It’s no secret that I am a huge drama fan. I’ve loved watching Chinese dramas (too many to count), British series (Sherlock), US sitcoms (The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother), Japanese anime-turned-dramas (HanaKimi) and, since about 10 years ago, I got into Korean Dramas too.
I am well aware that I have an addictive personality, meaning once I get into something, I immerse myself into it so fully that often it consumes too much of me. I like to watch things once they’re complete so I can binge everything in one go.
Subsequently, I go through phases of being really into dramas, and anime, and TV series, and Cpop, Jrock, Kpop etc. followed by phases where I completely don’t touch them for months or even years.
That’s one of the reasons I am a spoiler queen. Not to say I give out a bunch of spoilers, but I actively search out the entire plot line on Wiki or some other review site so I can ensure that what I’m getting into will be worth my binge-time (awful, I know), otherwise I just won’t watch it.
The other reason is because I have a very specific type of drama that I like to watch. I am basically a 12-yr-old chicken in a 30-yr-old body. I can’t handle blood or gore, I can’t watch thrillers, I definitely can’t watch horrors or even anything remotely scary (Hotel del Luna scared the CRAP out of me. Heck, Harry Potter scared me). I also don’t have the mental capacity to handle depressing themes either (I think I had enough of those during my days studying WW2 Germany at Uni).
As a result, I’ve found that it’s better for me to just read the drama recaps to get the plot instead of actually putting the time in to watch the drama. After all, it takes a lot less time to read through even a detailed rundown of each episode than to invest my 16-20hrs into actually watching.
I’m currently at a stage where I’m very happily not addicted to any drama, haven’t really been following Kpop for a while and I think I’m taking things more in moderation where I can. That said, I’m still curious about what’s out there, as well as interested in the hype of certain shows. Now with Netflix adding a bunch of international shows, they’re even more readily available. Plus I have a Viki subscription for the rest of this year.
Here’s a list of the dramas I’ve been watching/reading so far this year, in alphabetical order under each heading, as well as my thoughts on them. Most of them are Korean dramas, many of them will be read-only, in which case I’ll have read the recaps on Dramabeans.
I’m thinking of doing a monthly “What Am I Watching” post and add some recommendations for ones I’ve really enjoyed. If I ever find the desire to, I may write my own recaps for ones I really enjoy.
Without further ado, here are my Dramas of the Month (#dotm). Let me know if you’ve seen any of these and what your thoughts on them are!
Currently In Progress
It’s Okay To Not Be Okay – Read Only
Videos of Kim Soo-hyun and Seo Ye-ji’s chemistry/behind the scenes footage/interviews shows up recommended in my YouTube feed. I got curious and ohmygosh their chemistry is really through the roof!
The plot is unique and interesting, and from the snippets I’ve seen on YouTube/Instagram of the drama itself, the acting is exemplary as well. If I wasn’t such a scaredy cat, I’d totally watch this drama. And the only reason it’s still in the “In Progress” section rather than “Completed” is because it’s still ongoing. Otherwise I totally would have binge-read through it all by now. Wahhh!
This may be the first every Kim Soo-hyun drama I enjoy haha.
My Mister (aka My Ajusshi) – Read Only
Honestly I’m about to drop this (again) and I’m not even watching it. I heard about the hype and tried reading it once before, but dropped it because I got bored. I tried reading it again and… again, I got bored half way through and stopped reading. I think this might be one where you really have to watch it to like it. It’s a slice-of-awful-life drama and it’s the actors’ performances that are most enjoyable for viewers. I imagine there’s a lot more emotion in the nuanced gestures and unspoken glances that makes the drama what it is, and all those things can never be conveyed or fully enjoyed over text. The only thing is, the premise is probably a bit too depressing for me, so… I’ll have to pass for now.
Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim – Read Only
I’m getting a bit bored… It’s just not doing it for me. This might be a you-have-to-watch-it drama, but plot wise it’s just annoying me and I don’t understand why it was so highly rated.
Completed
Oh Hae-young Again (aka Another Miss Oh) – Mostly Read Only
This drama sounded like so much fun I actually watched a couple of the episodes after reading the recaps. It’s great to see Eric in a drama that wasn’t the disaster that was Spy Myung-wol. I am glad he didn’t let that drama flop bring him down because he and Seo Hyun-jin were so great in this!
What a fun plot as well. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through this.
Dropped
My Shy Boss (aka Introverted Boss) – Read Only
This is the second time I’ve tried to read through this and the second time I’ve dropped it. When am I going to learn that this plot is just too ridiculous for me? The characters are frustrating and rather illogical. Apparently it’s not just me who thought so, because the entire drama went through a re-write due to backlash. That poor team… but either way, not going to be worth my time.
To Watch/Read
- Crash Landing On You
- Hospital Playlist – I love Jo Jung-suk! He’s one of my all-time favourite actors so this will be interesting for me.
- My First First Love
- My Holo Love
- My ID is Gangnam Beauty – my friend, Emma, recommended this one to me, so I’ll have to check it out as promised to her.
- Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim 2 – I might have to actually watch it because DB didn’t recap it! Noooo… I do think Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung look great together though, so I could potentially watch this. That said, I don’t do well with surgery scenes, bleurgh.
- Stranger – I love Shin Hye-sun, but I can’t handle anything scary, so I’ll probably read the recaps for this one.
- That Winter, The Wind Blows – I’m interested in Song Hye-kyo in this. I don’t like her as an actress and I got bored watching Descendants of the Sun, but apparently this one is a classic and I’m interested in seeing what she’s capable of.
- The King Eternal Monarch – I’m not a fan of Lee Min-ho but I do like Kim Go-eun since her Goblin days, so… I’ll give it a go.
- The Tale of Nokdu – Okay. This one, I have already watched 7 times. It is one of my favourite dramas of all time and I am going to watch it again. Lol.