There are too many dramas in my watch list and too little time to do a blog post to review each, so yet again I am making a compilation. This time I am dedicating this post to the on going Korean dramas this December 2018. So, just in case you are interested in one of those dramas, but you aren’t too sure whether to watch them, I’ll make a short summary and a quick review of these dramas based on the first few episodes of each series that I already watched.

In no particular ranking here are the currently ongoing Korean dramas this December 2018:

1. Memories of the Alhambra

Yoo Jin Woo (Hyun Bin) is the CEO of an investment company that specializes in optical devices. He is on a business trip in Barcelona, Spain when he receives a mysterious offer from Jung Se Joo (Park Chanyeol) about a ground-breaking AR game that is based in Granada. He embarks on a journey to meet Se Joo regarding the offer and stays at ‘Hostel Bonita’ where he meets Se Joo’s sister Jung Hee Joo (Park Shin Hye). However, as Jin Woo gets more involved with the game, he begins to see the dark cracks hidden in it. To make matters worse, Se Joo is suddenly missing and there’s no one to understand what’s going on around Jin Woo.

Rating: 4.9 out of 5 – A first for Korean dramas, ‘Memories of the Alhambra’ magically blurs the line between AR gaming and reality. Together with a twist of romance and the picturesque view of Spain’s finest attractions, you are sure to fall in love with the drama’s thrilling adventures and mysteries and be hooked about what’s to happen next.

2. Clean with Passion For Now

Gil O Sol (Kim Yoo Jung) gets hired at a cleaning company and meets her boss Jang Seon Gyul (Yoon Kyun Sang). The two of them are total opposites whereas O Sol is a bright character without so much a care for cleanliness while Seon Gyul has mysophobia. He’s so fearful of getting germs on him that he makes sure all spots are squeaky clean. Yet, after meeting O Sol, gradually Seon Gyul starts to learn how to face his mysophobia and eventually fall in love with her.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 – This is a really cute and funny story about love while constantly giving a reminder about self-acceptance and learning to overcome the cracks of their past through healing found from another broken soul. Because of their bright personalities and positive approach towards their aspirations, dreams, job and family, it gives off a really feel good vibe despite the cliche story line. I think this will be a good distraction after watching a serious or melodramatic series

3. Just Dance

Based on a documentary of the same name, ‘Just Dance’ follows the story of teenagers who got in a Dance Sports Club in a vocational high school in Geoje, South Gyeongsang province. They gathered due to different reasons, but together they learn more about life and dream of one day winning in a dance sports competition.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – We think that youth is just a simple phase in our lives, yet ‘Just Dance’ is another young adult drama that will delve on the problems and dreams of teenagers who live in Geoje. Because our youthful years aren’t just that simple, it’s good to know that there are such dramas like this that has a slice of life and depicts what some average teens also go through in reality, including stories how they aspired to achieve their dreams when another failed to happen. It just goes to show that truly second chances are possible in life.

4. Encounter

Cha Soo Hyun (Song He Kyo) is like the princess caged in her own tower. She used to be in an arranged marriage, but got divorced from her husband. As alimony, she received a hotel from him and now she is running the hotel successfully as its CEO. Soo Hyun’s life looks so grand on the outside, yet there are so many cracks in her seemingly perfect life.

She goes to Cuba for a business trip and by some weird fate, she keeps coincidentally meeting Kim Jin Hyeok (Park Bo Gum), a simple guy on his first hard-earned trip. Jin Hyeok loves taking pictures and enjoys the normal Cuban life like a native.

During Soo Hyun’s attempt to experience freedom for the first time, Jin Hyuk just happens to be there to save her and accompany her. And in that brief encounter, Jin Hyuk finds himself becoming more curious about Soo Hyun. Upon going back to Korea, he gets hired at a hotel and finds out Soo Hyun is actually the CEO.

Rating: 4.7 out of 5 – The drama brings you this feeling like you’re watching a Cinderella story retold in another version. The setting in Cuba and how they coincidentally met also adds a dreamy and magical effect to Soo Hyun and Jin Hyuk’s first brief encounter that will buffer the melodramatic and more serious points of the series. There’s no doubt the noona-dongsaeng couple exude so much chemistry right off the hook that even you would fall in love with the story and characters itself.

5. Mama Fairy and the Woodcutter

Sun Ok Nam (Moon Chae Won) is a fairy who has lived for 699 years since the Goryeo Period. She had come down to earth and took a bath at a waterfalls on Gyeryong Mountain along with other fairies, but she was unable to ascend back to heaven after losing her fairy clothes and wings.

The woodcutter who had found her took her clothes and hid them. Later on, Ok Nam ended up marrying him and they had two children together. But her husband died from falling off a cliff and since then she has been waiting for him to be reincarnated.

In the present, Ok Nam has become a barista making coffee in her own cafe at Gyeryong Mountain. She has been doing that while waiting for her reincarnated husband. Then one day, two men visited her cafe from Seoul. Ok Nam suddenly has a feeling that either of them is her husband, yet she isn’t sure who. So, Ok Nam ends up following the two of them to Seoul to know the truth.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Though there are many things I find odd about this drama, the start of the series caught my interest right off the bat. It made me curious who Ok Nam’s husband really was, though I already have a suspect in mind. I am still doubtful so I watch it to the very moment She and her daughter followed the two men in Seoul. The two of them were just a cute pair of mother and daughter. Add the fact that what is odd about them equals humor to the overall impact of each episode. I think this is going to be another feel-good drama that will be a pretty nice watch over the weekend.

6. The Last Empress

Oh Sunny (Jang Na Ra) is a musical actress with a bright personality. She has a long time crush at Emperor Lee Hyuk (Shin Sung Rok), that it’s like a fairy tale dream come true when she suddenly ends up marrying him and becoming Empress of South Korea in the present.

However, Sunny will eventually realize what corrupt things actually goes inside the palace that’s far from the fantasy that she knows before stepping into the mess. She goes up against powerful people in the palace and will learn that she cannot actually trust anyone around her. Yet, there seems to be a mysterious character in the form of her bodyguard, Na Wang Sik (Choi Jin Hyuk), whom she eventually finds solace with. Na Wang Shik, however, is determined to take revenge on the person who killed his mother more than anything else.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – If you are a person that is interested about Korean monarchs as well as the dark politics that goes with it, this heavy drama might be an okay watch for you. I think this is like watching Goong in a more mature and corrupt sense. However, instead of loving the royal family, I think you will find the few bright and reliable characters more lovable, since most of the characters are villainous in nature. There are more bumps on the road in this drama than the little victories of our protagonists so it may be sort of frustrating from beginning to the latest episodes, but the interactions between Sunny and Wang Sik are definitely worth each wait, so this totally breaks the ice when things get too difficult to watch.

The only thing I feel awkward about this drama is the drastic change in appearance that happened with Wang Sik. I mean, he was so big and just because he trained and dieted he become so handsome that he looked like a whole new different person. Haha. I swear. I guess, you’ll know what I mean when you watch it.

7. My Strange Hero

When Kang Bok Su (Yoo Seung Ho) was a student, he was falsely accused of harming a fellow student and gets expelled from school. Since then, Bok Su has loathed his girlfriend, Son Soo Jung (Jo Bo Ah) for testifying against him and for not telling the truth.

Years later, Bok Su meets Soo Jung again. At the same time, a ghost from the past haunts him and in an attempt to avenge himself, he comes back to his old school as an adult.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 – I was expecting for this love story to be simple and really cute. The first few scenes actually made me think it was actually cut out for that genre, but the more you delve into the story, the more you’ll realize about the characters’ dark past and the revenge plot that will eventually happen. Aside from the romance, I guess the drama will be more like ‘Angry Mom’ wherein it will tackle about the dark politics inside the school, which interests me as well, but makes me want to watch this at a later time.

Anyway, those are just my opinion for now. I will do a deeper analysis of each drama if I have the time once I finish them.

What do you think about the dramas?