Genre: my kind of historicals

A modern woman fell into a river and wakes up in the Joseon period inhabiting another woman's body, Hae Soo. She gets involved with five princes whom she becomes friends to lovers, whilst enduring all sorts of palace political stuff. This is her story of being a very naive woman with modern sensibilities struggling to survive in palace life.

The first 11 episodes are the best, in my opinion, they built up a really great foundation between the leads and I like how believable all the character's motivations are. Then the story changed a lot which derails my interest towards the end. I was torn to rate this show 6/10. But you might still like the show if you love the characters so much.

ꕤ My review (with spoiler)

Empress Ki follows a woman's journey, who is forced to leave her homeland, Goryeo (Korea today), to the Yuan Dynasty (China today). Throughout her life, she becomes entangled with powerful men from the imperial families of both kingdoms. 

Don't let the 51 episodes display discourages you because it will captivate you all the way through! The pacing is exceptional, especially in the first 20 episodes. The story focuses on Ki Seu Nyang's journey from being an outcast to eventually earning her distinguished place in the Goryeo palace. Even though the palace conflicts dominate the sets, the focus remains on the lead's journeys and their romantic relationships to keep me engaged and addicted.

ꕤ My review (no spoiler)

19-year-old girl Eun Tak does her best to survive her monotonous life with her aunt and cousins. One day, she blows out her birthday candle and accidentally summoned a goblin. Not just any goblin, but a world-weary 900-year-old immortal Goblin named Kim Shin, for whom she is fated to remove the magical sword from his chest and finally let him rest in peace, or else death will come to her instead. Kim Shin wanted to end his immortal life but in order to do that, he had to give up his only love and then he had to end his life to save her. Now, how can this end happily?

Goblin is a folklore rom-com that centers around death, reincarnation, grief, and forgiveness. It does not center around Eun Tak and Kim Shin, but also a mysterious Grim Reaper with no name and no memories and a sassy chicken shop owner with an affinity for an ancient jade ring, and a chaebol young man. Most of the show is not historical, but the modern-day plot is very much intertwined with the characters' live in the historical era. Their fates are altogether intertwined in high-stake romance due to unsolved past conflicts.

ꕤ  My review (contain spoiler)

Hotel del Luna is not your typical hotel as all of its guests and staff are ghosts, with the only exception being the hotel's owner Jang Man Wol, who is neither living nor dead and has been tied to this mysterious hotel for more than 1000 years. The reason behind this stems from Man Wol's dark past with her love interest in the historical era. 

This is a drama with a very emotional and endearing historical subplot. I personally enjoy this subplot much more than the main plot. The characters who exist in this era are very powerful and engaging. 

ꕤ  My review (contain spoiler)

During the Joseon dynasty, the crown princess consort secretly gives birth to a girl and boy twins. While the boy will eventually inherit the throne, Confucianism values really condemn twins especially if it was a boy and a girl because they just don't think a man who shared a womb with a woman will have legitimacy. Therefore to protect the prince's future legitimacy, the King orders that the girl and everyone involved with the childbearing be put to death so no one knows about this situation. To protect the girl, her mother fakes her death and cast her way to live out her life in the countryside. Many years later, this girl the female twin ended up taking her brother's identity as the young prince because an incident killed the prince. The only people who now know her secret are her chief servant and her personal eunuch.

I love this show but without quibbles. I think the first episodes and the finale are super great, I got emotionally invested with the characters all the time. Overall I think it's very very good!

ꕤ My review (no spoiler)

The head chef in modern-day Seoul the head chef fell into a pool hit and his head into a comma. He wakes up in the body of a soon-to-be Joseon Queen right in the middle of the palace scheming dangerous plots and a king who's unlike how he appears at first.

Fans of really heavy political historicals will find this to be refreshing as they'll probably get a kick out of lots of the moments, while viewers like me who shy away from historical k dramas because they tend to be a little bit too politically heavy will also find this to be a lot of fun. The political plot is nothing new or innovative in general, it deals with two powerful clans fighting over power and the throne. But it is moving forward really quickly, by episode 4 it has set up its stage very well for me to get invested.

ꕤ My review (contains spoiler)

An unexpected delay leads Lee Yeon stuck in 1938, where he reencounters not only his younger brother Lee Rang but also his past soulmates: a guardian spirit of the west mountain and an ex-friend who seems to have suspicious schemes. Lee Yeon needs to return to the present to complete his mission. 

This show has a very light plot, it is a light-hearted, fun comedy with very beautiful cinematography and video editing. If you want to see the actors, then it's worth your watch.

ꕤ  My review (minor spoiler)