#review drama racket boys

[goawaywithjae]

I wanted to write this week’s newsletter with a focus on K-dramas that center on teenagers and/or students. While the scenarios are fictional, there is a grain of truth to what students (and their parents) go through to try to get a leg up on everyone else:

° Crash Course in Romance ° Extracurricular ° Extraordinary You ° Racket Boys ° Revenge of Others ° SKY Castle

If you want to read about more teen-centric shows, check out the anchor links below for K-drama reviews that I’ve published in previous posts: ° Angry Mom ° Boys Over Flowers ° The Heirs ° Juvenile Justice ° Once Upon a Time in High School 📽️ ° A Time Called You ° Twenty-Five Twenty-One ° Twinkling Watermelon ° Weak Hero Class One

[sexcromancy]

my challengers playlist 🎉🥰🤭😈😖🫦🎾 (+aki menzies (fictional character from gossip girl reboot who was, crucially, in a throuple) letterboxd review that made me scream out loud. for size)

song names + reasoning + lyrics ⬇️

I picked a lot of big poppy sound and emotional height, both bc that feels very period appropriate and because it's a movie full of very big drama emotions. yay. many of these are also more broadly applicable to the whole story than specified but I just like to call out what I noticed. enjoy 👍

Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells - tone setting. teasing awkward first encounters. and this perfect line: we're just the weathermen, you make the wind blow.

II MOST WANTED by Beyoncé & Miley Cyrus - patrickart ride or die it's you and me bro. I'll be your shotgun rider any time you like. 

Music to Watch Boys to by Lana Del Rey - narration is for tashi but the refrain is all art and patrick back to her: I like you a lot/so I'll do what you want 

Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional - first night. period appropriate cheeky sweet big powerful emotions. my hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me! so why don't you kill me! so I die happy! 

On Top by the Killers - college era power struggles. 

Bang the Doldrums by Fall Out Boy - bitter angry patrickart breakup that we don't get to see. i cast a spell over the west to make you think of me the same way I think of you/this is a love song in my own way. 

Out on the Town by fun. - sad lonely Patrick throwing rocks at hotel windows! now I'm causing a scene, thinking you need a reason to smile. oh no, what have I done? there's no one to keep me warm. 

Mastermind by Taylor Swift - this one is for everyone because they all think they're working the situation perfectly at different points. bridge is my huge tashi headcanon we don't get any support for: no one wanted to play with me as a little kid so I've been scheming like a criminal ever since to make them love me and make it seem effortless.

I Want You by Mitski - tashi song! here is a chance to ruin your life or save it, what will you do? control girl anthem. I could put every lyric here but most of all: I want you, I hold one card, that I can't use, but I want you. 

bonus track that didn't fit in the screenshot: I wanna be yours arctic monkeys. because. well. I'd let her fuck me with a tennis racket

[movie-dramareview]

RACKET BOYS (2021)

Nama drama: Racket Boys (라켓소년단)

Rating pribadi: awalnya 7/10 jadi 4?atau 5? (setelah tonton 6 ep)

Genre: slice of life, sport-badminton

Cast: - Kim Sang Kyung sebagai Yoon Hyeon Jong - Tang Joon Sang sebagai Yoon Hae Kang - Son Sang Yeon sebagai Bang Yoon Dam - Choi Hyun Wook sebagai Na Woo Chan - Kim Kang Hoon sebagai Lee Yong Tae - Oh Na Ra sebagai Ra Yeong Ja - Lee Jae In sebagai Han Se Yoon - Lee Ji Won sebagai Lee Han Sol

Sinopsis: Jujur aku awalnya meragukan drama ini karena settingnya yang sangat badminton. Tapi yuk kita ulas aja ya.

Drama ini tentang sebuah tim badminton di sekolah Haenam Seo-Haenam-Korsel. Pemeran utamanya sebenernya ada banyak, khas dengan cerita prison playbook yang memang ngga ada karakter yang intens terlalu jahat gitu dan cirinya yang lawak di adegan-adegannya. Hae Kang adalah anak pertama dari Hyeon Jong dan Yeong Ja. Hae Kang sangat senang bermain baseball di sekolahnya yang dulu-Seoul. Ibunya seorang pelatih badminton yang ternyata baru di ungkap di episode 2. Dia sendiri ternyata adalah seorang atlet nasional badminton junior di masa SD nya. Sekarang, hanya dia harapan satu-satunya oleh sekolah Haenam Seo agar mereka bisa turut lomba badminton. Anggota badminton sekolah hanya 3, jadi ayahnya, meminta Hae Kang untuk ikut main badminton. Setelah perdebatan panjang dan membuat anggota badminton sekolah bertaruh dia tidak akan menang melawan mereka, jika anggota badminton menang, dia diminta untuk masuk kedalam tim. Dan ternyata ya. Dia kalah dan masuk kedalam tim. Hae Kang sendiri karakternya dingin tapi sangat kocak. Selain itu ada tim wanita dari sekolah Haenam Jaeil. Disini Se Yoon adalah ace dari sekolahnya yang selalu menang. Tapi ternyata dibalik dia yang terlihat diam, jutek dan pemarah, dia merupakan anak perempuan yang rapuh dan tetap ingin diberi semangat seperti anak-anak usianya.

- oke pendapatku Aku tonton enjoy aja. Ketawa-ketawa aja. Tapi waktu mereka tanding di Indonesia mmmmm kok gitu banget ya, dan jujur aku terbawa panasnya emosi teman-teman yang tonton juga karena bahkan pemain badminton korea sendiri seneng kok sama Indonesia. Trus kenapa ikut panas? Soalnya walaupun cuma drama, tapi kalau kenyataannya tidak demikian aku...ikut panas sih. SBS sendiri sudah minta maaf kok, dan bisa dilihat beritanya ramai. Dan ya, aku subjektif karena walaupun hanya drama, negara kita cukup ramah sama pendatang. Ratingnya sendiri juga turun. Tapi ya... mungkin agak nanti ya aku lanjutkan tonton. Karena masih banyak tontonan intense lainnya yang aku lebih suka. Jadi selamat mentonton!

[kim-lexie]

august rewind: 2021

music.

switch on comeback from astro. astro never disappoints and always brings the comebacks we’ve been needing. i love the vibe they have as always, it’s fresh and funky. i 10 out of 10 recommend giving the album a listen. my fave track of the moment would have to be ‘footprint’, since they released the member made video, it’s been on repeat. i love the progression fo the track and the vocals. nevertheless, every song is stellar. i also ordered these albums and i absolutely love the physical albums and the photoshoots. 

‘rose’ by d.o. my precious nugget is back. yes d.o. had a mini album, yes this is true. i cannot believe it has taken SM this freaking long to deliver this incredible man’s solo album, but i am excited that it is here. 

‘paint me naked’ by ten. Y’ALL TEN IS WILD. this man is something else. the lyrics, the beat, the choreo. i just love this man. it’s a bop, playing it all day every day. ‘baby be my weekend’ 10 out of 10 recommend. 

‘i’ll be your high beams in the rain’ 

‘from luck to fate, i’ll bet on our love every day’

‘down’ by a.c.e. i love me a good storyline in a song, cue my love for taylor swift. it’s great, and music video was super cute and light hearted. 

‘i’m not the type to catch feelings, something bout you got me stuck and i’m sinking.’

‘maniac’ by nctU. y’all this unexpected track from our boys, DOYOUNG and HAECHAN. a divine duo we stan. their vocals, the fresh track. it was great. we love them. would have loved to see our boys make an appearance in the music video, but i loved the parallels of the girl and it was so good.

‘paint the town’ by loona. okay so i am super late to the party but my golly goodness, this was sooooo good. the progression of the track, and their vocals slay my existence. ‘we don’t stop until the sun goes up’ ‘we about to paint the town’ catch me vibing hard core while driving down the highway.

‘thrill ride’ by the boyz. these kids are too cute. it’s a fresh end of summer bop. that whisper in the bridge did not need to attack the way it did. but anyways du dududu du du dududu…

‘queendom’ by red velvet. our queens are back, and it’s a vibe. we stan. their vocals continue to amaze me. 

‘lo$er=lo♡er’ by txt. who knew my nuggets could bring such a hard core comeback. i love the dynamic nature that is txt, they always surprise us and come at us with different concepts. i am living for it. 

‘low low’ by wayV. as if i wasn’t already personally attacked by ten’s english comeback, here we have YANGYANG and TEN attacking me only mere weeks afterwards. the lyrics cute and funny. but i love it, they seriously were vibing and loving life in this mv, and i fully support that. it’s a bop and don’t lie to yourself that it is not. 

‘b.t.w.’ (feat jay park) by jay b. EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND LISTEN TO THIS. jay b’s vocals are something else, and this song is no lie incredible. i love it. and it is on repeat. jay b and yugyeom joining AOMG entertainment was the best thing to happen to r&b. i absolutely love them living their best lives and their projects have been top tier. 

‘thunderous’ by stray kids. y’all the long awaited comeback did not disappoint. i love these precious nuggets, and their efforts and hard working saturates everything that they do. i love this vibe, highly reminiscent of ‘god’s menu’ which was always and still is on repeat. love to add this bop to the rotation. 

dramas & movies *spoilers ahead*

imitation. this was a great drama. i loved that we got to see a little insight into the life of idols and training. so we follow ma-ha who is a member of the girl group ‘teaparty’ along with two other girls ri-a and hyun-ji. they have struggled to make it in the industry. we also see the parallel of the popular boy group ‘shax’ which has member kwon-ryeok, who knew ma-ha in his pre training days. i loved seeing how their history and distance came back together. we follow as ‘teaparty’ begins to make a name for themselves, and see the rise and fall of friendships as well as budding romance. there is also a dark undertone, because they did not shy away from addressing the dark side of not being accepted by the industry. i absolutely loved the relationships that formed between the friendship groups. and i loved the ending scene where all the groups came together to sing the song that eun-jo and annie had started writing together. cue all the tears. rate it a 10 out of 10.

a rational life. this was a nice drama. once again the older woman with the younger intern at the office kind of romance. we follow shen ruo-xin who is a 30-something year old professional who has made a name for herself despite resistance at work. she comes in contact with a younger assistant, qi xiao, at the job who falls head over heels in love with her. its precious to see how he did not back down through it all, and how they gather their courage to pursue their relationship together. i would rate it a 6 out of 10.

falling into your smile. another cute chinese drama, focused on e-sports. we meet an all-male ZGDX gaming team, who soon finds themselves in need of a new star player. cue our girl tong yao an amateur gamer making a name for herself due to her exceptional skills. her ex-boyfriend introduced her to the world and she ends up facing off against his team in the finals later in the show. she makes her way and creates a bond with the ZGDX team, and even a romance blossoms, of course we love it. we rate it a 7 out of 10.

weightlifting fairy kim bok-jo. a rewatch for me that is still a 10 out of 10. honestly, forgot about the storyline between the doctor and bok-jo, which was weird and i am glad i forgot about it. but the end of the drama between bok-joo and our joon-hyung was precious. 

racket boys. this was a 10 out of 10 kind of drama. i loved every aspect of this one. we follow hyeon-jong was takes on the role of a badminton coach at haenam middle school. hae-kang his son, who was once the best badminton player in korea, had found a love for baseball after leaving the sport. he reluctantly joins the team to ensure they have enough players to compete and try to avoid disbandment of the badminton team. we have yoon-dam, his family’s pride and joy and star player; woo-chan who initially feels he does not have any family support (we come to find that his father had been attending all of his competitions and it lights a new fire for woo-chan to do his best); and yong-tae the maknae and precious light of the group. cue hyeon-jong’s wife yeong-ja the head coach of the girls badminton team and best coach out there. on her team se-yoon an incredible player who ends up on the international stage and eventually on the korean national team, and han-sol her best friend and fellow teammate. it is recipe for new friendships and supporting of one another in their dreams to join the national youth team and compete together. i loved it, and we even saw haenam’s town people and how they all supported one another in the daily life tasks, as well as our badminton players. it was great to see the whole town rally around them. this one will probably have its own review because there were so many aspects i loved. 

sweet home. this one got it’s own post because it was so unexpected that i throughly enjoyed it. so if you wish to see my thoughts on it here is the link to that review.

you are my spring. this was a nice drama. honestly the beginning had me but then lost me towards the end and i finished it a 1.5Xspeed to get it done kind of deal. we follow da-jeong who works as a concierge, and moves to a new building where a murder occurred. our man young-do is a psychiatrist whose office practice is downstairs. there are twins, and a case of mistaken identity, mystery, child trafficking from a cult, and a case of oooohhhhh we may have met as children kind of story and experienced a similar trauma kind of deal. i wish we had more from the side storylines, and less from the twin guys. like i loved ga-yeong, young-do’s ex-wife and her current boyfriend patrick or ha-neul (young-do’s friend and vet) and jin-ho (ga-yeong’s friend and trainer). i rate it a 6 out of 10.

fruits basket season 3. i loved it and it was a great conclusion to the series. i felt like there was a marked missed for the start of season 3. like i don’t know why the writers wanted me to feel sorry for akito, and wanted me to empathize with her but ya know it was not going to happen. sorry honey. she was wack. but anyways, i love how kya and tohru ended up together because i shipped them sooooo freaking hard. and love that the curse was finally broken for all of them! it was great. i loved it. 9 out of 10.

[cocogukkie]

2021: kdramas in review (the heartwarming, the frustrating, and the sob-worthy)

it is indeed, once again, december 31st and I am back with kdramas-in-review ✨2021 edition✨ (it is 8 pm as i write this so *high fives myself*)

this year has been a pretty good kdrama year (if we ignore the fact that I didn’t watch a single thing this december) I ended up having watched 54 dramas! plus a rewatch. thats pretty darn good if I do say so myself, also really highlights how little I accomplished this year lmao. just stayed at home and watched tv, truly inspiring.

this year was chock-full of major hits and major misses for me and unfortunately i’ve got some super popular ones as ones that I think were kinda bad *runs and hides* now disclaimer my friends, these are my opinions and you are very welcome to think i’m wrong! and thats okay!! I watched all of these in 2021 but not all of them were released in 2021. (quite a few of these have multiple answers bc im indecisive like that)

(theres only 10 gifs in this bc tumblr cut me off at ten, how long was this a thing?? 😭😭how rude)

most heartwarming drama of the year

Racket Boys (2021)

this drama was so slept on!! its AMAZING YALL! it is genuinely the sweetest, most relatable, wholesome drama about friendship and all the dynamics that come with that. it's about first loves and the painful wonderful awkwardness of it all, it's about parents going through their own issues, them realizing they might be hurting their kids and wanting to do better for them, working towards actually listening to their kids and adapting and growing. it's about community and being there for others. It's genuinely so so good and everyone should watch it. the child actors are incredibly talented and i’m def going to be following their careers in the future.

Navillera (2021)

another absolute banger my dears, this was a beautiful drama and i loved it from the first ep. it's about going after your dreams, whether you’re young or older, and achieving them to the best of your capabilities. It's also about finding what you want to do in life, especially when you don’t have a specific dream. it's about the dichotomy of loving your parents even when they’ve failed you and deciding what level of a relationship you want with them. its found family and platonic m/f friendships and the pains of growing old and the tragedy that is alzheimers. navillera made me cry because of how absolutely beautiful and heartwarming it was. 10/10 recommend.

drama(s) that made me SOB

(a smidge of spoiler territory for this section!!)

Youth of May (2021)

ahhhh hahahah i fucking sobbed. there's no way around it. this devastated me, ESPECIALLY because of how much i loved the characters and rooted for them and their happiness. myung hee and hee tae are two characters that are doing their best despite the situations they are born into and the expectations surrounding them in 1980s korea. this drama is joyful and painful all in 12 episodes and it hurt. it's about the gwangju uprising and the devastation that followed, so trigger warning for a lot of death. if you want just the happy adorable bits, just watch the first 6 eps and don’t touch the last 6 w a 50 ft pole.

Move to Heaven (2021)

wooo another sob fest occurred this whole drama. i think i cried through half the show? i accidentally ended up binging it because of how good it was. so i’d watch a few episodes, cry my eyes out, get a break from another episode, and then the next one had me weeping again. this is about geu ru (who is also autistic) who worked with his father as a trauma cleaner. his father passes away in the first episode and geu ru has to process his grief while also dealing with meeting his estranged uncle. this was an excellent look at societal issues in korea, what grieving looks like on different people in various circumstances, how people even process their grief. so many stories in this were so touching and heartbreaking while also being incredibly heartwarming.

dramas with chemistry royalty (aka the best couples)

Run On (2020-2021)

this ended in 2021 so i count it as watching it this year! seon gyeom and mi joo are the realest couple out there, these two are so wonderful and adorable while also showcasing the awkwardness in adult relationships and how miscommunication can be solved with… communication. they care about each other deeply while also not intruding on each other, respecting each other's boundaries, promoting that self love is the key to happiness and a long-lasting relationship. just so cute and precious.

Vincenzo (2021)

these dorks!! our lawyer power couple, absolute icons. their fashion and one-liners are enough to kill em dead. they are so so funny and are partners in the truest sense (which is my actual lifeblood). they bicker and didn’t really like each other at first, before we got them slowly moving to friendship! then partners/best friends!! then mutual pining!! its truly beautiful. vincenzo isn’t a romance (sad days) so our babies don’t get together till the very end but the journey was so much fun that i didn’t care at all.

Youth of May (2021)

i loved myung hee and hee tae and their relationship was precious and loving and funny and full of banter. they’re both absolute sweethearts and i want to be best friends with both of them. i related to myung hee so much, especially with the love she has for her younger brother. she is so brave and kind and hee tae is so smart and funny, they were perfect for each other. they were each other's chosen family and I just thought that was beautiful.

Doom at Your Service (2021)

another banter-filled, adorable, dorky couple! can you tell I have a specific type lol. these two were precious!! they supported each other, they were so goddamn funny together. their senses of humor matched perfectly and i laughed so much with them. dong kyung was relatable and myeol mang was wholly there to be a complete simp for her (as i think we all were). their relationship was honestly the driving force of this show (the plot is a little not really there and i didn’t love the side couple situation)

Happiness (2021)

MY BABIES <33333 i just finished watching this one and i. loved. them. they’re best friends to lovers with a marriage of convenience and seemingly unrequited pining but it's requited!! *sobs in happiness* (lol get it)

they’re partners, they care about and understand each other on a deep level. they know each other better than the back of their own hands, they support one another from episode 1, they were married! before they even realized it. just perfection. happiness is a mystery/thriller and these two absolutely stole the whole show.

best OST

Hospital Playlist 2 (2021)

I have to give this to hosplay because i genuinely have added almost every single song from season 2 onto my playlist. my personal favorite is Running in the sky by HYNN, i had this on repeat for like a month.

most frustrating/disappointing drama of the year

Sisyphus: The Myth (2021)

ahhh where to even start with this one…. first off, it was jtbc’s special anniversary drama which meant it was supposed to be,,,, i dunno,, good? and it was good at first. and then it got worse and worse and worse. i don’t think anyone really watched this one and tbh i wish i was one of them. the story is ridiculous, the ending is ridiculous, the whole thing failed to come to any sort of conclusion. the character work was atrocious. just nope. save your time and energy. if you watched this and want to read my rant after i finished it click here lol

dramas that fridged their female characters for ✨man pain✨

this was a weird thing i noticed this year in dramas and i did not like it. i thought we were over doing this shit but i guess not. spoilers ahead!

The Devil Judge (2021)

um i know a lot of people loved this but i didn’t. i get why others do, but i just couldn’t get over the writers for this one killing off half their female characters?? (all their main lead women btw) all for man pain??? or furthering a male plotline. like… please. soo hyun? dead for ga on’s pain. sun ah? dead. cause she gives up or her love for yo han or something?? i dunno man. even kyung hee got killed off to further the plot. at least elijah and jin joo didn't die *sigh*. my problem isn't that these women are dead, it's that only one male character died to further the plot and he was a supporting character. the scales are not even.

Jirisan (2021)

another one where almost every woman died to further the plot, except jirisan is even worse than the devil judge. bc in devil judge at least 2 survived. in jirisan, every woman in the title credit scenes except our female lead dies! all of them!! the fuck?? yang sun? dead. da won? dead. the grandma? dead. i cannot. none of the men died, just why. me no likey.

dramas that everyone else liked but the story devolved into nonsense (for me!!)

Mouse (2021)

pffft this show was ridiculous by the end. i actually really loved it for the first 10 eps, thought it was really interesting and engaging. and then the last 10 eps were dragged out, the story devolved into nonsense, things conveniently happened to move plot points along, the supposed “science” behind psychopaths got convoluted and don’t get me started on the amount of random brain surgeries occurring. as if the brain isn’t the most complicated part of our body. i have to laugh, truly. if you wanna give this a chance, go for it. but be prepared to suspend your disbelief all the way to jupiter.

Devil Judge (2021)

putting aside the fridging of female characters, uhh the story got so dragged out and boring by the end? was it just me? i was so bored the last 6 eps, the whole televised court system thing got repetitive and the points they bring up are really obvious ones?? at least to me. i didn’t love yo han like so many others so that's probably why i didn’t like it. again, give this a go if you wanna try it but be prepared for a lot of political jabber.

my favorite kdrama women this year

Kang Sol A: Law School (2021)

my queen, my girl, my ride or die. I love kang sol with my whole ass heart, i relate to this girl on a molecular level. i too suck at studying, i too am clueless to blatant flirting, i too will defend my friends to the death, i too wish to be as smart as her. she proves over and over again that tests don’t prove shit and her genius is shown through application and how she treats others. law school also has one of my favorite female friendships of all time, 💞💞💞ye seul x kang sol 💞💞💞

Ji Woo: My Name (2021)

i want to both hug jiwoo and be her best friend. she needs one very much and i am all too willing to provide. she was amazing to watch, her drive is inspiring, her story was heartbreaking. shes a complicated messy wonderful smart human being

Saebom: Happiness (2021)

if saebom stomped all over me, i would thank her. she is so smart, a complete and total badass. she’s also a lil weirdo and i love her for it. she cares about others but she’s not willing to let herself be emotionally trampled for it. she knows her boundaries and she protects them as well as being a fighter for the boundaries of those she cared about. i adore her.

Myung Hee: Youth of May (2021)

myung hee… my girl… she is a protective older sister who puts the needs of others above her own and wow do i relate. she has a tumultuous relationship with her dad and is a single female in 1980s gwangju trying to be independent and support herself. she works on trying to put herself first while also caring about her family. she is selfless and helping others is her life (she’s a nurse). again, i love her dearly. one of my favorite female characters.

overall favorite romance

Hye Jin & Du Sik: Hometown Cha Cha Cha (2021)

here they are!! my king and queen in all their glory!!!! if you know me or follow my blog, you know how much i love these two. they 100% could have also gone into chemistry royalty but i thought that list was getting long and this section is dedicated to them because that's how much i adore them. they’re bickering/enemies to lovers, they’re absolute perfection. they are perfect for each other, they learn to care about each other's quirks and not to judge one another based on initial perception. they challenge each other to be better, they talk to each other when they have problems. they love each other openly and loudly. they’re just so so great and a joy to watch.

favorite mystery/thrillers

Taxi Driver (2021)

this was so much fun! the vibes were there, the stories were all based on real events in korea which makes it even cooler. it was so engaging and interesting, plus lee je hoon fucking delivered. it felt kinda like leverage but with more trauma and i loved seeing the gang succeed and take down bad guys. i got my brother to watch this and he loved it too

Happiness (2021)

this drama was laced with something, i swear. i could not stop watching it. the vibes, the music, the characters, the fast-paced plot, it was all so so good. watch it!!

favorite netflix kdrama miniseries

D.P. (2021)

these are the 6/8/10 ep minis that netflix has been releasing this year, like; squid game, hellbound, my name, the silent sea, etc…

my personal favorite of the bunch hands down has been D.P.. it talks about an issue i didn’t really know a lot about, the military and its weird politics, rules, rigid structure and how it can really hurt some people (specifically men in this situation). i loved the dynamic between our two main leads, they were funny and kind of sad and heartwarming and engaging. this show broke my heart and im so excited for season 2 whenever it comes out. this drama has a lot of triggers so send me an ask for them (i also have a post)

favorite slice of life dramas

Hospital Playlist 2 (2021)

this season was so funny! i died laughing at so many parts, they really focused on the supporting characters this season rather than an overarching plot. I know other people didn't love it as much as hosplay s1 but i loved this season just as much. plus iksong finally sailed!! clutching my heart over here.

Hometown Cha Cha Cha (2021)

is this a surprise? nope. a beautifully filmed slice of life that explores people and various societal issues in korea. like divorced couples and the impact on their kids, parental death, how pregnant women can get treated by men (more specifically their husbands). it also focuses on regular day-to-day issues like living with loss, letting oneself feel their tragedy rather than bottling it up, opening yourself up to new relationships, not judging based on initial perceptions, being there for others, being kind, and so much more. a wonderful wonderful drama that is near and dear to my heart.

Reply 1988 (2015-2016)

I finally watched this!! I watched it earlier this year and then promptly rewatched it two months later. I adored this drama and the end makes my heart hurt in a good way and I can’t believe it took me this long to watch this. I get the hype, i truly truly get it.

favorite fantasy drama

The Uncanny Counter (2020-2021)

my favorite found family of the year!! this drama was a whole lot of fun with emotional depth and wonderful well-rounded characters, badass fight scenes, and satisfying taking down of bad guys! absolutely loved the relationships between our main 4 characters

Doom At Your Service (2021)

the fantasy elements were a lot of fun, myeol mang was actually a lil scary when he was hunting down bad guys (it was also hot af ngl). doom at your service was really enjoyable and was more a fantasy slice of life? the focus wasn’t really on the supernatural in this one, it was more on dong kyung and her prognosis.

k-movies i really loved

Little Forest (2018)

the quietness of this movie, showing the peace of living in a small village really made me want to live in a quiet town. i LOVED the detail of showing the food being made, it was so peaceful and calm. touches on themes of figuring out what you want to do in life, finding your own path and coming to terms that what you wanted as a kid might not line up with you as an adult.

Train to Busan (2016)

i watched this! extremely behind the trend as always!! and it was so damn good. i cried at this movie too. trust everyone’s reviews and watch this, it is so good.

Extreme Job (2019)

i watched this for honey lee and no regrets, this was funny as fuck. its about cops opening up a chicken restaurant as part of a sting and then being extremely successful at it. its got cool fight scenes, interesting characters, and a hilarious ending.

dramas i'll be starting immediately in 2022

these are the dramas that I just didn’t get a chance to start at the end of 2021 and will be starting immediately (as in tomorrow) bc they just look so good!!

Our Beloved Summer

Inspector Joy

The Kings Affection

Bad And Crazy

The Silent Sea

The Red Sleeve

mydramalist in my bio for every drama i've watched and their specific ratings!

[chinzillas]

2021 YEAR IN REVIEW CHALLENGE @kdramaspace​ dramaland “unwrapped”: dramas with your favorite soundtracks/osts - RUN TO YOU (lucy, run on) - I GOT YA (jung yong hwa, daebak estate) - TEMPEST (huckleberryfinn, the devil judge) - LOVE SO FINE (cha eunwoo, true beauty)  - ROMANTIC SUNDAY (car, the garden, hometown cha cha cha) - EMPTY (car, the garden, beyond evil) - WILL BE (the boyz, racket boys) - SPARK (a.c.e, light on me)

[accidentallyadramablog]

I saw so many 'year in review' posts, that I was inspired to do a deep dive into my watch history. I started with checking my lists on MDL for the dramas and movies I've completed this year but quickly realized that 1. I didn't do a good job of logging everything I watched and 2. it's missing some of the Vietnamese and Pinoy dramas I've watched this year. I wish that site would add more support for those countries.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm missing something, but I completed (or mostly completed with the intent of finishing this month) 75 Asian dramas and films from Korea, Thailand, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, and the Philippines. A Tale of a Thousand Stars directly contributed to my expansion into Thailand dramas. Before this, I'd only watched martial arts movies from Thailand (basically the entire filmography of Panna Rittikrai).

I'm terrible at lists, but here are prob my favorite dramas in alphabetical order that I watched this year (some were released in previous years).

3 Will be Free

Alice in Borderland

A Tale of a Thousand Stars

Bad Buddy (Still airing, but it's so good it's in my list)

Happiness

Love is Science?

Sell Your Haunted House

The Imperial Coroner

The King's Affection

The Uncanny Counter

We Best Love (No. 1 for You and Fighting Mr. 2nd)

And as I'm typing this up, I realize I forgot the Strongberry content I watched wasn't in my spreadsheet but I'm too lazy to go back and edit my chart. So add a few percentage points to kdramas in my pie chart.

Honorable Mentions in no particular order:

Manner of Death (Be gay, do crimes, punish sex traffickers)

Meet Me Outside (Best hug)

The Long Ballad (The plotline with the textile merchants is my fav tbh)

Serendipity (Favorite use of novel transmigration plot)

Rainless Love in a Godless Land (Indigenous Folklore plot with an indigenous actress with a focus on ethnotourism for the tribes that had no tourism during the pandemic please support this)

Racket Boys (Nice kids award. That's it. Kids being nice is so underrated. We need more of it.)

Kingdom: Ashin of the North (Fuck 'em up, they deserved it)

Not Me the Series - Still airing (Please don't get banned for all your political commentary)

[captainstarkky]

Too bad, there are actually articles circulating around saying that Doom at your Service ended badly. Well, it got low ratings in Korea and I can’t explain that further.

There are a few dramas that ended with very poor ratings but in reality is a good one; DAYS was probably the one.

‘I watched until Episode 4 and didn’t get the chemistry of the lead actors so i stopped’

‘…even if you watched until Episode 14, I still couldn’t understand the story and the chemistry of the actors. And it’s boring’

‘I don’t understand the concept’

Well, these are just some of the comments I read from articles posted anywhere in the web. I don’t know about you people but I really think otherwise.

First, Doom at your Service was brought to us by TvN. The same network who brought us Hotel Del Luna, Tale of the Nine Tailed, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, A Korean Odyssey, and the still on-going My Roommate is a Gumiho.

Doom at your Service have expert people in their roster.

Production-wise, the drama have a very good writer and a well-experienced director. Im Mae-ri was the writer of the drama Beauty Inside which is very popular abroad. Kwon Young-Il even was the director of ‘My Unfamiliar Family’, ‘Search:WWW’ and the high ranking Korean adaptation of the Western TV Series 'Suits' staring Jang Dong-gun and Park Hyung-sik.

The cast themselves have an excellent portfolio. Starring with the very gorgeous Park Bo-young herself, who is known to have a great chemistry to all her co-leads (as far as I’ve known and I’ve been following her since Werewolf Boy and Scandal Makers); a versatile actor that could do wide array of drama genre - Seo In-guk (I’ve been following him since Reply 1997).

My Thoughts

Personally, I don’t think it’s about the chemistry. The problem here is whether people are willing to accept this drama or not. Even though it has very low ratings in the Korean media, Doom at your Service is a heavily acclaimed drama abroad. It maintained it’s spot at ‘Romance in Demand’ section in Viu and a 9.7 star rating in Rakuten Viki (though it’s not available in my country). Aside from the good ratings, the drama’s reviews are also good with the comments mostly leaning on the positive side. If there isn’t any chemistry on the actors, then I don’t think it won’t get that 9.7 rating.

Another thing is that I'm guessing that it’s not about the story but in the timeslot as well. It’s a story about death. And because it was, I’m pretty sure Mondays and Tuesdays are probably not the best time slot of the drama. If we compare the storyline to it’s competitors, ‘Racket Boys’ which is a sport drama, and ‘From a Distance, Spring is Green’ which is a coming of age drama. Doom at your Service, a drama which mostly talks about death, could easily be major let down.

By the way, I watch those two dramas as well so I can say that they are 'jjang' too. No means of comparison, their genre is entirely different.

However, I think it’s also because of the misconception of the storyline. Let’s all accept it, the script, the story, and just everything that is in this drama is so deep that without understanding it properly, it would put you off. This is exactly why people should start reading between the lines.

Doom at your Service is a drama that talks about death, yes. But with death there is life. You can’t talk about death without emphasizing how good it is to live.

It’s unfortunate that it ended with low ratings in Korean media but we, in the international community is very thankful of TvN. Aside from bringing us back Seo In-guk, they also brought Park Bo-young in. I think this is the first time in years since they’ve been in the screen together (the last time was during Oh My Ghostess) and fanboying aside, the storyline taught ‘me’ many things and gave me a lot of realizations. Just as what I mentioned in my finale analysis yesterday, DAYS seemed to have been a wake up call for me to treasure life. And that’s what is important.

Well, it had a booming success abroad anyways (9.7 stars and showed in 16 countries). So that’s fine. 😏😏

And it has great OSTs❤️

..And I lay my case with my ever loving extroverted potato

[leekimdramas]

2021 Dramas

The dramas that I watched throughout the year. If it has a bold font it means that I gave it a 10 if italic font that means that I enjoyed a lot but couldn’t give it a maximum for some reason.

You can also read all of the reviews I wrote about the dramas if you just click on it.

The list for 2020.

Kdramas completed in 2021:

1. Live On

2. The Goddess Of Revenge

3. Please Don’t Date Him

4. The Uncanny Counter

5. Cheat On Me, If You Can

6. Run On

7. True Beauty

8. Lovestruck In The City

9. It’s Okay, That’s Love

10. L.U.C.A: The Beginning

11. Love Alarm 2

12. Times

13. Meloholic

14. Sisyphus: The Myth

15. Beyond Evil

16. Navillera

17. Vincenzo

18. Mouse

19. Taxi Driver

20. Youth Of May

21. Law School

22. Sell Your Haunted House

23. Prison Paybook

24. So I Married An Anti-Fan

25. Doom At Your Service

26. Move To Heaven

27. My Roommate Is A Gumiho

28. Imitation

29. Voice 4: Judgment Hour

30. Monthly Magazine Home

31. Racket Boys

32. The Devil Judge

33. You Are My Spring

34. The Last Empress

35. Hospital Playlist 2

36. Squid Game 

37. Hometown Cha Cha Cha

38. Yumi’s Cells

39. My Name

40. Dali And The Cocky Prince

41. Work Later, Drink Now

42. Dr. Brain

43. Happiness

44. Inspector Koo

45. Hellbound

46. The King’s Affection

47. One Ordinary Day

Dramas from other countries:

1. Raise de wa Chanto Shimasu (Japan)

2. The Untamed (China)

3. Douluo Continent (China)

4. Alice In Borderland (Japan)

5. Love Lasts Forever (Japan)

6. Accidentally In Love (China)

Web dramas:

1. One Fine Week 2

2. Amanza

3. Replay: The Moment When It Starts Again

4. You Make Me Dance

5. Scripting Your Destiny

6. How To Be Thirty

7. The Witch’s Diner

8. You Raise Me Up

9. The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim

10. Love In Black Hole

11. Heartbeat Broadcasting Accident

Movies:

1. Fatal Journey (China)

2. Kim Ji Young: Born 1982 (S. Korea)

3. It's Difficult To Love An Otaku (Japan)

4. Exit (S. Korea)

5. Misbehavior (S. Korea)

6. Sweet And Sour (S. Korea)

7. The Negotiation (S. Korea)

8. Alive (S. Korea)

9. Secretly, Greatly (S. Korea)

Dropped:

1. She Would Never Know (ep 7)

2. Oh My Ladylord (ep 7)

3. At Distance, Spring Is Green (mid 3 ep)

4. Nevertheless (mid 2 ep)

5. The Veil (ep 3)

6. Reflection Of You (ep 4)

7. Hometown (ep 9)

8. Idol: The Coup (ep 3)

9. Chimera (ep 7)

10. Melancholia (ep 8)

11. Now We're Breaking Up (ep 9)

[fancoloredglasses]

Protection (Jalepeña!)

[All images are owned by Disney. Please don’t sue me]

(Thanks to FuzzyTanks for the suggestion)

Many modern TV shows have ways to get cursing past the censors: Battlestar Galactica had “Frak”, Farscape had “Frel”, Firefly had “Gorrum”, and The Smurfs had (what else?) “Smurf” (now that I put that thought in your head, I DARE you to look at the old cartoons the same way again!)

(Thanks to Mike Skwarek)

This episode introduced the swear substitute for the series. If you really wanna see how they introduced it, you’ll have to skip to near the end. If you want some kid-friendly gritty cop drama before the punchline, read on! If you would like to watch it, it’s available on Disney+

A quick note on the timeline: This episode takes place some time after Deadly Force. Following Xanatos’ release from prison, the clan has relocated to a clock tower over the precinct Elisa works out of.

Elisa has a new partner, Matt Bluestone, who is a conspiracy nut (but otherwise a good guy) Matt has learned of the clan’s existence and earned their trust.

We open outside the shop pictured at the beginning of this review. The owners are complaining about a bunch of thugs wanting “protection” money. They find an unmarked briefcase near the entrance, but figure it was forgotten. As soon as they leave...

I don’t think they’ll be back for that briefcase. The owner spits out a name...Dracon, the same man who stole the weapons from Xanatos in Deadly Force.

Speaking of Tony Dracon, his right-hand goon Glasses tells of someone muscling in on their protection racket (so from would-be arms dealer to shakedown artist...how the slimy have fallen) and that it’s a cop.

Later, Matt has brought in one of Dracon’s flunkies and is interrogating him when Elisa shows up (she’s been scarce lately) and says she’ll take over talking to the goon and sends Matt for a coffee.

Whoa! Never thought Elisa would play “Bad Cop”! She tells the goon that she’s taking over Dragon’s operations, so make sure Dracon knows (make that “Crooked Cop”!) Then the Captain comes pulls her out and wants to know about rumors regarding her running a protection racket. Elisa denies everything, but the Captain puts her on suspension until IA can sort this out.

Nice of them to leave the door open enough for goon-boy to hear. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this was a set-up.

As Elisa stalks out of the precinct (without visiting the clan), Goliath and Broadway decide to follow her to see what’s going on.

Later, Dracon gets word that Elisa’s at one of his fronts demanding protection money, so he heads out to investigate, telling his stooge to stall

First, LOVE Elisa’s “dirty cop” look! Second, I don’t know how long this guy will be able to stall. I mean, he already looks like he needs new pants. Fortunately for his dry cleaning bill, Glasses shows up and takes Elisa out for a private chat in Dracon’s limo. Before Glasses can even pull the riot act out of his jacket to read it to her...

Goliath and Broadway make short work of Glasses and Associates before Elisa tells them off, making them leave before getting back in the car with the goon squad and driving off..

At Dracon’s penthouse, Glasses reports that Elisa controls the Gargoyles (not exactly true, but...) Dracon then has Elisa brought in and the two talk business as we fade out... (Nice knowing you Elisa...)

Later that evening, Matt (who is moonlighting in a corner shop. Given what the NYPD pays and what the cost of living in the Big Apple is, that shouldn’t surprise me) is speaking with the owner when he dons a stupid-looking wig and glasses (oh, he’s UNDERCOVER! That makes more sense, I guess) That’s when Glasses enters looking to expand Dracon’s clientele. Matt lets him know he hears there’s a turf war and will only pay once. Glasses says that turf war will be ending soon as he wanders out.

At Dracon’s place, he’s orders a veritable feast to woo Elisa. Elisa seems happy with the jalapeños (no, not yet...) Dracon tells her to keep the jar (OK, looking up a jar of jalapeños for where I live about as big as the jar on Dracon’s table is $3.36. Checking for inflation back to 1990, that jar cost Dracon $1.66. Big spender!) Dracon offers a partnership...as long as she brings the clan with her. Elisa tries to backstep, saying they’re not so easily controlled by promises of money or power...

Goliath would like to differ. There is a tense standoff until Broadway spots the jalapeños, so Elisa re-gifts them to Broadway (wait for it...) Dracon welcomes the clan to the family.

Glasses and another goon enter and (after a bit of tension and an explanation) tell about the store Matt is “working” at and a dry cleaner (”run” by the captain and another cop...you know, this is looking more and more like a set-up...) Elisa and Dracon go to “talk” to Matt while he tells Goliath and Broadway to have a “discussion” with the dry cleaner, telling the goon to show them where. The pair fly off. However, Goliath calls an audible and decides to follow Elisa.

However, the goon beats Broadway to the dry cleaner and...

...decides to show he’s better at his job than some monster. After gassing the Captain and her partner, the goon tosses a “suitcase” into the shop. Fortunately, Broadway shows up to save the day. Unfortunately, the goon brought backup. Fortunately, Broadway makes short work of them and gift-wraps them to leave by the crime scene. That’s when the goon mentions the bomb! Broadway grabs the bomb and tosses it away as it explodes.

“Jalapeña!” (well, yeah...but not REALLY it yet)

Meanwhile at Bluestone’s Undercover Grocery, Dracon shows up and starts threatening Matt and the owner. Matt gets Dracon to explain the terms of this “arrangement” in vivid detail...

...and it’s all caught on camera (how did someone so dumb manage to become a crime lord?) It’s enough evidence for Matt and Elisa to arrest Dracon (told ya!) Unfortunately, Elisa’s standing a bit too close to Dracon and becomes his hostage as he brings in his backup. Fortunately...

...Elisa has her own backup! With Goliath handling the hired muscle, Elisa and Matt make short work of Dracon and Glasses until Dracon flees out the front door. Fortunately, Goliath has finished his warm-up and swoops in to nab Dracon, threatening to drop him a few dozen stories, but instead drops him off to Elisa, leaving just before the cops arrive.

Later at the clock tower, Elisa, who was grateful for the assist, asks how they figured things out. Goliath credits Broadway’s love of cop shows. Goliath and Elisa share a Moment (one of the more subtle, enduring, sweet, and tragic story threads the series had was the budding romance between Goliath and Elisa. I believe this episode was where it started)  before...

(Thanks to Gum)

THERE it is!

[royadventures]

april 10th, 2022--12:27pm and on my way to see treasure!

previous log

april 7th is where we left off! that was the day we left for gangneung!! i had to rush home, pack, eat the leftovers of the pizza and chicken T and i had the day before, then head to seoul station for our train! it was a 2 hour bullet train. we left at 6pm and arrived at 8pm.

i expected gangneung to be farmlands, but it was pretty suburban!! however, much like hamilton, the busses only come once an hour. naver maps didn't even provide us info on when the busses would arrive, so we'd have to read the sign on the bus stop.

we had just missed the bus and didn't want to wait an hour, so got a kakao taxi to the hotel. we used kakao taxi a lot, since busses would only come once an hour as i said before, but i think getting a taxi would be cheaper than kakao taxi. nonetheless!! that's how it was ^-^

the ride to the hotel was lovelyyyy,, there was a street full of cherry blossoms and hanging lights :") i know T enjoyed it! (she loves cherry blossoms)

our hotel was right by a beach, gyeongpo beach? it was gorgeous, i truly fell in love ! T had something to do so i had to be out ny myself for an hour after we arrived. i grabbed a matcha latte from a café called aura. i was planning to stay in there because it seemed like it was closing (i was alone and the worker was tucking in all the chairs in a hurry) so i left. it had a very luxurious vibe, though, with marbled floors and classical music and jazz playing.

by the beach, many people were setting off fireworks. it was fun to watch! even though it was 10pm, there was laughter, music, fireworks... i really enjoy the nightlife here !

i sat by the sea and walked closer before walking around on the boardwalk. there were bright lights shining right in the sea so if you were in the sand or by the water, you wouldn't have a hard time at all.

before this, T ate at a place nearby. there was a lot of seafood and she ate seafood bibimbap; she gave it a good review! i didn't even because it was late and i was full, but i later regretted not eating :(

the next day, april 8th, was chaotic. T was in immense pain because of her period, so i went to the dome bakery by myself. the dome bakery is a spot where my favourite drama, racket boys, was filmed! in the drama, it shows up as Dam's Bakery, named after Bang Yoondam, one of the characters. but anyway !! busses to that spot only came once an hour, and i had just missed it at 9am. waiting until 10 would be too late, so i got there using kakao taxi.

[at my photo limit, photos later !]

the taxis were a bit pricier in that region !

i bought a lot from the dome bakery T.T i bought a sausage pastry for T, a hotteok that had red bean and mochi inside, a pecan pie slice, a bun that T said resembled a bao, and a custard bun. the owner was very serious and dry, not responding to me when i greeted him and thanked him. he was very busy setting up for the day, though, and there aren't any foreigners, really, in that area, so i understood.

i walked around the area and honestly, it reminded me of Hamilton but a lot cleaner and nicer, in my opinion. just as Hamilton is a less busy and smaller Toronto, this part of Gangneung seemed like that to me, in comparison to Seoul. there were apartments, a park with cherry blossoms in bloom, a school, ahjummas selling fresh produce on the sidewalks. i got something fron paik's coffee before walking to the bus stop to take the bus back.

T and i checked out and walked around the local beach before trying to find some cherry blossoms. just behind the beach was a big park and path full of them. we walked all the way until the end under the sun, taking photos and maneuvering between bicycles and other people.

exhausted and hungry, we ate at a restaurant we stumbled upon by chance. we had naengmyeon (cold noodles). actually, T ordered them for herself, but i ended up eating it despite saying i wasn't hungry, because she lost her appetite :( she felt really unwell that day...

we then took a look at a pavillion that was next to the restaurant, overlooking the blossom path. it was gorgeous, and apparently the biggest pavillion in korea.

we then went to sacheon middle school, another racket boys filming site. T was in pain so we took another taxi. i remember it was ₩10,000+. the school was kind of in the middle of nowhere but memories of the drama came flooding back and truly, i almost cried. a beautiful magnolia tree was in bloom nearby, too, its petals scattered on the road leading to the school.

next, we bussed to junmujin (?) beach, another racket boys filming site but also where the spring day bus stop is. we bought some grapefruit jelly from an emart24 after getting off the bus, because it was deathly warm and we needed to cool off. i liked it! T didn't, though.

the spring day bus stop was actually far from the racket boys filming lcoation, so we took a taxi to get the bus stop. it was so surreal... other armys were there, too, helping each other take photos ^-^ truly, it was gorgeous!

still with so much time on our hands, but having completed everything we wanted to do, we took another taxi to dome bakery and stayed in a mega coffee nearby, so T could finish up an assignment. then, at 7:30pm, we walked from there to gangneung station. it wasn't far, the weather was lovely, and as always, the moon shined down on us, bright as ever.

that was it for april 8th!

april 9th was astro concert d-day ! but first!! we went to gyeonbokgung palace, which is quite near our place (we just had to take bus 109!). we rented hanbok at a nearby place--mine cost ₩9,000 for a basic mens fit (a lot of people wear clothes of different 'genders' and theres no judgement at all !). it was super hot so we had to leave the palace midway to get a cool drink. i got sikhye (sweet rice drink) and it was so good!

the palace was huge and quite busy, with larger areas but also smaller nooks and crannies. we didn't get to see all of it because we had to dash to see astro, but it was lovely :") definitely will go back!

to see astro, we had to take the purple line, which branches off into two paths. unfortunately, we took the one going down the wrong path and had to get off, take a taxi so we could get there on time. luckily, we made it! it was at the SK handball stadium, and treasure was actually having day 1 of their concert already right when we were there :") just in a different venue--the olympic park has a ton of stadiums where concerts happen !

firstly, let me tell you. the seating chart makes it seem like you're so far in the back, but we were so close. the security guards were right there again, though, so it was hard to film :< i liked our spot, though ! on the upper area but in the first row and right near the stage :D

my robong broke.. i left the batteries in the plastic battery holder, kept the holder separately and it overheated T.T the ver 1 robong didn't even work at the fanmeet anyway.. so maybe it was for the better? although i was quite upset because of it, i still made the most of it!

we were given clappers and a surprise slogan to be held at the end of a fanmade video.

they opened with knock, after a video of them giving us 'safety' instructions, since there was an airplane concept! then, i don't remember the order, but they performed all good, blue flame, waterfall, a new unreleased song, after midnight,,, and that's all i remember wow how sad :") but! if you ask T, i'm sure she'll know. she really loves astro and she had a blast hehe. i'm so happy she got to use her lightstick!!

since it was a fanmeet, they played a lot of games, one of them being wearing the cat ears and trying not to get a reaction while other members provoke the member wearing the ears. i remember Jinjin was asked if he wanted to tell the company anything and he laughed,, his laugh is so gorgeous in person :") it's etched into my memory! i also saw him and MJ cry though, since MJ is enlisting.. he read out a letter he wrote for the members and ahhh it was so emotional...

april 10th was treasure day!! it's the 14th now as i write this update :D

we got to the venue at 1pm and went straight to the merch line. it was super busy but the line moved fast and i managed to get a teu-day lightstick strap! the outside of the venue was super busy btw,, it was nice to see that many teumes :")

we then got our tickets, which came in the form of an ID card type material rather than the normal paper we've been getting, before heading away from the venue to eat. a pasta place we wanted to go to was closed and so many other places were, too (restaurants are often closed from 3-5pm as they go on break). so, we went to a café! i had a sandwich and milk tea (so pricey but pretty good @_@).

we headed back and entered the venue... once again, the seats were so much closer than i expected!! covid restrictions have been eased so there were so more empty seats and the venue was PACKED!

after the concert, i actually rushed here and wrote down some key points because truly, the concert was the best i've ever experienced. it left me speechless :")

Yedam eye contact and jumping--i forget which song it was, but it was a very energetic one. treasure were near us and intently staring at the audience. i knew they couldn't see us, since the light was on them and we were dark save for the lighsticks, but it felt as though Yedam was looking right at me when the beat dropped and we were literally just vibing together. i was dancing in my seat the whole concert!

Hyunsuk had crazy energy and stage presence. he did a lot of ad libs, yelling 'woo!' or 'let's go treasure!'. during his unit performance with Jihoon, he said 'Go Hoonie' before Jihoon's part and i'm pretty sure that has gone viral on twitter.

Haruto and Hyunsuk yelled their raps to prove they were live, and both had insane stage presence

Yedam sobbed when we showed them our slogans during their performance of it's okay. he held it in and broke down when the song ended :(

Jeongwoo cried, too.

Hyunsuk cried a lot and was pouty, saying he'll get made fun of for crying later.

Junkyu did a lot of aegyeo, particularly after be with me.

Yoshi called himself a tomato to introduce himself and was looking so good with the red hair, especially when it was all messy when performing!

all the boys looked lovingly into the crowd, giving both online and offline a lot of attention :") they stared at us so intently,, with big smiles and big waves

Yedam sang a bit of an unreleased song, also wayo live !!!! he was phenomenal

the boys sang the whole trsr discography except slowmotion, my fave :(

mmm rock ver. and darari rock ver.

love scenario and really really units--love scenario performed by Jaehyuk,,, and i forget the other members LOL and really really performed by Haruto and i forget :") i have videos tho !!!

pyrotechnics and fireworks appeared throughout some songs, making it feel like a true concert and honestly turning it into my fav ever

edit (october 16th, 2022) : sometimes, when i'm just living my life in hamilton, i suddenly remember a very vivid memory from korea. tonight, i remembered checking out of the hotel in gangreung and walking towards the cherry blossom trail. we didn't really know where we were going but the weather was nice and we were happy. T was admiring the trees just behind the hotel, taking photos of them. I think we saw a bathtub or shower head on the street and joked about showering right there. why do i remember these random moments... i don't know. but i smile each time i remember.

next log

[goawaywithjae]

"Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha" review

“Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” is one of those slow-moving K-dramas that makes viewers wish they had the same kind of relationship as the characters do — not just with each other, but with their friends. It fits right in with other series like “Racket Boys,” “When the Weather is Fine” and “Crash Landing on You,” where the close-knit neighbors were each others’ families and best friends. They shared each other’s successes over meals together. And they consoled one another when there were hardships to overcome. Full review here.

[kim-lexie]

move to heaven.

this was an unexpected gem. i absolutely loved the unique storyline and the cast of characters we got to discover and unpack. i was intrigued because i had finished ‘racket boys’ just a bit ago and absolutely loved tang joon-sang. and i am so glad this drama ended up on my radar. 

we follow geu-ru a young man with asperger syndrome. he works for his father at ‘move to heaven’. it is a company that arranges items of the deceased. geo-ru’s own father passes, and his estranged uncle appears to be his guardian. we follow them as they get to know each other and to see if sang-gu will truly be geu-ru’s guardian. i would 9.5 out of 10 recommend. 

this is not a comprehensive review more so a rambling of thoughts. many many thoughts…

*spoiler alert*

there are a vast list of things i loved about this drama from the mere concept to the way that we saw character development. i loved the dynamics of this drama. the fact that ‘move to heaven’ was a business that geo-ru’s father, jeong-u, left for him to be able to sustain himself. since the world in which we live does not leave many opportunities for geu-ru and his unique set of abilities. but his father sought out these moments and tasks that would build up on the abilities that geu-ru had was beautiful. the respect in which jeong-u and geu-ru carried out their job was incredible.

the way in which he ensured that geu-ru knew how treasured continually brought tears to my eyes throughout the drama. the fact that at the end of the drama we come to find that geu-ru was adopted and that jeong-u saved him as a baby and saw how strong he was as an infant in the nicu, adds another layer to the story. a family is brought together by love not by blood. which is carried throughout the drama. 

cho sang-gu and han jeong-u had a strained relationship due an immense misunderstanding from childhood. they were raised under an abusive father, but the two brothers cared greatly for one another though they had different mothers. jeong-u is kicked out but promises to meet the young sang-gu at the train station on his birthday. years later sang-gu discovers the reason that his brother was not able to meet him was because he went to the mall to buy the birthday sneakers that he requested. the mall that unfortunately collapsed, and left him in the hospital. and after that, each year jeong-u would buy sneakers for sang-gu and store them for him. and on that day he would bring geu-ru to the amusement park that he promised to bring his brother, and stop by the station. fulfilling his promise with his brother through his son. this was an intense realization for sang-gu who had lived his life under the shadow thinking his most favorite person abandoned him. he had joined fighting, and ended up a criminal because of this impression of himself that was all a lie. 

cho sang-gu’s story was heart breaking. he saves a high schooler, kim su-cheol, from bullies. and this leads su-cheol to pursue sang-gu as a mentor, and teaches him boxing. and he goes on to become a national champion. as sang-gu was starting to find a deeper meaning and vicariously living through his trainee, su-cheol leaves the boxing ring unexpectedly. they come to face off in a match in the underground, and it goes very wrong when sang-gu offers a blow which is too much for sang-gu who passes out and ends up in the hospital. we come to find that it as because of the continuing trauma to his head he was suffering complications and that is why he left the ring, but had returned to make money to start a store with his father. this situation ends sang-gu in prison further hardening his heart. it was devastating seeing him try and save him and helping his sister with the medical bills.

it was beautiful to see his heart open up to geu-ru and those around him like the neighbors and even the social worker u-rim. he was so hardened to all the good in the world, but each case they encountered brought new things to light. 

now there were so many good client stories, each unique and heart breaking. however there was one story that really stood out to me that that is the story of jung soo-hyun. soo-hyun was an emergency room doctor who was stabbed on the job and passed away. the ‘move to heaven’ were called in by his family to go through his items and geu-ru finds a present and letter meant for his lover. this gets geu-ru focused on finding this person, and he is an absolutely incredible detective and they narrow the field down, that the lover is a cellist at an upcoming concert, that he had been planning to attend. we come to find that his lover was ian park, a man that his family did not approve of. they met a year prior in the ER. it was devastating when ian initially denied what geu-ru was saying, and that he didn’t accept it. it was a heartbreaking moment when they discovered him prior to the concert crying on the rooftop. when geu-ru presented him with the items they collected and the letter that he thankfully memorized before the family burned it, ian was devastated and broken. and in tribute ian played the first piece he ever shared with soo-hyun, and soo-hyun’s mother was in the audience to see it. one of the lines for the letter that was beautiful

since i met you, for the first time, i want to live for tomorrow. i want to be a braver man than i was yesterday all because of you. 

geu-ru and his persistence to ensure that the deceased items get to where and who they need to be with was nothing short of beautiful, a loyalty to the people he never met. and to the stories that these people never got to tell. i love geu-ru he was particular and smart and kind in a unique sort of way. i loved the dynamic change we saw in him, from his peristance in protecting his father’s ashes and locking off his room leaving it as it was. (when he discovered the video that his father left him, you best believe i was weeping.) then seeing him short through his father’s belongings was a huge moment. this was especially evident in seeing him set a place setting for his uncle at the table, because at the start he only set one for himself and his father. the parallels we saw between the uncle and his father were so special. 

the way that he attracted people to see the world through his eyes. his friend yoon na-mu was his friend from childhood, she had/has a crush on him. she was always there for him through all of life’s hard moments. and she protects him especially initially from cho sang-gu and his hard headed nature at first not accommodating to geu-ru’s needs. 

she is always there for him and goes with geu-ru to get the uncle who said he would fight again. police officer jun-yeong, school friends with na-mu, comes to the rescue and even saves the day at the fighting rink and stops the fight with a whole group of cops to put an end to this. it was an intense moment, because he went to the ring to win back the deed for their home because he offered it as collateral to try and pay for su-cheol surgery to save him. but geu-ru and na-mu saved him. 

favorite moments 

when we got to look into the past, seeing jeong-u and his wife ji-won. how they learned sign language to communicate with geu-ru...

all the aquarium moments, especially when geu-ru went to busan to try and meet his parents there. and he was ultimately met by his uncle. 

when sang-gu discovers the closer of sneakers his brother bought for each birthday he missed with him. 

questions

will we get another season?

who is this girl at the end requesting the services of ‘move to heaven’ for herself?

what were your thoughts? did you enjoy this drama? 

[saku091]

Match tennis juniors - Prince of tennis chinese 2019 Review

So finally Netflix delivered and brought to us the subtitled version of this new adaptation, here are my thoughts, I'll separate them in some items.

1. The acting : I was impressed to be honest. Peng Yu Chang as Lu Xia was a great choice, and his acting was so in point, all the boys were so pissed at him lol, Qi Ying (Sakuno) was so cute, supporting his tennis lover boy, another favorites of mine were Siyang (Tezuka), Momoshiro and Atobe ( he was so humble, it was intriguing)

2. The story : You know, something that I noticed in this adaptation was the change in the atmosphere that everything was portrayed. Let me explain, in the 2008 adaptation (wow it's been 11 years since that 😭) there was too much drama, I don't remember smiling so much because the producers at that time decided to focus in the fights, the difficulties of the Seigaku boys, so, it was kinda different from usual. Let's be honest, Prince of Tennis besides having insane matches that defy the laws of physics makes you laugh, and I laughed a lot here! It had so many funny moments, Ryoma was soft in this adaptation, but not so much that you could call it OoC. I loved that.

3. The music: It was pretty good, the opening and ending were catchy and SHORT. The 2008 opening lasted like 3 minutes!

4. The Shipping: I've been hyping this C - drama since I saw those sweet Ryosaku moments so there's not much to say lmao. But actually, now that I could understand what both Lu Xia and Qi Ying were saying, I couldn't help but love this pairing even more. There's something that I read back in Weibo, the Chinese site, and it was that they tried to give this idea that young people shouldn't fall in love so early (and you can see that when they had their "date" to repair Qi Ying racket) so the production team probably was in a pinch here, don't you think? They seemed to have adapted some things from New Prince of tennis in this new version, so I could see why so many people don't get why Ryoma and Sakuno are close. Oh poor none believers, you're in for a surprise!

5. Would you recommend it? : ABSOLUTELY! Even if you hate Qi Ying (Sakuno) to the depths of hell, if you're /were a PoT fan you should watch it! The matches aren't displayed to their fullest but they made an excellent job portraying everything else. It's heartwarming, it's funny and you can really feel empathetic towards the school boys.

In scale of 1 to 10 I'll give it a 9.5 and that's because we don't have a second season, lets hope we do! So don't wait anymore and watch it, you won't regret it.

[cocogukkie]

I posted 1,508 times in 2021

112 posts created (7%)

1396 posts reblogged (93%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 12.5 posts.

I added 469 tags in 2021

#hometown cha cha cha - 158 posts

#vincenzo - 64 posts

#doom at your service - 58 posts

#jtbc run on - 38 posts

#hospital playlist 2 - 35 posts

#bts - 26 posts

#tvn vincenzo - 25 posts

#tvn - 23 posts

#racket boys - 21 posts

#kdrama - 21 posts

Longest Tag: 128 characters

#theres also the side of demisexuality where you can acknowledge a person is attractive but not want to be w them by first glance

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

i started watching doom at your service and honestly tvn can crank out these fantasy romance centuries-old-being-falls-in-love-w-a-human stories till the end of time and i will watch them all

189 notes • Posted 2021-05-16 22:54:22 GMT

#4

Anneyong chingu❤

Could you recommend some interesting kdramas that

Have a good plot

Keep you on your toes

Do not let you down

Do not bore you to death

Basically make you think and wonder what will happen next.

I hope you are doing well. Fighting 😘💜

hi! of course, tis but one of my favorite things to do. i’m not sure which genre you’re looking for exactly but i would love to give you a few of my favorites! 

if you're looking for something crime/mystery/thriller-ery, i would recommend: 

Flower of Evil 

flower of evil falls somewhere halfway between a thriller/mystery and a melodrama and it. is. wonderful. the plot is excellent and keeps you on your toes, the character development is so so good and i personally really liked the ending. the angst is very real with this one and it brings me so much life. its a show that will definitely get the gears in your brain running trying to figure certain stuff out. this one is a great choice! 

He is Psychometric

See the full post

246 notes • Posted 2021-03-21 20:36:38 GMT

#3

woah wait i just thought about this.... what if du sik and hye jin keep meeting every 7 years like how the flower blooms every 7 years. they met as kids and then as teenagers, its totally plausible!!!

oh! OH! what if they met 7 years again in their early 20s and they met during college or the years du sik went awol 👀

247 notes • Posted 2021-09-12 18:05:11 GMT

#2

yoon hye jin: do you like me?

hong du sik: ...

256 notes • Posted 2021-09-11 15:48:12 GMT

#1

2020 in review: kdramas (the heart fluttering, the disappointing, the saviors of 2020)

it’s december 31st! the new year is quite literally upon us (some of y’all are already in 2021) and my procrastinating self has chosen to upload this today. i’ve always loved these rec lists and I wanted to do one for 2020! this year was a rollercoaster for kdramas with some excellent ones and some not so excellent ones. i watched all of these in 2020 but not all of them were released in 2020.

if you want to use my questions to make your own list please do!! or give your favs in the tags, i’d love to read them. (fair warning, some of these have multiple answers bc i just can’t choose one!!)

drama that made me laugh

When The Camellia Blooms (2019)

i finally got around to watching when the camellia blooms this year and it. was. so. funny. oh my goodness, the comedic timing in so many scenes was pure excellency and im kinda mad at myself that i didn’t watch this last year. this isn’t just a comedy for those who are interested, its a thriller/romance but its also so fucking funny. definitely watch this if you want to laugh (and be touched bc the emotional scenes in this one are beautiful)

drama that made me cry

Sweet Home (2020)

See the full post

298 notes • Posted 2021-01-01 02:00:07 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[hotstarpremiumcrack]

Best Hindi Web Series To Watch On Hotstar

Hello, friends how are you, today we are going to tell you about best hindi web series to watch on hotstar in 2020.

Note: These all hotstar web series are available on hotstar premium account or hotstar Vip subscription. But if you don’t want to spend that amount then you should check this article to get free hotstar premium account.

So let’s dive right in,

1. City Of Dreams

City of Dreams is directed by Nagesh Kukanoor, who made an award-winning film like Iqbal. Streaming of the ten episode series has started.

According to Priya, who plays Purnima Gaikwad in the series, this is a political drama of family connected with politics. In this dream City Mumbai, how the youths make their future come true, along with the struggle of gender. Even today, in many cases in our society, boys get preference rather than girls even in succession to power.

There is nothing in the web series City of Dreams that you have not seen before. The leader is killed. There is a stir in the city. The son and daughter of the leader are confused and confused but you should check it because of its unique storyline. Wasim Khan's role is also very thriling in this new series.

There are total 10 episodes in this new series and the running time is about 40 to 50 minute.

Public rating:  Times of India given it 3 in 5 and IMDb has rated it by giving 7.6 mark in 10.

2. Aarya

Arya is a hotstar original web series which is now appreciated all over the world for its crime and thriller scenes.

After a long time, Sushmita Sen is once again making a comeback to showcase her art. Arya is featured in a nine-episode Hotstar crime show about a woman who kills her husband the day after she kills her husband in her family's pharma firm, a poppy plantation and drug warehouse, promising he will follow her The old shady life is ready to be planted.

Arya plays the role of a fighter in this series who does not want to let her child fall into this black business, matches up with an anti-narcotics cell officer to expose the drug trafficking racket and Undertakes a mission to find her husband's killer.

The actress was away for some time, but Arya was running in the field. The character she plays is never fully in control in a venomous male-dominant term, but Sen is on top in every way through her game.  

Public review/rating: 62% of Google users loved it and IMDb rated it 8 out of 10.

3. Roar Of The Lion

The wait for Dhoni's fans is over. After MS Dhoni movie here is the new series on Dhoni's life, Roar of the Lion, and now you can watch it on hotstar. This is a documentary series, which will be shown on Hotstar in 5 episodes of 20-20 minutes.

The special thing of this film is that the whole story Mahendra Singh Dhoni has narrated his own words. The story of this film directed by Kabir Khan will be based on Dhoni's IPL journey, from the spot-fixing of 2013 to the 2-year ban on CSK and then the champion of that team.

In the film, Dhoni has told how Chennai Super Kings have won their third IPL title only for their fans.Dhoni has described his reunion with CSK in the film as an arranged marriage. Apart from Dhoni, other members of CSK Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Watson, Mohit Sharma, Matthew Hayden and coach Mike Hussey are also important roles in Roar of the Lion.

Public remarks: Like Dhoni fan base, the series got 7.7 out of 10 by IMDb.

Conclusion

So, these are the best hindi web series to watch on hotstar in 2020. If you like this post then share this article with your friends and loved ones because you know sharing is caring