Watched in 2023

A very good drama with a great FL. An admirable mother and queen who keeps more than her own sons under her umbrella. Started in late autumn 2022, completed 7 of January. 

It felt good to start the year with a good old j-drama (I've missed them). It was really nice in many ways (I wish there were MORE pianist male leads!) but also very predictable. Started on December 30, completed January 20.

Short and sweet, enjoyable and refreshing. Watched in January.

Gorgeous revenge romance drama in the Republican Era, worth watching and it had its stronger points among all the melodrama, but a bit too long and draggy at times. Started sometime in the autumn 2022, completed February 8.

It was cute, it had Arata and love of food, and it was interesting to see a little bit of maiko life. Worth watching. Started in early February, completed on the 22nd. 

Rewatched and gave it the same rating because it is a very lovable, heartwarming and fun drama. Little things happen all the time and before you know it, four strangers are each other's chosen family as they play gorgeous classical music for the fun of it. As someone who is picky about comedy, I feel that this hit the spot for me in a way that only j-drama can do. Started in late February, completed March 5. 

It could have been a better drama if it had been shorter! 

Boring but cute! Watched in early April.

Not bad, but in the end a bit underwhelming. Completed during Easter break.

It started out great in a guilty pleasure kind of way (silly, cute, sexy) but turned out to be nonsense by the end. Relatively high rating for the first half, the cuteness, the steaminess and the beautiful scenery. An easy watch overall, except for the last ten or so episodes. Watched in late winter, completed during Easter break. 

Short and sweet. Watched slowly because it was relaxing and good to have on my list. Completed last day of Easter break.

A very standard romance drama, but short and simple. Very cute, nice to watch. Watched in April. 

Nice and easy to watch, but not suspenseful and nothing interesting about the romance. Slice-of-life mostly. I'm glad I got to see Iura Arata in a good role though. 

Easily the best drama so far this year AND last year. I'm happy I watched it and got to feel this strongly about a drama again. The colours and the calmness, the light and and the sadness and hope and life and love and it just made me happy even though the characters often were not. Completed May 26, watched slowly since sometime in April.

A very long drama with very beautiful costumes. War, evil Japanese people, very non-steamy romance and a promising start fell flat somewhere around the middle. Hurried to complete it once I started to feel less interested in it. Completed June 16.

Rewatched because I missed KMM too much. Watched it the first time 8 years ago, and I think I liked it even more this time around. It's very silly but a lot of fun to watch! Even though Maestro Kang was extremely charismatic, Anthony is a much "better" character - similar type but more likable! Anyway, KMM is just amazing in my eyes (and in my ears). Started rewatching in April, completed June 19.

This is easily one of the best dramas this year, even though we're only halfway through it. I don't give out tens easily these days, but I loved this. It was very relaxing, sweet, fun and even interesting. From the creators of the very good but sometimes painfully intense (sometimes too silly) Go Ahead, this was that drama's more lighthearted and cuter cousin! I watched it very slowly on purpose because I didn't want it to end too soon, I wanted to come back to this place and those people again and again. Started in February, completed June 20. 

An entertaining melodramatic story with many twists and turns about very rich and very poor people. Money and murders… not to be confused with the book with the same title. Watched between 24-28 June. 

Unexpectedly good about separated lovers reunited 15 years later. Watched it between 24-29 June.

Slow, sweet, with an undercurrent of sadness. It felt like a drama with only the cutest scenes and the plot removed... Watched it June 30.

I enjoyed watching the FL (both because she's elegant and gorgeous but also because of her determined personality) and I liked the drama a lot for the most part. I found it captivating and was always interested in how it was going to turn out. The last three episodes ruined it for me. It ended in disappointment and the FL didn't deserve that. The drama is tagged "strong female lead", but I get the feeling that such a person gets punished in a society that values being a good wife to the right man if she values her career more than love. If the drama had been wrapped up nicely, it would have gotten a higher rating. Watched between 1 and 11 July. 

My second GL of the year was very pretty but the 4 minutes only covered a hint of a plot so I didn't rate it. If they can make censored BL into real full-length dramas, why not GL too?! Watched 14 July.

Cute, fun, short and simple. Watched in July.

Interesting about the fascinating creating from scratch of a place that actually exists. I liked it, and I cared a lot about some of the characters, but other ones fell kind of flat. I'll mostly remember the gentle and dedicated teacher, Mr Bai. Watched in July.

Not amazing, but better than many. About more than romance, and not boring. In short, a good and enjoyable, a pretty relaxing drama. Watched between 20-25th July.

What a stupid, nonsensical plot and what a draggy drama and weird villains. Did not like this! But ballet is nice... Watched in August during the last weeks of my vacation.

Good looking drama, interesting plot, but short dramas aren't really my thing; it would have been better as a longer drama. But cute. Watched between 3-10 August. 

Not a very memorable drama, and it had plot holes, but it was enjoyable while watching, and better than most in the fantasy/supernatural genre. I like the relatively short length. Watched in August, completed on the 31st. 

Watchable but somewhat annoying mix of cute and funny fluffy romance first half (roughly) and boring business/sibling rivalry in the second half, with the usual mix of meddling mother, strange besties and characters who try to break them up. I really loved that it was an age gap romance about cooking, but then the ML wasn't always so great... Watched in August-September. completed on the 5th.

Unfortunately, I did not like this hyped and popular drama. That is because I dislike this type of romance. Watched between September 7 - 20. 

I like this type of romance a lot better. Also, this isn't primarily a romance drama, more like heartwarming friendship-focused slice-of-life with a bit of mystery thrown in. Not as great as Meet Yourself but similar, and I'm glad I watched it. Started it on the last of August, completed September 23rd.

Rating it lower than average because that's how I felt about it. Story all over the place, child-like FL, and lacking in chemistry... so it felt a bit flat or bland. It had a promising start and it was at least interesting enough to keep me watching, so... it was okay. Watched in September. 

A somewhat "different", quiet drama about healing and friendship - and murder, as well as terminal illness. I started it in October, completed November 15.

A j-drama as good as the ones I used to watch. Intense, but also very sweet. Started sometime in September, completed November 16.

An easy to watch fun friendship drama with okay romances. A good one, would recommend if you like the genre. Started in September, completed on November 24.

I love it! Some things don't make a lot of sens, but overall, this ticks a lot of my boxes. Warm and slow, with music and poetry and people who are just right for each other. Watched slowly during autumn, completed on November 25th.

A lovely little GL drama/shampoo ad to end 2023, watched in the last minutes of 2023!