September stories: Romcom cliché but still working great, a demon judge, and a horror movie about writers and a vengeful ghost

"No Gain No Love" kdrama sneaked up on me, "The Judge from Hell" was off to a strong start + some thoughts on "Warning: Do Not Play" Korean horror movie

How’s your September going? It had this beat for me: fast-slow-sloooow-blip! I swear it was just recently that I was moaning about how September is so leisurely and unhurried. Then I blinked and whoa! October in a few days. 🤯

Have you been watching the crowd favorite “Love Next Door?” What about the newly released “Gyeongseong Creature 2”?

I dropped “Love Next Door” because it felt dragging and there were too many things going on. It’s a great kdrama, but it just isn’t for me. What surprised me was “No Gain, No Love.” I didn’t even mention it in my previous newsletter issue.

Now enough of me yakking. Let’s get to the real heart of this post!

---

“No Gain, No Love” – A fake marriage trope + childhood connection = cliché, but it works great in this kdrama

I thought I signed myself up for a run-of-the-mill romcom when I started watching “No Gain, No Love” kdrama. I’ve never been more glad to be wrong.

This kdrama starts with Son Hae Yeong and Kim Ji Uk hating each other. The hate-to-love trope has been done so many times, one would think this is just another element in this kdrama and *yawn!* However, the chemistry between the main leads, the comedic timing, the on-point acting, and delivery of the lines make this so enjoyable to watch!

When Hae Yeong and Ji Uk get (fake) married in front of Hae Yeong’s colleagues and ex-boyfriend, things begin to unravel, their feelings for each other included. With mishaps and near misses of their counterfeit marriage being exposed, the two begin to bond and start falling in love.

The secondary characters also bring a lot of entertainment to the show: The chaebol and the writer, the chaebol and his secretary, the writer and the secretary, and the voice actress and her polyamorous relationship. There are layers of sub-plots as usual, and everything just blends so seamlessly. The chaebol-writer love story even has a spin-off when “No Gain, No Love” wraps up! It’s called “Spice Up Our Love” and will be released on October 3rd with 2 episodes. You bet I’ll be watching that one!

Now here are some scenes that really had me laughing out loud, literally:

• Hae Yeong recording herself in a restaurant, a grocery, etc. as she prepares for her wedding. She does need to make their couple status convincing to everyone, right? And who else will take care of the video that needs to be played in her wedding? Sometimes, a girl just has to take matters into her own hands. 😆

• When the chaebol finds out exactly what kind of online novel his mother is reading

• The chaebol’s family dinner with Hae Yeong and Ji-Uk, and Hae Yeong’s ex-boyfriend and said ex’s wife

• The morning after the said dinner 🤣

“No Gain, No Love” is the kind of romcom you’d want to watch if you’re looking for something that perfectly balances the romance and the comedy. 👌🏼 I can’t recommend it enough. It only has 12 episodes and is currently at the 10th episode. The last two episodes will be aired this coming Monday and Tuesday. I’m telling you this in case you want to watch it, too. 😉

“The Judge from Hell” – a cola-loving demon takes over a judge’s body and baffles, infuriates, and surprises everyone

Here is yet another kdrama that sneaked up on me. I started watching “The Judge from Hell”, expecting it to be an intense fantasy thriller. I’m delighted to report that:

1. The demon judge, Justitia, is sassy and can be mean. She’s also frank and insulting, but at least she never lies.

2. While there are heartbreaking scenes (e.g. the abused girlfriend that was featured in the pilot episode), they manage to insert funny ones, too, so it’s not 100% heavy and dramatic.

The story starts when a judge, Kang Bit Na, is killed by an unknown person. In the afterlife, Bit Na somehow ends up getting punished wrongfully by Justitia. This error in judgment angers Bael, the Director of Hell. He orders Justita to go to the human world, punish 10 unrepentant and unforgiven murderers, take their lives, and send them to hell. She has one year to do this. Otherwise, she dies. (I don’t know about you, but I find Bael scary. He has such a commanding and threatening presence. 🫣)

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Justitia, now in Kang Bit Na’s body, is tasked to find those 10 murderers so she can go back to Hell. Together with Valak, her assistant from Hell, Justitia/Bit Na sets out to do her task and she does it in style. Literally. Designer clothes, branded bags, a flashy red sports car… Everyone in their workplace is baffled by the change in Judge Kang Bit Na but Justitia/Bit Na couldn’t care less. She has a mission and it looks like her mission would be easier with the help of a sharp and kind-hearted detective, Han Da On. The only catch is that Da On isn’t exactly warming up to her. So what’s a demon judge to do? Everything. At all cost. Even if it means breaking the rules.

“The Judge from Hell” only has three episodes out as I write this, with episode three ending in a cliffhanger. It could be too early to say this, but I also highly recommend this kdrama. If you’re a fan of fantasy and crime thriller, then you might want to give this show a try.

“Warning: Do Not Play” – a Korean horror movie that explores a college campus urban legend

It’s always spooky season in this little corner of the world. Today, I bring you “Warning: Do Not Play”, a Korean horror movie starring Seo Ye Ji and Kim Jae Hyeon.

Seo Yea Ji plays the character of Park Mi Jung, who hits a writer’s block right before her deadline. In an attempt to finally create something, she begins asking others for horror stories to tell. This is when she gets curious: Her friend, Kim Joon Seo, tells her about a story he heard from his friend, who heard it from a neighborhood friend. (You know how these things go.)

“There was a graduation screening for the film majors at his college, and half of the people ran out of the theater, and one died of heart attack… The student who made it was investigated, and he said it was made by… a ghost.”

Mi Jung begins to research and investigate on her own. She goes to where it started: Daejeon University. It’s there she where tries to uncover the history and mystery of the movie made by a ghost. During her research, she meets the (then) student, Kim Jae Hyeon, who was responsible for the screening.

The more she learns about what happened years ago, the more strange things begin happening to Mi Jung, like terrifying nightmares that seem all too real.

“Warning: Do Not Play” is a promising horror movie with an interesting premise of a rumored haunted film. While it’s not exactly groundbreaking, it does deliver some scare factor. The ending will make you do a double take and in this case, that’s a good thing.

Watch this movie if you’re craving for something horror that involves a vengeful ghost, a man driven insane, and scary scenes involving jump scares.

---

And that’s it for me. I hope September ends on a high note and that October will be even better! ✨🫶🏼

P.S. If you’re a kdrama fan who also loves reading, can I ask you to give my drama-inspired romcom fiction a try? 🙂 It has the forced marriage trope; a light and fluffy romcom with the Korean drama feels, minus the kimchi slaps and white truck of doom. 😁

You can check out the first 5 episodes for free! 👇 Thank you. 😊