237. Goblin: the Great and Lonely God 쓸쓸하고 찬란하神-도깨비 (2016) Korean

Gong Yoo, Kim Go Eun, Lee Dong Wook, Yoo In Na, Yook Sung Jae

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

As always with this writer, this show was as watchable a all get out, but of course wasn't actually a great drama.  It was just a good enough drama.  I usually like her characters, and this was no exception.  The characters were the best part.  Especially the grim reaper and the bromance between the reaper and the dokkaebi.  I have never been obsessed with Lee Dong Wook before.  I've always liked him ok, but I've never like fallen in love with him.  Until now.  He was literally the best.  The worst part of this show was probably how they really didn't give the Reaper and Sunny (Yoo In Ah) enough screen time.  We were always shouting out and chanting for more Reaper and Sunny.  I loved that couple to the point of wishing they would date in real life (or at least being happy if they did) and that is saying something because wishing that sort of thing is rather silly.  I at least want a drama starring those two, because seriously good chemistry and interactions.  Of course Gong Yoo was also good, and sexy.  I didn't hate Kim Go Eun's character like I though I would, but I did wish she wasn't a high school student all the time.  That kept me from loving the main couple.  I liked them, but didn't love them, because icky.  So the real worst part of this show was that it was mopey from like episode 1.  There was so much moping.  It got old really fast, but then they would have wonderful bromance scenes, or Secretary Kim (aka Turtle, aka Jo Woo Jin).  Also the dream team- reaper, dokkaebi, and Duk Hwa.  Really most of the relationships were just great.  So it was super watchable and fun, as long as you could make it through all the pretty moping and pretty (and ugly) crying.  Definitely a win for Lee Dong Wook, the depressive diva reaper, and petty childish dokkaebi Gong Yoo.  They really sold the whole show... especially the reaper.

235. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo 역도요정 김복주- (2016) Korean

Lee Sung Kyung, Nam Joo Hyuk, Kyung Soo Jin, Lee Jae Yoon

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A-

I went into this show with low expectations, because it frankly looked stupid.  I loved it.  Not necessarily for the plot, although that was different enough to be cool.  What I loved was all the characters.  The Bok Joon Hyung couple might have been the cutest couple ever.  They were honest and cute, and they just didn't hide things and were super real.  They are both little spaz cakes, adorable ones.  I loved all their friends, I loved their families.  Everything was just delightful.  The only annoying part was those rhythm gymnasts who were overly bitca. At some parts I was annoyed that the 2nd female lead had too much screen time, that was too mopey and dramatic, but I even ended up liking her in the end.  It was just super fun the whole time.  We would get excited and call it Uri Bok Joo and look forward to it all week.  I just loved how ridiculous and fun everyone was.  Nam Joo Hyuk was a spastic ball of energy, he was so random and goofy that I loved him, bouncing off the walls.  He was the best.  Lee Sung Kyung was awesome and full of swag.  I liked all the other couples, the hyung and friend, the samcheon's romance, it was all cute and fun.  I can't say much against it, it was fun and great.

238. Seven First Kisses 첫 키스만 일곱번째 (2016) Korean

Lee Cho Hee, Choi Ji Woo, Lee Joon Ki, Park Hae Jin, Ji Chang Wook, Kai, Ok Taecyeon, Lee Jong Suk, Lee Min Ho

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

Ok, so we all knew what this was before we started it, right?  A web drama commercial where a bunch of hot oppas were a little bit more of sell outs than normal for a CF.  But the good thing about it was that it was also a parody of all the drama genres and styles, because you can't take it seriously and I don't think it took itself seriously and definitely none of the actors did.  So it's a fun way to do a CF and its definitely a good way to look at the hot boys, so win-win?  It's ridiculous and hilarious.  So now here is a summary of what I thought of all the different stories:

Lee Joon Ki- creepy stalker who got away with it because he's the sexiest man alive.  I really think he got shafted by being first because it made his "first love/loved from afar" story line come off as creepy and stalkerish.  Especially the part where he has a slideshow of all his stalker pics he took of her.  That aside, he was probably one of the more swoon worthy oppas in the show.
Park Hae Jin- Tsundere boss?  Workaholic?  His story was one of the ones that made more sense, since it was just more natural since he was the boss character.  We also got lots of lovely forearm shots, and his swoony smile, so overall good.
Ji Chang Wook- Spy.  I kind of love how they typecasted everyone to their most famous roles.  Park Hae Jin was the tsundere/slightly creepy until you realize what is going on, and Ji Chang Wook was Healer again.  They went through all the thriller/spy stereotypes too, and it was hilarious.
Kai- the most awkward ever.  Kai = no acting.  Kai's hair = yuck.  It was just awkward, the whole time.  He was the tutoring student, so it was another squirrely, awkward noona romance.  And it was worse because there was zero chemistry on his part.  Just awkward.
Ok Taecyeon- absolutely hilarious.  He was the chaebol makjang character, and it was amazing.  I was just laughing the whole time.  The water slap, the kelp slap, the evil bitca, the evil mother, the birth secrets, it was hilarious and adorable.
Lee Jong Suk- this one was probably the most logical of all, as he was himself, filming a CF with her, and they were adorable together.  It was the one that was probably the most natural.  She also seemed to have good chemistry with him as well.
Lee Min Ho- was that even an episode?  I did like how awkward this one was, because she was assuming it was like all the others, and acting all full of herself, and everyone was like wut?  But then it was like just awkward the whole time, and Lee Min Ho's was like "what am I doing here?  Why did I agree to this?" the whole time too.  So this one doesn't even count.  It's just pure awkwardness.  Plus, he didn't even get an attempted kiss, so what is this 7 kisses thing?  It was like 6 1/2 first kisses.

Okay, so now, if I had to pick one of them to be my "kiss" choice, I would probably chose them in this order: 1. Lee Jong Suk, 2. Park Hae Jin (Hae Jin and Jong Suk might just be tied for first), 3. Lee Joon Ki (3rd now because of how stalkerish his story was), 4. Ji Chang Wook, 5. Ok Taecyeon- because I say no to that kind of drama in real life, 6. Lee Min Ho- because he's at least close to my age, 7. Kai- because that kind of awkward noona romance is a no.  This is probably a good indication as well of how sexy they were too, strongly based on the story lines as well.

And rating them based solely on their endings might put it at: 1. Ok Taecyeon-his ending was just too hilarious, 2. Lee Joon Ki- because his ending made his story much cuter 3. Ji Chang Wook- because his ending was bad-a, 4. Lee Jong Suk, 5. Park Hae Jin- both closely following the others in cuteness, 6. Lee Min Ho- because he didn't have an ending, 7. Kai- because his ending added nothing.

I could probably also rate them on how cute their BTS videos were, but that is just being silly (but Joon Ki was adorable in his) and basically just rating how much I love all these boys in real life (which would probably be a different post entirely).  So I will not, but they are worth watching (except I didn't bother watching Kai's).

Don't regret watching this.  It's pure fan fiction, so just indulge and enjoy.

236. Shuttle Love Millennium 相爱穿梭千年2：月光下的交换 (2016) Chinese

Wei Da Xun, Wen Yong Shan, Guo Xue Fu, Zhang Xiao Chen

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

As the sequel of the Chinese version of Queen In Hyun's Man, this is really just similar in concept, rather than story.  It's a time travel drama, where two dudes with the same face and the same jade necklace can switch places, if some other conditions are met.  So naturally they are going to fall in love with someone in the other time period while they are there, that is just what you do in time travel dramas.

I really loved watching this show, but it did have some unlikable flaws for me.  Like the distribution of screen time.  I really liked the 2016 boy-1936 girl couple a million times better than the 1936 boy-2016 girl couple.  Their story was much more compelling as their period was much more dangerous, desperate, and emotional.  It made 2016 look frivolous in comparison.  I also thought 2016 girl, Wang Lin, was one of the more annoying characters (partially since her dubbing was the worst) and she caused the most problems because she never told Sun Qilong (2016 boy) anything which could have made a few things way easier or at least solved a few misunderstandings.  Poor clueless boy never knew what was going on and still managed to survive.  My biggest problem was how they wrapped it up in the end.  Time travel plots are always going to have some impossibilities to get everyone together and be happy, but they just didn't fill all the holes they created.  I spent the entire show wondering where the 3rd jade piece was, and then it miraculously shows up in the end.  It had been there the entire time, well what to you know, har har.  Yeah, not having any of that.  Also, they sort of overlooked the part where China was still going to be plunged into a war that destroyed everything, but somehow the Blue Moon was going to survive now that the couple was together...  Yeah, they just glossed it over with a big ribbon.  But at least it was a happy ending, even though the ending for the first couple would have to be changed when the second couple got together... before it even started.  Yeah, that's a can on worms that they opened but ignored the consequences by ending the show.  Not a horrible ending, but one that you have to just close your eyes and accept, because honestly, what else were they going to do?

Besides Wang Lin, everyone did a decent job acting.  I was super impressed with Wei Da Xun playing the two male leads.  I didn't even realize they were the same person in the first couple of episodes.  His mannerisms, voice, and hair were all just too different.  So claps to him.  I also liked how the grandma actually looked like her younger self.  The smile especially was believable.  So, I liked this show, but it was of course not perfect.  I watched it for Puff Guo (1936 girl, Zi Yi) and was not disappointed.  I didn't really have any expectations for it, actually, especially based on the name (Shuttle Love Millennium? Ha ha ha), so in that regard it blasted my expectations out of the water.  It is a super fun show to watch.  It really just faced the typical time travel problems and actually did an okay job with them, all things considering.

230. The Man Living in Our House 우리집에 사는 남자 (2016) Korean

Soo Ae, Kim Young Kwang, Lee Soo Hyuk, Jo Bo Ah, Kim Ji Hoon

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A+

I was a little disappointed that this turned out to be more of a melodrama than a comedy.  They had made it look so funny, and sometimes it was, but then they couldn't get past the tragic loves part as they were in love but had a stepfather/daughter relationship legally.  This seems even more pathetic when everything is eventually solved with no headache and why didn't they just do that in the first place?  I did like most of the characters, although I have to like the side characters more than the main couple.  The three little dumpling ducklings, so cute.  The little sister of the 2nd male lead, hilarious.  The 2nd female lead, the most likable bitca ever.  She was thoroughly an evil man stealing jerk, but I loved her and totally shipped her with the reluctant neighborhood friend lawyer 2nd male lead.  I think I probably said "he's so flipping hot" every time Lee Soo Hyuk was on screen.  His attitude was also super fun, as he was so matter-of-fact and lazy.  I loved the developing relationship between him and his crazy stalker little sister.  I also love how the siblings names were Duk Bong and Duk Shim.  I did love Soo Ae and Kim Young Kwang too.  I liked how ridiculously their relationship grew, fighting and being "family" then finally getting to be a couple, they were just also all melodramatic at times.  really, the worst part is that everything was so dramatic, with his gangster past, and trying to protect the mother's land, and then it all gets solved so quickly.  I guess the gangster part didn't, but once the second male lead decided to not be selfish any more then everything was magically solved.  It was lamely amazing.  Why didn't they just all work together in the first place?  Huh?  Haha, so not the best, but it was still enjoyable enough, plus lots of hot men and strong women, so win?

234. Discovery of Romance 연애의 발견 (2014) Korean

Jung Yu Mi, Eric Mun, Sung Joon, Yoon Jin Yi, Yoon Hyun Min, Kim Seul Gi

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: B

I guess you can't technically say it belongs to the same franchise as "I Need Romance" since it isn't the same network, but it is the same writer, so it definitely has the same flavor.  But it was also different enough to be not completely associated with it.  Lizabreff still likes to say that it is the best of the "I Need Romances" but I might rank it on the same level as I Need Romance 3.  I do like how it has the interview style, where all of the characters are interviewed to show their inner thoughts.  I thought this was cleverly done, as it allowed for the differences in opinions and memories, because half of this show was about the past and what happened during the five years that the main couple dated and how they fell apart and why.  It shows how people have different perceptions of what happened, remember things differently, and nothing is 100% someone's fault.  I liked how the story built from the memories, to make us see that neither one of them was innocent and they both did plenty of stupid things while they were younger and more immature.  It also showed how their relationship had affected each of them in positive and negative ways.  She had become more confident in herself, but had also become manipulative.  He had become more stubborn, but also more aware.  This also left room for plenty of development for their characters which was also nice.  However, in true "Romance" form, the show was dragged out so that the couple would not get together until the last episode, because these shows are about messy, messy relationships where all the ugly comes out before we finally see them get to where they are supposed to be, in the last episode.  This meant frustration as the main love triangle dragged out for forever, even though we knew that Dr. Derpface and her romance was kind of toxic, as she manipulated him and he let her.  We also just really wanted him to be with the other girl.  Thank goodness we had the other couple, Fish Bangs and Seul Gi to make everything better.  They were probably the cutest ever.  I love both of them, so that could only be good things, and it was.  They were hilarious and adorable.  So yeah, good show, if you want a messy, frustrating, but growing and developing love triangle.

233. When a Snail Falls in Love 如果蜗牛有爱情 (2016) Chinese

Wang Kai, Wang Olivia

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A+

In general, this drama was amazing.  It had a great cast of characters, and a lovely, dark crime plot.  I absolutely loved Xu Xu, our mail lead, who is a stoic, logical, and lovable psychologist, who is also the tiniest girl ever.  I loved the interactions between our heroine and all the characters, as she was both logical and kind.  I especially loved the slow but steady romance between the head detective of violent crimes and our intern criminal profiler psychologist.  The title gets its name from the animal imagery that our lead girl, Xu Xu, uses when profiling people.  Everyone in the violent crimes department gets profiled with animals, from a monkey to hippo.  Xu Xu even draws these profiles into comics of everyone, which leads to a series of comics about a snail and her lion boss, who then start to fall in love.  I also really liked the other couples and characters.  I was especially rooting for the pig and hippo.  The plot, with all the connected crimes that got more and more complex was amazing.  I loved how it became more serious and bigger at every turn.  I also loved the detail we got to see in how our heroes faced it and figured things out.  I loved the character development, as everyone grew, especially our snail and lion.  We got to see them form themselves into a great team and a great OTP.  My only complaint in this whole show is that the ending got a little sloppy.  Not so much in the actual plot.  I feel like the crime plot got wrapped up much more nicely than the romance did.  It felt super rushed and kind of nonsensical.  There was a ridiculous time jump where suddenly everything happened.  Whole romances were skipped over.  We left everyone at the start of the real relationship, and suddenly jumped to weddings and proposals.  It was weird and we felt a little cheated.  It didn't flow well, and we felt less satisfied.  They also tried to leave the ending super open ended, which would be find, but it was instead confusing.  I wouldn't mind a season 2, but I don't like how they wrapped up this series in an attempt to let that happen.