinks they are only for pathetic people and that he can get anything he wants.  Famous last words.  He immediately falls for this girl that they randomly pulled off the street (well, after she beats Lee Si Eon over the head trying to "save" Bora) for a photo shoot.  She lives in the mountains and is practically from the Joseon period with how much she understands the complexities of Seoul.  She's tech savvy and smart (I mean, she had zero learning curve when it came to texting on her brand new smartphone), but really clueless when it comes to relationships, etc.  Aka, an organic person.  It is just a bunch of misunderstandings because they think completely differently.  It does get a bit draggy, if that is possible, because of how long those misunderstandings can go on, but it was highly enjoyable.  I also really loved the Soon Jung cameos with Jung Kyung Ho and Kim So Yeon being MCs or news anchors who are conveniently talking about just what the Organic Girl needs to help her understand the situation or her feelings.  I did love how simple it was.  There was no love triangle needed, because there was plenty of drama developed with just those two not understanding each other, especially since they didn't understand how they felt themselves for the longest time.  I like how it had time to show their relationship developing, etc.  I fully enjoyed it.

179. Reply 1988 응답하라 1988 (2015) Korean

Lee Hyeri, Ryu Jun Yeol, Go Kyung Po, Park Bo Gum, Lee Dong Hwi

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

Well that was a perfectly wonderful drama that fell flat on its face in the end.  Everything was wonderful until they finally did a time jump.  Then all the sudden they tried too hard to wraps things up too suddenly.  You know, the things they'd been neglecting while they spent more time on the gloriously awesome other things.  I mean neglecting all the romance in favor of family and community matters.  Don't get me wrong, I loved the family and community matters.  This show was one big neighborhood romance as opposed to a romance or love triangle.  Well that's what I thought it was until they forced it back into a love triangle husband hunt in the last few episodes.  Narratively, the romance didn't make sense.  I have no idea why they wrote it that way.  Why would they make us care about one person so much that they completely neglected building up the person who was actually going to end up married to her?  Mmmm, no.  Not okay with it.  I cared about every single character in this drama.  I was absolutely in love with Jung Bong, and Samcheonpo (Kim Sung Kyun), and Cheetah Ahjumma, and Jin Joo.  All five of the kids.  Literally everyone was compelling.  Their stories together, the little mundane things.  All of it was so good.  The only thing that wasn't good was the way they handled the romance.  It was like the battle of the 2nd male leads.  They made us care about Jung Hwan by showing us his feelings from episode 1, and then they made both him and Taek do nothing... for the rest of the series.  We never knew what Deok Sun was thinking.  She ended up being an impressionable girl who married the only guy who ever actually did something, after 6 years of doing nothing because the writers are lame, and we never knew what she was feeling the whole time.  I might have given this show a 9 or a 10 if the ending hadn't been so lame, but that really leaves the last impression, doesn't it?  I was actually so angry at the way they played so mercilessly with my emotions that I didn't even want to finish episode 19, and if it wasn't for Jung Bong's scenes being next I probably wouldn't have.  They literally spent so much time making me hurt for Jung Hwan that I literally didn't care about anything else.  That's just messed up.  Literally the only good thing that happened after the time jump to 94 was Sseuregi Oppa.  The end.  They needed to balance the romance with the neighborhood love so we actually have time to care about the couple.  We needed to see the couple grow, not have their love force fed to us in the last two episodes.  Like, they literally rammed it down our throats in such a way that even if I was team Taek I wouldn't have been satisfied.  Like seriously no.  Very badly done.  Narratively, it was a huge slap to the face to all characters involved.  I mean, Cheetah Ahjumma going through menopause was more compelling than the love story, and that is a fact.  So the ending gets a 1 or a 2.  The rest of the series gets a 9 or a 10 (because they made me love them) so that evens out to a 7 or 8.  Since I want to be generous and try to not let the bad aftertaste taint how fun the rest of the show was, I will make it an 8, but that is being very generous on my part.  (She's not even sitting next to him in this poster!)

192. Falling For Challenge 도전에 반하다 (2015) Korean

Kim So Eun, Xiumin, Jang Hui Ryoung, Jang Yoo Sang

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A-

This was another cute, short web drama.  I like Kim So Eun, so I thought I might as well watch it since, with 6 nine minute episodes, it is only an hour long.  That always makes things rushed, especially in the romance department.  But this was about working together and growing together.  It's about a struggling club that's purpose is to take on challenges.  It only has two members, both girls, but magically it gets two boys to join (hmm, two boys and two girls?).  One of them is Xiumin, who is a mime, or Pierrot as they call it, in training.  Anyway, I spent the whole show being weirded out by all the people that Xiumin reminds me of.  Basically I would describe it as this: If G-Dragon and Baek Jin Hee were to have a love child... and if Yoon Doo Joon was somehow also related, or at least around to train him in facial expressions, then that about sums him up.  At least I know why he is one of my friend's Exo bias (especially when she also loves G-Dragon) because he's cute and has a great smile.  But he also looks like he's twelve, so I only want to pat him on the head and tell him he's cute, that is all.  It was a good little web drama.  I liked the documentary style.  It made it a bit different, so that was nice.