sunflower63

This was a very poetic and heartwarming drama in the typical Japanese way. I like how they always depict feelings in such a realistic way whilst keeping their dialogues and general attitudes very essential. The more I watch Jdramas which are set in this particular time period (Showa) the more I appreciate them as I understand it must have been very influential for Japan. Here Sato Takeru was exceptionally good as well as many others in the cast and the story was deep and touching with an encouraging self-determination theme. I agree that it deserves the maximum rating so it gets a 10 from me.

Thanks for this very useful list. I have started watching Scholar who walks the Night and I will probably watch Last as well.

As it so often happens with Korean dramas, the last two episodes here made the ending totally bitter. I understand the importance of the psychological wellbeing of a child, however it is really not acceptable that because of that perpetrators can easily get away with their ill-doings which affected the lives of many people. And this mainly happens because the victims decide to keep quiet and not openly and quickly talk about what they have been through. This is a typical pattern in Korean dramas (with makjang) which unfortunately repeats itself over and over again. In any case what I appreciated mostly in this drama was the amazing acting and the very romantic atmosphere that could be felt throughout the story. I can't rate it with more than a 7 because of the poor writing at the end but I look forward to seeing the leads in other dramas soon.

I am watching Scholar and I am planning to watch Last out of this list. Both are genres that I am not too keen on (vampires and excessive violence) but the casts in these dramas are too good to skip them. I hope they will be worth my suffering whilst watching them. ;)

Thanks for this great article. I agree with everything you wrote which is why I find this drama fascinating notwithstanding some quite evident logical flaws. For example, most issues would be solved much quicker if people just openly talked to each other which never seems to happen in dramas. In any case this drama is awesomely acted and filmed and it is on the whole very original.

I was really not expecting anything too romantic from this drama so I was not disappointed. It was interesting to see Kim Sun Ah in a different role to her usual ones and IMO she was not too bad as a police officer. I agree that there wasn't too much chemistry between the leads as they seemed more like best friends throughout the story. On the whole it was a pleasant watch but definitely nothing to write home about. I hope to see both leads in better projects soon.

The only two that I have seen of this list and whom I agree are truly charismatic are Jo Dong Hyeok/Bad Guys and Kim Sang Joong/City Hunter (and he was also in Bad Guys).

I really like this actress too and I have only seen her in Doctor Stranger and Warm and Cozy so far. Thanks for this very complete guide on all of her projects.

I started watching this drama with a lot of expectations and enthusiasm after having watched other two really good Chinese dramas (Cruel Romance and Boss and Me). However unfortunately this was a great disappointment for me as one of the aspects that I had enjoyed so far of Chinese dramas was the fact that they seemed more realistic and down to Earth and less over dramatic compared to Korean dramas. In this drama I found every feature that I can hardly bear in K dramas extended to a higher level of exaggeration...in particular the weakness of the main female lead which became unbearable and ridiculous. Yes the ending of the story seemed to patch up things a little but by then I had come to hate every single character of the story (some of them turned from bad to good in a matter of seconds, really??)... I personally don't recommend watching this drama as it was definitely a negative experience for me.

I would say 'Warm and Cozy' is a really fitting title for this drama. Indeed it was the feeling I had whilst watching all the episodes which were on the whole very relaxing. As many others have commented the Jeju island setting was one of the best features here and personally I preferred the story of the more 'mature' black pearl couple. Other secondary characters like the Mayor and Poong San were a bonus here whereas I wasn't too involved in the main couple's romance which seemed more like a contrasted brother/sister type relationship up until almost the end of the drama. However pleasant this watch was I have to agree that The Master's Sun was a much better drama written by the Hong sisters.

When I first started watching this drama I immediately felt that it would be a Japanese version of Grey's Anatomy. Indeed it turned out to be too 'Japanese' in the sense that it concentrated much more on the medical cases/careers rather than the personal relationships between doctors which were dealt with only as secondary issues. Therefore by the end I found this drama very similar to many other Japanese medical dramas with only a very slight hint to romance. I would have enjoyed it more if it had been the opposite and the writers had been braver. However on the whole it was a pleasant watch.

Thanks for writing this article...I am enjoying this drama so much exactly because the plot is so simple and straightforward yet intense and very emotional. The two leads are really extraordinary as they don't say much but their eyes say it all. This type of romantic drama is exactly my cup of tea and I hope it carries on like this until the end even though I foresee some angst in the coming episodes.

This was my second Chinese drama and I have to say it was a very relaxing watch. This is exactly what impressed me most about it, the warm feeling that I had throughout the 33 episodes which litterally flew by for me. Yes as others have said there is nothing special about the story itself but it is the relaxed, easygoing way it is written and acted that was such an amazing change for me. I felt so relieved not to witness any face slaps, exaggerated shouting and crying and most of all all the bullying that generally goes on when there are rich boy/poor girl situations that I so often see in Kdramas. I am not sure if this drama was an exception or if this is the general trend of Cdramas but I will certainly stick to watching more of them from now on. I recommend this drama to those who want to watch a fun, warm and realistic romance which definitely left a smile on my face.

I quite enjoyed this drama as it had a very unusually strong, unconventional and independent female lead. For the first 5 episodes she did seem overbearing and a little arrogant but as the story unfolded her personality evolved even though keeping her tenacious personality. I also appreciated the very realistic outlook on marriage and divorce which made this drama totally different from the ones seen so far. It seems that the Korean society is slowly coming to terms with the idea that perfect happily ever after marriages aren't the norm nowadays. In any case it was a pleasant and easy going watch with some funny parts too.

I'll start by saying that this is a really unusual yet unique comedy. For the first episodes it is really quite difficult to understand where the story is going as everyone just seems completely crazy and living in its own world. However slowly things start fitting together and making sense and by the end I got the feeling I wanted to meet these characters in real life. Praises to the writers of this drama for giving so much importance to the dialogues rather than to a complicated plot. This reminded me quite a lot of Saikou no Rikon.

I really enjoyed reading this article which made me realize even more how amnesia has been really overused in dramaland. I hope to see it less and less in future dramas.

Oh yes that's right!! Thanks for reminding me Betty!! :)

The only ones I have not yet seen out of this list are Jo Mi Ryung and Song Joon Ah. I know and appreciate all the other actresses you listed as they star often in Kdramas and they are all very good. My favourite one out of these is Lee Il Hwa because I absolutely loved how she acted the role of the mom in the two Replies...I hope she will be in the next one too!!

This was the first Chinese drama for me and I am so glad it was a great experience. Yes there were times in which some of the plot was a little naive and predictable (and the filming quality was not of particularly high standard) but on the whole it was fascinating thanks to the great acting of all the cast (a very attractive one too), the very good Shanghai '30ies setting and the captivating story. It definitely made me want to carry on watching Chinese dramas although I am aware it won't be so easy to find other ones of such good level.

In many aspects this drama was very similar to other family type Korean dramas that I watched in the past with the usual clichès and exaggerated interactions between the characters. However what mostly stood out for me was the focus on the relationship between the father, his two sons and daughter. I would say that it was very realistic as it portrayed very well what often happens in real life between older parents and adult children. Of course there was a particular circumstance which contributed in turning the cards around totally which might not have happened otherwise. However the message that this drama delivered in the end was very meaningful and profound which is why I think it is worth watching. The character of the father here was by far my favourite of them all.