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. 

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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 :)

16/04/2026

It's my second drama directed by Kim Yoon Jin and he's got a pretty distinctive style: wide shots, slightly inacessible characters, emphasis on dynamics and people's surroundings. His dramas are really poetic but it's not due to his characters but rather the reflection his works trigger.
I thought about a lot of things when watching this drama. The moment in life I chose to watch this drama in made it so it hit me harder in the feels but this is not someting I could have predicted.

Jinyoung's acting is quite interesting to me. He's very detailed and intentional in his acting, to such an extent that in the first few episodes, I could see him act so to be speak. I could tell he did a certain gesture or made a certain micro-expression because he was trying to convey a certain feeling. It was a bit weird at first but then his acting became seeamless and I could only see Tae Seo.

Minju was great too, especially at making visible that weight Eun Ah has been carrying forever. It's in the way she slowly moves and fixes her gaze on people, the way she doesn't rush her words, the way sadness never seems to leave her eyes.

A slow-paced and thought-provoking drama I watched in the perfect time. People on mdl have too much rage in their heart so I'm glad I chose to start this drama based on vibes alone and not because of anyone's take on it.

My favourite thing in this drama is the depiction of public transportation as part of everyone's lives. You have no idea how happy it made me feel when Tae Seo turned out to be a subway then a train driver. Public transportation, you're one of the greatest inventions ever <3

15/05/2026

A few days early but this drama is the best birthday gift I could have ever hoped for. There are too many things to say and I will need to organise my thoughts and write something more structured but I hope Soul Mate never leaves me. Hashizume Shunki is the only director who makes me feel so naked and vulnerable, and ashamed of my own beliefs. I will need to finish More than Words if I want to a write a thorough review of Soul Mate. (Update: I will commit to watching More Than Words but I will watch it when the time feels right (meaning not now). I'm currently writing a commentary on Soul Mate nonetheless even if I do believe watching More Than Words could help in some ways. I'm writing a commentary because I find writig a review for it harder. I'm not sure where I would start. It sucks MDL has a word limit on the comments you can leave in your list entries because I would have liked to post my commentary here. Update: I've posted it on Tumblr.

It's funny how this drama relates so well to the book I'm currently reading all about love by bell hooks. bell hooks uses M. Scott Peck's definition of love (from The Road Less Traveled) in her book and Ryu and Johan are the perfect embodiment of that definition: "the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth."