twiz aka unagibento

Ok this gave me *strong* Pornographer/Mood Indigo vibes. The chemistry was heavy and hot right out the door. I wasn't expecting that since this has a sub-7 rating (and honestly I'm not sure what's quite up with ratings for jdramas on MDL the last couple years... they are so harsh). I wasn't familiar with the ML, and when he first came on screen I didn't think I'd be able to get into his character. But he has an insane amount of charisma, and in most scenes he was quite sexy and comfortable in his skin, so he quickly got under mine! He's also a giant - watching him stretch out or duck under doorways left me gaping. Seems like there's a lot of second lead syndrome in the comments, and the second lead was very handsome and strong competition (as a good 2ML should be), but it felt like he had a lot of growing to do so he wouldn't get any girl snatched from him, lol. Also, that opening credits scene with the 2ML and Nanase killed me, every. single. time. Every time I saw it my brain was like PLEASE?? PRETTY PLEASE??

My watching notes: 1) I'm glad that they "fixed" Chihiro's story at the very end, because that would have left a bad taste in my mouth, with his actions seeming so illogical. However, the argument presented to Reika, that she had to ultimately choose between motherhood and being a woman is a false dichotomy. Society is always pressing upon women that after motherhood they need to sacrifice their own individuality and desires, and it's this myth that makes so many mothers feel guilt for not being satisfied with only motherhood alone. 2) Jun was a true romantic martyr in this story. Not only did he sacrifice his own growing feelings, he talked the FL out of her own emerging feelings for him while also pretending to reinforce her existing worldviews after she ran away from her fiance. That look of exhaustion when he sagged against the bridge afterwards... man. He then recognized the potential in her flawed fiance and knew that the man could still give the FL what he personally couldn't, and stepped aside. I was definitely rooting for Jun, but the FL and her fiance were both doomed to be together because they were so determined.

Thank you. This was my take, too.

After seeing how this was getting panned of course I had to check it out. This is definitely a satirical social commentary that uses some anime-like exaggeration to make its point (not surprising for a jdrama), so you have to be prepared for it and suspend your disbelief about the questionable plot elements. The idea it's criticizing is common in quite a few recent jdramas aimed at women, so also keep that in mind: that if a woman wants to get/keep a "good" man, especially if she doesn't have status or youth, she must be above all pleasant and banish all intimidating parts of her personality and avoid any unpleasantness. Be warned, the characters deliver such passionate anti-feminist lines with straight faces that the satire will probably fly right over some watchers' heads.

The power dynamic here feels like a predecessor that could have paved the way for newer jdramas like Kono Otoko wa Jinsei Saidai no Ayamachidesu (which I added to the recommendations). Hasegawa Kyoko's acting in this as a supporting character is *excellent* and she really balances out a lot of scenes. Whether or not the drama accomplished its message is up to you to decide. The ending is... interesting, but it wasn't upsetting (to me, at least).

Ahh, bite-sized josei - can't knock it! Anytime I encounter a josei or shoujo adaptation like this it makes me nostalgic for scrolling through manga panels reading these frivolous stories. This is not a genre for romantic complexity - check your brain at the door and enjoy the gentle ride. I also want to say I relate to the FL's busy lifestyle SO HARD - and it's so difficult to find people that understand it can take you 2 days to reply to a text when your life is this busy or you're a creator of any kind. So really the wet dream for me here is watching this FL find a patient love who understands and gives her space. The FL was also so pretty - more so when she had her hair pinned up working, in my opinion.

I just did a quick scan of the original Another Miss Oh, and while I will say the (still real) kiss scenes were a little stronger, so much of the story/events are verbatim that I wouldn't have a real reason to watch the original. But I do see that the remake did rob us of a few later kiss scenes, which is a shame, because they keep the passion in the romance where Unlucky Ploy shifts to a cutesy innocent love toward the end. It's hardly the first drama to do this, but it's always weird that the writers of many dramas don't think maintaining that passionate chemistry is necessary after the midway point. When the FL stayed over in Unlucky Ploy, it was so restrained that I was left guessing if they even had a bed life yet, or if they were having innocent PG sleepovers. Kind of an odd writing decision, but I've seen it happen too many times before.

Since I've yet to see the original, I could watch this with the freedom of no direct comparisons. This is a good solid watch. By the 2nd episode I was neglecting the rest of my watch list to finish this in a couple days. The emotions of the story were brought forward well without being emotionally exhausting - I can't stress that enough, especially since there was quite a bit of crying. A lot of dramas make me want to rest my eyes and take a break after certain miserable episodes, but I didn't get that here. I watched this to see Yong again from My Husband in Law because he's a total dish. He was a bit stiff, but it fit his introverted ML role. His bare torso is LETHAL - that's the first time I saw a male chest on TV that felt NSFW, lol. The few kisses were real and steamy. This drama does seem to be a little underrated currently (7.6) and it's probably due to all the remake comparisons. That, and maybe because this contains a surprising amount of boozing. I'm a decent drinker and I was stunned to watch the sheer volume some characters were regularly chugging. I was surprised their livers didn't just fall out of their bodies onto the sidewalk!

It was refreshing to see a FL so aggressively pursue the ML, I so rarely see that in a non-rival female character. I enjoyed the many delightful power reversals in this. However, I was really hoping they'd dodge the pregnancy trope, because very few dramas manage to get past pregnancy without the story turning into baby baby baby baby and all romantic development as a couple grinding to a halt. While the whole hospital bit in the last 3 episodes was beautifully acted and directed, I still felt like the main couple's story had suddenly driven off a side road and I was watching a different drama. It all wrapped up a bit too cleanly (as did the drowning/rescue bit, she would have needed Superman's lungs to survive). They at least finished strong in the final half hour or so of the drama and returned to what made it great most of the story. Did anyone else get Sawan Biang vibes around episode 13? The whole ML tracks down the FL, takes care of her while she spurns him and is pregnant, etc. Even the locale was very similar.

Very nice - it surprised me early on in the story and kept me guessing. (Thanks for not spoiling with tags, page editors!) The FL was complex, and I liked Prin in this more than in Kleun Cheewit because he used a far wider range of acting. Overall, I feel like Ch 3 has caught on to what makes the newer GMM series popular - less classic tropes, a nod to BL/GL (good for them definitely but there's a long way to go) and even that instagram-filter washed out lighting. Seriously, lol. I felt like I was watching the Sand Princess. Also, P'Ri was a snack and I can't wait to watch Unlucky Ploy to see him as a ML.

Thanks for the tip! I'm watching Yong in My Husband in Law right now and he's such a dish. Now I want to see him in a main role.

Added! I had it on my future jdrama watchlist and it sounds like it definitely belongs here.

This is wonderfully odd from start to finish, so refreshingly weird for a kdrama, most of which I'm still so, so jaded on right now. The directing/visual style reminds me a lot of jdramas: this style would be pretty normal fare for a jdrama (Mob Psycho comes to mind). The magical realism is sometimes sinister/creepy and sometimes whimsical, and the character realism is also a departure from more recent kdramas I've seen. The leads don't sport that surreal beautiful no-makeup makeup, no one is picture perfect, and even the high school kids look awkward and frumpy as many kids their age do. The 5th episode was my favorite, and Hye-min's overall story was the best part of the drama that made everything else more beautiful. For once I was fine with the lightness of the romance - it felt like just enough. I think a 2nd season of this would be hard to follow and I'd be happy if they left it at this.

This is the late-night miserable trash version of Leh Ratree. Whew, how did I get here? Apparently I took a wrong turn like many other folks. If you did too and were really after Game Sanaeha, you were probably looking in the same place I was. There should be 2 listings and the one called Game of Love is right for Game Sanaeha, not this one. Still, I found the cynicism and sarcastic humor entertaining enough to return for a few a little more, and I only made it through 8 episodes. I tried skipping through large portions, but it literally felt like dumpster-diving for slimey old veggies. It's a shame, because I like the chemistry of the two leads. It's better than the chemistry of some better-written lakorns I've watched lately. You could probably skip through the second half of this in about 30 minutes to keep your sanity, unless truly evil mother-in-laws and repetitive self-sabotage is your jam.

As far as lakorns go, this is a slow burn action romance, with good production value and nice scenery (whether you consider "scenery" to be the many Weir topless scenes, gorgeous island shots, or both, is up to you). The chemistry isn't knocking my socks off, but it's very sweet and wholesome compared to the usual fire/ice lakorn romances. It's a low-investment watch I'm not in danger of staying up late to binge through, especially since the story really slows down around the halfway point.

I love the ML's expressions, whether they're angry, hurt, happy or tired. I can watch his face all day. The last episode could have been nothing but the ML delivering a lecture on physics without subtitles and I would have still died happy, as long as he kept looking at the camera. I hope he gets all the main roles in the future. I'll watch him in anything.

Anyway, the last episode was very strong. Excellent tight writing without a minute wasted. The entire drama, really. I wish they tossed in some more food glamour shots in the later episodes, but this was the best cdrama I've seen in recent memory.

The FL wasn't quite what I was expecting but I appreciated her in the role, and the beginning through middle of the drama was fairly nice with some cute kisses. The second couple had nice chemistry, too. But 5-6 episodes until the end, it dragged a bit with filler. By the end I was just trying to clear it off my watchlist. The themes were intriguing though and it really makes me want to explore Chinese liquors (I've had more than my fair share of wine, especially while watching this!).

This is solidly watchable but probably a tad overrated (8.1 at the time of this comment). More ratings will probably even it out. The chemistry is ok but not fire and they missed some opportunities for more sizzling clashes. The story goes pleasantly makjang toward the end after going weak in the middle. Na's dad is so adorable, I loved him. Mook's FL relied on a lot of pouty acting for her "hate", but where that worked in Maturot Lohgan, you need more teeth for a good hate/love story. But maybe the writers didn't think she could pull it off.

The first 10 minutes of this lakorn are wild. I guess if I'd read further down the comments I wouldn't be looking around like, wait, did that just..? And I've got some traumatic lakorns under my belt already - I've seen some stuff. But my jaw dropped at where the writers went with the ML. (Trigger warning: if you struggle with the controversial content of lakorns, you need to back off this page *immediately*.) It's engaging, and once all the true hate and power struggles started flowing in several directions, it's like yesssss.... let the hate flow through you. I'm here for the burn!

I do have a couple beefs that just aggravated me: 1) everyone seems to be annoyed by Piak's behavior, but I was annoyed by her husband's irresponsibility. Dude, you're a grown, married man: don't spend all your time with another woman that's not family, letting her throw her arm around you, get touchy, taking her to lunch, out to drinks when you're mad at your wife, passing out at her house, jumping first to her defense, and not expect your wife to react. It's not about trust - it's about putting yourself in situations that were misunderstood (by everyone around them!) and making your wife feel bad. But he expected his wife to be Buddha in return? To not at least acknowledge her frustration was gaslighting. And so she kept getting more and more agitated, while the FL and her husband stood around looking confused about what a child could understand. 2) Is there a "Double Pregnancy" tag? I always side-eye pregnancy that comes as a "solution", but back-to-back pregnancies in 2 eps? I feel like just the first should have been enough. Pregnancies always distort the perspective in dramas, because the relationship is already unstable, and only in very few cases does introducing that huge responsibility solve any problems. I've read 100s of romance novels, I get the appeal, but relationships can be (re)built so much stronger when a couple gets to spend enough time with each other first.

This is as good as promised! The chemistry of the hate is real, the attraction blooms naturally and believably into just fire, I love it! You wouldn't think the ML could pull it off from the start of it, but the chemistry builds and builds. The subplots have a lot of easily cleared up misunderstandings, one of my peeves, but I can forgive it this one time. And it's full of beautiful people dressed to the nines, fretting prettily in beautiful homes. Sometimes I ignore the petty side characters to admire a nice hot tub, a lovely floor inlay or some superb trimwork, haha!