WON'T WATCH AGAIN/KOREAN
The titles in this list will be here because of the following reasons;
- cliche characters and events.
- a plot that cannot be followed by the viewer because there is no information within the production to support behaviours or events.
- disregard toward details within the production.
- systemic cringy dubbing.
- blatant contradictions within the story.
- I either couldn't finish the production or I skipped multiple episodes at a time looking for redemption.
I'll likely add more to this list as I go.
-
1. Take Care Of Us, Captain
Korean Drama - 2012, 20 episodes
I painfully stuck it out for the first 12 episodes before I had to start skipping them to get away from the clingy/vicious ex-adoptive sister and the ever so needy ex-girlfriend of the ML. I also found it hard to watch the young lad that was also after the FL...awfully pushy and stalker like for someone who claims to have the FL character's best interest at heart. I skipped seven episodes to watch 19 and 20...this production somewhat redeemed itself at the end.
I gave it eight stars because it's old and less annoying than some of the other older ones I've watched and the plot was unique in it's own way.
I can't take anything away from the actors, they did their part well. -
2. Untitled Park Ji Eun Project
Korean Drama - 2024, 16 episodes
I started skipping entire episodes after watching the first two, so out of 10, I watched only four. The only redeeming value of the production is that the actors did their jobs well. I can't blame them for the shite script.
It's just a stream of cliche characters who are mostly presented in an over-the-top-slap stick comedy kind of way...I might have liked it when I was 14.
The FL character is a total 'b'...the way she treated the people around her made it impossible to feel any sympathy or empathy toward her.
The ML character deserves to be in an intelligently written series, this sea of backwash is undeserving.
I'm quite disappointed that it is getting the ratings that it is as it will encourage companies to produce more of this tripe...
I will not recommend, I will never attempt a re-watch let alone a full watch. -
3. Love, Do It
Korean Drama - 2023, 8 episodes
I seemed to have tried to watch this when it came out, but stopped in the middle of the second episode, I tried again to see if it was me or the series...it's the series.
Oh, my head. I am completely behind the storyline for this series, however, it was incredibly difficult to keep up with the back and forth from past to present. Most productions use this method for storytelling, and I rarely take issue with it, but this was so choppy and awkward.
The younger versions of the three did their jobs well, no stars off for them or the writing. Everything related to them as adults just sucked. The writing was awful, the acting was awful...which is disappointing considering the two who played the FL and Go as adults are actors I'm familiar with and have never felt this way toward them before. I'd like to think it's purely the fault of all levels of production surrounding them and not actually them.
-
4. Ware Schoonheid
Korean Drama - 2020, 16 episodes
I just tried to watch this again after not getting through it the first time, over a year ago. I still can't do it. It's too bad because the story itself has all the potential to be something great. Having the cliche characters with their cliche behaviour immediately destroys my will to live through the entire series.
I'm not a fan of slapstick or overly animated comedic scenes...which are already rampant in the first episode...sigh.
-
5. A Profitable Cage
Korean Drama - 2024, 120 episodes
Not my thing. This is a very low-budget production that stinks of the soap opera genre. Being low-budget is not a crime will never affect my rating...how that budget is employed, absolutely will.
Added to the mix, the painfully rampant cliche characters...하지마!
-
6. Branding in Seongsu-dong
Korean Drama - 2024, 24 episodes
I only made it through two episodes, not for me. The female lead's character would make a pacifist turn to violence. This is the type of personality that anyone with a shred of humanity, decency and self-respect would run from and avoid at all cost. Zero respect for the ML character for these reasons, specially since he seems to be the only decent human at the agency.
The acting and the sets were okay. All five stars are for those points alone.
There is such a mixed bag of reviews, so the advice I can give is:
WATCH THIS IF: 1. You're not looking for an intelligent plot or writing. 2. If you think a sociopath with a sprinkling of psychopathy is a perfect choice for a lead character for a romance that isn't a comedy.
DON'T WATCH THIS IF: 1. You have no tolerance for people who step on the people around them simply because they are there. 2. You are looking for an intelligent plot or writing.
-
7. Under the Gun
Korean Drama - 2024, 6 episodes
The story is fine, I guess. Most of the acting is fine. Why does the female lead talk like a child? Why is the guy that likes the female lead, a Dick?
Without the blatant cliches (that I don't have the patience for...because I'm old, and grumpy), this had the potential to be something quite intelligent and well worth the watch. -
8. Untitled
Korean Drama - 2020, 8 episodes
Grumpy Nana NOPE. I'm really, really, really tired of rude and or mean children...well, these types of characters, regardless of age. I have a lot of children, I've raised a lot more, I've taught for years...if you go by K standards, every other kid in any given school system is an absolute DICK...sigh.
-
9. The Gray
Korean Drama - 2024, 6 episodes
I'm just in episode 1 and already I want to hi-five the parasite hunter lady (pronounced 'twat') in the face...with a bus. I will fast forward through ALL of her scenes from now on. So the story and the rest of the cast will dictate whether or not this series stays in this list.
-
10. Monthly House
Korean Drama - 2021, 16 episodes
Childish. The actors did what they could with the slop they were given, so five stars to be counted as 10 for them and casting.
I skipped quite a few episodes hoping it would mature a bit, nope. -
11. Warrior Baek Dong Soo
Korean Drama - 2011, 29 episodes
I'm not sure how I feel about this series, I'm only on episode 2 and I'm already skipping every scene with a specific character because he is so bloody ridiculous. I'll have to take a break and come back to it another time, and maybe skip a few episodes in hopes that he is killed off.
-
12. Alone In Love
Korean Drama - 2006, 16 episodes
Ahhhh, this production had so much potential with the story being the closest to the lives we truly live that I have seen in a while.
Three stars off for ruining the beautiful sadness with the childish, meddling hag of a sister and the vicious estranged wife. I ended up having to ffwd through their scenes in order to make it to the end of the series.
There were plot holes everywhere...events and actions or inaction that made no sense on any level.
All stars to be counted as 10 for everyone involved in this series that had no control over the script. Everyone in control of the script, you get a million thumbs down. -
13. Angel Eyes
Korean Drama - 2014, 20 episodes
This had the potential to be a wonderful story about coming of age, overcoming adversity, and the power of love to heal all that it is allowed to...until the FL's father was in her hospital room after her eye surgery, I think around episode 3, when we are smacked in the face with a cold foreboding.
I started skipping through parts of episodes and then full episodes after that. Altogether, I watched maybe 10 of the 20.
7 stars to be regarded as 10 for everyone who had no say in the script. -
14. Thank You
Korean Drama - 2007, 16 episodes
If you like mindless cliches, a lot of words for the sake of filling space, the vicious old lady, the cold calculating rich boys and those that have been ruthlessly trampled on expected to forgive the perpetrators...then this is the series for you.
All stars go toward acting as they did the best they could with the slop they were given. -
15. Angry Mom
Korean Drama - 2015, 16 episodes
All stars go toward acting. The story itself was okay and even had moments of brilliance, but it would have been much better without the cliche characters and events.
Angry mom is the perfect name for this series...unlike many others that are soooooooo lost in translation and cringy. -
16. Good Doctor
Korean Drama - 2013, 20 episodes
I really, REALLY dislike how the FL is written, I spent a lot of time wanting to high five her in the face with a chair. She comes across as very childish emotionally and oversteps so many boundaries that a person with the degree of autism, that the writers would have you believe the ML has, would NEVER be able to accommodate let alone be drawn to.
Ahhhhh, the more I watch, the more chairs I need! I've added the 2ndFL to the pile.
I'm just fast ffwding through all of their scenes now...it's less painful.
WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS
OH DEAR GOD, seriously???? Hey, your dad constantly beat you and made sure you knew how worthless you were to him and that after many years he still feels the same, but he's dying so you have to suck it up and pretend that never happened, because he's now a patient (but not yours)? The FECK!!
You're a doctor, you are dealing with the memories of your abusive father as well as having him in the same hospital, while everyone is telling you to put those feelings aside for his sake, so I, the mother that abandoned you will drag you out of your place of work, during your shift and tell you who I am...because it wouldn't make sense to do this after work, in a quiet place so you can process this in as peaceful a way as possible? OH, and why are you telling him at all? The FL could have found out how he felt about his mother before he had that shit dumped on him.
Ack, I'm done, can't do it, FL, 2ndFL and mother of ML characters destroyed the brilliant potential this series obviously had -
17. When the Wind Blows and Dies
Korean Drama - 2020, 16 episodes
Nah, forced myself through the first episode to give it a chance to redeem itself only to be completely deterred within the first few minutes of the second. I found it flat and ridiculously nonsensical.
-
18. Golden Rainbow
Korean Drama - 2013, 41 episodes
Very cliche ridden, very soapy...veeeeerrrrrrry drawn out. It might have been easier to watch if there were only 20 episodes...ah, that's not true, I only made it through the first 4 episodes before I skipped to 40.
The actors did their jobs, the writers did not. -
19. My Girlfriend is an Alien
Chinese Drama - 2019, 28 episodes
I somehow stuck it out until episode 3, I just can't anymore, it's a lot too juvenile for me.
-
20. Hello Mr. Gu
Chinese Drama - 2021, 30 episodes
The FL character is INCREDIBLY childish, like a brat 8 year old childish. This would have been a good series had her character been mature and free spirited...The the rest of the writing could have stayed relatively unchanged and we could have had a production that was fun AND intelligent.
The dubbing is also pretty bad, even by Chinese standards...cringy at times.
By episode 3, I'd lost the will to live through another second. -
21. Black Sun
Korean Drama - 2021, 12 episodes
Dropped at episode 3, I find the female agent/partner's character incredibly annoying. Another flaw in the writing; in the message the ML left for himself, he specifically says 'Don't trust anyone that approaches you'...yet there's the FL, front and centre. Every time he doesn't do what she wants to do, she threatens to throw him under the bus...and he takes it?
Maybe it gets better, maybe not, however, I do not have the patience to find out.
-
22. The Brave Yong Soo Jung
Korean Drama - 2024, 120 episodes
-
23. Voice 4: Tijd van oordeel
Korean Drama - 2021, 14 episodes
I want to give this a two star rating because it was so dreadfully dark, however that would be unfair to everyone who worked on this production, so only one star off.
The darkness aside, the acting could not have surpassed the skill and 'fit' of those involved, regardless of whom I try to imagine as alternatives. So a hardy 'well done' to casting and the actors they chose.
Overall, the production itself is on par with the skill of the actors so even with it's rural and semi-rural setting, it seamlessly complimented the characters and those portraying them.
I guess my biggest gripe is when they have crappy actors to play the native English speakers...and when they try to convince us that a person went to and English speaking country as a child but after decades, still didn't have a handle on the language. This is a flaw with the writing, not the actors.I hate to put this on this list because it was so well done, however, I truly will not watch it again, and I can't honestly say that I'm "Glad I watched it once'.
-
24. Yan Yu Fu
Chinese Drama - 2022, 34 episodes
I enjoyed this for the most part but I did find it a bit laggy here and there.
The production as a whole was well done, casting was ace, actors did their part, the scenery was magnificent and the dubbing was only a tiny bit cringy. -
25. 365: Repeat the Year
Korean Drama - 2020, 24 episodes
I don't think there's anything wrong with this series, it's just not my thing. I watched into episode 4 and I can't escape the constant and utterly cloying sense of foreboding, which I am a complete anti-fan of.
-
26. Why Oh Soo Jae?
Korean Drama - 2022, 16 episodes
I am the single most unmanageable and contrary person I know and I still think the FL character is a hag. I only had to watch one episode to figure out where this plot line was headed...nope.
I'm all for people turning over a new leaf/learning the error of their ways, however, I have no use for people that abuse the power they have in their hands and then scream 'why me???', specially when that abuse causes irreversible harm to innocents.
We are to believe that the obviously intelligent FL character who's also arrogant, vicious, self serving and self richous, points a finger at everyone around her for being unscrupulous and can't figure out why that didn't end well??? Really??? ...what's not to love?
All stars go for acting and supporting crew...nothing for writing or anyone involved in the okaying of it. -
27. Let Me Introduce Her
Korean Drama - 2018, 40 episodes
Nine stars to be counted as 10 for acting and everyone involved in the production...Writers should have been kept on a tighter leash for various infringements on my intelligence.
This was very 'soapy' with the token evil 'other woman', the woman capable of defending herself, but didn't, the twisted son, the bad guys hired to off the woman capable of defending herself, but didn't...sadly, the list goes on for days.
I'm on the fence as to whether or not I think this was worth the watch...as brief as it was since I skipped so many episodes on the way from first to last episode. -
28. Love Rain
Korean Drama - 2012, 20 episodes
All eight stars to be counted as 10 for acting and production, their work was stellar.
Some of the characters were written quite well, while others...groan.
Rude boy meets masochistic girl, remains rude and often cruel forever, girls falls in love with him?...why not...sigh. Boy remains rude and cruel even though he has also fallen in love with her. Also included in the barf is the love square...which is usually a triangle...which is bad enough. The FL has two men openly pursuing her and one that stays silent.
And then we have the mandatory vicious, overbearing, poor me mother of the ML. Even after how horrible she was to the FL's mom when they were younger and in the present, as well as being more than willing to destroy her son's happiness in order to sate her need for a groundless grudge, she gets off scott free and gets to be happy in the end...
The FL, even seeing with her own eyes how cruel the ML's mom is to her mom, still kept insisting that the ML must never fight with his mom (yes the same one that is actively trying to destroy their relationship) and that they should all be one happy family....aish...
I only watched the entire thing in hopes of seeing the old hag get her comeuppance...I was robbed.
I won't watch this again... -
29. Go Ho's Starry Night
Korean Drama - 2016, 20 episodes
Wow, this brought the love triangle scenario to new lows...how many, five, maybe six guys all after the same girl...and in an open competition for her????
All the mandatory characters were there, the ex that dumped her with no explanation, the cold and snarly one that suffered for years from unrequited love because the ex got to her first, the young playboy, the slapstick idiot, and the one that just threw himself in because the game looked fun...barf.
I skipped quite a few episodes here and there and missed nothing. By the end of the second episode I knew what the outcome would be.
All stars go toward the actors for doing the best they could with the tripe they were given.
I won't watch this again.