Recreation Therapy: Kdramas That Kept Me Entertained While in Lockdown 2021

 Here's my latest list of K-dramas I've recently finished watching 😊 

1. How to Be Thirty
2. Vincenzo
3. So I Married an Anti-Fan
4. Law School
5. Please Don't Date Him

Lima lang pala. I thought the number's so much more than that. Maybe because I'm also watching some ongoing dramas like Nevertheless and Imitation (which is my current favorite OMG 😍) and there are other dramas I still haven't gotten myself to finish watching just yet like Oh My Ladylord, Doom at Your Service and You are Beautiful. 

Anyway, here are my non-review reviews.

How to Be Thirty

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Although I am already pushing frakkin' forty and not thirty, I sort of felt that maybe this drama's something I could relate to. Eh hindi. But then this ajumma's also a sucker for noona romances so ayan. 

I was enjoying it at first kilig kilig eme but in the middle my interest kind of waned. And the drama's only 20 minutes, mind you, so that's not a good thing. Maybe the fact that it was only 20 minutes long was also the reason why cos there wasn't much room for character development? I don't know. I almost didn't finish the drama but I sort of wanted to know if our Female Lead will end up with the director. I think she did (I'm not too sure, LOL). 

Law School

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I'm not sure if this Kdrama's based or at least inspired by How to Get Away With Murder, but I assume it is based on the theme song. I almost didn't watch this cos I'm trying to steer clear of anything stressful. 

I've always liked murder mysteries, whodunits but also I noticed that I get sick more often when I watch too much of it. So especially now that we're in a pandemic, I try to watch only feel-good shows. I enjoyed this show but at the same I think I didn't understand most of what's going on- Korean legal jargon! 

Ryu Hye-young's (Sol A) character here was very different from her role in Reply 1988 and for that I think she's a good actress. Also, I didn't recognize Kim Bum right away! Sabi ko lang he looks familiar so I must have seen him in another drama, but boy was I shocked when I found out it was him. Last drama of his I watched was That Winter, the Wind Blows. That boy didn't age a bit. It's beyond me how these thirtysomethings could play high school or college students. Well, law school students naman na pala sila but still! 

I may not have liked-liked this drama but I liked it well enough to watch it as soon as new episodes come out every week. 

Please Don't Date Him

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Sooo I watched this one because of Lee Jun-young, my newest eye candy (thanks to Imitation). I may not have liked the storyline that much but I definitely liked this scene

Hahaha!

So ajumma of me. But seriously, I really thought he was older than his age so ayun medyo no guilt if I stan him. But upon checking, he's only 24 years old and was born the same year as Jungkook (my son in another lifetime). So paano ba 'yan? Anywaaaay, he's the main reason why I watched this drama. 

It was okay. If it weren't for Lee Jun-young maybe I would've not finished it but he's in it and that made the drama a whole lot more interesting. 

So I Married an Anti-Fan

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I really liked this drama but I felt that there was not much chemistry between the leads, hence the four hearts. Although I like Sooyoung, I'm not sure if she's female lead material. I loved her in Run On and I actually was more interested in her storyline in that drama more than the leads. I wasn't sold on the male lead, Choi Tae-joon, at first but eventually he kind of grows on you. So I liked them as actors per se but as a love team, medyo nakulangan ako. Mas kinilig pa ako sa webtoon which I'm not yet done reading :D 

A little backstory- I tried watching the Chinese film adaptation of the webtoon around 2019 and I didn't finish it. Hindi ko siya masyado maintindihan at that time. Parang patche-patche, ang pangit ng flow. Then come 2020 lockdown, I fell into the webtoon rabbit hole and I came across the webtoon version (from which the movie was adapted from) and loved it. I'm not yet done with the whole thing yet, it's currently ongoing on the webtoon app. But anyway, the webtoon's what made me want to watch the Korean miniseries version. This year I tried watching the Chinese movie version again and while I did finish the movie this time, hindi ko pa rin siya bet. The Kdrama was a whole lot better even if I found the pairing a bit lacking. 

As I was saying, the Kdrama version had little pockets of kilig but it was not enough, if you know what I mean. 

I want to watch another Sooyoung drama whether she's the lead or not. I like her the way I liked Lee Sung-kyung when I watched Cheese in the Trap. Kahit kontrabida siya dun, I can't seem to get myself to not like her kahit sobrang bwiset yung character niya. I hope Sooyoung gets a role which can catapult her into Hallyu status. 

Vincenzo

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Saved the best for last 😉 Enjoyed this drama tremendously! It was a mix of everything- action, drama, comedy with love story on the side. And to think I almost didn't watch it because, 1) I'm not really a Song Joong-ki fan so kung yung come on niya for others was it was starring SJK, hindi epek sa akin, and 2) I don't really like action as in full-on action dramas, napapagod ako. Thanks to AD's recommendation, I watched it and I loved it.

As with all dramas, a bit of suspension of disbelief is needed. I mean, even if Vincenzo is legit mafia, he can't single-handedly take on South Korean gangsters. Or that Babel, with all its money and power, would actually hire more reliable and more ruthless henchmen to do their dirty deed. And if Babel really wanted Vincenzo gone, they could do it at a snap of a finger. But of course, bida natin siya so hindi puede. 

I loved how this drama makes you feel a rollercoaster of emotions. Matatawa ka, maiinis ka, mae-excite ka at kung anu-ano pa in just a span of an hour. The actors did a great job portraying their roles. Hong Cha-young's was sort of the comic relief with the other residents of Geumga Plaza. The Geumga Plaza residents actually reminded me of OTWOL's tenement peeps. Ang galing din ni Ok Taecyeon- how he portrayed a seemingly clumsy, mej shushunga-shunga na newbie lawyer at first to a psychotic CEO capable of so many atrocities mid-series. And omigosh that Choi Myeonghee- isa pang halang ang kaluluwa. I thought at first she was one of the good guys- apparently, not. 

Out of all the characters in the series, my favorite was Jang Han-seo, Jang Han-seok/Jun-woo's baby brother. Ang galing ng character development niya! At first I didn't want to trust him, I felt as if he was just trying to appeal to Vincenzo to save his ass or to get rid of his evil stepbrother for good but towards the end he has redeemed himself. 

So ayun na nga, I enjoyed this drama and I hope I find another series na ganitong level. It doesn't have to be action pero sana yung something that I'll look forward to. I actually have Imitation but tomorrow is the series finale. I'm definitely posting about that kdrama soon!