Great slice of life classical music school - heartwarming romance

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean romantic drama with 16, 65 minute episodes. It is known by the alternate titles: Beuramseureul Joahaseyo , Please Love Brahms , Liking Brahms , beuramseuleul jonghahaseyo , and beuramseuleul jonghahaseyo.

Chae Song Ah (Park Eun Bin) originally majored in business but decides to pursue her love of classical music, violin in particular, at the same university. This alone sets her apart from the other students who came from music focused programs and are going through their first major interest. She is not a prodigy and instead struggles and works hard to develop her ability with violin. This causes a lot of conflict as she is already seven years older than the other students in the program and having a working rather than natural talent makes pursuit of her dream all the more difficult . Her family also strongly disapproved of her change in major. Feeling like an outsider, Song Ah finds comfort in beautiful music so when she hears Park Joon Young (Kim Min Jae), who is a prodigy, masterfully playing “Träumerei," she is drawn to the talented pianist. Caught in a love triangle which has left him with a broken heart he is in love with Lee Jung Kyung (Park Ji Hyun), a friend he has known for a long time. Because of timing his other close friend, Han Hyun Ho (Kim Sung Cheol) is in a romantic relationship with Jung Kyung. When he decides to keep his distance from Jung Kyung, he meets Song Ah and is drawn to her passion for music. This slice of classical music life is a deep look at classical music as a field of study and a slice of life of those that choose to pursue it.

I loved the "slice of life" of those pursuing classical music. Like so many other educational pursuits there is a lot of "dog eat dog", elite structures, power plays and all those things that can make or break anyone. It actually gave me some flash backs to my Ph.D. study days. Spoilers ** It took a lot of courage for Song Ah to have completed an undergraduate program in Business and change to something so radically different. One thing I did not think was well explained was how she came to play violin. Had she played it as a child? Did she pick it up as a teen? It was hard to see her consistently discriminated against for being an "older" student and for coming from outside music. The love story between the leads was believable as they were both very similar in the way they approached things and how soft and gentle their personalities were. They both did not like crossing people and others took advantage of them because of their sweet natures. That became a source of conflict between the two as Joon Young was constantly manipulated by his former love interest, Jung Kung. There were several attempts to make Jung Kung a character to feel sympathetic toward, her loss of her mother at a young age, a cruel violin instructor and her mother coldly making her practice endlessly, and her loneliness in being a heir to a foundation she had no interest in running. I wanted to see a lot of character growth from her, and there was a little, but I still felt she was, on balance cruel. She had opportunities to bridge gaps with those around her and did not take them. After all the struggle Song ah had with pursing her dream to play violin, and her final success with it, it was disappointing that she completely gave it up. I thought perhaps the "key" to her musical success would be playing music with Joon Young and their performance was her shining moment but, in the end, she gave it up completely after so many years of struggle. I loved that Joon Young discovered a renewed love of piano with having Song Ah in his life. Most of the major plot elements were completed and that was refreshing. There wasn't an overlong separation and that was a welcome departure from that tired trope. Park Eun bin is so pretty and I enjoyed her acting in "The King's Affection." I was not disappointed with her performance in this role either. She is someone I will be watching and seeking out things she is in. Kim Min jae is also extremely talented and just fun to watch. He has very soulful eyes and portrays the emotions of the moment very well. Overall I loved this drama for the immersion in classical music, insight into that world, and the heart warming romance. The main detractor for me was Song ah giving up the violin - that marred the perfection of this drama as it did not make sense that someone who sacrificed so much would give it up completely. I recommend this drama to anyone that loves classical music, enjoys these actors and likes uncomplicated (in terms of plot twists and mysterious pasts) heart warming romance.

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Under-rated, hidden gem, solid legal romance drama

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2017 South Korean Legal Romance Drama with 16, 60 minute episodes. It is alternatively known as Witch in Court.

Ma Yi-deum (Jung Ryeo-won) is an aggressive and egotistical prosecutor who has worked in multiple prosecutors' offices and is known for using whatever it takes to win. It is a challenging time for females in a man's world and she reluctantly supports a female reporter who was sexually assaulted by her boss. When Yi-deum finds out the boss lied about promoting her she feels she has nothing to lose and and tells all about what she saw him trying to do with the female journalist. This gets her an assignment in the special task force for text crimes, a job no one wants. Well no-one that is except for Yeo Jin-wook (Yoon Hyun-min) who feels passionate about defending victims of sex crimes. Although a new prosecutor he not only graduated top of his class but also has a background in psychology. The two opposites team up to use their complimentary skills to solve some tough cases. As they work together they begin to understand each other and admire each other more. Will the hate that turned to like now turn to love?
I loved this drama. It had everything, exciting cases, interesting and deep character growth and interactions. Yi-deum was edgy and had a mischievous quality about her but was very bright and cared deeply about justice. Jin-wook is the quintessential straight arrow who wants nothing more than to do the right thing the right way. Which is why the conflict he encounters around the situation with his mother is such a dilemma for his character. Spoiler alert** it was during the very last portion of the last episode when Yi-deum and Jin-wook got together in a romantic sense. I was so enjoying their interplay as a couple I regretted there was not just a bit more time spent with them as a couple. It was a very happy and overall well wrapped ending but the only very minor critique was just not getting enough of the Yi-deum and Jin-wook romance. But it is such a well written and enjoyable drama that is not a huge fail. I would watch this again and would highly recommend it to fans of this genre, of these actors, or just anyone that wants a well written, nicely paced, exciting, legal romantic drama.

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Could have been a great romance thriller - missed the mark

7/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 South Korean mystery, thriller, romance drama with 16, 70 minute episodes.

Kang Da-jeong (Seo Hyun-jin) grew up with an abusive alcoholic father and her greatest wish as a child was to have a stable family. Because of that early experience with a damaged father figure, she is attracted to men with alcohol problems, those who fail to keep jobs, and others with issues as she attempts to "fix" them. She has a stable job as a concierge manager at a motel and makes a move to a rooftop apartment to make a clean break with her troubled past. Joo Young-do (Kim Dong-wook) moved his psychiatric office to the same building as Da-jeong and has a nearly psychic ability at "reading" people and understanding their psychological issues and motivations. He uses his skill to not only help his patients but everyone around him. Chae Joon/Dr Ian Chase (Yoon Park) took a liking to Da-jeong when they were children growing up in the same neighborhood and looked for her, finally locating Ahn Ga-yeong (Nam Gyu-ri) is Young-do's ex-wife and the relationship ended after discovering that they were together more for Young-do to stablize Ga-yeong's depression and keep her from self harm than out of any romantic love on Young-do's part - they remain friends and he is helping her have confidence to pursue a healthy relationship. All of the individuals are connected by mysterious and tragic incidents from the past. What might fate have in store for them?

I liked this and it mostly kept my interest throughout but it had such a wandering story line that I would not watch it again and it wouldn't be a top recommendation from me. Spoilers** At first I thought that the murders would be a central premise and, there were times, when the focus was on that. But then it would just drift away and focus on aspects of the main couple, or a side couple's relationship and just drop the whole serial murders line all together. There was a major story line around the fact that he had heart issues but it was never fully explained why. You knew that he had went through a lot of medical procedures when he was young when his mother was trying to save his brother but not what his brother had or how that might have resulted in heart damage. So was the heart issue related to that or was the heart issue what had killed his brother? Their romance did not make complete sense either. He pushed her away because he knew, at some point, he might die but then decided to just be with her and there were a lot of things that indicated why he made that decision but it wasn't really spelled out. I expected some kind of dramatic statement like "none of us ever know how long we have" but there was never that. Her friend and her brother had a romance which could have been cute but we never got to see exactly how they got together. Had he always liked her? That would have made more sense. They alluded to the fact that they had slept together and things went from there but they didn't show us them falling in love. Then there were the friends. The boxer girl liked the vet and had a drunken incident where she bit him. I thought they would evolve into a romance but that just fizzled and died because he had a thing for the female lead's best friend. So, I wondered why they even bothered showing the boxer girl and her feelings for the male lead's friend. Da-jeong's mother had talked about some man that was wooing her in the beginning and I thought we would get to see what was going on there but they literally just dropped that story line. The abusive dad, I thought perhaps he was the killer or some interesting twist like that but no, he just stayed away as he promised then died. I thought so much was going to happen around the mother and nothing really did. There were so many things started and never completed that it felt like plot wandered everywhere. The ending was not satisfying because so many things were not wrapped up. And they sort of shook hands - really? That's what you do with someone you are going to spend years with? Just an awkward, facing each other, hand shake? Overall just a very underwhelming story.

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How not to act in a relationship - a study in human psychology?

6/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean Romantic Drama with 16, 70 minute episodes.

Kyung Woo Yeon (Shin Ye-eun) met Lee Soo (Ong Seo-wul) as a high school student who was smart but bullied by the other kids because, although she was a smart kid, she came from modest means and was kind and liked to avoid conflict. Lee Soo (Ong Seong-wu) was wealthy and popular and admired Woo Yeon for her kind nature. He became her defender and friend. It was not long before Woo Yeon's 18 year old heart fell for Lee Soo and she was crushed when she confessed her feelings and he friend zoned her.

Lee Soo leaves to study abroad and Woo Yeon misses him and spends a lot of time drunk calling his old number and pouring her heart out to the open line. Ten years passes and Woo Yeon still has not gotten over Lee Soo. After working a series of part-time jobs, Woo Yeon is finally pursing her dream of being a calligrapher/writer. Lee Soo is now a highly sought after professional photographer. The two continue to be drawn to each other despite Lee Soo's insistence that he only loves her as a friend and Woo Yeon's profession that she still likes Lee Soo and is unwilling to be any less than a couple.

Woo Yeon and Lee Soo are now finally reunited in Seoul and wind up working on a project together. Woo Yeon, tired of being rejected, has locked her feelings up just as Lee Soo is beginning to acknowledge he likes Woo Yeon as more than a friend and perhaps always has. But Lee Soo is not the only man in Woo Yeon's life who sees her for the wonderful person she is. Have the two something more than friends missed their timing and hurt each other too much to ever have more or have they finally matured enough to be honest with their hearts?

This was a drama series with so much potential. The trope of starting as friends and becoming more is a rarer in k-dramas and those of us who like it tend to seek it out. I was excited by the title and premise of this and figured it would be a heartwarming account of people who had been friends for a long time then discovered their feelings were more. This was a train wreck of women who were just mean to the men in their lives. Seriously it was hard to watch the men be emotionally abused. Rather than run to them there were actually points where there was a break up and I was like good now get away from that toxic woman. Ye-eun confessed to Lee Soo multiple time and he rejected her kindly I thought. Basically told her he liked her but just as a friend. But that is where the title is confusing she never wanted to be just his friend. She kept telling him leave and get away. To me if you really care about someone you would be in their life however you could be but she just didn't want anything to do with him if she couldn't be his girlfriend. Then she would cry, miserably, and everyone would feel sorry for her. Okay I get that, it is heart breaking when someone doesn't like you back. But what got me was, later on, everyone blamed him for not accepting her feelings and making her cry. I thought that was completely unreasonable and ridiculous. No one is responsible for anyone else's feelings. You cannot make yourself love someone just because they want you to. I thought he let her down gently. The things is she never made the effort to know what was going on in his life and why he might have responded as he did. He was so nice to her and really made her school years livable by heading off bullies. Then she has a whole string of men she dates and breaks their hearts because she is unable to return their love because she is supposedly so "damaged" by Lee Soo's rejection. She seemed cold and heartless to me. Her mother even commented about her dating and hurting other people's precious sons. She has a longer term relationship with the CEO and he seems like the perfect guy but she strings him along while she is trying to decide if she still has feelings for Lee Soo. So she basically has two guys fighting over her and both feeling inadequate and heartbroken. I thought the CEO went a little over the top in his pursuit of her after she broke up with him but I can understand why he was confused about her absolute coldness. I really felt like she did not deserve any of the men in her life and was emotionally abusive to them. There were two side couples which started with really heartwarming relationships but then devolved into the same type of emotionally abusive relationship as the main character. All three women were horrible in my opinion and emotionally abusive to the men in their lives. You don't make a person walk on egg shells for fear of making you withdraw your affection - that is exactly what the three did. If the men did not do exactly as they wanted, and evens sometimes when they did, they would withdraw from them. I was really frustrated with the main character when he had an opportunity to travel the world and photograph for an airline and was originally not going to take it because she did not want him to leave. She comes around and is going to travel with him. But then she gets an opportunity in South Korea and he encourages her to take it. They agree that they should not give up their dreams or they will resent it later and decide to have a long distance relationship until he finishes. He rushes through finishing so he can get back to her and, as a result, cannot meet her fantasy of multiple calls a day. So, she breaks up with him. That made no sense to me and seemed entirely selfish on her part. Then he gets back and she is once again stringing the poor CEO along and pitting the two men against each other. She is like the ice queen. If you want to see episodes of men being emotionally abused by the women in their lives then you might be interested in this. Those that hate men and think they should be demasculinized may find this okay. I could not recommend this to anyone unless they are wondering how not to act toward someone you profess to love.

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A great slice of e-gamer life with a Strong Female Lead character

9.25/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 Chinese drama with 31, 45 minute episodes. It is alternatively titled "You Are Beautiful When Smiling" , "You’re Beautiful When You Smile" , "Ni Wei Xiao Shi Hen Mei" , and "Nei Mei Siu Si Han Mei."

Tong Yao (Chang Xiao) is invited to be the first female player in the ultra elite world of e-sports. Team ZGDX OPL is adored by fans and each player has a large fan following. The team captain, Lu Si Cheng (Xu Kai) was not, at first, onboard with having a female on the team but as Tong Yao proves she has the talent to stand her own in the male dominated sport, the male team members can't help but admire her. Tong Yao's ex-boyfriend is also an e-sport player and is on a rival team but he would like nothing more than to win back the girl he has not forgotten. Tong Yao is all business but the adorable and talented Tong Yao beings to gain admirers both outside, and within, the sport - some in the most unlikely places.

Normally I am not a huge fan of Chinese dramas as I often find the female leads to be very needy, clingy and whiny. I don't like that they continue to pursue the male lead and others even if the male lead is mean to them. This one was recommended to me by one of drama groups as one where the female lead was not like that and I would have to agree - she is not. I really liked Xu Kai in "Arsenal Military Academy" and figured he would play the ML character well and I was not disappointed. I found the "slice of life" of e-sports very compelling as I was aware of the "sport" but not how huge it is or what the fan base was like. The high degree of not only hand eye coordination but technical knowledge of the game and strategy was interesting to me. Spoiler** The only time I found this FL to be whiny was when she lost a match against someone she had not developed the skills to be able to beat. It tore down her confidence and that was understandable but she spent a lot of time wallowing in her misery and wanted others to feel sorry for her. She acted as a "typical" female and actually played into the stereotype. Fortunately that was for a relatively brief period in the series so it did not destroy the series for me. This is a simple, straight forward, and predictable romance without a lot of surrounding conflict or plot complexity. There is character growth for all the main characters so it is enjoyable to watch the individuals and the team dynamics evolve. The romance is believable and very heart warming. I highly recommend this for those that are interested in learning more about e-sports and those that like light hearted romances.

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Hidden Gem

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2015 South Korean romantic comedy drama with 16, 60 minute episodes. Also known as A Pushover’s Love and a Fool’s Love.

Kang Ho-gu's (Choi Woo-shik) main fault is he is the nice guy who often gets "friend zoned."
By misreading all the signals, he is no stranger to heart break. In direct contrast there is his twin sister Kang Ho-kyung (Lee Soo-kyung) who is a love them and leave them, dating expert.
Ho-gu's equally awkward friends, Kim Tae-hee (Choi Jae-hwan) and Shin Chung-jae (Lee Si-eon) are the last people he should be asking for dating advice, yet he often does. Do Do-hee (Uee) was the bad girl/dream girl in Ho-gu's high school and is now an athlete on the Korean national swimming squad. An overall outstanding athlete, still she cannot do better than Silver in the Asian games. Ho-gu was the bullies' errand boy in high school and, like most of the boys in the school, had a crush on Do-hee who considered the godess of the school. And, like many of his classmates, he only goes to his class reunion in the off chance Do-hee will be there. To his surprise, Do-hee remebers him and, feeling nostalgic, asked Ho-guispend some time with the girl of his dreams and thinks they made a connection. They part with a promise to see each other again at Christmas. Do-hee has a secret that led her to want a reckless night, she is pregnant and the babies father wants nothing to do with her. Can this unlikely couple find love in the most unexpected place?

I was pleasantly surprised just how funny this was. There were several scenes where I was just giggling uncontrollably. I like just about everything about this cute romance. Ho gu was such a nice person and it was easy to see how people were so drawn to him. Spoiler alerts**I was surprised even after reading the synipsis that she was pregnant. Do-hee is the national dream girl and was a goddess in high school but she was not all into that. She liked the quiet, considerate boy who loved comic books as much as she did. I thought their timing of how she got pregnant and the fact that she started loving Ho gu in high school was perfect. His relationship with her baby was beyond cute. I really liked his spunky sister and her undying crush on her first love. At first I was not a fan of the arrogant and seemingly mean Byung Kang chul (Lim Seul-ong). His doubts about his sexuality and hilarious conversations in his head made him one of my favorite characters. In many Korean dramas when a parent starts beating their adult child in front of friends, the friends may take the hits for them but not actively stop them. In this one they did. I also liked when Do-hee protected Ho-gu from his sister. It was also unique that Kang chul told his parents he was an adult and it was his apartment so they needed to basically knock before entering. It was amusing that once his high school friends figured Kang chul was all bark and no bite they adorably took over his space. He was lonely without even realizing it. I loved this. Not talked about much so it is like a hidden gem. The only slight thing I did not lije was they separated for a bit as is true in so many dramas. I always fell it unnecessary. Highly recommend this heartwarming drama.

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A beautiful story that completely falls apart at the end

7.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean romantic comedy drama series with 16, 60 minute episodes.

Goo Ra-ra (Go Ara) seems to have the world at her feet as an heiress to a cosmetics company whose father dotes on her. On her wedding day, her world falls apart when her father suddenly diesd, on his way to the wedding, from a heart attack. Her father's secretary encourages her to go into hiding as her father was going through a bankruptcy (which Ra-ra did not know) and the creditors would be looking for her. With nowhere to go, she decides to meet a fan who encouraged her piano playing but winds up in an accident with bicyclist, Sunwoo Joon (Lee Jae-wook). Joon is barely injured but Ra-ra injures her hands and is helpless in the hospital. The two bond as Joon icannot leave a damsel in distress even if the damsel is a cute but overly needy ex heiress. With no-one left and being quite helpless, Ra-ra appeals to Joon to give her a place to stay and help her get on her feet with the promise that she will pay it all back. Cold on the outside but warm and caring in reality, Joon cannot say no to someone so clearly in need. When he finds out she is a pianist, and seeing it as a way for her to support herself, Joon builds Ra-ra a space within his space to have a piano school called "La La Land". Joon and Ra-ra become an integral part of the small community they are in, Eunpo City, and form form friendships and develop surrogate families. There is a deeper story behind Joon and Ra-ra's connection and it slowly comes to light that the accident was not their first meeting. There are also reasons Joon holds people at arms length and indicates he has no family.

At the start of this, I loved the energy of Ra-ra and how her engaging personality made people want to help and do things for her. Jun was the complete opposite and people were drawn to him because he was incredibly handsome but had a brooding cold exterior. Those that got to know him a little better, quickly realized he was actually very warm and giving. Watching the energetic and irrascible Ra-ra hammer her way into Jun's cold exterior was entertaining to say the least. I loved them as a couple because their personalities were so complimentary - each providing what the other lacked. The relationship Ra-ra developed with Jin Sook-kyeong (Ye Ji-Won), a single mother who owned the beauty shop next door and Jin Ha-yeong (Shin Eun-soo), who become her best/friend little sister substitute was so heart warming. Sook-kyeong became the mother figure Ra-ra never had. There were lots of plot twists and intriguing incidents to keep things going and keep the viewer engaged and I thouroughly enjoyed the majority of the series. Had it continued on that trajectory this would have been in the 8.5/9 range out of 10 for me. **Spoiler Altert** What nearly ruined it for me was the last couple of episodes. First there was the standard trope where he crushingly breaks up with her and is with another girl and you suspect it has something to do with his mother and her aspirations for her son's marriage. We have all been through that one if we have watched very many dramas and know that typically resolves as he simply refuses to live (often quite literally in starvation strikes etc.) without her. And this resolved as well and they were back together and things were cruising on toward the final episode. Then we find out, at the nth hour, he has leukemia. And I had a horrible feeling at that point it just wasn't going to end well. It would be some kind of "better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all" kind of nonsense. He makes the very uncharacteristiclly selfish decision to hide his illness from the majority of his friends and her and makes up an excuse that he is going to the States to study and has no idea when he will be back if ever. And she actually puts up with that and rekindles her romance with him remotely. She is all geered up for him to finally come back to South Korea for a visit and her and all his friends throw a party and are all excited but he never shows. Then there is the excuse he couldn't come because of his flight being cancelled. It is a crushing disappointment and made my heart very sad for her. Then his mother shows up looking very sad and there are some heart warming moments when she apologizes to her for being awful to her and thanks her for bringing joy into her sons life. Then she tells her June is never coming back because he had leukemia and died. I think I just about cried my eyes out. I was so angry I declared that the show was a zero. How could they build us up with this beautiful romance and then just kill him? After that it shows everyone moving on with their lives and she is around pretending to be happy but you can see she is still just incredibly sad. Then, wham, guess what - he isn't dead after all but FIVE YEARS later he comes back, fully recovered, to get his girl. She doesn't believe it at first. Are you a ghost? And, I have to say, by this time I am with her. What the heck are they putting us through now? Nope, it's him. His only excuse is he didn't want her to have to see him sick and didn't want to come back until he was fully recovered. She cries some more (he makes fun of her for crying) and she pummels him with her tiny fists. And I guess that was supposed to be the happily ever after. Okay but I am still pissed at him for putting our girl through emotional hell. I think, if you love someone, you give them a choice whether to be by your side or not. To keep her in the dark and make her think he had died was emotional cruelty. It would ruin the trust you would have with that person. For a girl who had lost her mother, and her father, and her entire life - for her to think she lost him for so long was really devastating. I do not, at all, like sad movies or series. I can handle a little saddness as long as it is not too long or a significant portion of the show, or ends sad. But, this one, the happy ending was only minutes and the sad part was much, much longer. I do not recommend this for anyone that is an empath or who deeply feels sad movies or series. If you don't mind saddness, then this is, overall, a very good series. I would not personally rewatch it, because of the overwhelming sadness I felt, but it is complex enough you would catch additional things on a rewatch.

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Intersting take on multiple personality disorder, too long and drages in key spots

6/10 is my rating. This is a 2015 South Korean Romantic comedy drama with 20, 60 minute episodes

Being a chaebol with a dissociative identify disorder (multiple personality disorder) Gu Seo-jin (Hyun Bin), leads a very complex day to day life where he focuses on his health to an obsessive degree. He tenaciously holds onto his inherited wealth and position by keeping careful control of his alternate personality, Robin, who is his polar opposite. Where Seo-jin is cold and ruthless, Robin is warm hearted and giving. Robin emerges whenver Seo-jin's heart rate exceeds 150 so this adds to Seo-jin's determination not to do anything that would accelerate his heart rate. He sees Robin as a weak character and an embarrassment to his family which would form an obstacle to his ambitions. Jang Ha-na (Han Ji-min), is the daughter of one of Wonderland's fomer employees who was the ring master of the park's circus. As the owner of the park, Seo-jin would like to get rid of that component as it has not earned sufficient ticket sales and interest to make it profitible. However, Ha-na just returned from many years in the United States where she worked with Cirque du Soleil to learn new ways to bring fresh esntertainment for a dying industry and want her chance to lead it to success. Her first challenge is to convince, or coerce if she must, Seo-jin to renew his contract with the circus. Interestingly, after years of keeping his alternate supressed, Ha-na has a way of spawning events that accelerate Seo-jins heart rate and bring Robin out. Ha-na has an immediate dislike for Seo-jin but develops romantic feelings for Robin.

Spoiler altert. What was most suprisiing to me about this one was that many people really liked it. There were those, like me, that did not like it but there were a surpising number of people that liked it enough to rate it a 9 or even a 10. I liked the basic premise. Having someone with dissosiative identity disorder that really only had 1 alternative personality is very unique. Especially when the alternate personality is good but the main personality is somewhat cold and heartless (evil). I thought Hyun Bin did an amazing job of acting like two totally different characters. It was amazing because they really did look and act so totally different it was easy to buy others thinking they were different people. I loved the secretary, he was so supportive of the male lead regardless of whether he was Seo-jin or Robin. He was just a really nice character. There was a cute secondary romance. I liked, early on, when Robin and Ha-na were almost super hero like in their acrobatics and I thought that would be a component of the story. But it was only a weird aside because it was only an episode or so where they were being very energetic and acrobatic. Later she would be trapped in places and I would wonder why she didn't just use her circus skills. They also set up about how she was going to change the show and it was going to be new and spectacular but we only saw a snippet. And Robin's character also underwent a dramatic change from this hero like savior to just the nice guy once he and the main girl started having their romance. In the beginning Ha Na thought that Robin was Seo-jin's brother but when she knew that he was an alternate personality she still treated him like he was completely separate. When Seo-jin started to get better she was adamant that she only liked Robin to the extent that Robin did not integrate and Seo-jin willingly remained mentally ill so that she would have Robin. It was obvious she also liked Seo-jin but she would be such teenage girl like fixation with Robin that she was actually cruel to Seo-jin in her insistence that she only loved Robin. I thought it became very annoying how she continued to treat Robin as a completely separate person and even did things to solidify that additional personality. I hoped she would accompany Seo-jin as he was developing that other side of himself and realize that he really was also Robin as well. In the end she did but it would have been better, in my opinion, if she had watched the movies with him and observed that evolution. There were parts where the plot seemed to drag, particularly after all the major conflicts had resolved and it was just about her relationship with the male lead. I found it hard to like her when I felt like she was almost Munchausen with him and his mental illness. It was very selfish for her to insist that Robin stay and that she was only in love with him. If you can imagine sometime when you had no recollection of an event, such as black out drunk, and how distressing it is to wonder what you did during that time. For DID patients that is a common occurance. So for her to encourage and insist on the alternate personality was cruel to Seo-jin who had to experience those blank time periods. I also felt it was stretched to 20 episodes, like there was only content for about 16 episodes but it was stretched to 20. It ended well with her together with Seo-in and he was cured. I recommend this series to those that like mental health shows. It has a different take on certain aspects of the disorder than "Kill Me, Heal Me." Very unique concept in there being only 2, essentially, personalities, and the main one is the "evil" personality.

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Not overly comlex but a solid drama nevertheless

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2018/2019 South Korean Romantic Drama with 16, 70 minute episodes. An alternate title is "Revenge is Back."

Kang Bok-Soo (Yoo Seung-ho) is a junior at a prestigious high school who does not take school seriously until he is paired up with Song Soo-jung (Jo Bo-ah) when a teacher pairs poor performers with high performers in an attempt to spur the poor performer to higher levels of achievement. Bok-soo is smitten with the feisty and beautiful top student. Oh Se-oh (Kwak Dong-yeon) is the son of the school's chairwoman and Bok-soo befriends him when he is new to the school. Se-oh is psychologically abused by his controlling mother and quickly becomes jealous of Bok-soo for his happy home life and engaging girlfriend. He plots to split up Bok-soo and Soo-jung after a failed suicide attempt by pinning the event on Bok-soo. He convinces Soo-jung that Bok-soo intentionally attempted to hurt him and she testifies against Bok-soo ending their relationship and resulting in Bok-soo being labeled as violent and expelled from the school. Nine years later Bok-soo has led a life struggling doing a series of call as you need it odd jobs for a company is friend created. He has the opportunity to return to the school to finish his studies and decides to take the opportunity to exact his revenge on the two people who betrayed him. Can the young people overcome all of the misunderstandings that led them to this point and forge a new future?

Spoiler alert** From the title I expected Bok-soo to be in a savior role for Bo-ah and he is but only peripherally. It is labeled a romantic comedy on several sites and I found there is very little comedic element to it. It is more of a serious drama with just a few slightly amusing scenes. I think it is a cultural issue but I had a very hard time grasping a person of Bok-soo's age returning to high school. Perhaps it is an issue with my own personal mentality but I would have a very hard time every forgiving someone who had failed to believe in me at a critical point. The fact that a person who is supposed to care about me would believe I had done something so horrible without even asking - I cannot envision getting past that even if it was someone I had been in love with. I would be unable to get over that level of betrayal. I would forgive but only to the level of having that person as a friend but not as a close friend and certainly not as a romantic relationship. That being said I was disappointed that Bok-soo and Se-oh never rekindle their friendship even on a basic level. Bok-soo takes the perspective with Se-oh that what he did was unforgivable. In Se-Oh's case his mother was so abusive that I think she drove him to do it and I felt like Bok-soo should have realized it. He had more of a reason than Soo-jung. I really loved the Bok-soo character he was so loving and loyal to all the people in his life. He also had such a strong sense of justice and would go that extra mile to protrect those he felt were suffering any kind of unfairness or injustice. Bok-soo's mother was also such a kind and caring character it made it easy to see where he would have gotten his traits. This was a very sweet story with only a little bit of complexity but that is okay. Yoo Seung-ho has such a refreshing way of portraying the characters that you root for him because his characters are sweet yet vulnerable.

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Light and fluffy

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 South Korean Comedic Romantic Fantasy drama with 16, 70 minute episodes. An alternate title is “Frightening Cohabitation”.

Shin Woo-yeo (Jang Ki-yong) has lived for nearly 1000 years and his ultimate hope is to become human. He believes that he must draw energy from humans to turn his Fox head from red to blue. Lee Dam (Lee Hye-ri) accidentally swallows the a fox bead which is normally a death sentence. To guard the bead while coming up with a way to remove it, Woo-yeo asks Lee Dam to move in with him. Lee Dam is not your typical girl having relatively little interest in romantic pursuits. Lee Dam’s indifference actually attracts notorious ladies man Gye Sun-woo (Bae In-Hyuk) who originally pursues Lee Dam as a bet with his friends that he cannot get her to date him. His feelings for this unique girl quickly changes to genuine romantic interest. Things are complicated when dealing with humans especially for a Fox that has limited his interactions so he relies heavily on the advice of a Fox turned human, Yang Hye-sun (Kang Han-na). Ha-ha us nit scholar level in book knowledge but she is an expert in interpersonal relationships.She is Goddess level beautiful and portrays a cold haughtiness that hides a honest and genuine heart. Do Jae-Jin (Kim Do-wan) is one of Lee Dam’s best friends and he has been burned in many relationships. Hye-sun surprises herself by becoming attracted to the sweet and thoughtful Jae-Jin.

I liked this show a lot. The romance between the leads was heartwarming and believable, Although, it lacked depth and complexity which could be a good thing if you want light fluff. Ther was no true villain which often adds depth to the story. There was very little comedy despite it being categorized as a comedy frequently. There was a bit of a leap for me how easily the female lead moved from thinking of the Fox as an old soul to being romantically interested in him. I thought perhaps, at one point, she would give sun-woo a chance and that would have added a bit if a bump in the road of the romance. I also thought they could have shown the lead turn into a Gumiho more. It was really a pretty direct march on the road for their romance and there was some missed opportunity for additional depth and character development. iI thought it was very good just not great as the story was a bit too simplistic.

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Very predictable and little chemistry

7.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2018/2019 South Korean television romance drama with 16, 60 minute episodes.

Cha Soo-hyun (Song Hye-kyo), has lived life in the spot light serving as a poster child for her politician father. Her mother, who sees her daughter as a pawn to further her husband’s political career, marries her off to a chaebol whose family has wealth and power sufficient to support her families‘ political ambitions. The loveless marriage soon falls apart when Soo-hyun’s husband declares he wants to marry one of the women he had been having an affair with. There are conditions to the divorce on both sides, Soo-hyun’s mother-in-law insists she continue to attend family gatherings until her son remarries. Soo-Hyun requests to be CEO of a hotel owned by the family which is on the verge of failing financially. Soo-Hyun makes the hotel so successful that she goes to Cuba to strike a deal to expand her hotel brand. It is while there that she has several chance encounters with Kim Jin-hyuk (Park Bo-gum), who saved doing part time jobs for a fun filled trip too Cuba before returning to South Korea and settling int his career. Soo-Hyun takes an impulsive trip out without her staff to see a highly recommended beach sunset and winds up being pick pocketed and stranded. She asks Jin-Hyuk to help her and they wind up spending a spontaneous and eventful evening together. They planned a good bye meeting the next morning but Soo-Hyun gets delayed and they return to South Korea separately thinking they are unlikely to see each other again. Fate has a say though and Jin-Hyuk’s new job is with Soo-hyun’s company. Differences in age, social class, and her ex in laws and parents desire for her to remarry her former spouse all stand in the way of the developing romance. Can the two overcome all the obstacles?

spoilers** Overall I would characterize this as boring. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t particularly good either. The entire story line was very very predictable. When they were in Cuba it was slightly interesting as it was intriguing knowing neither one of them really knew who the other one was so there was anticipation in that. Also, in Cuba, they were doing some interesting things in that cultural space. When they were back in South Korea there was a moment of uncertainty when it turned out he worked for her and her company and when he had to go to an office farther away. The female lead character had a very “flat” personality. It was supposed to be due to her upbringing but, other than a few more smiles, the character did not change or grow significantly. It made it hard to understand why the magnanimous male character would be so madly in love with her. I thought that her conflict with her ex‘s family would turn out to be a way bigger deal than it actually wound up being. The fact that her father took care of it made the entire struggle leading up to that kind of a mute point. Even their small break up was very predictable and the fact that they got back together even more predictable. If it seems like I’m using the word predictable a lot it’s very intentional there were no major surprises or twists which for me made the story very ho-hum. His mom and her actions is something you would expect within the context of a Korean drama yet I still found it very mean and irritating. I know it’s the American in me that finds the way parents in Korean dramas interfere in the lives of their children annoying. When it is just them disapproving and working on their own child it is one thing but when they harm someone else emotionally it is just abusive. I was disappointed he was not angry with his mom about it. The father was and I liked that. I was glad she finally came around but it was almost too late. Not one I would rewatch or recommend unless someone is a serious fan of one of the leads or just likes very predictable romantic dramas.

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Interesting view into VIP makeup, great acting, no chemistry with leads

8.5 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean romantic drama with 16, 70 minute episodes.

Han Soo Yun (Kim Bo Ra) been hoping to debut as an idol for 10 years and it seems like her dreams have finally come true when she is selected among finalist to form a new girl group. Before she is able to fully realize her dream, a scandal breaks out surrounding her best friend and current male top actor Kang Do Jin (lee Tae Hwan). The company that manages both makes a decision (without letting the two young talents know) to let Soo Run take the fall for the incident and her dreams are over literally overnight. Cha Jung Hyuk (Joo Sang Wook) is a celebrity make-up artist who has earned so much fame in that profession that having your make-up done by him is considered a sure key to success. He did Soo Yun's makeup for the competition and she didn't really like it and wound up altering it to suit her image. Soo Yun does make-up for her popular you tuber friend and for other trainees and has some talent for doing makeup. When her idol dreams are crushed Soo Yun decides to fall back on her talent for make-up and applies for a trainee position with none other than Cha Beauty which is Jung Hyuk's company. Hilarity ensues when President (of the company) Cha discovers the girl who dared insult his make-up wants to work for him. Shortly after Jung Hyuk takes Soo Yun on as an artist in training, he loses everything over an industry scandal. As someone who is used to soldiering on Soo Yun shows Jung Hyuk how to start anew. Despite their large age difference, the two start to develop feeling for each other. However, Baek Ji Yoon (Han Da Gam) a top actress and Jung Hyuk's former girlfriend is back and wants him back. Kang Do Jin (Lee Tae Hwan) has realized he loves the girl who saw them both through their trainee days and wants to be more than friends. Will the two bond further through their mutual love of makeup or will their past loves and age difference drive them apart? Is this new dream enough to fill the gap left in Soo Yun's life from the long time she spent aspiring to be an idol?

*Spoilers. I both liked this drama and didn't. I really liked the friendships and found them to be very heartwarming. Learning about the world of VIP makeup was an intriguing slice of life. I am a fan of the "idol" trope so examining idols from the perspective of failed dreams and second chances was very compelling. Where I felt this lacked was the romance. Because of the age gap, there wasn't any chemistry, to me, between the two leads. I could so much envision her with Do Jin more and he was not only handsome but so sweet to her and everyone around her. I did not feel the connection beyond friendship of the two lead characters. The kiss scene lacked any deep emotion so it was hard to me envision them to gather in a romantic sense. I would have rated this much higher if the chemistry between the two had been there for me as the drama itself was very good from beginning to end. I still recommend this one for all the other elements, the slice of high art of makeup, the idol aspect, and all the friendships. It is worth it to watch for everything except for the romance - and it is still a good drama without that being perfect.

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Disappointing for this fan of all things AI

7.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 SoUtah Korean science fiction romance with 12, 49-57 minute episodes.

Han So-yeon (Ko Sung-hee) is a pretty woman who lives a secluded life due to having prosopagnosia (inability to distinguish one face from another). iBecause of her face blindness disorder, So-yeon decided to live a reclusive life. She finds herself in the middle of a chase where one technology developer is trying to steal cutting edge artificial intelligence/ holographic technology from another and the glasses used to generate the hologram are planted on her during the chase. It is not long before the lonely young woman discovers the hologram “Holo” ( Yoon Hyun-min) and finds companionship and feels love for the AI. The genius software developer, Go Nan-do is noticing Holo doing things because of So-yeon and decides to leave Holo vvith So-Yeon to determine the full capability of the AI. Nan-do patterned “Holo” after his physical appearance when she starts using the AI program Holo whose appearance is the same as the developer, Go Nan-do. In terms of personality Holo is warm and caring where Nan-do is cold and impersonal. As So-Heinz discovers that loving an AI means having no physical contact, she meets Nan-do who moved in next to her to guard her and his creation. Nan-do was a lonely young boy who lost his mother early and developed his AI to alleviate the loneliness of himself and others like him. Holo seeing the two people as more similar than different sets out to matchmaker his “friends”.

I really wanted to like this as I like artificial intelligence based dramas. I found the romance between the female lead and holo hard to believe. They seemed like good friends but there was no depth to the relationship for it to develop into a true love. More believable would have been for the female lead to quickly fall for the inventor who looked like the hologram she liked. Instead they had her hung up on something that could never be while the real deal was pining after her. It was a bit of a shorter series anyway and it felt like a lot of time was spent on the female leaD’Souza relationship with holo and little with Nandi, the real man. Thus their love story felt rushed and not very genuine. I would not watch it again and would only recommend it to those who like the actors from other things or who just really like all aspects of AI.

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A magical dark fairy tale with so many heart warming moments

10/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean Romantic Drama television Series with 16, 70-85 minute episodes. Alternate title is “Psycho but It’s ok.”

Moon Gang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun) and Moon Sang-tae (Oh Jung-se) are two brothers who have lived a difficult and unsettled life trying to outrun the horror of their past. Gang-tae is the younger brother but was told before his mother’s untimely death that he should take care of his autistic older brother. who has autism. Sang-tae is the older brother but significant autism leads him to being child like, innocent and honest to a fault. As a younger child, Sang-tae witnessed his mother's murder which left him traumatized and, for some reason, terrified of butterflies. Gang-Tae is a care giver in psychiatric wards and has been able to move from hospital to hospital as they move around. at every place they settle in. Ko Moon-young (Seo Yea-ji), writes dark fairy tales which are inspired by horrific events in her past and an overbearing and abusive mother. She is invited to teach at the psychiatric ward because her books have special appeal for those struggling with their own psychological demons. Circumstances lead the three to the town where they all grew up and when their paths overlap Moon-young is drawn to the quiet compassionate and devastatingly handsome Gae-tae. Moon-young is extremely beautiful but unapproachable as some have indicated she has antisocial personality disorder. Those who irritate or seek to harm Moon-young are likely rto experience her wrath and her manager spends significant time and money cleaning up Moon-young’s many social blunders. What Moon-young wants she usually gets and she begins to relentlessly pursue Gang-tae. The two seem like oil and water but are actually more like ying and yang. Can they solve the mysteries of the past and grow a love pure enough to heal both?

I am really glad it is ok to not be ok because I certainly wasn’t when this ended. I so loved the main characters that letting it go was like leaving old friends. It was such a wonderful and masterful story that was a little like “The Adam’s Family”, “Rainman”, dark fairy tales, and A Series of Unfortunate Events” mixed together and birthed something with elements from all yet uniquely its own. The backdrop of the mental hospital was fascinating because there were patients struggling with a wide range of mental health challenges. The honesty, compassion and courage the disorders were presented with spoke strongly to the message that we do not always have to be okay. The two brothers and the way they had their weaknesses yet leaned on each other through a rough and lonely childhood as orphans was very heart warming. Moon-young proved to be a lot less heartless than her exterior portrayed and was the missing key for the duo to become a trio and develop into a true family. The acting was amazing and the music, costume and sets were beautiful. I will watch this again and highly recommend this wonderful series. I would not change a single thing.

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Action packed with a heart warming romance

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2018 South Korean legal thriller with 16, 60 minute episodes.

After witnessing his mother’s murder, Bong Sang-pil (Lee Joon-gi) goes to live with his uncle Choi Dae-woong (Ann Nae-sang) who despite being a gangster has a sense of morality and raises his nephew as his own. Sang-pil’s mother was an attorney and was in the process of exposing criminally corrupt officials when she was murdered to silence her. Determined to avenge his mother, Sang-pil learns fighting skills from his uncle. He determines that gangster skills are not enough though and becomes a lawyer then blending his lawless/gangster style with that of a smart, tough lawyer to seek justice against evil doers. Ha Jae-yi (Seo Yea-ji) is unaware that her and Sang-pil share a connection through their parents and the dark events that occurred in the past. Sang-pil has been watching Jae-yi from afar and finds her strong sense of justice combined with a fiery spirit , very compelling. When Jae-yi returns to her hometown after being suspended and fired for standing up to a corrupt, judge, Sang-pil who was back to seek revenge, sets up “chance” encounters. He gets Jae-yi to work at his law firm where he can utilize her skills while being able to keep a close, protective, eye on her. As the two people work together unraveling the past and working to bring the powerful and elite of the city to justice for their many crimes, love blossoms between them. Can the two use a combination of street justice and law to topple a nearly impermeable corrupt power structure? Can they survive and pursue a brighter future together?

I am a fan of Lee Joon-gi as I find that he selects intriguingly complex plots with action packed scenes that are also sweetly romantic. Those that I have seen him in have well written endings and the female roles are typically a good foil for the male lead. In this one I loved his character who was nearly super hero like in his pursuit of justice. He and Seo Yea-Ji were a couple I could easily envision together as they had great chemistry and just looked really good together. I have been putting off watching “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” but now that I watched Seo Yea-Ji’s performance in this I am eager to see her in other roles. I watched this at a time when our government has similar layers of corruption and where many are experiencing feelings of hopelessness because of it so seeing good overcoming evil was particularly compelling at this time. The action scenes were exciting and you could tel that Lee Joon-gi is an accomplished martial artist. The end started just a little slow and there is an element where her dad does not believe her and when the truth comes to light the never show the father’s light bulb moment. This is one of my new favorites and I highly recommend it.

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