La Grande Maison Tokyo (Japanese Drama, New)

Once the only Japanese chef awarded with two Michelin Stars, our hero’s seemingly bright future comes to a screeching halt when an incident in his restaurant caused him to become the shame of Japan. Unable to find employment at any Michelin starred restaurant, our hero grabs hold of a second chance when he convinces a discouraged female chef to open up a restaurant with him- a French restaurant he promises will one day receive three Michelin Stars.

Takuya Kimura’s new drama!!! I went into this one with a tentative high hope and I am happy to report that I was not disappointed. As to be expected with any Kimura show, the cast list is impressive and solid so the acting was very smooth all around. It’s too early to tell if we will get any romance out of this one but I was plenty pumped up by the bromance and the underdog story in the first episode so I don’t think we will miss it if the romance doesn’t happen.

When Shui Met Mo: A Love Story (Chinese Drama)

I am not sure why the show chose the name When Shui Met Mo, when it would’ve been much easier and clearer to go with When Water Met Ink which is the actual English translation of the show’s Chinese name.

This one is an epic love story between our heroine- a tenacious young woman who grew up taking care of her father’s debt after her mother left with all the family’s money and our hero- the only son of the city’s biggest tea merchant. What should’ve been a sweet romance between two young people turns into a heartbreaking mess when our heroine is tricked by our hero’s family into marrying his dying father. (Back in the days in China some people believed that a person’s sickness could be helped by marrying the right girl whose birth dates matched well with the sick person’s. This of course doesn’t usually work so the unfortunate young girl would become a widow soon after she marries and is expected to stay faithful to her dead husband for the rest of her life.)

Forced to suddenly take over his family’s business when his father dies on the day our heroine marries into his family, our spoiled hero who has never shown interest in the family’s tea business will eventually have to rely on our heroine’s talent with numbers if his family business is to survive.

The first episode didn’t really catch my interest. The story itself sounds decent but I really didn’t care for the hero’s character…and actually thought the male second lead came off more like the hero than the hero did. By the way, don’t get put off by the synopsis that makes the story sound like there is no way in heaven this could have a good ending because going by the Chinese synopsis- it does.

A Little Thing Called First Love (Chinese Drama)

This one is a C-remake of a Thai drama. As you probably can guess from the show’s name, the story revolves around our mousy and very ordinary heroine falling in love with our hero- who seems to be the poster child of perfection.

Despite my insistence that I am done with innocent school love C-dramas, somehow I find myself eating my words when C-drama manages to win me over with yet another one of these. I liked this particular one because the heroine is truly mousy and ordinary at least in the beginning of the show…you know, the sort that allows equally mousy viewers like me to easily imagine that such a fairytale could be OUR story? I also liked the fact that instead of a haughty arrogant hero, our hero here is a really nice guy which makes our heroine falling in love with him that much more believable.

Leverage (Korean Drama)

K-remake of the US television show of the same name, Lee Dong Gun plays our hero who went from a top insurance fraud investigator to forming his own team consisting of criminals he once caught to scam wealthy criminals.

I like these sort of shows on principle but somehow they never end up on my watch list so I will just say that the first episode was fast-paced with a very pretty cast. Now, I could totally be tempted to change my mind if there is some romance between the two leads…is there? Anyone following this one?

 

Doki no Sakura (Japanese Drama)

Leaving the remote island she calls home, our heroine Sakura joins a big construction company as a newbie. Not one to mince words or hold back her opinions, our heroine’s personality to tell the truth exactly as it is caused quite a bit of adjustment between herself and her co-workers. Understandably offended by Sakura’s tactless words at times, our heroine’s co-worker nonetheless slowly comes to appreciate Sakura’s unfailing dedication to her job no matter how difficult the task might be.

While not exactly the sort of show I would put on my watch list but the show did make me seriously wonder how I would’ve reacted if I was one of Sakura’s co-worker. As shocking as our heroine’s honesty could be, I thought her character was very endearing at the same time since she doesn’t hold back her praises as well when she notices other people’s good points.

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