#except i guess kids whose main issue is pacing. but kids who struggle with pacing but are otherwise doing great are….. rare

[what-breaks-my-heart]

Here are some brief thoughts on kdrama that started airing in 2020 that I've watched. I said brief, but those who have been following me would appreciate that this is indeed, brief.

The list is in alphabetical order.

1. 365: Repeat the Year (MBC)

Disclosure: I am a HUGE Lee Joon Hyuk stan. He is second only to Hyun Bin on my list. The fact that this drama is on the top of this list is a happy coincidence 🥰🥰

I was soooooooo excited when I knew Lee Joon Hyuk was to star in a new drama. MBC made the announcement of the drama late last year, and I was literally walking to the office when I saw the announcement on ig.

The premise of the drama was pretty straightforward. 10 people were given the chance to travel back in time exactly one year prior. Mysterious things kept happening to the people who took the trip, so our Detective Ji “Fluffy-Hair” Hyung Joo and webtoon writer Shin “Self-Hater” Ga Hyun joined hands to figure out what exactly happened.

Once they finally figured out what caused the mysterious cases, they faced a great dilemma on what to do, with our Fluffy Hair detective running as a fugitive.

The ending was really sad, and I really wished it ended differently, but the main character of the story was our Fluffy Hair detective, and him having to live on and reset the whole thing from the new past was a nice touch to the ending.

This drama was full of surprises, twist and turn, and it is certainly a drama I would consider rewatching in the future.

2. Do You Like Brahms? (SBS)

Many people criticised the second half of this drama. Apparently the year 2020 is the year when kdramaland keeps being a disappointment, and many people are quick to include this drama in the list of disappointing drama, despite having a good beginning.

I beg to differ though. To me this drama feels more of a healing drama, wherein the characters are forced to deal with their issues. And anyone who has had to go through any form of therapy knows how hard healing process is.

TL;DR: The main leads are both people who have been mentally abused by the people around them, except for Cha Young In, because she was the only reason I did not throw my remote control at my 50-inch TV.

Park Joon Young is your classic example of a ‘gifted kid’ struggle. He was seen as a young, talented pianist who had a bright future ahead of him. But people started to treat him more like a trophy than a human being, so he decided to take a sabbatical, much to the criticism of people in the music industry. Park Joon Young realised that his passion in playing the piano has faded away, no thanks to his abusive piano professor who belittled him again and again, and practically brainwashed him into being a people pleaser. You could see how Park Joon Young was not himself in the beginning of the drama once you finish the drama.

Chae Song Ah took interest in violin at a later age (much later than professional musicians) and decided to pursue her dream by enrolling into a music programme. Her classmates were all younger than her, and it didn’t help that they all learnt music since much younger. I love how Song Ah did not give up on her dream easily and gave it her all, before she finally decided to let go of her dream to become a musician. The metaphor of her love for violin and Joon Young hurting her again and again and she just endured it though.. I cried like a mess well I am a mess but that’s a separate issue

Special shout out to Cha Young In who was there for both of them.

3. Flower of Evil (tvN)

If thriller is your thing, consider this drama. If you are one of those people who like to see your characters being tortured (physically and mentally), this drama is a MUST WATCH. And if you enjoy watching Lee Joon Ki playing a character who is put at a great distress because he is trying to run from his past, go watch this drama.

More importantly, if you enjoy a drama where your ML is sexy, attends to house chores and takes care of his bright young daughter while his wife goes crazy for solving violent crimes, a devoted husband who is attentive and a tender person but also a freak in the sheets, you are wasting every single of your breath not watching this drama.

I mean look at this man teasing his wife about his stamina.

Flower of Evil did not feel draggy at all. Everything that happened within the first 6 episodes could have been an entire drama if this was written by someone else. Seriously, this drama kept me at the edge of my couch!

The dynamic of HS and JW screams POWER COUPLE but at the same time it broke my heart how they were pushed into corners too many times by the people around them I do hope they had some sexy times while they were in the corners though

The focus on their wedding rings throughout the drama symbolised their unbreakable bond. The wedding rings were literally the very last thing that kept them together when JW stumbled upon evidences that pointed against HS.

JW, whose compass was only trusting what she saw, and not what she heard, tried to break the stigma of women being at a disadvantage in the police force. Heck, she was better than her entire team when it came to solving cases, her being the only woman in the team. Who said women cannot make good cops?

The plot twist though.. And the climax.. To this day, I still listen to this soundtrack from the drama and cry just thinking of the climax.

4. Into the Ring (also known as Memorials) (KBS2)

I didn’t even plan on watching this drama. I was channel surfing and saw Park Sung Hoon looking all depressed in the first episode and ran into Koo Se Ra. Girl was UNHINGED and determined to fight for her way.

Her motivation was initially on getting a stable pay check from being a district representative (it was only 60 million won which is like USD55k so it’s not that much) but she eventually became the district representative who fought for the benefit of the people and did not care for the political warfare that took place.

Came along Seo Gong Myung, a government officer in the local government office who was demoted from planning unit of the accounting department or something to be a secretariat to the district assembly. Seo Gong Myung sticks to his principle no matter what, which surprise surprise, is HATED by everyone in the district government.

Turns out our main leads were friends when they were kids so Se Ra kept teasing him and dragging him into her scheme of fighting for the people, which Gong Myung agreed to, not so much because he was a community-loving person, but because he was afraid Se Ra would get into trouble since she was as straight as a ruler.

Long story short, our leads fell for each other, and their relationship was HILAIROUS to watch. I think I speak for everyone who watched the drama that we had no reason to believe Se Ra did not peg Gong Myung for fun 😝😝

They were so cute together awwww

5. Kairos (MBC)

This is another drama that I stumbled into. Only this time, I saw Nam Gyu Ri and I remember seeing her ig post on a new drama so I decided to give it a go. She wrecked my heart in 49 Days so I decided to check this out for funsies. Hooo boy was I in for a major surprise.

The first two episodes got me hooketh!! I still cannot believe how the drama managed to keep me on my edge especially during the last 5 minutes of every episode. The pacing is even faster than Flower of Evil, and since this drama went back and forth between past and future, it keeps me guessing whether their efforts would bear fruit.

Will Kim “Sexy Brain” Seo Jin  and Han “I-Know-No-Fear” Ae Ri succeed in fighting the evil, who at this point in time remains unknown? I know Chairman Yoo Seo Il is currently being hinted as the culprit behind everything but I know better that he is just a puppet who sold his soul to the real devil who most likely is in the higher ranks in politics. I mean he even hinted at his remorse for what happened with Taejung Town 19 years prior. My suspicion is he is trying to cover up whatever happened because otherwise his own family would be at risk, so his only option is to redeem himself by doing something about the Taejung Town. I could be wrong, but regardless of who turns out to be the real villain in the story, I can say I am so satisfied by how the story has progressed so far.

The time paradox still hurts my brain, but I am choosing that this drama does not assume that time is linear.

There is still not enough people watching this drama and I’m begging you all to go and catch up before it ends in two weeks time.

6. More than Friends (JTBC)

A little trivia: I reblog most of the posts from @kdramastuff even if I am not watching the show at the point of reblogging the posts. I had been following her posts on this drama for 3 weeks, and I finally decided to marathon all 6 episodes and joined the watching party.

More than Friends was another drama that many people called a disappointment but I had a different opinion on it. Yes, I used to be the nerd who had different opinions on many things in high school sue me

The drama is premised on Kyung Woo Yeon who is said to have a crush on her high school friend, Lee Soo for 10 years. Lee Soo is nowhere near to be the perfect boyfriend material. He is selfish, does not care about other people’s feelings, and was always a lone ranger.

BUUUUUUT, Lee Soo seemed to show signs of care and affection (even though it was not at all for a normal person’s standard) for Woo Yeon. Surprisingly, he seemed to only do it for Woo Yeon and gave attention to Woo Yeon alone, even though he could practically pick and choose anyone he liked from the swarm of girls who were chasing him.

One day, he told Woo Yeon that he had to leave to the US to study, which made our girl sad. She decided to confess at the airport, but he outright turned her down, saying he only wanted to be friends with her. Over the time, they kept running into each other by coincidence (note: her name Woo Yeon is a wordplay on coincidence in Korean). Later, it was revealed that he wanted her to always be by his side, but he has built a wall as tall as the Great Wall of China before the idea of love so he didn’t realise what his true feeling for Woo Yeon was all along.

Woo Yeon, who felt sick of the ten-year crush, decided to end the “curse” and kissed him by the beach, thinking of getting a closure on her crush.

Long story short, Lee Soo finally realised his feeling for her and decided to confess, but by that time, a young, handsome, rich CEO of a conglomerate has entered into the picture. Cue the game of cat and mouse between Lee Soo and Woo Yeon about resentment, regret and relationship.

This drama was promoted as a romcom, but it feels more like a slice-of-life drama with a mix of melo and romcom in there. Seriously, I cried buckets watching this drama, not something you’d expect from a romcom. The dialogues were well-written, with each episode revolving around a specific theme. This was such a good drama coming from a rookie writer.

This drama did not have that many viewers to begin with, and many of those few people dropped it along the way, including the one who was responsible in getting me hooked into this drama :p  By the end of it, there were so few people talking about this drama in the tag (shout out to @dohyunsoo @have-yet-to-decide @starfire-s @thbn-anything​ for keeping me company to the very end of this drama)

This drama broke my record of screenshots per episode and total screenshots for any show. Until now, I have yet to finish posting them. I should probably upload more screenshots later tonight.

This drama had some AMAZING shots in the first half, with beautiful sceneries mostly in Seoul. It’s like what they said, “a daily occurrence for you, a trip for me”.

7. Oh My Baby (tvN)

I did not even remember watching this drama!! It was only after scrolling through my gallery that I saw I had shared some posts on my ig story about the drama.

It was in the middle of a lockdown when this drama aired and many of my memories from back then feel so distant to me.

The plot was not THAT good, but this drama is something you may consider if you like torturing yourself about the struggle of wanting to have a baby.

8. Once Again (KBS2)

Arguably one of the weekend family drama KBS2 in a while that kept me waiting for new episodes in front of my TV. Some people are turned off by weekend family drama because they tend to have slow pacing which makes viewers feel like they are being dragged to one of those boring corporate events that you would rather miss and wish you could be literally anywhere else.

Because this drama had more pairing than the typical weekend family drama, the story did take some time before it was on full momentum. It did feel like the drama could have been better with even one less sibling to worry about, but it was a fun watch in the middle of lockdown.

Will I watch it again? I’d rather rewatch House of Bluebird (starring Lee Joon Hyuk and Lee Sang Yeob as friends to enemies to friends again) because that drama spoke to me in a way that was more relatable. No hate to Once Again though. I just prefer House of Bluebird better.

Note: Justice for Song Ga Hee and her lovely son, Kim Ji Hoon. He had to grow up so much because of what happened to his mother, that it broke Ga Hee’s heart. And mine of course

9. Secret Forest 2 (tvN)

I watched Secret Forest once it has finished and I fell in love with the drama! Imagine my excitement when they announced Secret Forest 2 with my three main characters reprising their roles. No hate to Yoon Se Ah, I love her, but her screen time in Secret Forest was not enough to make me excited about her return. But I was pleased with her role in Secret Forest 2 and I hope if there is a third season, her character gets the redemption arc that she yearns for.

Secret Forest 2 was not as intense as the brilliant original, but I understood that it had to do with the overall theme of the season, and the theme required the script to be as such. Some people may argue me on this, but I still think what they pulled off was brilliant.

Too bad there was a severe lack of Lee Joon Hyuk on my screen though.

10. Tale of the Nine-Tailed (tvN)

Well. This drama went far beyond my expectation. The OTP was to die for. No such thing as miscommunication trope. This drama did not waste time on unnecessary drama. The pacing was incredibly fast, even faster than Kairos. Although to be fair, Kairos had to play with two different timelines and required time to establish the setting.

I’m sad about what happened to Lee Rang, but he did what he did, and he would never be able to erase that much pain from his memory even if the deities decided to be lenient on him because of his roles in killing off Imoogi. A fresh start as a human seemed like a fair reset to his life, and I hope he lives well, surrounded by people who love him.

I was never a fan of Jo Bo Ah (no hate on her, I was just indifferent) but this drama opened my eyes to what an incredible actress she is. I wish her a successful career ahead.

[jonahbex]

Get to Know the Friendom Tag

(first off can i just say it’s adorable that we’re calling ourselves the friendom, i love it sm)

A big thank you to @the-suitelife-of-disneychannel for tagging me! 😄

Favorite Andi Mack character:
 Buffy for sure. I love her bc she’s so fearless and confident, and that’s an important role model for young women of color to have. Back when I was Disney Channel’s target demographic age (I’m 18 now), Raven from That’s So Raven had a huge impact on me and made me want to be myself, so I’m glad there’s a character like Buffy on Disney Channel right now teaching young girls that it’s okay to love themselves and own it even when they’re only 13 years old. Is that your all-time favorite? If not, then list that here:
 My all time favorite character is Riley Matthews from Girl Meets World. I see so much of myself in her, from the way she stands up for her beliefs and does what is right, to the way she tends to be naive and trusting, seeing the good in people. One of my favorite things about her is that she is shown multiple times trying to make people into what she expects them to be, and I can relate bc I have the same problem. I love that she’s wonderful and strong but also realistically flawed. Favorite Andi Mack cast member?
 Idk much about the cast; I don’t follow them on any social media except Josh here on tumblr. So I guess I pick Josh, he seems pretty cool 😊 All-time favorite cast member? If not list them: 
 I know this is getting repetitive, BUT I LOVE ROWAN BLANCHARD. She’s so woke and amazing at such a young age. She’s an activist and an intersectional feminist, she stands up for marginalized groups and goes after what she wants. I truly love her so much and look up to her even though she is younger than me. I hope to someday raise a daughter just like Rowan Blanchard. Original reaction to the show:
 I originally watched the show bc I saw a gifset on tumblr, then read an article and thought it was so cool that Disney Channel was going to address teen pregnancy. So I knew the plot twist before I watched the first episode. Tbh I was super unimpressed with the show at first, like after reading about it I was really disappointed watching the first episode, bc to me the acting felt so stale and badly paced. BUT I decided to give it another try bc I really wanted to support the show bc of how important it could be to Disney Channel, and after watching the second episode, I concluded that the acting and pacing would get better as the season went on, and then after watching the third episode I was hooked. Current reaction to the show: I’m just a little bit addicted. I keep wanting to binge watch the whole season but it’s not out yet, and tbh I’ve looked through those free TV websites for leaked episodes but there are none. The “next time on Andi Mack” thing is really effective bc there’s a bombshell dropped every episode and the preview makes you want to keep going.
 Favorite Andi Mack Plot Line: BEX AND BOWIE!!! Their scene together in episode 8 was my favorite, like Bowie is so sweet and he wants to be back in her life and help raise Andi, but Bex is obviously trying to avoid talking about it (the pizza trick again), and I n e e d to see how this ends. And I also kind of want to know where it started. I just want more Bowex overall.
 Least Favorite Andi Mack character: Idk if I have one? Like I kind of like most of the characters equally. And it feels like the only real choice here is Amber, but her character really bugs me bc of how she is written. So far (up to episode 8), she is a one-dimensional character. The writers only ever show her as a bad person who does horrible things to Andi and insults people and fucks with a middle school boy’s emotions, but they never show any of the reasons behind her actions. She was created as the stereotypical, pretty, “cool” mean girl who is only around to serve as a foil to the awkward, kind, unconfident main character; Disney Channel does this all the time and I’m kind of sick of it. Amber needs depth. We need to know why she’s clinging to Jonah (despite CHEATING on him), abusing him, threatening people, and just overall antagonizing others. The closest thing we got to depth with her was the one time Jonah mentioned to Andi that Amber is insecure, but that’s not good enough. I need a plotline around Amber’s insecurity. I need the writers to show that people act a certain way because of their personal issues or circumstances, not because they are inherently evil. Maybe she has home problems and that’s why she goes after Andi so hard about her family??? Maybe her father has been absent most of her life too? I need some character development with Amber. I’m not satisfied blindly hating her.
 All-time least favorite character? If not list them here: I can’t think of any characters I hate right now.
 Upcoming Andi Mack episodes I’m worried about: I’m sure this is on everybody’s mind, but how are they going to show Cyrus questioning his sexuality? It’s Disney Channel, so I really don’t want to get my hopes up, but I really hope it doesn’t turn out like Beauty and the Beast with that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it gay rep with Le Fou. Like, if I were a heterosexual and not specifically looking for signs that Le Fou was gay, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it at all. I’m worried that the same thing will happen to Cyrus, where since we’re all looking for him to be gay, we’ll jump for joy when they start dropping subtle clues, when in reality, the plotline does nothing to teach kids about LGBTQ people bc it goes right over their heads. Like I can’t see Disney Channel airing an episode where Cyrus explicitly says that he’s attracted to boys, let alone uses the word “gay,” but that’s exactly what young questioning kids need to hear: truth and validation. In addition, I’m worried that even if it explicitly comes out that Cyrus has a crush on Jonah, there will not be a happy ending for him. Andi is the main character, and as per Disney Channel rules, the main girl always ends up with the guy she likes. So even though Cyrus likes Jonah, he’ll never get to be with him, and he’ll just be another add-on to the list of queer characters who suffer from unrequited love, whose queerness is only used as a plot point to show struggling. No matter what, I feel like the Cyrus sexuality plotline will not play out well, either from being too subtle or from being unnecessarily sad. Sorry, I kind of ranted on those last two! Anyway, I’m tagging: @tritagonist @margotandthemoon @youtuber-positivity @moonshapedwaffles @zayadorah @andi-shack @unidentifiedgayobject @universe-melody