Just a Moment of Cuteness with Louie-ya

So maybe I just needed to make this post so I could post these gifs that I made to be more shareable for Lizabreff's birthday, but since Louie is going to be mopey soon, or at least more dramatic, I wanted to relive some of the cuteness for a bit, because Louie.

This show is so delightful, so I just wanted to show some love before it might make me change my mind.  Hopefully not.

228. I Need Romance 3 로맨스가 필요해 3 (2014) Korean

Kim So Yeon, Sung Joon, Namgoong Min, Wang Ji Won, Park Hyo Joo, Yoon Seung Ah, Park Yu Hwan

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

This was by far the best of the I Need Romance franchise.  The characters were better developed, they were well acted, and the plot didn't suck.  It also had somewhat natural character arches.  The most far-fetched thing in the show was how perfect Derp Face's character was.  Sweet Potato Derp Face was so perfect and good that he basically couldn't exist.  Plus cute derp faces.  A man so patient and loving isn't realistic at all, but makes for good watching.  So many cuddles and warmness.  My favorite character was Se Ryung, the bitca.  Wang Ji Won did an amazing job with her.  I like how much depth her character had, she was a bitca, but she had her reasons too, and they weren't just because she was a bitca.  She had been hurt, she had her dreams and ambitions, and she was only interested in one man the entire time.  Even when she could have conceivably switched to another dude when the lead was interested in him, she stuck to the one man she wanted to get back.  I like how the plot was about Joo Yeon learning how to feel again.  She had become a robot and she had to be sweet potatoed into getting back in touch with herself.  The side couples were a bit annoying.  I liked the fling turned into pregnancy one ok, that couple was ok cute, but the young office romance was a little peachy.  The girl's voice just always sounded a bit whiny.  They also pulled every stereotype in the end, hitting all the issues, the modern woman stereotypes: take a year to travel to find myself (wait for me!), you don't have to make her quit because she's a pregnant single mom, we can be neighbor parents and raise the babies, etc.  It was a bit cheesy but you still got to appreciate and support it.  Also, it was remarkably (comparatively) low on the sexy time scenes the whole time, because the dynamic was different and the main couple didn't get together until the end, but that meant that the last couple of episodes were like constant bedroom scenes, to make up for the rest of the show.  I think everyone but the lead peeps had bedroom scenes until the last few episodes.  But it was a cute and satisfying show.

227. I Can Hear Your Voice 너의 목소리가 들려 (2013) Korean

Lee Bo Young, Lee Jong Suk, Yoon Sang Hyun, Lee Da Hee, Jung Woong In

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A

I fell in love with every single character, except the few who had no redeemable qualities, such as Judge Seo, but even the horrible bad guy, Min Joon Gook had his sympathetic moments.  But every character was well rounded and likable.  I have never had second lead syndrome quite like this.  I have also never been this attracted to Oska (Yoon Sang Hyun).  I was a little shocked there, but he was so adorable and such a good person!  I also loved how much growth all the main characters had, from traumatic experiences, to developing better relationships, to becoming a better lawyer/prosecutor, to just growing up and being adult... or even realizing that being a murderer was totally the wrong thing to do, no matter how crappy your life was at that moment.  Our female lead, Kim Hye Sung (Lee Bo Young) was super flawed, a self-centered super snarky girl who you couldn't help but love and appreciate.  Park Soo Ah (Lee Jong Suk) was both super childish and mature beyond his years, and so very complex.  He was both a puppy and a namja.  Then you have the cop turned lawyer, Cha Gwan Yoo (Yoon Sang Hyun) who is too idealistic and nice, but super good at his job.  Prosecutor Seo Do Yeon (Lee Da Hee) is Hye Sung's childhood frenemy, who has to deal with perfectionism and a black and white upbringing.  The relationships between all the characters made them all grow and become better, as did the traumatic ordeals they had to go through, constantly almost dying and having their worlds turned over.  I also loved the minor characters, such as the Judge, who was just the best.  I really can't believe I didn't watch this when it came out, because it is amazing.  I've never enjoyed a law drama quite this much.  I felt like they were a little better at making those court scene a little more realistic and less over dramatic.  Obviously not perfect, this is still a drama with some fantasy, but you could tell they put a bit of work in, and it paid off.  It was just a really solid, enjoyable, intense drama.  One where the love triangle actually fills you with feels and you are actually torn instead of just annoyed, and you have feels for all the characters instead of just the OTP.  Standing ovation.

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...

225. 49 Days 49일 (2011) Korean

Lee Yo Won, Nam Gyu Ri, Jo Hyun Jae, Jung Il Woo, Bae Soo Bin, Seo Ji Hye

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A-

I don't mind tragic endings and crying at an eternally separated OTP, I know Jung Il Woo was going to make me cry from the start, but I don't like being sucker punched in the face by random and unnecessary tragedy, or having a cheap and ridiculous band aid that makes no sense the way that it was randomly thrown in at the end without proper buildup.  Nope, the ending of this show completely ruined it.  Well.... not completely.  I still gave it a 6, which is pretty good for how lame the last episode was.  Why do they always ruin that last episode?  What is worse than the random family crap at the end is how they tried to redeem the bad guys.  Nope, those two were the worst.  I hated them both the whole time because they were vindictive and bat shiz crazy.  They were both just losers who pitied themselves so much that they decided to ruin everyone else's lives, and were both not cool ever.  I hated how much screen they got, and especially at the end.  Lame.  Now, let's talk about what I liked, because I did like most of the show.  Lee Yo Won was amazing.  She played two roles so well, it was beautiful.  You could always clearly tell who she was in an instant, from the way she talked, walked, moved, or even just stood.  She also caught all of the little ticks and mannerisms of Baby's (Nam Gyu Ri) character perfectly, so it was no wonder that Han Kang (Jo Hyun Tae) recognized her.  It wasn't just because it was in the script, it was that good.  I also loved the relationships between all our lead peeps.  Between Ji Hyun (Baby) and the Scheduler (Jung Il Woo), between her and Han Kang, between her and Song Yi Kyung (Lee Yo Won) and also between Han Kang or Jung Il Woo and Song Yi Kyung.  Of course I loved Jung Il Woo as the scheduler.  His parts were always the best parts, because he was less dramatic at first, being a little punk of a scheduler who was constantly being harassed by Baby.  Of course he was also the one who made me cry at the end, but that's because he's good and those parts were beautifully sad (not like the rest of the ending).  I liked the plot, there were lots of good twist and turns through out the story, so right up until the last episode or so this show was great.  Sigh.  I do with that I could have a Jung Il Woo Scheduler ringtone, with his pissy little voice telling me I have a call, or telling people that I can't answer a call.  That would be the best.

Momance: Sometimes the Mom-Drama is actually the best part of the drama

When we think of Kdrama mothers, we usually think of those evil moms, like in Boys Over Flowers or Secret Garden who will stop at nothing to get rid of our heroine by whatever means.  We think of those moms that are just another plot device to tear the couple apart.  Or we might think of the mom drama moms.  The ones who throw a spanner in the works while trying to protect our protagonists, or themselves, or just make everything overly dramatic.  When the drama becomes a battle between the moms or the mom and children for what is best.  Like You're the Best, Lee Soon Shin, which I watched for Jo Jung Suk who was barely in it, which isn't really about Lee Soon Shin but her mothers.  Every single mother in the entire show was annoying and made me want to scream.

Moms are an important part of dramas, because moms are super important in real life.  But what I love and want to celebrate now is those mothers who actually made the dramas better.  Sometimes, they are the best part of the dramas, or at least so enjoyable to watch that they made it better.

216. W 더블유 (2016) Korean

Lee Jong Suk, Han Hyo Joo, Jung Yoo Jin, Kim Tae Hwan, Kim Eui Sung, Lee Si Eon

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

Interesting premise and even more interesting execution.  Every preview made Lizabreff say: "what!?!" and we could never anticipate fully what would happen next.  It was very nice in how unpredictable it was.  I also liked the creation of the other world.  Like the fact that it was a manhwa world governed by the rules of manhwa, such as the cliffhanger ending to episodes and the rules of the character descriptions and roles, etc.  It was pretty clever in that respect.  But that also meant that the plot and worlds were also very complicated, and since it was a fantasy genre, anything could go.  So we never know what craziness would happen next.  This, however was the very nature of the plot.  Even though the world or story was predetermined, the will of the characters made it so that you couldn't just dictate an arbitrary ending.  The characters had to be satisfied.  The laws of the manhwa had to be satisfied.  It was all very complex and wonderful.  There were also so many good characters and actors to pull it off.  Such as Lee Si Eon as Soo Bong.  He was just amazing, poor little assistant artist.  I was impressed, as always, with Kim Eui Sung.  That man is just a good actor.  His characters were probably the most complex, and he handled them so well.  The crowd favorite would have to be the crazy fanboy hospital professor Mad Dog (Heo Jung Do) who represented all of us every episode as we watched.  He was so perfect.  I would have liked to have seen a Puppy/Yoo Jin love story.  I thought they had more chemistry together than she had with Lee Jong Suk.  Like literally Kang Cheol was never going to see her as more than a friend, but she had chemistry with that Puppy Namja everyone kept calling oppa and hyung, even when he was younger than everyone in real life, haha.  I know some people didn't love the ending.  It was about what I expected.  I'm not sure what else was supposed to happen for the ending to make any sense.  So I thought it was great.  I liked all the twists and complex themes, and of course the love story.  I will watch pretty much anything for Lee Jong Suk, but this show was well worth it.  He was great.  The show was great.  Plus, lots of blood AND lots of cute.  Cool!