Twinkling Watermelon is absolutely the best drama of the year for me.

Main Actors—Ryeo Un (Secret Romantic Guesthouse) and Choi Hyun-Wook (Twenty five Twenty One, Weak Hero Class 1)

Twinkling Watermelon Youth Music Life Romance is a great concept drama.

A hearing little boy has deaf parents and a deaf older brother. He speaks to them through sign language. When they move to another neighborhood, the boy begins to be mentored in music by a music shop owner. The boy is uniquely aware of sounds, living in his family’s deaf world and he uses his hands to communicate. The shop owner chooses to teach him the guitar. This is a perfect match, because the boy must use his hands with the guitar to speak the language of music, the same as using his hands to communicate with his family. The shop owner discovers that the little boy is a musical genius. You get these rare finds of a drama which concentrates on a unique story. Twinkling Watermelon is a concept drama about Youth, Music, Life, and Romance. This is a youth driven music drama, but it will appeal to all ages. I am totally impressed. It is a high Yes to add this drama to your drama list.

There is a huge plot redirection in the drama, Twinkling Watermelon. I am totally surprised that no one has blabbed and let the secret out. The redirection knocked me for a loop. I will have to write up a spoiler later on. This can’t stay a secret long. I am watching real-time. For bingers, I would suggest to start this drama ‘Twinkling Watermelon’ and view the 5 episodes posted already, then you can binge episodes 6-16 later. It appears that no one was given advance notice, by what I have read so far. However, some want to be the first to tell the secret. With 5 episodes posted, many won’t keep the secret long. In addition, so many others do not understand what a spoiler is. Twinkling Watermelon may tap out to be one of the best Music Life Romance Korean Dramas ever.

The boy is a coda. That means that he is the only one in the family who can hear and speak.

Quote: Music is the only legal drug.

Sign hung in the father’s restaurant: No need for words.

Cast

Choi Hyun Wook—This role is in his wheelhouse, playing a creative dare devil who falls for the rich chick. He is so good in this drama. He overwhelms his scenes. Many have touted the acting talent of Choi Hyun Wook and I am one of them. He will not disappoint you.
Ryeo Un—He gives a breakout performance, which many will be talking about.
Seol In A—She is a veteran talented Actress and once again gives a great performance.
Shin Eun-Soo—This actress is a newcomer and she is a little shinning star. Shin Eun-Soo is given a difficult role, which I will not spoil.

Is it acceptable to use the word ‘Deaf’? Yes, most of the Deaf community do not shy away from this word.

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Families often are made up of blended broken pieces.

Go Ahead is a concept drama I have not seen before in any of the 200 Asian Dramas I have viewed. The premise and format is that different. This drama carves a different lane for itself in the highway of dramas. Go Ahead is a raw account of a blended multiple family dynamic, which has at its center, the best dad figure ever in Asian Dramas. If the writer really knows this person after who the character is patterned, he or she would have been privileged to have known him.

Go Ahead is such a great drama centered around family, which honors dads. If you have that special dad in your life, hug him and do a “Daddy and Me” with this drama. So many Asian Dramas have good examples of bad examples. The dad in Go Ahead is a good example of a great example.

Written by Shui Qianmo and Wang Xiongcheng

QUOTE
Neighbor Lady to this dad: “I don’t know what good things our family did in our last lifetime (for us to) meet such a great person like you in this lifetime”.

In Go ahead, there are actually two single dads with children. One dad is a stern policeman and the other sweet dad owns a soup restaurant. Each shares the financial and parenting responsibilities of this accidentally blended family. While not giving up on finding the right woman as a wife, these two dads just worked out a workable lifestyle after loosing their mates, centered around living their best life for their children. With one child, his mother just dropped him off at the door step of the sweet dad and never came back. The sweet dad just took him in. There was less stability before the fathers joined ranks. Afterwards and for the sake of the kids, the fathers worked out a workable arrangement. What is uniquely appealing about Go Ahead is that the family dynamics consist of two sons, two fathers and a daughter. Therefore, the daughter has to learn many female things on her own, without useable help from the rest of the males in the house. This is a source of laughter moments throughout the drama. The three unrelated siblings are raised like triplets. They have a bond thicker than blood.

Cast

Families often are made up of blended broken pieces.

All three actors were raised to superstar level from Go Ahead, because of the immense popularity of this show.

Trương Tân Thành or Steven Zhan plays the athletic brother who finds his little sister annoying, but would give his last drop of blood to protect her. He was dropped off by his mother and a abandoned. The dads fully accepts him as if he is blood.

Tan Songyun plays the rough and touch tomboy with big brothers. Her performance is one of the best in long time. Her comedic timing is excellent, as she portrays a youthful girl in several stages of life and maturity and she nails this roles. One brother is athletic and clueless and the other brother is sensitive and very perceptive. The girl was raised like a tomboy and is the youngest. She wants to marry her older brother.

Chinese heartthrob Song Weilong plays the genius but sensitive brother, willing to put aside embarrassment in order to learn what his baby sister needs. She is the only female in this family dynamic and he has no real clue what little girls need when mothers are absent, but he tries his best.

Each single dad developed his role and contribution in this symbiotic family arrangement. Each dad’s gifts help this blended family correctly congeal together.
Zhang Xilin and Tu Song Yan

Zhang Xilin plays the dad who really does not understand women. He has figured out that women are the opposite of men, but not much more. He willingly acquiesces, knowing his limitations. This dad acts as a wage earner and contributes cash not nurturing.

Tu Song Yan plays the dad who takes on the role of the nurturer. He holds this family together. He is in touch with his feminine side without being feminine at all. It is just that his skill sets are the most needed for this blended family to flourish.
If you were waiting for a good reason to subscribe to VIKI, well here it is, Go Ahead.

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With this one you will need to towel off.

Doona is an exquisitely paced romance rich drama, which will leave you needing to towel off after viewing. It is one of those Korean dramas which you do have to sit through to the very end, however. The Koreans always show you how to make a romance rich and sensually alluring drama without even showing much skin at all. The romance scenes never get above PG 14. However, with the great natural acting talents of Suzy Bae and Yang Se Jong and the fire hot chemistry of this physically attractive couple in this unique drama, you might feel that a rating of PG 14 is too low. (Scenes do contain smoking and some slight cursing).


The story centers around a college kid named Won Joon (Yang Se Jong) who becomes a tenant in this share-house near his College campus. One of the long term tenants in the share-house is a burnt out former big name K Pop Idol named Lee Doona (Suzy Bae), who is from a popular girl group. Won Joon is a 21 year old green kid, a young man who is more versed in books than life. Won Joon is not impressed at first by the credentials of this older woman named Doona, and he just finds her to be someone who seems always to be in his way. The slow evolution of this romance may leave some impatient, but this pace is meant to leave you irritatingly anxious and fully invested in the lives of this couple. Both actors give stellar and sensual performances, befitting of their characters as defined. Doona and Won Joon have close to 80% of the screen time in ‘Doona’. This is physically and emotionally challenging for actors.

Doona is actually a female Korean name. For me, the title is a play on words for the word noona (older sister). The drama is based on the Webtoon titled ‘The Girl Downstairs’.

Suzy Bae (While You Were Sleeping, Start-up) and Yang Se-jong (Still 17, My Country: The New Age)

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Almost trope free, and the drama has a female CEO

Imagine a world where meat is biotechnologically generated and cultured. This eliminates the need to slaughter animals. Of course, such an advancement could solve world hunger. BF Company has hopes that in the near future all food will be cultured using biotechnology. Blood Free does not have many of my usual circle of acting friends in it. However, since it met my “Love it or Leave it” 15 minute criteria in 2 minutes, I thought it best to investigate further. Blood Free has a high technology driven plot-line. CGI and cinematography are through the roof.

I love a great romance drama. This ain’t it. However, the intelligently written story will keep you in suspense. Therefore, some should try to get out of their comfort zone and add Blood Free to their shopping list. Now for the guys. You have been asking for this Korean Drama. I think that you will enjoy Blood Free. For the girls. I know that actor Ju Ji Hoon starred in Kingdom, a drama I did not see, but wow, where did he come from?

The ML is Ju Ji Hoon (Jurisan, Kingdom) and FL is Han Hyo Joo (Moving, W:Two Worlds, Happiness).

I am excited about this drama Blood Free. The drama does not follow the usual Korean Drama tropes. The story is innovative and exciting. That acting and action are great.

A company has learned how to culture fleshly meat products and this company is poised to take over the world market. Can life be that easy? Not in a Korean Drama. I like Blood Free a lot. This drama is a total change of pace. The use of video gaming tools and drones to fight the bad guys is sure to please. CGI and Cinematography are great, with a great OST

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The original was a masterpiece and so is the sequel, even after a five year wait.

Acting, Thrilling Action, Comic Relief, Cinematography, and great OST💌💌💌💌

The year 2024 will be the year remembered by some as the year Chinese dramas out classed Korean Dramas in putting out great drama productions for this year. Like the year 2016 did for Korean dramas (the turning point for Korean dramas) 2024 abounds with some of the greatest most innovative Chinese Dramas I have seen. Forget the question about which is better, Chinese dramas have arrived.

Chinese Period Drama Joy of Life 2

From the Book Qing Yu Nian, written by Mao Ni, the Chinese drama series Joy of Life (2019) was written by Wang Juan and directed by Sun Hao. Both writer and director returned in 2024 for Joy of Life 2. It is like Wang Juan and Sun Hoa were not going to put out anything short of the perfection, like the high standards found in Joy of Life. The Chinese drama series Joy of Life sits at number one out of all 100 Chinese Dramas I have viewed. The pair of writer and director seemed to have vowed to wait out these five years until the stars aligned so that they could put out perfection and they did it again. It is a death knell to wait five years for a sequel. You lose your audience. Joy of Life 2 was going to be a masterpiece or it just was not going to be put out. There are thrills and action, great acting, great comic relief, great cinematography and filmmaking, great music and a very cohesive story. Joy of Life did not suffer from the five year wait as respects cohesive storyline between the original and the sequel. Joy of Life 2 will most likely land in number 2 on my All Time Chinese Drama List. Joy of Life is number 5 out of 400 Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Dramas I have reviewed. (To note: I have not watched Nirvana on Fire (2015) yet, which by everyone’s account should be in the top three)

What the story of ‘Joy of Life’ does is fill in all of the canvass. While many dramas are entertaining on so many different levels, many of these dramas are pencil drawings next to the Renoir of the Joy of Life drama series for me. Joy of Life 2 is so well written. Many words fill up the dialogue, leaving so many thoughts to digest, one doesn’t feel like the dialogue space is wasted with garbage words. The interplay between the good and the evil, each challenge, each victory, each loss in the cat and mouse games play out wonderfully in this Period Political drama with intense Court intrigue. The cat and mouse skirmishes are reminiscent of the great Chinese drama The Rise of the Phoenixes (2018). Joy of Life 2 is a next level experience.

Joy of Life 2 is a great interplay of serious drama with comic relief. Mapping out the comedy within the serious is not the easiest of tasks. If you throw in the comedy in the wrong places it becomes a joke. If the comedy is weaved in seamlessly, it can become a masterpiece. What Joy of Life 2 is good at is throwing in comedy amidst chaos. The viewers get scenes like where there is threatening chaos and thrilling danger and then amongst this you see dancing Eunuchs doing line dancing? You freeze in place trying to comprehend what you are viewing. This much of a juxtapose should not work in any universe, but it works in the Chinese Costume Drama ‘Joy of Life’ 2 series. What brain is that creative?

Joy of Life 2 has some of the best choreographed action sequences, as was the case with Joy of Life. Known for its trend-setting moves for its action sequences, I enjoyed the wonderful cliff scene in Joy of Life 2. The two nefarious Princes are back and a whole lot more nefarious and funnier in Joy of life 2 than in Joy of Life. (Watch out for the Poison Prince scene. Hilarious). Also back are much of the cast from Joy of Life, including the weirdest but most intelligent Emperor, who provides much angst for the protagonist. Our protagonist Fan Xian / Fan Shen again is played by Chinese actor Zhang Ruoyun. He gives another great dramatic comedic performance.

Can Joy of Life 2 stand on its own without viewing Joy of Life? There will be some parts of the drama that should produce a deeper value meaning with a deeper connection to the past that will be lost. However, Joy of Life 2 can stand on its own, because of its entertainment value. Some problems will arise for sure with the lost of all the information about the dead mother of the protagonist and her connection to the present action. This is lost to those who view this series out of sequence. It is worth putting in the 82 episodes back to back for the best experience. You won’t get bored at all if this is your kind of drama. However, the presentation of Joy of Life 2 is so good that if I could read Chinese, I would read the book.

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What type of time travel drama is Marry My Husband? How good is this Korean drama?

Marry My Husband is a time slip (Time Travel) drama.

This is a story about a woman in her forties. Her husband in Marry My Husband is a real loser, a real piece of work. Her best friend is having an affair with her husband and she is dying of cancer. The heroine of the story then is killed by her husband. Right before her death, she time slips into the past, back ten years. This information is not a spoiler, because all this action takes place in the first 15 minute. (Time Slip: Having no apparent means of traveling through time).

Quote: “The living should go on living. You are going to die anyway”. Best girlfriend explaining why she cheated with her with the husband of the heroine.

Marry My Husband is a great time slip Korean Drama, which is from a web novel and serialized Webtoon by the same name. In this drama, the Time Slip (Time Travel) is not just used as a cab ride to the past. Marry My Husband is trying to observe present assumptions about time slip (time travel). Our heroine is thrust back in time. While in the past, she attempts to change small details about her future miserable life that leads to an untimely death. However, she is not succeeding at making even very small changes. Her course for the future seems fixed and doomed to repeat itself. The heroine appears to have entered the crack of a parallel universe where changes to the future is not possible. The events keep readjusting itself to preserve the original outcome to preserve the past. This eliminates paradoxes. Changes to the future is assumed only possible when entering the open time loop section of the past or the open time loop of the wormhole. When changes are made, this sets up an alternative universe in the future which is different from before (A wormhole is a shortcut through time).

Even though the heroine may not be able to change her future, she reckons that she might be able to get someone else to substitute into her misfortune. Maybe she could get someone else to marry her no good husband, before it is time for her to do so. That way she will change her own time vector, because hers is now occupied by someone else. WOW! Whether the idea follows the science or not, this unique idea tries to address what to do if you don’t fall into the correct wormhole.

This substitution concept idea of Time Slip (Time Travel) is uniquely different from any time slip (time travel) ideas which I have explored thus far. As the Korean drama Marry My Husband progresses, we will see if she is successful with the time substitution idea. I am surely good for the ride though. It is a go for me for the Korean Drama Marry My Husband. Our heroine gets a second chance at second chances.

I think that Marry My Husband is going to be a major hit.

Cast
Multiple Baeksang Arts Award winner Park Min-young (Marriage in Contract), Na In Woo (River Where the Moon Rises), and Lee Yi-kyung (Welcome to Waikiki).

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This is a bonafide discovery

I am watching Perfect Marriage Revenge real-time.

Perfect Marriage Revenge is a drama which is really outside of my comfort zone, but I thought that I would give it a try to expand my horizons. The actors are not my usual circle of friends either. However, the opulent life style and the Blue Plate fashions on display alone seemed worth the price of the time commitment. The drama is about marriage and revenge (go figure) and being clueless in Korea. Also, it is about marriage musical chairs. Nonetheless, I did find this drama enticing on a gossip worthy level. However, just when you think you have this drama all figured out, Perfect Marriage Revenge dramatically jumps into hyperspace. The drama becomes a whole other animal. It is very sexy (in a PG13 sort of way) and complicated, with a drama twist.

Don’t forget to take time to explore the fashions on display. The reason for revenge, however, will floor you. Based on a web drama, Perfect Marriage Revenge is a Romance Marriage Drama. Personally, I would call this a melodrama. While Perfect Marriage Revenge may not win awards for writing, it may win for inventiveness and acting. Right now, there is lots of Head Talk (Talking to yourself about the drama) with this one. You betcha.


Cast

Jung Yoo-Min (Celebrity)

The actors in the posse are tall.

Sun Hoon (My Secret Romance) 6’1”

Oh Seung-yoon (Blind) started as a child actor. 6’1”

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The Perfect Family is most certainly above to crowd. Intriguing.

The Perfect Family is a well written Suspense Thriller Drama that may leave you breathless, similar to Atypical Family.

The Story

The Perfect Family is a brilliant drama, my kind of story. Hopefully the story does not collapse along the way. It is about two girls who use to be best friends. Something tragic happened to one of the girls and the misfortune of one appears to be the fortune of the other. Or is it? The details given by me must be sparse here, lest it ends up being a spoiler, the way the story is writing. The Internet is ablaze about this drama. The Perfect Family has invoked much thought and conversation all around.

The story is a contrast between someone in whose life nothing goes right with someone who has everything a person could want. Who is better off? One has a loving doting family, teen popularity, riches, opportunity, and a boy who truly loves her. The other has none of this, but whose life should this be? Was the trajectory incident the fault of the one? Not really. Should it be the guilt of the other to own? Probably. The girls reunite as teens and that is where the story begins. The Perfect Family would be a perfect Watch-Party drama.

Stars Park Ju-Hyun (as Choi Sun-Hui) and Choi Ye-Bin (as Lee Soo-Yeon)

How the story is written is important

The Perfect Family has a unique way to tell its story. One can tell that this story comes from a very complicated mind. Normally, I can take the facts presented after three episodes of a drama and tell you in a write-up exactly where this story is going. That is impossible with the story The Perfect Family. Its writing style is layered and complicated and I will need to write a spoiler follow-up just to keep it straight in my own mind. This story of The Perfect Family also is compelling and profound, invoking much deep thoughts around the issues presented.

The drama The Perfect Family is written in reverse chronology. You get the foreboding end of the story in the first four minutes of action. This is a flash-forward scene foreshadowing what is to come. This is a writing technique that is not often used and less so in Korean dramas. Using this technique throws the viewer into a quandary about the characters, because you have not yet grown an attachment to these characters. However, you are immediately drawn into caring about their fate.

Next, the writer layers the action like an onion, to establish how the foreboding opening incident happened. In continuous motion, the writer gives you the opening scene several times from several different points of view of each of the players involved. This keeps you in your chair waiting for the total reason why this foreboding outcome occurred, as you continue to establish a relationship with these characters. The writer is using foreshadowing, as the writer gives you portions of the complete puzzle, spoonfuls at a time. This is how the story is accomplished, but what is the true story?

The Perfect Family is such a profound Korean drama. I thought that the Korean drama Atypical Family was profound, but this is too. Whether it is your taste, is another story. However, is it profound? Yes.

(My mind is reeling like it was when viewing the drama Atypical Family)

There is a stacked cast in the drama ‘The Perfect Family’. The Perfect Family reunites the two principle leads of the Korean Drama ‘Forbidden Marriage’, Kim Min-ju and Kim Young-dae. While Forbidden Marriage was a RomCom, The Perfect Family is a Suspense Thriller.

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Silence is acting too.

There are Korean dramas that you like very much and those that you totally enjoy. These latter ones leave you haunted by them long after you have finished the drama. Tell Me That You Love Me is the second type. I really got into the headspace of the main characters and felt their pain deeply in this impactful drama. Amidst the heavy hitter Korean dramas of 2023, this drama is a perfect sleeper gem of a Korean drama some might have missed.

The story is about a woman trying to find her way in life and a man who is deaf trying to navigate through a hearing world. She has to learn to communicate with him with her hands, and he has to learn how to communicate with her with his heart. Tell Me That You Love Me has a well thought out, well executed, and unusual storyline. The story is written so well, from a deaf person’s point of view. This Korean Drama is the type of artsy drama which people who appreciate the finer nuances of good filmmaking would love.

I love it when actors use body language to convey thoughts without words. When you are playing the part of a deaf person who can not speak, you have no other way to convey the emotions of the character other than with body language.

The male lead playing the deaf character is seasoned veteran and Baeksang Arts Award top honor Daesang winning Actor, a Director, a Producer, and a Model Jung Woo-sung. He nailed this performance of a deaf person who is totally confident in his skin, but who is seared by the challenges of hearing people. The female lead is actress Shin Hyun-been. She plays a woman starting a new career as an actress. She has a soft demur acting delivery which was so appropriate for her role in Tell Me That You Love Me. The performance which both gave is called the art of acting.

Quote: “I always thought I was the one who should make an effort to live in harmony with others. Because in this world there are a lot more people who can hear than those who can’t. But out of those people, someone came to me and said hi first.” Deaf Artist expressing his feelings about someone who took the effort to communicate.

Quote: “I read sounds (voices) with my eyes. It means that every time I blink, for a brief moment, I get disconnected from the world”. Deaf Male Lead.

Quote: “Since I can’t hear people’s footsteps approaching me, I must always keep a safe distance from them.” Deaf Male Lead.

When the deaf lead was with hearing people, his demeanor was unsure and not assertive. Teaching his deaf students he was very assure and assertive. This seemed so realistic to me. I love the acting choices of the male lead. I love the way the male lead brings you into his world and verbally shows you what it is like for a deaf person to live in a hearing world. Love that at times the drama goes completely silent when two persons are signing. This was a dramatic choice I loved.

I enjoyed Tell Me That You Love Me. The OST is so poignant, featuring star singers like Seungkwan from Seventeen who wrote and sang Still You from Doctor Romantic 3 and Seori who sings Sound of Your Heart. The OST music is so encapsulating of the action that at times the music can leave you crying. There are two great second leads, a guy and girl character.

Tell Me That You Love Me meets industry stands of excellence in acting, cinematography, sound, lighting, and music OST. It falters with film editing, taking breaks of action in the weirdest places.

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Blossoms in Adversity

Blossom in Adversity is a woman-positive Chinese drama that is very well written and acted. There are so many females who are positive role models in Blossoms in Adversity. The main protagonist is portrayed as a young intelligent female who can figure out how to survive and thrive in spite of adversity.

A strong teen pulls a politically ostracized former noble household of 35+ women and children out of poverty, by using good business sense and radical thinking. To get the indentured servants among her entourage to work happily in the household, she sets them all free and makes them a social equal and equal business partners in her thriving newly formed business. Having no money and just a roof over her head, she uses what some people would throw away and makes good business profit.

There is a great ending to Blossoms in Adversity as the ruler of the Kingdom, trained through adversity and deprivation, ascend to the throne. Thrilling.

Blossoms in Adversity has such young Chinese star power leading the cast. The Female and Male Leads are actress Zhang Jing Yi (Lighter and Princess) as Hua Zhi and actor Hu Yi Tian (Hello Sharpshooter). Adapted from the web novel "Xi Hua Zhi". Enjoy.

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Family friendly

Cutest little button of a Japanese series. This series is as cute as the Chinese Drama ‘When I Fly Towards You’ and very child friendly. Soya Kurokawa plays Nishikata. This young actor is kicking up a storm in the acting world, so remember his name. He has two support roles and Teasing Master Takagi-san is his first lead role. Soya Kurokawa also stars in the Movie Monster. None of these series scored less than 8.0/10. Heavens, I wish that he could speak Korean. He would make a huge crossover star. The female lead is Rui Tsukishima as Takagi. She gives a great performance too. Please don’t view this drama if you are allergic to sweetness overload.

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Some of the best acting ever.

Move To Heaven (2021) is about a cleanup business run by a father and his savant Asperger son, who takes loving care of the last remaining earthly belongings of the deceased. So much loving care is taken with the belongings of the deceased that the work assignment begins and ends with prayer, as the deceased “moves to heaven”. The loving father meets with tragedy and the young brother of the father (and uncle to the mentally challenged but high functioning son) is asked to be a caretaker to the son and help him run the business. This uncle should not be trusted even with a dead dog, let alone a mentally challenged human. However, somehow they need to make this work.

Quote: I can’t believe we’re rummaging through garbage to find garbage.” Reckless young uncle trying to find in the city dump the belongings of the deceased he carelessly threw away.

The young boy knows how to read the life story of the deceased from what others perceive as trash. I can not express how good the young actor who plays the mentally challenged youth is doing in Move To Heaven. Sometimes, you get these performances which are so good (Leo Di Caprio in the American movie ‘What’s Wrong with Gilbert Grapes’) that at no point in time do you see the actor as anything other than mentally challenged. This neat and ordered youth goes up against the abrasive slob from destruction. The drama covers the back story of each deceased character. This drama is so good. (I have a Note To The Sensitive at the end)

Actors Corner


Tang Jun-sang (Racket Boys) as Han Geu-ru just keeps on surprising me with his great performances in his dramas. He is a Baeksang Arts Awards Nominee for Move To Heaven.


Lee Je Hoon (Taxi Driver) as the young uncle Cho Sang-gu. He plays the irresponsible young uncle who only became the guardian of his mentally challenged nephew to get control of the money from his inheritance. There is a great human interest backstory for the uncle. Lee Je Hoon won several Best Actor Awards from various awards shows for his performance in Move to Heaven.


Hong Seung-hee (Navillera) portrays Yoon Na-mu, the best friend and interpreter for Han Geu-ru. She is his defender to the end. Hong Seung-hee gives a great performance.

Move To Heaven won the Asian Academy Creative Awards in 2022 for Best Drama.

Note To The Sensitive

Occasionally, there is amounts of strong cursing from certain guest characters and smoking in the drama. There are occasional boxing scenes. I will try to include Note To The Sensitive to my drama reviews.

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Learn to take care of “me”.

What does your mental health look like?

Quote: “All of us are standing on the border between normal and abnormal”. Female Lead from A Daily Dose of Sunshine.

Quote: “Psychiatry is for those whose mental immunity has been weaken. Anyone of us can find ourselves in a weakened mental state”. A Daily Dose of Sunshine

The Story

A Daily Dose of Sunshine is about a psychiatric ward nurse with a different approach to psychiatric therapy, being kind and showing empathy. I am just now getting back to finish this drama, which debut at the end of 2023. For my taste, A Daily Dose of Sunshine was stellar. The story centers around the life of a nurse in a Hospital psych ward and the many story arcs of the many patients who pass through its halls. This drama is the closest drama to another stellar Korean Drama, Chocolate (2020). A Daily Dose of Sunshine asks you to take a good look at your mental health. Before it is to late, give “Me” a little attention.

One of the most poignant scenes in the whole drama for me was when and overworked overstressed mom was admitted to the psych ward, because of pseudo-dementia caused by being overworked and over stressed. The head nurse of the psych ward is also overworked and overstressed and is facing a failure as a mom and wife. It was not until the overworked nurse had to sit down and listen to the evaluation of the overworked and overstressed out patient and the overworked and overstressed patient observed the overworked and overstressed nurse at her work that they both got it. They both finally understood their problem. When you view this part, look at the faces of each woman. Priceless. The camera shots in this scene has the patient’s face darkened out at times, so as to allow the viewer to put their face in that image. (Episode five, A Daily Dose of Sunshine).

Every story arc of A Daily Dose of Sunshine was written with great emotions and contained well researched information. The script is stellar and the acting was too. Each arc will touch your heart deeply. A Daily Dose of Sunshine get a high recommendation from me.

Quote: “Mom, why were you late?” Little daughter. “I had so many sick people at the hospital.” Mom. “But mom, I am sick too, and you are a nurse. Why wouldn’t you nurse me too?” Little daughter on A Daily Dose of Sunshine.

Quote: “That person who was always smiling . . . His smile was pitiful to me. And so my heart ached. Hurting words have a way of hurting you, no matter the occasion”. Lead Female tries to calm her heart. A Daily Dose of Sunshine


Quote: “Life’s problems are like a public train, the longer the time of travel the more passengers you take on”. Me

Actors Corner

Yeon Woo Jin (Good Doctor), Park Bo Young (Strong Girl Bong Soon), and Jang Dong-Yoon (Flowers in the Sand). All gave great performances.

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Tang Dynasty Tour (2018) Period RomCom Chinese Drama with a serious ending

The main character is Yun Ye (Played by Wang Tianchen)—Wang Tianchen’s personality is so perfect for this role in Tang Dynasty Tour. Most will fall in love with this actor.

Tang Dynasty Tour (2018) Period RomCom Chinese Drama is a Chinese drama which acts as a tour through history, like the American Movie Forest Gump.

Tang Dynasty Tour is a Time Travel drama, which takes you back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). This is a Time Travel drama instead of a Time Slip, because there is a definite mode for Time Travel. It is an ancient ornamental hairpin.

Quote: “Water carries a boat, and yet water can overturn it”. Tang Dynasty Tour.

The Story

A radical young smart archaeologist named Yun Ye (Wang Tianchen) is warned to be careful while in an archeological dig, as they combed through buried ancient Chinese artifacts. Yun Ye ignores the warning and falls down through a compartment which seems to have no way out. Using his ingenuity, he finds an opening that opens with a woman’s hairpin. Nevertheless, Yun Ye is unaware that he falls through a time warp, which takes him back to the Tang Dynasty. He decides to stick around for a tour. Along the way, he falls in love. Since most of the Royalty in this drama are historical figures, it is fun to see how Yun Ye touches bases with history, ancient culture and artifacts, and events, like in the American film Forest Gump. Since I study history in general, I picked up most all of the references to Chinese History. Tang Dynasty Tour is scoring a 9.2 on the Chinese Streamer iQIYI, even with a very bad translation Team. The Chinese are going to get the historical references more so than most others cultures. In the same way, Forest Gump would score higher in America, because the central theme has American History.

What is unique about the drama Tang Dynasty Tour is that Yun Ye can use his brilliant mind and his vast knowledge of the future to control and guide him through, and invent different ways to live in the past. I truly enjoyed this drama immensely. There are the most complicated love triangles in Tang Dynasty Tour than in any other Asian Drama I have seen. This drama has all the bells and whistles for my taste.

The following is a quote from Emperor Tang Taizong:

“If one uses bronze as a mirror one will be able to adjust one’s dress and hat properly. If one uses the past as a mirror, one will be able to learn the principles of the rise and fall of a dynasty. If one uses a person as a mirror, one will be able to discern one’s own achievements and mistakes.” The Zhenguan Zhengyao
(贞观 政要)

Specifically for one homage to history, look for the green Chamber Pot (toilet) of Emperor Gaozu, the Grandfather (Father of the Emperor Li Shimin and former/first Emperor of the Tang Dynasty). Yun Ye is granted any gift he wants by former Emperor Gaozu. He asks for the chamber pot (toilet) of the retired Emperor as a gift. While everyone laughs at the request, Yun Ye quips that it will be of great value someday. Along the way Yun Ye introduces or “invents” a game called Mahjong, a very popular Asian game today. The Tang Dynasty was long gone by the 1800s, when the very popular Mahjong was introduce to the world. However, we get to see Chinese people circa 600 CE play the game. Yun Ye also introduces Scandinavian furniture into the Tang culture and it becomes a hit. Come to think of it, Chinese furniture at a point in time in history does suddenly modernize and takes on a seeming European look. Okay, I am over thinking things a bit.

The time period of Tang Dynasty Tour is the Tang Dynasty (618-907CE), during the reign of Emperor Tai Zong. He is a real historical person who reigned over the Tang Dynasty 626–649 CE, of the period of Zhengguan. Because Yun Ye knows how to make granular table salt, Yun Ye becomes valued and protected, like a commodity. What salt did to food historically radicalized eating. Also in the past, salt was the same price as gold. Imagine a world without salt. With his inventiveness and future know-how, Yun Ye becomes the MacGyver of the ancient Tang Dynasty world.

Quote: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Lord Acton (1887)

Set decorations, costume designs and shoe-ware are exquisite and so Tang Dynasty These are a literal feast to the eyes. Cinematography is off the charts and the drama has a great OST. Hair and makeup are divine. There is lots of Court Intrigue and thrilling action in this drama, women in distress, valiant swordsmen, it is all there, making Tang Dynasty Tour a fun delicious adventure. The plot line of The Tang Dynasty Tour Drama does get incoherent in some spots in the back half, as a few Chinese Dramas do. Over all, Tang Dynasty Tour is a Chicken Dinner Winner. (The drama is available on Amazon Prime Video and iQIYI in 2024).

Viewer Note: Be aware that there is a bad translator for this drama, Tang Dynasty Tour.

The Rules of Time Travel.

Somehow, because of his time travel to the past, Yun Ye has thrown off the original historical timeline. It becomes disordered. Yun Ye creates a grandfather paradox. The man who should have fathered his nation in the future (being the only male left in the clan) died because of the time travel insertion of Yun Ye. If Yun Ye does not agree to father the nation of Yun, as the last man, he does not exist in the future. He must become his own ancestor if he is to go back to the future. This is a modified grandfather paradox. The paradox entertains what would happen if you went back in time and killed your own grandfather. If in time, you always killed your own grandfather, you would never have existed in the future to go back in time to kill your own grandfather. That is a paradox similar to what Yun Ye faces. To correct the paradox, he inserts himself in as his own “grandfather”.

In Tang Dynasty Tour Time Travel drama, Yun Ye changes time events. Therefore, Yun Ye is in an alternate universe where events are correctable.

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What is all this hype about, with WWWSK? Did a kiss make this a Kdrama classic?

“What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?” (2018) stars Park Seo Jun as Lee Young-Joon and Park Min-Young as Secretary Kim Mi So. The drama is taken from a Webtoon by the same name.

Each person can have their personal opinions about any drama. I am good with that. However, the Korean Drama “What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?” is about more than that ‘top five kisses of all times’, in the back half of this Korean Drama. “What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?” is one of the deepest Korean Dramas of all times too, in spite it being a RomCom. This drama is about a mental and emotional promise which one abused child (Lee Young Joon / Lee Sung Hyun) made to another abused child (Kim Mi So). That promise was to always be her protector, in spite of the mental and emotional hits he took in life to be there for her. While the child abuse was a shared experience of two young children (kidnapped by the same abuser), the young boy just took it upon himself to handle the abuse while shielding the little girl from it. Consequently, he took on the damage this experience would eventually cause in life while he hide her eyes from the potentially bad consequences.

WWWSK does display the comedic genius of Park Seo Joon, one of the top Korean Drama actors. However, the drama also delves into what made his drama character in WWWSK become the egomaniac which he became. The drama character Lee Young-Joon was a huge egomaniac and narcissist [having Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)]. Even though his NPD produced the most laughs in the drama, some may not know that egomania and NPD can be caused by childhood trauma. The beautiful love story which emerges out of WWWSK becomes a healing process for all, as the now “grown little boy” (Lee Young Joon / Lee Sung Hyun) can finally keep his pinky swear he made with the now “grown little girl” (Kim Mi So) so long ago.

What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim? is a play on words. Is this exclamation a question or a discovery? Is something wrong with Secretary Kim or let me tell you what is wrong with Secretary Kim. Nonetheless, this Korean Drama is a must see for every Korean Drama devotee, in my opinion.

Personal admiration: For me, this drama (WWWSK?) has one of the top five drama performances by children. The child stars are actress Kim Ji Yoo as Kim Mi So (Eun Dan Oh [Young] from Extraordinary You) and actor Moon Woo Jin as Lee Young Joon / Lee Sung Hyun [Young] (It’s Okay Not To Be Okay, Castaway Diva). Kids don’t stay kids. Go figure. Watch for the great performance of actor Moon Woo Jin playing another abused child in Castaway Diva (2023).

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