Last one for the year before some kind of year-end round up! I’ve also watched 26 dramas as of a few days ago. As usual, I’m watching a lot more Japanese dramas towards the end of the year. AND IT FEELS GREAT.
Current
Japan
Despite having a fondness for Odagiri Joe (what is it that I watched? Yureru and Tenten ages ago), I’ve never been able to comfortably watch his dramas… until now! Okashi no Ie is a charming little drama that is just as sweet as its name. I’m only up to episode 2, but it gave me warm heart feels. 😊😊😊
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The biggest reason I’m watching Gisou no Fuufu is for the return of my queen, Amami Yuki. I don’t want to hate it, but if they’re going to introduce the same emotionally manipulative BS I saw in Hogu’s Love, I’ll be pissed. I will admit that the declaration of love from Shiori felt awfully bait-y. I wouldn’t mind if they went through with this storyline (single mother finds love and family with a prickly librarian! So heartwarming!) … if it felt like I wasn’t being tricked. I am, however, pretty tickled by the idea of Kamon Hiro’s last love asking her to be his beard to appease his dying mother — it’s hilariously tragic in a dark way. I’m still not sure where this show is going yet (it’s billed as a romance)…
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Otona Joshi (pictured way above) is what I look forward to watching every week. I enjoy it a lot, and I think I just have a weakness for shows about characters aged 40 and up. And like Around 40 (another love of mine), the formula of friendship is the same: there’s the unlucky-in-love friend dating a bad guy (Moeko), a single and/or unappreciated mother (Midori), and the career driven friend (Aki) who is currently single. Despite the cliches (so many that I have to turn my brain off for a hot minute), I like it even though I have a strong feeling that Aki will date the nice editor guy seriously and still end up with the writer because something something opposites attract. You know how that sh&# go!
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Hondana Shokudo is a cute midnight drama about manga cuisine. Not much else to it. Just don’t watch on an empty stomach!
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Mutsu is not that great. Don’t get me wrong, I will love Nishijima Hidetoshi and his puppy-dog face FOREVER. And he’s done a lot of roles that I liked, but it’s only in seeing him around some less seasoned actors that his weakness become more apparent. Or it could be that the writing doesn’t play to his strengths, because even that isn’t very good either. I think the story could have gone in an interesting direction if they chose explore ideological differences between Shiragami (Ito Hideaki) and Tameyori, despite having a similar ability. Their unilateral partnership is a little pat for me, but I could just be mad that Ito Hideaki is hideously underused and that he’s just so… nice? I happen to love when Ito Hideaki plays it bad. This show must be doing something for me if I’ve been watching it week after week though. This is how I justify my Viki subscription!
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This is Kimura Fumino’s year and I can tell Fuji TV is really working hard to make Siren happen. The only problem is that it’s aggresively mediocre. It’s a harsh judgment, but I didn’t think it was possible to include so many of the things I dislike about subpar detective procedurals (which are commonplace in Japan) in a single drama. Once I sat back and decided I wasn’t going to take it seriously, I enjoyed the rest of the first episode for one reason and one reason only: Nanao! While not the strongest actress, her character is totally batsh%# in the best of ways: Exhibit A. I love a good hot mess!
Korea
I usually watch two weeks of a Korean drama before deciding to invest myself or not, and Bubblegum has passed that threshold! It’s cute. Jung Ryeowon and Lee Dongwook are so funny together, and I’m mostly pleased that I don’t have to ignore yet another LDW drama (see: Mandate of Heaven, Hotel King, Iron Man). It hasn’t quite inspired some sense of mania in me though. I also plan on watching Six Flying Dragons (anything for Anthony Kim Kim Myung-min), Oh My Venus (for So Ji-sub, So Ji-sub’s hands, and Shin Mina), and Answer Me 1998. Possibly. I enjoyed 1997 and Park Bo-gum is adorable. Speaking of which…
Completed
It’s like the passing of the torch! (Seo In-guk was the co-lead in Answer Me 1997, and Park Bo-gum is currently appearing in the newest one.) While I can acknowledge that I Remember You (aka Hello Monster) is an underrated gem from this year that deserves a watch, I didn’t LOVE it. Still, colors and directing were among the best I’ve ever seen.
Also finished: Oh My Ghostess, Mask, Orange Marmalade, A Wife’s Credentials, and Tamiou!