Thirteen years: petering out?

 

So we've been watching a lot of Asian dramas for thirteen years now, and unfortunately enjoying it less and finding fewer we are interested in. There are actually more Japanese dramas than anything else on our list, but there are some Korean dramas and one Chinese drama again this year. We have been watching things like All Creatures Great and Small, and gotten into Star Trek. We are now in the middle of the third season of Deep Space Nine. 

JAPANESE DRAMAS

The Hot Spot

Our favorite show of the year is The Hot Spot, which is a little bit comedy and a little bit sci-fi. It is about a single mom who works at a hotel that is built over a hot spring, which attracts many tourists. She discovers that another employee is an alien who has super powers, and sticks around because he has to soak in the mineral waters in order to stay healthy. As more and more people find out about him and press him to help them with their problems, the plot gets sillier and more tangled until it gets entirely out of hand. *****

Usotoki Rhetoric

A detective who is not doing well and has a lot of debt, is reduced to tricking restaurants into giving him free meals, and avoiding his landlord because he can't pay. Then he discovers a woman who can tell when anyone is lying. He hires her to help him solve his cases, while keeping her abilities a secret. ***

Kururi - Who's In Love With Me

A woman falls down a flight of stairs, hits her head, and finds herself with amnesia. In her bag she finds a man's ring, but can't remember who she was going to give it to. Three different men come along who she thinks could be the person she is looking for. They all seem nice and like they could be her boyfriend, but as the story goes along, we find out that they all are lying to her about something or other. This was an entertaining show. ****

Suspicious Partner (Japan)

A woman on a crowded bus accuses the man behind her of molesting her. She has identified the wrong person, and even though this has give him a lot of trouble, he decides to help her later when she is wrongly accused of a murder. They eventually join forces to solve several crimes. This is a remake of a Korean drama made several years before. ***

Solo Camping For Two

A man who enjoys the peacefulness of going camping on his own, is harrassed by a woman who is a beginner and keeps asking him for help. He is annoyed, but keeps helping her because she always cooks meals and her food is delicious. ***

Love Is For The Dogs

A woman lawyer has a small dog that she loves and pampers. A male veterinarian adopts a stray dog and comes to love it. The two dogs keep trying to get together, so the owners go along with it, even though she is against love because of her parents' divorce, and he is a loner who avoids talking to people. Then someone else come along and claims that the vet's dog is really his. ***

119 Emergency Call

This is about the staff of an emergence call center. They work to facilitate quick response to emergencies of all kinds, while having to differentiate between genuine emergencies and prank calls. The lead character is a woman who became a dispatcher because of an experience in her childhood when a dispatcher kept her calm and saved her life by talking to her over the phone. She repeatedly goes to the scene of events that she had dealt with when on duty, even though it is against policy. ****

Story Of My Family

A has-been wrestler is the oldest son of a famous Noh actor. The father's health declines, and the son gives up his career to take care of his father. The father pressures him to be his heir and become a Noh actor, even though there are other family members who are more interested. Then the father tells them he is making a will and leaving his wealth to a  young woman who is his caregiver. Somewhat involved plot, and interesting characters. ****

After School Doctor

A gruff pediatrician clashes with his colleagues, so he is sent to an elementary school to take over for a school nurse who is on maternity leave. He is quite the curmudgeon and shoes the children out of his office, but his diagnostic skills start winning the trust of the kids and teachers alike. ****

Quartet

Four floundering musicians meet at a karaoke bar and decide to form a quartet. They all have problems to deal with, but become a found family, and work through some odd things that happen. There are some nice scenes where they play music at a restaurant, and the actors all seem to be able to play. ****

The 19th Medical Chart

A hospital adds a doctor of general medicine who is able to solve some medical problems that the specialists can't figure out. He sees the whole patient, but they see the illness. He sees behind the words the patients say, even when they sometimes lie. The specialists are suspicious of him but he remains cheerful and upbeat. Interesting, with likeable characters. ****

My Wife Becomes an Elementary School Student

A young girl has memories from a woman who died ten years previously. Neither the woman's husband nor her daughter have gotten over their grief, and are still not functioning well in life. The husband is convinced that his wife has been reincarnated as this child. This is a cute and likeable story. ****

KOREAN DRAMAS

Nice To Not Meet You

A woman who is a political reporter is demoted to entertainment news. She meets an actor from a popular detective show, who is tired of doing stunts and wants to do a melodrama. He has issues with an ex-girlfriend from several years ago, when he was fired and she dumped him. The CEO and the editor of the entertainment company have issues, and then there is the chairman. The most entertaining characters in the show are the younger brothers of the reporter and the actor. ****

Love Scout

A tough woman runs a headhunting company. A gentle man is fired from his HR job at another company when he tries to reduce his hours to care for a sick child. She hires him as her new secretary. Mild hijinks ensue. ***

Bad Prosecutor

A prosecutor catches the powerful and corrupt by using illegal methods and the help of a hacker friend. Story has humor and zip at first but somewhat peters out. Also there are plot holes and situations like people walking into danger without backup.  ***

Undercover High School

A government agent is sent to find a cache of gold bars that are thought to be hidden in a high school. He disguises himself as a student and snoops around, making friends with the students and finding many of the school admins to be suspicious. One of the teachers knew him when they were younger, and tries to help. A run-down school building is boarded up and off limits, so naturally everyone shows up there. ***

CHINESE DRAMA

Joy Of Life

A boy born in ancient China has memories of the 21st century for some reason. He is raised by his grandmother in a small town and watched over by a blind martial arts expert. This guy had been the bodyguard of his mother, who had been a spy master but was killed. After the boy grows up, an attempt is made on his life, so he goes to the capital city to investigate. He lives with his father and half-brother and sister, who are two of the most fun characters of the story. There is a lot of intrigue. Very good show. *****

A Round Dozen!

 

The Ides of March rolls around again and we take stock of what we have been watching this year. It's been twelve years now! We are back to having more Korean dramas than Japanese dramas this year, and once again we had only one Chinese drama. But it was a long one!

KOREAN DRAMAS

The Korea Khitan War

This was a blockbuster show that was made to celebrate the 50th  anniversary of KBS, the national television station. It was based on a well regarded novel, has actual history, and is beautifully done. It's the story of a young king who has to step up when his country is invaded. There are some great characters such as General Yang, that we got really fond of, as well as some loyal court officials, and generals' wives. There was an annoying makjang section starting about episode 17. ****

The Producers

A rookie producer starts to work at a large tv production company, learning the ropes and how to deal with higher-ups and touchy lead actors. This was a popular show nine years ago when it came out. We watchd one episode and didn't care for it, but tried it again. It was mostly amusing, but without any chemistry between lead actors. ***

My Perfect Stranger

A reporter and a writer are taken back in time about 40 years by a time-traveling car. He is trying to solve a mystery that happened back then. She tries to prevent her parents from ever marrying because her life has been so miserable. This is a good show, with likable characters and lots of excitement. ****

 Lovely Runner

This is another time travel drama, except that his time it is a watch and not a car that does the magic. At the start of the show, a woman in a wheelchair is a huge fan of a famous Kpop star, and has all kinds of trouble trying to get to a concert. Then the time travel happens, and she keeps going back in time trying to save his life. They are a cute couple, and this was a really popular show when it aired. ***

Marry My Husband

This also is a time-travel show. A woman who is really mistreated by her husband goes back in time, and tries to get him to marry someone else this time around. Very annoying husband and supposed friend of the main girl. Not that good of chemistry between main couple. The cutest thing in the show was a ginger cat. **

Please Don't Date Him

A woman engineer who develops household appliances accidentally puts an AI chip into a refrigerator. It connects to the internet and starts telling her information about lots of people that she comes in contact with. People start coming to her for dating advice because of her inside information. She has some funny meet-cutes with a fireman who is not on social media, and has a secret in his past having to do with a fire. Some good episodes and some fillers. ***

My Sweet Mobster

A former gangster meets a former Youtube influencer. He tries to help minor criminals go straight, and gives them jobs. He talks like Marlon Brando, which was a mild sensation, and is very sweet. She is less sweet, but tries to overcome a competitor and make videos for children. Mostly a cute show. ****

My Roommate is a Gumiho

A college student accidentally swallows a fox bead belonging to a 999-year old gumiho. They need to get it out of her before a year is up, and he is trying to fill it up with human energy so he can turn into a human. Highjinks ensue. Mostly cute show. ***

Numbers

A rookie accountant knows his stuff and is great with numbers, but does not have a college degree. He gets a job at a large accounting firm in order to get revenge on them for ruining his father's company. He is  hired by a director who is fighting internal corruption in the company as it leverages deals for large corporations. Good but becomes oppressive as it goes on. ***

The Auditors

Similar show to that last one, although less heavy and with more humor. A famous, hard-nosed independent auditor is hired to clean up corruption in a construction company. On his team is a rookie who is smart and idealistic. Two brothers are vying for ownership of the company, since the oldest brother is in a coma in the hospital. One seems clean-cut and the other is a rebel. ••••

Like Flowers in Sand

This is probably my favorite Korean drama of the year. It's about people in a small seaside town, and their traditional wrestling team, which is called ssireum. The main character is hapless and cheerful, but covering up his reactions to a big scandal that had happened 20 years before, when he was a kid. We see flashbacks to his group of childhood friends, and see them slowly gathering back together, several of them trying to solve that mystery. Great characters, light vibe. *****

 Cinderella at 2 AM

This drama starts off well with a chaebol mother offering money to a poor girl to get her to stop dating her son. Surprisingly, the poor girl accepts the money. Then she spends the rest of the show trying to break up with the guy, who really loves her a lot and follows her around all the time. His older brother is more interesting. He is nice to the younger brother as well as to his own wife, who is from an arranged marriage. They have a better love story than the main couple.***

Jugglers

A pretty good filler drama. A competent secretary is made a scapegoat and fired for something her boss did. After a couple of months she is assigned to Choi Daniel as his new secretary. He doesn't want one, and she tries hard to be of some kind of help. She gets drunk and he hakes her home and discovers that she lives in the house he lived in when he was a boy, and there was a fire. ***

Iron Family

An elderly couple find a suitcase of money hidden in the forest by some gangsters. These are the least competent gangsters you've ever seen, by the way, and the couple is incompetent as well. They try to hide the money at their house and there is never a dull moment. One by one, most of their family finds out. Their grandson is a cop, which complicates things. This is a weekend drama, with 36 episodes. *****

Knight Flower

This is a sageuk about a widow who instead of staying home all the time, puts on a ninja costume and jumps the fence at night to help the oppressed. Honey Lee is the main draw in this show, which was quite entertaining. There is a police officer who at first tries to apprehend her, and then starts to help her. ****

JAPANEE DRAMAS

Trouble All Aboard

The CEO of a (fashion?) company is worried about the number of people who are quitting, so he hires a consultant to help him. The plot focuses on the stories of different individuals and getting to know them, and discovering their problems. At the end, it is a surprise who is causing people to quit, but they solve the problem. ***

Brother Trap

A college student falls in love and then finds out that her boyfriend is the younger brother of the boyfriend she had in high school. She feels funny about it. They don't care. **

My Happy Divorced Life

Not that happy. A woman who just went through a nasty divorce finds a much younger boyfriend. Everyone criticizes her, including her mother. but she tries to freshen up her look and redo her image.**

My Second Aoharu

A 30-year-old woman who had always wanted to be an architect but never made it into college and works at a poorly paid job, meets a young college student who encourages her to try again. She studies and gets into school this time, and runs across the same guy. There is a lot about her classmates and boarding house, and her architecture classes and projects. There is a mild love story. **

Every Precious Moment

A piano teacher who is having a hard time making ends meet comes across a kindhearted young man who runs a food truck. They make friends and spend time together. She finds out he has a kind of amnesia where every few months he forgets everything. There is a counselor treating him, his mom, and a neighbor who keeps track of him. It is slow moving and melancholy, and has a message that you should treasure every moment because it might be the last. ****

99.9 Criminal Lawyer, season 2

We watched it because we liked season one, but this wasn't quite as good. We already know the characters, the younger lawyer isn't a crazy surprise any more, and the older one doesn't bicker with him much anymore. They changed the female lawyer, which I thought was a bad idea. The show was mostly about the cases and they were pretty good. ***

Baby Vampire Blues

This was pretty low key. The story is about two vampires who haven't apparently been vampires very long and get deliveries of bottled blood from some vampire store. They aren't too smart, and haven't graduated to drinking blood from people yet. They are told they need to get busy and start, but cringe at the idea. I think they solved the problem, or at least shelved it. **

Beyond Goodbye

This is the story of a woman whose fiancé is killed in an accident, and then she later meets a man who has had a heart transplant. There are a lot of flashbacks to the woman's story with the man who died, so you get to know him better than the one who had the transplant. But the transplant guy starts getting the memories of the person who died. It's kind of sad. He has to decide how much to tell her, and she has to decide how to act on it. ***

Ghost Book

A children's movie about some kids who find themselves in an alternate timeline that has monsters. They find a magic book, and have to use it to catch the monsters and get home. **

Eye Love You

A woman is in a ferryboat accident and suddenly becomes telepathic. She can hear people's thoughts when she looks them in the eye. She avoids doing that, and has never had a boyfriend. Then she meets a Korean man, and finds that she can't understand his thoughts because they are in Korean. This is a pretty cute show, although the female lead is over the top shy, and there are a lot of plot holes that are never answered. ***

CHINESE DRAMA

Three Body

This is based on a famous book called The Three Body Problem. It's all about what would we do if we actually contacted aliens and they said they were coming here? In 1979 a young astroscientist named Wenjie intercepts the alien message. In the present day, nanophysicist Dr. Wang has to figure out about the aliens without panicking and scaring his nine-year old daughter. She's my favorite character. Slow-moving but very good. *****

Year Eleven

Here it is the Ides of March! I almost missed it but here we are, just in time. We are eleven years in, and are still watching more Japanese dramas than Korean ones. We watched one Chinese drama this year. We've also watched a lot of old British shows like Jane Austin miniseries, the original All Creatures Great and Small, the Lord Peter Wimsey miniseries, and Call the Midwife. 

 KOREAN DRAMAS

One Day Off

This is an interesting show about a teacher who gets out of town on her days off to de-stress and experience something new. The places she goes and the people she meets start to change her, which you slowly realize as you see flashbacks to her youth and compare them to her present. It's good.

Delivery Man

Should have been called Ghost Taxi. It's about a Young man who can see ghosts and starts to give them rides and grant their wishes. mediocre.

Finland Papa

A young woman who is looking for a job interviews at a restaurant that seems strange. They eat a meal with her and tell her she's hired. No one seems to know who the owner is. It turns out to have something to do with a childhood friend. not so good.

Twinkling Watermelon

The son of two deaf people, who is frustrated at always having to translate for them, gets sent back in time. He meets his parents as teenagers, plays in a band, and learns to assert himself. There is another person who time travels as well who keeps the story interesting. Very good show!

Unlock My Boss

A company president disappears. A young man who had applied to the company finds the president's smart phone, which claims that the president is trapped inside it, and coaches him how to take over and run the company. fun show.

The Matchmakers

This is a sageuk (historical drama) about a young widower and a widow who are tasked with arranging marriages for some women who have refused to marry. For political reasons. He is arrogant but awkward, and she is cheerful and confidant. As they get to know each other better they start to have feelings for each other, but by custom they are both forbidden to remarry. Excellent drama.

Stealer: the Treasure Keeper

A mismatched group including police and a vigilante try to retrieve heirlooms and cultural treasures that have been stolen by criminals. It's a little like Indiana Jones and a little like Healer. The first half was lots better than the second. 

CHINESE DRAMA

Fake It Til You Make It

An office drama about a male investment banker and a female lawyer who meet by chance on a plane. They both have stressful jobs and difficulties in their private lives, and yet they strive to do their best and stay on top of the heap at work. They keep coming across each other because of their jobs and start to become friends. Very good drama.

JAPANESE DRAMAS

On a Starry Night

This was one of several dramas about deaf characters this year. In this one, a female obstetrician loses her job because of a patient who died. The patient's husband stalks her and makes trouble at her new job in a small town. She meets a deaf man who is younger than she is and really doesn't have a filter, but who cheers her up. average.

Unexpected - Love Story in Maison Ginseiso

A graphics designer loses his job the same day his wife divorces him. His sister gets him a new job as a housekeeper at a boarding house, where he tries to help out the people who live there. It is not very interesting, even when (or maybe especially when) his ex-wife shows up again. mediocre.

Animals

A woman who works for a popular tv show is overworked and falls asleep and get fired. She finds a new job at a make-up company called Animal Beauty. mediocre.

Hold My Hand At Twilight

A girl goes to meet her boyfriend in Tokyo, but he immediately dumps her. She meets a struggling composer who helps her, and finds a new interest in high fashion. They both strive to do well and help each other succeed. low key but a very good show.

Is Love Sustainable

When her mother dies, a grown daughter moves in with her dad to help him. They both try to meet people and think about finding someone to marry. Mostly interesting, has a somewhat strange ending.

The Reason Why He Can't Marry

This is about a man who can't adjust to real life and always carries a doll around with him in a satchel. A woman kind of likes him and tries to help. I kept thinking it would improve but it really didn't. 

A Warmed Up Love

A woman works part time at a convenience store and reviews sweets on her blog. She is hired by the company owner to develop more sweets for the entire store chain. It's kind of interesting seeing what she comes up with. Kind of cute show.

Marry Me

The government tries to take care of NEETs by arranging marriages with government employees. The most shy guy in the department gets assigned to be the first test case. He is teased by his coworkers, but gets a soft spot for the woman he is paired up with. They start becoming friends. Their families have a lot to do with how things turn out. A sweet show.

Marriage With Me? Seriously?

A woman in her thirties has a good job designing homes but decides it's time to marry. She meets a man at a match-up party, and he proposes. He turns out to be a wealthy company owner so she decides to give it a try. She is an interesting character and I liked her, but he was very bland. Ok show.

Don't Call It Mystery Special

This is a sequel to the drama Don't Call It Mystery, which was pretty good, so we tried it. It's about a college student with frizzy hair who solves mysteries better than the police can, so they start asking him for help. The first half was the same as the beginning of the original drama. The second half was new but not as good. 

99.9: Criminal Lawyer

The owner of a prestigious law firm suddenly opens a criminal law department and hires an unusual young lawyer who has a huge drive to help defendants who are falsely accused. A senior lawyer is annoyed to be assigned to this department, as is an ambitious female lawyer. Very good show with lots of personality.

Why Didn't I Tell You a Million Times?

A woman reports that her boyfriend is missing and a detective realizes that he can see the boyfriend, and he is a ghost. The ghost talks to the detective and tries to help solve the mystery of how he died - because he can't remember. Very good show.

Restaurant From the Sky

This is a movie. It's about some organic farmers who try to produce the best vegetables, milk, and cheese, which they sell at a market. They get the idea to start a restaurant that features their food, but it proves difficult.  We like the farmers, the one family that has a young daughter, and the older man who makes the cheese. It's partly heartwarming and partly sad. 

One Day - It's a Wonderful Christmas Ado

This is a drama about police who are trying to solve a shooting, news reporters who are trying to get the news on the air (when the manager wants music specials) and workers in a cafe where the suspect has been. It all takes place within twenty-four hours on Christmas Eve day. The different storylines came together at the end of the drama. Very good drama, good characters. 

Ten Years!

 

Ten years of Korean dramas, and you'd think we would have watched a record amount for the anniversary. But no. We only watched six Korean dramas this year. It's a combination of having been through a difficult year and not feeling like watching anything stressful, and not coming across many Kdramas that appealed to me. We are not fond of romcoms with serial killers included, and we've been burned by dramas that started out well and then tanked halfway through. So, we tended to wait for a while to get the buzz on a show before we tried it.

Korean Dramas

Avengers Social Club

Probably the Korean drama I enjoyed the most this year was one that originally aired five years ago, Avengers Social Club. It's about three women (and the stepson of one of them) who decide to avenge themselves of some rankling injustices. I'd heard that it was a fun show back when it aired, and  now that it appeared on Youtube, I was happy to try it. Very fun, especially in the first half.

Twenty-Five Twenty-One

A story about a girl who becomes famous for fencing, and a boy who becomes a reporter. The main story is framed by a secondary story of the girl all grown up and her teenage daughter, which takes places in Covid times and everyone wears masks. The friendships all through were good but the ending was disappointing. 

Business Proposal

The code word for this show is "archaeopteryx." A chaebol heir is tired of the blind dates his grandfather arranges and decides to marry the next person he is set up with. The lady in question pays her best friend to take her place. The first part is very fun, especially the grandfather, who just wants grandchildren. But the last two episodes fall into some annoying tropes and are sadly lacking.

Lovers in Paris

The owner of a car dealership and his hapless nephew both fall in love with the same woman, who is working as his housekeeper to be able to afford to live in Paris. The humor is run through by the first five episodes, the rest is very soapy and drags badly. The ending is confusing, with two alternate versions being shown. 

Reborn Rich

A loyal employee of a chaebol family is killed for political reasons and is reincarnated as the youngest grandson. He is smart and remembers a lot of important events from his life the first time around, and is able to make money big time. The boy who plays this character as a young teen was very good. The grandson interacting with his grandfather was the best part. 

Tunnel

A detective chasing a serial killer runs through a tunnel and comes out thirty years in the future. The detective tries to figure out all his cases, which are still unsolved. Eventually he figures it out and goes back and forth several times. Show is well done but I kept a running count of all the dead bodies every episode. 

Chinese Dramas

We watched only one of these this year, but it was maybe the best drama all year.

Reset

There's this bus. It explodes, and then time resets. It's like Groundhog Day, the two main characters are caught in a time loop. They use some of the time loops to figure out what is going on with all the passengers on the bus, and some of the loops to figure out how best to get help from the police. Very well acted, and tightly written. 

Japanese Dramas

We watched fourteen Japanese dramas this year. Not all of them were really good, but they were at least relaxing and easy watches. Just what we needed this year.

Sleeper Hit

Very fun drama about creating mangas. A woman who was an athlete training for the olympics is injured and has to change careers. She chooses to be an editor for a manga publisher. Her introduction to the CEO and her boss are priceless! Her supervisor with the man bun is the favorite character. She learns a lot from him as she copes with the artists of the mangas, some of whom have to be cajoled to do their jobs. 

Only Just Married

A career woman suddenly needs a lot of money to  help her grandmother, and agrees to a contract marriage to get it. The guy offering her 5 million yen is so nitpicky and such a neat freak, that she wonders if she can do it after all. He is covering up a case of unrequited love, but is quite clueless at how to interact with other people.

Rurouni Kenshin Origins

A movie about a samurai who has killed so many people he decides to not kill anyone anymore. He still fights, but holds his sword backwards so he hits people with the dull side. 

How to Get a Divorce for the Whole Family

An elegant fashion editor marries an ace member of an air force rescue squad, without really knowing each other very well. They have such different styles that they decide to divorce almost immediately, then discover that their parents are ready to split up as well. The man has a horrible harsh voice, but the two of them have great chemistry. It took a long time to get through the first couple of episodes, but we binged the rest on one Saturday.

A Girl and Three Sweethearts

A woman who is a skilled baker is laid off, and gets hired by a man she knows from school who runs a restaurant with his brothers. She seems to have crushes on different brothers at different times. One is friendly, and one is critical of her, and one is casual. A family secret is exposed and threatens the restaurant.

Oh My Boss Love Not Included

A woman applies for a job at a large company and is hired by the fashion department, which she knows nothing about. Her boss is like the boss lady in The Devil Wears Prada, very capable but hard to work for. Nevertheless, the fish-out-of-water girl starts to do well, and has two guys that like her. 

Don't Call it Mystery

A university student (with a huge head of fluffy hair) is detained as a suspect in a murder. He proves to be so good at solving mysteries that the police start asking him for help in other cases. All he really wants to do is eat curry. 

Heaven and Hell Soul Exchange

A female detective investigates a serial killer and during a full moon the male suspect swaps bodies with her. He talks her into cooperating to an extent so they can solve both their problems. We have to get into a backstory to understand what is happening. Very well acted, very engrossing show.

Full-Time Wife Escapist Movie

A sequel to the drama on which it was based, which came out a year earlier. A couple who had a contract marriage rethinks their situation, but end up together. He is shy and she is outgoing. 

Why I Dress Up for Love

This is about a group of people who live in a share-house. A woman is an Instagram influencer who is obsessed with making lots of posts wearing different outfits all the time. A man wanted to be a chef but now has a food truck. They both help a roommate who is an artist and having an exhibit.

My Cuteness is About to Expire

A man who trades on his cuteness to succeed at work and with his girlfriend, is told that he will soon lose his cuteness. The person telling him this is an unattractive man who claims to be himself from thirty years in the future. There is a love interest with a woman who is very stoic and never smiles.

Fight Song

A musician has written one song that was a big hit, but can't seem to come up with another one. A woman from a cleaning company tries to help him because his song has been a big encouragement for her over the years. She has an ear tumor and there is a possibility that an operation could leave her deaf. 

Silent

A high school student is going deaf and tries to hide it from his friends, so he cuts all contact. Years later they come across him again. His old girlfriend has another boyfriend, but dumps him because she is is still interested in this guy. He slowly becomes more comfortable, but remains quite depressed.

Hold Me Back

This is a movie about a woman who lives alone and talks to a voice in her head that give her advice when she doesn't know what to do. She starts to fall for a man she meets at work and worries about coming out of her comfort zone. There are story layers about loneliness, mental stress, and even magic that may be connected to folklore creatures called kappas. Very cute and thoughtful. 

Nine, going on Ten!

 

 I knew there was another significant day in between Pi day and St. Patrick's. It's the Ides of March again already! This year we had a drama slump and watched a lot of old movies, but it may have been because many of the airing Korean dramas were dark or violent, and we prefer our shows to be cheerful. However, there is a new batch of fun shows, and now we are enjoying Business Proposal and Twenty Five Twenty One. I'll let you know how they turn out next year. This year we watched 13 Korean dramas (including a rewatch of Healer) and 9 Japanese dramas along with 5 Japanese movies. 

Korean Dramas

Navillera was a surprisingly touching show about a young male ballet dancer and a retired man who had always wanted to dance and was never allowed to. Now Grandpa wants to take lessons, and over the course of the story, he wins over his family as well as the young dancer and the audience at home. Very heartwarming, with some beautiful dance scenes. *****

Suits is a show from a few years ago. It's about a young man who couldn't go to college because of money problems but who studied law on his own. He gets a job even though he's not licensed, because of his knowledge and his perfect memory, and has to keep everyone from finding out. It's worth watching for Park Hyung Sik and Jang Dong Gun. **

So I Married the Antifan is one we watched because we liked Soo Young in Run On last year. It'a about a reporter who loses her job and gets talked into making a documentary with a pop star who she had clashed with, and it had made the headlines. Guess what? They slowly get to like each other. She was still fun, but the plot was lacking and the villain was way annoying. **

Hyena is about a woman lawyer (Kim Hye Soo from Signal) who will go to any lengths to win a case. She is very smart, and gets hired by a big firm. They think they can use her as a scapegoat, but she has a big twist of her own she is hiding. The first part is better than the last. **

Startup is about young people trying to start their own tech companies. There is a contest where the winner will get help from a larger group. There is a genius guy (Nam Joo Hyuk), a scrappy girl (Suzy), and her grandma who helps another older guy (Kim Sun Ho) who makes it big first. Kim Sun Ho was much loved by the audience and fondly called Good Boy. ***

On the Verge of Insanity was perhaps the best drama of the year. It's about a home appliance company that is doing poorly and laying off employees. The HR team leader (Moon So Ri) has to carry out the layoffs, and a senior engineer (Jung Jae Young) tries to keep his job as well as help all the development teams. Great characters, a lot of humor, and a dishwasher that catches on fire! *****

Hospital Playlist 2 was not as good as last year, but still fun to watch because of the characters we have become fond of. This season follows the love lives of our five doctors, with an especially cute storyline for Kim Dae Myung and Ahn Eun Jin. We also have a variety of weekly hospital cases. ****

Kimchi Family is an older drama we found, also known as Fermentation Family. It's about a family who runs a traditional restaurant on the outskirts of town, the father who disappears, and the two daughters who struggle to keep it going. They have an "uncle" who helps, and an ex-gang member who has childhood memories of the restaurant and tries to discover his past. ***

Hometown Cha Cha Cha is a fluffy drama about a female dentist (Shin Min A) who loses her job and relocates to a small town on the sea. She and her hygienist meet colorful local characters such as a handyman with a secret past (Kim Sun Ho again), a shy policeman, and a spunky sushi restaurant owner. It is mostly just fun to watch for the small town and the scenery. ***

One the Woman is a comedy about a chaebol daughter-in-law and a crooked prosecutor who look alike and are mistaken for each other. Honey Lee is amazing in both parts, and also good in the fight scenes. The chaebol daughter-in-law disappears, there is a mystery, lots of shenanigans, and a little hand-waving to achieve a satisfactory ending. ****

Healer is a classic adventure show that is reminiscent of the Bourne movies, with parkour scenes and fights where the hero can beat up anybody. He gets involved in a mystery about some rebels from a generation ago, and a child who disappeared then and is now grown up. His sidekick, Hacker Ajumma, almost steals the show, and the now-grown-missing-child and her adoptive dad are heartwarming. Still excellent as a rewatch. *****

Dali and Gamjatang is one of those shows that forgets it's supposed to be a comedy but you keep watching because you want to know what happens to the characters. Dali is a woman from a rich family that suddenly loses its money. She inherits an art gallery and tries hard to keep it going while remaining polite and elegant. She tangles with a creditor who is from a lower-class family which suddenly became rich, and retained their loud vulgar ways. ***

Ghost Doctor (picture at the top of the post) is about a genius but irritable doctor who goes into a coma and is able to take over the body of a slacker intern. They are played by Rain and Kim Beom, and they are hilarious together. There are other ghosts, pranks and tricks, some heartwarming side stories, and a satisfying conclusion. Very fun show. ****

Japanese Dramas

In-House Marriage Honey is a very sweet show about two people who get into a contract marriage for different reasons and unexpectedly find they work at the same company.  While trying to keep that a secret, they grow to like each other, and it's very believable how their relationship moves ahead in a different way from people who are dating. ****

Danger-less Detectives is about a couple of detectives who try to slack off and stay away from danger, but keep accidentally coming across clues to their cases. Very silly and fun, a relaxing watch. ***

Lock On Love is a teen movie about a high school guy who is good-looking and thinks he is irresistible to girls, and yet the one girl he asks to be his girlfriend is not interested in him. Very cute, and with the nicest loan shark ever seen in a show. ***

Kiseki - Sobito of the Day is a movie about the real-life story of four dental students who become a popular singing group. They conceal their identities, at first to not upset their parents, and then to not jeopardize their dental degrees, or their dental practices. Still today their identities are not known. *****

Heavenly Forest is a movie about a man who meets a sweet, childlike woman in a forested area near town. For a while they go there a lot to take pictures and then they get separated. There is a mystery about her, and the ending is somewhat bittersweet. **

Again is a wonderful movie about second chances. It's about a college student who helps her professor organize baseball games for adults who had played in high school and college. She is interested because her father had played baseball but has died. She tries to find out more about him by interviewing some of these ball players, who had been his friends. **** 

Fukuyadou Honpo: Kyoto Love Story is about a family that has run a traditional sweet shop for 400 years,  which is in danger of closing down because there are no sons to carry on the family line - or the family business. The mother tries to get the daughters to marry someone who can step in and keep the business going. The daughters object. Lots of nice pictures of the scenery around Kyoto and traditional activities. ***

Tremble All You Want is a movie about a girl who seems popular and friendly and has a crush on a boy. You think the story is going a certain way, and suddenly in the middle there is a twist that changes everything completely. It was getting a little dull until the twist, and then it was fascinating. ***

One-Page Love is a 6-episode drama about a teenage girl who falls in love with a guy who visits a vacation resort run by her family. He says he will return in four years but doesn't, and she goes to the city to try and find him. Turns out he works for a loan shark and things get kind of sketchy for a while - we almost dropped the show. Then it seems like there are three men who like her, and the story improves and ends ok. **

An Incurable Case of Love is a rather cheesy story about a girl who gets a crush on a doctor she sees once, and becomes a nurse so she can go find him and marry him. She gets a job at his hospital, and right away blurts out that she likes him. The staff all tease her about it; she makes lots of mistakes from nervousness. **

You, Me, and Bach is a very heartwarming drama about three people who are all at a low point in their lives. At a mall they see a promotion for violin lessons, decide to change their lives by doing something new, and sign up for lessons. This unlikely group becomes friends when they get put in a class together, and support each other through learning to talk things out, keeping confidences, and deciding if a relationship is love or not. *****

Super Rich is about a woman from a wealthy family who loses everything when she starts her own company, and tries to make a comeback. Her employees admire her for different reasons, but some seem to be trying to pull a takeover. Rather disjointed story, unconvincing characters, lots of plot holes. **

Three Star Bar in Nishi Ogikubo is about three friends who are all at loose ends. One is an author with writer's block, one is a chef who lost his sense of taste, the other is unhappy with his job. One of them inherits a neighborhood pub and they decide to keep it going for a while at least. Different patrons come in each episode, with their own problems. Nice pleasant watch, 5 episodes.****

Tokyo Noodle Factory is a cute 6-episode show about a small cafe that is already short of staff when they get a new manager who doesn't know anything about food service. They have problems but make do, everyone pitches in, and things seem to be going better until we get an unconvincing ending. ***

Dropped

Boring - Sometime we drop shows because they are slow and boring, or just because there is something else on that interests us more. Secret Royal Inspector and Joy is one of these, and Would You Like a Cup of Coffee is another; we watched 4 or 5 episodes of each and just quit. Racquet Boys got one episode, and so did Yumi's Cells. Deliveries from the Heart got a couple. I don't know if Captivated By You was more boring or just didn't make sense. Sisyphus was perhaps more confusing than boring, but it was also annoying for things like the hero taking forever to program a car to start or to make bottle rockets, while the bad guys just stand around and wait. 

Violent or suspenseful - Usually I can tell by the synopsis whether a show is violent, and I'll just avoid it altogether. Sometimes I try it out and decide it's not for me, as with Alice in Borderland. As for Kairos - if there is a kidnapped child, I'm out. Vincenzo was one I dropped when a favorite character got killed off, but tried it again later and dropped again when I heard that the ending was very violent. The Silent Sea also got one episode, after watching that ship crash, and seeing Bae Doona stare down the stairs to creepy music.

Annoying - I've had enough of villains that are evil just for the sake of a plot. I dropped Doctor Romantic 2 after a couple of episodes because we had gotten rid of a really annoying villain in the first season and they brought him back. Our Beloved Summer just recycled the main couple's spats, and neither one could talk things out. Forecasting Love and Weather had completely unlikeable people that fought all the time. The one Chinese drama we tried, Go Ahead, was dropped because of the awful mothers who deserted their families. 

Racy - I am more comfortable with family-friendly type shows. A lot of the Japanese dramas that show up on Viki are more racy than I like, such as LDK Two Loves Under One Roof. There are quite a few that pair a student with a teacher, like A Story to Read when you First Fall in Love. Some are just creepy, like My Fair Prince. Some try to make sexual harassment look romantic, like Love is Phantom and also Can't Run Away from Love. I screen them by the synopsis, try them out, and sometimes drop them in just a few minutes. 

Who would have thought eight years?

 

The Ides of March has come around again and it's time to take stock. It's hard to believe we've been watching Asian dramas for eight years. This year we finished 17 Korean dramas and 5 movies. We watched 7 Japanese dramas and 6 movies. And we saw 3 Chinese dramas. I must admit that we got a little tired and took a long break during Christmas to rewatch some of our favorite older movies. And lately we've been watching the Star Trek movies and Discovery. Some of the Short Treks were pretty cute, and germane to the plot. 

Korean

Hospital Playlist was maybe the best drama of the year. It's about five friends from medical school who all end up working at the same hospital. We get stories of their lives, and you haven't lived until you've seen Darth Vader walk into a hospital. It has a lot of heart, and we get both successes and failures of the patients. *****

Spark is a very forgettable mini drama about someone who is touched by a shooting star or something, and thereafter emits electric shocks to anyone who touches him. *

I'll Go to You When the Weather is Nice is a very slow drama that has Park Min Young and Seo Kang Joon living in a small town in the countryside. He has a bookstore and has a secret house on a nearby hill. She helps with her aunt's boardinghouse and discovers secrets about her mother's past. ***

Reply 1988 is an older show we luckily decided to watch. It's about the intertwined lives of the families in one neighborhood, and their five teenagers who are all friends. Crushes on each other come and go. Park Bo Gum is a professional Go player and Song Dong Il is everyone's favorite dad.Very strong show for most of its run, but with a weak ending. *****

One Spring Night is about a couple who meet when the woman stops at a pharmacy and finds she has forgotten her wallet. The pharmacist lets her take the items on the honor system and they slowly get to know each other after that. A little draggy. ***

Champion is a movie about a Korean-American who returns to Korea for an arm-wrestling contest. He gets tangled up in what is possibly his birth family and a couple of cute kids. Stars Ma Dong Seok and Han Ye Ri. Pretty good but not as engaging as I expected. ***

Kkondae Intern stars Park Hae Jin and Kim Eung Soo as a young business manager and his previous boss who becomes an intern in his department. The previous boss had been very mean to him and he is sorely tempted to pay him back. Quite a cute show that peters out in the end. ***

Train is a sci-fi drama about parallel timelines. Yoon Shi Yoon is a successful detective in one timeline and a drunk cop in the other. A murderer gets rid of bodies by dropping them off of a train when it crosses occasionally into a different dimension. Interesting and suspenseful, holds up all the way through. ****

My Unfamiliar Family is about a family of mostly nice people who can't seem to quite get along. Han Ye Ri is the younger daughter who tries to please everyone. The parents are about to get divorced because of secrets they have been keeping for many years, and just can't trust each other. If they would just TALK! ***

Hi Bye Mama is a fantasy where Kim Tae Hee plays a ghost who keeps hanging around her family to watch her young daughter grow up. Starts cute but then wallows way too much in grief, which is very irritating. *

Into the Ring is a funny drama about a woman who makes so many citizen complaints to the city government that they cringe when they see her coming. And then she decides to run for city council. She is very energetic and is able to engage people in her projects, but of course has run-ins with the higher-ups. Stars Nana, *****

#Alive is a movie about zombies taking over Seoul. Yoo Ah In and Park Shin Hye are holed up in their apartments when they see each other across the courtyard and try to help each other escape. ****

Stranger 2 aka Forest of Secrets 2 is the return of Bae Doona and Cho Seung Woo as a warmhearted police detective and a prosecutor who can hardly connect with emotions at all. They try to cooperate in investigations when their departments are at odds, jockeying for position over each other and concealing evidence. Great sequel to a great original drama. *****

Mystic Pop-up Bar features Hwang Jung Eum as a Joseon-era ghost who has to pay for her misdeeds by helping 100,000 people. She is still trying to finish this task in the present day, and runs a snack tent where she meets people who might be good subjects. She enters their dreams to give them ways to confront their problems. ****

Reply 1994 is the last of the Reply series we watched. It's about a family who runs a boarding house for college students. Go Ara plays the cheerful, energetic daughter who has a love triangle between athlete Yoo Yeon Seok and med student Jung Woo. My opinion, she chose the wrong one, but you could see it coming. *****

Do Do Sol Sol La La Do looked like a super cute drama, with Go Ara as a very cheerful pianist who makes friends with a mysterious neighbor played by Lee Jae Wook. The acting was good and the story was good too up until episode 12 when it tanked. Don't say I didn't warn you. Very bad ending. **

War of Prosecutors aka Diary of a Prosecutor is a slice of life drama about a prosecutors' office in a small town near the seacoast. Jung Ryeo Won plays an over-achieving new prosecutor who tries to take on everyone else's cases. Lee Sun Woong is the long-suffering, kindhearted, experienced prosecutor who has to live away from his family. Relaxing, low-stress drama with many good cases-of-the-week. *****

Mister Zoo is a movie that tries to be cute, with a person wearing a panda suit trying to stand in for a real panda that is stolen. Mostly inept shenanigans but probably good for kids. **

Okay! Madam is a hilarious movie featuring Uhm Jung Hwa, about a family that wins a free trip to Hawaii. On the plane are North Korean agents, a retired North Korean agent, a South Korean agent, a retired South Korean agent, a crew member who always wanted to be an agent, and a terrorist. Hijinks ensue. *****

Your Honor is a story about identical twin brothers, one of whom is a judge, and the other is a criminal. The judge suddenly disappears, and the criminal takes his place, trying to keep the office intern from finding out. Yoon Shi Yoon plays both brothers and Lee Yoo Young is the intern. It's really well done, and you can always tell the brothers apart by their mannerisms. The mother is a piece of work. ****

Run On is a cute, light drama with nice romances. There is a professional sprinter and a translator who does movie subtitles. They amazingly can always talk things out, but they are not as cute as the secondary couple. A businesswoman admires some paintings and wants to meet the artist. He is a sweet and trusting college student, and different from anyone else she knows. Im Si Won, Shin Se Kyung, Sooyoung, and Kang Tae Oh star. ****

Space Sweepers is a motion picture starring Song Joong Ki about people who collect space debris and sell it for recycling. They hear about a dangerous robot made to look like a little girl, and then find her on a derelict ship they haul in. Good special effects, and nice found family story. ****

Japanese

Princess Jellyfish is a cute drama about extreme fangirls who live together in a share house and try to raise money to keep it when the landlord decides to sell. Tsukimi designs a dress inspired by her favorite jellyfish, and they make more to try earn money. A fashion show put on by shy nerds and a crossdresser is a novelty. ****

Criminologist Himura and Mystery Writer Arisugawa is an easygoing drama based on characters resembling Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The cases seem to be separate at first, but then they become interconnected. ***

Is This Love Checkmate? A shy salaryman meets an older woman who plays shogi. Fairly light except for the stalker storyline, that doesn't really fit in. **

Under the Miracle Cherry Tree is about a high school student who had died and reappears seven years later. His friends react in different ways, some with complacence, some with nostalgia or regret. Over time we find out why he came back. Very thoughtful and sweet. ****

You Are My Destiny is about a woman who is a doormat and people at the office put sticky notes on her for jobs they want her to do. She has a drunken one-night-stand with an heir to a big company, who encourages her to be more assertive but then leaves her.  And she finds out she is pregnant. Very forgettable, unsatisfactory ending; I had to look it up to see what this was. *

Choose Spouse by Lottery is a drama inspired by the low birth rate in Japan. The government sets up blind dates for people, hoping for marriages and more babies. We get to know a core of people and problems they have that explain why they are still single, and would be difficult match up with a spouse. They are coping with Asperger's, overweight, shyness, over-high expectations, are stuck on someone they can't get, or are gay. This is very thoughtful actually, and has well-drawn characters. ****

Ex-Enthusiasts is about people who keep longing for their ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend. We get someone who is afraid to commit, one who longs for someone who married someone else, and one who gives up a relationship to move away for a better job. Some of these resolve and some don't. ***

My  Retirement, My Life is a movie about a widower who thinks he can veg out and relax when he retires, but his daughter is tired of taking care of him and has her own plans. He makes friends with people at a neighborhood exercise class, meets a pretty divorcee, and joins an odd-jobs group. Quietly entertaining, sometimes funny. ****

Tori Girl is a movie about a girl who joins her college human-powered flight club. They are competing with other colleges to fly over Lake Biwa, and they recruit her because she is a good cyclist. She is interested because of a cute boy in the club. Well done and amusing, sometimes exciting as well. ****

Today's Kira Kun is a boring movie about a high school girl who is bullied and then befriended by a popular boy, who her parents don't want her to date because he has heart disease. The official synopsis is annoying because it touts a parrot who sits on her shoulder. There is no parrot. There is a cockatiel, but it doesn't sit on her shoulder either. I would've given more points for the parrot. **

Till Death Do Us What is a different sort of movie about a man whose wife has died, and he keeps seeing her everywhere, and even talks to her. He has written up their story in a blog, and she wants him to make it into a book and put more of her own viewpoint into it. Sweet and thoughtful. ****

All of Them are Troublesome is very irritating movie about a young male teacher who can't deal with some brash girls in his classes who flirt with him and try to get him into trouble. It is one of those genre of shows where the kids are smarter than the adults. *

Anokono Toriko is a movie about three childhood friends who promised they would become famous some day. By high school one of the boys is a popular actor and the girl is a professional model. The other boy has been too shy to accomplish anything, but he gets his chance in this story. The actor does a good job growing from quiet and shy to more confidant. The best actor here is Ishitani Goro, who played the director and was decisive and had great presence. 

Chinese

The Romance of Tiger and Rose is about a drama writer who wakes up one day to find herself in her own drama. She asks people what episode she is in, and keep saying that she knows what is going to happen because she wrote it herself. Very cute drama, very appealing characters, last third is slow. ****

My Roommate is a Detective is a fun, light drama about a really smart Sherlock Holmes type who gets hired by the police chief to help his solve cases. There is conflict between the Europeans, who run their "concession" areas, and the local Chinese criminal gangs. New story every couple of episodes. ****

Le Coup de Foudre is a slice of life drama about some friends during their college and young married years. It is told in flashback style and it takes them a long time to realize they like each other. One of the men goes to school in England, and the woman follows him there to try to find him. ***

These are the shows we watched and finished. There is a much longer list of shows that we watched one or two episode of and dropped. Or even watched 10 minutes of and dropped.That accounts for having so few low scores.