Madame Antoine: First Impressions

 Ok I’m intrigued, like I was actually interested in this drama before because who doesn’t love a romance comedy with Han Ye Seul (Birth of a Beauty) playing a fake fortune teller, but now that I’ve watched the first two episodes I genuinely hope that the drama doesn’t go down the drain mainly because I can’t wait until Sung Joon’s (High Society) character Choi Soo Hyun is knocked down a peg or two or like five by Han Ye Seul’s character Go Hye Rim who is awesomely feisty. There isn’t really much to say when there have only been two episodes (well three by the time this post gets up) aired so it’s basically more like rough thoughts and impressions. In terms of ratings Madame Antoine kicked off its run with 0.88% which as JTBC is a cable channel is actually pretty good.

‘Mafia Luerd Mungkorn’ – Series Review

 Aof Pongpat’s mega series of the year “Mafia Luerd Mungkorn” has finally come to an end and whilst it took me a while to warm up to the series as a whole (instead of just watching the ones that the actors that I truly liked) I did thoroughly enjoy the series both as a whole and each individual mini drama. Although there were some scenes that I was iffy about (namely the really bad effects and inconsistencies during scenes), I’m glad that I finally found a drama that I could watch all the way through because I have given up halfway through on a lot of the Thai drama’s that I’ve recently watched. This series also gave me a chance to watch some actors and actresses that I have never considered watching before, with a star studded main cast and numerous supporting characters it’s not hard to pick favourites from each part. Set in 1957 the series depicts the journey of first generation Thai’s born from Chinese immigrants. The fathers of our five main protagonists made the journey from China to Thailand and together went through many hardships before forming the “Luerd Mungkorn” society in which they were each leaders of a gang that took care of areas of Bangkok populated with Chinese immigrants. The series follows the journey of the heirs of these gang leaders and the hardships that they have to overcome in order to continue their fathers legacies.
Side note: I’m still not over the finale of Hohng and what happened with Ah Long

Yong Pal Episodes 1-6: Medical Meets Action Thriller Meets Chaebol Melo

Yong Pal is the new show on the block that everyone’s talking about: with Joo Won and Kim Tae Hee headlining and its fair share of plot twists and turns keeping viewers at the edges of their seats, it’s definitely raking in the ratings. The most recent episode (Episode 6, which aired last Thursday) scored 20.4% nationwide according to AGB Nielsen, which is just crazy by recent standards. But does it truly deserve all the hype? (Note: Spoilers for Episodes 1-6 below.)

I Remember You: A Review

If you had told me a few weeks ago that I Remember You would be the show to shake me out of the epic drama slump that I found myself in following Kill Me, Heal Me, I would have scoffed. And yet, here we are. Nothing in the promotional material for I Remember You warned me that this would be such a thought-provoking, well-plotted and brilliantly-acted little drama, but it was the very best of surprises. Imagine how bright and promising kdramaland would be if there were more dramas like this.

Note: Please be warned that this review *will* have spoilers right up to the end; it’s impossible to review even the acting of certain roles without revealing character mysteries!

‘Girl Who Sees Smells’ Halfway Review

 So we’re now 8 episodes in to “Sensory Couple” AKA “Girl Who Sees Smells” with another 8 episodes to go and the mystery of the “Barcode Killer” is heating up. That’s not the only thing heating up though (and I mean that in the most non sexual way ever), our two leads Choi Mu Gak (Yoochun) and Oh Cho Rim/ Choi Eun Seol (Shin Se Kyung) are also getting closer and closer they’re practically unofficially dating by episode 8. Which makes me wonder what direction the drama will take once Mu Gak finds out that his dongsaeng was killed because she had the same name as Cho Rim.

Pinocchio: First Impressions

Another crop of dramas have come and gone in what’s largely been a far more promising second half of the year, as far as high quality shows are concerned. Unfortunately I don’t have time to talk about them all (perhaps later, after I’ve dealt with this irritating business of life outside of dramas and completed the recaps of the final episodes of the rolicking-good-fun The Three Musketeers), but the two standouts for me have been tvN’s Liar Game and OCN’s Bad Guys.

What I thought I would weigh in on with my brief first impressions is SBS’s Pinocchio, the recently-premiered drama from the PD-writer team behind I Hear Your Voice. The drama hit two-digit ratings with Episode 4 nationwide (10.4%) last week, but worth noting are the insanely highly online viewership ratings (34.1% – its competitors Mr. Back and The King’s Face are coming in with 14.1% and 7.3% respectively on that front).