One of the best Time Travel dramas, Korean or Chinese.
Shining For One Thing (2022) is a Time Travel School Life Romance Drama (contains no spoilers).Qu Chuxiao (Wandering Earth) and Karlina Zhang (Tang Dynasty Tour)
Short Review
Sometimes you pick up your next drama by following a favorite actor from the previous drama that you watched. I followed actor Qu Chuxiao from ‘Wandering Earth’ to ‘Shining For One Thing’. This Chinese drama is a Time Travel Drama which is very technical and science rich in story construct, but very romantic. The Chinese are often sticklers for technically sound plotlines. The writer was very careful to try to stick to the modern Scientific constructs of time travel/displacement thinking. I have covered the different modes of Time Travel in the past, like the differences between Time Travel, Time Slip, and Time Blend as a writing style for a story. ‘Shining For One Thing’ goes one step deeper, to try to explain Time Placement. It covers which timeline you are breaking, the possibilities of where you end up and the consequence possibilities when you travel into different Time Displacement zones. While this may sound too scientific for some, ‘Shining For One Thing’ really breaks through by making the explanations uncomplicated and informative, producing a very entertaining Time Travel drama. Shinning For One Thing is a “Time Travel” drama, because the mode of traveling through time is a definite object, an outdated phone. Great OST! Great love story. Although many time travel dramas use time travel only like a cab ride to the past, Shining For One Thing uses great writing, great concept, and a great use of time travel itself, to produce a great time travel story.
The female protagonist in this drama uses time travel to go back and forth in time to change her dismal future/present. Through it all, she gets hooked up with a young male student whom she knows (in the opening segments of this drama) dies in the past. She then makes it her mission in time travel to change her future/present, but also try to save this boy too. Along the way, she falls in love with the boy. The story is complicated, but totally intriguing. It progresses very slowly, I suppose this is so that the viewer can keep up with the action and the science. You have to sit with this one. However, there is a grand payoff in the back half of this drama.
Time travel is a modern construct, which is not believed to be naturally occuring. It has been given meaning by humans who believe that time travel is a definite possibility. In Shinning For One Thing (2022), the time travel was caused by the inexplicable use of an old phone and by deleting the messages to cause time travel to that point in time of the deleted message.
Extended Review
The female protagonist traveled to a new past each time she attempted to go back in time. She kept failing to enter an open loop of time where changes could be made to the future. To fix the future she needed to enter the right alternative universe.
Quote
Scientist in the Drama—We can go back to yesterday or even the distant past. But it is unlikely for humans to open the wormhole. Most travelers who claim to go back to the past did not enter the closed structure of the wormhole universe. Instead, they enter the crack of a parallel universe. The crack of a parallel universe takes place in every time and space, without affecting or changing each other.
Female Lead—So I did not travel to the past. I went to a new time and space (parallel universe). No wonder nothing changed (when she traveled through time).
Unquote
At the end of the Korean drama ‘The King: Eternal Monarch’, the male protagonist had to search through many alternative universes to find the right one which held the right circumstances and the woman he loved. This became necessary after his mode of time displacement (That family heirloom) was broken. The Wormhole had to be manipulated manually in The King: Eternal Monarch. In Shining For One Thing, the girl knows the outcome, the death of her schoolmate. We find that out in the opening minutes. She makes several attempts to enter the right time wormhole universe, which would allow her to change the past, but she keeps failing. She needs to enter the time and space where changes are possible. She must find the open time loop, instead of the closed time loop where changes can not be made to what has happened already. Along the way, even with all her course corrections, she finds romance.
This is time travel with a definite mode of travel, the outdated phone. With some travel, you are just an observer and can change nothing (closed time loop). With some time travel, you can change the outcomes (open time loop).
The female protagonist keeps failing, because she is not entering the open time loop section of the time wormhole. She is entering the crack of a parallel universe and is not able to change anything in that future. Same with the Chinese Drama Someday or One Day (2019), you must find the right time wormhole with the right set of circumstances, before change is possible. With the Korean Drama A Time Called You, the right time wormhole was entered on the first try in this time travel Korean drama, using a Song Cassette and Walkman as the means of time travel to the right alternative universe.
Cast
Qu Chuxiao (Wandering Earth) and Karlina Zhang (Tang Dynasty Tour), and Caesar Wu (Meteor Garden)
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Smoking OST and great concept drama journey
Chae Jong-Hyeop (Nevertheless), Park Sung Woong (Snowdrop), and Seo Eun-Su (Dr Romantic)This is an unusual Korean Drama starring Chae Jong-Hyeop (Potato Man from Nevertheless) as Park In Seong, who is putting out multiple Korean dramas a year now. I suspect that he is trying to catch up with Song Kang.
With radical music as a backdrop and the best OST of the year (2022), this high tech Light Comedy Thriller is a body switch drama. However, this time the body of an AI Corporate CEO is switched into a smartphone. This is an interesting concept, but the premise is not any harder to accept than the premise that men in red capes can fly. The drama character Park In Seong (Chae Jong-Hyeop) is a failed actor who ends up with the smartphone. The CEO in the phone (Park Sung Woong) solicits the help of the failed actor to get the personality of the CEO out of the phone and back into reality, as Park In Seong substitutes for the CEO in the Company for a time . Unlock My Boss is a lighthearted Comedy Korean Drama Chill Pill and a great down-time drama. This drama keeps getting better and better over viewing time. I loved it and loved Chae Jong-Hyeop in this Korean Drama, Unlock My Boss.
Unlock My Boss PG 14 is based on a Webtoon by the same name. While this drama is not a slow burn, the super action does start in episode four. The drama has twists and turns as well, which keeps you guessing.
Quote: “People say, “”Time heals all wounds”. But this is half right and half wrong. Time does not heal anything for you. It is just during that time, you learn how to endure and deal with the pain until you get use to it.” Female Lead Unlock My Boss
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Finding yourself through another person’s eyes.
Shorter Chinese dramas are becoming a stable. Also, some of these shorter dramas give new comers, who are not yet proven, a chance to act in dramas before they are called up to the Epic Dramas. What makes the Chinese Drama ‘When You Be Me’ a special gem is the writing. The writing of Pei Li and Hua Qian Ci nail this double body swap of a girl transferred to a male body and a boy transferred to a female body and the learning experiences they get because of it (This writing team also wrote A League of Nobleman). How do men relate to women? How do women relate to men? What are their differences? The drama When You Be Me has unpredictable outcomes that should keep you engaged, unpredictable to the very end. Unlike some Chinese dramas where the writers lose their way towards the end of the drama, this storyline is consistent and has logical order all the way through. Explore unique possibilities in this new Chinese double body swap drama ‘When You Be Me’.There are so many little things that are great about When You Be Me, besides the two leads (Zhou Yi Ran as Mu Xiang Xiang and Kido Ma as Qiao Nan). It depicts teens in leadership roles, camaraderie among peers, bullying, good parental guidance, good and bad family dynamics, a slew of talking points that will keep your mind occupied for days. You can tell that these young inexperienced actors had a great director (Chen Chang) with great ideas on how to interpret their characters. The writing was believable and inventive, but so in tune with the possibilities of an actual body swap. Both young actors locked in on their character and neither one abandoned it during the body swap scenes, which added to believability and escapism. The male and female characters are polar opposites. Qiao Nan is a brash athletic spoiled second generation rich Plutocrat (Chaebol) boy and Mu Xiang Xiang is a top student who is a timid and introverted girl, and comes from a poor family. This swap makes for hilarious antics, nonetheless.
Ladies, what would be one of the first things you would give into, if you inherited a male body with little fat? I could have just died with laughter when the first thing the girl in the boy’s body did was to go buy a really expensive fancy decadent desert and eat the whole thing, not having to worry about calories. Men are so fortunate to burn calories so quickly. Even as funny was that the boy (in the girl’s body) learns how to use emotional guilt, utilizing the emotional cry to get his way. Nothing beats a try, but a cry.
When You Be Me is a great fantasy body swap drama to add to your binge-watch list.
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Sometimes a remake drama can reach new heights.
Sometimes dramas and their remakes are just different and not better or worse. I am a supper fan of Yoo Seung Ho and Chae Soo Bin who starred in the original Korean Drama RomCom ‘I Am Not A Robot’. This RomCom had lots of laughter and comedic moments and was well acted by these two leads. The Chinese remake of this drama (with Connor Leong from Meteor Garden and Sun Qian from Take My Brother Away) was very faithful to the material, but had significant plot changes to the storyline with certain characters, however. This did not take away from the story, but some choices actually made more sense. In addition, while I Am Not A Robot played more to the comedic side of the story, Robot In The Orange Orchard played more to the SyFy Fantasy of this story.Connor Leong and Sun Qian vs Chae Soo Bin and Yoo Seung Ho
The story is about a boy (Lu Sen) who is allergic to humans (haphenphobia), an allergy brought on in part by the death of his parents at a very young age. This caused this second generation Monopoly Capitalist (Chaebol) to live in seclusion for 15 years, from the time he was 10 years old, even cooking his own meals. This meant that he had little to no contact with the outside world. Now a genius with an IQ of 159 and lots of money to burn, Lu Sen buys into an AI company which makes realistic looking Robots that he wants to test as a live-in. When test day comes, the robot breaks and the makers of the robot asks the life model of the robot to substitute in for a time as a Robot, until the real robot is fixed.
You have to buy into the fantasy fact that this isolated child-like man would not be able to tell the difference between a robot and a human and here is where for me Connor Leong shined the most. His performance was truly sincere as someone so lonely and disassociated from the world that he does not know a robot from a real human. I cried way more with ‘Robot In The Orange Orchard’ than I did with ‘I Am Not A Robot’. I do think that Chae Soo Bin was a better robot/human than Sun Qian as Yang Shan Shan, but Sun Qian did a good job with the rest of the script.
I would say to put both of these dramas on your ‘To Watch’ List and maybe do a back to back binge and let me know what you thought.
NOTES
I am a fan of the original Korean actor Yoo Seung Ho, and extremely prejudiced.
Chinese
He did a masterful job in handling this character. It looked like he didn’t even watch the original. His own take is evident in the way he approach the character in his own original way.
Orange Orchard was way more sentimental and touching, bringing me to tears often.
Connor Leong gave a very sincere performance. His approach to the character made me more readily accept that he believed she was a robot, but that he was falling in love.
Tweaks to the storylines were realistic and natural. Not prone towards comedy.
She was not a convincing robot, but was stellar in the back half when she was not pretending to be a robot.
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This one is a hidden gem. Great concept story.
‘All That We Loved’ is a hidden gem for me. It is complicated without appearing to be so. ‘All That We Loved’ has a unique storyline for the youthful School Life Romance drama. There are two teen best friends who are the exact opposites. One is gregarious, comedic and athletic. The other is seriously studious, shy and withdrawn, and sickly. They are brought up like brothers. When one needs a kidney transplant, the other does not hesitate to share his kidney with the other. During this experience, both begin to share the same emotions, even falling for the same girl. The two best friends have an interesting backstory and the drama covers the years 1996 as kids, 2006 as teens, and 2023 as an adult. This may confuse some at first, because of the flashbacks, but everything gels together by episode 3. I really loved this story and the story telling was stellar.‘All That We Loved’ reminds me of the Korean School Romance Drama ‘Dear M’ in its relevance to youths, but is a drama for all ages, when considering its message. ‘All That We Loved’ has a high recommendation from me and it is ready to binge. With only eight episodes, this is a great choice to view.
Actors Corners
The teen actors are the following:
Jo Jun Young is a new kid on the acting block and is just starting out in acting. He was in Dear M. I thought that he was a star in that drama, and I actually followed him to this new Kdrama. Tall with good looks, Jo Jun Young is nailing the soft timid friend Go Joon-Hee, who is about to come out of his shell.
Another fresh new comer is Jang Yeo Bin from Our Blooming Youth. She plays the love interest Han So-Yeon and she plays a most interesting character, because this character can’t be categorized.
K-pop EXO band member Sehun (The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure) has been taking on more Korean dramas of late. He plays the gregarious funny guy Go Yoo and has natural appeal as an actor. Sehun is finding KDrama life outside of EXO.
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Medical Action and Romance, STAT delivery.
How do you watch Doctor Romantic 2? Just hold your breath for 16 hours. It is that exhilarating. While with Dr. Romantic 3 I did not need to hold my breath, nonetheless, I could not hold back the tears as I watched compelling heart tugging medical situations being portrayed .Every Doctor Romantic series in the three seasons has had stellar cast members, including well seasoned actors. However, the main component of the Doctor Romantic series is the medical thrills received from watching the deep dive into new and unusual medical cases. My favorite to date in the series remains Doctor Romantic 2, but Doctor Romantic 3 delivered the K drama goods, with two additions to the Doctor’s list of characters. With a series like this, lasting over 3 seasons, it should become harder to invent new personalities, each character with their own little quirks and and gifts. Nonetheless, our new additions have their own entertaining personality strengths and failures. I took a week and finished all 3 in the series and enjoyed every minute. I think that Doctor Romantic 1, 2, and 3 should be added to everyone’s Korean Drama playlist. There is a smoking OST, featuring Baekhyun from EXO and Seungkwan from Seventeen. Add these to your “playlist”. Pun not intended.
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This review may contain spoilers
This Great Drama Just Gets A Bad Rap.
ML Gu Jun-pyo (Played by Lee Min-ho from The King: Eternal Monarch)Boys Over Flowers (2009) has a character which some feel is a most alienating figure in all of Korean Drama Land. I must confess that I don’t understand why. Gu Jun-pyo is self-centered and a pampered chaebol. His is pampered by his mother, his friends, and classmates. Everyone lets him have his way, that is until he meets a girl who kicked his rear end and knew how to say No! to him. He fell in love instantly. Gu Jun-pyo really did not grasp the gravity of his bad actions. This was the life-style he was given, and it had its perks. However, as soon as he met this girl that put him in his place, he allowed himself to be trained for the good. Bad Boy turns Good.
One of the most special scenes was when he almost froze to death waiting outside for this girl to arrive. She asked him why he waited for her outside instead of getting in out of the cold? He said to her that he had never ever had to wait, and he kind of like waiting for someone. The transformation of Gu Jun-pyo is iconic Korean drama. However, this drama is very polarizing in so many circles of friends, but without merit.
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To understand the Korean movie Dream, you have to understand Dark Humor.
The movie ‘Dream’ is a comedy that uses Dark Humor for laughs. Your brain has to have a reset for this movie, adjusted to humor that pokes fun at subjects normally excluded from comedy, because the subject is considered sacrosanct. The subject matter for laughter is serious, but the Comedy pokes fun at the nature of things. Dark Comedies may not do well with some audiences, because some may not get the jokes or some may not see these serious matters as something which should be used for humor. I hope most get the Dark Humor jokes and accept it’s intended hilarity in the movie Dream, because Dream is an upbuilding and motivating film which will have you cheering.The movie Dream stars IU (Hotel Del Luna) who plays Lee So-min and Park Seo Joon (The new Captain Marvel movie) who plays Yoon Hong-dae. The cast entourage is great.
This movie ‘Dream’ is based on a true event of the “Homeless World Football (Soccer) Cup” held in 2010, and covers a documentary being made for it. The documentary has the main purpose of bolstering up the flailing careers of Soccer Player Yoon Hong-dae (Park Seo Joon) and Videographer Lee So-min (IU). The intentions are to make a tearjerker documentary, which will garner viewership and public attention to themselves. Along the way, their selfish quests becomes a quest to help the homeless achieve something important.
To be successful with Dark Humor, you have to deadpan (be deliberately impassive or expressionless) Dark Humor. You play it like it is not funny, but totally serious. Park Seo Joon deadpans his character so well. Who knew he could play Dark Comedy? The movie Dream left me belly-aching with laughter. It is certainly a movie to add to your Korean Drama list. The more you watch Dark Comedies the better you get at watching Dark Comedies. I was crying ‘Mr Queen’ tears of laughter. The movie ‘Dream’ eventually becomes a serious commentary on life as we know it. The homeless are real people too.
For me, and I know this will set off people questioning my abilities to judge, but this movie is a 10/10, and that is my final answer.
Note: Korea is becoming the nation putting out great Dark Comedies in film and drama. Here are other Dark Comedy films and dramas from Korea.
Korean Movies
Oscar Award Winning ‘Parasite’
International Award Winning ‘Decision To Leave’
Baeksang Arts Award winner for Best Actor ‘Sound of Silence’
Korean Dramas
Oasis
Snowdrop
Vincenzo
Prison Playbook
It’s Okay Not To Be Okay
Bad and Crazy
Gaus Electronics
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My Perfect Stranger was perfect to me
My Perfect Stranger mimics the American Movie series Back To The Future. Therefore, first take note that many teenagers and adults you see in the past in 1987 (the drama’s main time destinations) are people you see in the present/future before the time jump, only they are 35 years older. The common thread between those in the present/future and those in the past/1987 are our time travelers, who are our male and female leads. They remain their same age.The Male lead is a famous News Anchor in the present who starts the Korean Drama journey by finding a car that is a Time Machine. As he jumps around time on joy rides, he discovers something important about his future. This takes him back to 1987 to find out more. Along the way, inadvertently, a perfect stranger is pulled into the past with him. Why is she so perfect for these strange happenings? There is a rocking OST as well.
My Perfect Stranger has a rich powerful approach to the theme of the little used concept of Back To The Future. Solving the many mysteries in the past is the driving force of what happens in the present/future, and puts the outworking of the story in overdrive. The powerful automatic steering from the acting, uses the coasting setting to build the storyline into a profound slow crescendo of the action. One will not easily guess the perpetrator of this Who Dun-nit and the Big Reveal will make you put on the brakes for a hard stop of disbelief. Go with this one. It is a Korean Drama that you should not let pass you by. My Perfect Stranger is My Surprise Hit thus far this Korean Drama Season of 2023.
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Attitude is everything
There are hard hitting subjects sewn into the fabric of this entertaining High School drama, about the kids of the rich and super rich. The drama is Boys Over Flowers meets Weak Hero Class 1. Personally, I loved it. This school is other worldly in design. The Korean Drama has a high class flashy look and an attitude to match. This was a high octane ride.Off the bat, there is an Assembly to introduce the new scholarship student, the odd man out in the school for the super rich. These students are so rich that they have car Valets. The drama has smoking music, interesting script, and fantastic cinematography. Young talent showed off their acting skills. All the dots of the story were connected in the end, to set-up things for Season 2.
For those who were waiting for the highly anticipated Korean Drama Hierarchy, it just hit NetFlix. There is a death covered in this Korean Drama.
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A New Leading Man Emerges
The famous Koreans Drama “Wild Child” Choi Hyun Wook has found a new niche in Romance Comedy in ‘My Dearest Nemesis’ (2025). He reminds me so much of Park Seo Joon and the camera is finding his perfect angles. Choi Hyun Wook first came on my radar in the Korean Drama ‘Twenty five Twenty one’. I saw this raw big acting talent who just needed to be harnessed. With a restructured look, Choi Hyun Wook is now coming across as a Leading Man. He is not a pretty man. He is rustling his raw acting talent and following the direction of the people who know what they are doing. Choi Hyun Wook is pulling back and containing his big personality just enough to show that he can be refined. Choi Hyun Wook is learning how to control his character instead of letting it control him.We all knew that Choi Hyun Wook could do big personality characters who were over the top (Twinkling Watermelon, Twenty five Twenty one). He proved that he could do Comedy (Racket Boys). Choi Hyun Wook proved that he had a dramatic side, which also could do action (Weak Hero Class 1). Choi Hyun Wook had to show that he could command the Leading Man role, before he could move to period dramas, where his action skills will shine. Choi Hyun Wook is positioning himself to become a well rounded actor. I think that Choi Hyun Wook is showing big time that he can command the Male Lead role in ‘My Dearest Nemesis’’. My Dream Team is still matching him up with Ji Chang Wook in a Crime Action RomComedy or Drama.
Choi Hyun Wook is sizzling as a Leading Man against Moon Ga Yeong (True Beauty, Find Me in Your Memory) in My Dearest Nemesis. He plays the grandson of the Chaebol and he is living a double life, but he does not want to be discovered. Choi Hyun Wook is even dropping my heart as his romance scenes in My Dearest Nemesis are heating up. Choi Hyun Wook and Moon Ga Yeong are displaying some great chemistry as the two nemesis are becoming attracted to each other.
Those managing the big talent of Choi Hyun Wook decided to restructure his body by sculpting a new muscular and slimed down look. He got braces and looks like he even got taller. As the familiar actors who started my Korean drama experience during the Pandemic are getting older, new talent will emerge. It is just nice to see Choi Hyun Wook take one of those Leading Man spots. My Dearest Nemesis is on VIKI and will be ready to binge Mar 25, 2025.
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This is a drama to think through. It brings up important issues
Normally, Bad Memory Eraser would not be the type of drama I would watch. The writing is too simplistic. Nonetheless, I see so much potential in this drama’s storyline which should resonate with many readers. The storyline addresses those who are self-doubters, those who feel hopelessly unassured of themselves. Bad Memory Eraser will entice those who lack confidence and motivation. That is not me. However, I want to be a support and show empathy to those who are self-doubters. I don’t want to show sympathy, because that is feeling sorry for you. I want to show empathy, because that is trying to put myself in your place and understand you. Are self-assured persons better than self-doubter? Not necessarily. Each of us all have our own private little demons we have to resolve.Kim Jae-Joong as Lee Guni is the male lead.
The main cast include ML Kim Jae-Joong (Triangle), FL Jin Se Yeon (Born Again), actor Lee Jong Won (Knight Flower), and actress Yang Hye Ji (Nevertheless).
The Story
Bad Memory Eraser is about a self-assured, hot shot teen tennis player who is the bread winner of the family. This family includes mom and dad and little brother. The teen suffers a devastating injury which causes him to have to leave the sport. The parents now turn all of their attention to the little brother, who is cultured to be the next tennis hot shot family bread winner. The parents subject the older brother to being the butler to the new younger pro tennis sensation. This relegation of the older brother to servant status causes the older brother to question his self-worth and he becomes a self-doubter.
The story involves a Scientific invention which when attached to the brain, it removes bad memories. The accident of the older brother and the subsequent treatment by his parents all count as bad memories. The experimenters convince the older brother to become a human subject. The invention is no magic pill. It has its flaws.
Questions which arise to be answered while viewing Bad Memory Eraser are:
1. With bad memories being so apart of your being, would erasing bad memories necessarily make you a better person?
2. Can some people actually benefit from bad memories?
3. What happens when bad memories are attached to good memories with this eraser?
4. Would we necessarily like the person we become when bad memories are erased?
There are so many raw ideas fed to you from the premise that it could make Bad Memory Eraser a fantastic story. I just tended at times to question the choice directions of the writer. The writer had some great story ideas, but the ideas are not always sewn together interestingly. However, it is not my story to write. Nevertheless, I am finding Bad Memory Eraser a compelling story to watch. I am motivated to see this one through. Hopefully others will do the same.
Those who are familiar with ‘ole school’ K-pop will recognize singer song writer Kim Jae-Joong as the lead vocalist from the Boy Band TVXQ. They were huge in their time. Kim Jae-Joong is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, director, and designer.
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A Pot Full of Laughter
Tastefully Yours is a great RomCom Drama, the latest break-away winner for me. Another serious dramatic actor (Kang Ha-neul) is trying his hand at Comedy. This follows the likes of dramatic actor Ju Ji Hoon’s huge Baeksang Arts Award win for Best Actor for Trauma Code: Heroes On Call in 2025, which was also a Comedy.Tastefully Yours was filmed in Jeonju, a city I had planned to visit on my next trip to South Korea. Jeonju is the food capital of South Korean, to hear natives speak. Therefore, it is quite fitting that a drama about food, cooking and its delicacies be filmed there.
Tastefully Yours stars Kang Kang Ha-neul (Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo). Kang Ha-neul plays an obnoxious rich brat (Han Beom U), who runs the restaurants for his demanding Chairman Mother. He is a perfectionist, and a stickler about being on time. Kang Ha-neul is still one of the crazy good lookers for me. He just makes my heart melt. Drama character Han Beom U is a perfectly snide CEO who ‘knows better than anyone else’. Kang Ha-neul has the brat attitude mastered. He is killing me with his comedic ad libs. However, the character Han Beom U conducts his business negotiations the street thug way. He tries to gangster people. As bad as Han Beom U is, his mom is worse and Han Beom U’s older brother bullies him. There are so many layers to this unusual RomCom about a family of restauranteurs seeking the illusive Diamant 3 Stars (Think Michelin 5 Stars in America). So mom makes a deal. The first son to get one of her restaurants 3 Diamant stars gets ownership of the family business. The race is on. This is my kind of story. This is the hit I was looking for. Kang Ha-nuel is marvelous and the drama accoutrements are tastefully done.
Kang Ha-neul, Go Min Si, and Bae Na Ra
Go Min Si is the Female Lead and love interest Mo Yeon Ju. A very smart reclusive small town restaurant owner, Mo Yeon Ju cooks culinary delights with only freshly grown or cultured ingredients. She is very skeptical of this City Slicker confronting her with a Business Proposal, and shuts him down. However, Han Beom U recognizes that Mo Yeon Ju has the cooking skills good enough to aid him in winning the ownership of the family business.
Everyone’s favorite nemesis from Weak Hero Class 2, Bae Na Ra again plays the nemesis (Han Seon U). He is the big brother of Han Beom U in Tastefully Yours. Han Seon U‘s approach to winning the family business is ‘No Holds Barred’. Too bad this character’s name in not Han Seol U. Get it? I can do comedy too.
The food on display in Tastefully Yours looks so delicious you will want to hop a plane straight to South Korea.
It seems that Tastefully Yours is capturing the audience already. It is now in the Top Ten dramas list on Netflix.
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An American Remake
I love the Korean Drama Crime Series genre. If done intelligently, one can explore the mind of the criminal and this dramas become great character studies. Of course, these highlight heinous crimes, so the Crime genre is for select taste. Queen Mantis is an remake from a popular and recent American Crime Show, The Prodigal Son. This series has a highly intelligent premise. There is a parent who is a heinous serial killer and the parent has been locked up for years. Their now grown estranged son is now works for the Crime Division. A copycat Killer emerges. This forces the estrange son to have to work with the serial killer parent to find the killer. Killer OSTWas this review helpful to you?
The Business Woman and a the Desert Prince
Everlasting Longing (Starring Angelababy and Song Weilong) is a Chinese Costume Drama that tells the story of a strong willed women who takes over the family merchant business. Of necessity, she poses as her older dead brother. This smart woman knew that the Merchant Guild would not accept a woman. Her business acumen far exceeds that of any man and she becomes a dominant force in the Guild. She is envied by all and targeted by many who are jealous of her business success. Along the way, this self-willed woman is captured by a rouge desert Prince, who does not know who she is. She tells him that she is a lowly maid. He recognizes her gifts and decides to keep her as his. That is not going to work for her.I like Everlasting Longing (2025). However, the script seems wanting, as the spoken translated words seem immature. I started to shelf this drama, but decided to give it a chance. There is always the possibility that the problem with the dialog is not the writer’s words, but the problem may be with the translation team. This is a Chinese drama. It is no telling how Everlasting Longing plays in the native Chinese language.
Nonetheless, I began to rationalize this point, that unpaid volunteers translate these dramas (on VIKI). One has to realize that the viewers are secondary spectators. The words we get are filtered through someone else’s lenses, but without these volunteer translation teams, I would understand zero percentage of a foreign drama. Zero. The words are simplistic, but fortunately the action, costumes, acting and general settings drives this Action Wuxia Romance drama full of Intrigue and Revenge. This makes Everlasting Longing work for me.
This experience prompts me to alert everyone who lends their expert opinions to rate Foreign Language dramas. Some may underrate a good drama because the words don’t flow. The words are not flowery or poetic as I would expect a script writer to produce. However, I could not put down this Chinese Drama, Everlasting Longing. It is not a simple job to translate an emotion through words from a translated foreign language. That is why Foreign Language interpreters get paid high dollars when they can do this, transfer the emotional intent of the words spoken into their translation of the foreign language. We may not be getting the drama as presented in the native language, but we are getting a good drama.
Secondarily, this just might be the fault of the writers of Everlasting Longing. The writers may have paid more attention to the action than to actually connecting the action with wonderful words in between. With two powerhouse Chinese actors like Song Weilong and Angelababy adding their expertise to Everlasting Longing, most viewers will not be disappointed.
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