Prince Coffee Lab (Chinese Drama, New)
The C-remake of the K-drama 2007 classic Coffee Prince with Yoon Eun Hye and Gong Yoo. I loved the K-original but with my watch list so full right now I am not planning on following this.
Fights Break Sphere (Chinese Drama, New)
Based on a book written by the same author that gave us Martial Universe (on air now starring Yang Yang), Fight Break Sphere tells the story of our hero who had achieved fame at a young age due to his martial art talent but then spends the rest of his growing up years the subject of ridicules when his martial art ability started to disappear for some unknown reason…that is until he finally discover the reason or rather the person who has been stealing his power.
I didn’t go into this one with too much hope since Martial Universe didn’t catch my interest BUT I was pleasantly surprised by Fights Break Sphere. I was mostly scared off by Martial Universe because our hero will end up having multiple love interests…which might also be a problem here if the show ends up sticking to the book (the show’s promo poster does show only one female lead so perhaps the show is not planning on following the book so closely when it comes to the romance line). However, my fear was greatly soothed when Fight Break Sphere mostly focused on our hero’s determination to become a fighter no matter how useless everyone else thought of him AND the hilarious bromance between our hero and his new master. Fight Break Sphere is nowhere near as flashy and impressive as Martial Universe but it engaged me right from the start with its awesome underdog story.
I am loving the fun vibe in Fight Break Sphere thus far so as long as the fun keeps up I see myself sticking with this one.
Mr. Swimmer (Chinese Drama, New)
Mike D. Angelo plays our hero who competes with his good friend (played by Jerry Yan whose web drama The Story of Souls just ended) both in their career as professional swimmers and in love. Our heroine used to be in a relationship with the second male lead but he disappeared after her family lost their fortune. As you can guess, this will be a messy love triangle but I believe the male second lead is the good kind so it should end happily all around.
With such good looking cast, I had modest hope for this show…but the production quality was really rough so even our suave male leads weren’t enough to keep my interest. (See! I am not so shallow after all!)
Lady Cha Dal-Rae’s Lover (Korean Dram, New)
New K-daily about three high school friends who suddenly encounter (late) mid-life crisis in their lives. I haven’t had a chance to check this one out yet…and to be totally honest, I am not sure I am all that interested in a mid-life crisis story that doesn’t involve a super sexy ahjussi. Sigh…I guess I am shallow.
Devilish Happiness (Korean Drama, New)
As an expert in the field of brain nerves, our hero calmly accepts his fate when a car accident three years ago left him with short-term memory loss. Unable to remember anything that happened the day before when he wakes up each morning, our hero has to take meticulous notes each day. Resigned to living a life of loneliness, our hero is stunned when one day he runs into a woman…a woman who somehow stayed in his memory the next morning. Unbeknownst to our hero, he actually met our heroine three years ago when she was still a wildly popular celebrity but now she is just a has been who is trying to do everything she can to stay in the entertainment business despite being dubbed “the most hated celebrity.”
Episode one was full of cliche as the drama pulled out every romantic trope to have our two leads fall in love on their short but memorable first meeting. I probably would’ve lost interest if episode one didn’t end in such a cliffhanger that made me immediately watch episode two and I am glad I did so. Episode two still have some of the fairytale cliche feel to it, but I was really intrigued by how our hero’s brain condition is going to play out after he meets our heroine again. It’s too early to call if this one will end up on my watchlist BUT I am certainly quite eager to watch the next few episodes.
The Ghost Detective (Korean Drama, New)
If you are in the mood for crime mysteries I think The Ghost Detective might just be what the doctor ordered. The first two episodes were quite promising! The show’s pacing was fast, the cases intriguing, and our leads are both strong charming characters. It doesn’t hurt at all that Daniel Choi is also looking awesome as the super sharp detective. Park Eun Bin (Judge vs Judge) plays the spunky heroine who ends up becoming our hero’s assistant. Based on the synopsis, it looks like the show will have a ghost element to it but I believe that’s because there is a mysterious female/ghost(?) that will show up in each case our hero takes and not because the cases themselves are of the supernatural sort. (That’s my guess anyway…)
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What scared me off Fight Breaks Sphere is the lead is too young for my taste. Perhaps I’ll try it again.
Love Ghost Detective.
Oh;, yes, Devilish Happiness. I thought it was more than a bit contrived situations, cliched but watchable when there’s nothing else on. These rom com type dramas almost always start out silly, but get more serious later on. That might be what keeps my interest.
Recently found this blog and love your recaps and translations! I started Devilish Happiness, and like you, rolled my eyes a lot in the first episode. For now, I’ll keep watching mainly for Choi Jin-Hyuk.
Hello! Great post yet again! Can I ask what chinese/taiwan dramas are currently included in your watchlist? I into them recently but I don’t have time to check everything out. Thanks! 🙂
This has been kinda a sad year thus far when it comes to T-dramas for me so no T-drama on my watch list right now. The Rise of Phoenixes and Fights Break Sphere are the two C-drama I am following currently. I am really hoping we will get a cute T or C modern drama soon!