The King: Eternal Monarch: beautiful but not quite what I hoped for

Ah, it was the long awaited return of Lee Min-Ho! The King: Eternal Monarch is his first Kdrama after military service.

And was it everything we had hoped it would be?

Ehm... not for me.

The King: Eternal Monarch - story

The King: Eternal Monarch is a story about two simultaneous realities. On the one side we have the Republic of Korea, and on the other side there's The Kingdom of Korea. And it is here that Lee Min-Ho, excuse me Kwin Yool, rules his country.  He's good looking, charismatic and loved by his citizens.

But of course, all is not as perfect as it seems.

Kwin Yool was terribly hurt

Kwin Yool struggles with the trauma of seeing his father being murdered by his mean uncle, and getting seriously wounded himself. Luckily there was a mysterious hero who saved him just in time. This hero left behind a police badge. On it is Jung Tae Eul's picture. Kwin Yool is always thinking about the girl in the photo.

And then one day he finds himself in a parallel universe where he meets her!

In the meantime his terrible uncle is trying to become king, and is using andn murdering people whenever he sees fit.

Which is often.

So of course Kwin Yool and Jung Tae Eul feel like they have to stop him.

The King: Eternal Monarch: beautiful but mweh...

You can't fault how beautiful Eternal Monarch is. You can see they spend about 25 million USD to create this Kdrama. And of course, Lee Min Ho is beautiful.

But no matter how beautiful The King is, it just didn't do it for me.

I found this Kdrama very complicated, boring and with not enough believable romance.

Romance is unbelievable

For one thing, when the king and Jung Tea Eul first meet, she treats him with lots of contempt. Then,  I blinked for a second, and suddenly she's totally in love with him. I just didn't get it.

'When did thát happen?!' I asked my youngest daughter.

I found Jung Tea Eul's change in attitude towards the king unbelievable. Even though they're kind of sweet together, I just couldn't get past the fact I didn't understand when, or how Jung Tea Eul fell in love with the king.

The trouble with  Lee Min-Ho

There's nothing wrong with Lee Min-Ho. He's a good actor. But I just couldn't see him als the eternal monarch. I kept thinking:

'There's Lee Min-Ho acting like he's a king.' 

Official trailer of The King: Eternal Monarch

So, summing up

I think the problem for me, lies in the fact that the story of The King: Eternal Monarch didn't sweep me off my feet. I like to get lost in a Kdrama, but with this one, my feet stayed firmly on the ground.

The King: Eternal Monarch features great actors, and it's beautifully shot, but the story lacks heart.

The King: Eternal monarch was rated 8.1 on MyDramalist. I would rate it a 7.

Practical information op The King: Eternal monarch

You can watch The King: Eternal monarch on Netflix! Or kissasian.sh.

What did you think of Lee Min-ho's comeback and The King: Eternal monarch?

8 Kdramas I dropped and stopped watching

I love romantic Kdramas but there are quite a few I dropped and didn't finish. My reasons for dropping a drama usually are:

• I lost interest
• The female lead gets on my nerves so much, I really don't want to see her anymore

Losing interest in a Kdrama

Losing interest in a Kdrama sometimes happens because I stop caring about what happens to the main leads. They may have gotten together, so all is well, and I'm not all that interested in what happens next. Unless it's about their relationship, which it usually isn't. If it is, I'll probably keep watching.

The female lead is loud and annoying!

One of the female leads I don't like very much is Hwang Jung Eum. I find her very loud and irritating. In fact, when I see she's part of a Kdrama I may not start watching it at all.

The Storyline is hard to watch

I have difficulty with storylines where one of the main leads takes it upon themselves to protect the other one. But of course they don't explain this to their love interest. So they treat their lover like shit, which is really unpleasant to watch. Especially because they both suffer terribly because of it.

7 Kdramas I dropped + 1 in danger of dropping

1. In time with you. It got boring and the female lead terribly annoying.
2. Queen in Huyn's Man. Because of the great reviews, I tried this Kdrama two times. I got a lot further the second time, but never watched the final few episodes.
3. Stars Falling From The Sky. This one was nice, but then there was an episode when the male lead had an accident, and I just didn't want to watch anymore misery.
4. The Great Show. This Kdrama was not what I expected. I lacked very much in the romance department, which is why I stopped watching
5. Faith. This one even had Lee Min Ho, but I never watched the final episodes. The storyline got all 'action movie' and I totally didn't care about the intrigues. I was in it for the romance!
6. King2hearts. The male lead treated the female lead so badly in one episode I stopped watching.
7. When a Man's in Love. This is one of the Kdramas I just couldn't take anymore. The female lead treated the male lead terribly. I just didn't want to watch anymore.
8. Dinner mate is a Kdrama I'm currently watching, but I'm losing interest... The romance is lukewarm, and the female lead is loud, brass and annoying.
9. Abyss. I watched this Kdrama with my daughter, but when they lost the 'bad guy' about 8 times in a row I got fed up. Also the female lead is very annoying, and there was way more intrigue than romance.

I'm not the only one dropping a Kdrama halfway through

Of course I'm not the only one who doesn't finish all episodes of a Kdrama. Here's a video of Marie Mauer in which she shares the Kdramas she dropped in 2019.

Soon to come: Kdramas I have watched more than once!

Which Kdramas did you stop watching and why?

Kdrama My Mister: not your average Kdrama

Usually I only watch romantic Kdramas.

So when Kdrama My Mister was released in 2018 I read what it was about, and decided it wasn't for me. It was about some old guy, a young girl, and how they helped each other or something.  But mostly, it was nót a romantic drama.

Therefore I was not interested.

Why I watched My Mister after all

However sometimes you get to a place in your life where you've watched all the good Kdramas! And some Chinese, Taiwanese en Japanese dramas too.

Yeah I know!

I hate it when that happens.

Anyway, that's how I started to think that maybe I should give My Mister a try. It was after all a story about love.

And I do like love!

I've finished all 16 episodes, and here's my review.

My Mister the story

Park Dong Hoon

My Mister is about Park Dong Hoon and Kan Yoon Hee. Park Dong Hoon is a very gentle engineer who's in his forties. He's married and has a son, who goes to school in the United States. I'm not exactly sure why, but Park Dong Hoon is quite unhappy. And that's before he finds out his wife is cheating on him with his mean boss!

Kang Yoon Hee

Kang Yoon Hee is a girl who has had a terrible and hard life. She has had to fend for herself, and has known little love and kindness in her life. She's a part-time worker at Dong Hoon's company ,and somehow gets involved in a ploy to get him fired. She manages to install a spyware app on Dong Hoon's phone and listens in on his life.

Slowly but surely she gets to know Dong Hoon, and they kind of develop a relationship.

This is where the romance part did NOT happen.

The trailer of My Mister

No, there really is no romance in My Mister!

Though I knéw this was NOT a romantic Kdrama, I kept hoping for romance. Because the budding relationship between Dong Hoon and Yoon Hee could have been so very romantic.

If they had done that, I think My Mister would be right up there with some of my favorite Kdramas like Goblin, Coffee Prince and Fated to love you.

Or is there?

I'm a romantic. So even though there's no obvious romance, if you want to see it, there is romance to be found in  My Mister.

Just not in the usual form.

Take this scene for example:



Even though they don't kiss or hold hands, there's definitely love there.

Other sweet and romantic parts are:

• The way Dong Hoon almost subconsciously keeps looking for Yoon Hee at work and on the way home.
• When Yoon Hee hears him asking for her in a restaurant, she runs like crazy to get there in time.
• The scene where they both drink beer, and neither one wants to stop drinking first. They catch each other checking if the other one has finished, and then smile.

And the final scene does offer hope for a romance:

Summing up

My Mister is not your average Kdrama. There are no tropes, there's no obvious romance and it's kind of somber.

But it's a lovely Kdrama and I developed a bit of a crush on 'velvet voiced' Lee Seon Gyun ; )

So after finishing My Mister I'm going to watch My wife's having an affair this week.

Practical information about My Mister

I watched My Mister on Netflix! But it's also available on Viki.com and of course kissasian.sh.

It was rated 9.0 on iMDb and got a 9.1 on MyDramalist.

How did you feel about My Mister?

Kdrama with lots of kinship: I'm not a robot!

The male lead of I'm not a robot can't touch anyone, because he has a dangerous and severe allergy to human contact.

So isn't it a pleasant surprise that this Kdrama has lots of kinship?! Maybe even more than your average Korean drama.

I'm not a robot: the story

I’m Not a Robot is about this really wealthy but very lonely man Min Kyu. He lost his parents at a young age, and experienced such betrayal by the people surrounding him, he developed an allergy to human touch.

How lonely can you be: household appliances as friends

He surrounds himself with all kinds of household robots, like vacuum robots. In a way they've become his friends. Isn't that sad?! I certainly think so.

Human looking robot

So I loved it when he went and kind of bought himself a human looking robot. Only, unknown to Min Kyu, it's not really a robot. It's the developer's ex-girlfriend Jo Ji-ah. The thing is, there really is a human looking robot: Aji 3. But when they're ready to deliver her to Yoo Seung Ho, there's a problem. So they figure: 'We'll temporarily send Jo Ji-Ah, and then we'll send the real robot.'

Falling in love with a robot

Only the problems with Aji 3 take more time to fix than expected, and in the meantime Min Kyu falls in love with Jo Ji-ah. And she with him.

This is the main story line. Of course there are some secondary storylines, like the relationship between Hong Baek-kyun (the developer of Aji 3) and 'whatshername'. Alsof there's some conniving and backstabbing involving Min Kyu's company, and bad men trying to take it from him.

But I didn't really care about all that.

I cared about the romance between Min Kyu and Jo Ji-ah.

I'm not a robot: lots of kinship

I'm not a robot is one of the sweetest Kdramas I have seen. I don't know if it's because Jo Ji-ah pretended to be a robot, but there's lots of natural kinship and cuddling. I loved how lonely Min Kyu finds solace in Jo Jo-ahs arms.

And after the big reveal, when Min Kyu finds out the truth, and there's the inevitable break-up with lots of pain and anguish, they get back together, there's also lots of skinship. They're holding hands, and keep patting each other's head.

The kissing isn't bad either.

Trailer of I'm not a robot

Summing up

I highly recommend this Kdrama! I'm not a robot is a great and romantic love story. Yes there are about 2 episodes after the truth came out that are heartbreaking, but luckily it's only 2. It could have been worse! It could have been 4 episodes of heartbreak.

Is I'm not a robot for you?

If you really like sweet, romantic love stories with lots of kinship and not a lot of other complicated storylines, I'm not a robot is definitely for you!

But if you're into more complicated stories, with lots of twists and turns, then it may be too simple for your liking.

Practical information: it's on Netflix!

Good news! You can watch I'm not a robot on Netflix. If not, just try Kissasian.sh.

I'm not a robot got a rating of 8.6 on MyDramalist but I would rate it a 9!

This Guy Is the Biggest Mistake in My Life - Japanese drama

When I want to watch something light and easy, I tend to look for a Japanese drama. They're generally short and simple.

Which is how I came to watch the Japanese drama This Guy Is The Biggest Mistake in My Life.

I have to say, it was one of the quirkiest dramas I've seen so far.

This Guy Is The Biggest Mistake in My Life

Sato Yui works at Amagi Pharmaceutical Company. One day she's sad because her beloved dog died. She's drinking alone in a bar and wishes someone would develop a medicine to bring pets back to life.

Enter Amagi Kyoichi, the CEO of Amagi Pharmaceutical Company.

He heard Sato, and tells her that's a stupid thing to say. Sato then gets angry, and trips him leaving him behind her on the floor.

And that's how it all starts.

Her boss likes her because she treats him like dirt

Because she treats him like dirt, he falls head over heels in love with her. He seems to get a kick out of getting treated badly. He even begs her to treat him like a dog.

No matter how hard Sato tries, she can't get rid of him.

The worse she treats him, the more he likes her.

Now, you may think this all sounds like some kind of strange sexual fetish, but there's nothing untoward about this Japanese drama. But strange? Yes, thát it definitely is.

Ending is disappointing

I kind of liked this Japanese drama, except for the ending. Sato shows little or no insight into her own emotions. As a viewer you kind of think she has fallen for Amagi Kyoichi, which is what you want. At least I did. But Sato keeps denying she likes him.

Summing up

This Guy Is The Biggest Mistake in My Life is a cute Japanese drama that's easy on the eye and soul. Especially if you've just been through the wringer watching a sad Kdrama. It's a pity about the ending.

This Japanese drama got a 7.1 on MyDramaList which is a rating I agree with.

Practical information

I watched  This Guy Is The Biggest Mistake in My Life on kissasian.sh

You are my destiny - Japanese version

Fated to love you, the Korean version of You are my destiny is one of my all time favorite Kdramas.

So when I read Ruth Navarra's post about Japanese drama's for K-drama lovers, in which she recommends the Japanese version, I figured: why not try it. To be precise, this is what Ruth wrote about You are my destiny:

'The Japanese version with Takimoto Mioro and Kizu Takumi is refreshing because it let go of the over-the-top acting and side stories.' 

But what a waste of time it turned out to be...

You are my destiny - Japanese version

The Japanese version of Fated to love you follows the same storyline more or less. It's about a very timid girl, named Aya in the Japanese version, who lets people run roughshod over her. She works at an office and her colleagues put post-its with requests on Aya for things they want her to do for them.

Accidentally sleeping together

One of her male colleagues seems to have a genuine interest in her, and invites her for a trip. He turns out to be a real douche, and she accidentally ends up sleeping with Ichijo Kei, the young successor of a large company. He's under pressure to marry someone and produce an heir, because all the males of the family have a tendency to die young.

Anyway, Aya ends up pregnant and they get married. But Ichijo Kei is still in love with his girlfriend Anna.

If you've seen Fated to love you, you'll recognize the storyline.

You are my destiny versus Fated to love you

One of the differences between the Japanese and the Korean version is that there's no mention of Huntington's chorea, which plays a big part in the Korean version. In fact it's the reason they break up.

But the biggest difference is the ending.

Spoiler alert!

Aya leaves to become her own person or something. It is not a happy ending. She leaves Ichiji Key crying behind her.

Trailer of You are my destiny 

Why I did NOT like You are my destiny

I feel that the actress playing Aya was painfully miscast. She was also very annoying. And the actor playing Ichiji Kei couldn't act his way out of a box if you ask me.

You are my destiny is annoying, painful to watch, boring and it has a sad ending.

I do not recommend this Japanese drama at all. Just watch Fated to love you, the Korean version. It's even available on Netflix!

I would rate it a 4. On My DramaList it got a 6,6 which is very generous.

Practical information about You are my destiny.

There are 10 episodes of about 30 minutes of You are my destiny. That's 300 minutes of my life I'll never get back. I watched it on kissasian.sh.

Kdrama Welcome or Meow, The secret boy

If you're in the mood for a sweet, simple Kdrama that won't break your heart, you might try Welcome, also known as Meow, The secret boy.

Meow, The secret boy

Soh Ah is a graphic designer and has a long time crush on Seo Ji Hoon. They almost got together once, but suddenly Seo Ji Hoon started giving her the cold shoulder. Later on it of course turns out, it was all a misunderstanding. But by then Sol Ah has developed feelings for Hong Jo, who is a... cat!

How can you fall in love with a cat?

Hong Jo is not just any cat. He turns into a human when he's around Soh Ah. Because of yet another misunderstanding Sol Ah and Hong Jo live together. Which makes Meow, The secret boy a cohabitation drama. I always love those.

Sol Ah thinks Hong Jo is her new stepbrother Bang Gook Bong, which explains why she has no problem with Hong Jo living in the same house as her. Anyway, Hong Jo sometimes is a cat, and other times he's a man. He's very sweet, calm and understanding of Sol Ah, and I totally get why she falls in love with him.

The big reveal: the man I like is a cat?!

Once Sol Ah discovers that Hong Jo is also her cat, she gets all confused and starts distancing herself from Hong Jo. Luckily this doesn't last too long, and they get together again.

Not much happens, but that's okay. Meow, The secret boy is a sweet and kind of tranquil Kdrama. There are not a lot of twists and turns.

It's mostly about Sol Ah and Hong Jo finding their way. They're very sweet together, and cuddle frequently.

Secondary storyline

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. There's a secondary storyline, which I found boring. I confess I fast forwarded those scenes....

Meow, The secret boy trailer

Summing up - spoiler alert about the ending

I wanted Sol Ah and Hong Jo to live happily ever after, and I thínk they do. Kind of. I'm not altogether sure. But, I do think they'll stay together, so that's okay then. I like my Kdramas with a happy ending.

Meow, The secret boy got a 7,8 on MyDramalist. I would give it an 8.2.

Practical information

You can watch Meow, The secret boy on Viki. I watched it on kissasian.sh. It's got 24 short episodes, or 12 'normal' episodes.

Chocolate and Vanilla: quick dose of romance

Do you need a quick dose of romance?

Then I recommend the Japanese drama Chocolate and Vanilla.

It's sweet, there's lots of romance, and it's fast.

The male lead deflowers the female lead at the end of the first episode. And the episode is only 24 minutes!

It doesn't get any faster than that ; )

And the strange thing is, it totally makes sense. As a viewer, you don't get the feeling things are rushed in Chocolate and Vanilla.

No, after only 24 minutes it makes perfect sense they kiss and make love.

Chocolate and Vanilla: the story

Chocolate and Vanilla is an adaptation of a Japanese josei manga series by Takara Akegami.

It's about the naive Risa Shiroki and Hiroto Fukami. Twenty year old Risa Shiroki is what you would call a 'country bumpkin'. She is pretty but very shy. The male students like her, but Risa doesn't know what to do with their attention.

Hiroto Fukami to the rescue

One day she's having a nice cup of coffee when she gets pestered by a man. Suddenly thirty year old Hiroto Fukami rescues her, saying he's her boyfriend.

Hiroto Fukami is a man of the world. He's a succesful businessman and Risa can't imagine he'd be interested in her.

But it turns out, he is!

It's a very simple story

All in all it's a very simple story. Shy girl meets succesful and suave businessman. They fall in love, overcome some obstacles, and then they live happily ever after.

Why should you watch Chocolate and Vanilla?

Well, you shouldn't if you like your drama's with well thought out storylines and lots of character development. Also, if you like your female lead to be strong and sassy, you won't like Risa.

However if you like your dramas sweet, simple and romantic Chocolate and vanilla may be just to your liking.

I liked it!

I liked the way Hiroto Fukami hugs Risa, and how he loves her.

Chocolate and Vanilla episode 1

I couldn't find a trailer. So here's the first episode which I found on Youtube.

Summing up

Chocolate and Vanilla is an uncomplicated Japanese drama that provides lots of romance and a simple storyline.

Practical information about Chocolate and Vanilla

There are 10 episodes of 24 minutes each. So it's an easy watch. I watched this Japanese drama on kissasian.sh. But it's also available on Youtube.

Korean movie Parasite

The Korean movie Parasite won 4 Academy Awards!

Impressive, right?

So what is this movie all about?

Parasite: the story - contains spoilers

Parasite is the story of the Kim family. They're very poor and live in a basement. There's
father Ki-taek, mother Chung-sook, daughter Ki-jung and son Ki-woo .

Then one day Ki-woo's friend asks him to replace him as a tutor for this young girl of a rich family: The Park family.

Once he's successfully installed as an English tutor, Ki-woo sees an opportunity to get his sister Ki-jung a job. She poses as an art therapist, and will supposedly help the Park family's youngest son to get over some trauma.

Ki-jung then gets rid of the Park family's chauffeur, and recommends her father for the job. He then gets rid of the housekeeper, and voila Now the whole Kim family has a job working for the Park family.

They could have lived happily ever after I suppose.

But they don't.

So what went wrong?

When the Park family leave for a camping trip, the Kims make themselves right at home. Then the doorbell rings. It's the housekeeper they got rid of. She asks if she can come in for a minute, because she left something behind in the house. Turns out, it's her husband!

He's been living in a secret basement room beneath the house.

Then the former housekeeper figures out what the Kim family has been up to, and threatens to tell the Park family. Things get ugly, and to top it all off: the Parks return early from their camping trip because it's raining.

The Kim family has to hide.

They then hear some unpleasant things about how the Park family thinks about them. You can see the hurt in Mr Kim's eyes, when he hears them saying he smells really bad.

Things come to an ugly head, when Mr Kim sees Mr Park recoil from the bad smell of the hidden husband. He stabs him and then successfully hides in the basement.

The movie ends with Ki-jung writing a new plan. He wants to get rich, and then buy the house the Park family lived in so they can be reunited.

About the title Parasite

At first you would think the Kims are the parasites. Living off the Park family. But it's also the other way around: the Parks have the Kims do everything for them. Teaching their children, housekeeping. grocery shopping etc.

Both families use the other.

But then there turns out to be a third parasite.

And I suppose that's a big part of the reason the whole mutually beneficial relationship between the Parks and the Kims crumbles. Though maybe it would have anyway. We'll never know that now I suppose.

What I think about Parasite 

Parasite is most definitely a movie, and not a Kdrama, because there's an actual sex scene in it. You would never see that in a Kdrama.

I thought it was amusing, but I'm not totally sure why it got 4 Oscars. But that's probably because I'm not a movie buff.

There's another thing that makes Parasite interesting, and that is that it shows the big gap between really rich people in South Korea, and those who are really, really poor....

Official trailer Parasite

Practical information: how and where to watch Parasite

• You can watch Parasite on Movies on Google for 3,99 euros.
• On Youtube you pay more to watch Parasite: 4,99 euros.
• You can also rent and watch it on Amazon Prime for 5,99 USD.

How do you feel about Parasite?

Kdrama Touch: lukewarm male lead

The first time I started watching Kdrama Touch, I stopped watching after 10 minutes because I thought it was annoying.

But then I decided to give it another go, and it was alright.

I was, of course in it, for the romance.

But I had to wait 14 episodes for them to get together. And even then it was all very lukewarm.

So here's my review.

Touch: the story

Touch is about Cha Jung Hyeok and Han Soo Yeon. Cha Jung Hyeok is a popular make-up artist, who's very expensive and exclusive. He meets Han Soo Yeon when he's doing her make-up. They kind of get off on the wrong foot, because Han Soo Yeon thinks he didn't get it quite right.

Anyway, Han Soo Yeon has been an idol trainee for 10 years, and when she finally gets a break something happens and she's booted from the program. That's how she ends up working for Cha Jung Hyeok.

Cha Junk Hyeok then gets cheated and loses everything: his business and his reputation. Thanks to Han Soo Yeon he kind of gets back on his feet.

Where is the love?!

Touch could have been lovely. But I don't think it was. Cha Jung Hyeok just doesn't really seem to care all that much about Han Seo Yeon. Sure there are the usual Kdrama signals of the male lead liking the female lead, but it's all very lukewarm...

And when they finally hug in episode 14, Cha Jung Hyeok can't even be bothered to put both his arms around her! I mean, really!

And did they actually kiss in the end?

You know, I can't even remember.

Trailer of Touch

I couldn't find a trailer with English subs, so here's one without...

Summing up

Touch is not a great romantic drama. But if you don't mind the lack of passion and romance, I suppose it's alright. I would rate it a 6,5.

It got a 7.5 on DramaList, which is very kind and not much deserved in my humble opinion.

My Holo Love: romance and action

Imagine you're lonely. Then someone secretly puts a pair of glasses in your pocket and when you put them one, this handsome guy appears. His name is Holo, and his sole goal is to make you happy!

That's what happens to Han So Yeon, who is an assistant manager at a glasses company. She's lonely because she suffers from prosopagnosia the inability to recognize faces.

This is part of the story of Kdrama My Holo Love.

My Holo Love

At first Han So Yeon thinks she's seeing a ghost when she sees Holo, but soon she gets used to him, and then falls in love with him. Things start to get interesting when she starts longing for physical contact with Holo.

Unfortunately that's when this Kdrama takes a turn for the worst. The romance angle is put on the back burner, and it becomes more of a mystery/action kind of drama.

Go Nan Do versus Holo

Go Nan Do is the owner of the IT research company. He's a genius, and invented Holo. He's very lonely too, and still suffers because his mother committed suicide when he was a little boy. Holo looks like him, but his personality is very different. Go Nan Do is brusque, impatient and not very courteous whereas Holo is patient, friendly and polite all the time. Nevertheless, Holo is kind of Go Nan Do's alter ego.

What's not to like about My Hole Love?!

My Holo Love is a nice enough Kdrama. I especially like the first 6 episodes because they focused more on human relationships, loneliness and romance. I did not like the last episodes all that much, but that's simply because I'm not a fan of action and pursuits. I prefer the romance angle.

Okay, I'll tell you what's not to like!

But if you twist my arm, I'll tell you what's not to like about My Holo Love. I thought Han So Yeon was quite childish after finding out the truth that Holo was a creation of Go Nan Do. She keeps insisting on a relationship with Holo, while the real thing, Go Nan Do told her he loves her. And he's so lonely!

Then, once Han So Yeon gets it together Go Nan Do decided to sacrifice himself for the greater good or something. Thereby becoming just as annoying as Han So Yeon was before.

The lovely trailer of My Holo Love

The trailer of My Holo Love is lovely and very promising with lots of romance which I love.

Summing up

My Holo Love was a nice Kdrama, but halfway through it becomes more of an action Kdrama than a romantic one. Although in the last episode there are some sweet, romantic moments.

All in all, I'ld rate this Kdrama a 7. It's rated 8,5 on MyDramalist, but that's too high for me.

Practical information about My Holo Love

You can actually watch this Kdrama on Netflix! Isn't it great? There are 12 episodes that last about 45 minutes.

Kdrama Chocolate: a lot of cooking and pinches of romance

Kdrama Chocolate starts very promising. It tells the story of Lee Kang and Moon Cha Young. They meet as children, and have an immediate connection. But their paths take them in different directions and it's only when they're adults they meet again.

When they meet again, she's his best friend's girlfriend

Unfortunately Lee Kang meets Moon Cha Young as his best friend's girlfriend ánd he doesn't recognize her.

Moon Cha Young does recognize Lee Kang; she's never forgotten him. Soon after their meeting, she ends her relationship with his best friend, which angers Lee Kang. He sees her as the woman who callously broke his best friends' heart.

Whenever they meet Lee Kang seems to actively dislike Moon Cha Young, and she takes it 'lying down'. She doesn't speak up for herself, nor does she tell him they're kind of old friends.

Falling in love

Several years go by, and they both end up working at the same hospice. Slowly Lee Kang starts to appreciate Moon Cha Young, and eventually he falls in love with her.

That's the story in a nutshell.

What I think of Chocolate

Even though it starts very promising, in the end I was a bit disappointed in this drama. There are quite a lot of different storylines, and I'm not a fan of lots of stories in one Kdrama.

Show some spunk girl!

Also, I thought Moon Cha Young acted like a wet blanket the whole time. I mean sure, sometimes you have to take life on the chin, but she seems so bowed down all the time. Sometimes I wanted to kick her and tell her: 'Come on! Speak up girl!'

Is this a cooking show?

Then there's a whole lot of cooking and baking in Chocolate. Sometimes I almost felt like I was watching some cooking show. If you're really into cooking and baking you may like these scenes, but for me who mostly enjoys éáting not baking, it was a bit much.

Romance is a bit... lukewarm

Okay what else... Oh yes, I thought the romance was a bit lukewarm. I love romance in Kdramas, but in Chocolate it never really came alive for me. Except for one great scene, which I loved.

Moon Cha Young fell asleep on a bench leaning on Lee Kang's shoulder. So he stays on his knees in an awkward position so he doesn't disturb her sleep. That was a great scene!



At the end of this Kdrama there's this stupid trope where Moon Cha Young feels the need to break up with Lee Kang. I don't know why, and they don't see each other for a while. This did not make sense to me at all.

Summing up

If you like hospital dramas with lots of storylines and a pinch of lukewarm romance, you may enjoy Chocolate. Also, this Kdrama has a more grown-up vibe.

Chocolate got a 8,3 rating on MyDramalist. I would personally give it a 7.

It's okay.

Not great.

Chocolate trailer

Practical information about Chocolate

You can watch this Kdrama on Netflix!

Kdrama The Successful Story Of A Bright Girl

Ever since watching Fated to love you, I really like Jang Hyuk. Which is why I watched a Kdrama that's not just a couple of years old.

I watched The Successful Story Of A Bright Girl which was made in... 2002. A whopping 18 year ago.

But you know, I really like the old fashioned Kdrama tropes, where a spoilt chaebol meets a sweet girl, they meet, they hate each other and then they fall in love.

So I decided to give The Successful Story Of A Bright Girl a try.

The Successful Story Of A Bright Girl: the story

Yangsoon, played by Jang Na Ra is a poor girl, who lives with her grandmother on a mountain. Her parents are swindlers, and lots of people blame Yangsoon for the sins of her parents. Which is why they force her to quit school, and start working to pay off her parent's debts.

While taking a bath Kitea falls from the sky, right into her bathtub. It sounds strange, but it totally makes sense if you watch this drama.

Anyway, that's their first meeting.

Working as a housemaid

Once in Seoul, Yangsoon starts work as a housemaid, and what a coincydink: she has to clean Kitea's house too! I lóve this kind of storyline!

In the meantime Kitea is running a cosmetics company, but gets terribly betrayed by his cousin. He loses absolutely everything. His house, his car, all his money. Luckily Yangsoon is there to help him pick up the pieces of his life.

Yangsoon and Kitea are obviously meant for each other, but Kitea is pursued by the spoiled and awful Nahee. She's absolutely terrible and even causes Yangsoon's grandmother to die, because of her bad driving habits. Nahee keeps doing all kinds of awful things to get Yangsoon out of the picture.

The Successful Story Of A Bright Girl: why I dropped it

The Succesful Story Of A Bright Girl has all the ingredients I love in a Kdrama. But it just goes to show that all the right ingredients don't always make for a great drama. Which is probably why I dropped it after watching what was, I think episode 8.

Reasons why I dropped The Successful Story Of A Bright Girl

1. The most important reason for dropping this Kdrama was a practical one: the subs are really terrible. Half the time the subs are missing, or they're so out of sync with the drama they're useless. I struggled for 4 episodes, because I really wanted to watch The Successful Story Of A Bright Girl. But it was undoable.
2. Jang Hyuk is definitely one of those men who get better looking when they age. In this Kdrama, he still has his baby fat. Which I could forgive him for, if he didn't act like a baby too...
3. Jang Hyuk/Kitea is a very, very, very immature character. I get that he has a hard time. But the way he's carrying on wasn't very manly I think. And once he kind of pulls himself together, he still makes terrible decisions.
4. Kitea's behavior towards Yanghoon is quite callous. He just lets her worry about him, and once he opens a door, accidentally smashing it into her head and all he says is: 'Fix me some dinner.' It was nót okay!

Summing up

Even though I liked all the ingredients of this Kdrama, I did not finish it due to a combination of lack of subs and an immature and selfish main lead character.

How to watch this Kdrama online?

I watched this Kdrama on Dramacool. It wasn't available on KissAsian. It's not on Viki either.

Kdrama My love Eun Dong

If you're scraping the barrel to find a romantic Kdrama you háven't watched yet, you might come across My love Eun Dong.

That's what I did.

The thing about older Kdramas is that they can look a bit dated. The stories are still great, but I often cringe at the horrendous hairstyles and clothes. But anyway, like I said, if you're really struggling to find a great Kdrama to watch, you're prepared to overlook these things!

You have to, if you want to watch more Kdramas!

I can't quite remember how I stumbled across My love Eun Dong. It's a romantic drama, but not my favorite kind of storyline. The two main characters already have a shared history.

My love Eun Dong

Ji Eun-ho and Ji Eun-dong first meet when they're young. Even then, they gravitate towards each other. Unfortunately they lose contact. So Ji Eun-ho decided to become an actor, just so he can find Ji Eun-dong again. How is that, for job motivation.

He succeeds  and becomes a famous actor. He then hires a ghostwriter to write his autobiography. His autobiography is really about his longing for Ji Eun-Dong. His main goal is to find her again.

The thing is, the ghostwriter turns out to be his first love Ji Eun-dong! Go figure. Unfortunately, she's got amnesia, and got married. She even has a son.

At this point in the story I felt quite disappointed. 'How is this supposed to work?' I wondered. Because Ji Eun-dong seems to be in a very loving relationship with her husband.

But through working on Ji Eun-ho's autobiography Ji Eun-dongs memories slowly start to come back.

As it turns out her husband used her amnesia to bind her to him!

His manipulations put their marriage in a whole new light. And the bond between her and Ji Eun-ho turns out to be as strong as ever, which of course leads to all kinds of complications.

The trailer of My love Eun Dong

About My love Eun Dong: love and hate it

I loved this Kdrama and I also hated it. I loved the love between Ji Eun-ho and Ji Eun-dong. Most Kdramas show some (chaste) kissing, but in this Kdrama there are even two very discrete bed scenes.

I also loved Ji Eun-ho's longing for Ji Eun-dong and how he couldn't sleep knowing she was in the room next to him. In the end he starts going to her room, only to find her waiting for him on the stairs I loved that scene!

There are some great kissing scenes in this Kdrama!

Hated the husband!

But I hated her crippled husband who somehow managed to manoeuvre his sorry self in the role of the victim!

I mean come on! You married her under false pretenses! And then when she finds out and wishes to return to her real true love, you're the one that's hard done by?! I think not.

He even goes so far as to do a lame suicide attempt.

My love Eun Dong: summing up

My love Eun Dong is a bit different than most romantic Korean dramas. For one, the two leads are a bit older. It's also a bit more realistic than other Kdramas I watched.

If you love romantic Kdramas this one is worth trying!

Practical information about My love Eun Dong

I watched this Kdrama on kissasian.sh but it's also available on Viki. It's also known as This is my love. It got a 7.8 on MyDramalist which sounds fair. It's about what I would give it.

On Viki it got a 9.3 which is a bit high, I think.

My Husband Oh Jak Doo

This poster does not accurately represent this drama at all! Even though it's lovely.

My Husband Oh Jak Doo has a lot of things going for it. For one thing it has one of my favorite Kdrama tropes: a contract marriage! I just love, love love those! So why didn't I get further than the 12th episode? Well that's because My Husband Oh Jak Doo has another trope, and that's the one where one of the main leads rejects the other one to 'protect' them. I just hate it when they do that... So anyway, back to the review!

My Husband Oh Jak Doo: the story 

My Husband Oh Jak Doo tells the story of Han Seung Joo has chosen to stay single. She is a successful career woman, and doesn't seem to long for anything else. Her next career move is producing a documentary. This is how she comes into contact with her love interest: Oh Jak-Doo. Oh Jak-Doo is a country bumpkin who lives a very simple life up on a mountain.

Contract marriage 

Then someone is murdered, and Han Seung Joo doesn't feel very safe anymore in her own home. Which is why when Oh Jak-Doo comes to ask for her help, she gets the idea for a win - win situation: a contract marriage. In return she'll help protect Oh Jak-Doo's mountain home, and Han Seung Joo will feel safer in her own home.

Love starts to grow while living together 

This is where my favorite part of this Kdrama started: them living together. They start to develop romantic feelings for each other, but then things happen.

Han Seung Joo's horrific brother causes problems, and she doesn't agree with the choice Oh Jak-Doo makes. They break up, partly because of Oh Jak-Doo's choice and partly because Han Seun Joo wants to protect Oh Jak-Doo.

This is the part where I started to lose interest in this drama. I tried to hang in there, but in the end I gave up. It was just way too frustrating.

The trailer of My Husband Oh Jak Doo 

My Husband Oh Jak Doo: summing up 

My Husband Oh Jak Doo starts out as an interesting and romantic Kdrama. Especially for those Kdrama fans who love contract marriage stories. It's sweet and romantic. Unfortunately it starts to drag on, and with 24 episodes it's waaaay too long.

 It got a 7,6 at My Dramalist, which is generous. 

So if you want to watch this drama, I recommend you do so until episode 13. After that, things start to go South.

All in all, My Husband Oh Jak Doo is a reasonably nice Kdrama, but not great and quite frustrating after the 13th episode. And then you'll have 11 more to go!

Anyway, I looked it up, and this drama does have a happy ending, which is good to know.

Too bad I wasn't there anymore to see it.