Dramas watched in 2024

My rating is objectively too high but Taevin's portrayal of Myung Ha moved me. This drama hit close to home. Myung Ha is such a beautiful character and it just makes my heart ache. 

It was okay? 

Liked some of the lines but as I write this I realise that I don't remember much of it ><

Enjoyable to some extent but quite predictable. I have mixed feelings when it comes to the acting. 

It was a nice and easy watch :) Made me read the manga series right afterwards. It's always a pleasure to see Kyo Hwan act. And I also liked the fact that the main character was a woman. It was the first I had watched one of So Nee's works and I thought she was great!

Nope. Did not like it. 

So many mixed feelings about this one but the acting got better as the story progressed and that's what kept me watching. Made me read the novel and I like the novel's characterisation way better. The characters made more sense. 

This felt like reading a draft of a book that could have become something but got published by mistake before being reviewed. 

This drama was beautiful and I thought I would like it better but the characters felt too distant for some reason.

What a lovely family drama! Loved the diverse cast of characters and seeing Makoto trying his best for his family. Daichi's dad arc felt rushed but other than that, the pacing was great. It was an easy watch for me and that says a lot ><

That was intense. 

[rewatch]

Great production value and great acting, yet it took me some time to finish it. 

I've read an article about this drama and its portrayal of feudal Japan. No surpise there but the drama isn't exactly faithful but that's not what bothered me. The author of that article pointed out how Toranaga's mastermind was kind of undermined with the heavy emphasis of his shukumei (fate) although Tokugawa Ieyasu (the real person who inspired Toranaga) came to power thanks to his political flair and military strategies. The last episodes shed light on these aspects of his personality but I feel like it arrived a bit too late. Anyway perhaps the characteristaion wasn't as solid as I thought it would be hence the time it took me to finish it? Not just Toranaga's. Blackthorne felt a bit cartoonish at times and the same goes for Toranaga's son. Surely it was intentional but it didn't exatcly click with me.  It was still a great watch though! (I'm not linking the article for the simple reason that it hasn't been translated into English). 

[watched the six-episode-long drama version]

I'm so biased about them so I probably should wait a bit before writing something. I'll just write a few words in the meantime.
This prequel/spin-off did not disappoint! It was pretty consistent with what shown in Unintentional Love Story —  especially in terms of characterisation and timelines — and the bittersweet ending was to be expected :) Dong Hee you [incoherent thoughts]. 

Beautiful characters with great acting and a stunning OST. What more could I ask for? 

I love family dramas. This was short and sweet :) 

That was such a stunning adapatation. The casting director did amazing. Nam Yoon Su, I knew you'd pull it off.

I read the book in February this year and there was one lingering feeling that the drama captured so well: loneliness. Go Young's loneliness is like sweat glistening on one's skin in a hot and humid summer day. It clings to you and no matter what you do, you can never brush it off. It's suffocating. It's agonising. It's terrible but it's what makes up the human condition. Because we're all a little lonely. Some more than others. Because some look at this life and know that it makes no sense. That the only sense it has is the one you create for yourself. And loneliness strikes hardest when the creating process is hitting a wall. Go Young uses writing to break the wall and still it's not enough but he knows. He is so accutely aware of everything. I wish for all Go Young out there to keep trying, keep looking for words that bring you comfort. Because you're all worth it. 

I won't be watching any other works from that director and screenwriter. That's quite certain. The camera work and editing were bad, the music direction was messy, and the use of violence and fake blood were just morbid. On top of that, there barely was any character development. The leads looked good on screen together although their romance made no sense. This drama was sadly a disappointment.

Loved the colour scheme and cinematography of this drama. Dohoe's character felt quite authentic and Kim Nurim beautifully portrayed the heavy burden that is a past you wish to forget. I feel Hwang Daseul could have used some more episodes to dive deeper into Juyeong's past. 

Loved it!! What a wonderful cast of characters. I loved them all so much. I cried and laughed with them. My heart broke for them. 34 episodes gone in a blink of an eye. Bai Ju and Zhuo Yichen's bond :((((((((( *starts sobbing*

Loved the directing so much! The wide and fixed shots, the lively melodies, the stunning landscapes...
Everyone's acting was so amazing and felt so natural. Souya's micro-expressions are so detailed and shows such a strong understanding of his character. It made me appreciate his acting in "Kaibutsu" all the more (and I already loved it so much). The same goes for Rui!
I felt attached to eveyone in Takagi's and Nishikata's class :(( Like please give me 50 episodes of just them being them and living their lives and I'd be the happiest. 

I initially wrote a little something for this drama, but it was too long to be pasted here and it's not good enough to be posted as a review on my account :( It shall remain locked away on my laptop then ><

If I sum it up though, I loved the drama's main focus: forensic arts and more precisely, the job of a forensic portraitist. I really liked Shen Yi's characterisation and his relationship to art. The sketching sequences were amazingly filmed. Great ending song.  

There's a few things I didn't like though which kept me from enjoying this drama as much I would have liked to.

• Du Cheng's characterisation felt a bit weak compared to Shen Yi's although he is supposed to be one of the main leads.  
• The way the cases were solved were too straightforward and people kept on deducting things correctly with little information which weakened the credibility of the drama as the episodes went by. (I'm not talking about Shen Yi's ability. I know his character was inspired by a famous Chinese portraitist.) 
• Diverse cases were solved during the drama and addressed different social issues. While I appreciated the effort, I didn't always like the way said issues were handled. It felt too depoliticised?? The core issues were never mentioned and you were just left with a bitter aftertaste because life is not fair and judiciaries cannot do anything about it. 
• Plot holes or details left unexplained/unresolved. 

I'm happy I finally came around to watching this drama :) It's been sitting in my watchlist for a while. I won't be watching season 2 right away though. Crime dramas aren't my cup of tea and I can't watch two in a row ><