2024

COMPLETED [ Dec 26 – Jan 3 ]

NO ONE TOUCH ME IM BAWLING

ok those last three eps really hit hard, although I will say I feel like I was too anxious for yichan to properly enjoy them LMAO. i understand complaints that the last three eps felt very different from the rest, which real. melodrama just jumped me without warning.

overall very cute. yes I have never had an original thought so yes I adore ha yichan. I hope I can learn to appreciate my life in the present half as well as he can. chungah is adorable. eungyeol is so funny with ha yichan and perhaps a bit attractive playing the guitar. I will say sometimes I appreciated "segyeong" and sometimes I didn't. she's chaotic but also annoying at times.

band bros are so cute together TnT

I got bored at certain times and fast forwarded quite a bit LMAO, admittedly mostly when segyeong showed up and whenver eungyeol and segyeong popped up together. I definitely wasn't engaged the whole way through, but I still appreciate such a feel good (although it devastated me) drama about twinkling youth :')

COMPLETED [ Jan 4 – Jan 7 ]

final thoughts

woohak mvp

COMPLETED [ Jan 7 ]

i feel like I wasted 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back

ON HOLD 1/24 [ Jan 6 ]

i'm just not that big of a fan of the actress. her pouting is just too much for me. but I will admit that at least she can act!

COMPLETED [ Dec 27 – Jan 10 ]

THE DRAMA WAS CRAZY THIS SEASON what a ride. why do so many women like gwanhee. hajeong is a queen. jinseok is a king. minkyu lowkey grew on me a lot. gyuri needs to stop.

DROPPED 5/16 [ Jan 7 – Jan 11 ]

I really did want to love this drama (it's literally my favorite genre of drama: return to small town life, BUT BY THE BEACH). it had a strong beginning: I was obsessed with the fl's strong, assertive, but caring personality (shin hye sun the woman that you are). the sisters are hilarious and so lovable.

then she went back to samdal-ri. first of all, I'm honestly not the biggest fan of second chance romance, but I was willing to overlook that. it's just that when she got back to samdal-ri, the fl turned into this whiny, slightly obnoxious mess. and I do get it, she's back with her family and her childhood friends, so of course she's going to act more childish with them after so many years of staying strong to survive a new environment. and I love that they wrote her that way. but subjectively, I just could not handle it anymore lol.

COMPLETED [ Jan 15 ]

this is as close as I will ever get to my dream movie. quiet countryside slice-of-life?? (credit card banging meme). kim taeri is a goddess with a goddess voice. the scenic shots are gorgeous and the quiet scenes of countryside work are peacefully healing. I love her friends, although there was a bit more romantic insinuation than I expected.

AND THE COOKING SCENES the cooking scenes I LOVE THEM I COULD WATCH THEM ALL DAY

DROPPED [ Jan 1 - ??? ]

oops guess this year is a dropping mood.

DROPPED 1/30 [ Mar 3 ]

I HATE INSTA LOVE. oh my god.

also we have boring person 1 and boring person 2 and they fall in love. can wu lei stop playing boring people who smolder. pls.

COMPLETED [ Jan 16 - Mar 7 ]

final thoughts

EVERYONE IS ADORABLE. comfort drama fr

DROPPED 10/16 [ Jan 14 - Mar 7 ]

life is too short to be wasted on terrible acting (na in woo i'm looking at you bro), inert chemistry, and possibly the worst characterizations of the main characters I've ever seen.

the villains stole the show in this one. not that it was very hard.

the only reason I kept watching this show was because I really wanted to see the villains suffer lol. that portion of the show was incredibly well acted, but in between scenes of revenge I found myself thinking, damn, the main leads are actually so bland. the fl and ml have zero personality. then they fall in love and you're like why??? made me want to put my head through the wall. also as mentioned above, na in woo is definitely a weak link in the acting of this show. 

ON HOLD 2/16 [ Mar 7 ]

started for park hyung sik and then realized I'm definitely not in a basic rom com with basic characters mood... oops. will I ever come back to this? idk.

COMPLETED [ Dec 31 - sometime late april... apr 20 perhaps??? ]

WHY IS IT ALWAYS SO PREDICTABLE

young jae and seo eun are lowk adorable

COMPLETED [ Mar 8 - May 12 ]

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. mostly because kai was such an interesting and enigmatic character! I kind of disliked gaku's arc, his transformation to Bad Dude and back to Good Dude was so sudden I couldn't really make myself believe it. the cooking also was not my favorite but ik it's because it's a high end, fast-paced restaurant rather than the slow, healing cooking I enjoy.

DROPPED 2/16 [ May 14 - May 16 ]

i was enjoying myself until they dropped the bombshell that HES LIKED HER SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING (??????). yall i wanted some build up. i wanted some warming up to the fl's crazy antics. i wanted some annoyance to love on the ml's part.

its feeling a little too cookie cutter kdrama for me. but byeon woo seok is certainly good-looking.

COMPLETED [ May 15 - May 16 ]

this is why I can't do horror bc why was this drama lowkey so scary for me LMAO. anyway i love the premise! love love love how the game started messing w the ml and made him make hard choices. wish there was more of that tbh, would've sold the drama for me.

romance was meh. it confused me since they were dating but cha yeo woon didn't even know if tae myung ha liked him?? which is wild to me but ok. basically I was a bit skeptical that tae myung ha liked cha yeo woon romantically. also the infantilization of cha yeo woon was a little... but anyway they were still cute tae myung ha had some good lines (and a really cringe one too) and cha yeo woon was a cutie.

COMPLETED [ May 16 - May 20 ]

i liked it but i also didn't??? tbh I already didn't like the way the show was set up and the stilted dialogue and transitions.

final thoughts on plot: https://mydramalist.com/profile/mango-sorbet/feeds/LO0W8yF9

but jing boran in slightly longer hair is so *chef's kiss*

COMPLETED [ May 20 ]

THEY'RE SO SILLY GOOFY I love them. made me laugh and smile so much. it's so heartwarming to watch teenagers take things so seriously and them as adults, still maintaining their silliness.

friend group was def too big to focus on each character, bokhee and geumok in particular felt overshadowed. the end also escalated really quickly and I feel like we were missing a bit in terms of why the group suddenly just disbanded

COMPLETED [ Jul 26 2023 - May 23]

you can do it :'))

YOU DID IT

wow i don't really know what to say bc it took me so long to finish this. all I can remember is LESS ROMANCE MORE POLITICS PLS. and I usually can't stand heavy politics sit around and yap but damn the only thing I was interested in this drama were the politics. probably because there wasn't really a villain. and the romance sucked. where is the chemistry?? (except for the tiny droplet in the middle with xiang liu??)

the mls lowk suck, even xiang liu nearing the end was insufferable. like bro can you stop victimizing yourself for one second. and can you pls stop trying to make yourself boohoo scary for one second. tushan jing was just a block of pretty nothing. I liked a few of the gege dude's acting moments, but bruh for the love of god YALL ARE LIKE SIBLINGS. lowk thought he was going to go crazy but then he didn't really, which was lowk kind of disappointing. fl was boring but I liked her maturity and the complexity of her toxic behavior/feelings of abandonment.

clearly the pacing was terrible. why do i feel like nothing happened in 39 episodes?? i can't believe this drama has two parts.

DROPPED 1/7 [ Jun 8 ]

started bc of the summer housemates <33

COMPLETED [ May 31 - Jun 18 ]

cw: disturbed and intrigued

final thoughts

me when I thought I was going to like a drama where a 20 year old girl dates someone almost twice her age: (•́⍜•̀)

lowk it was still kind of good though. def had potential. jerry yan had me giggling and kicking my feet.

second couple was so unnecessary TnT like what was the point. they barely had any development too.

the actors and chemistry carried this drama. what were the writers doing idek

COMPLETED [ May 22 - Jun 19]

second prince <33

lowkey I really like this actor so I wish he would stop playing villains (bruh). overall loved the balance of humor and scheming and moral ambiguity. the fan family is truly such a gem. may fan sizhe's business flourish and flourish. my only hopes for season 2 is that i'm praying the crown prince is not in love with his aunt. because that would be terrible methinks.

the sci-fi spin was unexpected and I'm not sure if I like that much?? we'll see where it goes in season 2, but I hope it actually plays a big role, since right now it seems rather unnecessary.

also haitang duo duo the woman you are.

COMPLETED [ Jun 20 - Jun 24 ]

cw: DISTURBED AND INTRIGUED.

me when I thought I was going to like a drama where a guy and the adopted dude he practically raised fall in love: (•́⍜•̀)

this out of comfort zone watch did not go nearly as well as forbidden flower, although I'll be the first to admit that this drama was significantly more out of comfort zone than forbidden flower.

final thoughts

COMPLETED [ Jun 23 - Jul 2]

CW: oh god. what do my recent drama picks say about me

if this is the mafia how do they still exist

here's the essay

DROPPED 3/9 [ Jul 3 - Jul 4 ]

cw: um. idk why but I just have a really open mind this summer.

dropped bc bored. I love the wit and sarcastic self awareness tho. teacher bro is a charismatic character and I love the fl's deadpan eyes lol. there's j too much romantic development going on rn that I can't really enjoy bc of all the whole teacher thing, and I'm too impatient rn to get through to the other bits of the show.

DROPPED 3/9 [Jul 4 - Jul 7 ]

i already know what happens bc I watched f4: thailand lol. I guess all the adaptations are actually that similar. lowk I like the thai one better (more depth and the bullying arc felt viscerally real). but rui >>>

COMPLETED [ Jul 7 ]

got kind of funny in the middle but was pretty boring otherwise. the ending was just ??? like why did they got the money tbh, although it fits with the tone of the movie, and I suppose the money was never the important part. the whole pervert soldier thing had me cackling.

DROPPED/ON HOLD IDK [ Jul 7 ]

COMPLETED [ Jul 8 - Jul 23]

cw: watch me finish this in may 2025. again.

well that was not true

WTF WTF WTF. what the fuck. what the actual fuck. this is why I don't watch tragedies oml. xiang liu how could you do this to me.

THIS SEASON ATE LOWK. so much better than the first because of all the drama lol.

the most interesting thing tsj did was die and they couldn't even let him have that. also I really was expecting cang xuan to go batshit crazy this season. they wouldn't let him have that either.

also I lowk wanted a'nian and ru shou to fall in love :/// why did they make her marry cang xuan pls

COMPLETED [ Jul 19 - Aug 4 ]

final thoughts

meh but haha

DROPPED 10/28 [ Aug 1 - Aug 6 ]

was cute at first but why are we not doing the classic youth cdrama slow burn?? i j have so much apathy for this drama, if that's possible. also the sml needs to shut up pls.

(if her roommate w glasses turns out to be a schemey evil person maybe I'll pick it back up. lol.)

COMPLETED [ Aug 18 ]

'twas funny lol. laughed a lot! romance was subtle but I feel like it could've been slightly developed more? a lot of the time was taken up by the actual scam so I feel like the characters and relationships weren't properly explored.

COMPLETED [ Jun 19 - Aug 19 ]

um. so I thought this was going to be amazing because it sold itself as serious and amazing?? but i will not lie I'm realizing I just really don't like this actress. her expressions are so bland and emotionless. the revenge plot didn't really add anything new to the genre. honestly I was kind of bored the whole time. chemistry was... a quarter-chemistrying?? love the ml tho LMAO those microexpressions really got me.

also like. what was that ending. please like. I don't even care what happens to the mls bc I was so uninvested by the end but like. that was just really poor writing. I was literally shocked by how bad the ending was.

COMPLETED [ Aug 18 - Aug 24 ]

oops ngl i forgot to write my thoughts for this one. ITS ADORABLE THO i remember that. so cute so wholesome I LOVE THEIR FRIEND GROUP. honestly the writing for this show is so top notch, the ideas they came up with for each ep showcased their chaos so perfectly. also the humor?? so good.

DROPPED 2/38 [ Aug 24 ]

what can i say.

DROPPED [ Oct 4 - some time very soon after ]

cw: i don't want this to be a self-fulfilling prophecy but... i'm probably going to drop this, i can feel it in my bones

lol me and bad buddy are not fated it seems

DROPPED 2/40 [ Nov 27 ]

everything a little boring. read some reviews and i have no motivation to continue knowing that the fl's super inconsistent.

DROPPED 16/40 [ Nov 27 - Nov 29 ]

unfortunately (or fortunately??) i'm in my dropping era again. time is too limited to waste on mediocre shit like this lol. plot not plotting. characters charactering less and less. ml is just whatever. I kind of hated how his personality did a whole 180 in the middle, I feel like there was so much potential for him to become more sympathetic slowly. fl is not bad, lowk zhao lusi slayed the acting in the beginning. THE ROMANCE?? pls. this is not the slow burn hate to grudging appreciation to like to love I was promised. why are they so lovey dovey already I feel like I missed something?? like we just got to grudging appreciation??? WHATS THE RUSH

COMPLETED [ Nov 30 - Dec 1 ]

ANGSTYYY lowk I think dohae got away with too much lol. and juyeong was forgiving for no reason. but they were cute as youngins (juyeong lowk cringe tho help) and appropriately angsty as adults. plot kept me engaged since i was so invested in what the twist was, although I'm kinda dumb so I spent a lot of it just confused. i feel like this drama tried to tackle too much tho, pacing was a little wack. I would've appreciated a slower pace and less shit to worry about (this is such a nonlinear brain dump but they def got back together way too soon. disappointing). chemistry... is there?? or i'm j being gaslit, but mostly overshadowed by such a AURGHHFSLDK plot (not necessarily bad just like OMG what angsty thing is happening now kinda thing). the taekwondo school owner/classmate was MY FAVE love her. she kept it real.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HA HYEONHO THO. i need like a separate spinoff just on him and dohae's story, like what happened. I need to know.

COMPLETED [ Aug 17 - Dec 2 ]

holy moly that was boring. I HAD SM HOPE IN THIS CAST. what a stellar cast. the plot is just god awful, as someone who loves slice of life. i feel like i gained absolutely nothing from each episode after like 10 or smth. none of the bantering chemistry they had as friends carried over when they started dating, and their dating chemistry wasn't even that cute. only good thing about this drama was the lavender friend group. so cute.

COMPLETED [ Nov 29 - Dec 20 ]

probably wouldn't have finished this if I wasn't so busy with school that I didn't want to find something else to watch lol. but it was definitely really cute and wholesome! fl and ml were both oddly childish and honestly sometimes the fl was so cutesy I could not deal with her, but she was sweet and easy to root for. ding yuxi's acting is not bad at all, but yu shuxin is a little weaker imo. second leads were sweet and wholesome, but their romance was kind of useless, and also their acting was pretty weak. leads were cute but i feel like the romance fell into the backdrop when the game setting became less relevant? like it didn't really feel like they were a couple that much. which brings me to the plot, I think the writers should've raised the stakes earlier or just stuck to the game setting. The catastrophe of heaven thing felt half baked and there was no build up to the climax. they just mentioned the resentful woman a few times but I never really felt any danger.

that guo guy tho, so funny. my favorite character.

CURRENTLY WATCHING [ May 12 ]

some notes at episode 27 since this has been downgraded to my workout drama and it might be awhile before i pick it back up:

i loved the beginning mortal realm arc. her sassiness, his mischief, the way she confessed to him and he was just like "thanks." but then we get back to the immortal world (or whatever it's called) and it gets a little mopey, and for some reason every time xing zhi pops up I want to punch him in the face. he feels so ancient in a bad way, I can't really describe it. the important thing is that something about him is giving me the ick, unfortunately. and this may just be a me thing.

shen li though, she never disappoints. she's been a queen the whole way through. now this is how you do a strong female lead.

i will say that nothing has ever come this close to eternal love/eternal love of dream. the quirky cast of characters, the slivers of humor, and of course, the plot. it's been awhile since i've actually found a xianxia/xuanhuan(??) funny.

CURRENTLY WATCHING [ Jun 28 ]