Kdrama Review Part 3! Today We're Doing

kdrama review part 3! today we're doing

cinderella and the four knights

one of the most widely unknown dramas, so cliche, so cringey, but i watch it in five days (im a 12th grade student so five days is pretty good)

we have strong female lead who don't take no crap, playboy guy who im sorry i adore, idiotic motorcycle jerk who i want to slap, and the cutest kpop ish guy (who also played the sexy ass lawyer in sh**ting stars). how can I forget the best mr lee, the only man worth relying on, and a very business proposal-esque chairman of the company (why are chairmen so common in kdramas?)

i. a moment of silence for the main lead's life. miss ma'am is working like twelve thousand two hundred and twenty two jobs and poor girl has to spend all her money on her mom's crematorium shelf (the shelf system intrigued me alot we don't have that here). she has one pair of clothes, sleeps on the balcony, the BITCHIEST step sister and the most horrible stepmom (what was up w her honestly loose screw ass). but our amazing fl overcame it all with a smile and i adored her for it.

ii. playboy guy — sorry guys, i love him. he was pretty upfront about his ways honestly, and yes he was jerkish but ive seen characters do worse and get away with it. + they seemed to want to explore the trope of girl rejected guy who's never been rejected before and is intrigued but they gave up halfway when i was really shipping them together bec the way ha won kept him in line was *chef's kiss*

iii. stupid motorcycle crying face jerk — a bully for no reason. unrequited love, unrequited angst and just a very im not like other girls vibe. why did he always look like he was crying. why did he never do his hair. why was he a jerk. why did he throw money. idiotic shitcake i can never forgive the writers for this

iv. the childhood lover — of course, if we're expecting a barrage of cliches, i adored every one of those tired cliches, but this one jus. not for me. why does girl have no self respect??? im a people pleaser and even I WOULD HAVE STOPPED. she was in love with a guy that constantly told her no and she jus? went on with it? like no, u loved me when we were kids so u have to love me now? ma'am what is up.

v. the staff at haneol house deserves a separate point. mr lee - best. the cook/maid whose name i don't remember - loved her. grandpa was douchey, but i can't hate many old people.

still wish ha won would have ended up with hyun min, but crying face got her.

if you're looking for a complete classic cliche platter, this one's for you!

ps - couldn't complete it

4/10

I’m so mad TikTok the app shares its name with Ke$ha’s 2009 hit TiK ToK. Undeserving. Nauseating

My Top 5 KDrama Recs

you're in for a bumpy ride *finger guns*

#5 - weightlifting fairy kim bok joo/ strong girl do bong soon

such feel good dramas. if you're looking for a light hearted watch, something to get you out of your kdrama slump, this one's for you. strong girls, cheesy simp boys, good friendships and good feels all around. ignore the sub plot in do bong soon and you'll be happier than ever.

#4 - doom at your service

the thing. with this. was. I LOVED THE CONCEPT. ive basically ranted about the concept in the review, but yes. the visuals are pretty good, with some cute rain and garden scenes and fated for each other thingamajig. little girl god is there, bonus visuals of seo in guk reversing with hand on back of car seat and parking ticket in his mouth. ps - second couple was everything.

#3 - vincenzo

Hollywood should really stop trying to make action/crime/mafia movies because Vincenzo made me believe koreans have cracked the code. i mean, the action, the subtle romance, the equal bad assery of BOTH male and female leads, + some really iconic lines. you WILL NOT find a hotter villain (jang han seok ily), a more annoying side villain ( choi myeong hui die again), or a better character arc ( jang han seo my beloved). amazing.

#2 - our beloved summer

welcome to me ranting about my favs again. very topsy turvy but feel good drama, slow and equal paced with real people. it's a heavy watch, so be sure you're ready when you dive in. it takes some time to love it, but once you do, you love it too much.

#1 - guardian: the lonely and great god

gong yoo and lee dong woo. that should be enough reason. plotline 5 stars, action, visuals 4 stars, romance 4.5 stars, bromance 174634 stars, second lead couple 5 stars, JUST WATCH IT

again, im still in the process of watching new dramas, so I'll put up a new and updated list soon!

kdrama review

weightlifting fairy kim bok joo

if you're looking for a light hearted drama with its fair share of entertainment, kim bok joo is for you.

i. strong female lead - personally, i liked how bok joo is so strong, physically and mentally, but that never stopped her from needing or wanting joon hyung.

ii. unnecessary love triangle - honestly speaking, the drama was absolute perfection if it had not been for the idiotic love triangle. this love triangle between joon hyung, bok joo and jae yi was so ridiculous it made me cringe. but i liked how it was important for bok joo's realisation that she was a 'lady' too.

iii. the cutest friendships EVER - the trio of the three friends and joon hyung's cute bestfriend was the best part of the show. they managed to show friendship struggles perfectly balanced with the romancey parts.

iv. i loved how they showed that weightlifting being a taxing sport on one's feminity took a toll on bok joo and that she did recover from it, with her own time and struggles.

v. they could've done without the ex girlfriend and childhood crush trope, but the mother and adopted family plotline was pretty cute and well executed.

all in all, if u like cute boys, wholesome friendships, clueless girls and cute families, kim bok joo is for you!

(special mention for kang ki young for being his amazing adorable self as always. he's like the pankaj tripathi or raju srivastava of korean dramas - always there somehow)

7/10

doom at your service

this show wrecked me and healed me then wrecked me and healed me again. send help.

one of the most beautiful shows I've seen, made me giddy and happy at 2 am. there's something abt the trope of 'guy who hates everyone but her' that makes us all weak in the knees.

i. the concept of the series. seriously. chef's kiss. doom falls in love with a human? spectacular. stupendous. amazing. the storyline was executed so well, the cast was great, the twists and turns. everything, top tier.

ii. the acting was amazing, seeing park bo young cry made me want to cry as well. when doom turned from expressionless-humanity-is-shit asshole to i-will-become-human-for-her boyfriend was one of the best arcs ive seen. tak dong kyung was the perfect protag, not "im not like other girls" or "kind to a fault". she was kind, an incredible human being, but not at her own expense. loved that for her.

iii. the! second! couple! they had me more invested than most love triangle shows. cha joo ik was so fucking iconic, bad boy supreme but not an asshole somehow. i never thought someone would be able to toe this line so well tbh. na ji na, perfect example of girl stuck in the past, and a perfect arc as well. the third guy, lee hyun kyu, sort of annoyed me a bit but then he redeemed himself. good on you, hyun kyu, for growing up.

iv. i do think the whole forgetting thing was a bit unnecessary, but ig some might depict it in terms of "they tried everything but it still didn't work". also, the scene where they remember was so worth it.

v. special thanks to korea for giving me beautiful words for doom (멸망, myul mang) and fate (운명, unmyeong).

i always love it when tragic themes/ideas which are inherently seen as bad are portrayed in a positive way. doom at your service gave me that and more. love u guys.

Guardian - The Lonely and Great God