40somethingahjumma

Rebirth stories that are reasonably good. At least they don't frustrate the heck out of me. It's quite unusual that the ML takes centrestage and is reborn with the FL. F L：王子怡(Wang,Zi-Yi) ML：肖 涵(Xiao,Han) This one has a past timeline. The kid is gorgeous even if he doesn't look 6. :P But seeing the ML in period costume gave me ideas. Would love to see him doing historical dramas in mainstream shows. This one has a good story although the acting is a mixed bag. The ML is so-so. It has the "hot uncle" trope and some good teamwork between the leads. I quite like it although I think they drag out her identity a bit longer than they should. But there's little doubt that the leads are good together. I also like this male lead and he brings a different kind of edge to this role. The FL does better than the other actresses with the "fool" arc.

The show is watchable until the last couple of episodes. The last episode in particular makes me wish that I hadn't watched the show. If the show was going to go down the road, it should have changed course sooner. But I did like it for the leads.

More multiple births fun... This may end up being my favourite yet. Nothing like a good quins drama. I really like how the ML is written and depicted here. I can't remember if I've posted this one but I like the time travel element. It's pretty sweet.

This is actually a good drama. The ML is well cast (he looks like a gangster) but the script is quite excellent for a douyin show. I consider this story one of my favourites because of the healing/redemption story. It's like Beauty and the Beast. The FL learns to tame the monster and when she changes her attitude towards him, he changes too. The chemistry is good and they have such lovely hug scenes. Once they get past the rough patch, they are a good team. She's also smart enough to know her own limitations. Trust changed everything for them. There's a lot of kissing in this one. And I mean A LOT. Every 5-10 minutes. The ML is pretty hot admittedly. I quite like it because of him. but there's a lot of rough stuff that's a bit off-putting. He sure knows how to romance his co-star. I remember her from a drama with Shu Tong. There just aren't enough Shu Tong dramas out there.

Oooh... is he in that? Oooh... I have to get to it ASAP. He is barely in Kunning Palace for the first 10 episodes (mostly in flashbacks) and then he's in it a fair bit for the next 10 and then is hardly in it afterwards. This is one of the rare occasions that I suffer from 2ML syndrome.

I've seen another version of this story which I like. It's about a smart but can't-be-bothered ML who changes into a responsible CEO when his marries the FL. I think the actors in that version are pretty good. Like in all industries the acting is a mixed bag. But I am surprised at how good some of the douyin actors are. Much better than those in mainstream C drama. The really good ones are really good.

Thanks for all the recommendations @NiteWalker and @OsmanthusTea So far I haven't watched a disabled/ill CEO drama that I don't like. So far so good... Some recommendations... After a bumpy first 15 minutes, it becomes really sweet and lovely.

I've seen this one too. It's a hoot. The chemistry is on point and even though I'm not a fan of the hidden identity trope, this one worked for me. Whenever I see Shu Tong, I click. He's probably my favourite douyin actor. ______ The best rebirth story so far... Really like the ML. At least he's not a passive onlooker for most of the show.

The healthy relationship drama. Only a day?

Here's another one with Shu Tong... playing yet another tortured gangster husband. I like the fated YingYang storyline and how it's done here. As usual he is great in the kissing scenes. This is a lighter contract drama with Liu Qing who very hot stuff... I love how he romances the FL. Do you have a link to that? It's tough wading through all the hundreds of shows.

Really like this couple who have done many dramas together apparently. The male lead is played by Shu Tong. Wish I knew that FL's name. Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLyQUS2rUzE Part 2

I like this ML too even though he's not exactly an acting powerhouse but he's cute. I've seen a few of his. This drama has one of the better scripts I've seen. At least it's not too crazy. The ML is not too aggressive and he smartly dispenses of the villains pulling the strings. The teamwork is great and more power to the production team for not over relying on misunderstandings.

This guy looks a bit like Lee Joon-hyuk from certain angles Same. I pretty much do that with certain actors and actresses.

Just finished this today. Loved the last few episodes especially. It's been a good six months for Ji Chang-wook.

My favourite kind of melodrama... Man, he's a darn good actor.

Really like this actress. She's genuinely funny.

A second chance for divorcees... Chemistry is pretty good and the ML is quite funny. Not bad. Girl enters into a contract marriage with a man she thinks is a construction worker but you know the rest... The deception doesn't go on forever. This ML is one of the best looking C drama actors around. He's one of the best. I've seen him in couple of melodramas -- one of them he was an awful abusive husband but his versatility is undeniable.

This couple is one of my favourites -- the FL is also a fave in the rom com stakes. She's better than a lot of A listers. The ML is pretty darn good as well.

All without IVF as well. There's plenty of people having sex in these dramas so children does make sense. I don't think I have seen without it. China is really ramping up the propaganda -- after all they are headed for demographic free fall if they haven't already.

I enjoyed this one.. Hilarious. Quintuplets.

Cinderella story with lots of slapping.

Oh yes, definitely. Lee Joon-gi and all that. It was a pleasant surprise to see Kim Ji-hoon play the comatose psychopathic son after years of wondering where he got to. Kim Jae-wook and Oh Jung-se. It's the culmination of everything. As a whole they did a really good job with all the different "lives" and it all comes together rather beautifully. What I liked about Lee Do-hyun's segment was Yee-jae's realisation that his life wasn't as bad as he thought and that there were people barracking for him and he didn't appreciate that aspect of his life. For me, the show is in part a critique of the "South Korean dream" -- the materialistic rat race of wanting to make it only to find out at the end, the system is rigged against you by the elites. It's not just SK of course but the fact that you can have a good job at Taekang for decades and lose it down the track. It puts a lot of pressure on young people to "get that dream job" ASAP and when they don't, they think they're failures. Here in Australia, people change careers at least 2 or 3 times in their lifetime. I just heard recently of a man who is leaving IT to go into medicine. I actually quite liked Kim Jae-wook in Her Private Life. (The only PMY drama apart from Healer that I've finished) He's also really good as a romantic lead. So is Kim Ji-hoon actually.

I want to see a spin-off of him playing that fixer character in his own story. I would pay good money to watch it. Wait till you see Episodes 6 and 7. Kim Ji-hoon has been around for a while but he seems to have difficulties getting half decent roles. I've even seen him in a sci-fi sageuk which few people have heard of now. Years ago he was in a popular makjang Jang Bo-ri is Here! and I only survived all 53 episodes because of him. He had short hair then. Quite a versatile actor really. Glad to see him these high profile shows even if he's playing psychopaths.

Upon finishing the show I came away wondering when was the last time I saw a K drama with plotting this brilliant. Shadow Detective S1 was pretty good but this one was on another level. This show actually feels like it's made by talented people who know exactly what good storytelling looks like even while using popular K drama tropes. The cast is the cherry on top. I didn't know who was going to be in it apart from the leads so it was a pleasant surprise to see a few of my favourites in it as well. Everyone was good in this and well cast. But the star of the show is definitely the script which reminds me so much of It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol. For me it's a really clever... darker (certainly more violent) reimagining of the two famous classic stories. The combination of various crime elements is absolutely top-tier stuff. I don't want to give away too much but I absolutely loved the ongoing debates between Death and Yee-jae all throughout their interactions especially the anthropological ones. It's nice to be able to praise a show unreservedly and not sound like a curmudgeon about the current state of K dramas like a broken record.

I wished I liked this one a lot more. It does get better after Episode 1 but only a tad because of the fish-out-of-water part which is sometimes funny. The rest of it is pretty much your standard chaebol internal family struggle. There are aspects that remind me of Fated to Love You as well. The Joseon period was also clumsy in its feminist messaging. I am surprised that Lee Se-young signed up for such a mediocre clunky script. With her industry creds, she should be able to get better offers surely? Part of the problem for me too is that she is a far better actor than Baek In-hyun. He's okay but lacks the gravitas to pull off this role with nuance which the role requires him to have.