From Skeptic to Superfan: Why "Undercover Miss Hong" is a Must-Watch

By end of January this year, I found myself on a major k-drama slump. After finishing Cashero, Pro Bono, Made in Korea, Surely Tomorrow, Can This Love be Translated, and Idol I), I couldn’t find something else to binge on, my only ongoing drama then was Spring Fever. I struggled to get past Episode 1 of #UndercoverMissHong (I’ll be honest, my last #ParkShinHye fix was Doctor Slump, and if I’m being real, I was mostly there for the other PHS - Park Hyung Sik) or even No Tail to Tell (I only wanted to see Lomon). And after the dark intense grit of Made in Korea (Hyun Bin), I was afraid the corporate M&A (mergers and acquisitions) and financial crimes theme would leave me exhausted. 

Until Eden, a former colleague and fellow (actually, an OG) k-drama enthusiast suggested giving UMH a second chance. Grateful for this because once again, I was wrong. Mianhae. Another classic "slow burn" experience where the show totally defied my expectations. Hopefully this mini review captures my shift from hesitation to being completely hooked into this hilarious ride.

Premise: Hong Keum Bo (Park Shin Hye), a 35-year-old elite financial investigator known as the "Witch of Yeouido," goes undercover as Hong Jang Mi, a 20-year-old high school graduate to expose corruption at Hanmin Securities, set in the late 1990s, specifically during the turbulent 1997 IMF financial crisis.

UMH struck gold with its ensemble cast, that found family vibe and individual character growth. #ChoHanGyeol (The Winning Try) is incredibly handsome (he looks like BTS Jin to me). He played his role with so much charm that you can’t help but root for him. And you can’t have a hit k-drama without this reliable and ever-present legend, #KimWonHae (filmography too long). There’s also #KoKyungPyo (Reply 1988) as CEO Shin Jung-woo, the ever-funny #LimChulSoo (Crash Landing on You), and the versatile #HaYoonKyung (Extraordinary Attorney Woo).

I also loved the Risk Management Team (Albert, Bang Jin Mok played by #KimDoHyun, and Lee Yong Gi played by #JangDoHa). In a team with a 3:1 male-to-female ratio, you’d expect a toxic 'boys' club' culture. Instead, the Risk Management Team flips the script with genuine respect and synergy. There is one specific scene that I found so iconic: the four of them walking out of the building together and Mr. Bang, knowing Keum Bo is an undercover, tells the other two guys that they need to continue giving her the respect she deserves. 

Another heartwarming element is the transition from being roommates of Room 301, Seoul City Dorm for Single Female Workers to sisters: Keum Bo/Jang Mi, Bok Hee, Kang No Ra (Choi Ji Su), Kim Mi Sook (Kang Chae-Young) and little Kim Bom (Kim Se A). Seeing their bond endure well after their dormitory days added so much emotional weight to the story. One heart-tugging episode is when Mi Sook attempted to end her life, leaving a letter to Keum Bo. She revealed in the letter that she recognized her as Keum Bo but she kept it a secret.

Even No Ra’s mom, the former Miss Korea and actress Choi in Ja (played by Pyeon Jung Su) was one of the drama's most surprising transformations, moving from a stereotypical "parasitic" socialite to a woman of agency and courage.

The drama also shows the harsh realities of being a part of the corporate world – whether you are at the bottom, in the middle or at the top, or whether you are a newbie or one who has been loyal to the company for many years. Beyond its comedic surface, this perfectly captures why UMH resonated to me so strongly, exposing systemic vulnerabilities that affected every level of the workforce. 

I related so well with Mr. So Gyeong Dong (played by So Hyun Chul). I consider my 26 years of loyalty as an incredible milestone, a rare and profound achievement in today's corporate climate. Mr. So represents long-tenured employees who have weathered decades of change. Like my very own journey, his character arc highlights the deep institutional knowledge and emotional investment that comes with such a long career. However, just like me, his long-term loyalty doesn't always guarantee security or promotions. 

His story is a tribute to those who have become the "foundation" of their workplace, even when the corporate world forgets to acknowledge that strength.

Ultimately, the show illustrates that in a high-stakes corporate environment, especially during a national crisis, no one—regardless of tenure or rank—is entirely safe from the "worst agents of the system". 

UMH is widely praised for maintaining momentum throughout its 16 episodes. The finale (aired last March 8, 2026) delivered what many called "satisfying justice" with strong final ratings. I loved that they did not force a reconciliation between Keum Bo and President Shin, or an awkward romance between Keum Bo and the much younger Albert despite him having a crush on her (or when she was the intern Jang Mi).

Come for the “corporate mystery” amidst the 1997 IMF financial crisis but please stay for one of the best ensemble cast of 2026! Will there be a Season 2? Let’s Hong on tight.

All 16 episodes of Undercover Miss Hong are available for streaming at Netflix.

Boyfriend On Demand

 K-Pam’s Note: I have finished watching a lot of dramas before this, but I somehow couldn’t focus on writing my reviews. So, this is a…

Mini Review on Demand 📲

A few years back, on BLACKPINK’s #Jisoo, I liked her friendship with Snowdrop leading man Jung Hae In and I rooted for her and Ahn Bo Hyun when they admitted that they were dating. But when they broke up, I took his side and never looked back. (Because, despite his tough on-screen roles, Bo Hyun is known for being gentle and soft-spoken, and even with that toned physique, I kind of felt he was hurting.) With this bias firmly in place, I logged into BOD, ready to be unimpressed.

#BoyfriendOnDemand, also known as Monthly Boyfriend, has been a highly anticipated release, as this is Jisoo’s first major leading role since Snowdrop, marking her rom-com debut, plus parts of the series were filmed in Cebu, Philippines, which serves as one of the beautiful "virtual date" locations. But I really came for the “boyfriends”, knowing that the drama has a stacked (read: massive) lineup of cameos of A-list stars to play her virtual boyfriends.

Seo Mirae (Jisoo) is a burnt-out webtoon producer who has officially traded real-world heartbreak for a digital "happily ever after." Enter Boyfriend on Demand (BOD), a high-end VR service offering 900 versions of perfection—for the right price. As Mirae sinks deeper into her customized virtual romance, her real life is plagued by Park Kyeong Nam (Seo In Guk), her sharp-tongued office rival who seems determined to pop her digital bubble. But when the "perfect" algorithms start mimicking Kyeong Nam’s irritations, Mirae finds the line between her subscription and her heart beginning to blur. 

I almot pulled the plug before Episode 1 even finished. The next morning, I was staring at the resume button, genuinely torn. Do I give Jisoo another chance? I was telling my sister I’m not interested in the male lead. I saw him in Twelve, and I was 50-50 on this drama, so he and his role didn’t leave much impression on me. I couldn't wrap my head around the casting. Sure, he has the stature, but if Kyeong Nam's character should be an irritant initially, I was thinking we could have Kang Tae Oh or Cha Seo Won (the lawyer in Spring Fever) who can be handsome and annoying at the same time.

But then I remembered I wanted to see the other “boyfriends.”

• Lee Soo Hyuk (S Line) as Choi Si Woo, a cold but handsome third-generation chaebol who takes her on glamorous dates and showers her with luxurious gifts

• Seo Kang Joon (Undercover High School) as Seo Eun Ho, a dreamy first love archetype, a university heartthrob and athlete

• Lee Jae Wook (The Impossible Heir, Dear Hongrang) as Dr. Lee, a tough but brilliant doctor

• Ong Seong Wu (Strong Girl Nam Soon) as Bae Hyeon Woo, a secret agent

• Kim Young Dae (Sh**ting Star, Dear X) as a mysterious assassin

• Lee Sang Yi (Good Boy) as a firefighter

• Lee Hyun Wook (Mine) as a prosecutor

• Mu Jin Sung (Typhoon Family) as a bodyguard

• Jay Park as himself 

Other notable appearances include Kim Sung Cheol who plays Kim Se Jun, Mirae’s ex-boyfriend in the real world, Yoo In Na, who appears as BOD’s dating manager and guide, and even Super Junior’s Choi Si-Won.

The cameos represent the "subscription" nature of the service, featuring a different "dream guy" trope, allowing us to see Mirae explore different romantic fantasies before her real-world connection with Kyeong Nam takes center stage.

I simply lost it with Seo Kang Joon’s Seo Eun Ho and his pink jacket and honey-colored eyes. His cameo taps into the ultimate First Love and campus crush nostalgia. Later, it was revealed that he is the most popular boyfriend on the entire platform, dating more than 12,000 subscribers.

But more than the visual treat, what I loved about the virtual relationship is the parallelism shown between Mirae’s relationship with Eun Ho and with her ex-boyfriend. It served as a therapeutic mirror to her past and…a closure. Her realizations helped her heal and reconcile with the heartbreak she went through after their breakup. By allowing the trauma in the end rewrite the beauty of the beginning, all she remembered in the relationship were the pains and struggles she carried over the years, completely burying the genuine love and happiness they once shared.  

Then BOOM! Episode 7 changed everything for me. 

True, I was trying to ignore Kyeong Nam (and In Guk the actor) but by Episode 7, the chemistry between the leads didn't just flicker—it ignited. At this point, I acknowledge that I WAS WRONG. Mianhae. 

I realized why they cast In Guk. If at first, I wanted to "cancel my subscription" to Kyeong Nam, I was glad that I stayed logged in, especially when we see that he has liked her from the start. 

Episode 7 peels back the layers of his coldness and cynicism to reveal a surprising truth: this was never about competition, but concealment.  A clumsy shield as a way to stay in her orbit without risking the rejection he feared she’d give him. This revelation recontextualizes every sarcastic comment from previous episodes as a veiled attempt at connection. And I just died.

"...At first, it was only a string of coincidences. Little surprises happening out of the blue. Unexpected.

Of all the gifts in the box, you picked mine. A coincidence.

Every day, we got on the same elevator. A coincidence.

Then one day, I realized. I was trying to make those coincidences happen.

There were days when I tried a little too hard.

It has to sound like it’s genuine.

It has to be relatable but not ordinary.

Romantic but not too old-fashioned.

There were days when I tried to act like I didn’t care.

And convince myself to give up.

But whenever I did that, you’d give me hope…by doing something unexpected..."

I hope I didn’t spoil it too much for you. But by the end of the series, I am one with Mirae in canceling her BOD subscription, trading pixels for reality; that is, choosing an "unpredictable chaos" of a real relationship over the controllable perfection of the virtual world. 

Inasmuch as I was indifferent at first, I am definitely adding them to my Best Pairings of 2026 list (both on and off screen).

• From 'Unsubscribe' to 'Must-Watch’

• The Kyeong Nam Glitch: Why I Was Wrong About the Male Lead

• System Upgrade: Episode 7 Turned This Skeptic into a Stan

• He Had Me at Ep 7: The Seo In Guk Redemption Arc

🖥️ BOYFRIEND ON DEMAND: SYSTEM LOG 📱

• EPISODES 1-3: 💿 Initializing 'Monthly Boyfriend' v1.0. Status: 20% Loading. ⚠️ Signal Weak. Getting used to the female lead’s acting. Searching for 5G (and better chemistry).

• EPISODES 4-6: 💾 Syncing Reality with Simulation. Status: 50% Processing. Office rivalry with Kyeong-nam (Seo In-guk) is corrupting virtual files. Rivalry.exe is running in the background.

• EPISODE 7: ⚡ CRITICAL ERROR: Heart Overload. System Report: Virtual perfection crashed by real-world feelings. 🔋 Charging Soul. Auto-renewing subscription because the cliffhanger just broke the cooling system.

• EPISODES 8-10: 🚀 SYSTEM UPGRADE: COMPLETE. Status: 100%. Unsubscribing from the app to choose Genuine Connection. Reality > Simulation. 

All 10 episodes of BOD are streaming at Netfli

The Price of Confession

So #KimGoEun's pixie hair cut was for this role.

I just hope that, like #JiChangWook and #DohKyungSoo in #TheManipulated, and #KimYooJung in #DearX, matinding debriefing ang ginawa sa kanila to shake off the role/ character.

Mother Boksoon #JeonDoYeon is so fine as ever.

All 12 episodes of #ThePriceOfConfession are available for streaming at Netflix

Typhoon Family

 #TyphoonFamily

If there were options, I’d vote for Pamilyang Binagyo ng Kamalasan (as in “binagyo talaga” or a family stormed by a series of misfortunes, or unfortunate events) as an alternate or a translated version of this drama's title 😁

After it made its landfall, Typhoon Family was indeed massive and powerful, with most viewers waiting for the return of the King (the Land), #LeeJunHo. During the initial episode/s, he was already showing off his 2PM idol swag and good looks (omg, his hair with blonde highlights). We missed him that much.

Synopsis: Kang Tae Poong's (Lee Jun Ho) father runs Typhoon Trading (you get it now? Tae Poong = Typhoon), a small but settled company. Known to his peers as the Gangnam Prince, Tae Poong was a carefree but kind-hearted young man, would sometimes get into trouble and fighting, and had no plans apart from maintaining a flower nursery as he was into horticulture. But when the 1997 IMF crisis hits South Korea, and his father passes away, everything changed for him. Determined and driven by a strong sense of responsibility, Tae Poong vowed to ensure the company's survival, whatever the cost.

Cast:

• Lee Joon Ho as Kang Tae Poong

• Kim Min Ha as Oh Mi-Seon

• Sung Dong Il as Kang Jin Young

• Kim Ji Young as Jung Jeong Mi

• Kwon Han Sol as Oh Mi Ho

• Kwon Eun Seong as Oh Beom

• Kim Young Ok as Yeom Bun

• Lee Chang Hoon as Go Ma Jin

• Kim Jae Hwa as Cha Seon Taek

• Kim Song Il as Koo Myung Gwan

• Lee Sang Jin as Bae Song Jung

• Kim Min Suk as Wang Nam Mo

• Park Sung Yeon as Kim Eul Nyeo

• Yang Byeong Yeol as Hwang Yun Seong

• Kim Sang Ho as Pyo Bak Ho

• Mu Jin Sung as Pyo Hyeon Jun

• Kim Do Young as Manager Ha

According to reports, Typhoon Family debuted on Netflix South Korea at No. 2 and has maintained the top position since. In the week of October 13–19, the show ranked No. 5 in Netflix Global’s non-English category and was Top 10 overall in 19 countries. In the week of October 20–26, it went up to No. 7 and was Top 10 overall in 8 countries.

However, despite the high ratings, halfway through the season, the audience was 50-50, asking when the unfortunate streak will end. Tae Poong, his family and friends and company Typhoon Trading suffered from an endless series of misfortunes. Bad things would happen one after another. Lahat na lang yata ng kamalasan. And lahat na lang ng pahirap (hardship). Hindi na natapos. And we wondered why Pyo Bak Ho (played by Kim Sang Ho), CEO of Pyo Sang Seon (Pyo Merchant Marine) and his son Hyeon Jun (Mun Jin Sung) were so G na G and persistent on destroying them, when the Kang family and the employees were not doing anything at all. 

What was Bak Ho looking for, when he visited Kang Jin-Young, Tae Poong’s father (played by Sung Dong Il), in the hospital? Turns out that there was a hidden promissory note, where Bak Ho owed Typhoon Trading 40 million won, and in exchange for the loan, he would transfer a 30% share of his own company, Pyo Merchant Marine to Jin Young.

But until that promissory note is found, it was getting to be tiresome, and frustrating. Was it still worth watching and waiting for?

Other highlights / elements that I loved in the drama:

1. Emotional and meaningful story, layered storytelling, good character development, realistic setting and strong cast performance.

2. The recreation of 1990s South Korea, the affluent young people in Seoul known for their flashy, carefree lifestyles during that time, and the nostalgia and emotional weight it created – how we feared Y2K, how we survived the analog era - fax machines, pagers, pay phones, cellular phones, free TV, the desktop computer with diskettes and green or black and white monitors, cassette tapes, and the early beginnings of CDs, MP3 or iPod and CCTVs. 

3. Lee Jun Ho does not disappoint. Once again, he delivers a compelling performance, with this role further solidifying his reputation as a versatile and bankable lead actor, following his award-winning performance in #TheRedSleeve and his popular role in #KingtheLand. His portrayal of Tae Poong exudes charm, energy and humor, injecting life (even a few dance moves) into the character even amidst the serious backdrop of economic hardship.  

4. #KimMinHa is said to be a replacement for the female lead role. But it doesn’t matter, bare face, freckles and all, she is, for me, the perfect Ms. Oh Mi Seon. I remember the episode where she accepted Tae Poong’s offer to be his employee, when he couldn’t offer anything. When she said Yes, I couldn’t help but cry.  She may not be the prettiest actress, but I find her acting natural and effortless. For me, her on-screen chemistry with Jun Ho feels organic, full of quiet tension and warmth. To recall, Min Ha’s breakout role is her critically acclaimed portrayal of Kim Sunja in the international hit series #Pachinko.

5. Tae Poong's mother adjusting to their life from being a spoiled wife living in comfort to being broke and homeless. And how she embraced the Oh family. 

6. The combined support of his mother and Typhoon Trading’s loyal employees contributed further to his strength and resilience.

7. Same with the support system of Mi Seon.

8. The existence of “angels” on earth – the ones who helped him along the way (from his first textile case to safety shoes case, helmet case, surgical gloves case, Dabontech / cooling fan case).

9. At the same time, gigil na gigil na ko sa antagonists hahaha Ayaw tumigil, ayaw paawat.  Ang yaman na nila, and ang laki ng company compared to Typhoon Trading.

10. The second lead couple Nam Mo and Mi Ho added charm to the story.

11. The flowers serve as a significant metaphor throughout the series, reflecting the characters' growth and their ability to find hope and build a "flower garden" (a fulfilling life and strong community) even amidst hardship: Roses for hope, representing Tae Poong’s optimism and ability to rise again; Cosmos representing resilience and strength, the ability to endure, light pink for budding love and dark pink for passion; Freesias carrying a message of small comfort and encouragement; Gerbera for passion and wealth; Lilawadi (Frangipani) conveying a heartfelt message, "Meeting you was luck"; and Lilies: respect.

12. The OST is also memorable, with contributions from the lead actors: "Eternity" by Min Ha, "Did You See The Rainbow?" by Jun Ho (the drama's opening theme song), and “Updraft” by Han (Stray Kids) which is a hint that something is happening in favor of Tae Poong each time Whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh. Whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh plays. There’s also an unreleased track featured during the train ride scene in the first episode, which goes like: "Strangers with flowers on a crowded train, smiled at me like you knew my name".  The BGM perfectly complemented the visuals of the scene where the two leads who at the time didn’t know each other yet share a moment of unspoken connection on their commute. 

13. Bonus: Jun Ho singing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”

14. The episode titles are real names of popular Korean dramas from the 1980s and 1990s, with the writer Jang Hyeon-suk paying tribute to the classic K-dramas that laid the foundation for the industry today. 

To simply say that the moral of the story is ‘Don’t give up’ is an understatement. Typhoon Family cannot emphasize perseverance enough. It also shows how one’s strength of family ties, holding on to values and hope in the face of hardship can help people overcome life’s difficulties. Frustrating yes, and you can’t help but wonder why there are people out there who will intentionally make your life difficult. The “silver lining” or the end of the rainbow seemed so impossible to obtain for Tae Poon and a lesser mortal would have given up or worse, died in the process.

We see in the last episode that Tae Poong told Bak Ho that while the latter’s son grew up knowing this world is a hellhole, his father on the other hand taught him that it was full of flowers and fruits. 

I wish you luck, Bak Ho said. See if the world will wait for the flowers to bloom, and the fruits to bear.

Bouncing back, did Tae Poong go back to his flower nursery?  He didn’t have to. Ultimately, his decision to stay on as Typhoon Trading CEO tells us that the people and their strong human connections, forged through shared struggles and support, are "more beautiful than flowers". His flowers are here.

The drama finished strongly with the final episode hitting 10.3% rating nationwide. 

All 16 episodes of Typhoon Family are available for streaming at Netflix

P.S. Watch out for Lee Jun Ho’s next project Cashero, an upcoming South Korean superhero fantasy action series coming out also in Netflix this December. #BuhayKPam

Lee Chae Min in Manila

Lucky 13☘️

My 13th Fan Meet

3rd this year and 2nd to the last for 2025

He is the good-looking young man in #CrashCourseInRomance #Hierarchy #SeeYouInMy19thLife #Crushology101 

Who became a household name and a global rising star after #BonAppetitYourMajesty 

Please stay humble, Chae Min ❤️

Nae gyeote isseo jwo

#LEECHAEMIN_TOUR_IN_MNL 

#Chaemintoyou_in_manila 

#LEECHAEMIN 

#Chaemintoyou

#WouldYouMarryMe

 #WouldYouMarryMe mini review

After Melo Movie, Rom Com King (a title given to him by his Wooga brothers) Choi Woo Shik is back!

Two years after I have seen him in person, I believe that #WouldYouMarryMe can boast of having the handsomest Woo Shik ever. I couldn’t help but mutter “Ampogi” every time he’s on screen. For a change, he comes from a chaebol family. Thanks too to the stylist and the clothing brands he endorses (Ami Paris and Project M), his casual yet elegant outfits mostly in brown, tan, and beige complement his good looks and height, veering away from the usual black and navy formals that corporate executives in dramas wear.   

And so far, this is the only drama where I am so strongly shipping his character to the female protagonist. Or better yet, to Jung So Min herself (I like Park Bo Young as an actress, his partner in Melo Movie, but not for him). 

Initially, I found it so problematic and chaotic. You can already see that Yoo Meri (played by Jung So Min, Love Next Door, Alchemy of Souls) has financial struggles, doesn’t have the happiest relationship with her partner, the first Kim Woo Joo (Seo Bum June, Hierarchy, First Night with the Duke), who is a cheater and whose side chick, it turns out, has a real fiancé. The mother-in-law and sister-in-law are troublemakers who don’t like her because she’s not rich enough. But she has her own design company, and her family loves her.

For the other Kim Woo Joo (Choi Woo Shik, Parasite, Our Beloved Summer, A Killer Paradox, Melo Movie), his parents died in a car accident when he was young and there seems to be a hint that they were intentionally killed. He has anxiety attacks, perhaps due to his childhood trauma. His uncle is a scheming man using underhand tactics to gain control of the family business and has an affair and a son on the side. Woo Joo’s aunt and cousin seem to hate him, maybe because of inheritance issues. He has a childhood friend who is forever in love with him, with automatic approval from his grandmother whose personal physician is the father. Upon his return from the US, he was given the marketing team leader position in Myungsoondang, a popular bakery chain in South Korea, where he is a fourth-generation heir. And there’s the typical back story of him and Meri knowing each other since kids. Turns out she is his first love, the girl he met after the car accident and gave him a plushie toy for hope and strength, and the one he has been searching for all his life.

By twist of fate, Meri, dumped by her partner and left technically married, won a luxurious townhouse in a department store promo for newlyweds. So as not to lose the prize, she “proposed” to Woo Joo to pretend to be her husband as he bears the same name.  At this point, you would agree with me that everything would be chaotic, as pretense is unsustainable and you can only fake things up to a certain extent.

For the second lead couple, the childhood friend Yoon Jin Gyeong (played by Shin Seul-Ki, Pyramid Game) is a doctor who will do everything to win his heart; and Baek Sang-Hyun (played by the ever-busy Bae Na Ra, who has four dramas this year), a department store managing director who also has a back story of his own, including gratitude struggles with his employer.

There are so many subplots, and there’s so much going on that one would find it hard to track them all at once. There are annoying and unbelievable situations and characters, what can you expect from a “fake marriage”, but as a rom com, the chemistry between the leads and the second leads compensate for it, and Woo Shik’s presence and sense of humor is all over. You can tell that the director allows him to be his usual comic self, as seen from behind-the-scenes videos and photos. 

And of course, all loose ends have been neatly tied up. Napagod siguro ang writer sa dami ng subplots.

Why “Would” instead of “Will?” While "Will you marry me?" sounds confident and direct, "Would you marry me?" is generally more hypothetical or conditional, polite and indirect, and because of the fake marriage setup, the question is if Meri "would" marry Woo Joo under these unusual, artificial circumstances. "Would" introduces an element of uncertainty and choice that "will" might not capture as effectively, emphasizing the conscious decision to choose each other.

Interestingly, I read that the drama's title is actually a clever linguistic blend of the character names, Woo Joo and Meri, which creates a hidden layer often lost on international audiences.

All in all, WYMM is one of those dramas with heart and humor, na hindi perfect pero you can live with it. It can be your companion after a hard day’s work, or even in the morning when everyone else is still fast asleep, and kayong dalawa lang ang gising, having coffee, looking out the window or listening to the sounds of the falling rain. It’s a drama that you can be comfortable with, in silence or in chaos. Minsan nakakatawa. Minsan nakakaiyak. Minsan wala lang. Minsan nakakainis, madalas may conflict, merong mga cast of characters na sumisingit. Minsan ayaw mo, minsan pinipili mo, but it’s always a conscious choice. And you get by. You get by. 

Just like what being in a life partnership is all about.

All 12 episodes of Would You Marry Me are available for streaming at Disney+ PH SBS DRAMA #BuhayKPam

#RomanticsAnonymous mini review

It’s one of those dramas that kept on popping on my feed, but I never paid attention until a colleague suggested watching it, saying there’s a surprise in the end. So, I gave it a try, and despite not being a sweet tooth person myself, I bit into the chocolate and was lost, as endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine were released.

RA is an 8-episode Jdrama, a remake of the 2010 French film "Les Emotifs anonymes" with a Korean actress as female lead, played by #HanHyoJoo (#Always #Moving #Happiness #W). Male lead is Japanese actor #ShunOguri who at 42 can still give his younger peers a run for their money, with his good looks and physique.

Mentored by a brilliant chef, Kenji, who believed in her, Lee Hana is a genius chocolatier with scopophobia, an excessive and irrational fear of being watched or stared at by others, a type of specific phobia and is often linked with social anxiety disorder. Sosuke Fujiwara is the heir of a family-owned confectionery corporation, the number one in Japan, who has a fear of germs, dirt and contamination, owing to a childhood trauma where he felt guilty and has been blaming himself for the death of his older brother.

Strangely, they didn’t encounter these fears with each other. Hana and Sosuke share a comfortable intimacy: she can meet his gaze directly, and he is unfazed by her physical touch. But will they have a sweet ending?

Completing the foursome are the second leads, also Japanese actors, #YuriNakamura as Irene, a renowned psychologist and author; and #JinAkanishi as Hiro Takada, the dashing owner of the bar Brush.

As someone with an acquired mild claustrophobia, I discovered that I could no longer stay in crowded small tight spaces shortly after I was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and MDD in 2021. I can totally relate to the two characters’ struggles, with the physical symptoms such as panic attack, difficulty in breathing, trembling, sweating, dizziness, nausea, and chest pain, among others, when triggered.  

According to research, phobias are an anxiety disorder that can cause physical and psychological distress, interfere with daily life, and increase the risk of other mental health issues like panic disorder. 

But as shown in RA, with professional help, support from family and loved ones, medication, lifestyle and home remedies, these can be managed and treated, although it takes time. We see Hana and Sosuke’s journey (individual therapy, group counseling, Kendo, supportive co-workers) to overcome their phobias as they fall in love, using chocolate as a comforting and symbolic backdrop for their healing relationship. While they are successfully confronting their respective social anxieties, they are still a work in progress, finding strength in each other.

I have previously seen Han Hyo Joo in her previous dramas, but I just found out that she speaks fluent Korean, Japanese and English. No wonder, she was chosen for this role. On the other hand, Shun Oguri is drop dead handsome and is said to have actively pursued a wide range of roles to avoid being typecasted.

I also love that the beginning of each episode features one of the 7 flavors in the Rainbow Palette, a special seven-piece chocolate assortment and the chocolate shop’s (Le Saveur) bestselling product. 

The surprise at the end? Spoiler Alert: It’s the double cameo by Korean actor Song Joong Ki and Japanese actor Kentaro Sakaguchi.

All in all, RA may not be perfect (I read that many found it disappointing), but for me, it is light, heartwarming, comforting, and delightful that I finished all episodes in one sitting. Sometimes we just forget the basics of human connection. Romantics Anonymous is a sweet reminder that kindness is everything and that real joy comes from life's small and simple moments.

Available for streaming at #Netflix

#BuhayKPam