Adventure of the Ring Taiwan review

 

Drama name: Adventure of the Ring

Country: Taiwan

Year: Dec 2020- Jan 2021

HBO was advertising this drama on my local cable TV and you have to subscribe to the movie pack in order to view it. The trailer caught my attention as it featured the Taiwan Metro line, which reminded me of the Metro of Love series. Made a mental bookmark to watch it and glad it was available online so I gave it a go. 

So, what's this drama about?

It is about a couple who has been dating and living together for around 5 years. Naturally the next step would be marriage. The female, Lisa who is a stewardess has this live long dream of having a fairy tale proposal and marriage. It was her birthday, and she was so sure that her boyfriend Yi Zhi would propose to her that night as she found the engagement ring in one of the drawers earlier. 

Meanwhile, Yi Zhi who works as a risk management executive has some insecurities about getting hitched. The night before his proposal he had a nightmare about being married. This resulted in him being more anxious than normal. On his way to work that morning, he lost the engagement ring on the metro line. 

It is a very special ring, given by his mother and was commissioned by his father. It holds a strong symbolism behind it. The rest of the drama goes on with how the ring was passed on from one couple to another and finally returning to its owner. 

Overall thoughts

The concept of this story is quite unique and interesting. Although some may think it might be far fetched a bit but it is entertaining. The individual stories touch on different types of relationships and the meaning of love. 

Best parts of the drama

Yi Zhi's apartment. It is a one bedroom apartment but it is quite stylish... 

The flow of the story on how the ring went from one couple to another... It was an adventure indeed! 

Not sure if you girls are a fan of shower scenes but there are quite a number of them in this drama... It doesn't appeal to me but if you are interested... ;) 

Dislikes from the drama

I really disliked the female character in the show. Throughout the whole series she never actually bothered to put herself in her boyfriend's shoes. Proposing and getting married is a huge leap, any guy would also have insecurities even more so for someone like Yi Zhi. He is an introvert and he has OCD to some point. 

From the moment he lost the ring, she only thought about herself. She didn't even feel any remorse or a break-up feeling because she had her ex-boyfriend hanging around her. It was like hey, I have a back-up guy no worries...

Even until the last part where Yi Zhi proposed to her, she was still looking at Alan... Oh come on now... that's too much... 

Notable scenes

This scene where Yi Zhi finally mans up and throws Lisa out of the apartment... But of course it is the usual drama style where the person actually loves the other but pretends to be bad... 

Conclusion

The ring ended up with Yi Zhi's best friend's wife, who lost it on the plane during turbulence. She is a radio DJ, and she went on air to tell about the story of the ring and hoping that there might be any information of someone finding it. The programme was broadcasted and all the couples heard it. They posted comments and videos regarding their encounter with the special ring. 

Yi Zhi decided to track down all the couples and listened to their stories... that gave him the courage to finally propose to Lisa. 

Meanwhile, Lisa found the ring on the plane and met up with the radio DJ who told her about the ring significance. The engraving on the ring's underside means that, "I love you." Lisa finally realises that Yi Zhi loves her so much (smh I just wanna b* slap her. Hahah!!) Lisa returns the ring to Yi Zhi's mum and bids goodbye. 

It's a happy ending as you would have expected... Yi Zhi did an elaborate proposal at the airport with singing and dancing... 

As I have mentioned, the female lead is still thinking about herself. She hesitates and say she still wants to pursue her dream... Well, to be honest I don't know what new dream she has but I think it is being a pilot or something... 

The ending shows a long distance relationship between them and finally getting back together after two years... 

Overall, this is a light hearted drama with 8 episodes only. If you want something short you could give this a try. I started the show with some expectations to be like Metro of Love but somehow I felt a bit disappointed because of the female lead character. If you have a girlfriend like Lisa, I advice you to think thrice before popping the question! Haha, I know I'm mean but seriously she is lucky to have met a guy like Yi Zhi. 

Thanks for reading! I will leave you with the beautiful ring... 

Stove League review

 

Drama name: Hot Stove League

Country: South Korea

Year: Dec 2019- Feb 2020

Stumbled across this drama after Kkhondae Intern re-run ended. They aired it on the same slot and it captured my interest instantly as I saw it was Chief Kim! :D (Nam Goong Min) Couldn't wait for the episodes to be aired so I watched the rest of it online. 

So, what's this drama about?

Dreams baseball team was not doing well at all. It was at the bottom of the league and the parent owner wants to get rid of the team altogether to cut their losses. However, the CEO of Dreams decided to hire a new general manager to try to turn the team around. 

In comes Baek Seung-Soo, a very capable individual that manages to turn any failing business to a success. Mr Baek has no experience or knowledge of baseball but he was still hired for his outstanding portfolio. CEO Kwon makes a deal with Mr Baek to turn the team around and then disband. 

The rest of the show goes on with how Mr Baek reshuffles the team, from the players right up to the operations level. He faces lots of opposition along the way while trying to save the Dreams team. 

Overall thoughts

This is my first time watching a sports k-drama and it was really good! Not a typical k-drama as you would expect, no romance just a solid story with lots of good actors. Even if you don't know much about baseball you would be able to follow the story. 

Best parts of the drama

Definitely the Dreams team chemistry. It was a mess at first but eventually they all came together and became a real dream team! 

The Dreams stadium is pretty impressive too... 

The highlight of the drama for me was the meeting of Dreams and the Vikings for a practice match before the season started... 

Some of the struggles while trying to get the team reshuffled... 

Mr Baek facing opposition from CEO Kwon himself... Seriously I don't get this guy, I mean like you hired him to fix the team but then he goes and try to destroy the team along the way... smh! 

For you hungry mukjang fans there are some yummy food in this show as well. If you know the name of the dish below please let me know! 

Special mention

I love the friendship between the Vikings general manager and Mr Baek. Haha, Mr Baek seems to be using him all the time but actually he does care for the Vikings as well. 

Conclusion

The parent company of Dreams decided to get rid of it entirely. It was some nail biting moments where Mr Baek tried to get another company to buy Dreams. He finally managed to break a deal with a young IT company securing the jobs of all the operations team. However, the CEO said that his shareholders did not want Mr Baek in the management at all. Nobody knew about this deal until the last minute. 

It is a bit of a bittersweet ending... Dreams went on to do very well in the season and became the comeback kid. From last place to the top of the table. The final match was between Dreams and the Sabres. I was very disappointed that they did not show the final game, but I am guessing that because of the Covid-19 situation that was starting to explode during the time of filming. Or that they didn't have enough budget as they spent it on filming in Hawaii earlier. XD 

The drama ends with a radio broadcast that the Dreams won the championship and Mr Baek heading to another new job. 

I enjoyed watching this drama. Although midway I must say the struggles was a bit tiring and boring to some point. Nam Goong Min nailed this character so well, he seem to have the best comeback lines to slap his critics each time. XD Loved that so much... As I am writing this review, I saw in the comments that there will be a season 2. Not sure if it will be as good as season 1... 

That's all for now. Will leave you with this cute pairing... no romance but just a hint that they might end up together... ;D 

Good Casting review

 

Drama name: Good Casting
Country: South Korea
Year: April- June 2020

Heard about this drama through the K-drama community, was excited for its release as I thought it would be a female version of Terrius. Luckily it was aired on my local cable TV channel so I was able to watch it every week as it was being aired. 

So, what's this drama about?

Baek Chan-Mi is a NIS agent and she was in charge of an operation to catch the mastermind behind a syndicate which was leaking valuable information to China. Chan-Mi is a crazy mad hat person and she goes all out in every situation without care for her team members. This resulted in the death of a member in her team and the target that they were after escaped. 

Chan-Mi was then demoted as team leader and she spent two years as an unwanted NIS agent doing obscure missions. She was deeply affected by the death of the team member and she was obsessed in finding the killer which goes by the name, "Michael." 

Chan-Mi's ex boyfriend who is also a NIS agent recruited her for a new mission that requires her to go undercover in a tech company. However, she is straddled with two other female agents that will be her new team members. 

The story goes on with the trio infiltrating the company to get information and finally catching the elusive "Michael." 

Overall thoughts

As I mentioned earlier, I thought this would be another spy drama like Terrius. Turns out that this is a Korean version of Charlie's Angels! Haha! It was an entertaining drama with lots of comedy, action and romance as well. However, you will need to leave your logical brain behind for most of the parts and just enjoy the show as it is... 

Best parts of the drama

Baek Chan-Mi herself... I found myself falling in love with her crazy character from Episode 1 itself. When she beat the crap out of the other prison inmates... Everyone was afraid of her, thinking she is some psycho mental person... XD 

The Wash and Clean van... haha, it's so cute and it was their mobile operations truck...  Seriously who wouldn't suspect a cleaning van parked outside a building all day... XD

Celebrity Kang's house and cars are really nice... Haha, he was screaming when his personal assistant decided to call it quits and drew on all of his cars... 

I also liked the comic style narration while they were explaining each operation... 

Some yummy looking food too... 

There were some cute plushies featured in this drama as well... the huge duck was really hilarious... 

Notable scenes

The bodyguard moment with Celebrity Kang and Im Ye-Eun... haha that was really funny and sweet! 

Another funny scene was at the laboratory of the bad guy... He thought it was a ghost in the air-con vent.. XD 

Conclusion

After countless operations and close shaves... Chan-Mi finally closes in onto Michael... It was a flurry of action and comedic scenes.... to a sad scene where the loyal right hand man dies... Man, why did he have to die? 

They managed to capture Michael which turns out to be the lab guy. But the syndicate lives on as he was killed while he tried to escape from the hospital. Don't worry guys, there is a happy ending for all the ladies! Celebrity Kang and Ye-Eun becomes a pair, Hwang Mi-Soon and her family becomes better... and the main leads Chan-Mi ends up with Yoon Seok-Ho... I really liked their relationship it was so sweet. 

The drama ends with an open ending, with another mission to accomplish... 

A light hearted drama with lots of comedy, action, romance and some espionage all mashed together... :D Sang-Yeob is good looking as ever... I did enjoy watching this show but not enough for a repeat or second season. The chemistry between the three ladies was really good. I loved all of them... I'll leave you here with the sassy trio. Hope everyone is doing well. I still have a lot of drama reviews but I'm just too tired to compile. Haha... take care everyone.