bloomingtide

Aaaand we have reached the stupid middle part where characters do insane, illogical shit for conflict's sake to be a hindrance to the main's happy ending. I love Kim Jae Wook but i imagine strangling his character in this drama in 60 different ways atm. His delusion and entitlement level is over 9000 i swear, never seen a brazen (in all its worst ways) SML and it is so stupid/illogical in general to pursue FL when she is in a happy, committed relationship with ML already and has never showed romantical interest in SML in all these years. So so scummy, yikes. Really wish the drama was less than 40 episodes, bc it is definitely too much for this sort of story. 32 (16 full episodes) should have been the max, if at all.

YES. It's focus is full on the people/characters working in the salon and their story, friendship/rivalry, experiences, with smart social commentary woven in and a cute, awkward beans romance in it on the side. Every episode has a different theme that suits perfectly not only to their working field but also what the characters are going thru at the moment/life lessons for both characters and viewers. It is a very light, warm watch with some more heavier topics (suicide/transphobia) in between, but it never gets too heavy. Very stress-free watch, like vacation from life and a perfect palate cleanser after a dense/dark kdrama-watch. Beautifully written (the narration dialogue, good shit) and good humor too. At the end i loved the salon squad so much <3

Try Salon De Nabi, a sadly very overlooked/underrated slice of life kdrama from this year (or rather published this year, produced in 2020/2021) with a cute romance in it (on the side). It's focus is full on the people/characters working in the salon and their story, friendship/rivalry, experiences tho, with smart social commentary woven in. Every episode has a different theme that suits perfectly not only to their working field but also what the characters are going thru at the moment/life lessons for both characters and viewers. It is a very light, warm watch with some more heavier topics (suicide/transphobia) in between, but it never gets too heavy. Very stress-free watch, like vacation from life and a perfect palate cleanser after a dense/dark kdrama-watch. Beautifully written (the narration dialogue, so good) and good humor too. At the end i loved the salon squad so much <3

https://kisskh.at/61393-fly-butterfly

Wow, i have so much love for Jung So, such a straightforward, mature man who is always very clear with his words and where he stands on an issue or his feelings. There is no ambiguity with him which is incredibly attractive to my grown-ass, older self. The way he handled that whiny/selfish ass of SFL was *chefkiss* I wish more leads would be as clear and concise in their rejection/laying down their boundaries as he was.

In general, i feel this drama is so low rated only because MDL is mostly not the right target audience, so to speak. Yes it is slow, but i find the characters incredibly interesting and relatable written with a depth that gets explored more and more the further the drama goes on. I love FL a lot too, she is no doormat, knows/says what she wants. and she struggles as we all do at times. Both actors do a stellar job with their roles and have great, effortless tension and chemistry. It may drag later on, dunno, but right now i enjoy it a lot. Definitely not your typical kdrama and more a character study/introspective show with a realistic romance that tickles my writer's brain with its well done execution and dialogue. The second leads can go step on lego, tho.

Oh understandable. I can ensure you that FNOS has one of the most cutest ones that leaves you with warm fuzzies. One of the very few this year, tbh. And also otherwise the drama is very good if you like your comedy, romance and fantasy in a well balanced genre mix with good good character progression for the leads/romance

honestly i have no idea how they are going to stretch out whatever little there is of plot over the remaining 30 episodes, but the starting 10 are intriguing and breezy to watch. The quick banter and way ML/FL talk with little to no filter reminds me a bit of Run On, even if the dialogue is cheesier here at times haha. YSJ is adorable as hell and gives me Siwan in Run on vibes too with the slight oddball-ness to his character :D

This is an odd one for me. I like the leads but anything else, particularly main plot fails to engage me. Probably because i find phone guy to be such an unlikable ass of a character that i could not care less if they find the culprit or not (just feel sorry for the daughter here tbh) and the business side characters are boring me too. The leads are cute tho, particularly when ML is interacting with the president's daughter, and the bodyguard guy is also one of the highlights for me in this drama.

I will keep watching but it is more a pass the time watch than a drama wow-ing me with its story/characters tbh.

Aaaaand finished. Not as bad as people say, but way too drawn out and plot is as thin as paper. Loved the romance tho and gosh that man can kiss, hooo booy in the many kiss kiss kiss scenes heh. Worth watching it for this alone😏 Got me in the feels a couple of times but not as much as DOTS did. Decent drama if you want something fantasy-romance-y without thinking too much about logic or plot and just roll with the (a bit overdramatic) interspecies romance feels instead :D Seen worse, seen better, so yeah. The rating seems right on MDL for once, as it is a 7.5 for me.

HOWLING MOON 😂 😂 😂 (if you know you know)

Still cheesy af (with some good lines, that poem in the book, damn) and with some problematic jealousy of ML, but basically this drama is 24/7 Nam Joo Hyuk fanservice and i am not complaining hahaha.

I think would have it been produced in 2022, where kdramaland does not subscribe to 16 episodes at all cost dogma any longer, they would have left it at 12 eps and the drama would have been much better due to it. Many unnecessary scenes, but then again we get NJH drenching himself with water overhead in slow mo while wearing a white shirt, so who am i to judge 😂😏😆

Oh yeah, same here. They are such a good, fun trio outside of the LT, so i want more of their friendship, and less of that other bullshit. But LSW will have his own loveline soon, i heard, so there is that, at least. Much needed too for him to move on, since the leads are basically committed to each other by now. Or else Heon would not have gone to such lengths for her like he did in the last eps.

It is quite one-sided from the 2ML's side and the leads' affection for each other are clearer defined the more the drama continued. I would say it is obvious from the start, even. Not once sees FL SML more than a friend despite knowing what they could have been in the past. So it is no annoying FL wavers between two guys kind of thing. She has feelings for the king only.

when i was watching this drama, i skipped every part of them. Best thing you can do, as their story feels so very disjointed from the rest of the drama in tone and everything. It is basically just an useless interruption/filler to the main couple/their story tbh.

Episode 11 and i started to watch it on 1.5 speed as it began to drag out every bit of thin storyline it has and i care only about the leads by now lol. The romance with its angsty "I will have to leave" premise reminds me a lot of Doom At Your Service, just... not as good (loved the romance there even when the overall plot was rather meh) bc both leads act like emotionally constipated children that hurt themselves needlessly instead to use the (little) time given to them like the leads in DOTS did.

Ngl, this dialogue/his confession in eps 11 got me in the feels tho, especially to read it along with korean subs and ML's delivery. Strong DOTS vibes, once more.

무책임해도... 결국은 무책임하게 되겠지만. 시작해도 되겠어? 우리가 뭐냐고 물었어. 나는 네가 불행이 함부로 할 수 없는 사람이길 바라게 됐다. 그냥 먼 소리처럼 멀어져 가는. 이름 없는 작은 것이 아니라고. 그렇게 생각하게 됐어. 안고 싶고, 입 맞추고 싶고, 네가 내 시작이고 끝이고 싶은데. 너로 가득 차고 싶고. 넘치면 흐르도록 내버려두고 싶은데. 내 질투가 정당하고 싶고 주먹질을 해도 떳떳하고 싶은데. 그걸 다 하려면 시작해야 되는데. 네 말대로 정해진 우리 미래가 바뀔 리도 없지만. 시작을 해도, 되겠어?

Good shit, good shit. (i doubt i need spoiler tag for this but kudos to you if you can read it, heh) Also anticlimactic how she replied with "No, please don't" to that epic declaration, haha.

imo, 2ML stops being NOT annoying the moment he disregards FL's rejection in episode 5, and continues to force his puppy-eyed, one-sided affection on her, no matter what she says (and she rejects him/tells him they are friends only REPEATEDLY in one episode alone.) That has become very irksome tbh, but outside of romance that is very clear defined the trio is very wholesome and chaotic in the best way.

Totally here for Jin Ki Joo. Loved her in From Now On Showtime, so i am excited to see her new kdrama <3

idk if you still are interested in the show, but i am queer/bi, and plan to watch it in the next days. So i will keep an eye out for it. Don't get your hopes up bc as we know kdrama/SK in general is not exactly progressive in lgbtq+ issues and representation. Hence the queer storylines are often just token ones to check off a "look how progressive we are" list, or worse, using the shitty bury your gays trope, ugh.

We all have to "thank" the 2022 MBC drama awards for that, because ofc it had to be on the same day as TFM aired, sigh.

Not sure if this minuscule content is tag-worthy tho, as it is rather misleading to people seeking out specifically this tag for shows to watch.

Been watching School 2017 lately (which i had on hold for a long time) and this made me realize how much i miss seeing Kim Jung Hyun in a drama, ngl. He is such a good, versatile actor, bless. Hence I am so excited for this drama to air, and this so soon, yay. Looking forward to his character in this very romanc-y drama with FNOS vibes, heh. (MBC gave me so much joy with two of my most favorite kdramas this (2022) year aka, From Now On Showtime and May I Help You and hope to add Kokdu to this list for 2023)

For some reason tho, i expect it to rip my heart to shreds, but maybe it will be ending happy instead. We will get to know in not even a month (or two/three till its ending, technically) Hope to see you all then here, because i know i will be LIVING in this comment section ahahahaha