Ninja’s Drama Roundup #58

Girlfriend (Chinese Drama, Youtube English Sub)

In urgent need of money, our heroine goes against her better judgment and takes on a job to pretend to be a nurse hired to take care of our hero. Fed up with his mother’s continual attempt to throw women his way due to her belief that he is still hung up on his ex-girlfriend, our hero is not about to make an exception when it comes to our heroine…that is until he begins to suspect that she might be the mystery girl he has been searching for all these years.

Obviously a very predictable plot but oh, who cares when there are so many sizzling scenes! The show knows very well that it is not going to win any awards when it comes to creativity with its story so it dazzles us with lovely heart skipping scenes. After all, who cares about the story when you are too busy squealing. In all honesty, being predictable aside, the story is actually not half bad at all so I am for sure putting this one on my watch list. 

You Are My Starlight (Chinese Drama, Youtube No English Sub)

It has been three years since our heroine was betrayed by the love of her life AND was almost burned to death. Making a triumphant return as the upcoming star of the fashion design world, our heroine is determined to have nothing to do with her ex but of course our hero is not about to let her get away from him again.

Not great but not bad either. Our hero’s betrayal of our heroine must obviously be a misunderstanding since he is…well, the hero, but our heroine’s reaction towards seeing the man who destroyed her once happy life AND almost killed her seems way too calm. I was kinda hoping for a good’ol revenge drama and would’ve been fine with a revenge drama turn love reunion once there was some time for the misunderstanding to be solved, but I was a bit disappointed to find the show trying to do both scenarios from the get go. Still, I will probably give this one a couple more episodes to see if it can turn itself around and make up its mind on what sort of revenge drama it wants to be.

The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty (Chinese Drama, Viki)

A sixth level official who loves food as much he is skilled in criminal investigation gains an unlikely partner of an imperial guard captain when they are ordered to investigate a strange murder case. 

Lots of criminal investigation shows set in ancient China lately. This one is unique from the rest of the pack because instead of your usual heroine + hero pairing, this one actually has three male leads…and all three of them are extremely easy on the eyes. I enjoyed the show’s fun vibe mixed with a heavy dose of criminal mystery, although there is also some palace intrigue thrown in so there is the risk of the story getting a bit too confusing at times. 

The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty is based on a comic and much to the fans’ dismay, the show has chosen to create a female love interest for the drama that didn’t exist in the comic. The three male leads are really quite plenty for the story so I wonder if the show will slowly decrease the love line portion of the story to appease the fans. 

Fatal Promise (Korean Drama, Viki)

Once a plucky high school girl from a modest but very happy home, our heroine is betrayed by the person she trusted the most and ended up wasting away in prison for six years. As one who is ambitious but tried diligently to be a good moral person, our hero has only ever broken one promise in his life and that’s to the young girl who trusted him with all her heart. Facing our heroine’s fury and vow of vengeance, our hero could only hope that he can protect her this time around. 

If you are in the mood for a juicy, messy and make you swear at the tv sort of K-daily, then this one might fit the bill. My problem so far with the show is that our heroine still seems way too naive after everything she has suffered. However, if my guess is right and that our hero is our heroine’s love line then I am definitely putting this one on my watch list. Our hero is older than our heroine so their relationship has always had more of a “Daddy Long Legs” in a Kdaily makjang sort of way to it but it should get gloriously awesome when our hero finally realizes that our heroine is no longer a little girl. 

How To Buy A Friend (Korean Drama, Viki)

As an average student who has lived his whole life up to this point being average, our hero is stunned when he unexpectedly wins a poetry contest AND befriends his secret crush. Unfortunately, our hero’s sudden turn of good fortune also brought trouble with it as he becomes the favorite pass time for one particular school bully. Desperate to be rescued, our hero strikes a deal to become a contract friend with the new transferred student who is legendary for his fighting ability. In return for the new transferred student’s protection, our hero will help him to find out the truth behind his girlfriend’s suicide. 

I usually avoid school bully sort of shows since they are too depressingly real for my taste. However, this one is surprisingly hilarious at some unexpected moments. There are of course still plenty of scenes that made my blood boil with anger and sadness but I was so stunned by the wacky humor sprinkled throughout the show that I might just be willing to put this one on my list. 

The Best of You in My Mind (Chinese Drama, Viki)

Our heroine might be small in stature but she is a fireball through and through. As our heroine’s neighbor and best friend for most of their lives, our hero has harbored a long time crush on her that he has never dared to express. With both of them in the same college now…and our heroine beginning to draw notices from other boys, our hero must figure out if he is willing to stay in the friend zone forever. 

This one is surprisingly more serious than I had expected. Now, there are plenty of light moments but I just wasn’t quite prepared for the melo parts. The story is decent although I think out of the current modern C-dramas that have aired lately, this one is probably the lowest on my watch list.   

The King: Eternal Monarch (Korean Drama, Netflix)

Lee Min Ho’s new drama where he plays a king of an empire from the parallel universe that greatly resembles the modern day Korea. Discovering a gateway between the two worlds, our hero will finally meet the mystery woman he has been searching for most of his life- a female detective played by Kim Go Eun (Goblin). To save their worlds threatened by our hero’s evil uncle, our two leads must work together…oh, and find time to fall in love as well.

First episode was pretty confusing since we were hopping worlds AND timelines all over the place. The second episode was better since most of the backstories were set up by that point. I am undecided about how I feel about the show as of yet. The show is certainly beautiful and the story has an intriguing set up but the pacing feels slow and chaotic for some reason.

The chemistry between our two leads is not bad…but hilariously, the chemistry between our hero and the captain of his royal guard seems much more sizzling. It is obvious the show did it as a joke yet as a viewer I am beginning to worry when I am more impatient to see our hero reunited with his captain instead of more scenes with the heroine.

Note: I have been told that K-dramas on Viki are not always licensed in all countries so I can only vouch for US as it might not be available depending on where you are located.

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