2022: Completed

This drama started with such promise in the beginning.  Sadly, I found I had a number of issues with the storytelling and how it resolved its mini-arcs throughout its run. 

I do usually like slow burns, but I found this drama incredibly draggy.  I somehow finished the drama just barely and enjoyed the last 5 minutes. I appreciated how it closed with an open ending ^^ (1 Jan)

A masterpiece that takes its viewers through the whole spectrum of emotions that we experience throughout our lives.  This is a celebration of the golden years and aging with grace,  in times full of laughter and tears.  Beautifully done! (3 Jan)

It took me just a couple of minutes for my body to remember how this drama tugged at my heartstrings.  I am so for jumping into this story and its characters again.  How I've missed them! (9 Jan)

All the feels ~ (9 Jan)

I had so much fun watching Single's Inferno.  I hope we see additional seasons in the future. (12 Jan)

Finally, watched It's Okay, That's Love after all these years.  I found that it had a really cute start. Yet it got quite angsty toward the end which dates it a bit for me. (15 Jan)

This short and simple drama was such a treat full of hijinks and funny coincidences involving two roommates.  This was a cute and silly watch ^^ (15 Jan)

a well-done corruption story (16 Jan)

I have an unexplainable love for this drama.  I just couldn't get enough of the slice-of-life romance.   (27 Jan)

much more laid back than its western counterparts, there is still something to love about this Japanese take.  (23 Feb)

A warm and cozy drama about forgiveness and healing.  Also, is a great candidate if you are looking to live out the following fantasy:  attractive male lead makes the female lead a hot beverage. (18 Mar)

This drama was such a mood. It depicted the late 90s and early 2000s so very well. Watch this for Kim Tae Ri’s performance.  As always, she is stunning. 

Twenty-Five, Twenty-One turned out to be a beautiful first love story. (3 Apr)

A Business Proposal started as a cute and cheesy drama. There isn’t a lot is substance here. The ending in particular was very rushed and pretty unsatisfying. (8 Apr)

I found this drama so wholesome and heartfelt. I really loved the ensemble cast and the depiction of village life. (10 Apr)

This drama reminded me how much I would love more dramas to portray asexuality in a positive light.  I really enjoyed this slice of life story. (10 Apr)

A sweet and charming slow burn full of heartache  -- I so enjoyed the couple.  They were absolutely darling.   (14 Apr)

Though some may say this drama was relentless melo, I really appreciated this drama for its depiction of friendship, love, loss, and hardship.  The themes really resonated with me, but I could just have needed an excuse for a good cry.  (1 May)

I’m not sure dramaland needed a drama musical. Even after finishing it, I’m not sure this is what dramaland needed. It kind of reminds me of a mix of The Greatest Showman and Big Fish. The musical numbers were overall nice. The character development was uninspiring. The story, I found it watered down. It had its own degree of whimsy, but I’m not sure I would recommend that you rush to watch this one. Overall, kind of meh ...  (10 May) 

A simple but tragic love story 

My main gripe with this drama is that I never really believed the love between the two main characters.  It's clear that the restraint was a choice, but the limited interactions between the two just didn't do it for me.  Since I had such a hard time following the love story, I found that the whole drama had very little impact. I'm stuck here wondering if it was limited by its scope of a limited series, but I've seen films that are able to tap into more character depth than this ...  

Sweet, but overall underwhelming ... (14 May)

I greatly appreciated the laidback tone of this drama and its take on the Shinsengumi in this jidaigeki framework.  The characters seemed more human and imperfect compared to the adaptions I've seen in the past. 

I really liked Nagai Masaru's portrayal of Hijikata Toshizou. (21 May)

Why did I watch this again?  I got sucked into another disappointing fantasy drama by the stylish appeal and the allegory of running a suicide hotline like a risk management team stuck in a corporate hell.  

Don't be fooled!  Tomorrow pretty much just ran its course as a predictable formulaic save the victim of the week.  The drama tries to tackle difficult topics like bullying and sexual harassment but they all seem to fall pretty flat unable to tap into any real emotional pull. I found that the fantasy setting really detracted from the drama and eventually became a barrier for me taking this drama seriously.  The characters often came off as predictable and even cartoony.  Emotions seem forced, and the melo is relentless.  It's disappointing to see a drama attempting to address these difficult topics completely lack any substantial depth or gravity.  It just ends up feeling weirdly empty, embarrassingly cliche, and shamefully laughable ... 

Dramas like these remind me why I'm supposed to ALWAYS stay away from fantasy.  Look elsewhere, if you are looking for a drama with real heart.  This isn't it.   (21 May)

A cute romance, but doesn't offer anything we haven't seen before. 

The male lead is extremely mopey and depressed in this drama. I usually like Mamiya Shotaro, but I found his character especially boring here. (21 May)

Be Melodramatic was a cute drama.  I particularly loved the friendship between the three female leads.  The drama is high energy with a lot of swoon-worthy references to kdramas. I personally prefer my slice of life to be more focused on the everyday.  The setting is very television and multimedia-focused, which tended to be more of an obstacle to me.  It often felt more like workplace than friendship-focused. (24 May)

My Liberation Notes is a beautiful drama about finding individuals' pursuit of happiness and liberation.  It is certainly in the same vein as Park Hae Young's previous work, My Mister.  I would treat these two as sister dramas and would one day love to make a comparison between the two.  I found My Liberation Notes overall less impactful than its predecessor.  It tends to be both more subtle and a bit outlandish.  I found these choices watering down the end result.

For example, Gu-shi's story arc is implausible which ultimately detracted from the realism in the show.  I was the biggest Gu-shi fan and would even overlook the unlikely since he was so swoon-worthy.  Yet I have to acknowledge that this choice detracts from the plot.  (29 May)

I wouldn't quite consider this a movie, more like a series of music videos tied loosely together by an excuse of an overarching story.  This friendship story is rather boring, but overall this is an intriguing concept.  Watch for Eve's music and the animation components, but don't expect a story here. (31 May)

A slow-burn, but incredibly touching drama about life at a Seoul police station.  The episodes are long, but the stories are extremely heartfelt and surprisingly real.  Unlike any police drama, I've seen before.  At some point in the drama's run, I found myself full heartily rooting for our rookies.  The ensemble cast is a force to be reckoned with!  Even though the cast is predominately male, the female portrayals and their stories are probably the strongest in the show.  What a rewarding watch!  (5 Jun)

I personally felt this limited series was too short.  Its scope was quite limited. (5 Jun)

My fluffy marshmallows were soooo sweet to watch.  (11 Jun)

This drama had so much heart and all the feels.  Our Blues was an excellent anthology.  The way it interweaves all the stories is beautifully done.  This style of storytelling really instills how this sleepy seaside town is its own ecosystem revolving around the fish market.  (12 Jun)

What a random and absurd drama!  How novel! (8 Jul)

Anna was a great way for Bae Suzy to show her range.  The drama was quite the production.  I personally struggled with this type of story.  I found the story slow and draggy.  I just don't have much patience for a cast of unlikeable characters with little purpose other than to just be unlikeable.  (8 Jul)

I picked up this drama for Kim Hye Ja.  Throughout I found it rather draggy and heavy-handed with the angst.  I found a few of the key plot choices quite disappointing.  (8 Jul)

"Even if you are struggling right now, everyone alive has the right to enjoy this every day. Even if one ordinary day is followed by another ordinary day, life is still worth living. Don't waste the present regretting the past and worrying about the future. Live this day beautifully, you deserve it. To all of you who was a mom, a sister, a daughter and yourself."

Out of the three one-shots, "Vote for I don't Know" was easily the best.  The story was so stylized and catchy.  The choice to tell a story about kids feels so fresh. 

Otherwise, I found the other two a bit too slow-burn.  Each has its sweet, gentle touches, but overall the stories kind of dragged on for me. (9 Jul)

I quite enjoyed the second season of Yumi's Cells.  I found the cells soooo cute and all their little exploits.  

I would actually be quite pleasantly surprised if they end up renewing it for a third season, but I did enjoy the open ending of this season. (23 Jul)

Moon Ga Young is a doll in this drama.  She is such a breath of fresh air.  (26 Jul)

I was so excited about this film, my favorite Japanese director, Koreeda Hirokazu was making his first Korean film with queens Bae Doo Na and IU.  Again, Koreeda explores and challenges traditional definitions of family, but considering the subject matter of adoption drop boxes, overall it missed the mark.  I found the film incredibly slow and the impact just wasn't there.  Kind of a waste with the weighty subject matter. (30 Jul)

IU is a queen in this drama.  Her costume designer needs all the rewards! 

I really appreciated the shiny production value of Hotel del Luna.  Going in, I assumed that this story was going to be your run-of-the-mill ghost of the week drama.  Though the drama is fairly episodic with a nice mix of dark fantasy, I really enjoyed Jang Man Wol's backstory of1,300 years.  She's a force to be reckoned with!  (14 Aug)

Really wanted to like this film, but I guess I just wasn't in the mood for light-hearted coming-of-age farce.  (14 Aug)

Extraordinary Attorney Woo has such a strong start.  Park Eun Bin creates such a curious, idealistic, and sweet Woo Young Woo.  Yet, I grew quickly tired of the case-a-week format.  

Considering that season 2 won't air until 2024, I am curious whether I will feel invested enough to pick up part 2. (18 Aug)

This drama has a knack for posing questions and then going an inordinate amount of time to even bring them up again let alone answer them.  I also think that this drama often tries to do too much at once.  

Besides my gripes about how the Hong sisters handle the storytelling throughout, I find Alchemy of Souls quite watchable.  It's beautiful and the choreography is striking.  Now to wait till December for part 2. (28 Aug)

A quirky rom-com with an interesting bit to say about what love means (28 Aug)

An incredible action film (29 Aug)

Simply charming (5 Sept)

Not as good as the first, but still a worth-while watch (5 Sept)

Such a strong start, yet became too ambitious resulting in a lack luster ending (17 Sept)

A sweet watch but nothing really unique or original here (9/29)

Touching in places, but overall lacked impact (9/30)

Great visuals, but the writing was an absolute mess.  The plot piling was criminal here.  Makjang shouldn't only mean let's throw every plot device at the script just for fun.  This resulted in an incoherent mess of a story. (9 Oct)

This was such a sweet, coming-of-age story.  (22 Oct)

Twisty story to keep you on your toes.  I had a lot of fun puzzling through all the clues and distractions that were thrown at the plot. (5 Nov)

I binged all of season 1 in about half a week.  There is so much to love about this story and the characters it puts forth.  The world-building, history, and lore make this drama fairly unique in scope. The storytelling feels similar to the structure of epic historical dramas, but the questions it explores around prophecy make it feel quite novel. (6 Nov)

(7 Nov)

(9 Nov)

This drama had such a fun start, but around the middle, it started to drag on and never was able to right itself.  Can't recommend this one. (10 Nov)

I have such a soft spot for Utada's song First Love, but I did really appreciate this drama even with all the cliche. (26 Nov)

This was okay I guess, toward the end I kind of lost track of the plot. (11 Dec)

This was a sweet watch about a one-of-a-kind coffee shop. (18 Dec)

This is a nice, quick watch.  I kept on making unnecessary comparisons to Extracurricular though.  I'll be interested to see what they do in a second season. (20 Dec)

I just wasn't feeling this drama.  Have you ever watched something that you can tell is good quality, but for some reason you just can't get invested in no matter what?  This is mine.  It's quite dialogue-heavy.  My preference for dramas are for dramas that I'm able to multitask through.   (21 Dec)

I really enjoyed watching dramas this year.  The story and characters are so easy.  (26 Dec)

This drama is nothing special or inspiring, but Im Shi Wan is adorable as ever. (27 Dec)

This was a quality watch, especially for a second season.  I enjoyed the ending metaphor.  Watch this if you are looking for something high-energy and full of action!  (28 Dec)

That was more compelling than I expected.  I ended up binge-ing all of season one in a day.  (31 Dec)