The main goal of this blog is to document thoughts and dramas in one place. Updates may not be consistent, as drama-watching and blogging on them is a side hobby.
How to Navigate the Blog
- Go to Currently Watching, to find what currently watching show may be blogged in the near future.
- Go to Korean, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, or Others on the menu bar to find all shows that have been completed from the respective country. They will all have a rating, despite having blogged content on them or not.
- Utilize tags at the bottom of the posts to find blog posts relating to the release year, genre, drama/movie title, actor/actress. OR use categories to find first impressions, episode recaps, episode reactions, and final reviews. Will gladly accept opinions on how to improve navigation for the blog.
What kind of blog content will you find on mintyrecaps?
All Asian drama-related content from dramas, movies, and music, is welcomed on this blog with no limitation to country or language. However, you will mainly find Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Taiwanese-related content. Below are the primary forms of blog content you might find on mintyrecaps:
- Full episode recaps are filled with detailed scenes and spoilers from the listed episode. Usually contains scenes and quotes that stood out in the episode. It may or may not contain personal episode thoughts and reactions unless stated in the blog title. Full recaps take longer to write up. Will watch it one time through to enjoy it without pausing the episode. A rewind watch will recap most details and include favorite quotes. Will only focus on one drama per watching schedule for full episode recaps.
- Mini episode recaps summarize the listed episode with major plot points. It may have important or favorite scenes and quotes that stood out in the episode. It may or may not contain personal thoughts and reactions unless stated in the blog title.
- Reactions are episodic comments for a drama or movie. Reactions are usually paired with written recaps.
- First impressions summarize the initial thoughts and/or comments watched from a series, anywhere between 1-12 episodes – varies by the number of episodes per drama. This may contain spoilers with personal thoughts and opinions on what was viewed. May or may not continue with series due to the first impression.
- Reviews recently aired a drama, recently released movies, or recently watched older dramas and movies. There is no standard format for reviews. It may or may not have ratings and will contain opinionated comments. However, they will typically analyze the story as a whole. Some may contain more content than others depending on the length of the drama, the opinions and feelings formed from watching, and how much time mint-llama has on hand.
- OP-ED blogs that tie in anything into Asian-related content. mintllama dabbles into music, novels, animes, etc. that sometimes are looped back into dramaland.
Rating Scale
Ratings are subjective to mint-llama’s personal opinion, and these opinions don’t reflect anyone else’s but mint-llama’s. While these ratings try to stay objective, such as considering the production, scriptwriting, etc., they’re quite subjective to the elements mint-llama looks for in a drama. Readers are welcome to share their own thoughts, opinions, and ratings in the comments. mint-llama uses a 5 point rating scale with notes to a 10 point scale as a reference to where mint-llama’s ratings would range in comparison. For dramas with blog reviews, they’ll go into depth of the objective and/or subjective parts that mint-llama liked.
- Dropped dramas will not receive a rating from the mint-llama, as it doesn’t seem fair to judge something that wasn’t seen in completion. May or may not receive a dedicated dropped-review blogpost. Not all dropped dramas were due to disliking the content. Many were dropped to the lack of time when picked up that led to a lack of interest due to new dramas and time commitments.
- ★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 [ 3/10 ] Pour it out! Should have dropped it early on, but pulled through with the help of the friendly fast forward button. Couldn’t connect with characters, acting, or character’s conviction. Story setting, themes, or other elements didn’t flow well together – not mint-llama’s cup of tea.
- ★★☆☆☆ 2/5 [ 5/10 ] Lukewarm cup of tea! Usually liked some underlying themes or minor characters more than the main characters and themes. May have been played in the background while doing errands, and feel like major plot points weren’t missed. Or visited the fast forward button more than expected. The setup was there but eventually fell flat.
- ★★★☆☆ 3/5 [ 6/10 ] Good to sip on! Watch this if you’re bored or you’ve run out of your favorite brew! There were many positive points to the setting, characters, or storyline, but the execution to bring it into a full circle wasn’t to mint-llama’s tastes. That meant it didn’t leave a lasting impression, but it was a good watch!
- ★★★★☆ 4/5 [ 7.5/10 ] Enjoy it while it’s hot! Not mint-llama’s favorite cup of tea, but it had many elements in the characters, plot, and themes that were enjoyable. The story’s setup was well written, and it kept mint-llama’s attention through most of it. There were some drag or details that mint-llama didn’t care for. The drama got in some good punches but didn’t KO mint-llama – I would still recommend.
- ★★★★★ 5/5 [ 9/10 ] Perfect brew – it was worthwhile, impactful, and highly recommended! These dramas were filled with thought-provoking characters with their own voices, making them distinct and memorable. The production and scriptwriting had some flaws – I found little problem with the pacing and flow of the story, meaning that the fast forward button wasn’t toggled with much or at all. The themes were right up mint-llama’s alley as they tied into the characterization and storyline to pack a punch! Despite how time moves on, these dramas will leave one remembering them – immensely enjoyable on a subjective scale!