Dorama of the Year 2006-II Spring - Alone in Love

Mistakenly included Alone in Love in Winter season earlier, but it's actually the only masterpiece of Spring. 

1. 101st Proposal (2006)   [101번째 프러포즈] (Finished 2/15) Tags: Romance Perennial bachelor Park Dal Jae has gone on more marriage blind dates than he can count, but he still can't find a wife. It's a tough market since he's not young, good-looking, or rich, but he's got his heart in the right place. On his 100th date, he finally meets the perfect girl, 29-year-old announcer Han Soo Jung. The death of her first love, Chan Hyuk, has put Soo Jung's life at a standstill. Her aunt badgers her into going on a blind date with Dal Jae, and Soo Jung is amazed that he says exactly the same words Chan Hyuk had said when he proposed to her. She gets angry when she later learns that he'd been coached by his younger brother. Soo Jung tries to keep treating him coldly, but Dal Jae's pure-hearted naivete makes her smile. As Soo Jung gradually opens up to him, Dal Jae becomes hopeful that she'll someday return his feelings. But then Woo Suk, who looks exactly like Chan Hyuk, suddenly appears in Soo Jung's life. Not fond of remakes. Can't say I see anything special here. Koreans shoot almost exclusively romance, so adapt anything around that, really. Pretty cringy, too.   Overall Rating: 5/10

2. Busu no Hitomi ni Koishiteru (2006) [ブスの瞳に恋してる] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Drama Popular scenario writer, Yamaguchi Osamu is currently dating fashion magazine model Ebihara Yumi. With a high salary and a beautiful girlfriend, one would expect Osamu to be the envy of all around him. Yet there is something missing in his life. On the complete other end of the spectrum, 25 year old Ota Miyuki works part-time at a Ramen restaurant while trying to fulfill her dreams of becoming an actress. Though her parents may have named her Miyuki with the intentions of her being beautiful and happy, the reality is she is ugly. Ugly enough for her parents to worry over her future. Miyuki herself, though she hates it, is also quite aware of this fact. This is where Osamu and Miyuki meet. Shocked by Miyuki's pure and fresh personality, he is drawn to her, but... Why? This question rang in my head over and over. Did not find the answer. Pure cringe, especially everyone's stereotypical behavior.   Overall Rating: 5/10

3. The Black Swindler  [クロサギ] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Action, Thriller, Mystery, Crime Kurosaki, A.K.A. Kurosagi, is a crook who targets professional crooks. He defrauds money and gives it to the victims; he never keeps it for himself. His father was once set up by a crook and planned a family suicide. Kurosagi managed to save his life but lost his whole family. The crook was Toshio Katsuragi – the mastermind of all crooks. Despite knowing what Toshio did to his father, Kurosagi buys information off of him to capture other crooks. Is there a way to free our world of crooks? Just reimagining of Robn Hood with a male idol, nothing to see here.   Overall Rating: 5/10

4. Jumong  [주몽] (Finished 5/81) Tags: Adventure, Historical, Romance, Drama Ju Mong was the founder of Goguryeo in 37 BC. He was the son of General Hae Mo Su and Lady Yu Hwa and was raised by King Geum Wa, who took him and his mother in when Hae Mo Su was believed to have been killed in an ambush by the Han Dynasty. So Seo No was a merchant's daughter who helped Ju Mong in realizing his dream of building a new country and later became his second wife. Quality is finally good, but story is usual mythological epos centered around revenge. And it even tried to mimic King Arthur's legends by presenting a sacred bow that no ordinary man could bend. It's just not a story that I could deem worthy. Nothing even close to good taiga.   Overall Rating: 6/10

5. I Really Really Like You  [진짜 진짜 좋아해] (Finished 2/34) Tags: Food, Comedy, Romance, Drama Yeo Bong Soon leaves her mountain village and comes to Seoul to live and look for her parents after her foster 'grandmother' passes away. She finds a job as an assistant cook at the President's Blue House canteen and later, in the Blue House kitchen. She falls for Jang Joon Won, the President's son, a highly intellectual doctor; however, he is married with a five-year-old daughter. His wife is suffering from dementia. As Bong Soon finds herself falling in love with Joon Won, a love triangle builds up when Bong Ki, the President's family's bodyguard, starts to fall for the hillbilly Bong Soon! The drama explores about how Bong Ki gets in touch with his own feelings and how Bong Song's generosity makes the men fall for her. Romance between villager and town dweller is super banal. Weird personalities and antics finish it off.   Overall Rating: 5/10

6. Spring Waltz [봄의 왈츠] (Finished 5/20) Tags: Romance, Melodrama To escape debt, Lee Su Ho's father fled to a remote island where he met a friend with a young daughter, Eun Yeong, the same age as Su Ho. After being abandoned by his father, Su Ho planned to leave, but Eun Yeong's pure heart changed his mind. Tragedy strikes, and Su Ho disappears while Eun Yeong is in the hospital. Years later, while traveling in Austria, Eun Yeong meets the talented pianist Jae Ha, who resembles Su Ho. As their love blossoms, the truth is revealed. Can their love survive the pain of the past? Kids played great, but from 5 first episodes 3 were just about children, a bit of overkill. As for grown-ups, not so sure. Can't understand why main heroine must always be silly in most kdrama. The focus on extreme conditions and pushing further and further down with unreasonable behavior is very unrealistic. What we get as a result is not better than the bulk of the gum kdrama releases.   Overall Rating: 5/10

7. Oum Ruk  [อุ้มรัก] (Finished 1/14) Tags: Comedy, Romance Napat is a beautiful but head-strong young lady. Against her father's wishes to come and live with him in the States, Napat decides to stay back in Thailand and earn her way through modeling. During Napat's first magazine photo-shoot, she meets a fast-mouthed photographer, Chen, who predicts she will never be famous in the industry. However, despite Chen's "prediction", Napat turns out to be a huge success, with everyone in the business wanting to work with her. During a beach-side anniversary party for a famous magazine, both Chen and Napat get badly drunk and end up in bed together. It isn't long before Napat also realizes that she is pregnant. What will Napat and Chen do with this future unexpected parenthood thrust upon them? Dreadful typical lakorn.   Overall Rating: 5/10

8. Silence [深情密碼] (Finished 2/19) Tags: Romance, Drama Zhou Shen Shen loses her voice after a bus accident and gets taken to the hospital by her friend, Zuo Jun, who blames himself for making her mute. There she meets Qi Wei Yi, a boy whose leg got broken by jealous peers. He finds a letter she had put in a bomb shelter wall. They leave each other letters and promise to come back in the Christmas of 2006. They become good friends and fall in love, but Wei Yi is unaware that Shen Shen is mute. When he has to leave before her, he gives her his phone number and tells her to call him. Years pass and in the year of 2006 ,they met again but is unaware of who each other is until Wei Yi finds out he has liver cancer and is dying. So he decides to go back to the hospital he went to as a child and he finds out that Shen Shen is his childhood love but not wanting to hurt her when he dies, he hides his identity and eventually pushes her away. I hoped for some metaphorical silence. Of all disabilities muteness is the worsts as it also constantly wastes viewers' time. And now imagine mute person with fiesty temperament... sorry, but all these arguements look very cringy.   Overall Rating: 5/10

9. Queen of the Game [게임의 여왕] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Romance, Drama, Family, Melodrama 23 years ago, Kang Eun Seol's father, Kang Jae Ho, stole the position of Lee Shin Jun's father. This led Lee Shin Jun's father to commit suicide with his wife and son. Now, 23 years later, Lee Shin Jun, now known as Chase, wants revenge and isn't going to stop until he gets it. He makes Kang Eun Seol fall for him so that he can get to her father. But there is a twist: Lee Shin Jun has also fallen in love with Kang Eun Seol, but Lee Shin Jun's partner, Park Joo Won, loves him too... Later, Eun Seol finds out about Shin Jun's revenge plot against her father. Wow, it looks like it aimed to collect royal flash of banalities and tropes - melodrama, revenge, love triangles, toxic MCs, stupid long looks...   Overall Rating: 0/10

10. One Fine Day (2006) [어느 멋진 날] (Finished 2/16) Tags: Romance, Melodrama After Seo Han Eul lost her mother in a fire, she was later adopted by a wealthy family and experienced a life of many twists and turns. Seo Gun's father had married an unwed mother, thus making Han Eul his sister in the eyes of the law. After their parents passed away, Han Eul was adopted by a wealthy chairman of a large organization who has also become a gangster. Upon using Han Eul to extort money, Seo Gun and Han Eul slowly fall in love with each other. Too many melodrama elements for me. Protagonists aren't serious or rational enough which makes it shallow.   Overall Rating: 5/10

11. Secret Campus  [비밀의 교정] (Finished 24/24) Tags: Mystery, Romance, Youth, Drama Seung Jae is a highschool student who suddenly passed away due to a traffic accident. At that time, he was dating Su Ah, a fellow student. After a year, Su Ah receives mails containing secrets surrounding Seung Jae. Turns out Seung Jae, at that time, was cheating on Su Ah and dating his friend's, Du Hyeon, sister, Eun Ho. In addition, Dong Cheol, a fellow student who aims to become a football player, quit attending his extracurricular activities after Seung Jae's death and no longer shows up at school. With the mails received, Su Ah's secrets start being revealed one by one. Since I finished it, I already rate it highly. After Bump Off Lover mystery here is petty and almost everything everything gets revealed in first three episodes leaving only tiny bits for final episodes. The middle is just school SOL with exploring different characters and some minor conflict situations. I liked characters there, so don't regret the ride. It's pretty cool overall, but in order to justify masterpiece score for a 24-episode story there must be something special, but it's just good and smooth all the way long, and even ending is similar, without really big reveal.   Overall Rating: 6/10

12. Exhibition of Fireworks [불꽃놀이] (Finished 1/17) Tags: Romance, Drama, Melodrama Shin Na Ra, a woman who is almost thirty, welcomes her boyfriend of seven years back from his business trip. During their dinner, he tells her that he not only had an affair but fell in love with another woman. Thus their relationship is no more. To make herself feel better, Na Ra drinks a large amount of alcohol and unknowingly dropped the ring her ex-boyfriend gave her into a random stranger's cup. The stranger, In Jae, drinks the shot without seeing the ring and both of them end up in the hospital. To support herself, Na Ra pretends to be her 20 year old sister in order to work as a cosmetic clerk at Mi Rae (the woman her ex-boyfriend fell in love with)'s shop but fate has brought In Jae to the shop to. Thus began their surprising journey of love, where In Jae is in love with Mi Rae too. I'm already tired of these characters competing over who can offend harsher.   Overall Rating: 5/10

13. Attention Please [アテンションプリーズ] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Comedy Losing her mother at a young age, Misaki Yoko was raised amongst three brothers. Yoko is a slightly boyish girl who is bullheaded and hates dishonesty. Ever since she was young, she enjoyed the company of boys over girls. She starts a band with four of her boy friends and becomes the lead singer. Then one day, one of the members of the band, Tsukasa, gets a job at a bank in Tokyo. Due to Tsukasa leaving town, the band breaks up, and though Yoko finds herself lonely, she puts on a strong act in front of Tsukasa. She can't tell Tsukasa how she truly feels for him. On the day Tsukasa leaves for Tokyo, Yoko goes along with the band members to the airport to see him off. The guys get excited when they see some cabin crew ladies and Yoko has no idea why. She reminds them that even she can wear a uniform, but the guys only make fun of her. That's when Tsukasa tells Yoko he wonders what she'd look like dressed in uniform. This is when Yoko decides she wants to work as a Cabin Attendant. Occupation drama. If you don't care about flight personnel, then this would probably be a miss.   Overall Rating: 6/10

14. Smile, Again  [스마일 어게인] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Romance, Drama, Sports, Melodrama It is spring of the year 1999. At a high school in Gyeongju, Dan Hui is famous among the guys as an eccentric girl who plays baseball, and Ha Jin is renowned as the handsome class president who has overcome his past as an orphan. On the other hand, Yu Gang is a loner who is ostracized by her peers because of her melancholy character, but her eyes are always on Ha Jin. Years later, in the spring of 2006, Ha Jin comes to Jae Myeong’s rescue when he is in need of help, and the two become best friends. Jae Myeong is the son of the President of Mirae Chemicals, and his recommendation lands Ha Jin a job. The President orders Jae Myeong to coach the company’s softball team, in the hope that it will discipline him. Dan Hui has respected Jae Myeong as a baseball player for a long time and has high hopes for his influence as a coach. At first, Jae Myeong scoffs at the softball team, having been a baseball player all his life, but begins to find motivation while working with the team through Dan Hui’s passion and diligence. He sets new goals to transform his team into a champion team and to make Dan Hui the best pitcher in the game. During this process, he falls in love with her. Dan Hui is also attracted to Jae Myeong, but finds it difficult to open up to him after the scar left in her heart by her first love. Jae Myeong becomes curious about this man who has hurt Dan Hui so deeply… Baseball and Ban Ha Jin make it unwatchable for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10

15. Mr. Goodbye [미스터 굿바이] (Finished 2/16) Tags: Business, Comedy, Romance, Drama Yoon Hyun Suh is an adoptee who grew up in the United States. He became successful as a top manager of a hotel chain. He is assigned to do business in Korea. He falls in love with Choi Young In, a sassy concierge from the hotel he is assigned to. There is trouble still looming because Kang Soo Jin, who is Hyun Suh's best friend's ex-wife, comes back with a vengeance in mind. The three become entangled in this love triangle. A weird unfocused mess. It tries to combine many genres and tell a lot of different stories, but fails at every step.   Overall Rating: 5/10

16. Hearts of Nineteen  [열아홉 순정] (Finished 3/167) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Drama, Family Guk Hwa is a young country girl who leaves Yanbian (China) for Korea to get married. When she arrives in Seoul, she finds out that her fiancé had just died in a car accident. Instead of returning to China, she decides to stay and create a new life in Korea. With the help of her fiancé's family and in particular his nephew, Woo Gyeong, she is able to overcome the hardship of living in a foreign country Just another village girl trying to establish in a big city...   Overall Rating: 5/10

17. Princess Princess D [プリンセス・プリンセスD] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Youth In all-boys school with a tradition of Princesses (boys chosen to attend school functions dressed up as girls to alleviate the tension between the students), Yutaka Mikoto, Shihoudani Yuujirou and Kouno Tooru are this year's chosen Princess team. Dissatisfied with the half-hearted efforts of the current Princesses, Hanazono Otoya creates his own team of Dark Princesses to rival for the students' attention. Would block it right away if knew it was about traps.   Overall Rating: 5/10

18. Iryu Team Medical Dragon [医龍 Team Medical Dragon] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Drama, Medical Ryutaro Asada, a brilliant surgeon framed for a misdiagnosis, went into exile after being let go by North Japanese Hospital. He was later approached by Akira Kato, an ambitious assistant professor at Meishin University Medical Hospital, seeking his help with the complex Batista heart surgery to advance her career. This drama highlights the struggles within the rigid Japanese medical profession, where decisions often prioritize hospital reputation over patient care. Just a medical procedural.   Overall Rating: 5/10

19. Oishii Proposal  [おいしいプロポーズ] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Food, Comedy, Romance Imagine that you're at the so-called "marrigeable age" of your life as a single woman...what would your ideal conditions for a husband be? Back in the day, people used to say the "3 Hs"--high salary, high educational background, and tall height; nowadays it's more like the "3 Ls"--ladies first modest attitude, low risk, and a low dependency rate. But that's another story. The real problem is that before your very eyes, a young, well-paid "super hot celebrity guy" appears...and proposes to you...what do you do? Hasegawa Kyoko plays Shiraishi Suzuko, a beautiful and strong-minded female chef. Koide Keisuke plays the naive young celebrity businessman, Katsuragi Haruki. These two characters await you in this comic drama full of all sorts of mishaps. Yet another gourmet.   Overall Rating: 5/10

20. Great Inheritance [위대한 유산] (Finished 1/17) Tags: Romance, Life Kang Hyun Se (Kim Jae Won) grew up without knowing his father. Due to the lack of fatherly love, he was recruited by a gang and became a third rate mobster. After his mother's death, he inherits a kindergarten, but he must go through a hundred days of training in order to get it, so he becomes an assistant teacher under a kindergarten teacher, Yoo Mi Rae (Han Ji Min), and they develop romantic feelings for one another. However, the kindergarten property sits in the middle of a proposed amusement park development, called "Rainbow Park". Hyun Se's boss (Son Byung Ho) needs the money from the construction company so he is manipulating Hyun Se's hatred towards his father and threatens Hyun Se's father with the kindergarten Hyun Se has. Little does Hyun Se know that Choi Shi Wan (one of the managers who work for Hyun Se's father), who is the ex-boyfriend of Yoo Mi Rae, struck a dirty deal with Hyun Se's boss and is trying to outscore everyone. Produced by the same production team as My Girl and Delightful Girl Choon Hyang. Kids are a plus, Kang Hyun Se a minus. So cheezy SOL without much interest.   Overall Rating: 6/10

21. Tokyo Juliet [東方茱麗葉] (Finished 1/17) Tags: Romance When Lin Lai Sui's stolen fashion design, Daisy, rocketed Chu Xing into becoming one of the top fashion designers in the world, Lai Sui vowed not to fall in love until she become more famous than him. That is until she meets Ji Feng Liang who slowly starts breaking down her resolve. They start dating and it wasn't long until Lai Sui discovers a secret about Ji Feng Liang that can undo all her work. Now Lai Sui must choose between the man she thought she knew and the dream that has been fueling her since she was five. Another Shoujo manga live action made by the Taiwanese, so realization is as shallow as fashion material.   Overall Rating: 5/10

22. Dr. Gang [닥터 깽] (Finished 6/16) Tags: Action, Thriller, Romance, Medical Kang Dal Go, a mid-level member of a Busan gang, gets kicked out of the gang after being investigated by the police and is forced to flee for his life. Hiding out in Seoul, he gets himself hired at a nearby hospital, where he quickly clashes with Kim Yoo Na, a dedicated and outspoken doctor who criticizes his incompetence and lack of care. Gradually, however, the former gang member and the beautiful physician begin to fall in love in the midst of their clashes, to the dismay of prosecutor Suk Hee Jung who is also pursuing Yoo Na. Wow, second remake of Ruler of your own world. First, why I call it this way. Yang Dong Geun previous main role was right in Ruler of your own world while Young could not participate due to pause in career, so she is swapped to the closest Korean actress in temperament - Han Ga In . Both works don't focus on romance and focus more on sympathy, kindness, improvement. Again ML is a vagabond criminal and again FL is a vagabond medic. There's again a policeman who formally seeks to arrest ML, but becomes a nice friend. Dr. Gang is in every way better than Ruler except for one thing - novelty. But I'm evaluating works in historical context, and seeing a very similar story for the third time is not something that I would like to support. Everything is too familiar for me - first three episodes a setup, the middle is nice SOL and by the end the things start to turn bad. Even improved humor and shortened length can't make me finish it, sorry, as I'm not enjoying this enough and really dislike remakes.   Overall Rating: 6/10

23. Top Caster  [トップキャスター] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Drama Haruka Tsubaki hops on a plane from New York to Tokyo. She will be filling in the newscaster position on a news program that will begin airing on CNB Television. Haruka used to work as an anchor and was called "the legendary anchor" until she was involved in an incident that forced her to lose her position there. She flew to America alone to pursue her career as a journalist. It is Katsutoshi Shibata, the Senior Executive Director of the News Department that brushed aside strong oppositions and invited Haruna back. He tells her, "Do whatever you like. I'll take the responsibility." At the headquarters of CNB, producer Shokichi Ichiba, director Kensuke Kanihara, announcer Mei Nohara, and the other crew are standing by for a meeting with Haruka. With great fear, they await the arrival of the legendary anchor. But when the door opens, only Katsutoshi is standing. He says Haruka headed to check out the news studio as soon as she arrived at CNB. The crew try to extend their greetings to her, but she pays no attention. Instead, she dismisses the programming strategy she was given, and insists, "Go for scoops." What's more surprising is that Haruka appoints Nozomi Asuka — who was scheduled to deliver weather forecasts — as her assistant. She tells Asuka that it's the assistant's job to work alongside her for 24 hours and wake her up every morning. "Why do I have to spend my private time with her...?" Full of doubts, Nozomi heads to Haruka's apartment with her luggage. What awaits her? Actors are nice, but in the center there are half-detective cases with scoop chasing, and that's not something I can enjoy.   Overall Rating: 5/10

24. Galcir [ギャルサー] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Comedy Kitajima Shinnosuke, a cowboy from the U.S.A., goes to Shibuya to find a group of girls to dance Para-Para. Along the way, he becomes a new type of hero, helping to solve problems that afflict Shibuya-Gals. Too stupid. Dropped it a decade ago, not seeing reason to go on now.   Overall Rating: 5/10

25. Bengoshi no Kuzu  [弁護士のくず] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Mystery, Comedy, Law Toyokawa Etsushi and Ito Hideaki appear together for the first time in what is a never-before-seen lawyer-oriented drama. The original work by Iura Hideo, "Bengoshi no Kuzu," is currently being published by Big Comic Original. Our main character, Kuzu Motohito--aka "scum lawyer"--will do just about anything if it means he can win in court. Lawyers aren't on the side of justice! The law isn't meant to punish people, it's meant to save them! At least, that's this guy's secret motto. High school drop-out, lover of money and women, rude demeanor, and a vulgar mouth. Pretty good lawyer drama with shades of grey, but I'm already tired of lawyer drama.   Overall Rating: 6/10

26. Teru Teru Ashita  [てるてるあした] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Mystery, Drama, Supernatural Set in a town called Sasara, strange events occur one after the other. The episodes in this drama are interweaved tales from popular skilled author Kano Tomoko's books, "Sasara Saya" and "Teru Teru Ashita." In this new re-telling, we get a one-of-a-kind view of this fantasy world. The main character, Teruyo, writes of various parent-child relationships and also of couples' love. With a mix of mystery and horror genres, "Teru Teru Ashita" provides a little thrill as well as being a fantasy drama which allows you to understand love and kindness. So on Friday nights, won't you come and experience the warmth of a little town called Sasara? Horror mystery with ghosts is overkill for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10

27. Bar Bender  [潮爆大狀] (Finished 1/20) Tags: Law, Romance, Life, Drama The series revolves around a fictional Hong Kong senior counsel named Tony Cheung (Adam Cheng). Senior Counsel Cheung is well known for winning 31 legal cases in a row, but is also notorious in legal circles for his unsavory (but ethical) tactics. He is also notorious for being retained as counsel by unscrupulous businessman Richard Ngai (Bill Chan). His focus on his legal career has also alienated family member and anyone romantically involved. His daughter, Stephanie Cheung (Leila Tong), particularly hates him for not only his modus operandi in legal battles (strike a victory on procedural errors, and not on evidence), but also on his neglect of family life. All this changed when Tony was dealt a career blow by Richard. In an assault case involving Richard, Richard asked Tony's apprentice, Darren Lei (Power Chan), to conspire in a conspiracy to bribe a witness and have him lie in court by professing amnesia. When Tony protested, Richard fired Tony, and cut off much of the businesses that came to his law firm. In the process, Tony lost his girlfriend, Sophie So (Anne Heung), to Richard. Tony drowned his sorrows in alcohol, and assaulted a foreigner at a bar. Tony pled guilty to assault, and was sentenced to community service. That was where he began to rediscover the lost idealism and righteousness of his youth and met Jong Hiu Wai (Louisa So) who showed him there is more to life... Dirty playing lawyers are even less interesting when produced by Hong Kong.   Overall Rating: 5/10

28. Love with Princess [新醉打金枝] (Finished 1/34) Tags: Historical, Comedy, Romance, Drama Sheng Ping is a wilful princess who is also passionate about Jiju. To see her favourite Jiju player, Chen Shao Tang, Princess Sheng Ping sneaks out of the palace and, in the process, has several hilarious encounters with the sixth son of the Prince of Fenyang, Guo Ai. Starting out on the wrong foot, the two slowly became the best of friends after helping each other out with various problems and making several important friends along the way. They are brought together after their respective romances failed to work out and they were finally married with the blessings of everyone. Married life is not easy due to Sheng Ping's higher status, and their relationship takes a turn for the worse when Guo Ai's former lover, Luo Xia, reappears to drive a wedge between the two. When the angry Sheng Ping fails to attend her father-in-law's 70th birthday anniversary, Guo Ai, in a drunken rage, hits Princess Sheng Ping... Hong Kong remake of already not great series.   Overall Rating: 5/10

29. La Femme Desperado  [女人唔易做] (Finished 1/22) Tags: Comedy, Romance There are three pairs of couples and their roles highlight the roles of women in modern society: Chai Foon (Raymond Lam) and Ko Chi-Ling (Melissa Ng) - Chai Foon has been in love with his tutor, Ling, since he was 11 and she was 18. They depict the problems of overcoming a seven year age gap in traditional Chinese society. Man King-Leung (Michael Tse) and Hilda Hoi Kiu (Sheren Tang) - shows their quest to power and fame, their readiness to sacrifice anything - even their loved ones - for the sake of climbing the corporate ladder. However, throughout the show, their characters began to make the realization that love and family are actually much more significant in life than success in the business world. Ko Chi-Lik (Kenneth Ma) and Ida Hoi Suen (Kate Tsui) - focuses on the status of the woman in modern society. Raised in a patriarchal environment, Lik, who has very old-fashioned thinking, believes that women cannot become sushi chefs. He believes that a woman should be staying at home, cooking, serving their husbands and caring for the children. Ida on the other hand, is a very strong-willed modern Chinese woman. Through her determination, confidence and persistence, she proves her skills to him. Their frequent conflict and arguments over the rights and roles of women and Lik's eventual realization that women can indeed accomplish greater accomplishments than men show the gradual progression of value changes. Hong Kong poor production together with multiple protagonists don't leave it a chance.   Overall Rating: 5/10

30. Alone in Love [연애시대] (Finished 16/16) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Life, Drama Lee Dong Jin and Yoo Eun Ho divorced two years ago but continue meeting for various reasons, often at the donut shop where they once dated. They check in on each other's love lives and create excuses like anniversaries to stay connected. Despite their deep love, they struggle with pride and others' interference, leading them to introduce new people into their lives. Concept is love triangle, but with novelty changes like divorced leads and two consequent pairings of the leads instead of usual one. Leads are really nice and comedy elements are good, too. At the beginning it really felt like a firm masterpiece. But 16 episode length and lots of not so interesting side characters did its due. Often leads start to do weird stuff, but here this role is given to sides which helps with the outlook of the leads, but aggravates the irritation towards the sides. Can't say I watched it from the middle with roughly the same interest that I usually finish watchin jdrama, plus really hate open endings, so score is befitting.   Overall Rating: 7/10

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