Kdrama: When the Phone Rings

My Rating: 9/10

No major spoilers:

That is so satisying. When The Phone Rings' premise needs a LOT of suspension of disbelief...but who cares right? Those kisses(omg!) alone make it all worth it. We get a delicious male lead, a heroine we can root for, an 'it's complicated' marriage in the midst of it all, with a bit of psycho killer mystery and endless taboo family secrets thrown in.

Yoo Yeon Seok's looks are not typically what I go for as male lead, but he is amazing as Paik Sa Eon, who is the epitome of what all kfangirls go weak for---dashing 24x7 in a suit, each strand of hair meticulously arranged, so competent, ruthless, and unbothered, until you threaten his wife (yup, the one he's supposed not to care for). Then he goes all bonkers. Chae Soo Bin equally embodies vulnerable yet strong-willed Hong Hee Joo well, whose life has all been about sacrifices because of her selfish mother.

Someone likened this couple to the Flower of Evil dynamic, and I see the likeness. There's something delectable about watching a dysfunctional marriage, where they clearly care about each other, but all the secrets and miscommunications are on the way.

Spoilers:

Where else can you see a distant couple who can only communicate their deepest secrets and repressed feelings behind a kidnapper's burner phone? Where a wife blackmails her husband to divorce her for 20 billion won?

I like it that Paik Sa Eon doesn't dwell too much on his hurt on Hee Joo's betrayal, he knows he wronged her a lot too, and he understood right away the reasonings behind her actions. Oftentimes it's easier to communicate behind the phone, things we cannot tell the other in person, and it was wondrous to see these two slowly fall more for each other as they open up their feelings.

Webtoon: After School Lessons for Unripe Apples (ch 1 to 126)

Author/Artist: Soonkki

Spoiler free:

Why do I do this to myself? To try chasing my Lovely Runner blues away, now I'm hooked to korean webtoon ASLFUA 😭! Which is exponentially worse because 1. it's still ongoing, 2. not 100% assured the OTP will end up together (Soonki pls pinky promise me). Well, at least it has free official eng translations (big plus)!

Got curious because I saw the fanart. It's not an art style I usually go for, but the author is Soonkki. Cheese in the trap was a kdrama I was intrigued of from the start (Jung!), but didn't get to finish because of the negative reviews, but I'll check out the webtoon soon which is finished yay!

Lovely Runner made me miss coming of age, youth romance stories, so this one really fits the bill. Cheol is a very tall big built male lead, while Mi-ae is a small pea, which reminded me a lot of the Sun Jae-Sol dynamic. But that's where most of the similarities end. This is about Mi-ae's school life adventures, trying her hardest to be friends with the new scary deskmate (who of course is a softie inside), trying his darnest to be inconspicuous at school, and failing miserably at ignoring her lol.

A very very slow burn, slice of life kind of feel at the start, a lot of studying involved, but once it gets going, I finished 3 years worth of content in a daze in 2 days! I'm kind of weak for the energizer bunny girl chasing after the grumpy broody guy trope, so this is right up my alley.

Mi-ae is just a ball of positivity. She can be sad of stuff, but not for long. Cheol who only wants to be on the down low, and wants nothing to do with such a quirky chaotic girl, but of course he can't help himself. He's just so protective of those he perceived to be picked upon. Seeing closed up Cheol gradually opening up because of Mi-ae's exuberance is a joy to watch.

Following Cheol and Mi-ae growing up together, traversing school, friendship, and sorting out their inexplicable confusing feelings (squeeee). The whole series is such a happy pill! Can't wait to see more after school group hijinks, and the growth of all the characters and their relationships.

Note: there is some triggering content like school corporal punishment, bullying, but nothing too detailed on page.

Spoilers:

My fave story arcs so far:

- Relentless Mi-ae asking frenemy Honggyu for soccer lessons because of Cheol, and clueless protective Cheol getting frustrated where Mi-ae keeps running off with scrapes all over. This is the arc where Cheol finally got worn down and accepted her millionth time offer of friendship lol.

- Jinseop's hilarious haircut scene! Enough said.

- Jinseop, who you'll first think as the love triangle or bully, suddenly becomes Cheol's and Mi-ae's love cupid to propel these two clueless lovebirds along.

- Cheol going absolutely bonkers about that accidental kiss. Priceless.

- Honggyu and Mi-ae's whole chaotic birthday arc where the gang helped Honggyu escape bullies. Starts with Cheol's jealousy antics, showing up suddenly on Jinseop and Mi-ae's impromptu date, and ended the adventurous day with crumbs of Cheol-Mae sweetness.

Ironically, after taking me out of years of kdrama slump, Lovely Runner is going to leave me with a worse slump sniff. This might even surpass any romance kdrama I've watched before as it's focused on the romance first and it didn't go off the rails on the 2nd half. Ryu Sun Jae, pls take responsibility, chuseyo.

Guys I'm still so not over it. As part of "Kidnap Sun Jae and Run" Addicts Anonymous, let me help you cope through this 10 step program:

1. Play OST nonstop

"I Think I Did" and "Sonaki" will definitely be 'memories embedded in my soul' for playing the OST nonstop from when I wake up until I sleep.

It's going to be a tragedy if Byeon Woo Seok doesn't sing any of these live on his upcoming fanmeets. Pls pls pls k-ent gods.

2. Rewatch from the start

Undoubtedly one of my comfort watches from now on. I knew it was going to be good when near end of ep 1, Younha's iconic "Umbrella" song started playing, Sun Jae was walking towards a crying Sol, held the blue umbrella to shield her while he's getting rained on. Aww. I'm so soft for these scenes. (Deja vu to Bogum's MDBC anyone?)

3. If time is limited, watch the last 10 mins of every ep where writer-nim always saves the fireworks till the end!

In ep 2, the OG "I Think I Did" started playing, where a smiling Sol held the yellow umbrella to Sun Jae, and he hopelessly fell for her, is now going down as one of the most iconic scenes in kdrama romance. I'm usually not a fan of instacrush. But their relationship naturally developed more when they got close, during that stretch of Sun Jae's swimming injury plot.

4. For masochists like me, rewatch all the times Sol rejects Sun Jae. Ugh it hurts, but it hurts so good. A lot of rejections, but these 2 scenes...

In ep 9, when college Sol drunkenly curses Sun Jae as "pabo" for always going back to her, when she just keeps on hurting him. But he can't help himself. Sniff.

In ep 12, the setup before that train scene, where Sol asks Sun Jae not to cry when she leaves him to go back to the future. Then cut to next day on the train when she tricks Sun Jae and leaves him alone on the train, and of course Sun Jae can't keep his promise and his tears fall. Simply drama magic.

5. Rewatch the kissing scenes!

Sadly, nothing quite matched that ep 8, very hooot kiss between the 2 now adult Sun Jae and Sol. Sol discovers Sun Jae still pines for her all these years, and Sol finally admitting to him about her true feelings, the pent up feelings for 15 years in that kiss...,whew (fans self)!

6. Rewatch all my fave scenes!

That cherry blossom proposal scene is one of the most beautifully shot ones I've ever seen, glad he axed the first one lol. And a picture of the future wedding scene though imaginary for now! It's our reward for suffering for 15 eps lol.

7. Read and like all LR related posts, bts, stills, fanart.

You know it's a hit when fanart is everywhere, and I can change to a new Sun Jae-Sol wallpaper everyday and bask on the gorgeousness of BWS .

By the way, that latest clip of the live watch with the cast and where BWS is crying in gratitude sniff. He knows his life is also changed forever by this drama. Deserving! I was always intrigued by BWS's looks before, and he really surprised me with his acting, he also has great comedic timing!

It's just rare nowadays that the drama has the whole package, I love the cast and their characters too.

8. Read and like all posts related to BWS and KHY, and the cast.

Kim Hye Yoon poured her heart out on this drama, she really carried it.

I didn't get to talk about the rest of the cast yet. At first, I was getting used to some of the 'over the top' comedy, but by that condom confusion scene, I was laughing too. I love that all of the cast is just going for it even if it's bonkers crazy. But my fave has to be adult celeb Sun Jae's assistant who has this hilarious deadpan face and delivery of lines, and always has that 'tsk tsk what a loser' look of scorn towards Sun Jae, when his boss is at his most embarassing lovesick self mwahah.

9. Recommend LR to every unsuspecting person, let's spread the addiction, and destroy their lives too lol!

Kdrama: Lovely Runner (2024)

My Rating: 10/10

Final Review:

Guys, how to say goodbye to Sun Jae and Im Sol, who I fell so hard for these past weeks. It's like the writer and PD said, how do we make the most fun hopelessly romantic kdrama and drive our viewers crazy with giddiness and agony each episode?

Name another drama where the OTP's faces are always a few inches, staring longingly at each other. This might be too much on another show, but in Lovely Runner, we craaave for it lol. Where umbrella holding for the other, is not some trite cheap kdrama move, but signifies how Sun Jae/Sol will just do anything to shield the other from pain and harm.

Let's admit, the biggest pull of this show is how dreamy (and a doofus) Ryu Sun Jae is as a whole (equipped with Byeon Woo Seok's outrageously good looks). That cast and their chemistry are gold! It's so easy to make this another typical high school drama where the girl chases the arrogant popular guy who will slowly fall for the girl. But he is such a dork, charming our socks off with his awkward confession mishaps, and all that selfless pining! And his devotion to Sol, omg, like can we clone him for the better of mankind?

Sol, is no slouch too, traversing time and space to save him. As he has always saved her, she sacrificed so much for him too. Some are getting annoyed by all the noble idiocy, but the weighty circumstances in the show warrant it, and makes such good angst!

Spoilers:

Others are maybe bothered about the latest time reset, erasing all what has happened before. But him getting intrigued by her again as strangers, tearing up from unknowingly reading his OWN tragic love story, reading the lost love song he wrote for her, falling for her again and again despite the odds. Choosing her again and again in spite of the morbid consequences. OMG, simply swoony romance at its finest.

The conclusion did feel like there was a lot of drama magic for them to get together again, but I can't complain when it gives these two the happy ending they earned, darn it. The time capsule watch does feels like a deus ex machina, but at the same time it's kind of fitting too.

Ok, my goal in life as an obsessed Ryu Sun Jae fan right now is to find all versions of this song 🤗 (I think I did - Kim Hyun Joong). All versions are sooo good! It just perfectly depicts that magical moment he first fell for Sol, to all his pent up feels (and sufferings 😭).

Hope we get live versions for the other OST songs too esp. the Eclipse ones.

That 'holding the umbrella for the other' gesture is such a trite kdrama move, but why am I such a sucker for it everytime they do it in this drama 😭?

Kdrama: Lovely Runner (2024)

First Impressions/Squee-fest (eps 1-5)

Byeon. Woo. Seok. The face (and height!) that banished my thousand drama slumps. The hype is real! I started this show for that face (you know what I mean) but stayed for the OTP cuteness overload (squee).

In this streaming era, where kdramas are more and more Westernized, it's becoming harder to find a quintessential kdrama that's unapologetically romantic, and makes you all giddy inside. I missed this. If you're looking for a youth romcom with all the feels, and a time travel twist to keep you in your toes, look no further.

All the characters are so likable, even the second lead. My only gripe about the drama is some of its comedic bits are bordering on slapstick and cringe, but I can forgive everything for this couple, when the drama gives me OTP screentime chemistry all the time as what romance should be.

The does give a lot of Taiwanese time travel series Someday or One day vibes, which is  uniquely good, but a more sad serious drama. Lovely Runner balances the serious stakes with a lighter theme throughout.

UK Show: Miss Scarlet and the Duke

Review (s1):

My Rating: 8.5/10

This is delightful, and unexpectedly funny! This show has been on my radar for some time, as many romance novel lovers have been buzzing about the serious slow burn between Eliza and William.

Yes, that chemistry is sizzling(!), which from the looks of it the show will drag on for all eternity to make us viewers suffer. While other female leads have to be kick ass literally to fight off goons, Eliza is still utterly feminine with her soft spoken voice, using her wits to get out of tight situations.

It's fascinating that the show makes you both root for William, and yet get mad at him at times. He is not the perfect male lead, he comes across as secondary to Eliza to make her shine, and his protective instincts for her sometimes come off as machismo. Oh well, that accent makes you forgive him right away, as his heart is in the right place.

Netflix : Lockwood & Co.

My Rating: 8/10

I binged this show, based on Jonathan Stroud's YA books about a ghost hunting trio, in 2 days! It's about intriguing supernatural cases, great friendships, and a hint of a loveline I'm already hopelessly shipping for! I'm such a sucker for fun supernatural shows with that trademark British charm (and yes, thank you Cameron Chapman for continuing the legacy of impossibly charming, quirky Brit leads).

Kdrama : Island (2023)

First Impressions (eps 1 -4):

It's been soooo long since I wanted to binge a kdrama, Island might be campy, tropey or possibly not memorable in the long run, but it sure is having fun wielding its demon slashing blade along the way.

Great chemistry among the cast is a gamechanger for me, this probably will not work with a weaker cast. Yes, it's a waste for Kim Nam Gil to play a badass stoic demon hunter, as he can express his way through anything , but I'm such a sucker for this type of grumpy/sunshine loveline. He's so good at those "longing yet irritated" gazes directed to Lee Da Hee.

Kdrama: Vincenzo

My rating: 8/10

Mr. Song 'Vincenzo Cassano' Joong Ki at his finest. Vincenzo doesn't take itself too seriously and it knows how to have fun, just what we all need right now, and that's where this hit drama's charm lies. It feels a bit like 'revengey' Suits x sitcom x heist drama. It's about an ex(?) mafia and a ragtag group of neighbors getting themselves unexpectedly involved in a fight for justice.

It's so nice to see Song Joong Ki in a (kinda?) light role again. He get to do a lot of things here, with all those expensive suits, slow mo's and closeups. I still wish he'll do a full blown comedy (like Sungkyunkwan) because he's kind of the straight man with a great comedic supporting cast. Lol I think this show is half a SJK modeling/ad show. (Lord, I want his flawless skin.) I appreciated the fact that he still acts his socks off unlike other hyped actors.

The romance here are basically just crumbs. SJK and Jeon Yeo Been looks good together, she does tend to overact at times, but that's forgivable esp. for comedy, and it's wonderful her career is taking off esp. after Vincenzo. I love that we are getting unapologetic loud heroines like her.

Mild spoilers:

Admittedly I haven't watched Taec for a long time, but he really improved his acting a lot! I wished there was more of him as an adorably bumbling intern. As main villain though, he still lacked that creep factor. It's great they tried a different look for Kim Yeo Jin as Ms. Prosecutor Choi (not very polished), but she also lacked that sinister feel. Maybe it was deliberate casting as the show has to balance the dark with its comic edge.

Cdrama: You Are My Hero

First Impressions: (ep 1-7)

Squeee, unexpectedly this show has become my happy pill right now. YAMH tackles the dedicated lives to public service of an emergency dr and a SWAT police officer. A drama that everyone can't help but connect to kdrama Descendants of the Sun. Well, I never finished DOTS, and this was what I hoped DOTS should have been.

I rarely pick up cdramas because they're usually 40+ episodes. But this is such a breezy stress-free watch (no messy love triangles, no evil in laws), just what I need right now. This feels like a good romance novel adaptation (and it IS from a book), a drama that has both cute and substance.

I like Ma Si Chun in Love Me If You Dare, her crying scenes can still go overboard, but her charm shines through as ever dedicated neophyte dr Mi Ka, and her onscreen chemistry with Bai Jing Ting is just 'chef's kiss'. Bai Jing Ting, he's not the usual hunk we see on screen, but he has that distinct boyish baby face charm going for him.

Nevertheless, the gravitas he brings as the competent lead of his SWAT team, he brings it on tenfold. Whew, men in uniform and those aviator shades, it worked in DOTS, and trust me, it works every time guys. Juxtapose being a badass SWAT with how dorky and clueless Xing Ke Lei is with falling, liking and courting Mi Ka. Aww. Don't mind me as a puddle of goo over here.