Dramas Watched in 2026

15/03/2026

This was a beautiful drama: cleverly written and serious in its messages while still remaining light-hearted.
It took me a while to get through as comedy isn't a genre I particularly enjoy; I truly liked the writing though so I wanted to finish it.
It brilliantly embodied how people feel cornered and stifled by societal norms. 

21/03/2026

The first season was already walking on a thin line when it came to condemning violence without turning it into a spectacle. This season crossed the line. The fight scenes were long, or seemed longer than in season 1 at least. While I praised the choreography of the fight sequences in season 1 which to me showed how bullies were used to fighting all the time, the fight scenes this season were too impeccable. They all looked like pro fighters: the fights flowed too well, it wasn't messy, and only Si Eun ever showed fear. 

The complex characterisation that stood out in season 1 was completely absent this season. While I liked most of the new characters, their characterisation wasn't layered and they all felt slightly "cartoonish". Only one feature of their personality was really explored which is a shame because it created an emotional distance between me and them which made me unable to truly fathom the stakes of each scene. Although things could go wrong at every turn, I just didn't believe it. All the strong emotions I felt watching season 1 were non-existent this season. 

The story of Baku and Baek Jin was tragic and yet I felt indiferrent towards it. I felt nothing for Baek Jin because this season barely gave us anything to understand the relationship between him and Baku. We were told they were friends but we barely had any moments that effectively showcased how that lingering friendship manifested itself between the two characters. We only know that Baek Jin was bullied when he was younger and that Baku taught him to fight against his bullies, but we were never showed why he decided to create the Union nor why he was so keen on having Baku join it. We don't know why he made donations to an orphanage nor how he died. It's just... There are so many elements missing that I simply did not get invested in his character. 

Next part in comments

15/04/2026

How could they fumble the second half this bad when the drama started so strong???? The ending was so bad like what do you mean you're leaving the viewers with an alternate universe? Fandom spaces can take care of that, that's not your job.

This is obviously an idol drama so I won't comment on anything being unrealistic because it was never its aim to be realistic. It was visually stunning although it tried a bit too hard at times to feature some kinds of aesthetic shots. But everyone looked pretty so I don't blame the directing.

What I loved most was the intimacy between Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng. The way their relationship deepened was just beautiful in its simplicity and genuineness. It's such a shame the political intrigue was so badly handled. It was unecessarily confusing and the explanations came so late and in such a weird way: you'd get characters randomly explaining everything all at once. Why would you choose to expose the intrigue in such a fashion? Why can't you make the viewers understand without telling them everything so explicitly?

Aaaa I'm so frustrated because I was so invested in this drama. The first half was amazing. It started going down hill the moment they left Lin'An :(((

Great cast of female characters though!! Loved them all so much :)