All the TV shows I watched in 2025 / first half.

and that I thought of them…

Vigdís: sure, it’s well-acted and well-made shows and sure it is a cool idea for a story about this icon of a woman, but the story just went over the story way to quickly and therefore it was very difficult to connect properly with the characters. The story just goes from one thing to the next and never really stops. You can’t get a good sense of anything or why the characters are doing what they’re doing. Because things just happen because they need to.

When the Phone Rings: This was a real soap opera, high drama sort of drama that was so intense, captivating and addictive tv watching experience. I couldn’t get enough, and the main couple just had this explosive chemistry. I was constantly surprised and shocked by the story and just had a great time.

Blossom: the first episode to the last, this story was full of thrilling incidents, soapy drama, action and a good, easy-on-the-eyes romance that was absolutely fascinating to watch. I would have happily taken a few more episodes to watch the main characters just stare at each other full of desire and longing. And the politics was fun, even though it wasn’t always very smart, and made the story exciting.

The Tale of Lady OK: It started off well and I have to say that I was quite impressed and curious about the setting as it is rare that we get such a historical drama that doesn’t take place in Hanyang or revolve around royalty. But around the middle, the story started to get very very repetitive, everything went in a little too many circles, so at some point the story just started to feel super long and redundant.

The Queen Who Crowns: Well, when you’ve watched Six Flying Dragons and My Country, both of which give such epic versions of Lee Bang Won’s story, this story isn’t going to do too much. I appreciated the attempt to make it more about the female characters who were barely present in those other dramas and put them in the lead role here, but still I thought the story was a little too hasty put together and too fast-paced so that the depth of the characters was not there.

The Double: After Blossom, I was determined to keep that momentum going and pick up another cdrama that I had heard good things about from my kdrama bloggers. And while The Double started out strong, with a very intriguing female character that’s easy to stick with but then it lost its momentum too quickly, and the story loses a bit of steam as we get further into it. The story occasionally picks up again but always gets a little too longwinded and the buildup to things is weak. Everything is solved in a way that is too simple, and romance did nothing for me.

The Perfect Match: someone described it as Pride & Prejudice but with the focuses on all the Bennet sisters except for what the story takes place in ancient China and I think that manages to describe this drama pretty well. I adored the friendship and cooperation between the sisters and how the story focused on telling their story. Some of the love stories or marriages were more exciting than others, but did I enjoy them all one way or another. Although love story no. 2 and 3 were my absolute favorites.

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy: Started out fun and managed to keep up the momentum and be a rather fun and whimsical fantasy for quite a long time, but towards the end it starts to drop a bit, and the story middles a bit until the end. It does help that the main couple is really cute together and with good chemistry between them.

Adolescence: I know people expected the story to almost force feed them a proper resolution to a very important issue in our society and present the themes of the story in a very black and white way to comfort them. But this is just supposed to make you think. It’s an amazing, personal story that shows really well how society reacts and fails our young boys. We are in a society that doesn’t set them any boundaries because ‘boys will be boys’ and they don’t mean it… until they do.

When Life Gives You Tangerines: A heartbreaking family story that will make you cry and want to call your parents just to hear their voice. The story captures those fleeting moments of joy, resilience and sorrow that life has, tugging at your heartstrings and never truly letting go of you. Just an absolute masterpiece.

Undercover High School: The story itself was pretty stupid, but at the same time very entertaining and funny. The actors gave it their all, no matter how silly it was, and I was really enjoying myself.

The White Lotus, s3: Interesting characters and a plot about people’s greed. It is always quite interesting to see the story slowly take on a bigger and shadier form as the series progresses. It’s not my favorite series of Thite Lotus, but I thought it was a lot of fun.

The Leopard: I thought it was a bit long-winded, even though it was only five episodes. And by the end, I had stopped caring. But the show was stunning to watch.

Hot Spot: I thought this jdrama was somewhat funny, with interesting characters and an original story, but it got a little too repetitive at times and dragged a bit.

Miss Austen: A sweet little costume drama from the UK that was enjoyable enough to watch but didn’t really hit me in the feels.

Friendly Rivalry: I was hoping for something slightly better story-wise. Both main characters were okay and edgy in their own try-hardish way, but the story felt a bit uneven as the narrative both felt too fast and too slow at the same time.

Melody of Golden Age: Some of the side storylines were a bit boring, as well as some of the supporting characters. And the mysteries they were solving were often way too drawn-out and a bit stupid, as it was just an excuse for the main couple to work together and for the main character to save the girl and for her to tend to his wounds. It got really repetitive after a whole, but the main characters had very good chemistry between them – which was the saving grace of the drama. It could have been like 10 episodes shorter than it was.

Dear Hongrang:  So hunting, so suspenseful with fun fight scenes and interesting characters. It is a very dramatic and soapy story that tends to get a little too heavy but is at the same time very moving and beautiful.

The Hunted Palace: A cheerful, fun and light little drama that doesn’t take itself too seriously with some interesting folklore-elements and lively characters. Not particularly deep and the romance didn’t do anything for me, but I enjoyed it.

Tastefully Yours: While this drama has all the right ingredients for a very good slice-of-life romcom, it lacks proper structure and pacing. Things just happen. The drama is in a bit of a hurry to get everything done and doesn’t dwell too long on anything, which makes it seem frivolous and somewhat underdeveloped. Kdramas should not be 10 episodes. It just doesn’t work for the slow progression that that sort of storytelling is used to.

Love in Pavilion: A beautiful and mythical story with great fight scenes, special effects and an interesting lore, but the second half gets a bit too long-winded and I felt that the story lacked a bit of focus in parts due to how many characters there were. The structure could have been better and character moments felt lacking at times because of it. It took me a long time to finish it.

TV show I didn’t bother to finish:

Fangs of Fortune: The drama had this tendency to explain so many of the mysteries and backstories of the characters with flashbacks and it frustrated me so much. I felt like the drama was constantly telling me things instead of showing me them or letting the story just explain things to me as the story progresses. Even with the main romance, I felt like the drama just said; “Oh, yes they love each other” instead of showing me how they fell in love. Things just… happened… just because it had to.

Asura: I just thought it was way too slow. A lot of characters and very slow. Sometimes I’m in the mood for just that, but often not.

When the Weather is Fine: Sweet and low-key but at times a little too dull for me. Our female lead just felt too gloomy and stuck in the past, and I felt that made the story not. I couldn’t take it anymore around the middle of the drama.

Doctor Who: I simply don’t think I care anymore. There is so little heart left.