Ninja’s Drama Roundup #72

Forever Love (Chinese Drama, Viki or Youtube Eng Sub)

Taking her job as the class president quite seriously, our heroine’s first couple encounters with our hero is less than pleasant as she spends her precious studying time trying to convince our hero to spend less time on his various part-time jobs and more time at school. Completely stunned when she goes home to find our hero introducing himself as her new math tutor, our heroine is surprised to learn that while our hero’s grade might be less than ideal in most subjects, he is actually a genius when it comes to math. 

After checking out the first three episodes, I am super excited about this one! The chemistry between our two leads is awesome, the pacing is fast and the lead characters are both charming. I especially like that our heroine’s exceptional grade doesn’t come from the fact that she is smarter than everyone else but because she works hard for her goal. By the way, I have seen actor Wang An Yu in historical dramas but he is exceptionally handsome here. In fact, I was so impressed by Wang An Yu’s look here I promptly recommended the drama to Mama Ninja (who is getting more and more picky about having good looking male leads in her drama the older she gets) and was rewarded with her instant approval. ps. Mama Ninja says she is not shallow but simply has a high standard.

Legend of Fei (Chinese Drama, Viki)

Zanilia Zhao’s new drama! Growing up among the famous bandit mountain that provides a safe haven for those who have been forced to retreat from the war torn world, our heroine has never set foot outside of the mountain. Having been taught a loving yet bitter lesson by her father that those without the mightier fist are often at the mercy of those who do, our heroine is finally allowed to venture into the treacherous and dangerous world.

Instead of your typical aloof super fighter hero, our hero here is not a great fighter but can usually talk his way out of most troubles or if things truly get dicey, he can outrun almost everyone else. In the novel this show is based on, the two leads have a fun bickering/mentoring relationship so I am looking forward to seeing that portrayed in the drama. 

The first three episodes looked pretty decent and Zanilia Zhao is also looking great in her comeback drama. I was a tad worried about this particular pairing but the chemistry between our two leads seems to be good thus far. 

The Uncanny Counter (Korean Drama, Netflix)

A suspicious car accident not only took our hero’s loving parents away from him at a young age but also left him with a limp in his leg. Dismayed to discover that his best friend is being bullied at school, our hero soon becomes the bullies’ next victim when he tries to defend his friend. Saved from being beaten to a pulp by a mysterious woman with superhuman strength, our hero soon finds himself joining a group of select people who have been chosen to become “Counters”– people gifted by heaven with a certain special ability and charged with the mission to catch evil spirits. 

This one sort of has a little bit of everything. Some scary parts, mixed with just the right amount of comedy and some coming of age with our young hero at his school. I liked the first couple of episodes so I will most likely check in on it from time to time. 

Run On (Korean Drama, Netflix)

The unlikely romance between a movie subtitle translator and a professional sprinter. My first impression after watching the first episode was not great. The show seems determined to fill the whole hour with bizarre characters having even more bizarre and awkward conversations with one another. Fortunately, I decided to give this one another episode and it started to grow on me. I am still a bit undecided on this one but I am liking it enough that I am going to give it a few more episodes now that the awkward bizarre conversations are starting to be funny to me. 

A Love So Romantic (Chinese Drama, Youtube Eng Sub)

As an ordinary girl who has long learned to rely on her quick wit to keep herself and her brother fed, our heroine’s troublemaking tendency eventually landed her in our hero’s manor as his maid AND contract fake sister to comfort his sick grandmother. Mistaking our hero’s brother as her long lost childhood friend, our heroine’s poor little heart is quite torn when she finds herself falling for our hero when her mind tells her she should choose her gentle “childhood friend” instead. No worry though, going by the synopsis, the hero’s brother is not as kind and gentle as he appears so I imagine our heroine (and the audience) won’t feel too bad when she finally ditches the fake childhood friend. 

The first two episodes seemed decent although the plot was fairly predictable so I will probably only turn to this one when I need a show to run in the background. 

Dear Missy (Chinese Drama, iQIY or Youtube Eng Sub)

Working as an editor at the beloved magazine she has loved since she was young, our heroine is stunned to be reunited with her long-estranged ex-bff who showed up at her company to shut it down. Unbeknownst to our heroine, her ex-bff has never given up on their precious friendship and has returned with the intention to team up with her to save their favorite magazine. 

There was some confusion online from the promotional poster that there would be a romance between the two female leads. Just to clarify, while there is a big focus on our two female leads’ friendship, the two female leads will have their own respective romance lines. 

By the way, for those of you who like these type of BFF double female leads sort of drama, another new drama called My Best Friend’s Story has just come out. This one is based on a well-known novel and was previously made into a Hong Kong drama that ended up being a classic. In fact, the Hong Kong version was such a classic with star-studded cast that this newest version made sure to get an equally impressive cast.

After checking out the first few episodes, I was impressed by how gorgeous both Liu Shi Shi and Ni Ni are here. Liu Shi Shi just gave birth last year but she still looks perfect as the dreamy goddess. As for Ni Ni, she is looking so exceptionally sexy that even my little heart is skipping a beat during her scenes. Now, for the bad news: I haven’t figured out a place to watch this one in English. You can find the show on Youtube but at least as of right now it is not subbed yet.

Love Is Sweet (Chinese Drama, Finished)

I finally finished this one over the Christmas holiday. This one had finished airing for a while now but honestly, I had a hard time getting through the first couple of episodes. The show was certainly very glamorous and pretty but it felt…hollow for some reason for the first bit. I am happy to report though that the story did pick up considerably later on. Love is Sweet is one of those few C-dramas where the second half of the show was actually better and faster paced than the first third. 

By the way, if you haven’t watched this one yet, it will feel like the show should’ve finished at episode thirty and the scriptwriter seemed to have added unnecessary conflicts just to drag on the last six episodes. Turns out, the scriptwriter is actually just trying to follow the novel this one is based on. Viewers who read the novel before were actually fairly pleased with the last six episodes since it stuck to the novel more closely. Anyhow, once I figured that out I was much more patient to keep watching.

Healer of Children (Chinese Drama, Youtube Eng Sub Finished)

It has been ages since I finished a medical drama but I finished this one! I am actually not too certain why this one was the exception for me other than the fact that the show was pretty laid back and I enjoyed the patient stories. While the romance between our two leads wasn’t really the focus of the show, it WAS cute and I kinda enjoyed the long simmering process. In fact, it took the show so long to show any sign of our two leads being interested in each other that I wondered if for once the two leads would be paired off with secondary characters. Fortunately, despite the long wait, I was quite satisfied with the end result. 

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