The World, All At Once

Fantasy dramas are always fun to watch, giving viewers an escape from the monotony of the real world. At the same time, the most interesting entries in the fantasy genre oftentimes have just enough realism thrown in to make for an engaging story. This is the case for  The Witch's Diner  (or directly translated to Come to the Witch's Restaurant ), an 8-episode web series that was met with strong viewer reception. Based on a novel of the same name by Goo Sang-hee, demands for a season 2 have seen this drama moved to television, where it'll begin airing on 5 Jan. Starring Song Ji-hyo  ( Lovely Horribly ,  Was It Love? ) and  Nam Ji-hyun  ( Suspicious Partner ,  365: Repeat the Year ) as female leads JO HEE-RA and JEONG JIN respectively, the first episode has been pretty intriguing thus far so let's get right to it.  INITIAL THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS (SPOILER ALERT) As the drama's title suggests, this show revolves around a witch's diner, namely one run b...

Sometimes I think it's a genius move to have shorter dramas, since many normal length 16 episode dramas tend to drag a bit near the end. With only 4 episodes, Check Out the Event  blitzes through its story, giving us little filler and tying up plotlines just as fast as they're introduced. This gives us a simple drama complete with all the usual tropes, and an ending that generally leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy. So, to start off the new year, let's talk about this special drama.  SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT) As mentioned in my initial thoughts post, most of the drama focuses on the love story of leads Song-yi and Do-kyum, who spend most of the time at loggerheads with each other. Do-kyum has broken up with Song-yi for no apparent reason and starts to act extremely cold and distant to her, even though he's still obviously very much in love with her. Over time, we find out the true cause to this 180 degree emotional change. Do-kyum is part of an indie b...

It's been ages since my last K-drama, more than 3 months to be exact. But since 2021 is coming to a close, I felt it would be nice to maybe finish one more drama before the year is up. That decision has brought me to  Check Out the Event , a 4-episode special that won the 2020 MBC Scenario Contest. Starring Girls' Day's  Bang Min-ah  ( Beautiful Gong Shim ,  My Absolute Boyfriend ) as female lead HA SONG-YI and  Kwon Hwa-woon  ( Doctor John ,  Mouse ) as male lead PARK DO-KYUM, this romance drama revolves around the sudden unexplained breakup between our leads and their journey to reconciliation. Without further ado, let's dive right in. INITIAL THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS (SPOILER ALERT) With only a quarter of a typical drama's runtime, this drama has no time to waste in getting things done so things move fast. The first episode sets up the general premise. 28-year-old Song-yi is a coordinator at a botanical garden and is in a loving relationship with Do-ky...

If I've said this once, I've said it a thousand times before, I love romance dramas. Granted, they're even better with some comedy in there but there's just something about seeing a love story unfold that really plays to my interests. Dramas of this genre aren't uncommon and something else that's becoming increasingly common are K-dramas based on webtoons, which have started to become more prolific in recent years. What do you get when you combine the two? Well, you actually get a lot of possibilities but I'm specifically talking about  Nevertheless,  (or directly translated to I Know But, ), based on the webtoon of the same name. Starring  Han So-hee  ( Abyss ,  The World of the Married ) as female lead YOO NA-BI and  Song Kang  ( Love Alarm ,  Navillera ) as male lead PARK JAE-EON, this Netflix Original tells the tale of a university romance between a woman who no longer believes in love and a man who doesn't believe in relationships. Without fu...

Sports dramas are something that I've rarely watched, generally speaking the dramas I watch are romcoms with the occasional thriller thrown in there. That's why I'm pleasantly surprised by Racket Boys , the very first true sports drama I've watched. Despite the large ensemble cast, with most of the lead actors being really young, and juggling a bunch of plotlines, this extremely heartwarming drama has totally stolen my heart and left this nice warm feeling inside me. Without further ado, let's take a look at this absolutely wonderful drama.  SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT) It's undeniable that the drama's central plot element is sports, specifically badminton but at its core, this is a coming-of-age story as well as a story that revolves around family. It could've very easily been a drama that focused purely on our characters' badminton adventures and have the bulk of the drama be their matches but no, the director and screenwriters have...

I've seen all kinds of K-dramas over the years. Crime, romcoms, melodramas, you name it, I've probably watched at least one of each genre (except period dramas, will probably never touch those). One area that I've rarely gone into is sports, with Run On  being the only one I've seen off the top of my head. That's why Racket Boys  felt like a real breath of fresh air to get into, partially because of entertaining premise but also because of the sport at hand. Starring  Kim Sang-kyung  ( The Crowned Clown ,  Miss Lee ) as male lead YOON HYEON-JONG and  Oh Na-ra  ( Sky Castle , Woman of 9.9 Billion ) as female lead RA YEONG-JA, this Netflix Original revolves around a countryside middle school badminton team that fights for survival and how two badminton coaches do their best to turn these young players into better athletes. Without further ado, let's dive in.  INITIAL THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS (SPOILER ALERT) The episode begins by introducing us to Hyeon...

Out of the 89 dramas I've watched, around 10 are crime dramas (give-or-take) and all of them were heart-pounding watches that left me at the edge of my seat. For a drama that's meant to be set in a university, Law School  was undoubtedly one of the most insane I've ever come across. A murder mystery woven together with a story that gave us a look at the rigours of an elite course of study, what we got were characters that were super enjoyable to watch on screen and a plot that I was fully invested in. That said, for all the pros of this legal drama, there were a ton of elements that were just frustrating to me as a viewer so taking all that into account, let's dive in.  SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT) Right off the bat, the best part about this drama is our male lead Yang Jong-hoon. This man is one of the coolest drama leads I've ever come across, partially because of his deep voice but also because of his self-assured manner and the way he behaves, all...

My rate of watching K-dramas has fallen exponentially, partially because of my impending university matriculation, the next phase in my life that I've spent the past few weeks preparing for. For many of us, university education is daunting, signifying a huge change in our learning environment and a sharp increase in independence, and I'm sure this becomes a bigger issue for more stringent courses of study like medicine or law. It probably becomes even worse when you're from a premier institution so what do you get when you combine a tough course with a good school? We get Law School , a legal drama set in the fictional Hankuk University Law School, an extremely prestigious institute that gets deeply embroiled in a strange case. Starring  Kim Myung-min  ( Six Flying Dragons ,  The Miracle We Met ) and  Kim Bum  ( Mrs. Cop 2 ,  Tale of the Nine Tailed ) as male leads YANG JONG-HOON and HAN JOON-HWI respectively, this Netflix Original is bound to keep viewers ...