Record of Youth (K-Drama, Netflix)
Our hero has many things in common with his best friend. Both of them are tall and handsome, both of them work in the modeling field with the hope of breaking into acting. Yet, there is one big difference between the two young men: Money. Our hero has to work multiple side jobs to make ends meet while his best friend has a personal trainer and a mom who spends money like water to smooth her son’s path to stardom. As our hero is struggling with the harsh realities of life and wondering if it’s really time to give up his dream, he meets our heroine, a makeup artist who is secretly his fan.
This one started out a bit slow for me but my attention snapped right back when our two leads finally meet towards the end of the first episode. As of a coming of age story goes, the plot seems a bit predictable at this point BUT I am really liking the chemistry between the two leads so I am very hopeful on the romance front.
Go Ahead (C-drama, Viki, Finished)
This one somehow escaped me when it first came out but that turned out to be a good thing since that allowed me to marathoned it this last weekend…and caused my eyes to be puffy for two whole days because I pretty much cried through the whole thing.
Despite losing her mother at a young age, our heroine is bright and bubbly by nature. Her bubbly personality became the salvation to two young boys who were both abandoned by their own mothers and through different circumstances became her adopted brothers. (Not legally adopted, they just see themselves as a family) Growing up with two doting older brothers, our heroine’s blissful life hits a big bump when it becomes apparent that neither of her older brothers is satisfied with simply being brothers anymore.
The central theme of Go Ahead is about the meaning of what a family is. The show did an excellent job of telling a story that while filled with pain is also brimming with warmth and humor. I usually don’t like shows where the heroine is torn between two male leads, but I actually liked how this one handled the love triangle. My only small complaint would be that I wished the show had given more time to the romance story between our main couple but what was there, was enough to satisfy me.
Way Back into Love (C-Drama, Viki or Youtube Eng Sub)
Walking into her best friend’s wedding reception with strong confidence that she has long since outgrown her high school crush and the embarrassing confession that ended the said crush, our heroine could hardly believe herself the next morning when she remembers how her drunken self had forcefully kissed our hero (on the cheek) the night before. Horrified when she discovers that our hero is actually her new boss, our heroine wants nothing more than to run away but is easily enticed back by our hero’s promise of a high salary. While our heroine is valiantly assuring herself that she is no longer the ignorant youth who will fall for a handsome face, our hero is instead discovering that he might not have been as unmoved by our heroine’s “failed” confession as everyone believed.
Fairly predictable plot but probably still a decent watch if one goes in with a low expectation.
Dating in the Kitchen (K-drama, Viki or Youtube Eng Sub)
As an aspiring chef with a love for cooking, our heroine’s usual upbeat outlook on life has taken a severe beating thanks to a series of unfortunate events that ended with her being in debt AND fired from her job at a hotel’s kitchen. Ecstatic at first upon being informed that she is getting her old job back due to the fact that her cooking is the only thing that pleases her soon-to-be new boss, our heroine’s excitement soon turns to dismay once she discovers her soon-to-be new boss is none other than the guy who has been involved in every one of her misfortunes lately.
I didn’t go into this one with too high of an expectation because honestly, the premise sounds like every other drama where the two leads hated each other at first then slowly falls in love after fate insists on throwing them together again and again. And…I wasn’t exactly wrong because the story didn’t deviate from what I had expected, but surprisingly, the show didn’t feel stale. In fact, I am liking it enough that I will most likely put it on my “I just wanna turned off my brain” watch list.
Actress Rosy Zhao (The Romance of Tiger and Rose) is truly perfect for these sort of cute and sassy female roles, especially with her great comedic timing. However, I was still a bit concerned with this paring because our male lead is 10+ years older than Rosy Zhao in real life but at three episodes in, I am thinking I can get on board with an ahjussi romance no problem.
Oh! My Sweet Liar!
Hired by an old acquaintance to use her photographic memory to copy down a top-secret document owned by the powerful Li family, our heroine disguises herself to enter as a servant into Li manor. Quite intimidated by the Li family’s oldest son, a young general who is rumored to be cruel and ruthless, our heroine greatly feared for her life when she accidentally spends a night with our hero. In a panic, our heroine lies to our hero that she is pregnant with his child. As it happens, our hero is in desperate need of an excuse to get out of an impending marriage and our heroine promptly becomes a ready excuse he needs. (There is actually a hilarious misunderstanding with the spy mission. Our heroine was hired to copy a top secret document but due to her acquaintance’s thick accent, our heroine mistakenly believes she was hired to copy down porn to satisfy some guy’s fantasy.)
I checked out the first two episodes and thought the show overall was fair. I enjoyed it as a fluff but I am not sure it made a deep enough impression on me to go back to it.
Falling Into You (Taiwanese Drama, Viki)
Forced to stop competing in Taekwondo after a leg injury, our heroine lost her dream as an aspiring athlete along with her ability to trust people. Working as a delivery woman, our heroine’s disinterest in everything around her except money eventually catches the attention of her company’s CEO. Successful and charming, our hero is determined at first to fire an employee such as our heroine who seems to only have eyes for money but an accidental meeting ends up forcing our hero to promote our heroine to work in his main office instead.
Puff Guo and Jiro Wang are both seasoned actors so I went into this one with a modest expectation. The two leads’ acting and their chemistry were off to a good start but I was disappointed that the production quality seemed to be on the lower end. Production quality aside, I did like the first episode enough that I am planning on giving this one a few more episodes before I make a decision on it.
First Romance (Chinese Drama, Viki)
Despite being popular with the girls on his college campus, our hero cannot forget his high school first love who gave him the courage to pursue his dream to be a pianist. Ecstatic to be attending the same college as her high school crush, our heroine is determined to properly confess her feelings this time with a brand new makeover. Unable to shake the strange feeling of familiarity our heroine gives him the more time he spends with her, our poor hero is bewildered and shocked to discover that his highschool crush who was a “he” somehow turned into a “she”.
Long story short, our heroine dressed liked a boy back in her high school days so our hero believed all this time that he had developed feelings for a boy. Instead of the usual “Horray! I actually like girls!” reaction from our hero, he was more like “How in the world did you change from a boy to a girl?”
What a fun premise! Plus, I am liking a first love story where it is not just one sided or where it is a bumbling girl liking the aloof brilliant hero.
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