☕️ SHIN HAE SUN & JI CHANG WOOK's "Welcome To Samdalri" Exceeds Expectations

☕️ Good Morning!

It’s time for another KDrama Coffee Break!

Did anyone else’s watchlist just explode last week?!

Can’t wait to discuss all of them with you this week LIVE Sunday Dec. 10th!

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Still need your December Premiere Calendar? It’s right HERE 😎 

PREMIERES

⭐️ 12.4 NIGHT HAS COME

⭐️ 12.6 SOUNDTRACK #2

⭐️ 12.9 MAESTRA: STRINGS OF TRUTH

Definitely checking out “Soundtrack #2”. Steve Noh / Noh Sang Hyun is so freaking dynamic and let’s be honest, sexy as hell - I can’t wait to watch him in a romcom about second chances.

Intrigued by the cast of “Maestra: Strings of Truth” not sure I’m up for the drama plot…l’ll be keeping an eye out to see ‘what the word on the street’ is and maybe jump in.

“Night Has Come” wasn’t really on my radar - not really in the mood lately for the high school stories.

FINALES

No finales this week but I am mentally preparing myself for the “Moon In the Day” Finale next week 😰

JENN’S WATCHLIST

▶︎ Moon In The Day The final pieces are starting to fall into place. Our ill-fated lovers PYO YE JIN & KIM YOUNG DAE seem to be ill-fated no matter which era they live in. Every week I want more of their story and this week was no different. We didn’t get as much of the Silla past life this week, but what we did get gave us more of the tragic struggle between love and loyalty these two are fighting daily. The preview for this week seems to indicate that Kang Yeong Hwa finally learns how and by whom, Do Ha died, sparking their seemingly unending 1500-year karma.

I know I say it every week, but this story has just been so engaging, engrossing and enjoyable I can’t get enough. If we actually get to the end with some level of satisfaction, I will probably go back to episode one immediately and hit play to experience it all over again. 🥰

▶︎ A Good Day To Be A Dog The curse is broken! Kisses were kissed! (CHA EUN WOO & PARK GYU YOUNG set Twitter on fire) And we found out our friendly neighborhood Korean History teacher LEE HYUN WOO is a natural because he is a Mountain Spirit Gumiho and has LIVED all the history. Excited to see the dating phase of our freaking adorable couple and if the preview is any indication we are getting many more great kisses. Still frustrated that we are only getting one ep a week but now that it really is airing weekly it’s become one of my favorite escapes of the week.

▶︎ The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract is turning out to be just a delight. Our LEE SE YOUNG & BAE IN HYUK couple is endearing and surprisingly believable in this completely unbelievable situation. Not too over the top, not too dramatic just really fun and often funny interactions of our girl navigating New Joseon. Especially the prep scene of her getting ready for Grandpa’s birthday party?! Loved it. Classic rom-com energy here and I’m all in after 4 episodes. Also, it must be said that I adore that Lee Se Young continues her streak of outspoken strong women roles 💪

★ Welcome To Samdalri Wow! I’ll admit I was keeping my expectations LOW on this one to not be disappointed but holy hell SHIN HAE SUN, JI CHANG WOOK and the rest of this crew crushed the first 2 episodes. The Healer Reunion with Hacker Ahjumma KIM MI KYUNG made my kdrama life. The Three Terrible Sisters and the daughter are already taking a spot on my all-time list of kick-ass women I love. And my god the chemistry between Shin Hae Sun and Ji Chang Wook! Listen I knew it was going to be good when I pulled their charts…but seeing it in action?! (I was working on an AstroCorner for the show but chickened out 😜 maybe I’ll post it on IG. Let me know if you’d want to see it) All this to say my watchlist is beefy with great Rom-coms right now and I could not be happier!

★ Sweet Home 2 I still have 2 eps to go. Parts I love (anything with our original cast) Parts I don’t (I’m not connected at all to most of the stadium crew - except the baseball player/platoon member JUNG JIN YOUNG & of course our mad scientist OH JUNG SE) The pacing reminds me of how I felt about Game of Thrones. Every time I start to get invested in one story it pops over to another for half or even a full ep and I have to start over again and I never really get a feel for any one story. I’m intrigued about where the full story is headed but alas will have to wait until summer 2024.

★ My Man Is Cupid Didn’t get to this one yet! What did everyone think?

FINAL THOUGHTS / RATING:

😸😸 Vigilante Really want a Season 2 to delve deeper into these characters. I feel like this series just scratched the surface. Especially NAM JOO HYUK. It was enjoyable - the first 2 eps were a bit slow - but once we added YOO JI TAE & LEE JOON HYUK it really picked up the pace and the plot.  

😸😸Perfect Marriage Revenge As I mentioned last week I was ready to close this one out. It ended well but for me, it was anticlimactic and don’t yell at me 😆…a bit boring. Everyone got what they deserved and that was satisfying. I did kinda feel bad for the ex-husband/fiancee being strapped with a baby mama who hates him after he had made amends and gotten out of that chaos - though the look on his face was pure comedy gold. Ultimately what drew me in about this story was the time travel and 2nd chances that BOTH our leads SUNG HOON & JUNG YOO MIN had. But from about episode 8 until 15 that part of the story was just ignored. And when we finally get back to it it felt rushed to me. I’m glad I watched it. It was a fun run & if you like Sung Hoon - definitely recommend!

📣 SON YE JIN celebrated her & HYUN BIN’s son’s 1st birthday on instagram with a her 1year old picture!

📣 SONG KANG has announced his enlistment in the military - thank god he’s leaving us with many projects to rewatch!

📣 AGENCY NEWS: LEE DONG HWI has moved over to BFF LE JE HOON’s agency - Company On. YOO HAE JIN has joined Awesome Ent which is where PARK SEO JOON & KIM YOO JUNG are also repped. NANA has renewed her contract with Pledis for the 4th time. Gotta love that they take care of her so well! SEO YE JI has left her management company after 4 years.

📣 WEAK HERO 2 is moving to Netflix Originals due to management issues at Waave.

📸 STILL CUTS: 

🔸MARRY MY HUSBAND - PARK MIN YOUNG and NA IN WOO

🔸DEATH’S GAME is trying to kill us, isn’t it? - KIM JI HOON, SUNG HOON & JANG SEUNG JO, and the JAE WOOK’s KIM and LEE

📸 AIRPORT RUN:

🔸 PARK BO GUM

📸 PHOTOSHOOTS: 

🔸 LEE SE YOUNG & BAE IN HYUK + AMA for Elle Korea

🔸 KIM YOO JUNG & SONG KANG Esquire Korea

🔸PARK SO DAM & SEO IN GUK Elle Korea

🔸LEE DONG WOOK and his Sunglasses in Esquire Korea

🔸LEE DONG WOOK & LIM SOO JUNG Vogue Korea

DECEMBER 9

MAESTRA: STRINGS OF TRUTH (Ep 1 Full Trailer)

🥂Coming Soon: We are putting together our Holiday List and will be sharing a few of our favorite things 🥂 

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