Tag: Romance

Review: The Forbidden Marriage

Posted March 7, 2023 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Forbidden Marriage

Starring: Kim Young Dae, Park Ju Hyun, Kim Woo Seok, Yang Dong Geun, Park Sun Young, Choi Deok Moon
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: Drama, Historical, Comedy, Mystery, Romance
Country: South Korea
Director: Jung Hoon, Park Sang Woo
Screenwriter: Cheon Ji Hye
Where to Watch: Viki, Prime Video

Lee Heon is the king of Joseon. 7 years ago, when he was a crown prince, his beloved wife died. To this day, he has not been able to get over her death. For the past 7 years, the royal family and government members have tried to get King Lee Heon remarried without success. The nation has also implemented a geumhonryung edict, which is a ban on all single women marrying during this time when the king has not married. People are furious over the marriage ban. One day, King Lee Heon hears of a woman named Ye So Rang, who claims the spirit of the king’s late wife exists within the royal palace.

Meanwhile, Ye So Rang is a swindler and claims to interpret marital harmony signs. She is arrested and jailed where Officer Lee Shin Won works. To get out of her predicament, she pretends to be possessed by a spirit in front of Lee Shin Won. During her ruse, she mentions that the spirit of King Lee Heon’s late wife exists within the royal palace. She is then brought in front of the king and he asks her if she can really see his late wife’s spirit. To survive, Ye So Rang acts like her body is possessed by the king’s late wife. Ye So Rang’s lies get bigger and more audacious.

I love me some Kim Young Dae so after watching Shooting Star, I patiently waited for him to come out with something else and this was it. I’m finding that I’m watching more and more shows for the actors that star in them and not the plot or anything like that. I promise I’m not shallow, haha. I do love me some Park Ju Hyun as well so this was a pairing that I didn’t know that I needed. And in a rom-com? Yes, please!

The Story

Kim Young Dae plays a King who has not gotten over his dead wife. He’s still grieving her death and put a law into effect that bans marriage so for the last seven years, everyone has not been able to get married. What everyone doesn’t know is that the King is being haunted by his dead wife. He never gets any peace because his dead wife is always around. So when he meets Ye So Rang and she claims that his late wife is in the palace, he keeps her around so that he can talk to his wife through her and their whirlwind romance takes off. Ye So Rang is battling her own things and is in hiding because she’s never been safe. She’s become a con artist in order to survive and seeing her battle day in and day out made me love her more and more with each episode.

As much as I enjoyed the main romance, the story itself moved slow at times and there were a few episodes where it was so slow that it was very easy for me to be distracted with everything and anything under the sun while the episodes played. That was a bit of a bummer but overall, I did like it.

The Cast

There weren’t too many faces that I didn’t recognize from this drama so it felt like catching up with friends and I enjoyed everyone’s addition to the cast. My favorites of the bunch outside of the two main leads were the second lead, Lee Shin Won, (though I never rooted for him to get the girl, sorry!), and the two palace workers, Se Jang and Won Nyeo, who were trying to steer the King into falling in love so that the marriage ban can be lifted. They were a lot of fun and entertained me with their charm.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this drama was an enjoyable one that made me laugh, made me get teary-eyed, and entertained me. Though there were slow parts of the show, I still enjoyed it. I liked the romance between the King and and So Rang, I liked the second lead, I loved all of the people we meet from So Rang’s life but from the King’s life as well (except for all of those fuckers that were trying to do him dirty) and a giant fuck you to the woman and her daughter that was trying to do So Rang dirty too. I’m glad that when all was said and done, my girl got her happy ending and was able to return to the person she’s always been and was able to step into the light without hiding anymore. I was glad that the King was able to finally move on from his first love and find love again with my girl. There’s enough here for viewers to enjoy and I thought the visuals (not just the actors but the setting as well) were beautiful and I am glad that I watched it.

Final Rating

3.5 out of 5

0 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Review: He is Psychometric

Posted March 2, 2023 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

He is Psychometric

Starring: Park Jin Young, Shin Ye Eun, Kim Kwon, Kim Da Som, Noh Jong Hyun, Go Youn Jung
Year Released: 2019
Number of Episodes: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural
Country: South Korea
Director: Kim Byung Soo
Screenwriter: Yang Jin Ah
Where to Watch: Prime Video, Viki

After losing his parents in a fire, Lee Ahn acquires the power of psychometry, the ability to read a person or an object’s past through physical contact, and he decides to use it to take bad people down. While he does not know how to control his power yet, he meets Yoon Jae In who tries her best to hide her painful secrets. Together with his foster guardian, prosecutor Kang Seong Mo, and the latter’s colleague, investigator Eun Ji Soo, they team up to solve an elusive case that has been haunting the lives of Ahn, Sung Mo, and Jae In. The case revolves around the life of prosecutor Kang’s mother and father, who were the main cause of the fire. Jae In and Lee Ahn heal each other through their past present and future and find the culprit.

My best friend Therese and I started this drama right after we finished Alchemy of Souls 2: Light and Shadow because we wanted some more Go Youn Jung. We are huge fans of both her and Lee Jae Wook. We finished this show in just a few days and came away huge fans of Park Jin Young’s fine ass. Haha.

The Story

Our main character, Lee Ahn gets hurt in an apartment fire that took both of his parents from him when he was like ten years old. He also gets the power of psychometry. This power of his came with a lot of growing pains but once he’s a teenager, he’s come to terms with this power, and though he doesn’t have control over his powers, he knows to keeps his hands off of people if he doesn’t want to be bombarded by their pasts. He’s a very confident person that lives with his older brother. He’s part of a found family of people that were affected from the apartment fire and he’s determined to grow up into a good, upstanding adult just like his older foster brother. When he meets Yoon Jae In, she hates his guts because of a misunderstanding and the more he gets to know her, the more he realizes that she’s got a tight grip on her secrets, and her past.

This drama centers around Lee Ahn but also around everyone close to him. Their lives are all connected through cases that are all connected to that apartment fire and seeing everything come together piece by piece made for a very engaging drama that me and my best friend enjoyed from start to finish.

The Cast

Our main couple, Lee Ahn and Yoon Jae In were cute but I’ll admit that I enjoyed their romance as it was developing. Once they got together, I cared more about everything and everyone else. That’s not to say that I didn’t love Lee Ahn and Yoon Jae In, cause I did. I just kept waiting for crumbs from Kim So Hyun (Go Youn Jung) more. Lee Ahn was my favorite and I loved every bit of his acting in this show. He showed us such great scenes with a variety of emotions and knocked every single scene out of the park. The humor, the sweetness, the love he had for the people around him while still feeling the effects of being an orphan and without his parents. The way that he clung to his older brother and the hurts he suffered throughout the show made me a really big fan of Park Jin Young. He really showed out.

I loved all of the other characters as well. From the older brother, Kang Sung Mo to the detective, Eun Ji Soo and then Lee Dae Bong and Kim So Hyun and even Jae In’s Aunt and her boss at the police station. They were all such great characters and did a great job of bringing this story to life. The only character outside of Park Jin Young and Go Youn Jung that I knew was Shin Ye Eun. I knew her as that little cheeky ass girl from Yumi’s Cells that made me mad at Jin Young’s character, haha.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a solid drama that my bestie and I enjoyed the heck out of. This was definitely one of the better ones that we’ve watched lately and there have been some duds that we didn’t even end up finishing so it was good to be excited about a drama after Alchemy of Souls finished. I love that Therese LOVES Jin Young now and I loved that she seems to be enjoying k-dramas more and more with me because let me tell you, watching these shows with someone else who is just as invested in it all as you are makes the watching experience that much more fun. Big ups to the writers, the actors, and the staff that delivered a solid story with characters that had us rooting for them and even when things didn’t go our way, we still enjoyed this one. So yeah, I definitely recommend this one.

Final Rating

4 out of 5

0 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Review: Alchemy of Souls 2: Light and Shadow

Posted February 16, 2023 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Alchemy of Souls 2: Light and Shadow

Starring: Lee Jae Wook, Go Yoon Jung, Hwang Min Hyun, Shin Seung Ho, Yoo Joon Sang, Oh Na Ra
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: Drama, Fantasy, Historical, Romance
Country: South Korea
Director: Park Joon Hwa, Bae Hyun Jin
Screenwriter: Hong Jung Eun, Hong Mi Ran
Where to Watch: Netflix

Jang Uk returns from death, and three years later, the story of the mages unfolds anew. Jang Uk becomes a hunter of the soul-shifters when a young woman, a prisoner in her own home, seeks his help to reclaim her freedom.

After a short break, Alchemy of Souls returned to finish things up and my best friend and I were here for it all. We were here for finishing out the story, and seeing where all the characters ended up and we weren’t mad about the female lead change either. That made sense to me. It worked for the story that was being told, and if I had a gripe about anything in this season, it was that we never got a Naksu vs. JinMu showdown. Everything else? It worked and I enjoyed it a lot.

One thing that I enjoyed about this season was that I didn’t need to watch the first season again to remember where we were in the story, what to expect, or anything like that. Therese and I were able to just jump right into the new season and go from there, so that was good.

The Story

Season 2 of Alchemy of Souls picks up three years after the first season ends. Things look really different in Daeho. Yul is still sick from that damn blood bug that homegirl put inside him last season. Dang Gu and Cho Yeon are separated. Prince Go Won is on the outs with Jang Uk, who has the ice stone and is killing soul shifters left and right. Jin Bu Yeon is back and she’s locked up in the dungeon at Jinyowon. When chasing a soul shifter brings him to Jinyowon, he uses his new powers to sneak in and comes across Bu Yeon. These days, Jang Uk has little time and desire to interact with anyone and it shows when Bu Yeon pleads for his help in escaping her prison. Not being able to completely ignore her, he helps her in the funniest of ways and does not expect to keep running into her wherever he goes. Before he knows what’s what, Jang Uk pretends to marry Bu Yeon and even though he had his reasons for wanting to marry her, loving her was never in the cards for him. Not when he was still drowning in guilt for failing to protect Mudeok, his long lost love.

The more time he spends with his fiance, the more things start to click into place until Jang Uk has no choice but to stand up against the very evil that took his love away from him.

Male Lead

Jang Uk is a lot darker than he was in season one. It makes sense since my guy is heartbroken and dealing with the burden that came along with his new powers from the ice stone. He had no intention or plans to save everyone in Daeho, along with everyone else in the world. He didn’t care about anything or anyone and once he found out that there was a person with divine powers that could put him out of his misery, he planned to make her his wife so that she can destroy the ice stone in him and in turn, probably destroy everything else too. Gone are the days when Jang Uk would have thought to do the right thing and use his powers for good. He doesn’t want any of the responsibility so he wants out.

I’m not going to lie. I spent a good deal of this season pissed at his fine ass. He kept hurting my girl, Bu Yeon, over and over again. But alls well that ends well because once he finally gets over himself, his grief, and gets to know Bu Yeon, he falls in love again and seeing him struggle made my heart hurt for him. Even while I was mad at him for always being so mean to Bu Yeon, I never blamed him for the way that he acted. Even though he didn’t want the responsibility that came with his powers, he dealt with everything that was thrown at him. He grudgingly stepped in when he was needed and even though it would have been so easy to turn to the dark side, he didn’t and he was still a really good friend to his loved ones. No matter how mad I got at him, I still loved him most and if that ain’t love, I don’t know what is.

Female Lead

A lot of people were not a fan of the female casting change but I wasn’t one of them. I started the first season because Go Yoon Jung was in it. Sure, she was only in it for a handful of minutes and I ended up loving everyone else, it was her that brought me around to wanting to watch it. So I was waiting for her return this season, quite anxiously too.

Bu Yeon was the light to Jang Uk’s dark. She was bright, bubbly, and completely adorable to me. I loved that she was determined to get out of that dungeon. I loved that even when the chips were down, she never stayed down. She got right back up and learned to fight another day. I loved that she was so self aware. She knew she was pretty and she also knew that she was a bit of an airhead but didn’t let that stop her from trying to figure out her future outside of her mother’s clutches. I loved how completely sure she was of her love for Jang Uk and even when she realizes that Jang Uk already gave his heart away, I loved that she was prepared to love her all by herself for the rest of her life. She didn’t begrudge him his feelings even if his feelings hurt her. When her memories started coming back and she was so confused about who’s memories they were. If they were hers or if the memories were part of her power somehow, I enjoyed the angst that came with having to wait week after week for more clues to put everything together. As Bu Yeon, I enjoyed her even though I waited all season long for Naksu. It was Naksu that I was invested in and it sucked that after all this time, we never really got to see her.

The Cast

Man, it was so good to see everyone back in action. From the Crown Prince to the Parks, Maidservant Kim, the Seo’s, and hell, even the damn Jin’s. I didn’t miss JinMu’s ass and he annoyed the ever loving shit out of me in this season but it was still good to see everyone again. This season Master Lee and his constant air of mystery annoyed me. I was like, dude we don’t have a lot of time to fuck around, what the hell do you know and who are you telling the truth too because you were telling a lot of stories that conflicted with what you told others. I did like seeing everyone come together to save Yul. I also liked seeing Maidservant Kim and Park Jin being so cute and in love with each other. I loved seeing them worry over their kids and I cried when they all banded together to battle the bad guys and they got caught in the middle of it all. All of the powerful mages were a lot of fun to see in action. I’m gonna miss all of them for a long time.

Final Thoughts

As a whole, this show served the goods. Was it perfect? No. Did that matter to me? Not entirely. Sure, there were a lot of loopholes left when everything was said and done and I was bummed about that because I really wanted a Naksu and JinMu showdown. I wanted Naksu to somehow be able to clear her name and live as her true self, either Naksu or Cho Yeon. I didn’t want her to stay a Jin. Overall, I loved these characters too much to stay mad about not getting the exact show that I wanted. I loved the chemistry between all of the different characters both on screen and off. These characters became very dear for me and I had a hard time saying bye to all of them. All of these actors have made themselves a permanent spot on my favorite actors list and I will be heartily supporting their upcoming and future projects for as long as I amble. So while it’s not perfect, I still loved it and would recommend.

Final Rating


via GIPHY

4 out of 5

0 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Review: Summer Srike

Posted February 14, 2023 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Summer Strike

Starring: Yim Si Wan, Kim Seol Hyun, Shin Eun Soo, a.mond, Park Ye Young, Kwak Min Gyoo
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: 12
Genre: Drama, Life, Melodrama, Romance
Country: South Korea
Director: Lee Yoon Jung
Screenwriter: Lee Yoon Jung
Where to Watch: Viki

Lee Yeo Reum is a young woman whose career and life are going very well: She has just been awarded permanent contract status at work, and she has a boyfriend she likes very much. But work is starting to get stressful, and then she is hit with a double whammy of misfortune. Her mother dies in a tragic accident just moments after she is dumped by her boyfriend. Feeling utterly dejected and burned out, she decides to quit her job, head to the seaside, and do absolutely nothing for a while – at least until she can recharge her batteries and recover mentally.

She moves to a small seaside village named Angok. And it is here that she meets An Dae Beom, a stuttering librarian who also has his share of skeletons in the closet. Many years ago, he was a math prodigy with a bright academic future ahead of him. But circumstances have forced him away from the big city and the scholastic life. What will happen when these two lost souls meet – and will a spell of “doing nothing” in this small town really cure their ills?

I enjoyed Yim Si Wan and Kim Seol Hyun in other stuff that I’ve watched this in and with how much I enjoyed Our Blues, I thought this had a similar vibe so I was interested in watching it. The first couple of episodes set up the rest of the drama and I’m not going lie, it was slow and I almost didn’t think that I would continue on after the third episode but I’m glad that I stuck with it, even if it didn’t end up being a favorite of mine.

The Story

This story follows our main female lead, Lee Yeo Reum. When we first meet Yeo Reum, she’s working an office job that she hates and dating a guy that doesn’t seem all that interested in her and no matter what she does, she can’t seem to get out of the funk that she’s in. Her boss at work is an asshole, her boyfriend dumps her, and when unexpected grief strikes, Yeo Reum is out. She moves herself to a small town and decides that she’s not going to force herself to rush into finding another job. She’s taking time off do whatever she wants to do. She’s going on a summer strike. When she starts to build a life for herself, make new friends, and everything, she starts to wonder if she should stick around…

Male Lead

I don’t remember watching an introverted male lead in a drama that is as introverted as Dae Beom. I’m usually interested in the more confident male leads but I thought that Yim Si Wan did a really great job of bringing Dae Bom to life. The show was a little on the slow side but even with that, I was invested in what was going on. I was invested in Dae Bom, in his life, in his past, in what really happened with his sister and family, in just about everything and a large part of that was because Yim Si Wan.

He was a great part of the community and a huge draw for me as far as making me come back for more. I adored him.

Female Lead

Our leading lady is the center of the show as the story, and everything else revolves around her. So it was a bit of a let down that I was much more invested in everyone around her then I was in her. I thought she did well as a friend to Kim Bom. I thought she was great with Sung Min, Jae Hoon, and Sung Min’s kid and I didn’t think she deserved the shit she got from Ji Young but overall, her character wasn’t my favorite at all. I would have actually preferred for Kim Bom to be the main lead. I thought her story was much more interesting.

The Cast

I was really invested in the side stories going on here. From trying to figure out what really happened at the pool room, to grieving with Kim Bom and her brother, to everything that went down with Dae Beom and the professor, I was here for all of that. It just took me a long to get invested in those things. The beginning was a lot slower than I would have liked but once Yeo Reum gets to Angok and people start showing up in her life, things picked up but while I enjoyed getting to know everyone else, I can’t say the same for Yeo Reum. I don’t recall seeing any of the other characters in any other drama aside from the kid from Hospital Playlist and the two main leads but I did take notice of the two teens from the show, Bom and Jae Hoon. I did really like the both of them.

Dae Beom’s noona got on my hot damn nerves. She was snobby for no reason and her attitude toward Yeo Reum bothered me but so did her attitude toward Sung Min. The way that she kept trying to warn Yeo Reum away from Dae Beom made me want to pull her hair but when she kept getting turned down, I was like, well, that’s what your ass gets. But aside from her, Sung Min’s Dad, and the professor, I liked everyone else.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this drama was a little on the slow side and while it took me some time to warm up to everything, I did eventually warm up. I thought the romance between Dae Beom and Yeo Reum was cute but I liked the romance between Kim Bom and Jae Hoon more. I cried, I laughed, I happy sighed, and I got hella angry but even with all that, this isn’t a drama that will stay with me and that was a bummer. Still, it was a solid drama.

Final Rating

via GIPHY

3.5 out of 5

0 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Review: May I Help You?

Posted February 2, 2023 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

May I Help You?

Starring: Lee Hyeri, Lee Jun Young, Song Deok Ho, Han Dong Hee, Tae In Ho, Lee Kyu Han
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: Drama, Supernatural, Romance
Country: South Korea
Director: Shim So Yeon
Screenwriter: Lee Seon Hye
Where I Watched It: Prime Video
Who I Watched It For: Lee Hyeri

Baek Dong Ju works as a funeral director. She has a special ability that allows her to see and talk to dead people. The dead people ask Baek Dong Ju to grant their last wish. If Baek Dong Ju doesn’t grant their wishes, her day becomes filled with bad luck. This motivates her to listen to their wishes and grant them their wishes, with the help of Kim Jib Sa.

Kim Jib Sa is an employee at errand service “Ildangbaek,” which is owned by his uncle Vincent. Ildangbaek provides service for pretty much anything clients ask for, even minor things like changing light bulbs. Kim Jib-Sa does his best for his clients.

This show starred Lee Hyeri, so, of course, I was going to watch this. I was also really interested in watching this one because of Lee Jun Young. I think he’s adorable and loved watching him in the other shows of his that I watched so going into this one, I was pretty sure that I was going to love it.

The Story

This story follows the two main leads as they live their lives and deal with whatever life throws at them. At the same time, they’re getting to know each other and falling in love with each other. Our male lead is dealing with some personal things and a whole lot of grief. His guilt is keeping him from working as the doctor he went to school for and our female lead is dealing with trying to come to terms with a special power she’s been given for communicating with the dead and helping them deal with unfinished business before they cross over the bridge to Heaven. The two of them kept bumping into each other all over town and what started as them pretty much hating each other, they grow closer and of course, they fall in love with each other.

Male Lead

Kim Tae Hee was one of my favorite male leads of the ending of 2022. Every episode I adored him more and more. He was such a likable character that was trying to make the most of what he was doing now and as his story unravels and we get to know him and his situation more, you can’t help but feel for him. Even in the beginning when he broke up with Dong Joo, I adored him. I thought he handled the second lead pretty well, considering her coming around kept hurting my girl Dong Joo, I thought that Tae Hee did his best to keep his distance from his ex and still enjoy getting to know Dong Joo. Overall, his character was such a winner for me.

Female Lead

Dong Joo was another fantastic female lead (played by Lee Hyeri). At first, I didn’t think that I would enjoy her character as much as some of her other characters but I’m glad to report that I was wrong. Dong Joo has a special power that puts her in contact with dead people who haven’t crossed over yet. When she first gets this power, she runs away from it and had the worst karma because of that. So she goes back to working at the funeral and she starts listening to the dead people around her and she starts helping them out. While she’s busy with all of this, she meets and keeps meeting Tae Hee and seeing her come into her feelings for him and then putting herself out there with him made me love the hell out of her. She was just a sweet, fun, and totally capable person who was kindhearted as well and *sigh* I just…loved her.

The Cast

There were a lot of great side characters in this show. From Tae Hee’s Uncle to Dong Joo’s father and her Uncle to Dong Joo’s friends, I enjoyed everyone except for Tae Hee’s ex-girlfriend and her Mom and well, I also didn’t like the bad guy. Even the dead people that Dong Joo worked with were great characters. I cried a lot getting to know the dead people and then after all of that stuff with Dong Joo’s Dad. Lots of familiar faces and some that I was all too happy to see again so this cast was colorful and they were beautiful and added different things that made for a great show so I loved them all! My favorites outside of Tae Hee and Dong Joo were definitely the uncles. Haha, they were too good!

Final Thoughts

This show was such a delightful one that deals with heavy things like grief and heartbreak. It had sweet moments, funny moments, and a romance that made me smile throughout the entire thing. I felt all of the emotions watching this one and I enjoyed the beginning half of the season a lot more than the second half but overall, it was a good run and I’m super glad that I watched it. Lee Jun Young and Lee Hyeri were great together and I totally felt their chemistry with each other but also with the other characters in the series. I definitely recommend it.

Final Rating


via GIPHY

4 out of 5

2 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,