Dramaland Forecast: May 2018

Previously: Jan – Feb – Mar – Apr

Completed:

• None

Currently Watching:

• April was an odd month for me, thanks to an unpremeditated hiatus from dramas. I’m not sure what to put here because I really should go back and finish the shows that I listed as “currently watching” on last month’s forecast, but I also have a tendency to keep moving on and never looking back at the scattered, unfinished dramas in my wake. So… who knows?

Dropping/Skipping:

• Despite what I said above, I’m not quite ready to admit defeat on the dramas I was watching (Should We Kiss First? and Live), so for now I’m not adding them to this list.
• I do intend to give Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food a fair chance but the licensing hullaballoo sorta sucked the anticipation out of me. I also have to be in the right mood for a cute romance, and currently I’m not in that mood.
• I downloaded the first two episodes of The Miracle That We Met and then never watched them, so I guess this drama is technically skipped just because when I do get back into a drama-watching rhythm, it’ll be for the two I put on hold (or for a brand spankin’ new one).

Upcoming dramas of interest:

• Greasy Melo/Wok of Love – I’m still gung-ho about this drama because it has all the elements that I love (cast! writer! plot! FOOD!), and if anything it’ll be the one to draw me back from my mini-hiatus.
• Lawless Lawyer – I think I’m one of the few people who aren’t automatically compelled to watch everything Lee Joon Ki is in. I’m also pretty iffy on legal shows. This writer’s drama debut was Remember, which I liked well enough, but I don’t know if I want to be put through the legal wringer any time soon.
• Investigation Couple – This is a pretty solid cast and I enjoy mysteries, but the writers are unknown and the basic plot (a warm-hearted prosecutor and a forensic scientist with a bad personality solve crimes) sounds so cookie-cutter cliche. For one wild and delirious moment, I though the forensic scientist would be Jung Yumi and the prosecutor would be Jung Jae Young, which I thought would be fun in a Bones kind of way. But no, of course the “warm-hearted prosecutor” is the woman and the “gruff forensic scientist” is the man. This could be good – there are too many unknowns to make a firm decision – but I think I’m already too disappointed by the predictable casting to give it a chance.
• Come and Hug Me – I don’t know if it’s a season of terrible plot synopsis but honestly there’s nothing appealing about a melodrama about a detective and a popular actress who are somehow connected due to a murder case from their past. I’m all for giving rookie writers a chance, but these vague plots are doing nobody any justice. The cast are a bunch of actors I don’t know (other than Jin Ki Joo) because I haven’t watched anything else they’ve been in, and I don’t know that I will get to know them because unless everyone in Dramaland keeps telling me this is the best thing ever, I’ll likely end up skipping it.
• Why Secretary Kim – I don’t know anything about the novel or webtoon (also based on the novel), but the brief synopsis sounds like the classic asshole chaebol and spunky Candy set-up. Not that it’s a bad thing necessarily (it’s a classic for a reason), but I don’t know what the hook is. I do really like Park Seo Joon and Lee Tae Hwan, though, so it could be worth it just for the eye-candy.
• Handsome Guy and Jung Eum – I’m not completely cranky about the ridiculous and vague plot synopses this month, because I totally want to give this one a chance. My cynical heart wants to be warmed by the idea of two people who’ve given up on love/don’t care about love, but who have “theories” about love, putting those theories to the test and falling in love, anyway. I just hope Hwang Jung Eum isn’t too shrieky.
• About Time – “A woman has the special ability to see the lifespan clocks of other people and meets a man who can stop her time, and he falls in love with her.” Now this is a synopsis, people! I’m already intrigued, not the least because there’s some sci-fi/fantasy element going on. Plus I need to know if the reason she can tell that he stops her clock is because he’ll somehow end up being the death of her (probably not, this is Dramaland after all, but hey it means I’m already hooked). Also Lee Sang Yoon owes me a good drama after making me sit through the entirety of Whisper and his endless eyebrows acting.
• Miss Hammurabi – About the only thing that will get me to watch this is a wave of nostalgia where I pretend that Reply 1994′s Na Jung and her father are cosplaying as judges (because what else am I going to think of when you have Go Ara and Sung Dong Il in the same drama together?). As much as I declare myself an Inspirit, I just don’t feel that L can carry a drama as a lead (he’s fine as supporting cast, don’t @ me). This director is also seriously hit-or-miss with me. He can do some things really well, and other things absolutely terribly, and often both extremes can be found in the same drama.

As always, any drama not listed means I have nothing new to add since the last mention and/or it’s not something I care about enough to add to the list.