I skipped March 2021 because we were booked. Now that “Sisyphus” and “Hello, Me!” have ended, and “River Where the Moon Rises” and “Vincenzo” are also going to end this month, I’ve an opening in my drama watching schedule.
I already crossed out “Law School” and “Undercover” because they’re my “third rail.” I get electrocuted if I touch legal or political dramas. I might watch “Taxi Driver” just to check it out. Based on the synopsis on Asianwiki, the theme of this drama is vigilantism, and I’m not into street justice. But I did want to check out Lee JeHoon (“Signal”) and Esom (that disastrous “Third Charm”).
I don’t know what’s up with these kdrama screenwriters and schedulers at KBS, SBS and MBC. They seem to have forgotten that April is the month of spring and springtime is about love.
April love is for the very young
Every star’s a wishing star that shines for you
April love is all the seven wonders
One little kiss can tell you this is trueSometimes an April day will suddenly bring showers
Rain to grow the flowers for her first bouquet
But April love can slip right through your fingers
So if she’s the one, don’t let her run away
(Pat Boone, “April Love”)
Here are my romance picks for this month.
1. Sell Your Haunted House
The synopsis according to Viki:
Ji A, a woman who has inherited exorcism abilities from her mother, is the owner of Daebak Realty, a company that specializes in selling haunted houses. Ji A looks perfect and is also brilliant, but her hot temper makes her fists fly before her words. One day, Ji A encounters a conman named In Beom who specializes in exorcism fraud. Late at night when Daebak Realty operates, In Beom visits Ji A to make an offer. He suggests that they team up to exclusively sell houses that are haunted by vengeful spirits and lingering ghosts. Can the two get along well and deal with house prices, ghosts, and their sorrowful stories?
source: Viki
People might think this is a copy of “Hotel del Luna” but I think the ending here won’t be sad. lol.
Cast:
Jang Nara and Jung YongHwa
Jang Nara is one of those actresses who, despite having a long resume, I’ve never taken a shine to. That’s because she often plays the “ugly duckling” roles, that is, women who are down on their luck and have self-esteem issues, but are transformed into goddesses in the end. “Fated to Love You” could have been penned for her, although it’s a remake of a Taiwanese hit. That’s why I’m interested to see her a ghost-hunting heroine. I’m glad she’s following the trend set by the singer/actress IU in “Hotel del Luna.” IU showed that female leads can be tough as nails and have fun, too.
Jung YongHwa. I know four things about him. He’s the leader in a boy band “CN Blue.” He was in a virtual reality marriage in that variety show “We Got Married” with Seohyun, a member of a popular kpop group. He was the wildly popular second lead in “You’re Beautiful” and was given the main lead in “Heartstrings” to appease the broken-hearted fans. He was involved in two controversies, one for insider trading and the other for his doctoral degree. Although he dodged the bullet both times, his squeaky-clean image was dragged through the mud. I wish him a successful comeback.
Episodes: 16
Start Date: Tomorrow!!! Wednesday, April 14
Airs on Wednesday and Thursday
Where to Watch it: Viki
Network: KBS2. This should be standard kdrama fare. I doubt there’ll be any controversies. lol.
2. Oh! My LadyLord
Top romcom actress is forced to share her house with top crime-thriller screenwriter.
Cast:
Lee MinKi and Nana
Don’t know anything about Nana. But Lee MinKi is the actor who played the antisocial leading man in “Because This is My First Life.” I’m watching this show because I want to know why LMK likes to play neurotic guys who are forced to cohabit with a girl in order to meet the love of his life.
Episode: 16
Start Date: This started three weeks ago, Wednesday, March 24
Airs on Wednesday and Thursday
Where to Watch It: On Kissasian. I can’t find it on Viki or Netflix.
Network: This is produced by MBC so I don’t expect anything mind-boggling with the script.
3. Hello, Mr. Gu
For more fluffy romance, I found this Chinese drama. I like marriage of convenience so this might be interesting.
The synopsis according to dramacool.
A CEO with a phobia of crowds enter into a contractual marriage with a broke heiress by accident. With oppositng personalities, the two butt heads but eventually becomes each other’s confidant. The two imperfect souls heal each other and fall in love.
source: dramacool
Episodes: 30 Argggggh!
Start Date: March 30 to April 13. Woohoo!! It’s done already.
Where to Watch It: It’s not on Viki. Wetv (I haven’t used this site yet) and Dramacool have them. Dramacool has up to Episode 20 subbed.
**************
This is fine for me now. I still have to finish reviewing “Sisyphus,” “Hello, Me,” “Takane and Hana” and “Love Scenery.”
***************
Edited to add @GrowingBeautifully’s rec.
Hi @pkml3 my husband is watching this cdrama “Rattan” and although I was not watching it seriously, it looked interesting. So I may try it.
According to a review, this is from the director of “Goodbye My Princess”. It’s a modern sci-fi/fantasy with the first episodes showing scenes from Republican times. Reviews look positive.
Seems this show has a strong female lead, less tropes and is ‘different’.
Synopsis from MDL: “Many years ago, the plant-alien hybrid Si Teng was hunted down by a Xuanmen hunter. Chased across Shanghai, Si Teng fled for her life but escaping the relentless hunter proved impossible. In an act of cruel piety, the hunter killed Si Teng and buried her remains at the base of a great cliff. There she would have remained for all eternity, had fate not chosen to intervene. Resurrected by the unwitting actions of a young architect by the name of Qin Fang, Si Teng finds herself in a strange new world. Confused by the fragmented memories in her head, Si Teng insists Qin Fang help her regain her memories, while at the same time helping her understand life in this modern age. Despite their rocky start, Qin Fang eventually agrees to Si Teng’s demands. With Qin Fang by her side, Si Teng learns what it means to live and love but the fragmented memories of her past continue to torment her. Determined to understand the mysteries of her past, Si Teng and Qin Fang continue to search for answers, their quest drawing them ever closer. But how long will their happiness last when the demon of the past refuses to die?”
Episodes : 30
When : This series is completed and 20 out of 30 episodes are subbed.
Genre : Mystery, romance, fantasy.
Watch it on : Dramanice, Viki, KissAsian (Tencent Video, iQiyi, Youku, iQiyi)
It’s on Youtube, too, @GB. I recognize the lead. He was K.O. on “Love O2O.”
None are jumping out at me so I will leave it to you to pick and I will hop on for the ride. PS RWTMR has already deviated from the historical facts in recent episodes so I am hoping that will apply to our OTP as well. I do so want a happy ending. Too much doom and gloom in the world right now.
@packmule3 You read my mind! I’m just in such a romantic drama mood lately (blame it on the spring blossoms 🌸), that I just can’t get into these mind-bending sci-fi or action dramas. I so like your list! I’ve been so starved of romance dramas that I’m even watching the 44 episodes C-dramas! Your list looks great..going to check out the LeeMinKi one bcoz I like him. Will also try the Hello, Mr.Gu (if I can find it online) bcoz I’m on a C-drama roll recently (think it’s K-drama fatigue settimg in!) Thank you for the list!
Nothing get me into this. “Oh! My ladylord” have a nice pitch, because I like when there is a scriptwriter in the story. But I don’t feel it now.
I’m watching Kairos actualy. It’s heavy, good idea about the concept, even if it’s very inspired by two others dramas. Acting is good, no comedy.
I have a endless list of dramas to catch from the past. Eye of dawn as the older one, or Times as a more recent one.
*sad face* the only drama i’m planning to watch are the one you crossed off your list “Law School” and “Undercover”, Law School because it looks like Korean version of HTGAWM and Undercover for the casts. I ended up only watching Vincenzo from my long list of show I planned to watch in 1st Quarter.
Oh Master! is full of tropes. It doesn’t bother me in Kdramas especially in rom-com, but they added a lot of them in few episodes…
Sell Yout Haunted House reminds me more A Korean Odyssey with the haunted house. But without the bad ending I hope.
I’m watching Oh My Ladylord, also know as Oh! My Master. It’s a rare old-style rom-com in the sense that there are tropes that set up the storyline, but so far very little toxic behaviour in the main or secondary characters. The tropes end at that level. When you would expect an explosion or a stock reaction, a character will offer an unexpected perspective. In that sense, it reminds me of doramas like ‘Takane and Hana’ and ‘Koi WA Tsuzuku…’ To me the interactions between children and parents are well portrayed.
To @Wenchanteur, this probably won’t have enough action and subtlety to draw you in, but it’s rather of beautiful in its way. The screenwriter’s work methods are a trope in themselves because he is rather OCD. He’s famous for violent, bloody scripts. 😆
I’ve been watching Navillera in Netflix about a young ballerino who teaches a 70 year old man to learn ballet. It’s very heartwarming family drama, a small romance on the side and ballet-a-plenty. It’s already at Ep8 of 12.
Taking a bit of kdrama hiatus this week without the wed/thu Sisyphus and skip of Vincenzo this weekend. Maybe will shift to movies like Minari, Josee and Kim Ji Young Born 1982.
Yes @Janey me too. I am a puddle after most eps. It’s very well done. Only 12 eps.
@packmule3, It’s already many episodes in, but Navillera is a lovely watch(except for one glaring plot point). The ballet practice is so beautiful to watch and it’s not all youth oriented. It has some Hello Me vibes. I also want to give it a shout out because we have older actors with meaty parts. It has 12 episodes.
I will watch any of the dramas suggested. I just ask where to find them if they are not on Netflix, Amazon Prime or Viki.
And, what’s your take on the Baeksang nominations as well as Ms. Youn’s boffo international awards sweep(I love that her reality shows, Youn’s Kitchen1 and 2 and Youn’s Stay. They are so good. And she has such a dry sense of humor. I don’t think we’d see Meryl Streep doing this type of show).
Only 12?
Nrllee. I’m going to open a thread just for you since you’re out top reporter here. 😂 When “Psycho But It’s Okay” meets “Mr Queen.”
You know what I’m talking about? What’s going on there?
I’m watching Navillera too. I started for the dance aspect and stayed for the characters and story.
Yes Navillera is only 12eps but Haraboji has Alzheimer’s (is it a raw nerve for you?).
As for PBIO (Seo YeJi SYJ) meets Mr Queen (actor KJH)
KJH was in a legal battle with his existing agency. His contract is supposed to end May. He was in talks to join his CLOY costar’s agency. Dispatch releases the photos of the 2 of them together and claims that they are dating. Which is why he is heading to her agency. Both parties deny it of course and claim the pics of them together were times when they met to talk about the change in agency. 🤔🙄. Which begs the question why did they have to do it in his apartment? Why not in a public space? And why not just over the phone? And on so many multiple occasions? But I digress. Anyway his old agency was NOT impressed. They claimed that he owed them time in lieu because he took 11 months off after his breakdown in the drama Time (mental and eating disorder issues) before he came back in CLOY. So he can’t leave just yet. He was not in a great head space during his previous drama Time. He was acting all strange and forced script rewrites about skinship with the actress. In the end he dropped out of that drama mid way.
https://www.soompi.com/article/1463164wpp/kim-jung-hyun-in-talks-to-join-seo-ji-hyes-agency-agency-responds-to-new-dating-report-by-dispatch
https://mb.com.ph/2021/04/12/kim-jung-hyuns-behavior-towards-seohyun-resurfaces-as-he-battles-agency-over-contract/
And this is when Dispatch suddenly drops the bombshell that his behavior during the drama Time was because of his then gf Seo YeJi. And they released a host of text messages between the 2 of them where YeJi was the one asking him to halt skinship etc.
https://www.soompi.com/article/1463963wpp/seo-ye-jis-agency-releases-statement-addressing-reports-that-she-manipulated-kim-jung-hyuns-behavior-during-his-drama-time
Question I have is – how did Dispatch get a hold of these private texts? It’s heavily spliced to paint her as a manipulative controlling gf. Yet when you read the statement her agency came forward with, whilst the texts were true, KJH had also done the same by asking her not to kiss her costar (at that time she was filming Lawless Lawyer and she had no problems there? So she obviously could separate private and professional life?). It was clearly a lover’s tiff? And they were sparring in private? Yet his part asking her NOT to do skinship in the whole conversation had been removed? I suspect he released these private texts to send the media spotlight her way? And he succeeded. He is now a victim. Social media is full of hate towards YeJi. They have gone back to dig up her past and suddenly she’s this horrible pathological liar who sleeps with everyone to get her way. 🙄. It’s turned into a witch hunt. Meanwhile, KJH is coming out a martyr and is no longer the subject of scorn for his behavior in the drama Time. It’s all YeJi’s fault. And that’s the story so far.
Hi @pkml3 my husband is watching this cdrama “Rattan” and although I was not watching it seriously, it looked interesting. So I may try it.
According to a review, this is from the director of “Goodbye My Princess”. It’s a modern sci-fi/fantasy with the first episodes showing scenes from Republican times. Reviews look positive.
Seems this show has a strong female lead, less tropes and is ‘different’.
Synopsis from MDL: “Many years ago, the plant-alien hybrid Si Teng was hunted down by a Xuanmen hunter. Chased across Shanghai, Si Teng fled for her life but escaping the relentless hunter proved impossible. In an act of cruel piety, the hunter killed Si Teng and buried her remains at the base of a great cliff. There she would have remained for all eternity, had fate not chosen to intervene. Resurrected by the unwitting actions of a young architect by the name of Qin Fang, Si Teng finds herself in a strange new world. Confused by the fragmented memories in her head, Si Teng insists Qin Fang help her regain her memories, while at the same time helping her understand life in this modern age. Despite their rocky start, Qin Fang eventually agrees to Si Teng’s demands. With Qin Fang by her side, Si Teng learns what it means to live and love but the fragmented memories of her past continue to torment her. Determined to understand the mysteries of her past, Si Teng and Qin Fang continue to search for answers, their quest drawing them ever closer. But how long will their happiness last when the demon of the past refuses to die?”
Episodes : 30
When : This series is completed and 20 out of 30 episodes are subbed.
Genre : Mystery, romance, fantasy.
Watch it on : Dramanice, Viki, KissAsian (Tencent Video, iQiyi, Youku, iQiyi)
Aaaaah. Thanks, nrllee. I’ll transfer your post to the other thread I’ll open for you.
@packmule3 a thread for the PBIO meets Mr Queen saga? I didn’t think it needed a whole thread. 😂. There’s a fair bit of finger pointing as to who should take the blame for the whole sorry state of affairs. I think KJH really did have mental issues and his relationship with SYJ exacerbated it. If Dispatch is right in his new relationship with his CLOY costar then he seems to be one of those men who fall in love with his costars. He and YeJi were in a movie together before they started dating.
Mind, this is my interpretation of the whole saga. It could be way off. 😂
I’m almost done with my screenshots.
Yes, I want a separate thread because I’m going to forget where you wrote about this. 🙂
@nrllee @PM Ko Moon-young vs King Cheoljong – To me it seems like KJH current agency is trying to damage his career because he does not want to renew his contract. Everyone else seems to be collateral damage–Seo Ji-Hye & Seo Ye-ji. I just noticed he must have a thing for Seo’s and intimidating women is his type. But these scandals seem to shed some light regarding what happen on Time (character killed off early). Nothing is worse than arguing w/ your partner while at your workplace.
Hey, John. I’ll move your post to the other thread just for this, okay?
Thanks, GB.
Let’s try this one, too. Thanks for the rec!
As a male bitch … I’ve got Oh! My Ladylord in my rotation. I like Nana and I needed a little romcom to balance the dark matter in my drama world (Mouse, Beyond Evil). You can also find this series on Dramacool if anybody is looking for it. I’ve watched the first 2 episodes of Taxi Driver (Viki) and it is interesting so far. Episode 2 has the main leads having a full encounter so it’ll be interesting to see how their relationship develops.
Fern, nrllee, Old American Lady,
I began the first 15 minutes. Looks promising. There are only 12 episodes and it’s 2/3rds done. Thanks for the rec
How did you like “Mouse,” John?
Okay, I’ll open a thread for “Oh! My Ladylord.”
I would love for SOMEONE OR ANYONE to watch someday or one day. It’s set in Taiwan and I’ve heard they’ll be making a Korean version. It does time travel so well and the script was clearly planned ahead and leaves very little (if anything) unanswered. The ML is excellent. Would love to read a PM3 breakdown post
@Fern,
Hello! I haven’t seen you for a long time 😉
I’m not looking for action, but rather fast-paced dramas.
This does not necessarily include action scenes, but a good pace.
However, I can also enjoy slow dramas, if the content is attractive and not boring.
On Kairos, I quickly got hooked because of a scene that has nothing to do with the SF concept.
It is the scene where the protagonist visits his construction site and gives instructions. It’s a sharp scene, a bit naturalistic (no background music). I like it when a drama exploits a context like this.
The tone of the scene reminds me a lot of French films from the 60s, 70s or 80s. Stories filmed with a live-action feel, discreet stylistic effects, but geared towards this pseudo-realistic rendering, without music, with lots of environmental sound effects. Hmm, that’s the best I can say to give you an idea. If you’ve never seen this kind of movie, it’s hard to describe, but this scene in Kairos has that spirit. Or episodes of Inspector Columbo sometimes have that tone.
@birdie007,
I never watched this drama, but it’s on my hard drive!
It’s on my watching list!
Hey hey.
Actualy, I catch dramas I missed about time travel :
Times, Kairos, Alice, and Someday one day.
Off topic – @Wenchanteur, ah you are a Columbo fan? Me, too. Did you see the old film Wings of Desire, directed by Wim Wenders with the cameo by Peter Falk?
I’ve seen your posts, but I’m not watching the same dramas you are at the moment. J’espère que tout va bien avec vous. I also like the live action feel in dramas- as though the sound effects aren’t canned.
@birdie007 I’ve watched Some Day or One Day and found it very intriguing and memorable. Unexpected, thought-provoking storyline, wonderful treatment of the love story and mystery, and good acting. It was recommended to me by @Table12222 who is another regular poster on this blog.
@Fern,
Yes we are not watching the same drama, it’s because that.
As you ask me:
YEEEAAAAHHHH! I’m a detective columbo fan! 😉
I watched all the episodes, and some more than once.
When there is the actor : Patrick Mc Gohan !! 3 episodes he’s the killer.
I know who is Win Wenders director (I watched a movie of him, about dreams you can watch). But I don’t know the movie you are talking about.
Don’t make effort about talking french! I am accoustumed to read english. Even if I’m not very good in foreigner langages. Step by step (very slow steps), I make progress. The most difficult is to write without making errors. All this answer was without use auto-translator, so you can see it’s a bit bad. And I have to point this out: I didn’t try to use complicated words or sentences, just what I know. So I’m unable to say my real thinking when I write directly with english langage. 😉
Still off topic:
@Wenchanteur, I used to speak French very well. I even used to dream in French, but no longer. I studied some Spanish and later I had good friends who were Italian so learned some of that. Now I’m trying Portuguese, but all of the lovely romance languages are mixing themselves in my brain like the tower of Babel. I’m like a meme of my former linguistic self.
The German title for Wings of Desire is Der Himmel über Berlin. It is from 1987 and some consider it among the top films of the 1980s.
You mentioned Patrick McGoohan? When I was very young, my brother and I loved to watch his show (he wrote and was the lead actor) ‘The Prisoner’ which was a surreal and quite experimental television series made in 1967.
@Fern : The Prisoner is a masterpiece.
I watched and rewatched it many times.
It’s the exact metaphor and prophecy (I should rather say : logical and intuitive foreshadowing) of what is the western empire today. 😉
@packmule3 and @fern, I once read that The Prisoner was actually a follow up to Secret Agent/Danger Man. It was ahead of its time but it also reflected the paranoia of the cold war.I had a big crush on Patrick McGoohan. And I believe that Portmeirion in Wales was the setting. I was very take by that village. I am not s number…
@Old American Lady, yes, I believe that The Prisoner was filmed in Portmeirion. I haven’t been there, yet.
I understand that Patrick McGoohan rarely gave interviews- he was quite a recluse outside of work.
@JohnL @packmule3 Mouse is dumb writing. Shock value on steroids. I am still watching (and totally disengaged now because the writer can’t shock me any more than she already has). Totally in it for the “wth” moments which make zero sense. Writer has gone down the route of Dexter now with LSG’s character. I get the feeling she’s making it up as she goes along? Because the writing goes nowhere. It’s incoherent. She keeps throwing red herrings at the audience and adding new sub plots. She needed to air a special episode after Ep10 to clarify things for the audience (that’s saying something isn’t it? 🙄). And frankly it did nothing. Clear as mud. She’s asking question after question with each episode but providing no answers. 🙄 There’s another 8 eps of this to go. 🙄. Beyond Evil (with Yeo JinGoo) on the other hand I hear was great.
@WEnchanteur Kairos was time travel done right (so the reviews say).
@Packmule3, I’ll add my voice to the chorus recommending Navillera. I am in awe of the actor Park In Hwan, actual age 76, portraying a 70-year-old in a physically and emotionally demanding role. Watching some of the early episodes, I was inspired to try some of the exercises being done by Mr. Sim. I haven’t been in a ballet class since I graduated from college decades ago, and my feeble attempts confirmed it.
I just wanted to say Kalimera!
I have a hectic schedule and I haven’t been able to read your comments…
I will try to respond whenever I can!
Have a nice day ahead!
@nrlle,
Kairos is not exactly time travel. It’s more Signal+Nine mix.
And done very well. About the use of the time concept, it’s more effective than Signal for now, because there is more interactions : Past-Future repercussions and timeline updated.
I ended episode 6. The drama is intense.
Background musics are awesome, but what make me mad :
The Various Artists disc wasn’t released. 😣
Just drop by to say Hello! Currently watching random movies (like Downton Abbey which is now available on Netflix) after a very invested watch. Interested to hear what you are watching. 🙂
@nrlle For me, Beyong Evil was better than Mouse but not great. The actors were really great, I think the writer wanted to treat the different way to mourn of each characters but they were police officers and the procedural part was really bad. It was more like they would chose a culprit and find evidences after than follow the evidences to the culprit…
Hi @pm3, it’s been a while since I checked in here! Hope you and the rest of the BoD gang are doing well! Oh Jooinim / Oh Master is available on iQiyi, btw.
I also have a cdrama rec, if you haven’t considered it already – You Are My Hero. It is available on Viki with subs. It’s easily the best cdrama romcom I have seen to date.
The ML is a SWAT cop, the FL is a doctor/surgeon. Don’t be misled into thinking it’s a version of DOTS, because it is nothing like it (I couldn’t survive one episode of DOTS). The leads here – Sandra Ma (my favorite) and Bai Jingting (quite a discovery!) were perfectly natural in their interactions with each other. The other actors were also well cast. There was no noble idiocy, at least with regard to the OTP, and was a very healthy relationship. The action / SWAT scenes were really well done, especially for a drama. I skipped the surgery scenes, because I’m too weak hearted for those. But reliable sources say they were well done too. Barring four episodes which had a completely unnecessary side story, this 40-ep drama was, IMO, very enjoyable.
Hi All, If you want to leave East Asian content and have a trusty guide, me, I suggest the Israeli drama Shtisel on Netflix. It’s about ultraorthidox Jewish be family through marriage, children, profession,death. It will give you a glimpse of a different culture, and at times it is funny. I’m not saying that w should watch it as a group, be it I think the people on this blog would enjoy it
@Old American Lady, I read about Schtisel in the New Yorker. It sounds completely addictive. I’ll see if it’s on Netflix here.
@Fern, it’s very addictve. My non-Jewish friends first alerted me to it before the fanfare. one of its stars, Shira Haas was up for various acting awards for her performance in Unorthodox, also on Netflix. There is one actor, Michael Aloni, who has become an international heartthrob (he’s very handsome, even with the beard and forelocks).
The great thing about these streaming channels is that we get all sorts of international content. Before, we’d only see a very few tv shows and movies from other countries in the US, except for Spanish content on channels like Telemundo(but I found out that a lot of their dramas are Turkish dubbed into Spanish). I used to watch Caso Cerrado (a Judge Judy/Peoples Court Show with more heart), and Sabado Gigante with Don Francisco(s hybrid variety/talk show) and some telenovelas to help improve my Spanish. And PBS had all of those British goodies (Downton Abbey, Poldark, MontyPython, Dr. Who, anyone). But now, we have the whole world with all of its creativity to explore. For me, it has been one of the saving graces of the pandemic. While faced with quarantine, I have been able to “travel”the world from my devices. So, no matter what you choose, I hope you enjoy it all and keep your brain happily stimulated.
👍👍 Thanks for the rec, @pickleddragon. I’m enjoying the show. I’ll write a First Impression for the folks here.
The guy has the tiniest waist I’ve ever seen on a guy. 😂
I didn’t watch Descendants of the Sun so my mind is a blank slate and can’t do comparisons. 😂
I’m not really interested in most of the April 2021 K Drama offerings. Might check out Undercover, as I like ML Ji Jin Hee. Really longing for a decent Korean Rom Com. Oh My Ladylord/Oh My Master getting mixed reviews so I’m going to hold off on that drama for now. Contract Relationships is one of my favorite tropes, so I will check out Hello, Mr. Gu. The episodes are 30 min each, so the 30 eps count is actually 15 hours total run time, so pacing should be okay.
Hello Mr. Gu is liscensed at WeTV website (wetv.vip) and Tencent Video YoutUbe Channel, although the airing schedules are different. WeTV schedule is 2 eps per day Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Tencent YT is 2 eps per day Thurs, Friday, Saturday.
Basically, WeTV airs eps first, then they are put on the Tencent YT channel.
Currently, episodes 1-18 available at WeTV for Non VIP. If you are VIP, then eps 1-24 currently available. The April 13 end date was for Super VIP in China. Drama will wrap up for International viewers April 22 for VIP and April 29 for Non VIP. Drama ends May 1 for Tencent YT.
Dramacool is using the WeTV VIP schedule.
Surprised that C Drama Love Scenery starring Lin Yi from Put Your Head On My Shoulder wasn’t mentioned in the list. For anyone interested, it’s now at several streaming sites. WeTV (wetv.vip), IQIYI (iq.com), and just started on Tencent Video Youtube Channel.
@birdie007: Yes, Someday Or One Day is an amazing drama. Definitely contender for Best Drama of the Year for 2020. Script was good, acting was good, OST was good. I went into the drama blind, not really knowing much other than everyone was saying it was a must watch, and I was captivated. It’s hard to talk about it casually since it’s best if people watch without knowing too much.
Yes, there is the saying “In Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to love.” I’m looking forward to checking out So I Married The Antifan and Doom At Your Service in May. They are both coming to Viki. (Please be good-I really miss a good Korean Rom Com)
Watched Chinese rom com My Little Happiness at Viki and enjoyed it. Great chemistry between the leads and kudos to the actors and director for delivering some very nice kiss scenes. Check it out if you are needing a nice, light watch.
Just finished Chinese comedy Be My Cat, which is just silly fun. Plus, it’s got the cutest kitty.
I’ve got You Are My Hero on my watchlist- just waiting for all of the episodes to be EDITED at Viki. I really like FL actress Sandra Ma so I hope the drama delivers and doesn’t get draggy.
I’m going back and watching older rom coms that I missed to fill the void since Korean dramas are putting out so few new rom coms these days. Started I Am Not A Robot. Also rewatching Bride Of the Century- so cute!
@table122000
I think that’s why I want this community to discuss Some day or one day. It’s so hard to explain without spoilers. Time travel is in my top five LEAST favorite things to watch and I loved every bit of this.
I saw first two episodes of Love scenery but I just couldn’t really get into it.
You are my hero is great..wait for VIKI subs. The IQIYI ones are very robotic.
I’m watching Oh! Master. I have the last two episodes downloaded but I’m not dying to watch them if that tells you anything. The first episodes seem more centered on mother/child relationships vs romance.
I, too, have been watching older romcoms just for something light. Lately my favorite has been 1% of anything. It’s a remake but still feels very early aughts. His clothing is awful but I really like the couple. I’m sure people could find some of his behavior problematic but it doesn’t bother me.
One thing to add about you are my hero—love the main couple and actually enjoyed the secondary couples but if you’re in it for kisses, this is not it. It was almost oddly chaste.
Thanks for that first hand review @Sayaris. I am just going on the positive reviews I keep reading about. I haven’t personally watched it so I have no clue. Mouse is a travesty. The only reason it is getting hype is because of the gore and the “wth” moments. The writer had the opportunity to pen something akin to Spielberg’s ET (in the psychopath realm), instead she opted to pen Ridley Scott’s Alien 🙄
Oh good that you’re watching YAMH already, @pm3. It’s good you didn’t suffer through DOTS. I tried one episode and that was enough for me 😂 I agree about BJT’s waist. But he also has a terrific and powerful voice, which was unexpected.
I agree with @birdiee007 though – don’t watch this for the kisses. It’s just a really good show, with a very positive and healthy OTP. The leads’ acting is very light and natural, and doesn’t feel put on at all. Stick through the 4 eps with the stupid side story, and the payoff is pretty good.
Shtisel is a great show! I second OAL’s rec there. If you’re looking for non-east Asian content, then I also HIGHLY RECOMMEND the French comedy, Call My Agent, which is so clever and funny, I can’t praise it enough.
Oh, and Someday or One Day is the only time travel show that I managed to watch in full – it’s a beautiful drama, very thought-provoking, and much more than just a romance. It’s in my all time greatest shows, easily. Which is saying quite a bit considering I don’t watch or read anything sci-fi/fantasy/time travel related at all!
What a fun thread!
I have watched You Are My Hero twice already! ( how is that even possible?) I found the main couple so charming especially FL. I want to say Xing Kelei 3x and have Bai Jingting look at me that way! Completely smitten!
One Day or Some Day was most intriguing drama I watched last year and also had a great soundtrack
And last recommendation Hey Sensei Don’t You Know – short, breezy, and cute couple. She’s a busy manga artist. He’s a hair stylist and he is drawn to her creativity and commitment to her work. He deserves a boyfriend award!
Welcome to the blog, Good Twin. (Tell your evil twin not to show up here😂)
I’m on Ep 3 now of “You are My Hero.” Lol. Had time to watch while waiting for my flight.
But I could have skipped that scene with the plane hijackers because I was imagining what my flight steward would have done; he was built like a tank.
I am pretty sure that my actual identical twin thinks she is the good twin! We laugh over the good twin /evil twin moniker! Seriously Bad timing on your flight and the simulated hijacking ( but really who would include a child in this training scenario?). And regarding BJT’s waist – I read that he intended to bulk up for the role but went to an actual SWAT team and they were all very lean and he achieved his lowest lean body mass as a result of the training. He and Ma Sichuan ad libbed much of their dialogue which accounts for the naturalness of their interactions.
And thank you for your blog. I watched Kdramas for the first time during pandemic and your blog was a touchstone. Bitchy, snarky, intellectual, entertaining, community, affection – it checked off so many social interaction boxes! Thank you!
@Birdie @Table @pickleddragon – you got me curious on Someday or One Day . I watched the first ep and was intrigued. The playlist style as episode title makes it youthful but seeing cassette tapes bring back memories of old. Will continue to watch and I have not read any write ups
on it so will see how/where/when the journey will take me.
I’ve watched up through episode 7 of Oh! Master; it seems ep. 8 doesn’t yet have English subs. I dove into this Kdrama because I like the ML, Lee Min Ki. The character he plays in this show is more brash, and the role has more humor, than his characters in Because This Is My First Life and The Beauty Within, both of which I enjoyed watching.
The first episodes of OM were nice, but not outstanding. It struck me as a Kdrama I could watch for entertainment then promptly forget. But the sixth and seventh episodes tugged more on my heartstrings. I don’t want to give spoilers, but aging parents’ health problems are prominent in the plot.
@janey
Happy watching! I’m so glad you decided to try it out. The beginning may seem tedious but stick with it. I also found it was not one that I could binge for hours on end-I needed time to take it all in. I loved the music too. When Last Dance pops up in my playlist I’m immediately transported to the time when I was watching the show
@birdie007- I feel you about Someday or One Day. It’s a drama that begs for discussion because there is so much going on.
Thanks for the info regarding You Are My Hero. Yes, I had heard that the drama was more focused on the jobs/slice of life/character journeys than the romance, so I appreciate your comments confirming this. It helps to know that going in so I can adjust my expectations. I do like FL atress Sandra Ma and I heard she gives a great performance in this drama, so I’m excited to watch it for her. 40 eps is a lot, so glad that everyone says the pace is good and not draggy. I’m glad the drama is at Viki so we can get quality subs, although I usually need to wait for the EDITED subs. Editing is complete thru Ep. 35, and the team is consistently working through the final eps so i think editing will be finished pretty soon and I’ll be able to start the drama then.
Love Scenery-I wanted to love it, I really did, but I couldn’t get into it either. I put the info out there since it is one of the most anticipated C dramas this year and it has lots of fans.
You are not alone with Oh My Master. Lots of people saying the drama is either meh or just OK, and the script is too overloaded with tropes, so they just watch when they feel like it. In other words, not “must see”. So I’m holding off for now and trying to catch up with the older rom coms that I missed.
1% of Something (2016)-I really enjoyed that drama when it came out and I think it’s an underrated gem. Agree with you the ML clothes were awful-I felt bad for him but I guess it added to the comedy.
@Good Twin- I hope you enjoy Someday Or One Day. It’s a really unique drama.
Oops! Sorry I meant @Janey-Hope you enjoy Someday Or One Day. Welcome to @Good Twin and everyone else new posters!
@Table122000 I too tried one episode or so of Love Scenery and it just didn’t engage me.
I may go in for Some Day or One Day, but in spite of the good reviews, I suppose I should tamper my expectations just in case.
@Janey So glad you’re starting SOOD. It’s a drama that deserves all the love it gets and more. Alice Ke is a phenomenal actress, and totally pulls off whatever is demanded of her here. I won’t say more, because it will be a spoiler.
@GB Yes, it’s good to be sceptical about it, as I was too when I started. I was just really overwhelmed by what a terrific drama it was at the end of it.
@Table – I’m a Sandra Ma fan too!! I love her to bits. She was so so so good in Mr Fighting, which I think was one of the most underrated cdramas of 2019. That show was lovely in many ways, including having a stellar ensemble cast, but she really held the show together, especially with how her character grew. I could see the same talent in YAMH here. She is so much superior to actresses in her age range in the cdramaverse.
@pickleddragon @Table122000 @Janey @birdie007 @WEnchanteur
Someday or One Day– I’m just 2 episodes into the series and I can tell it’s going to be good. It executes the storytelling well. I’m told that Taiwanese shows tend to be tear-jerkers and this one definitely is, but done so well, ie it is not merely out to make a viewer cry, but the depiction of grief is brought so close. Show really gets the emotions flowing together with the tears.
The first episode did the set up very well, and I felt almost like I was watching a movie, with so much happening emotionally. I couldn’t believe that I’d not yet finished watching the first episode and had seen ‘so much’ already!
I like that there’s a supernatural element, and a time travel of sorts. A few questions rose in my mind but I guess it’s better I don’t put them down, as they might be spoilers.
Best thing about the show, it’s only 13 episodes long and the characters are easy to like and follow, but interesting, and yes, the OSTs are the kind one will want to listen to long after the show ends.
I just read something that says “music is like a time machine” and that totally speaks of Someday or One Day.
@GB – the glitches in the intro remind me of Sisyphus. LOL! But this is a very different story.
I also do not skip the intro because of the song and also the end credits. The OST is very good! Just finished ep2 and track 03 is will be played soon…
Thanks again to the folks who recommended it!
@Janey SDOOD reminds me of a cross between Hello Me and Sisyphus… the old/young female lead crossing time, and the suggestion of delusions/dreams/concurrent incarnations/merged times, LOL. It’s fun watching how it all plays out.
This is one of those shows where I probably will want to re-watch slowly to see if I missed some obvious clues.
I’m also on the SOOD bandwagon. After watching the first three episodes, I would describe the transitions the FL experiences as soul travel.
@Welmaris, Soul travel sounds about right as well.
Show is one of those that are hard to stop watching once one starts. Better take myself off for dinner!
I totally loved SOOD when I watched it, after @Table12222 recommended it. Love the title track too!
Glad to know it @Phoenix. It’s always so nice to know one is not wasting time over a show and that the payoff will be good.
(*⌒▽⌒*)θ～♪
Yes, @GB🙌, we all know how it feels when a drama we invested a lot of time and emotions into turns out to be maddening at the end with unexplained plotholes!
There’s just something very poignant and nostalgic about the romance in SOOD shich is beautifully captured in the title track: “impossible to stay away, impossible to stay”.
Do remember to check out the extra scene at the end which brings the story to a full cycle. I remember @Table1222 told me about it (thank you @Table12222😊), it’s on Youtube, not sure if it’s now on Viki too.
Thanks @Phoenix. I did notice that there’s an extra scene but it’s not subbed. I’ll look for it on YT as well and see if anyone subbed it there.
Here you go, @GB:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZYiqicuH7s
You may have to enable the English subtitles from the video Settings.
Aaaahhhh! Lovely @Phoenix!! Thanks heaps and barrels full!!! Here is a bouquet, a lollipop, a cookie and although they quite go together, a glass of wine for you (and whoever else you invite). 🙂
💐🍭🍪🍷 💐🍭🍪🍷 💐🍭🍪🍷 💐🍭🍪🍷
Thank you, @GB for the flowers💐💐, lollipop, and cookies 🍪🍪🍪..and I’ll share that glass of red wine with HB🥂🥂🥰🥰
Hope you enjoy watching SOOD! Maybe the Queen @packmule3 will decide to watch it one of these days too😊.. as someone here pointed out, it’s a show which begs analysis of what is really happening 🤔🤔
Hi all!
I didn’t read all recent post because I want zero Spoiler from SOOD. 🙂
It’s on my close watchlist.
For now, I’m in Kairos episode 12. 😉
Hello everyone,
I haven’t been able to follow your conversation above.
Still, I will say that I have completed:
1. Oh My Venus
2. Strong Woman Dong Bong Soo
I wanted something light, although both series had its sad times as well. Stil, I laughed a lot especially with the second one.
Kim Won Hae was the show’s stealer. He is one of my favorite Ahjussi’s and brilliant!
These days I am watching the first season of Dr. Romantic and last night I watched the first episode of the Taxi Driver.
I have seen though on viki the chinese series you have talked above (sorry if I don’t remember who said it first) “You are my hero.”
Lastly, I have finished watching both the Yin – Yan Master movies and the Double Sword with Henry Lau.
P.S. I don’t know if I will see Oh My Landlord. It depends mostly because we will celebrate Easter in two weeks 🙂
Sorry for hijacking the thread and making it a SOOD post 😬
@phoenix——THANK YOU!!!!! I had never seen that. ☺️😭
I think this is why I kept harping on the romance in Sisyphus. I know it wasn’t the point of the show, but I just kept wanting to feel the way SOOD made me feel.
@birdie007 You are most welcome😊 SOOD is a show that kept me guessing a lot, and yet managed to pull at my heartstrings. So I will consider it a memorable show. Glad you liked it too and brought up its mention here😊 I thought only @Table1222 and I had watched it till now😄
@WEnchanteur We would never reveal spoilers for a show on an unrelated thread unless @packmule3 has specifically created a post to discuss about the show. Otherwise it would spoil the show for many of those on this blog who haven’t watched it yet and do not know how the storyline flows.
*Sorry I meant @Table122000
Happy to know others here are liking SOOD😊 I feel Taiwanese dramas don’t get as much popularity as K-dramas or C-dramas but some of the ones I’ve watched are engaging. Just like this blog introduced me to J-doramas, @packmule3’s post on Before We Get Married got me started on T-dramas!
@Phoenix – is the link you sent on SOOD to be watched after finishing the 13 eps? Just wanted to be sure, I may inadvertently watch it without the right timing.
@Birdie – now I understand where you’re coming from on your romance comment of Sisyphus. I agree with you. The 2 shows have different focus, I suppose.
@Welmaris – soul travel, I like that. Wouldn’t we all want to have the ability to do that and be with a loved one that passed?
@Janey Yes, it is an extension after Episode 13, an extra scene before the credits roll. It was released later to kind of close loop the story. Watch it only after finishing ep.13. Enjoy😊
Thanks @Phoenix!!!
I also (on the recommendations of this thread) just started Someday or One Day this weekend, and it looks very, very promising less than 3 episodes in. So thanks!
I started Law School, which is well acted but just getting a little too unbelievable already for me. It is nice to see the actress who played BoRa from R1988 and Kim Bum again, but I am also not into murder mysteries nor legal dramas. I doubt I will finish it.
I was hoping either Hospital Playlist or Sea of Silence would begin by now, and was at first biding my time for them with Vincenzo and RWTMR. But we do not have a release date for either yet.
@Wreckgirl they just had the script reading video released for HP2. Officially airing June17. 🙂
Hi!
So I have a problem here, I have HP and SOOD on my close watchlist.
I’ll go for HP, it’s not the drama I could like the most, but it’s nice to get something else between 2 times travel (or alike) drama.
Here, I’m in Kairos, end of episode 14.
___ LIGHT SPOILER FROM HERE ___________
At 1:00:00, there is raw scenes.
The side love story of this drama is intense and powerful, even if it’s a bit poisonous. I can feel how the guy feel.
Some revelations are very good as cliffhanger.
SF concept is quite well used. I don’t nitpick about this. I think butterfly effects should be more numerous but it would be impossible to tell the story.
Also, we see how work some rules of the phenomena, but not always used the same. If Time change, do the character change place or not ? Most of the time no, but one time yes. I would need to dig more about that to see if all is consistent, but I doubt it is. Not really a problem as the narration and the story are good. And it’s just a problem of place, so it don’t change the cause-effect.
Good idea @WEnchanteur. I’ve moved from Sisyphus and Hello Me! into SOOD and that’s 1 time loop/jump/merge/same soul in body or bodies too many, plus much stress/tension and brain work. It is a little tiring.
I’ll go into HP very soon. SOOD is quite compelling, so I want to finish it and then move on from “Time” shows for a while. A down to earth story of people doing ordinary things might be a relief!
Yes @GB, it is tiring indeed. I can’t wait to watch HP 2 in June! It would be great to watch it with the BOD community.
@Cleo I laughed a lot too when watching Bong Soon last year. KWH is very funny!
I’ve dipped into (read binging) You Are My Hero. I love the slow burn and the leads.
Has anyone else seen the Soompi article about “Scarlet Heart: Goryeo”? I wonder if it means either a second series or a re-release of the first with the last missing episode included. It was the first historic/time travel Kdrama I saw; before I knew what tropes were.
@Fern What a coincidence! Scarlet Heart Ryeo was my first ever Kdrama too, before I knew that Korean dramas were such a rage! I adored the Wang So-Hae Soo pairing and watched their kissing scenes n number of times🙈🙈🙈 The last part of the series went downhill with that heartbreaking and baffling ending.
Then I went and watched the Chinese original drama Bu Bu Jing Xin seasons 1 and 2, and it all made sense. The love story continues in modern times in the setting of a business family. Which is why it was so surprising that the Korean production didn’t plan on remaking the sequel too. However, assembling all the actors in the drama again seemes to be a challenge and even though fans kept rooting for it, it was just rumors and never confirmed.(I even signed a change.org petition on making season 2, I was such a fan😛)
I have read the Soompi article you have mentioned and IU says the same- actors like Kang Ha Neul and Nam Joo Hyuk, Ji Soo (before his scandal) Baekyun are all stars in their own right now, while they were side characters in the drama back in 2016. So coordinating schedules of everyone of the original cast again seems next to impossible, even if Lee Joon Gi and IU’s schedules could be arranged.
Typically sequels are planned within 1-2 years of the original while the original is still fresh in the viewers’ minds. So sadly, it doesn’t seem like we will ever get to see Scarlet Heart Ryeo 2.
However, @Fern, you can always check out season 2 of the Chinese version (which is what I did) to understand how the story ends (it is adapted from a Chinese manhua of the same name – Bu Bu Jin Xin roughly means ‘On tenterhooks at every step’ which makes sense given it was such a thorny love story!). Also, fun fact – the lead actors Nicky Wu and Liu Shishi became a couple in real life and got married 😍
I just saw the first five minutes of hospital playlist.
It starts badly for a drama based on the world of medicine and hospital.
I can accept mistakes on this kind of content when the story is about something else. But here we are talking about a script that is supposed to be specialized in this field! I wonder if the writer really investigated this, or if she just has fun characters and their lives, regardless of the context.
I’m not a doctor, just a first aider, like millions of people.
And I know at least some things.
Here the technician works without turning off the circuit breaker. Highly unlikely for a professional. I know something about this, technicians have redone the electricity in my house. But in the end, this is made acceptable by Lampshade of the dialogue. The woman points this out.
Immediately afterwards, bang, electric shock. The guy collapses.
What does the woman doctor do?
She observes that the patient faints.
We see that she removes her finger from his neck just at that moment.
How could she have had the time to check that his pulse was absent?
The finger should have been shown in close-up, and for a bit longer time.
The heart is not beating (and therefore the man is not breathing).
It is necessary to perform a cardiac massage.
What does she do? She massages the heart.
Yes, but… A cardiac massage does not work if it is not regularly interspersed with artificial respiration!!! (mouth to mouth).
Also: the transmission of information.
I don’t know what the doctor’s friend does and if he is a doctor too.
But in any case, his message is well transmitted, calm, effective, short and with the necessary: Address and rendering of the situation…
except that…
When you send this kind of message, you also give important information about the condition of the patient. Namely: is he breathing? Is his heart beating? Is there a paramedic on the scene? What is the paramedic doing?
I expect to see other common mistakes in the drama. By the way, I stumbled upon a doctor’s commentary, and obviously, the hospital world seems very whimsical in the story.
————————–
I wanted to post this in one of the HP articles, but look like they are all protected and I don’t have access to it.
@Phoenix, I will have a look at the Chinese version of Scarlet Heart Ryeo. As to the ending, I think that the character had to die in the Goryeo time period in order to come out of her coma in the current era. But the ending after that wasn’t satisfying.
I had a difficult time finding the original on streaming sites. Now I’m thinking it may have been taken down on purpose to re-release it with some editing and the final episode. Perhaps, maybe. I would like to see the leads in another show together.
@Fern The Korean drama’s original scene had LJK in a modern getup who the FL meets in the museum, but seems they decided not to release it when it was aired. In the Soompi article, IU too mentions that. I remember that exact scene in the Chinese version, so I know how it would have looked. That scene is actually the starting point of Season 2 as the FL runs after the man resembling the 4th Prince and follows him to his company building (and gets a job there to be near him). Both the seasons of the Chinese Scarlet Heart are on Viki (it’s called by the same name), so you can check them.
You are right about the Korean version- it’s not to be found on any of the popular streaming sites.
@Phoenix hello !!!
P.S. I don’t have anything else to say. I can’t keep up with so many dramas 🙊
Good to see almost everyone from TKEM here ❤️ I am very behind in matters of Kdrama (and life in general.oh well.)
@Fern “you are my hero”?? I looked up Netflix and it’s not there?
@Arihsi Hello!😊
You are my Hero is on Viki. I’m not keeping up with kdramas currently too, have just been watching a couple of C-dramas
In the end, the problems related to the medical field were not much compared to the rest. Unfortunately, I will not be attending the HP rewatch, as I will not be attending the simple watch before that. Dropped after episode 1.
Now, time to watch the next time travel thing. 😉
Or maybe a fun romcom or sageuk before.
@WEnchanteur, I think the first episode of Hospital Playlist, and in particular the first scene, are not very good at all. I watched the first episode and could not really follow who and what was going on, and dropped it for months. I only picked it back up again after the uniformly good reviews and realizing it was made by the same team as the Reply series.
So I gave it another shot. I decided to not rewatch the first episode and go for the second. I took to it after that. Even after going back at the end of the series to rewatch the first episode, I do not understand why they began so weakly and with what, a creepy dark house scene featuring only 2 of the actors performing questionable first aid?
It is a workplace and friendship drama. This may be an unpopular opinion, but for those of us with no nostalgic connection to the sings, the musical numbers can also take you out of the flow of the drama. I admit I have fast forwarded through more than one of them. But it is, all in all, one of my favorite dramas.
@Werckgirl,
The problem is not the first scene 😉
It’s normal that we can’t follow who’s doing what or what’s going on. Nor can we feel any involvement, or commitment of the characters, since everything goes through a constant verbiage about who is doing what or what happened, names or situations that we don’t even know. Instead of making it feel or understand directly.
The screenwriter is unable to apply the most fundamental of all screenwriting rules:
* Show don’t tell *
It’s clear that if she’s still at this point after 6 dramas, I’m not going to watch her previous ones.
Related to this point, even though I was disappointed by the narrative choices of the TKEM writer and her artificial confusion…. At least I realize now that the screenplay held up. It rendered things visually, and sometimes even beautifully! I was too harsh!
There are also other objective problems in HP.
And considering also my subjective feeling : It’s boring.
(Only one and definitive flaw a drama could have, Angry mom was bad but not boring, Legend of the blue sea was bad at start, but not boring, and even entertaining)
But like TKEM about its problems and the questions one has to ask about them, it’s a great help, it forces one to think or question oneself: am I not putting verbiage in my story too? How can I improve it? An important question to ask myself: is the dialogue directly related to the scene and the interaction in progress? If so, that’s okay. Or is it dialogue telling something external? In that case, it’s probably bad.
And there you go, once again I’m a pain! 🙂
You know I don’t like to be annoying?
But that I inevitably and in spite of myself become so when I point things out.
It makes me feel like I’m annoying the people who liked the drama. 😉
As I dropped now, good new, I won’t be more annoying. 🙂 🙂 🙂
@Growing Beautifully Love Scenery- Yeah, it was a disappointment for me, too. But I think we here (including @birdie007)are in the minority as the drama is doing very well in the ratings and with viewers, I believe.
@Cleopatra- I loved watching Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. Lots of funny moments and the OTP was amazing. Agree with you Kim Won Hae is fantastic playing 2 different characters.
Glad to see people are enjoying Someday or One Day. It’s definitely one of the best dramas of last year. Taiwan has been releasing some quality dramas lately. The World Between Us was also really well done and thought provoking. It’s available with subs at HBO Max.
@Phoenix-thanks for posting the link for the subbed version of the bonus scene of SOOD.
@Fern- Thanks for the info about the article on Scarlet Heart Ryeo. I don’t think we will see a Season 2, but I would love it if they added the missing final scene where the OTP meet in modern times.
The only place I know where to watch Scarlet Heart Ryeo is at VIU. (For sure VIU Singapore) They made a big announcement in January that they had gotten the streaming rights. Previously, the drama was exclusive to DramaFever so when DF shut down, SH:R disappeared. I keep hoping that perhaps Viki will be able to get the liscense in time. It was great when you could watch it at DramaFever because DF had both versions. My dream is that the producers someday release a “Super Cut” version that combines all the versions and different scenes into one version. Probably will never happen.
Some questions and suggestions-when recommending dramas would recommenders please provide the source/content provider for the drama. Some are unavailable to me in my geographical location and on the providers I have but may turn up eventually. So far I haven’t found Someday or One Day but it may become available to me in time. My streaming devices don’t support a lot of the channels and I wonder whether to watch these on computer web sites.
I enjoy reading about the recommendations on this blog. I realize that beauty is in the rye of the beholder. Guven the discussions here, I find that recommendations found here genrrally appeal to me.
I also would like to know how people watch these dramas-tv, devices(phones, tablets), computers(desk tops, lap tops).Just curious.
Thanks for your help.
@Old American Lady Some Day or One Day is on Viki in my region but not sure if it will be in yours.
I usually watch K-dramas on my mobile through the streaming apps. The Netflix ones I watch on my laptop too, though it restricts mobility (which means I can’t lie down on the bed from time to tims while binge watching!). I’m not a big fan of tablets, hence avoid watching dramas on my tab unless I’m on a flight and need to watch some downloaded drama series to pass the time.
@OAL,
Main reason I don’t watch many chinese, taiwan or other country dramas is it’s quite difficult to get raw. I can’t get it from stream-website, because I need to translate subtitle US->FR.
So, I need the raw.
For someday one day, you need to use torrent software, and get the magnet from a website like this one (someday one day link):
https://www.bt-tt.com/html/gangtaiju/5430.html
Then, you download the subtitle from subscene. And if timecode are not accurate, you use subtitleedit to synchronize it.
It’s the best I can say to help.
If you can find a stream service (not official one), it’s maybe easier for you.
About Someday one day, I just watched episode 1, I can’t comment many, but it’s far from what I expected. So long and so boring. We get the main situation and feel it in less than half of the episode. So, what happens next is insist loudly or filler, take it like you want. Then, there isn’t even a cliffhanger using SF concept at the end of episode 1.
For now, I force myself to watch episode 2, hoping that it will start to start.
Thanks @Phoenix, I’ll go to the search function on Viki to see if it appears. I’ve found that even when a drama is
not available, over time it shows up on Viki. Through trial and error, I’ve found dramas that I first found on YouTube(sometimes frustrating with its ads but not as bad as Asian Crush) show up on Viki. I would really like to get Kissasian but my stfeaming devices don’t support it. The discussion on BOD about the different services’ translation differences make it intriguing. I’m also somewhat reluctant to get more content providers because I fear becoming addicted. It’s so easy. And K dramas are gateway drugs(lol).
@Old American Lady- I am assuming from your username that your location is USA? If you are in USA, you should be able to watch Someday Or One Day at Viki no problems. I just checked and it worked for me. Here is link:
https://www.viki.com/tv/36775c-some-day-or-one-day
I watch mostly on my laptop PC using the streaming services websites or the Official YouTube Channels. I have Roku and watch dramas on my television that way. Sometimes I watch dramas on my tablet, but my PC or Roku are the main ways that I usually watch. I do not watch dramas on a cell phone.
@WEnchanteur, Thank you for the link and the great advice. Sometimes the translations for some of the dramas are so clunky and laughable. There is a real art to translations that people don’t seem to get. When I was a college student I took German and Russian literature in translation taught by native speakers. The book editions they taught were by the best translators they could find. With dramas and tv in general, we non native speakers will never get the idioms or the dialects(I’m thinking of dramasvlike Crash Landing in You with a heavy emphasis on North Korean dialect with a keen appreciation for the actors who nailed it accordingbto written reports). I think of all of the English variations(e.g., British, American, Australian, and the various sub dialects in all of those places) or French(Parisian, Provencale, Haitian, Acadian, etc.). I can just see the hard,complex work you do to get these programs and then to make them undrrstandable. Kudos to you!
@Tale 122000, Thanks so much. I have Viki and I use a Roku device. I am in NYC in the USA. Am going to put this drama on my Follow list.
I’m through episode 6 of SOOD and enjoying it so far, including the music. However, there’s something about the song that has a prominent role in the plotline that has been niggling at my brain. I think I’ve finally figured out why. There are elements in it of melody, rhythm, and even the use of the organ that remind me if Procol Harum’s 1967 progressive rock classic “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”
@OldAmericanLady – I can view SOOD in Viki and I’m also here in US. I know you’re into old movies and my favorite time travel one is Somewhere In Time and also with a great soundtrack. I can barely recall the story details anymore, will have to look if it’s available for streaming.
@AOL,
One thing easy can help you too : install adblock plus on your browser.
Example, if you browser is google chrome :
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock-plus-free-ad-bloc/cfhdojbkjhnklbpkdaibdccddilifddb
Else, you can find the same for firefox.
It block youtube ads!!
Also : if you get a drama on youtube but there is no subtitle, you can install a soft to download the raw (search for “download youtube video”). Then you look for the subtitle on subscene.
@WEnchanteur, I appreciate your commentary particularly because you express an independent perspective.
@Welmaris, Thatbrings back memories…
@Janey, I loved that movie. The late Christopher Reeve, who was so beautiful then and Jane Seymour were in it.
@Welmaris – yes the opening chords are very similar. Some Day or One Day is getting a Korean remake. I wonder what they’ll do for the music? The three main songs Last Dance, the title track and Miss You 3000 all advanced the narrative in some way. Plus Last Dance had to stand up to being replayed over and over again. And whoever recommended the Chinese version of Scarlet Heart – thank you? I decided to start crocheting a blanket while watching (no mean feat while reading subtitles). I am hoping 26 hours later it will be finished . . .
Someday or One Day : after watching episode 2, I just lost almost all hope. My only will is to put a pistol in my mouth and pull the trigger so it’s boring.
Maybe it was not a good idea to watch Kairos before.
Addicted on high emotion, goosebump, blood freezing background music.
Story that starts on the starting block.
I just see a small, so small light at the end of episode 2 of SOOD.
This thing exausted me. I just prefer to watch “automn in my heart” or something like that. Even with all the fillers it’s less boring, there is the good old-school feeling, and a PRETTY female lead.
Some people say “it’s confusing, it’s so fast that we can’t get the emotion”.
Woo! I have had the emotion so stubbornly repeated that it is oozing out of my nostrils, ears and eyelids like pus.
Now I just hope it gets even crazier than TKEM at the speed of The Penthouse. At this point, I don’t care anymore, this has to blow, damn it!!! Move! Do something! Crush my mind! ٩(╬ʘ益ʘ╬)۶
Of course, as if by bad luck, my drawing was cut in two part.
Exactly with the same spirit of this drama, cut all in two part, then cut the two parts in two others parts, then repeat this ^10.
I post it clear!
٩(╬ʘ益ʘ╬)۶
And add this:
ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ
And this:
(╬ﾟ◥益◤ﾟ) ╬ﾟ
and:
(╬ಠ益ಠ) (◎益◎;) (╬⓪益⓪)
🤣🤣 @wenchanteur maybe it’s best to table SOOD for a little while for a time travel breather. Have you tried Vincenzo? It’s dark and surprisingly funny. Definitely interesting and somewhat lighter fare
@wenchanteur have you tried while you were sleeping? It’s been a while since I watched it but you may enjoy
@Birdie007 Good recommendation! I really enjoyed ‘While You Were Sleeping’ too – that whole premonition of death along with the question of can we avert fate even if we knew it beforehand, was very interesting.
@Good Twin You will definitely finish crocheting that blanket if the ending of Scarlet Heart 1 compels you to start watching Season 2 afterwards😛😛 The probability of that happening is high, if you like Season 1.
If you’ve watched the Korean version, you can identify scenes which are the same in the original Chinese version in Season 1. It took me a while to get used to the shaved heads of the male actors, and also the FL cried a lot (more than IU, I think).
Also, in my opinion, noone can surpass Lee Joon Gi as the 4th Prince in the Korean version – he made this drama memorable for me. His portrayal is much darker than how Nicky Wu played the character in the Chinese version, but that makes the conflict of good vs.evil in thè 4th Prince’s character so interesting to watch.
Enjoy watching the show @Good Twin, and hope you like it, if you watch both the seasons😊
@Birdie007,
It’s ok, I started episode 3 and when I got to the first half, I didn’t see the time pass. Which is a good sign. Something is finally happening!
The problem is that I missed some information during the first two episodes because beyond a certain boredom, things don’t imprint in my memory anymore.
I notice that the drama wanted to tell its story in a linear and classical way. To set the context entirely before the rest. But damn, two whole episodes on that, it ruined me. 1h10 episodes moreover.
Even Nine Time Times Travel, whose characteristic is to have a slow contextual first episode, isn’t that laggy, before becoming explosive.
Thanks for the tips. I’ve already seen While you were sleeping (excellent), and I’m incompatible with Vincenzo because of the forced and slapstick humor. The second thing that gives me ulcers besides boredom.
@Table122000 I watched The World Between Us recently, and oh my goodness, what a brilliant outstanding show that was. I wanted to give a standing ovation after finishing it. It was very very special. Unfortunately, it is not the sort of show that PM3 would enjoy, I think, so I didn’t recommend it 😐 It’s also a bit of a difficult watch, and very realistic, hitting close to home more than one would like. But it asked all the right questions and then some. It was very thought provoking and excellently made. Also, it’s not easily available on networks, so one might have to darkside it. But it is a show that I wholeheartedly recommend too.
@WEnchanteur, @Table122000, and all who have watched or are watching SOOD, the true ‘action’, I felt, was in the turmoil of emotions that the earliest episodes evoked. The emotions were everything and the reason for the story.
Possible SPOILER Warning for those who’ve not started watching yet.
..
..
..
I marathoned the show and came away thinking that the start of the whole time loop is not actually 2019, no matter that show had to start somewhere and chose 2019. There was a trigger, surely, for the soul jumping about, for the ML. Was it he rather than she (FL) who started the loop or again, we have the neverending chicken and egg and no way to determine a true start.
Was there even any explanation for why that song should have had the impact it did?
Were all characters supposed to exist even in their own timelines?
Heh! Going into existentialism!
Lord, thanks! When the father arrives in the record store, he cuts the damn pop song and plays classical music instead. ༼இɷஇ༽
Let me hug you, guy!ヽ༼ಢ_ಢ༽ﾉ
@Wenchanteur, I’m not watching the show, but I really enjoyed your drawing tantrum!
Watching SOOD is like walking on a tightrope.
https://youtu.be/d8GXoY4opPk?t=65
Drop ? Don’t drop ? Every second you feel like you’re going to drop everything and let this drama fall into oblivion.
@WEnchanteur, LOL… you do not care for that brand of pop music? It is reminiscent of other Taiwanese pop songs. Maybe the composers are the same, because a couple sound so familiar to me, although I have only watched the show for the first time.
The man who owns the store is the girl’s uncle, and becomes a linking character. He was aghast that his store which was focused on Classical music and Jazz, ended up playing Pop, LOL.
@GB, now you say it, Taiwanese make me think about mayonnaise. 🍯
I was hoping it get better, but…
GB…
Trust me.
I suffer… I suffer so much. (´༎ຶ益༎ຶ`)
I just finished episode 4.
I shouldn’t have forced it.
I not only lost the desire to see this drama.
But I also lost the desire to see any other drama.
I fall in a kind of black hole.
I have the feeling that nothing will be interesting anymore.
That all other dramas are doomed to disappoint me as much.
THE BIG SLUMP.
It was like opening a pandora’s box, but with nothing inside.
Not even hope…
What will I do with my life if I can’t watch dramas anymore? ༼ ಥل͟ಥ ༽
I feel like I’m going to…
I’m going to… I’m…
Arrglllh. ༼ ⊘ _ ⊘ ༽
(blackout)
🚑=====
PARAMEDIC – We’re losing him! 😷
PARAMEDIC – Hurry up! Defibrillator!
PARAMEDIC – 250 joules, 3… 2… 1…
PARAMEDIC – clear out!!!
(Shock-bump!!!)
PARAMADIC – Again! 300 joules, 3… 2… 1…
PARAMEDIC – clear out!!!
(Shock-bump!!!)
PARAMEDIC – He’s breathing again.
PARAMEDIC – But his vital signs are still dropping!
DOCTOR – What’s the background?
PARAMEDIC – No idea.
DOCTOR – Ma’am?! Were you on the scene at the time of the incident?
GB – Uh… Me? Uh… 😧
DOCTOR – What happened?!
GB – I… I think he watched two dramas before that…
DOCTOR – What do you mean? What dramas?!
DOCTOR – Be more specific ma’am!!! 😬
GB – First… First a popular drama… with… slices of life.
PARAMEDIC – His health record indicates that he has a severe allergy to slices of life.
DOCTOR – And you let him do that?! 😲
GB – I… I didn’t know… And what he was saying had nothing to do with it. 😓
DOCTOR – Don’t waste time, he could die any second!
DOCTOR – What else did he say?
GB – He implied something like… The screenwriter was really incompetent compared to Kim Eun Sook.
GB – And even… TKEM was correct compared to that. 🥴
PARAMEDIC – His health record says he has a severe allergy regarding Kim Eun Sook!
DOCTOR – What?! And he’s been through worse? His case is more serious than we thought.
GB – And for the second drama… Everyone said it was a masterpiece. 🥺
DOCTOR – So what?
GB – His last words were a bit confusing, nonsensical… But it seemed more like a 90’s sitcom, only more boring.
GB – Ah, and he also mentioned a pop song. Apparently he seemed obsessed with it.
GB – There were voice-overs in his head and the song was playing endlessly. 🤪
PARAMEDIC – His health record says he has a severe allergy regarding overhyped dramas!
GB – I don’t understand, it’s a so nice drama… 😰
DOCTOR – Oh my god!!!
PARAMEDIC – …?!!
GB – …?!!
DOCTOR – It’s a SAGEUK emergency!!! 😱
PARAMEDIC – What?!!
DOCTOR – Bad dramas cursed chain. This man will never be able to watch another drama. And if he can’t see any more dramas, he’ll die.
PARAMEDIC – What can we do?
DOCTOR – The only thing we can do… He needs a SAGEUK. It’s his last hope.
PARAMEDIC – His health record indicates that he has already been prescribed sagueuk!
DOCTOR – Madam, do you know a good Sageuk?!
GB – Bouhou… I don’t know. It’s not my specialty… 😭
DOCTOR – If you don’t find a good Sageuk soon, he’s doomed… 😯
I dropped it. 😂 Go ahead and shoot me, WEnchanteur.
This is so funny. 😆
😂 😂 😍 😆 😅 😁 😜
@WEnchanteur Thanks for causing me abdominal muscle aches that will last all night. I was planning to get a good night’s sleep but made the mistake of reading you first. 😂 😂 Lordy-lord, what a riot you are!
Now that we know over-hyped, boring dramas will give us such entertainment 😝 that puts ideas into our heads on what to recommend you … LOL 😅 😁
You’ve certainly got me right! Sageuk’s are not my specialty at all, therefore you’re probably gonna 😵. However, to keep you barely alive, you may like to re-watch, if you’ve watched it before, or try if you haven’t: Arang and the Magistrate. I found it a bit on the slow side, but then, I’m not much of a Sageuk person. Or the other one that’s quicker paced, The Three Musketeers Or if you still not very sick of time travel shows, then the fusion saguek-modern Rooftop Prince 😇
Climb out of your slump, and live long and watch many dramas!!! 😆 😅
@pkml3, you dropped SOOD or something else? I’m still having fun figuring out if there’s any logic to SOOD, … well there is … but whether it can hold through or not, not that it really matters. 😎 😜
@WEnchanteur I’m in splits after reading your post🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Best thing I’ve read in a while👏👏👏Let me think of some more slice of life dramas to recommend to you😛😛😛
@Phoenix yes, won’t we just keep recommending the best, hyped slice-of-life dramas to @WEnchanteur forever? LOLOL.
Only Misaeng comes to mind at the moment. It was so good!
Thank you… I’m weak, convalescent now… 👨🦽
I have already watched all sageuks of the proposed list.
Maybe an intensive treatment based on Jumong (81 episodes) is necessary…
Misaeng, I struggled to see it, but it is still successful…
And fortunately, Kang So Ra was there…
I should just find a drama with such a beautiful actress, that helps too… 😍
@Pm3, let’s be serious, I won’t shoot you for dropping Hospital Playlist.
However, I wonder how you managed to write so many articles about it… 🤔
@GB,
I fear about what you will REPLY. 😜
@wenchanteur- have you watched:
My Mister (VIKI and Netflix)
Another Miss Oh/ hae young (VIKI and Netflix)
Just between lovers (VIKI)
Bring it on, ghost (VIKI and Netflix)
Something just like this (IQIYI)
???
I’ve listed where they’re available for my region of USA. Maybe one of those will manage to resuscitate you.
Sorry, I haven’t ever enjoyed a sagely all the way through so I can’t recommend. Although I’m most interested in the alternate story between his sister and the king in Goblin
Sageuk*
@pickledragon- Yes, the subject matter of The World Between Us is not for everyone. It is quite serious and heavy. That being said, I agree with you that the drama itself was very well done. Strong script, performances, and production values. Timely and very thought provoking. I just put it out there for people as an example of the improved high quality of recent Taiwan dramas. It’s only available on HBO Max, it is a shame that it’s not more widely available on other streaming sites. Yes, many people will have to use the “other sites” to watch it, which is too bad. I was hoping it would come to Netflix as they have a lot of Taiwan dramas, but so far I have not seen it listed there.
WeEnchanteur- Sorry you are on life support. I’m not too familiar with Saeguk.
Jewel In The Palace
Empress Ki
The Crowned Clown
King’s Doctor/Horse Doctor-I haven’t seen it but heard it was good.
@birdie007, I don’t work with regions, I just get the raw by other means. 😉
Here my MDL: https://mydramalist.com/dramalist/7647047
Before next time travel drama, I’m looking for sageuk, or old drama.
I have these ones as the more serious :
Eyes of dawn, All in.
I have other melodramas in mind, < 2013 :
A love to kill, Nice Guy and many others, or even comedy like Lie To Me or Fashion king.
I prefer to get old drama because they focus on the story first.
What could be good too is a story with : a jerk (abusive), a good girl (hardworking), a bitch (agressive), a nice guy (blind), a mother in law (painfull). Or drama a bit like that, like "Pasta".
Or just, I look for a makjang. By the way, I have Temptation of woman to watch. I delayed as much I could because there is problems with subtitles (desynchronisation during episodes). But I should just take my courage about it because anyway, I really want to end it. So… Fighting!!!
For sageuk, I have many but can't make a choice.
It's not the time to go into Jumong yet.
81 episodes is not a watch you decide on the fly.
Arang and the magistrate, I remember now I put on-hold but don't remember if I watched episode 3 or not. If I put on hold, it was maybe not so good. But Lee Jung Ki is so great, acting, fighting. There is Iljimae too I didnt watched yet.
I'm looking to go back on solid basis about classic narrative, so no way to be disapointed. 🙂
@WE – OMG this gold! Pls get well and be resuscitated soon. You are indeed a script writer – the HP/SOOD mashup with @GB in the cast is super funny. 😂👏👏👏
@WEnchanteur, Your critique of HPL reminds me why I generally don’t watch Americanpo,ice and legal shows. I spent 31 years working in social welfare mostly in the Ccriminal justicevsystem, with eleven years spent working inthe Criminal Court building whrre they filmed lots of Law and Order. I worked with lotsbof Assistant District Attorneys including some famous ones when I hadvto get prosecutorial information including the names and contact information for arresting officers, crime victims, victim’s families in murder cases, toxicology reports, autopsy reports, ballistic reports-for all manner of drfendants charged in felony cases. I also investigated arrest record details, family background, educational records, employment records, medical and psychological hist.ories.For the sake of drama, so many of the tv programs are unrealistic. I’ve interviewed prisoners in a group jail cell where dozens of prisoners sat side by side with interviewers. There’s no glamor in this and a lot of misery. So when I see tv cases erapoed up in a bow after an hour or a denoument after a speedyntrial I cringe. I’ll watch foreign po.ice and court shows to see differences but I’m surefor tne sake of drama, there are exaggerations. What I have found interesting is the arrest orocess in Korean shows where it seems that there is an attempt at restorative justice, although the settlement orocess always seems skewed to the villain. And I find the pecinct holding cells interesting. My impression is that the police system is nationalized with a test for entry into the police academy, while po,icing here is localized exceptfor federal offenses. Sometimes, it’s much better to watch dramas/programs when you’re ignorant. It’s like actors who don’t watch their own work. What a paradox.
@Table122000, Empress Ki is already in my top 10, as the writers in my top 5. 😉
I complain a lot, but the situation is not so dramatic.
Looking back, there is so much good dramas I could watch recently:
Sisyphus, River where the moon, LUCA, Kairos…
and even a new top 10 with The Penthouse. Kind of thing you wait for years.
So it’s a great time for dramas.
What I said however happens : In the past, I got stuck in big chains of drops. Trying desesperatly to cling on something, but lot of bad luck. In the end, I watch a sageuk, there is small chance of bad luck with this style. But it happens sometimes. Of course, it can’t be so easy, and even in this genre, there is weaker works.
@OAL,
You know way too much to see this, the inconsistencies and clichés jump out at you.
However, you could be a good consultant to help with script writing 😉
The stories might not be as flamboyant, so it’s better to be flexible.
But even if the writers have the freedom to include the unrealism needed for the twists and turns, the rest of the setting would be much stronger. That’s all I ask! I am well aware that an intense and thrilling storyline cannot completely resemble real life and must “twist” reality, to force the triggers of the story.
I like Korean court dramas because I know nothing about their justice system. And during the trials, there are always incredible twists! They have a great talent for these scenes, connected to the rest of the plot. Some of the twists involve unknown laws. And you can see a little box (in Korean), mentioning the law.
@Janey,
This is a “fair” quality script, very improvised, nothing amazing. But fortunately, the ideas come from itself, like the repetition of the sentences about the “health record”, or GB sentence about “I don’t understand, it’s a nice drama”. There is even a little direction of a micro story, leading to the sageuk. However, there are not even any visuals, or real actions. Just dialogue. It’s not advisable to do that! I do it often though. I think it works if it’s totally involved. By that I mean that sometimes the dialogue comes at the end of the work, and there is a risk that the involvement is missing. In a “commissioned” series for example. Take “the walking dead”, the American series. There are often soft and rather useless episodes. Several writers. The synopsys of the episode are imposed on them. And it’s an awful episode where nothing happens. The characters are depressed and are supposed to bring out “an aspect of themselves”. A conflict, an argument, to solve something. And we are bored as hell watching this kind of episode. The implication is zero. No matter how hard the writer tries, there’s almost nothing to say for the dialogue, you have to force yourself to write something because something has to be written. That’s what I mean by implication. So the dialogue is artificial, and indeed, if there is no visual rendering, it’s a disaster. But involved dialogue follows the story so well that it almost doesn’t need anything else. Well, it’s still better with it! This is more like a theater scene than a movie scene. But in movies, it’s also valid and used when the dialogue is tasty.
Hi, Just put Someday, One Day on my Viki follow list. Thanks for all the help and the great suggestions. Am fast forwarding through You Are My Destiny, a C Drama with 36 episodes-the only way I can get through it.
Empress Ki is a big favorite of mine. It has 51 episodes but it consistently kept me engaged. Ha Ji-won is a favorite and this role was a tour de force for her.And Ji Chang wook road an emotional roller coaster. After seeing him in this I becamea big fan. He isn’t just a handsome face. I evenliked Joo Jin-mo in this, although he generally leaves me cold.
When I choose dramas I like to see who is in them. I also now look gor older actors and themes, given my age.So Dear My Friends was a favorite and Navillera was a no brainer. And speaking of older actresses, I’m pulling for Youn Yuh-jung for an Oscar win for Minari-I love her -just saw The Taste of Money(what a performance!). I’d love to see her earlier works before she came to the U.S. And I don’t think that Meryl Streep would be caught dead doing reality shows like Youn’s Kitchen 1 and 2 and Youn’s Stay. I’d love to have a cup of coffee with her. Her BAFTA acceptance speech was so honest.
Hi @WEnchanteur and @Janey, Just a fast note on American tv-So many shows comebout of writers rooms where therebare many writers on the same program, taking part inthe overall arc of the program and some doing individual episodes. That’s okay for procedurals, with crimes of the week or court cases or hospital dramas-the disease of the week. But sometimes too many cooks spoil the broth.
@WEnchanteur
HAHAHA!!! I woke up and read your script with GB in it. SO funny!!! Mind you, my Kiwi workmates who love Sisyphus and TKEM won’t touch HP despite my recommendation. They do not read reviews. Just pure like or dislike.
I watched Nice Guy and am slowly watching the Horse Doctor. Both of them are rather classic and predictable but suits me OK. I think I will go safe to say, watch any show with no expectation, and try one or two episodes and see if you it’s for you. It is totally FINE to drop a show! We all do, naturally. I still haven’t gone back to It’s OK not to be OK and Vincenzo despite how popular they are.
@WEnchanteur
Oh and I recall you want to watch Sisyphus writers’ previous script? Is that Fates and Furies? Have you tried that one?
@Viva, it got out of my mind.
Finaly, I watch “Temptation of wife” from where I put on hold.
Good new, here I don’t struggle about the story.
But it’s difficult to sync subtitles timecode when it go wrong.
The situation is bad and ugly beyond anything.
The heroine is a sacrifical sheep.
Everything that can be made to hurt her is done.
It’s insane.
I’m just watching a scene where her husband slap her in front of all the family.
The mother in law is sharply designed, horrible character.
Any people is abusive against this poor girl.
But, she don’t fight, she tilt her head done “sorry sorry”.
At this point, we just think she deserve it.
This writer is machiavelic and manipulative. 🙂 🙂 🙂
It’s great!!! 😉
@WEnchanteur
Sorry to hear of the slump! But if you’re looking for a costume drama, may I recommend the outstandingly clever and funny Joy of Life (cdrama) which had me in splits every episode. They’re going to start a season 2 sometime soon. I watch costume dramas very rarely, but this was really very good.
I believe a lot of people also enjoyed The Romance and Tiger and Rose (cdrama).
I also enjoyed the bits of Tree with Deep Roots (kdrama) that I watched.
And for fusion sageuks/kdramas, I’d recommend Rookie Historian Goo Have Ryung and The Tale of Nokdu (both very enjoyable).
Kalimera,
As it seems @WEnchanteur is giving a show and I kinda missed it!
Seriously, I haven’t manage to read all your comments.
Still, I wanted to say to @Viva and @Table122000 that I really enjoyed Bong Soon and KWH is also a stand up comedian, hence his ability to make us smile and laugh.
As for the latest news, I wanted share that I watched the first two episodes of the “Taxi Driver” and I really liked it!
@WEnchanteur,
The oldies!
Please give these a try🤭: All In & The Story of A Man
And Jumong!! Argghhhhh,I can still feel the heartbreak for the first Queen😭😭😭
One if the iconic Makjang with beautiful OST : Stairways to Heaven!
@WEnchanteur Hah! And Why should you fear what I will REPLY? I must find something frightening to say to justify your fear!
I leave to my fellow BoDers the recommendations for sageuks and anything else under the sun that may bore you into the creation of a more pulchritude and entertaining script.
And here’s an interesting piece of info on the word that popped into my mind and which I’ve just used.
“What is the full meaning of pulchritude. It may sound like quite the opposite, but pulchritude actually means “beauty.” Pulchritude is one of those words that is more often commented upon for its oddness than actually used in its intended meaning. Many people dislike the sound of this word or are surprised to find that it is a synonym of beauty.” (https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/pulchritude)
So true! It sounds like a cross between ‘pus’/’puke’-worthy attitude and is too highfalutin to be in common use. I think I’d risk offending people if I threw that word around! 🙂 So you have the honour to be the only one that word gets applied to by me, and yes, I’d rather talk about the word than use it!
As for your review that the first episode(s) of SOOD were just telling instead of showing. That was my feeling too, by the time I hit the end and realised that if I wanted to take note of the dialogue, there was just so much of it, and some of it repeated within the paragraph. What saved it, was that it was ‘involved’ dialogue to a sufficient extent, and as the greatest ‘action’ was in the emotions that the dialogue evoked in the viewer, it passed by without much to complain about.
I browsed your Completed and Dropped shows on MDL with interest. So much that both overlaps and is the reverse. One question that entered my mind as I looked down the lists… why did you drop Goblin?
Hi there!
Thank you for your advice.
Although I watched most of the dramas already.
Chinese dramas: too complicated to find in raw, I will have to find solutions but it will be long.
@Miracle23.
Don’t give me a spoiler of Jumong!! 😉
– All In : I watched some scenes + quick zap on the 1st episode. It looks to me like the kind of old and solid drama. With an authentic cinematic tone. I remember reading an article about it. It seems to be a must-see classic.
– Story of a man: seen. I remember a funny scene. A man takes a woman to see a spooky, creepy puppet show, and she tells him it’s so romantic. I don’t remember the exact dialogue or which episode, but it surprised me and made me laugh.
– Stairway to Heaven: I’ve seen it too. The level of unfairness is at its highest. However, there is a real problem with this drama for episodes 11 to 15 (approximately), it’s an endless race after cars, buses, trains. The story doesn’t advance anymore, and is full of fillers. However, I still think this drama is a must-see. It’s so nice to see Park Shin-Hye at her beginning. Already in a situation where she has to cry a lot! 😉
Add to that Kim Tae Hee, as a very bad girl, at her beginning too. The scene when she commit the forbidden. Her eyes become mad, checking on the side, below. 🙂
Temptation of Wife : The drama I finally watch. And in which the rate of injustice is also extreme. And it’s far from over because there are still many episodes before the heroine starts to take her revenge. For now, everything is done to make her suffer, while drawing a gallery of people all as immoral as each other. It’s all about the darkness and the human comedy and the distressing defects of human beings. The heroine is subjected to so many horrors from the start that one wonders how it will escalate further. But I’m sure it will. It’s kind of the same feeling as watching the first episode of The Penthouse. It hits so hard from the beginning that it feels like the rest is going to fall off. And no, not with this writer. She’s a hardliner who keeps hitting harder and harder from episode to episode.
I have an avalanche of reasons to watch this. Besides the fact that it is highly enjoyable. 🙂
– A look back at one of writer Kim Soon Ok’s most important works, which set her career on fire.
– The ratings and the impact that the drama had when it was broadcast. Everyone knows that, there are parodies in many other dramas. In Mr Queen recently. Just put the main song of the drama to get a reference effect.
– The scandal around the drama, because of its provocative plots. The Korean government almost tightened the censorship because of that, but couldn’t because of the audience.
– Although there is no intentional self-parody, like in The Penthouse or The Last Empress, it is still possible to find some second degree, or to see how the scriptwriter plays on the situations, as a dark-comedy.
– Compared to other daily-makjang that get lost on comic subplots (cheap and horribly unfunny), the subplots contain other corrupt characters or suspenseful plots. In fact, there is never a dull moment. If you know this kind of drama, maybe you know what I mean. These are dramas that always have side characters. I guess it’s a production requirement because the pace of filming is fast. And it’s impossible to monopolize the main actors beyond a certain limit.
– The rendering of the characters is sharp. The character of the mother-in-law, for example. From the beginning, my arms fall off. Compared to other dramas in which the characters are flat at the beginning, here, they immediately capture the attention.
– The situations seem basic, but are also finely orchestrated. The writer has an incredible instinct to always hit the nail on the head, to stir the pot, or to exploit a situation and make it crisp.
– I don’t know how much initial preparation or how one writes this kind of story. It’s certain that a majority of plot-lines are already drawn before writing. So the plot lines are prepared and not just pulled out of a hat to boost ratings. It’s not an improvised makjang like those of the writer Im Sung Han (I’ve never seen her dramas, but I’ve read the review of her drama Aurora, where the plot changes randomly from one week to another, according to the whims of the writer or the drop of the audience rate).
– Actress Kim Seo Hyung as a main character!!!
I’m at episode 9, and miracle! The subtitle doesn’t contain any desynchronization! I hope it’s like that until the end. This is the subtitles coming from subscene. For the raw, I did with what I could find, Ental version in 640×352. However for a slightly lower rendering than 480p, the quality is exceptionally good. The only Jumong version I could find has the same definition, but is not as good. And the so-called 720p versions are in fact in even worse definition. It’s crazy that such a drama is nowadays unavailable. At least you can find Empress Ki on netflix, at worst.
Is that a ladder in your tights or the stairway to heaven?
–British joke
With apologies, but I couldn’t help myself.
@WEnchanteur I suppose you’d consider anathema the 1981 movie “My Dinner with Andre” or the play “Waiting for Godot” since both consist entirely of conversations and have no action.
@GB, Good morning!
Ready for an insane mass of text ? 🙂 🙂 🙂
REPLY was just a joke, in relation with the other drama of the HP writer. 😉
Pulchritude? I am unable to discern the tone of such an English word, with all the assumptions linked to the English culture. I’ll take your word for it. 😉
Goblin ? I don’t mean to be annoying, or pulchrit-something.
Why are you provoking me? 🙂
Here, my review (if we can call it that, lol):
https://mydramalist.com/profile/7647047/review/63105
My review on the show-don’t-tell was about HP, not SOOD.
I think I’ll still try to finish this drama, but later.
And at least try the next episode… Then the next one. 🙂
However, it’s interesting that you mention it for this drama. The emotion is well conveyed in this drama. And in fact, insisting heavily, repeatedly has a destructive effect of that, when it becomes boring.
I noticed that there was a lot of voice-over. However, it was used quite well, with a montage illustrating the voice-over. Were these voice-overs useful? It gives information that you can’t get otherwise. But I read another review from someone who was annoyed by it. For my part, it’s more the effect of redundancy with the rest, and that the rest is too repeated.
On the voice-overs, I noticed one thing: it’s a process that invites itself naturally and so easily. It’s a bit of a trap. If there is a moment in the writing that contains a mood or information as you get in a novel for example. In a drama, it’s impossible to tell. You need a scene to give the desired effect and show it. But the easiest way to do it is a voice-over. If there is no official narrator, the voice-over of a character, who tells its mood. Like in SOOD. It is a portion of a novel told in the drama.
This is not negative in itself, unless it is used too much (alas, I have the problem at one point), or if it could have been told differently.
However, unlike SOOD, I do have a reason for using a voice-over: the need to speed up the story. If showing what the voice-over says takes two or three scenes and the plot must not be slowed down, it is impossible to do. So putting a voice-over is a solution to say quickly, with a montage, without slowing down the rest.
In SOOD, we see that the voice-over only comes on top of the rest. It doesn’t accelerate the plot. So I understand the other viewer who made this criticism.
While on the whole I don’t use voice-overs much, I have the problem of using them too much for one portion of the story. It drives me crazy because I don’t know how to fix it. I can just put in a montage, at least that (with flashbacks). Good moment to add a OST song, too. 😉
But I would have to find a way to at least shorten it. Or miraculously remove that.
I have, for example, a character talking “from the future” about the situation that is going on, and that he doesn’t know yet.
These voice-overs are not gratuitous. They are important points noted beforehand in the preparation and draft. Information and key phrases that are not given elsewhere. Not useless moods.
However, this really annoys me, things never go the way you want them to. Even if you know what is best to do or not. It’s terrible to have this feeling of helplessness about what you write. You reread yourself. At first, you thought, it’s good, I say only what is needed, it make sens. Then later, damn, what is this mass of text and monologue ?! Isn’t there another way to write that ?
An example.
I have a good scene that unfortunately already contains voice-overs. And when I reread it, I realize that I’ve slipped a sentence into the script that is useless because it will never be read or seen. It’s just that for a few moments, I wrote as if I was writing a novel and not a script, or that I already had the annotation on the draft. And as I’m rereading, I’m thinking… Gee, this deserves to be heard. That’s how the character feels at that moment and it’s interesting that the audience knows right now, to amplify the tragedy. And to show that there’s no mistaking it, that the character is committing to whatever the dramatic consequences are.
So I take this portion of text and turn it into a voice over for the character, it goes like this:
(the scene contains a man and woman hugging and crying).
woman voice-over:
“We were shattered but comforted by our shared feelings.
Overwhelmed by the merciless fate that had brought us together, only to separate us later, devastating our lives in the process.
Alone in the world, fragile, surrounded by a creeping misfortune.”
And just like that, the story ends up with other such voice-overs. And sometimes too close to each other. How do you fix that? It drives me crazy because I can’t find a way out.
I also have a very voice-over-heavy episode, but it’s a little less problematic. It’s a character telling events. It fits in better because you see the scenes with dialogs. The voice-over makes the connection. However, I’m sure some of the voice-overs could be removed and replaced by short scenes. The character is alone, and talks to herself (another kind of problem). Overall, in the correction phase now, I’m still wondering what visuals are missing or what could be replaced by a visual. And I have a long list already, even on passages I thought were pretty much correct.
A very experienced writer (Song Jae Jung or Kim Eun Sook) must certainly have this much cleaner, from the first draft. So that they have other kinds of questions to ask themselves, without wasting time on that.
If you remember Memory of the Alhambra, there are quite a few voice-overs. But they are well separated.
Just episode 1, the scene where the hero is walking through the streets of Granada and talks about finding magic.
End of episode 2, during the flashforward. And many other scenes.
SJJ does not hesitate to put voice-overs, quite a lot. But I’ve never been bothered by them, so she certainly does it well.
Hi @WEnchanteur, thank you for taking the time to tell me about your writing experiences and struggle with voiceovers too closely packed. Yes, the SOOD voiceovers were helpful, because otherwise I’d have been left wondering for far too long and would have gotten frustrated and impatient. The montages that accompany them are informative and suggestive. Now that I’m watching again Ep 1 after having watched the whole series, I see more clearly what show was hinting at from the beginning.
There’s the element of another life being lived in dreams or during sleep, even before the proper soul or body swapping began. And of course, show leaves it to us to decide which came first. Did the body swap ultimately bring about the tragedy and evoke the grief and the dreams or did the grief make possible the body swap.
There’s the element of being trapped but it’s a trap of one’s own making. So profoundly highlighted in almost every aspect of the FL’s life. And there’s again another question: was this life of being trapped, ever meant to happen in the first place, or is the trap insurmountable, because this life is an artificially created one. Or was it only in a mind, but then, whose mind?
For my own amusement, I scribble some notes and try to work it out.
Back to ‘pulchritude’… it really does mean ‘beauty’. It sounds like it should mean an attitude of being stubborn or just being difficult, but over Goblin, you were neither, and yes it was a show full of pulchritudinous scenes.
@WE – full disclosure, it took me more than a year to finish ep1 of Goblin. LOL. Until I watched KGE in TKEM did I go back and finally finished it. It was full of pulchritude scenes as @GB said. And the OST a drew me in and it was fun to watch KGE grow.
@GB – on SOOD, I’m not done yet but I hit a point in ep7 start that I was disappointed on how the story turned in the future for ML. Wow, way to suppress different sexual orientation thoughts and flip that over. Why was that even included in the story? And that has colored my viewing lenses on the rest of the future story (stalking much?). I’m kind fast forwarding the scenes to get to the ending and in-betweens. The OST especially Someday or One Day and Missing you 3000 are exceptional. There’s a mashup of these 2 songs with beautiful rendition in YT that keep on listening to. Uh oh, this may turn out like Goblin where I like the OST better than the drama… tbd.
Another disclosure – I haven’t finish ep1 of Reply1988 which is a cult favorite by a lot of people. Have to check if it’s been a year. 😂
@Janey and @WEnchanteur and the BODs here. Speaking of pulchritude(whata great word) and the nedd for rom coms, I recommend some movies: Whatya Wearing with Ji Sung(love him so much-Kill Me, Heal Me)-has fun scenes of misdirected phone sex); Crazy Romance with Gong Hyo-gin (workplace issues and she’s a favorite actress of mine) and one I watch when I just need some happy time, Mood of the Day (with two of my favirite actors amoon Chae-won and Yoo Yeon-sook). aAnother one that is funny is Love Guide for Dumpees with Yoon Kye-sang and Han Ye-re. Also Oh Jung-se as leading man in How to Use Guys with Secret Tips. All of these are pretty light hearted. Oh Jung-se is very funny in jis egotistical leading man role. To me, gjven all of the dramas I’ve seen him in, he can do no wrong (and it’s really neatthat he married his childhood sweet heart).
And if you want male pulchritude, check out Outlander, on Netflix. The first season was so good. It has all sorts of tropes-time travel, Scottishmen in kilts, familydrama and sex with the female gaze.
Hope you have fun.
Thanks for the romcom movie recommendations @OAL! I think I may have watched some of them already as they are in Prime video. I still get shocked at how raunchy some k movies can be compared to kdramas.
From your previous posts above, I will check out Youn’s kitchen series. I watched her in Manari and she’s a gem of an actress, very natural and relatable (true enough, she became an actress by chance). I will have to find her old movie you mentioned as she was greatly admired by the Minari director for it.
Hi @Janey, Google Youn’s Kitchen 1 and 2 ande Youn’s Stay. You’ll see that the cast of each show ismace up of big stars including in Youn’s Kitchen 2 and Youn’s Stay, Park Seo-joon (big heartthrob and attracter of teen girls everywhere). Youn’s Kitchen 2 is on Viki and the others canbe found in some part on YouTube.
The wonder of these shows is how normal these stars seem to be and how lovely their interactions with tne public appear. You see them doing household chores, ditting around the breakfast and dinner tables, watching Park Seo-joon iron,etc. I’d love to see Hollywood stars doing these kinds of series. But thatbwon’t happen anytime soon.
And yay Ms. Yoon. At 73 she’s finally being recognized internationally for her wonderful work. She made the decision after her divorce to go back to Korea eith her two yojng sons father than being relegated to a minimum wage worker in Publix in Florida whefe she lived at the time. In interviews she said that she took whatever acting jobs she could getbto feed her kids. She had to rebuild her career because she had been away too long. And she has maintained a sense of humor. I am keeping my fingrrs crossed that she wins the Oscar that she well deserves. That will be the icing on the cake.
@Packmule3 kalispera,
Can you open a thread for “Taxi Driver”?
I would like to write some thoughts about it…
💮🌺🌻🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
@Janey, I understand what you mean. I actually started this reply to you many hours ago but could not finish it, and in the end, I think I’ll leave out the complicated attempts to figure out who’s whom and when.
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
That strange side step in Ep 7/8 in WQS’s character seemed totally unnecessary to me as well. It made no sense except to maybe show that WQS was a different person from LZW to begin with. I’d have thought that there are better ways to do that though.
It was because LZW ‘woke up’ as WQS with the ‘knowledge/memories’ that would either set the whole loop into motion or continue it, that I asked that question about what came first, and who started it.
It seems in the end the culprit which enabled the body/soul swaps and loops was just the one song. Just that one song, or might it have been, just that song in that one cassette tape. For no apparent reason, except that LZW heard the song before he attempted to drown himself, he ends up as WQS. It doesn’t make sense.
To complicate matters, there is a real Huang Yu Xuan, aged 5 in 1998. She’d have been 19 in 2012, which is when she could have met her boyfriend(s). She would have been 26 years old in 2019.
5- year old HYX met 17 year old Li Zi Wei. There is a 12-year age gap between them. In 2012, when she’s 19, he would have been 31 years old. Therefore the 17 year old LZW/WQS should not have existed together with 17 year old HYX.
If LZW/WQS had waited a few more years, in 2019, he would have been 38 years old, and could have been dating HYX who was 26, and minus all the trauma of lost love and heartbreak.
I wanted to tease out the loops etc, but as usual it’s taking too long, and I’m tying myself up in knots.
I was trying to figure out the conditions that enabled the soul or body swap. The persons who swapped were those who not only were listening to the song shortly before or during the swap, but also those who fell asleep or became unconscious/ended up in a coma, while the music played.
The one difference between the girls’ swap and the boys’ was that the girls ended up in the ‘mind tent’ where they were trapped, whereas we never get to know what happened to the soul of Xie Zhong Ru when Xie Zhi Qi took over. In LZW’s case, at first he was in a vegetative state (coma) but later regained consciousness and co-existed with WQS who had all his memories.
Needless to say all the swaps/time loops could have been played out well even without Episode 7 -8’s side step with WQS’s character.
Hey!!! People!
I have a real drama proposal, which airs in April!
It’s Dramaworld season 2.
One thing to know: no need to watch season 1, as season 1 has been fully incorporated into the first 3 episodes of season 2, with a slightly different ending to be able to continue with the exclusive content of season 2.
Why would this drama be interesting here?
It’s a drama about dramas, which has a lot of parody moments. It’s excellent from that point of view.
The story: Claire, a girl fan of dramas, who looks like many drama viewers, is suddenly sucked into the world of dramas.
Many drama tropes and clichés are reviewed. The story is immediately appealing, with a few scenes from Claire’s favorite actor. The one whose dramas she has watched all!
So it’s a meta drama, we can say in short that it takes the scenario of W with a manhwa, but adapts it to dramaworld. The script is not as serious as W, it is more for comedy and pastiche.
There are many important Korean actors who participate to play secondary characters or guests.
SIGMA is a cab driver! 🙂
Season 2 introduces a regular character played by… no less than actress Ha Ji Won!!!
On the side of the Western actors (or rather Australian hey hey), as usual, it is not great, but it passes well.
Where to see it ?
It is on the iQiyi network.
https://www.iq.com/album/2c1yna4728d
The episodes can be seen for free, but there will certainly be a delay. Subscribers can see the new episodes, but you have to wait longer for non-subscribers.
Otherwise, you have to find the drama… elsewhere 😉
Thank you for this recommendation, @WEnchanteur. It sounds pretty perfect for us.
Interesting concept, Wenchanteur.
I wouldn’t mind a a light version of “W” version. Is there a guessing game involved? Like, guess which drama Claire is reenacting?
I’d love to see SIGMA actor again. I think I’ve fallen in love with that psycho. 😜
Wait — is the character Claire Korean, Australian, or Korean-Australian?
Pm3, ah aha ha!!!
Don’t drown me with questions. Watch the first 5 minutes!!!
Yes, just FIVE. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
That’s how long the drama takes to be addictive 😉
Claire is probably korean-australian or thing like that. She just portray a americain girl like, fan of dramas. A bit like all girls watching dramas here or in western countrys.
Nobody will blame you for falling for SIGMA. 🙂
After seeing the drama “Love in sadness”, I was surprised to see a lot of girls falling for the SML. Who is a much more terrible character! It’s crazy, but that’s how it is.
I myself almost always fall for the bitche in the drama, when she is pretty. And I prefer female characters who are far from clean in terms of morals or personality. Like Jang Ok Jung.
Just wanted to add my two-penneth worth to @AOL’s suggestion of the movie “Mood of the Day” which is a hidden gem! It’s on Prime Video in the US (which is where my 90-year old mother watched it and loved it), but I could only get it through Dramacool here in the UK.
The series “Oh My Venus” (recommended by @Cleopatra) is also great – a rom-com where the ML and FL are actually serious characters. The FL is smart, not an air-head like we often see in rom-coms.
On the opposite end of the spectrum from a rom-com is the movie “Better Days”- it’s been nominated for an Oscar (Best Int’l Film) at next week’s Academy Awards. It’s not for the faint-hearted – about girls brutally bullying other girls in high school – but it’s also a touching love-story. Be sure to continue watching past the initial credits at the end, as there’s an epilogue to the film.
Finally, a few weeks ago I re-read @PM3’s boyfriend recommendation post and her B+ grading of Gu Tingye from the series “The Story of Ming Lan (2018)”. So I decided to watch that series, which I recently finished, and it was fantastic. However, I would not have made it through 73 episodes (OMG) without using the episode recaps provided by the website dramamkly.com which enabled me to simply ‘read’ many episodes without watching them and so I could just watch the ‘best’ episodes or scenes. My mother also loved Ming Lan and also found reading the episode recaps essential (we called them our ‘Cliff Notes’) to keep slogging through the many sub-plots that occur later in the series. I would say Gu Tingye and Ming Lan are one of the best couples I’ve seen in a series – they are truly ‘equals’ and made each other stronger as a result.
Aha!
Wasn’t Gu Tingye a dream in “The Story of Ming Lan”? Has it been a year already since I watched this show? Doesn’t matter. I can still remember how indulgent he was with her. I like him because he was a bit rough around the edges but he was tender, protective, and courtly when it mattered.
At first, I wanted the other guy for Ming Lan, but as it turned out, he was too wishy-washy for her. Gu Tingye was a man of action.
For me, Gu Tingye is the nearest thing to a Chinese version of Rhett Butler. Fortunately, Ming Lan is no Scarlett O’Hara. I always thought Rhett Butler was a saint for putting up with her. lol.
Thanks for recommending the website with the recaps. 🙂
@GB – thank you for sharing your views! I got pulled in the other threads… Glad you also saw how unnecessary that portion was or that it can be changed to something else and still make the point of differentiating the 2 characters in one person. I like the way they did it for the FL – her aura, her hair, her actions are distinct and the “holding tent” kinda helped. I’ve hit pause for now and will resume and finish this weekend. I can’t believe you were able to marathon-watch it!
@WE – I totally enjoyed Dramaworld (Viki). It’s so relatable for kdrama watchers, the concept is funny and fresh and the episodes are short. And Woo Do Hwan is there! ❤️ There’s a season 2?!!! I hope I can find it in the states. Will try your link.
@Janey, hey hey hey,
Woo Do Hwan, as… the nice guy SML. 🙂
You have a scene with Rooftop prince main actress too (discussion in the restaurant).
I was not able to spot all the well-know actors in the drama.
The guy having a car accident for example. I wonder if he is also a well know actor. Remember someone to me. Maybe ML of “My follow citizens”.
Thanks for the rec @WEnchanteur. It certainly sounds eminently suitable for BODers. I don’t mind being sucked into a world of meta drama … it’s just a question of time.
@Janey You’re welcome. I do not have enough time and energy to do more with SOOD, however one more thought that came to me was the irony of the Walkman. CYR used the Walkman as a barrier behind which to isolate herself and maintain the status quo, while to HYX, the Walkman was a gateway to travel, to make connections and to change history. By Show’s end, we at least see that CYR has gained greater insight into how she could live her life, from her memories of HYX, and she could finally be comfortable with MJJ. I was glad that the Walkman did not need to make an appearance. ♡✧( ु•⌄• )
Normaly, you can watch some episode on the link (need register to the website).
If you have trouble to find more s2 episodes, you can also go on subscene.
In the FR subtitles there is a link to download raw.
Then you can get also the ENG subtitles.
If you don’t use this way of watching drama, remember :
You rename the subtitle file with the same name as the video one.
Video readers like VLC or MPC will then load auto the subtitle.
I didnt spot time desynchronisation. So it should be ok.
Else, use subtitleedit and resynch the timecodes. 😉
I don’t know if the drama is on streaming websites.
For a unknow reason, this drama has no ads or promotion. Almost no-one know the drama exist. It’s quite weird, because the story is still better than many on-air dramas, and there is big actors.
Hey @Rebecca!
I am glad you enjoyed “Oh My Venus” as well!
I had a lovely time with our OTP. I laughed and cried too.
Everyone in our gr forum talked about So Ji Sub, but I haven’t seen him perform before OMV!
Shin Min Ah is brilliant and I cannot wait to see her again!
I also liked Henry Lau! He is such a gem!
I will check your recommentations as well!
Hey @WEnchanteur,
Dramaworld is on Viki for us.
I have seen the story featured but I didn’t have the time to watch it.
Still, I have to say that Justin Chon of the Twilight Series plays as well. I recall that some 10 years ago, I have met him in a convention.
🙂
@Cleo
Hiiiii again. 😉
On viki, there is only season 1, I presume. I am wrong ?
Crazy, you meet SETH ? For real ?!! 🙂
About So Ji Sub, of course, you can see him in “master sun”, quite very good.
But for now, his best role : Road number one.
I will check if “oh my venus” is on my hard-drive. 😉
@WEnchanteur,
I just checked only Season 1 is available on Viki.
Yep. I have met him I was lucky enough to talk to him among other people that day…
I also have photographs for proof, but that is for my eyes only! *winks*
As for So Ji Sub, I have Master’s Sun on my watch list.
I will add Road Number One on MDL!
You should watch Oh My Venus! 🙂
@WEnchanteur, I’ve started watching Dramaworld. It was taking too long to pop up in my usual site, so I went on Iqyi. I knew the original premise and it’s going as expected. Looks like a fun and light ride with LOL moments.
I was thinking it’s deliberate that the Dramaworld actors are stiffer and more over the top, while the ‘real people’ are natural. The dramaworld rules are a hoot.
@GB, hi,
Season 1 is nice, but I was disapointed by the content for season 2.
Less parody, too much US sitcom feeling and blah-blah.
There is still the “anonymous second lead” as a good idea.
I remember a whole list of dramas tropes I read, 2 peoples did that (a french guy, and another). Then, I completed by many tropes and clichés these guy didn’t note with my own additional list.
On the whole, it go from famous tropes, like the white truck, to even details like sentences we hear often, like “I forbid you to forgive me”.
And it’s so far from this list! Season 2 go more in the real story in the story, but not so much fun.
Thanks for your review @WE. Noted and will watch with a satirical eye. I found the first 3 episodes, which I gather are from Season 1, to be rather juvenile in style and execution, possibly in keeping with the teen protagonist or to appeal to a young audience.
I take it that show was laughing at itself and other kdramas by deliberately playing up the shallowness, the repetitive themes, actors and cliches, but at the same time it was doing itself a disservices, because we know just how deep and profound many kdramas can be.
It’s a show to while the days away with, before something else comes along to make a compelling watch. 😉
@GB,
I didn’t thought one second about the disservices. Maybe true.
My reason is from the start, I just considered it as a drama for dramas fans only.
Something light, with a fun concept that doesn’t really need some logic.
With all the older great dramas, I’m sure you can find right away a compelling watch, instead to wait what come on broadcast. 😉
Park Hye Run dramas, for example, as I know you already like 2 of her dramas.
I am enjoying “You are My Hero”! The episodes are just flying by. It’s a breather from time travels, Love triangles and divisive fan wars, core and mafia moves (although I also love those, too). Just plain and simple love story with very likeable character and actors. Interested to see what @PM3 will on this.
Hi @WE
Yes, I seem to like more than just 2 Park Hye Ran dramas.
At the top I’d place Page Turner, Start-Up, I Hear Your Voice. Then, While You Were Sleeping, Pinocchio and Dream High.
I didn’t realise I liked quite so many of her dramas, and that they are quite wide ranging in theme and the kind of suspense evoked.
As for Dramaworld. It’s an adequate gateway into Korean Dramas for those who have yet to be initialised. They will then hopefully discover that not all kdrama are just simplistic romances ending with a hero + heroine kiss.
I do find that Dramaworld is good for making fun of the overused tropes, and it’s extremely funny to those of us who roll our eyes at the umpteenth ToD and drunken piggy back ride.
I’ll watch it till the end and see if my opinion changes.
@Janey, I’m halfway through You Are My Hero and am enjoying it. It is long, but I suppose it is cheaper to produce one 40-episode show than two 20-episode dramas. It is obvious when filler is put in to stretch the air time; even so, I find it interesting to watch how disaster response planning and execution unfold, and how the SWAT teams train.
I am planning to watch this – Move To Heaven. Interesting concept. I need “feel goods” right now and this looks to be another one.
https://youtu.be/A-er_AJioOA
@GB, ooops!
So you already know. 🙂
Right now, I’m watching Temptation of Wife, despite the incomplete subtitle issues. I notice that the writer has come a long way since that famous drama. Everything is much more focused in what she does now. And much more crazy too. Without losing her sense of irony and despicable characters.
To relax, I rewatch the beginning of Stairway to Heaven (the famous drama mentioned in Crash Landing On You). It’s totally good!
The episodes 1 to 3 are very solid. With Park Shin Hye young. Then Kim Tae Hee from episode 3. The other actors are good too. Including the male lead, Kwon Sang Woo, a very expressive actor. I have to be careful, I might rewatch the whole drama. lol!
The only thing that holds me back is that I know the big flaw, the series of fillers in episodes 12 to 14 (approximately). There are scenes of such absurdity that I had ended up bursting out laughing (when it’s supposed to be sad). Like when the ML stays outside a house senselessly, while the FL is dying inside. Endless runs, after buses, after trains.
And then there are the strongest parts of the drama (I can’t remember if it’s episode 15 or 16). The actors are so high that their performance alone can make a scene last. But at this point in the drama, there are a lot of plot elements and early scenes that make the strong scenes even stronger. Sometimes surprising, illogical things, but they work (the bus trip for example).
Background music make goosebump in the drama, when you already know them and rewatch.
I have sometimes the rewatch disease, instead to go on a new content. I should rather watch some others classics I missed, like “Winter Sonata” or “Three of heaven”. In the old-school category. 😉
WEchanteur, Have you tried another old one i.e. Hotelier? Or Beautiful Life? The latter is another CJW flick.🤭🤭🤭
I am currently just started How To Get Away with Murder. Find it similar to Law School but the students are more engaging. And the Attorney/lecturer too.😅 will continue the series tonight and tomorrow cos it’s public holiday🤭🤭🤭
@Miracle23, tell the full name because it’s difficult to understand.
So, finaly I understood CJW = Choi Ji Woo. 😉
And the drama is “beautiful days”, not Beautiful life.
Stroke of luck, I have this!!! But about Hotelier, I can’t find any sources.
I try to find “The Suspicious Housekeeper” too, but can’t find any source.
I’m also curious to find “restaurant” dramas. Like the parody of dramaworld.
Until now I watched Pasta and Oh My Ghostess.
It’s the same kind of plot. A hard and strict male chef, and a talentuous FL newcomer in the kitchen. 🙂
@WE WRT ‘restaurant’ dramas.
I notice that you have not watched the kdrama, Late Night Restaurant (Midnight Diner). This series is made up of 20 half hour episodes and different stories cropping up each episode with just a very few continuing arcs that come and go and come again. The main point of continuity is the Master of the diner who will cook anything that’s requested, from 12 midnight til 7am.
There are also the Japanese and Chinese versions of this series, but I only watched the kdrama version. It has great cooking scenes with an explanation of what the ingredients are, and how the cooking is done, and of course lots of conversation and interactions. It has a different visual note, because at times it feels that we are not watching a drama on a screen, but something played out on stage.
There is another show, Cheers to Me …the protagonist is a young woman, and editor, who treats herself to nice meals accompanied by suitable drinks, and she talks about her choice of meals. It’s fun watching her eating with appreciation. There’s also the workplace scenes which are fine as well but the emphasis is not just on work but on how she takes care of herself and enjoys her meals.
@WE, would Mystic Pop up Bar count as a “restaurant” drama?
According to AsianWiki:
Wol-Ju (Hwang Jung-Eum) runs the mysterious food cart. Customers who visit Ssanggab Cart Bar consist of normal people and the dead. While drinking alcohol and eating dishes with Wol-Ju, the customers of Ssanggab Cart Bar talk about themselves and try to heal their internal wounds.
Mystic Pop up Bar is an “average to good” watch for me. I didn’t chase it but I didn’t drop it.
@Viva, I watched Mystic Pop-up Bar too.
A not bad Hwang Jung Eum outing, with a funny to ridiculous supernatural backdrop. The bar was an important location, but the food thing wasn’t the main issue. It was the drink that got the supernatural action going. It was an average, feel-good and fun watch.
@WE
This reminded me of The Uncanny Counter. The restaurant is the HQ of counters with supernatural abilities. Good guys need to defeat the bad spirits. The tone was verging on the juvenile to young adult, since the main protagonist was a high schooler. Again the food is not the ‘thing’ but how the gang gets to kick spirit butt.
@GB what a nice and precise summary! 🙂 Mystic Pop up Bar was a relaxing watch for me. Move to Heaven as mentioned by @nrllee seems to be one of those feel good ones too. Captain Ri’s young teammate from CLOY stars in it. It is available on Netflix so it is accessible for me. The only thing is I don’t want to cry at the moment so hopefully nothing too sentimental. I am currently emotionally unavailable haha!
@nrllee if I remember rightly you mentioned God’s gift 14 days ending doesn’t make sense. I just finished it and I agree with you! It’s an odd ending. Not sure why they need to finish it that way.
@Viva – GG14Days was a travesty. That writer (Choi Ran) is crazy 😜. She is the writer of the current drama Mouse and she’s doing the exact same thing with it. Pierce said it all.
https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-pop/k-drama/article/3130105/k-drama-midseason-recap-mouse-serial-killer-drama-devolves
I can’t wait for it to end already. God only knows why she thought dragging it out for 20 eps, with 3 special episodes on top of it along the way, was a good idea. 🙄. The plot is ridiculous. But SeungGi’s legion of fans keeps hyping it regardless. In the end there really is zero message other than serial killers are a dime a dozen and you can’t trust anyone.
Thanks for the restaurant references, but that’s not really what I was looking for. I was trying to find the drama that inspired dramaworld parody.
There is also “My Lovely Sam Soon”. I dropped it, I don’t remember why. Probably the story had arrived in one of those filler holes, or nothing interesting was developing more than a somewhat lazy romance.
I’m curious to see Mouse. Although I don’t like stories about detectives looking for psychopaths. Always the same old thing.
From many comments, this drama seems to be full of plot-hole or implausible things, at least I’m warned. On the other hand, it looks interesting in terms of pace, intensity and crazy plot twists. I’ll have to go and see it myself. (well anyway, it always comes down to that…)
@WEnchanteur, it may be before your time (1987), but did you ever see the Danish film Babette’s feast?
In honor of Youn Yuh-jung and her Academy Award win, I am offering up programs that where we need not comment. I adore Youn’d Kitchen 2 and Youn’s Stay. Where else inthe west do you find A list actors serving the unwitting public that is mainly clueless about whonthese people are. I don’t think our western “Do you know who I am” celebrities would be caught dead doing these. Youn, Lee Seo-nin, Jung Yu-mi, Park Seo-joon and Choi Woo-shik cook and serve Korean lunch and dinner to guests in Spain and run a hanok(guest house) for foreign tourists in Korea where they cook, clean, make beds. There is so much enjoyment in seeing the interaction of these srtars with the people who know they are on a Lorean reality show. One guest asked Park Seo-joon’s name and fou d he had more,I think Instagram followers than the famous soccer player Messi. The interactionbetween the actirs who,live together is also instructive because they all seem to take care of each other. And it’s also funtowTch people enjoying Korean food. I know that this doesn’t gel with the question but these programs offer lots of insights into cultural differences, international relations and behind the scenes type views of these actors as human beings.
I will have a look, @Old American Lady. The Youn programmes sound very satisfying.
Just coming back up for air after binging for the past week on the 2017 Chinese series “The First Half of My Life”(42 episodes). This is one of the best romance drama series I’ve watched – a masterpiece of dialogue/script-writing, character development, acting, and cinematography. Oh, and the score/OST is blues/jazz – an unusual and brilliant choice for this series.
If you’re in the mood for a modern romance series with mature characters (mid-30’s) which explores the nature of friendship, love, marriage and family relationships, then I highly recommend “The First Half of My Life”. It’s definitely not a rom-com or a crime-action-thriller, but also not a tearjerker either, like a lot of melodramas. Some words of warning: the FL and ML are not particularly likeable in the early episodes (almost all the characters are nuanced, having both likeable and unlikeable aspects), there is also almost no skinship in the whole series 😭😭 and… (slight spoiler alert!) the ending is open – well, not completely wide open but the ending is left ajar 😧.
While catching up on some of the recent posts/comments here, I see some of you are starting to watch “You Are My Hero”. I was just checking it out on MyDramaList and noticed that it has the same screenwriter as “The First Half of My Life”. Both series are adapted from novels – my general observation is that the plot of a series is much better when based on a novel. It seems like quite a few Korean series in particular, make it up as they go along, which means there isn’t a well-woven story arc from the first episode to the last. It’s interesting that the same screenwriter has been used for both series, since “You Are My Hero” appears to have an action/crime-driven plot and “The First Half of My Life” has little action and mainly character development, although both have strong romance/love themes.
@PM3 – yes, Gu Tingye in “The Story of Ming Lan” is a dream! I was surprised you only gave him a B+ (was it because he was once a rake?). Episode 38 (at the polo field) where he wins her hand is probably my favorite romantic scene of all time, which just goes to show that a scene doesn’t have to have skinship to be swoon-worthy! Unlike the usual confession scenes we see in most dramas, Tingye doesn’t tell Ming Lan how much he loves her, but instead he says that he has long admired her. He understands her true nature and intelligence. He sees her suffering and sense of injustice and that she has to pretend to be dumb and compliant in order to survive as the daughter of an unfavored concubine. I think being ‘understood’ like this is more powerful than simply being loved. Like you, I originally wanted her first love (Yuan Ruo) to succeed in marrying her, but while Yuan Ruo dearly loved her, he did not understand her true nature the way Tingye did. And Yuan Ruo’s personality was too weak to protect her the way Tingye could and did.
Correction: it was episode 39, not 38, where Gu Tingye wins Ming Lan’s hand. The way he keeps looking at her afterwards, so happy and laughing, as they walk back to the polo field together, melts my heart every time! The theme music playing was also great – beautiful combination of traditional Chinese and modern instruments and singing.
@Fern, I found an interview with You Yuh-jung by Live at Lincoln Center on YouTube. It was done in connection with a retrospective they were running of her films. It was wonderful and informative . Ms.Youn seems very down t ok Earth and she’s very honest. She talks about Youn’s Kitchen and it seems that she wanted to be known for her films. However, Hi still live her variety/reality shows. Unlike our Hollywood stars, she seems real and as an actor she wants to be known for her acting work. If you have a chance take a look at the interview.It’s about an hour long and well worth it. One takeaway- she has had to put up with horrible working conditions. She is no Prima Donna.
I loved YYJ in the Oscars. Her wit and her grace was the highlight.
https://www.soompi.com/article/1465981wpp/watch-youn-yuh-jung-makes-history-as-1st-korean-actress-to-win-at-academy-awards-shares-witty-speech
And then she does this post win 😂
Slapped down a reporter for asking her a ridiculous question about how Brad Pitt smelt? 🙄
https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1386510663036530689?s=20
And her interviews? Icing on the cake. Excerpt below.
“When asked about her thoughts on her win and if she considers this to be one of the best moments of her life, she had this to say: “There’s no such thing as a ‘best’ moment. I don’t like ‘best’ anything. I don’t like competitions. Can’t we all just be great at being average together? The Academy isn’t everything…Can’t we all be equals? Would that make me a socialist?”
One of the reporters asked for her thoughts on why the film had been so well-received, and Yoon said that he should be asking a film critic because actors focus more on their work and roles. But she did have this to say, “The script was well-written. As I was doing interviews, I realized that parental sacrifice, a grandmother’s sacrifice, these are universal stories. It’s something that moves people. Parents sacrifice and a grandmother’s love is unconditional. [Lee Isaac Chung] wrote a script that was full of sincerity.”
Yoon Yeo-jung was also asked about what her plans are now for her post-Oscar future. She was unfazed about her status as a newly-minted Oscar winner, “I have no future plans right now. I’ll live as I’ve always lived. I won’t become a different person just because I’ve won an Oscar.””
Love her to bits. 😂