Pass or Play: May Drama Watch

Filing for Love

Kdrama, Melodrama, Comedy, Office-Romance
Watched ep 6/12
▶️ PLAY

Auditor colleagues falling in love at the office? The premise sounded a bit boring to me at first but this show has been the biggest surprise! I started watching for Shin Hye-sun, she's one of my favourite actresses and her character here is not the typical rom-com FL that we often see; she is domineering sassy cold boss that is harbouring a deep secret (not yet revealed) and so far, this show has delivered a highly entertaining, sharp-witted workplace rom-com with magnetic chemistry between the two leads, Shin Hye-sun and Gong Myung. This is my first drama with Gong Myung, he is so good as the "fallen corporate superstar"and I'm really enjoying his comedic performance as he chases after the FL. It's a good balance of romance and comedy with an interesting developing story involving company politics...perhaps a possible love triangle, I'm definitely intrigued to see where it leads.

Zhan Zhao Adventures

Wuxia, Historical, Mystery, Adventure
Watched ep 10/37
▶️ PLAY

So far, this is a fine enough performance from Yang Yang as the legendary fictional character in Chinese Wuxia literature, Zhan Zhao. Famous for his incredible swordsmanship, the show instantly throws us in to an intense and intriguing plot with good fluid fight scenes. I like the chemistry between his trusted crime fighting team, flamboyant swordsman, Bai Yu Tang known as the "Golden-haired Rat" and runaway bride turned Jianghu adventurer, Huo Ling Long. The sidekicks are entertaining with their contrasting personalities that complement Zhan Zhao's straight-laced, righteous and a little rigid character. I think this will be a slow leisurely watch for me, the investigation is slow developing and still in the early stages so I'm hoping the story gets a bit more interesting as I really enjoyed the fast moving opening episodes.

Coroner's Diary

Historical, Mystery, Crime, Drama
Watched ep 6/38
▶️ PLAY

Adapted from the web novel, "The Powerful and Favored Coroner Imperial Concubine" by Bu Yue Qian Zhuang - think of it as the imperial-court version of CSI. The story moves along at a good speed with the exposition of the FL covered within in the first episode, where the show immediately opens on a highly intense scene as the FL narrowly escapes death as the sole survivor of her family's massacre. Returning with a disguised identity and extraordinary medical skills (perhaps a little too extraordinary), she's on a mission to seek justice and clear her falsely accused father's name.

Landy Li is enjoyable to watch as the calm and controlled demeanor of Shen Wan, the investigations are genuinely interesting and the way she conducts the autopsies, although a little gruesome, are also intriguing to watch. As is the case with a lot of FL in these kinds of revenge dramas, they can often be ridiculously infallible especially during these historical times; although it's a bit too soon to tell how flawless her character will be but so far I am enjoying her confidence and forensic skills. The first big case is wrapped up by episode 5, and explores a rather dark story of family betrayal and a secret love affair, this show clearly isn't shy about more macabre themes which I like.