Oh dear, where did all the time go? It feels like just yesterday that I did a belated blogversary post with a mix of incoherent (or not) kdrama/cdrama ramblings, but that was back in June last year and now it’s 2026 already??!! Happy new year everyone! Thankfully, my year (2025) in drama-watching didn’t stop there and I have another list of shows that I would like to tell you readers about – feel free share some of your thoughts with me, or maybe pick up something you might like to watch. I had covered some 2025 dramas in the June post, and in the meantime wrote individual separate posts about a few others as well so I will not be focusing too much on those (since I probably already said almost everything I wanted to). Nonetheless, I will link back to them along the way. Not all shows are new or for that matter aired in 2025; there are a handful which have been released in recent years (specifically the last 4-5 years) but I will still talk about them in order to have a more wholesome and perhaps truer reflection on my drama year. Hopefully it is okay, lol. Shall we begin? 😆

Nine Puzzles

Yup, so this was where I left off after the anniversary post – honestly I had initially thought that Nine Puzzles was going to be a psychological thriller and would be very dark. I mean, terrible things happen in the drama and that forms the core of what both our protagonists aim to unravel. Ultimately, it wasn’t as dark or hard to watch – which made it feel refreshing in terms of the angle of execution the director and production team took overall. Storyline wise, probably nothing new if you’ve seen enough thrillers/procedurals – a crime takes place and there’s a team of detectives put in charge of the investigation. But there was always a ‘hook’ factor that made me want to keep watching – I liked the whole shrouded-in-mystery vibe, and feeding viewers just enough information that was insufficient to come to any definite conclusion. For me, I could feel the plot progressing along; yet at the same time, I was constantly on my toes and the show was able to keep me guessing.

Kim Han-saem, starring Son Seok-ku and Yoon E-na (played by Kim Da-mi) were rather eccentric characters – I thought the whole unique styling, their lines and everything was quite an interesting concept which at the beginning made it a little tough to relate to them as people. It took me a while for sure. However, as more and more things regarding the whodunit fell into place and Han-saem became more trusting of E-na I was able to understand them better. I quite enjoyed the part when Han-saem began to be suspicious of his colleagues Yang Jung-ho (Kim Sung-kyun) and Choi San (Hyun Bong-sik), as well as the whole internal conflict that followed – the execution was good. Thanks to director-nim Yoon Jong-bin, the drama also enjoyed quite a number of very star-studded cameo appearances from veterans Lee Sung-min, Hwang Jung-min, Park Sung-woong and Ji Jin-hee. We got good acting performances at all fronts – all the way from the main and supporting cast to the short appearances and I am very thankful for that. Perhaps one of the best things about Nine Puzzles was how everything came one full circle at the end. Not many dramas these days can come up with a conclusion that stays true and blue to its introduction, without losing spark somewhere in the middle.

Narc0-Saints (2022)

Judging from how much I liked Nine Puzzles I made a decision to check out Yoon Jong-bin director-nim’s other drama Narco-Saints/수리남 Surinam (literal translation of Korean title) albeit some years late. There are differences as this is based on a true story and the slightly less fictional aspect of it does make it feel like the hot soup that our characters land themselves in is more serious – but this is where director-nim’s style is reminiscent of Nine Puzzles: as much as the reality is bleak, where humans are inherently greedy and cannot resist temptations the story is told like a neighbourhood day-to-day drama which could happen to literally anyone. You would understand better what I mean if you’ve watched both Narco-Saints and Nine Puzzles, but my point is the style used was quite a twist from his works in film and felt pretty refreshing. It was more pronounced in Nine Puzzles, which I feel made it more watchable for audience who generally may not prefer thriller/crime as a genre. I can watch very dark and intense works especially for mystery or thriller genres, but this works as well.

On the whole, the acting and direction were great – I mean you have big names like Ha Jung-woo, Hwang Jung-min, Park Hae-soo and Jo Woo-jin, plus Yoo Yeon-seok (Ha and Jo were eventually awarded for their roles at the Blue Dragon Series and Baeksang Arts Awards) which likely makes it hard to go wrong casting wise? The storyline aspect was more average though, and the show did not follow up on some small plot points introduced. Nonetheless, it was entertaining to watch Pastor Jeon (Hwang Jung-min) duke it out with In-gu (Ha Jung-woo) and friends before ending on a satisfactory note. Well, hit me up for Yoon Jong-bin director-nim’s next project! 😄

Light Shop (2024)

Yes, as you are all aware I was late to the party for this one released in 2024… but given how much I enjoyed Moving (thoughts in the June post!) I was still keen to see another of Kang Full’s webcomic come to life on screen. I’ll admit that it was a confusing watch for me particularly in the first half – and frankly speaking it’s hard to get invested if you have no idea what’s going on right? I was that lost viewer, unable to understand the motivations of characters I was introduced to in the drama. On the surface, every character is standalone and seemingly unrelated but there are ties that bind them together and the titular light shop is where the worlds of the dead and the living collide. In hindsight, I do think it was an intentional choice by the production team to not explain the happenings at first so that the later revelations had more oomph. But it is also due to this fact that the show is not going to work for everyone since not every viewer is going to have the “patience” to sit through almost half the total episode number have endless question marks in their head. Nevertheless, those who do give it a chance till the end might gain takeaways that you might never get from an average drama.

Although it is a rather short series, Light Shop isn’t fast-paced at all – it takes its time to build the world that our ensemble cast revolves around and their saddening or tragic circumstances (maybe less-than-tragic since they are able to continuously reconnect with people from their past) as well as what made them the people they are today – to me it was quite poignant, being able to see the extent that each person will go to in order to protect their loved ones when they aren’t in a really good place themselves, or time is running out. The best part in my opinion was as much as how supernaturally strange the phenomenons were, the ending did not forget to remind us that we live in a very realistic world, that not everything is going to be pink and rosy because when you gain some, you lose some as well. It could not be more beautiful how each of the individual arcs were resolved, or even if not resolved in a way people would normally want things to end, it offered an insight into how people let go and move on with their lives after going through a harrowing experience. Pretty sure that it’s definitely going to be hard to find another drama like this again, not before and not in the future 😉

Trigger

It had been a while since I saw Kim Nam-gil and Kim Young-kwang on my screen, as I didn’t really watch their recent works so I felt like this was a double bonus since I could watch both actors in the same project. The other thing is that both of them have very different in real-life personalities: Kim Nam-gil is more talkative and outgoing, whereas Kim Young-kwang is more shy and introverted so it was really funny watching them during some of the media conferences and interviews. Based on the teasers and trailers, I thought it was going to be the police getting to the bottom of shootings in South Korea in an imaginary world where citizens in the country could hold guns. In hindsight though, I think Trigger was gunning to be somewhat like a social commentary – addressing the consequences of the lack of gun control and how everyone has a mental ‘trigger’ in their hearts as well as what it could potentially escalate to. Having said that, I do think that people do have to face the consequences of any choices they make, regardless of what they have had to face in everyday life and whatever desperate reasons that may have compelled those actions. And this is where Kim Nam-gil’s character Lee Do comes into play.

I do think that both ideas were successfully brought across by the drama to a reasonable extent, despite some exaggerations and in my opinion there were a good number of scenes that were well-shot and several from the fourth episode onwards were impactful. The acting was also outstanding – not just by both Kims but also the supporting characters in the individual episodes and throughout, including Kim Won-hae, Jung Woong-in, Jo Han-chul and Park Hoon just to name a few. Nonetheless, Trigger was not the best of its kind – there were thought-provoking themes explored which mainly came through touch-and-go moments so there was some lost potential.

Butterfly

This was an American-Korean collaborative series available on Amazon Prime Video which I was interested to see after hearing that it was going to be set in South Korea and there’s a mix of Korean and American cast. Daniel Dae Kim, who is also one of the executive producers stars as our leading man David Jung, an ex-secret agent who sets out to rescue his estranged daughter Rebecca Jung (starring Reina Hardesty) after discovering that she has become an assassin. This leads to dramatic action sequences and stunts throughout, with family drama that lie at the heart of this thriller. For audiences who may not be as familiar with Korean culture, I think the fact that a USA series was entirely filmed in South Korea is pretty amazing since you get to see something different from the usual American spy flick. Daniel Dae Kim was amazing as David Jung – I read that he even did most of his own stunts, at his age not needing a double much is out-of-this world. Butterfly also boasts a bunch of star-studded Korean supporting cast and guest appearances, including Kim Tae-hee, Kim Ji-hoon, Park Hae-soo and Sung Dong-il. Their roles may be minor in the grand scheme of things, but it supported the setting of the series.

Perhaps because it was only a short six episodes, a lot of things felt unresolved by the end and some arcs felt rushed. I would attribute that to weaker overall writing and execution, rather than the acting. All our characters teased interesting layers – whether David could really leave his old life and become a loving and benevolent father for Rebecca, whether Rebecca really yearned for a loving family or if she was just an assassin with sociopathic tendencies, or whether Juno (starring Piper Perabo), merciless as she is, really loved her son Oliver (starring Louis Landau) but unfortunately Show did not reach its full potential with these. My thought on this is similar to Trigger – maybe worth a quick watch but certainly not the best of its kind.

Beyond The Bar

I’m still going to say the same thing about how legal dramas hit different when the script is written by someone who is or is formerly from the legal profession. The writer for Beyond The Bar Park Mi-hyun is a former lawyer herself; it is just not the same if you’ve experienced it first-hand versus getting inspirations for the story through consultations or discussions with actual professionals. And South Korea has already succeeded with a few, starting from 2024’s Good Partner. The cases in the drama discuss many different things people do in the name of love and how it looks in the eyes of the legal system. This, I feel is a very interesting concept in a law-centric drama because of the thought-provoking value it offers and most people would unlikely stop to think about these things until or unless it actually happens to them. Though abstract, it provides food for thought to the point that the case of the day stays within for a long while even after finishing an episode.

An example of one that still stayed with me after some time was the case of the overprotective mother who believed and insisted that her boy toddler was knocked down by a truck driver despite him showing no abnormalities at the hospital’s medical screening; she had failed to realise that her extreme actions and behaviour with regards to being her son’s main caretaker had caused him undue stress in his heart. It was a tad too convenient that this case happened to mirror rookie lawyer Kang Hyo-min’s (Jung Chae-yeon) adolescent years but I rolled with it since I guess drama-wise they had to create situations to open towards character development. Our second leads, lawyers Heo Min-jeong (Jeon Hye-bin) and Lee Jin-woo (Lee Hak-joo) did steal some of the limelight for their very adorable and sparkly romance, which certainly took my heart away ❤

KARMA

Random but I just wanted to say that I actually intended to use a poster with the Korean title but ended up feeling that the English one looks nicer, hah. If Lee Kwang-soo as Mr ‘Glasses’ was the best supporting actor here (he won for his role in Karma/악연akyeon at the Blue Dragon Series Awards held July 2025), Park Hae-soo is hands down the MVP for best actor in the series – it was such a phenomenal performance from him that it made me think no other actor could do it better than he did, truly. After the international success of Squid Game, he is now dubbed “Netflix’s Civil Servant” with four different projects released on the streaming platform in the last one year alone. Since Prison Playbook I’ve known for a while that he is a great actor but I think my investment level in this series made me doubly impressed by him. His role as the ‘Witness’ was frankly quite challenging? But he was also well-supported by the rest of the cast which includes Lee Hee-jun, Kim Sung-kyun, Gong Seung-yeon and Shin Min-ah, which made for a very well-made drama overall. Everyone played their respective characters perfectly indeed.

The director Lee Il-hyeong, also co-wrote the script with the writer of the original webcomic Choi Hee-sun – I think it was super good, despite being a short series as the story was told in such a captivating way that encapsulated the essence of Karma. Going to stop here because if I continue to say more I will probably spoil the fun for those who have not watched it yet. I deeply enjoyed the thrill, excitement and the craziness of the entire 6 episodes. It was really an insane, almost flawless drama in my 2025 book. What a masterpiece 👏🏼😭

P.S. I’ve also shared a video (with English subtitles) below where Park Hae-soo, Lee Kwang-soo and Shin Min-ah guested on a Netflix talkshow to promote their drama.

MERCY FOR NONE

Given the star-studded cast lineup, I had been wanting to watch this since the release (held up on it for a while though). As it was pretty short with only 7 episodes I finished it quite quickly only very recently (last quarter of 2025). In a nutshell, the story is a bloody and violent revenge flick based on a webcomic of the same Korean name 광장gwangjang. Some of the action scenes were cool and very stylish, and industry big names So Ji-sub, Cha Seung-won, Lee Beom-soo as well as veterans Heo Jun-ho plus Ahn Gil-kang were able to showcase their acting chops amongst others like Lee Jun-hyuk and Gong Myung. Cue shady business, betrayals, broken family ties and… broken people.

One thing that wasn’t so good was the fact that the drama became hyper-focused on the violence (and some gore) after setting the premise and then seemed to throw everything else out of the window. Most, if not all the characters were portrayed rather one-dimensionally (although it might not have been the original intention). While I understand that Nam Gi-seok (Lee Jun-hyuk) died under mystifying circumstances, the drama never really got to flesh out Nam Gi-jun’s (So Ji-sub) motivation or painful desperation that drove his revenge. This is just one example but I think there were other instances wherein I felt the same or had a similar thought. Ultimately, things just felt depressingly tragic and at some angle, seemed meaningless because I started thinking about what Gi-seok would have wanted for his hyung had he been still alive. Would things have been any different?

The Winning Try

Until now I am still not sure what compelled me to watch a rugby-themed drama for someone with close to zero experience with the sport, but thinking back about it now maybe I needed to watch something that wasn’t too melodramatic, or slice-of-life or having to see someone wind up dead (fictionally). And I’ll gladly report that the final outcome was an uplifting, feel-good story of growth for both the youths and adults in the drama’s world. It was heartwarming to see the protagonist Ju Ga-ram (starring Yoon Kye-sang) pick himself up from a place of shattered hopes, dreams and loss of life’s purpose to become the star coach of Hanyang High School’s rugby team. The boys of the team also went from being unmotivated and lacking self-confidence to re-igniting their passion for rugby, rising up to whatever challenges life threw their way.

I wasn’t particularly inclined towards Yoon Kye-sang’s acting when he did all the extra or exaggeratingly funny scenes, but I did feel for Ga-ram when he was shunned by everyone in school except for Principal Kang (played by Gil Hae-yeon). Like he literally has not a single person (including the love of his life) on his side since his return to Hanyang as coach, and yet still has to mask all the negative feelings he must have had inside with a super happy-go-lucky persona. Life is all about making decisions, big or small and having the courage to see them through – while his past decisions may not have been the best ones, Ga-ram is now trying to rebuild the life he had since thrown away and in the process, potentially inspire the younger ones with his own experiences as a former rugby athlete. Im Se-mi’s character, on the other hand Bae Yi-ji appeared to be very aloof and slightly detached, in an emotional sense. As much as she tried to maintain professional as a shooting coach, Ga-ram’s return brought back memories of their past heartbreak.

The stories of some of the individual rugby team members did not shine a lot as most were familiar kdrama tropes for this kind of sports dramas, but it is also perhaps the feeling of similiarity that made this an easy watch. Going to also take this opportunity to credit actor Jung Soon-won for his supporting role as Coach Bang Heung-nam – I’d actually taken notice of him since Connection and A Virtuous Business where he also played supporting roles but left an impression on me. I do think he has some kind of natural talent for comedic acting, and apart from that I think he showcased Heung-nam’s internal conflict and emotional suffering perfectly. It was a position you wouldn’t normally want to find yourself in – having to do things against his will to his good friends Ga-ram and I-ji in order to be a bootlicker to his superior. His side arc turned out to be more impactful that I’d initially expected. Hopefully more good roles come his way in future!

Tempest

For a drama that was hyped through the roof very early on (way before its actual release) with its powerhouse casting and well-known directors and scriptwriter, did it live up to the hype? I would say yes and no, for a variety of reasons. The thing about fanfare is ‘dangerous’ because it comes with raised expectations, and it then becomes more difficult to meet or exceed viewer expectations. Well, regardless of the overall media attention, my final verdict in objective terms is that it delivered in scope, grandeur and style but not in more specific aspects like plot points, character development and thrill factor that satisfies a story of this scale. I was here for the bodyguard thriller and the whole cat-and-mouse chase which we did get, but all these didn’t completely knock my socks off which lands in the unfortunate zone for me.

Credits to all stars for excelling in each of their roles, no matter big or small – from Jun Ji-hyun, Kang Dong-won, Lee Mi-sook, Oh Jung-se, Park Hae-joon, Kim Hae-sook, Yoo Jae-myung, Um Tae-goo, Lee Sang-hee to Joo Jong-hyuk. The loveline between Seo Mun-ju (Jun Ji-hyun) and Paik San-ho (Kang Dong-won) didn’t feel real or naturally developed – it felt rushed and quickly intensified all of a sudden. Having said that, it’s not like Mun-ju and San-ho met under normal circumstances where they could slowly fall in love. At a time when the stakes are so high and every minute or second is precious, romantic feelings can possibly brew in a shorter time than one would reasonably expect. At least though, there was consolation in the fact that the couple’s chemistry was chemistrying. All in all, it was worth a watch for the cast but definitely had what it took to be much better.

CDRAMA: The Double 墨雨云间 (2024)

It was actually thanks to the little snippet on Netflix that made me click and tune into The Double/MoYuYunJian first released in June 2024. Also, I didn’t really want to stop watching cdramas after that slump I had 😂 Based on a novel titled Marriage of the Di Daughter 嫡家千金 by author Qian Shan Cha Ke千山茶客, it tells the story of how the main protagonist Xue Fangfei (starring actress Wu Jinyan) begins her revenge against those who framed her and her family after returning to the capital under someone else’s name and identity. Wu Jinyan embodied Xue’s pain, grit and resilience so well that I was easily drawn to her character early on in the series. Anyway, the original book title is referring to her character as well but I guess it was better for the drama to come up with a more aesthetic title. She was no doubt the biggest star of the show for me, putting up very impressive acting overall.

In general terms, I liked the plot’s pace and the background music especially in scenes where Duke Su/Xiao Heng (starring Wang Xingyue) appears. If you read my writeup on The Wanted Detective (link will be provided below!), you would know that I felt rather neutral about Wang Xingyue in that drama. Although The Double is older than The Wanted Detective by more than a year, I personally think that his acting here was much better? However, I’m not too sure how to explain the whys – maybe the cast here was more experienced, or the production team (directors etc) were able to set the mood well for filming so the actors were able to go deeper into character? We are introduced to Xiao Heng as ruthless and a force to be reckoned with in the imperial court, but I appreciated that the drama allowed us to understand him more via backstory and what made him the person he is in the present. He also made a good team with his two lackeys Wen Ji (Pan Youcheng) and Lu Ji (Wang Lefu); I liked to watch scenes with the trio. The vibes I got as a viewer seemed very cohesive on the whole, and Wang Xingyue had more chemistry with Wu Jinyan as well. The relationship between Xiao Heng and Xue Fangfei is a complicated one – it starts from something transactional, to one of mutual admiration, respect and love.

Apart from the main cast, the supporting characters were also portrayed superbly – just to list one example taiwanese actress Chen Qiao-en acted great in her role as the evil stepmother, Ji Shuran. I’ve only seen her in a lot of romance roles in the past, and her turn as an antagonist in The Double was good to see. It was a high-quality production with several memorable scenes that ranged from funny and entertaining to intense and heartbreaking, until the very end, that is. 😂

CDRAMA: Reset 开端 (2022)

The premise of Reset/KaiDuan involves time loops, aka changing events that happened in the past, present and the future as a result. I read somewhere it’s based on a Chinese web novel with the same title and written by Qi Daojun. As someone who doesn’t really appreciate time travel or fantasy elements as a genre, I finished the drama liking it more than I had initially expected to. The recurring time loop or cycle was blended in well with the narrative, and some other points which I felt contributed to my enjoyment in certain ways were: firstly there is a thrill factor as our leading man Xiao Heyun (starring Bai Jingting) and lady Li Shiqing (starring Zhao Jinmai) scramble to stop a public bus they happen to be on from exploding along with other commuters; secondly this series was produced by Daylight Entertainment, the production company behind many successful and critically acclaimed cdramas over the past decade (some notable works include Nirvana In Fire, The Disguiser, Ode To Joy, Love Me If You Dare); that being said Reset also features stars Liu Yijun and Liu Tao doing special and friendly appearances respectively, both of whom are familiar faces in several Daylight Entertainment’s projects.

Starting from the time frame when Heyun and Shiqing find themselves back on the bus until right before the bomb goes off (or not) is a repetitive sequence and they are even wearing the same outfit – I can’t imagine how many takes it took to film all the different versions of events LOL. While I understand it gets frustrating to see the same scene in almost every episode, I think you could take it as a means to an end? In Show’s context it’s important to show that the clock was rewound for the both of them, so that the timeline makes sense. The backstory of what ignited the whole explosion plot was unfortunate and some of the little stories about the passengers on the bus packed an extra sentimental punch – because of the mere fact that it could have been prevented, but everything snowballed and led to an irreversible situation.

It was fun to watch Heyun and Shiqing go from feeling disbelief for the out-of-this-world experience they were facing (being stuck in the same time loop, over and over again) to desperately trying to obtain new information with every opportunity to go back in time so as to stop the explosion. Seriously, I felt like I was going crazy each time Heyun and Shiqing were trying to smoke their way through the interrogations at the police station (because who’s going to believe that they time travelled and therefore could predict the future? Haha!) And having to explain themselves to Zhang Cheng (starring Liu Yijun), the shrewd vice captain of the police team handling the case – every stare and every ‘testing’ question felt like he was just waiting for their story to not add up. Well, it is always a joy to see him grace the screens in cdramaland – though it was only a special appearance, Captain Zhang’s doubt, confusion, helplessness with regards to the unreal phenomenon all showed in the actor’s micro-expressions and in spite of those feelings, he didn’t forget his passion and duty as a policeman. I teared as he carried the cooker containing the explosive and ran towards the bridge perimeters to throw it into the water. Captain Zhang became an undeniable and necessary presence for Heyun and Shiqing in those harrowing circumstances, and Liu Yijun’s portrayal added value to the show overall. It just goes to show that he doesn’t need a villain/shady role to give us a masterclass in acting 😉

CDRAMA: MOBIUS 不眠日

After the roaring success of The First Frost, I think Netflix fell in love with Bai Jingting haha. When Mobius/BuMianRi was announced, all of a sudden I realised the streaming platform has like 5 of his projects from the last 5 years? And in the 3 dramas (that I have talked about) he has taken on roles that each show a different side of him – he went from dorky game engineer Xiao Heyun, to everybody’s Prince Charming Sang Yan and then most recently he turns into suave police officer Ding Qi. Mobius is also adapted from a science fiction thriller novel published in May 2020, penned by author Zhang Xiaomao and this series marks the second time that Bai Jingting is working with the same director Liu Zhangmu after 2024’s Always On The Move/南来北往NanLaiBeiWang. Other cast members include Hongkong actress Janice Man (Wen Yongshan), Hongkong actor Ricky Chan (Chen Baoyuan), Song Yang and another special appearance from Liu Yijun! Not complaining though, he is always a joy to watch 😆

Earlier on under Reset’s section I alluded to not being into time travel/fantasy elements; apart from personal preference I think another reason is that there are times when the rules/boundaries with regards to the loops are not set clearly and as a result the plot becomes convoluted, leading to confusion and perhaps disengagement from watching.

Thankfully, that didn’t happen for this drama – the criteria for going back in time were clearly defined even before we got to the crux of the storyline, or the main case that Ding Qi tries to get to the bottom of. For instance, knowing that there are only 5 chances to loop back in time (meaning the fifth time is the final outcome), that the cycle repeats when the clock strikes midnight and that it only happens on certain days in a year or month is important because it sets the stage for all the different occurrences and incidents. At least, it was not always bad stuff happening. There were comedic moments between Ding Qi and An Lan (Janice Man), Ding Qi and his direct boss Duan Zheng (Ricky Chan) as well as Ding Qi and his subordinates during their interactions. It was especially funny when his actions/behaviour incited suspicion because of pre-awareness, but when they actually question him, Ding Qi just acts unaware or cooks up some excuse to wiggle out of situations. This aspect was unlike Reset, which wasn’t dark but generally more serious in tone with a melancholic undercurrent. There were somewhat like pockets of time to “relax” in between the mystery, which I appreciated and found myself enjoying.

I also think it would be helpful to know that romance does not take centrestage in Mobius – while the series teases a loveline between Ding Qi and An Lan, it was never a strong focus. For me I was kept busy enough most of the drama, so it didn’t matter much to me. You also wouldn’t be disappointed if you’re here to see Bai Jingting suit up in another hairstyle, use guns and be badass. Just to share a super funny tidbit – being from Beijing, Bai Jingting doesn’t really know how to speak Cantonese but it was so bad that the director couldn’t stop laughing at him in the behind-the-scenes filming clips. The dialect was used in the series every now and then as some of the supporting and main cast are from Hongkong – during the filming of one crowded scene, one of the extras accidentally stepped on his shoe/foot and Bai was trying super hard to let the person know but no one understood him, hahaha 🤣

CDRAMA: The Journey Of Legend 赴山海

Checked this out to support Cheng Yi because ahh, I enjoyed Mysterious Lotus Casebook so much wherein his performance as Li Lianhua/Li Xiangyi will go down in the history books as one of his most iconic roles to date. He played two roles in The Journey of Legend/FuShanHai (actually three if you count the software engineer in the modern world Xiao Mingming as well) – one is Xiao Qiushui, the youngest of three brothers in the Xiao Family and the other is Li Chenzhou, Chief of Quanli Alliance. I was very taken by Li Chenzhou’s aura – regardless of styling and outfit, I’m still amazed that Cheng Yi managed to act out two very different personalities in the same filming set. Based on first impressions, Qiushui was someone who grew up with a lot of love from his family and surrounded by many good friends whom he considered brothers; on the other hand Chenzhou gave off lonely vibes and other than his wife Zhao Shirong (starring Ding Xiaoying), everyone in the alliance seemed to have their own agendas.

Despite the drama being highly popular and topping broadcast charts in China, I frankly didn’t like it as much though I could tell a lot of effort was put in. The writing was a little all over the place, and incoherent at some points. For instance, I don’t think the drama did a good job in justifying Xiao Yiren’s (starring Zhang Junning) sudden and drastic personality change, and as a result the turnover wasn’t too smooth for my liking. There were also a small number of scenes where background noise unrelated to what was happening in the drama was not removed or minimised so it felt a bit jarring. The production quality also didn’t feel as classy or polished compared to other cdrama historicals I’ve seen. Quite a pity, but there is consolation in the fact that I could watch Cheng Yi on television again in a short span of just 2-3 months and with a massive amount of screentime for playing multiple roles, heh.

TWDRAMA: The Victims’ Game 2 谁是被害者 (2024)

By the time the season 2 came out this drama was already at the back back backkk of my mind because it took too long? LOL because I watched season 1 back when it was newly released in April 2020, then the next season was actually announced around 5 months later but it took like almost four years to come back gosh (think it’s because they only filmed the second season quite some time after the announcement). And I finally had time to go back to it in Q3 2025 – I still can recall the overview of what happened in the first season, but rest assured the cases in the second season aren’t linked so you can watch it as a standalone. Watching Joseph Chang (Zhang Xiaoquan) and Tiffany Hsu (Hsu Wei-ning) on screen again, along with a mixture of mandarin and Hokkien (a chinese dialect) lines really brought back many memories of watching Taiwanese dramas in their heyday.

Joseph Chang stars as Fang Yi-jen, a forensic scientist with Asperger’s Syndrome. He struggles to connect and interact with people around him, which makes it very difficult for him to get close to his estranged daughter Chiang Hsiao-meng, starring Moon Lee (it’s the relationship he wants to mend the most). Just like in season 1, they both get involved in a series of mysterious murders and in the process uncover the truth behind an old incident from the past. The real mastermind planted fake clues and left traces at the crime scenes in order to incriminate Yi-jen, who then risked it all to prove his innocence and assisted the police to track down the real murderer.

Besides some new additions to the cast for this season, everything else was more or less the same. But I personally prefer the first part as it left a more lasting impression – season 2 leaned towards being slightly more predictable. Nonetheless, the production quality was still equally high in standard and provided a favourable watching experience. Maybe because it’s a Netflix series?

JDRAMA: Romantics Anonymous

Now I can say that 2025 was the year I “officially” returned to both cdramas and jdoramas – this time the show in the spotlight is a Japanese-Korean collaboration drama released globally on Netflix, starring Oguri Shun and Han Hyo-joo. It had been a while since both stars graced my screen – I last saw Oguri Shun in 2017’s Crisis: Special Security Squad, and Han Hyo-joo in Moving and Blood Free. Romantics Anonymous tells the love story between an anonymous chocolatier, Lee Han-na (Han Hyo-joo) and a food confectionery chief strategy officer, Sosuke Fujiwara (Oguri Shun). Each character has their own traumas: Sosuke has germophobia while Han-na has scopophobia. The drama is also a journey of everyone acknowledging their fears and moving one step closer to overcoming them. The romance is sweet and kinda understated, blending in some of the usual romantic comedy tropes (like how Sosuke and Han-na get on each other’s nerves at first, non-stop bickering) to create something feel-good and believable.

It was interesting to know that the original script was first written in Korean (the scriptwriter is Kim Ji-hyun, who’s Korean) before it was literally translated to Japanese. Actor Jin Akanishi, who starred as bartender, bar owner and pianist Hiro Takada pointed out that some of the expressions used do not exist in Japanese language so he did a little think on how to say them in Japanese. I liked that a different chocolate was featured each episode as a metaphor and how chocolate-making was used as a storytelling device to add depth and meaning, increasing audience engagement. My favourite one was the orangette episode, where the customer came back to Le Sauveur (fictional chocolate shop featured) looking for orangette chocolates that tasted exactly like they did 30 years ago so she could give them to her mother in hospital. It was a heartwarming core memory for the mother-and-daughter pair, where the daughter received the same chocolates as a kid and now their roles reversed.

Sosuke’s and Han-na’s ending also served as a reminder that although they still struggle with their respective phobias and fears, they now have each other to depend on – which makes it close to life since people do not heal from their traumas overnight and magically become okay. Personally I thought that was a very powerful and organic message from the show.

JDRAMA: HOUSE OF NINJAS (2024)

As expected from a Netflix series, House of Ninjas boasts impressive cinematography and slick action scenes. I thought it started out well – I was hooked very early on, seeing the Tawara family try their utmost to leave their secret lives as shinobi (ninjas) behind and go through life as an ordinary family. But they are forced to dive deep back into these waters again, through missions as tasked by a secret bureau. There was this sense of anticipation I felt watching as I wondered about the kind of secrets and skills each member of the Tawara family harboured and the pacing gave off an addictive quality to it. And it was interesting to see the build-up from how each individual had been working alone (unbeknownst to the rest of the family) leading up to the whole team work thing. I was less impressed in the latter part of the drama, especially after Gaku’s (Kengo Kora) whereabouts were revealed and the plot points from then onwards leaned predictable. Nevertheless, upon reaching the end I do want to credit House of Ninjas for reminding us that it was always about a family’s ties that bind no matter what.

In my opinion, everyone had their own charm, but my favourite character was Grandmother Taki Tawara (starring Nobuko Miyamoto). Although she does not say much in words, her expressions and mannerisms say it all – that she was the one in the household with the clearest idea and knowledge of what the rest of the Tawaras had up their sleeves. The show, despite set in an imaginary world blends in Japanese history, culture and politics that gives global audiences some ideas or a look into what it means to live as ‘shinobi’ which I think contributed significantly to the drama’s success.

THE DREAM LIFE OF MR. KIM

The main actors Ryu Seung-ryong and Myung Se-bin appeared on a Netflix talkshow to promote the above series (video embed with English subtitles for easy reference below) and after watching it I decided to pick this up. Apart from Law and The City, it also came to mind that my watchlist of the year lacked dramas that were more slice-of-life. In the talkshow, Ryu Seung-ryong pointed out that he has never received a monthly salary his whole life; so he referenced other works and spoke to friends or acquaintances who were office workers in order to portray his character Kim Nak-su, a typical salaryman with enough realism and weight. Ryu has shown viewers time and again his versatility as an actor, having been in the industry for more than 2 decades with unforgettable roles in both dramas and films (cases in point: Moving, Kingdom, Miracle in Cell No. 7, Masquerade, All About My Wife). This drama is no exception – General Manager Mr. Kim is a character who just angers and frustrates you sometimes, but yet is someone who’s impossible to hate. He does a lot of questionable things and tends to speak his mind without much consideration – his sense of entitlement and dismissive attitude towards people or things that do not align with his own beliefs really makes you want to give him a whack on the head. But as he falls deeper and deeper into the abyss, he becomes funnily pitiful – once again, its credits to Ryu Seung-ryong for such an excellent performance.

It played in my mind a few times on how to relate to Nak-su (because some of his mindsets are clearly flawed), but I soon understood him (being able to see why he would act or view things a certain way) and became invested in his whole growth journey. Granted, some parts are emphasised a lot more or a bit exaggerated for purposes of the drama but you see shades of a typical white-collar middle-aged man like anyone in your midst. For instance, I didn’t like some of the slow-mo scenes as they felt a tad overdone since I’d already gotten the point but the editing and production intentions tended to linger on it for a longer time. Also going to give a shoutout to actor Jung Soon-won for his role as Jung Sung-gu, one of Nak-su’s subordinates at ACT headquarters (the company he was general manager of before he left). After The Winning Try, he delivered another memorable performance here. Sung-gu was funny when it was necessary, but was also the one who tried to understand and look out for Nak-su the most.

I also learnt a lot from watching the show – one is that it takes a lot of courage, self-reflection and self-realisation to admit that you were wrong. Imagine spending 25 years or more of your life chasing the next big success non-stop, which could be the next job promotion, the next branded briefcase, becoming the next owner of a building only to realise you meant nothing to a big corporation you once slogged your guts out for. Mr. Kim realised the sacrifices and efforts he’s made the last two and a half decades could not buy him true happiness and only caused him to drift away from his wife and son. Another thing I learnt would be not to give up in the event (touchwood) something like this happens to you (whether it is forced early retirement or retrenchment) but also not to take the easy way out – Mr. Kim threw in all his savings and pension to purchase a building only to find out that he’s been scammed. Seeing his friend with no job earning indirect income from rental made him have the misconception that he could make a windfall after resigning. Lastly through his wife’s Park Ha-jin’s (starring Myung Se-bin) arc, I learnt that it’s never too late to learn new things regardless of age and that we should continuously aim to upgrade and better ourselves. Having become a full-fledged housewife after marrying Nak-su, Ha-jin decided to take the exam to become a real estate agent. We saw that it wasn’t easy after so many years of not studying and living for her family only yet she was determined to carve out another life for herself irrespective of Nak-su’s objections.

There are a lot of life lessons we could take away from the series – it was inspiring and led me to do some self-pondering; sometimes we just need to take a step back and show appreciation for the little things in life. That’s why I think that more people should watch this drama – it might take a while to warm up to the characters, but it paints a realistic picture of corporate and family life of a typical middle-aged person which can certainly resonate with many. There is no popular or hot oppa in the cast, but Nak-su’s life story and character development is bound to win the hearts of many.

The Manipulated

Being dubbed as “Disney+’s Son” is definitely not an understatement for Ji Chang-wook, who has acted in three Disney+ productions in succession. This time he joins hands with D.O. of EXO, aka Do Kyung-soo and writer Oh Sang-ho who co-wrote Fabricated City, a movie he starred in way back in 2017 for an action thriller (inspired by the same movie but with a new story). Ji Chang-wook plays a kind-hearted deliveryman Park Tae-joong, who gets put in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Do Kyung-soo, on the other hand stars as our resident villain Ahn Yo-han, the mastermind behind manipulating the truth behind the crime. Lee Kwang-soo also joins his real-life close buddy Do Kyung-soo in the drama as a spoilt chaebol Baek Do-kyung, alongside actress Jo Yoon-soo and veteran actor Kim Jong-soo who play an estranged daughter and father pair.

Not sure about you all, but my heart broke for Tae-joong seeing all the injustice he suffered, losing many people dear to him in the process. And we have Ji Chang-wook to thank for such an outstanding delivery of Tae-joong, whether or not you started watching this drama as his fan. I am sure that like me, many of you were rooting for him all the way through. Tae-joong’s range of emotion – starting from confusion and anger for the ridiculous situation he finds himself in, to the jadedness, pain and desperation to get back to those who were responsible for his life being thrown into upheaval was keenly felt. And it hurt so much (even just through the screen) that we couldn’t help but be drawn into Tae-joong’s state of mind. Most of the action scenes that made it to the final cut were also the ones done by the actor himself, and not by his stuntman. It was also nice that Tae-joong found new friends and allies during his time in prison – it must have been comforting because he strongly needed people who believed in him especially when everybody else seemed out to get him. And Noh Yong-sik (Kim Jong-soo) was one of those who lit up his very dark life.

Super glad that I only started watching after about 8 episodes or so were released (of course, whilst avoiding spoilers) because it would have been ‘torture’ to camp weekly in wait 😩 I don’t think this was Kwang-soo’s best work in terms of acting, but I do agree with what he said about his character Do-kyung being such a bad person to the extent that he deserves to be spat on LOL. Considering how rife with tension and what a wild ride majority of the drama was, the finale fell somewhat flat for me. While it was satisfying to see Tae-joong finally being truly ‘free’ of the false accusations against him, it also felt rushed as they were trying to close out too many things in a 50-minute episode. Definitely not a dealbreaker since the pros outweigh the cons by a far mile, but useful to know so you could manage your expectations leading up to the last episode.

The Worst Of Evil (2023)

The shallow me is going to admit that I didn’t get enough of Ji Chang-wook from The Manipulated, which led to the decision to pick this up. For context, I watched this right after finishing Manipulated and by the end I was lowkey blaming myself for missing out on what a gem of a drama it was for so long. But to be fair, I was in a major drama slump and personal watching drought for 2-3 years before late 2024 and 2025. I guess it’s never too late to rave about it now though! Smartly written, aptly titled, well-acted and directed – it must be obvious by now but I personally preferred this series overall. The Best Director Award accorded to Director Han Dong-wook at the 2024 Baeksang Arts Awards for his work here was also thoroughly deserved.

It’s probably not advisable to compare the two thrillers; however I tend to like dramas that are more introspective in nature, and characters that are written less straightforward (morally grey, not so black and white) because it makes them much more interesting. The best part about such dramas is that it provides an avenue for an in-depth exploration into human nature – because we are flawed individuals after all. I asked myself several times while watching, about what I would do or how I would react as a certain character if I were put in a similar situation. There were these little question marks in my mind that kept appearing, yet I realised I didn’t actually have the clear-cut answers to them. When you make certain choices in life, does the end actually justify the means? Is it realistically possible to only see those choices entirely as a means to an end that you were working towards?

Ji Chang-wook stars here as countryside police officer Park Jun-mo, who gets tasked by the force to do an undercover mission to infiltrate a gang and eventually arrest drug lord Jung Gi-cheul (starring Wi Ha-joon) for illegal trafficking, of course under a doctored identity Kwon Seung-ho. To complicate things further, Jun-mo’s wife Yoo Eui-jeong (starring Im Se-mi) who is also a police officer, happens to be Gi-cheul’s high school friend and crush. Doesn’t it already sound like a game of who is going to get exposed first and whether anyone can escape unscathed? Ji Chang-wook was compelling as Jun-mo – who could imagine his downward spiral once he took on that mission, when all he wanted was to look better in front of his wife and her family? It’s such a sad and tough position to be in, which in some ways reminded me of the classic Hongkong police undercover dramas and films that portrayed this mental conflict. I just wondered who was more pitiful – Gi-cheul not knowing that he’s being deceived and choosing to trust Jun-mo, (As the saying goes, “ignorance is bliss”; then again is it really bliss though, when Gi-cheul is bound to discover one day that he’s been betrayed?) or Jun-mo having to continue putting up a facade and keep up with the lies while having the awareness that it’s all a pretence? In this sense they mirror each other, along with the fact that Jun-mo is going deeper into the dark side while Gi-cheul is trying to make amends and live a life free of crime and drugs. And Eui-jeong, watching two men she deeply and sincerely cares about whether as a spouse, lover or friend fall apart – how could you not break down in her position?

I also want to take the opportunity to spotlight two supporting characters – one is Choi Jung-bae, part of Gi-cheul’s lot of friends. The role is acted by Im Sung-jae, and by the way I just want to say he lost so much weight! He’s actually the same actor who played Ha Sang-gi in Law and The City, that’s why I recognised him instantly. And it’s just amazing that he became super good friends with Ji Chang-wook after working on this project together. It was a very affecting performance by the actor as Jung-bae – the whole emotional turmoil as the brotherhood/friendship between him and Gi-cheul unravelled in such a dark way. The other one is Seo Jong-ryul, or Chief Seo, the main killer for Gi-cheul’s gang. Played by actor Lee Shin-ki, I thought he was very impressive in the role – heartless enough to kill people, but loyal enough to his comrades which was simply a rarity among Gi-cheul’s other friends who kept looking for ways to do their boss in at the sight of other incentives. And this is the same actor who was also in The Dream Life of Mr. Kim, playing Manager Do Jin-woo of another team who’s always at loggerheads with Mr. Kim Nak-su and his sales team. Both portrayals stuck with me even after the drama ended.

The show’s finale really made me feel like there’s no other better title to name it but The Worst of Evil. In the earlier episodes leading up to the end I already had the feeling, but it was only at the end that I was convinced. There was no way it was going to be cheery; all characters in the drama world had just gone too far. The mission was a success, but there’s just no more happiness. Lives were lost, and the only way to move on from the tragedies is perhaps to carry on that pain and burden, for life. Please watch it guys! It’s definitely not an easy watch, but comes with darkness, intensity and tension like no other, as well as lots of thought-provoking questions.

The Price Of Confession

Although I technically watched this in 2026 (I only started and finished the drama about a week or so ago), I decided to include it while my memory of it is still fresh because it was wonderful?? Like heartbreakingly good I kid you not…😢 anyway the release was on 5th December of last year so it’s considered a 2025 show. The star-studded cast includes Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Go-eun, Park Hae-soo who already have prolific careers, and director Lee Jung-hyo who has projects such as Heartless City, The Good Wife and Crash Landing on You to his name. I thought Jeon Do-yeon did what she was already so good at in the many long years of her profession as an actress, starring as a very ordinary neighbourhood art teacher An Yun-su who gets embroiled in her husband’s murder case. After she gets arrested and put into prison, she becomes involved with a mysterious woman by the name of Mo Eun (Kim Go-eun), who’s been convicted for another different high-profile murder. At the same time, Park Hae-soo stars as a policeman-turned-prosecutor, Baek Dong-hoon who is determined to dig into the very dark secrets held by both Yun-su and Mo Eun.

It was an intriguing watching experience for me as the drama was able to sustain my engagement and interest throughout even if I wouldn’t consider the plot something very refreshing. As baffling as the circumstances of Lee Ki-dae’s (Yun-su’s husband, starring Lee Ha-yul) murder were, I realised I couldn’t trust anyone – the show was really good at planting seeds of doubt in my mind by showing multiple plausible perspectives but without confirming the truth. Just when you thought someone was really probably innocent, curveballs are thrown into the investigation to reinforce the possibility of guilt. And it’s really sad because I thought it was viewers like us who were being played by the characters but ultimately it just seemed that the characters themselves were being played as well, by the justice system and mastermind.

The Price of Confession was a reminder of how we should not let our pre-existing biases and preconceptions about something or someone cloud our judgement because we might end up becoming even more blindsided. The best thing that came out of Show was probably the more or less unspoken bond between Yun-su and Mo Eun. They’d met under one of the worst or most twisted state of affairs, but I strongly believe that they became true friends, and soulmates.

BEFORE YOU GO…

With that, I’ve come to the end of the list (finally hahaha) thank you all for reading!🥹 You may refer to the links below for other 2025 dramas I’ve covered previously. To make things a bit more fun, I’ve also added a small section for my top picks of the whole drama year. See further below if interested~

• Cdrama – The First Frost & Kdramas – The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call, Love Scout, The Art of Negotiation, Buried Hearts, Hyper Knife write-up: here
• Our Movie review: here
• Law and The City review: here
• Cdramas – The Wanted Detective, Coroner’s Diary, Mysterious Lotus Casebook (2023) write-up: here
• Ms. Incognito review: here

Anyway, I included Mysterious Lotus Casebook that’s not a 2025 release because after watching the drama I actually read the original novels by Teng Ping and found it to be extra moving in unexpected ways despite already knowing most of the story! There were a number of changes made for the drama adaptation – the most obvious one was that Fang Duobing found out that Li Lianhua was actually Li Xiangyi much early on (after the big fight against Jiao Liqiao and gang) whereas in the books he didn’t know until the very very end. Another one is that Di Feisheng found out that Li Lianhua’s eyesight was already deteriorating when Lianhua tried to rescue him from Jiao Liqiao’s captivity, so he helped to read out the exchange of letters between Yun Biqiu and Jiao Liqiao for Lianhua to figure out the sequence of events and truth clearly. The reason why I chose these two differences is because they were the most poignant and memorable to me… oof 💔

My Top Picks of 2025

Favourite Romance: Okay, I kinda cheated for this particular category but my favourite romance is going to go to cdrama The First Frost/难哄NanHong, which I featured in my June post. Didn’t watch that many romantic dramas in the first place (so the list for comparison was lesser). Nevertheless, I am certain that it was the pure and unconditional love story between Sang Yan and Wen Yifan that made me want to believe in love, that it really exists in this world. I totally get it – it’s fictional and just a show but I was super swept up in all the feels and so invested I just wanted the best for the couple. I thank Zhu Yi, the author of the original novel for such a beautiful love story (I’ve read part 2 of the book by the way and the amount of detail surely helped to further elevate my understanding of Sang Yan and Yifan), as well as the whole team behind the drama (including actors Bai Jingting and Zhang Ruonan, the rest of the cast and production crew) for making the adaptation work. Oh, and it was about the first few times I wasn’t annoyed by the overwhelming amount of flashbacks in the story that take up a significant portion of screentime because each and every single one were placed with purpose and at the right time. Instead, by looking into the past and comparing it to where Sang Yan and Yifan stand in present day, I mourned the many what-could-have-beens but at the same time felt that their rekindled romance was all the more precious and worth protecting. Runners-up: jdrama Romantics Anonymous, Our Movie

Favourite Thriller: Tough call but I decided that Karma is my absolute best-loved thriller for the year. Maybe because it was only 6 episodes, there was no time for unnecessary scenes or filler and managed to deliver the maximum amount of intensity and insanity. And it forces you to think because the sequence of events is not told in a way like A leads to B and then to C; every little revelation leads you to draw a connection in the very twisted mindmap of six individuals – and almost all the twists are shocking, by the way. It was madness 😭 Runners-up: Nine Puzzles, The Worst of Evil (this was from 2023 but it made the top few of thrillers for my watchlist)

Favourite Ensemble: Well, this was a bit of a no-brainer since there weren’t many ensemble dramas in contention – yes, favourite ensemble is for Law and The City where the friendship of the quintet was certainly the series’ highlight. No matter rain or shine, you just know that they would all be there for each other. I just hope dramaland gets the hint to make more shows like this, pretty please? Runner-up: perhaps our Hanyang High School rugby team from The Winning Try?

Best Actor: I’ve said the same thing earlier and am just going to repeat it again – Park Hae-soo as Mr ‘Witness’ in Karma was undoubtedly incredible. You’ll need to watch the series in order to understand why the characters are not referred to by name. It won’t be as impactful if I give away spoilers, so I’ll keep mum 🤫 I found everything about ‘Witness’ appalling, that it sent chills down my spine – which says a lot about what a good actor Park Hae-soo is. It was like a constant battle between them all to see who could stoop to become the lowest level of human trash. The cast even filmed a short video (embed below) to apologise for the terrible things their characters had done in the drama, hah. Runners-up: Ji Chang-wook in The Manipulated, Ryu Seung-ryong in The Dream Life of Mr. Kim

Best Actress: After some deliberate consideration, my best actress pick is going to… (drumroll) Zhang Ruonan in The First Frost. I’ve not watched much modern romantic cdramas in recent years, or seen her in other works so I don’t have much of a reference point – but let me quote what her co-star Bai Jingting said in one of his interviews about the portrayal of Wen Yifan’s character onscreen: that it’s actually a huge challenge to show Yifan’s sense of brokenness because it’s not an emotion but an overall outlook and vibe. It’s contradicting because you have to be able show this “brokenness”; but at the same time you’re also acting with a lot of restraint. There is no right answer actually, however Zhang Ruonan nailed it. And as she has said previously, she really fell in love with Wen Yifan as a character and therefore enjoyed every moment of playing the role throughout the filming process. She had allowed me to be immersed in Wen Yifan’s world, to be in touch with her feelings and thoughts, and to genuinely root for her in hopes of better days. Runners-up: Jeon Yeo-bin in Ms. Incognito and Our Movie, Wu Jinyan in cdrama The Double

On a side note: In case you’re wondering, there is no favourite bromance category because my top picks weren’t from dramas that aired in ’25 – but based on my watchlist of the year I’ve shortlisted Li Lianhua & Fang Duobing from Mysterious Lotus Casebook, then Park Jun-mo & Jung Gi-cheul from The Worst of Evil for my favourite bromances. Frenemies, friends-turned-brothers, or a brotherhood that wasn’t meant to be…you name it. Whatever it was, I know that these bonds will be hard to forget.

That’s all folks! What a year it has been for dramaland, and I certainly hope that 2026 brings more surprises and joys for you and I. The first gift for the new year is from kdramaland, because guess what? Ji Sung oppa is back on the small screen, with The Judge Returns (teaser trailer below for your easy reference) 😁 The first few episodes have aired, but I will probably be starting on it only after 70-80% of episodes are released. It’s a story of how a corrupt judge Lee Han-young is given the opportunity to travel a decade back in time to rebuild his life and turn over a new leaf.

How was 2025 in dramas for you? Feel free to share with me by leaving a comment! ❤️ ~Jas