I still have my February line-up to finish so I’m going to be pretty selective about starting a new drama this month. I’ll only consider dramas with wit, verve, and humor…and Lee Minho. 🤪 I’m making a special exception for Lee Minho’s melodrama “Pachinko” — just because.
I have my eye on four dramas.
1. Lee Minho’s Pachinko
Cast: Lee Minho
Episodes: Lee Minho
Start Date: Lee Minho
Airs on Lee Minho
Where to Watch it: Lee Minho
Network: Lee Minho
Seriously, there’s no set date yet for this drama. All I know is the premiere is slated for this month, and that it has Lee Minho. With so much hype for the guy, it would serve me right if he only had 15 minutes of screentime per episode. lol.
I’ll have to pass the tedium of waiting by finishing the novel.
2. Crazy Love
The premise of the show seems crazy just like the title. Here’s the description from soompi.
“Crazy Love” is a sweet yet savage and chaotic romance story about a rude but skilled instructor who receives a death threat and his terminally ill secretary.
Kim Jae Wook stars as Noh Go Jin, a narcissistic character who is the CEO of the education company GOTOP and the top math instructor in the country with an IQ of 190. Krystal plays Lee Shin Ah, Noh Go Jin’s secretary who does not have much of a presence. Ha Jun takes the role of Oh Sae Gi, the handsome vice president of GOTOP who has the ability to coax Noh Go Jin and comfort the employees who have been hurt by the CEO.
Although Noh Go Jin is a star instructor, he is disliked by fellow employees because of his feisty and sensitive personality. The only thing he truly values is money. Because of his nasty temperament, he gets a lot of death threats as a joke. However, the death threats worsen, and he creates his own secret in order to catch the criminal.
On the other hand, Lee Shin Ah is a timid yet diligent secretary. No one has ever been Noh Go Jin’s secretary for more than three months, but she’s been working for him for a year in order to achieve her dreams. Despite her hard-work, life brings her despair instead of sweet hope, and she is crushed when she realizes she doesn’t have much time to live. Thinking this is all Noh Go Jin’s fault, she plans a brutal secret for revenge.
Oh Sae Gi is the ideal boss who has both good looks and warm manners. However, he, too, has a secret, which he doesn’t even tell Noh Go Jin, despite their closeness.
Source: soompi crazy love
Did you get that? My eyes glazed over as soon I read that his IQ of 190.
Cast: Kim Jae Wook (“Her Private Life”) and Krystal.
Episodes: 16
Start Date: Monday, March 7
Airs on Mondays and Tuesdays
Where to Watch it: Viki?? It doesn’t seem to be on Netflix.
Network: KBS
This has no English sub but I think we can get the general idea.
3. Showtime Begins!
According to soompi, this is a fantasy romcom about a magician who can summon ghost, and a female police officer with supernatural powers. This should be interesting since the only other Korean show I know with a magician is “Spellbound,” featuring Lee MinKi (“Because This Is My First Life”).
Cast: Park Hae Jin (“The Cheese in Trap”) and Jin Ki Joo (never heard of her)
Episodes: 16
Start Date: Friday, March 4
Airs on Fridays and Saturdays
Where to Watch it: ViuTV (huh?) Maybe Viki will carry it
Network: MBC
Updated 3/3/22: This drama has been postponed to Friday, April 23. We can watch it on Viki.
4. Soundtrack #1
The write-up from soompi:
“Soundtrack #1” is described as a “music drama” about a man and a woman who have been best friends for 20 years but learn each other’s true feelings when they have to stay in the same house for two weeks. The drama is directed by Kim Hee Won (“Vincenzo”) and stars Park Hyung Sik as Han Sun Woo, a rising photographer who is a man of few words but has a warm and caring personality, and Han So Hee as Lee Eun Soo, a fun and honest lyricist who isn’t afraid of speaking her mind.
Source: soompi soundtrack #1
I disliked the way the show’s promoters started their media blitz on Twitter while “Happiness” was showing. But I guess they had to strike while the iron was hot.
Cast: Park Hyung Sik (“Happiness”) and Han So Hee (“Nevertheless”)
I still like him with Han Hyo Joo, though.
Gifs from silvertons’ tumblr
Episodes: 4 30-minute episodes. Pffffttt. It’s just a full-length movie. I’ll just binge-watch it.
Start Date: March 23
Airs on Wednesday??
Where to Watch it: Disney+
That’s it for me. What are you watching this month?
That Pachinko trailer…😂😂😂. Has “epic” splashed all over it. But it’s only 12 eps so I am going to watch. Plus I love Youn YuhJung. And the actress that plays her young self looks interesting. I am interested in how they are going to squish 500pages of content into 12 eps. It was a while since I read the book (and I only read it once) so I may not remember the details. I do remember disliking LMH’s character 😂…and loving Isaak (?). The man who “did the right thing” by SunJa.
Pachinko starts March 25th. I just saw the trailer on my Youtube feed, and came straight to this website. I started tearing up from the 3 minute trailer. It spans through so many decades to include multi-generations I don’t have AppleTV so I’ll read any updates here.
Pachinko for sure. I want to know how the drama is going to be similar or different from the novel. I mean the novel is an epic lifetime of the Sunja, even though in the novel there were many side characters and stories it focused on especially towards the end. The actress as young Sunja is quite a new actress.
I’m interested in the Soundtrack #1 mainly because it is short and has PHS. It isn’t a drama per se, but an extended mtv. A new type of genre from the usual 3min mtvs. You know how mtvs are so short and they seem to have story behind it. There should be only one OST for this ya?
I won’t be able to add anymore since I have so many I’m watching, there is one episode for every day of the week to watch this month already 😛
Soundtrack for PHS!
I may try Tomorrow because of the Lee Soo Hyuk (second lead from Doom at Your Service)
https://www.soompi.com/article/1515247wpp/kim-hee-sun-sf9s-rowoon-lee-soo-hyuk-and-yoon-ji-on-are-determined-grim-reapers-in-tomorrow-posters.
Speaking of Han Hyo Joo, her movie The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure is on Netflix soon! I want to check it out when I have time.
I have been really behind on my viewing schedules. There are so many new dramas! So far I only managed to watch the Grid.
I’m gonna try to read Pachinko or listen to audio book soon, I hope I have a bit more time until the show starts as the daughter is lending me her book. We plan to watch together. She is impressed with the trailer. She’s watching 25/21 with me since it’s during the weekend, which is nice since we talk about the show. I have to catch up with The Grid.
Back burner: The Red Sleeve (I’m in the middle)
Kalimera Ladies!
This past month I have opened my on-going list too much and I don’t know what to do…
Fistly, I got hooked on “Through The Darkness” and I binged watched all 8 episodes on Viki. It has only 12 episodes and next week it will finish!
Warning! It is not an easy show to watch. It has to do with the first Korean Profiler and he is investigating heinous crimes. Kim Nam Gil is perfect, though!
Also, last night I also watched on Viki the first episode of “Military Prosecutor Doperman” and it was a revelation! I didn’t expect this plot!
What I want to watch from March shows?
1. Pachinko with Lee Min Ho. I am waiting for it and him!
2. Crazy Love
3. Soundtrack #1
…And the one that @Packmule3 haven’t posted on her list, but @Viva wrote about it above, and it is: *drums roll*
“Tomorrow” with Kim Hee-Seon, Lee Soo-Hyuk and Rowoon. I want to watch it for KHS mostly!
More info Here: https://asianwiki.com/Tomorrow_(Korean_Drama)
Thanks @pkml3.
I think I’m sort of coping with what I have, and am wary of taking on more. Maybe the shows that start airing at the end of March might be manageable. I haven’t calculated when the current shows I’m watching will end though.
I’d like to try Showtime Begins however I’m not sure if I can watch it right when it starts… it is beginning sooner than I’m ready to watch it. I liked Jin Ki Joo in ‘The Secret Life of My Secretary’.
Out of curiosity I will glance at ‘Pachinko’ and ‘Soundtrack #1’ being so short sounds do-able.
@Viva, ‘Tomorrow’ sounds enticing too. I never seem to tire of grim reapers/life & death scenarios or the supernatural LOL.
Those clips from Happiness have undone my heart this morning. Especially the last one. They looked so natural together. Where will we find their like again?
Clearly I like PHS, and Han So Hee has done well lately, so I’ll try that.
While I’ve enjoyed both leads from Crazy Love in other dramas, it sounds too melodramatic and I am rather squeamish about investing myself in characters who are terminally ill from the beginning.
All of the others sound good. I read somewhere that magic is cool again and it’s billed as a comedy. I could use a good comedy. I wish Zombie Detective 2 was an option.
@Fern,
I agree with you about our power couple from Happiness.
That couple -Sae Bom and Yi Hyun- is in my all time classic Couple List.
BTW when I read you I was listening to Isaac Hong’s Pain!
Sorry, I was referring to Spell Bound in reference to the magic. Coffee hasn’t kicked in yet.
I’ll be continuing with 25/21. Not so sure about Business Proposal – it has to up it’s game.
Thank you for the list, @packmule3.
Thanks for the heads-up on Han Hyo Joo’s new movie, @Viva. It also has Kang Haneul (“Camellia”) and Lee KwangSoo (Running Man). When will I have time for all these goodies?!
Currently watching:
39
2521
F4 Thailand
A business proposal
The autumn ballad— I adore the male lead and haven’t seen him in anything before
Just finished a binge of 7 day queen. I much preferred that story to The Res Sleeve although I wish I could’ve switched the ML out with Junho.
Plan to watch:
Military prosecutor Doberman (maybe)
Crazy love
Soundtrack (once all eps are released)
I’ve read pachinko—not sure if I’ll be able to watch. How are US viewers watching it and Grid? VPN??
@packmule3, My vote is for Pachinko. LMH actually h a d to audition for this role. I read the book several times. It is a family saga starting during 5he Japanese occupation. LMH plays a Korean yakuza who goes between Korea and Japan. The role is challenging and not in the LMH wheelhouse. And when they age the heroine, she will be played by Ms. Youn, our Korean Academy Award winner. It is also an Apple+ venture done in three languages-Korean, Japanese and English with an all star(in their respective countries) cast and expensive production values. I’ve been excited for the project since I heard it would be done because I’m a fan of the book and the author, who by profession is an attorney(that’s for you @pm3). Her other novel, Free Food For Millionaires is pretty good too(very different-set in contemporary New York).
I’ll probably go along with one of the consensus choices because I am in the middle of an NJH and LJH resptrospective of my own making. @pm3, you made a suggestion when I first unlocked myself to watch these dramas based on actors, writers, PDs that I’ve enjoyed. I now follow that suggestion. I also want to do more Hong Sisters and am awaiting the next Gong a hyo Jin project(I enjoy her so much).
I just thought of something. We might consider watching The Pirates second 🎬. It is a one shot and if it’s like the first one, it will be a popcorn movie and a lot of fun.
My Must Watch for March continues to be F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers. Man this show is just so good! The Social Commentary they manage to put in has been really amazing. The Episode 9 Funeral Scene was-wow. I encourage everyone to check out the drama which is available with English subtitles at GMMTV Youtube and also at VIU.
I’m also along for the ride for A Business Proposal.
Want to check out:
Showtime Begins!- it’s coming to Viki as well as Viu. Premise sounds interesting and I like the lead actors.
Soundtrack #1-For PHS
Crazy Love sounds interesting, but I’m going to wait and see how the first few episodes are received. If things look good, I’ll check it out.
Read the First Look article about Pachinko in Vanity Fair where they stated the drama will have 3 seasons, so I’ll probably wait until later to check out the drama since this is Season 1. That said, from what I read in VF and the trailer, drama looks to be very good.
My March watch list will probably consist of shows I started in February: Twenty-five Twenty-one, Thirty-nine, Forecasting Love and Weather, and A Business Proposal. This schedule has me watching one or two episodes of new shows every day of the week except Friday. Maybe I’ll use my Fridays in March to watch films, starting with The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure. That looks like a lot of fun, from the trailer.
@Fern, like you I hope A Business Proposal steps up its game, but I think it is aiming for a self-mocking vibe. From the very beginning I could tell it wasn’t taking itself too seriously when the male lead strolled through the airport as an anime figure while all others were live action. Perhaps it’ll be more fun watching this show if we keep a trope scorecard.
The Pachinko trailer looks beautiful, but if I must subscribe to yet another streaming service to watch it, I’ll wait until all the first season’s episodes are released so I only need to pay for one month.
@Welmaris, I read that Apple+ will air the first three episodes on March 25 and then one episode will be released every Friday for the next five weeks, ending on April 29. I guess it gives them two months if subscriptions
However if you have a Costco you can buy Apple gift cards and do pay per view if you don’t want to subscribe. These come in a package so you have to weigh the cost to you. Lee Mon ho had to audition for the role. He hadn’t auditioned for parts in years.
My March list would probably same with February, I will still be watching 2521 and Rookie Cops (Feels nostalgic with these young vibes). Oh, maybe I will watch Tomorrow. I like the supranatural themes hahaha. And since I haven’t watched Rowoon in this kind of genre I am curious will he do well..
And I am also curious about the Soundtrack #1 and Pachinko, but I don’t know when can I watch them.
@Viva, I like The Pirates! It was a fun watch.
I like Han Hyoo Joo since Happiness (still can’t get over her and PHS as a couple, they were so solid). I think I like her when she plays the fierce character just like in this movie when she played as the Captain of the ship. She is truly cool!! Also, I’ve been following Kang Ha Neul’s acting too.. here he played as a Bandit Leader, and appears to be like the idiot at first haha. But I am glad I could see him in the swords fighting..!
O this just popped up in my entertainment news. Not sure when it will premiere (probably second half of 2022?) but sounds like another Hong sisters world building drama. With Lee JaeWook! 👍. And Jung SoMin.
https://www.soompi.com/article/1515427wpp/lee-jae-wook-jung-so-min-nuests-minhyun-shin-seung-ho-and-more-officially-confirmed-for-new-hong-sisters-drama
@nrllee, that looks very intriguing and different from most storylines! I look forward to that. What a different look for LJW!
Thanks for the news, @nrllee. I’m always up to try something in this genre, and by the Hong Sisters. 🙂 LOL Jung So Min with the soul of an assassin. I wonder if she’s got to beef up on martial arts skills in order to do action scenes for this role. I feel that she has a ‘butter won’t melt in her mouth’ look, which is the most unlike an assassin’s and therefore as suitable as it gets.
“Showtime Begin” has been postponed to April 29. Good! There’s a lot of good shows to watch this month anyway.
Thanks, @nrllee.
Another Hong sisters drama? Sigh. Is this one going to be about death and dying again? The Hong sisters seem to stuck in morbid fates. I’m tried of their depressive state.
Master’s Sun (2013)
Hwayugi (2018)
Hotel del Luna (2019)
Ah thanks @pkml3… this is actually good news. I was wondering if I could scrape up enough time to include Showtime Begins so soon. I hope work will be more relaxed in April.
Thanks for this list, @packmule3. I really like Kim Jae Wook but the story of ‘Crazy Love’ sounds too convoluted to pull off🙄
Park Hae Jin is kind of okay, I neither like nor dislike him – so I might check out ‘Showtime Begins’. It looks like a fun show, with ghosts and maybe murder solving thrown in (again a mish-mash of genres?🤔)
I don’t have Apple+ and I don’t like period epics, so I’m not too keen on ‘Pachinko’. Lee Min Ho has a smaller part in it too, so not much motivation for me 😜😜
I don’t have Disney+, and I for some reason don’t like Han So Hee. So I might skip ‘Soundtrack’.
I saw ‘Pirates 2’ on Netflix and will try to see if I can watch that soon (thanks for the info, @Viva).
@nrllee The next Hong Sisters drama sounds intriguing. May check it out once it airs.
I may give ‘A Business Proposal’ or ‘Twenty-five Twenty-one’ a try, not sure yet – but I’ll keep reading both shows’ posts on BoD to see how they are going.
The kdrama I’m really waiting for is Lee Joon Gi’s ‘Again My Life’. It premiers on April 8.
https://youtu.be/p8tqkchH72U
Sounds like ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ type revenge story, with reincarnation thrown in.
@packmule3 – according to the article,
tvN’s “Hwan Hon” is a fantasy romance drama taking place in the fictional Daeho nation, a country that does not exist in history or on the maps. The story follows the main characters whose fates become twisted due to magic that switches people’s souls. The word “Hwan Hon” refers to this soul switch.
Fantasy romance? But then again HDL was touted to be dark fantasy rom com. 😂. I can’t see Hong sisters sidelining their pet topic “death” though. The FL plays an assassin…so yeah…death. 😂.
😂 @nrllee,
This topic has been done to death.
They’re flogging it to death.
Why must everything be life and death with them?
I’m bored to death with it already.
I get that the assassin flirts with death every time she goes on a mission.
She literally works herself to death.
They’ll have the kiss of death.
I can already see the finale: the hero will have to fight to the death for her.
Then, at death’s door, they’ll say “saranghae.”
This drama looks like death warmed over.
The Hong sisters will be the death of me.
No, I don’t have a death wish.
LOL @pkml3. You just killed me! 😵 🪦 😂 🤣
@Packmule3,
LMAO! Your comment rhymes to death as well… 🤪👏
Here’s the MDL article on “Soundtrack #1”
https://mydramalist.com/article/soundtrack-1-releases-its-first-official-trailer-to-air-on-march-23
Hearing about the singers for the OST has me getting excited!
@packmule3, you’re killing it here. Am laughing so hard that I’m coffin. You slay me….
Lol @packmule3 I’m dying odf laughter reading your comments on the Hong Sisters’ done to death theme of death🤣🤣🤣
You cracked me up 😂
Had to roll with laughter about the death poem!! 😀 someone in the korea drama world need to see this….or the Hong sisters.
@Table122000, Ah i didn’t know Pachinko will be in 3 seasons, thanks for the tip. It makes sense since the book is divided into 3 parts
What? Pachinko will be 3 seasons? Here I was thinking it’ll be short and snappy and finish in 12eps. I am not really appreciative of this trend to do seasons. I like to finish my dramas and then move on. Not have to wait with cliffhangers (yes HP Imma looking at you 🙄).
@packmule3 your ode to death vis-a-vis Hong sisters 😂😂😂. I must admit I have always pictured them as the Fates (minus one), cackling over their scripts as they weave their stories 😂😂😂
O my goodness if HaeIn says yes (he will be 2ML though?) then this drama is a must see for the stellar cast 😮
https://www.soompi.com/article/1516095wpp/jung-hae-in-in-talks-to-join-kang-ha-neul-in-new-kbs-drama
@nrllee, if only it came true! I like so many of the actors mentioned for this production.
Hi Everyone,
Catching up here and seeing what everyone is watching. I cant seem to start/finish any dramas lately but I still manage to find something =)
– Business Proposal: I’m a sucker for contract relationships romcom so this is hilarious to me. Plus happy that you are writing about it @pm3, cause your comments make it even more fun
– W Rewatch: If you haven’t joined a rewatch, I highly recommend. This one is great cause BODers are so good with the details and themes.
The Hong sisters!!! My first response was a big UGH!!!
I have only watched 2 of their shows (HDL and Hwayugi). I hated how both ended. But the sisters do a good job weaving their stories with details that I get caught up in. I’ll do what I always do and wait until the shows come out to see if the buzz/reviews are worth watching.
There’s already been some controversies with regards to the Hong Sisters upcoming drama
https://www.soompi.com/article/1478297wpp/park-hae-eun-steps-down-from-upcoming-drama-by-hong-sisters
Not sure what happened there, tVN said she was daunted by the fact that she was a rookie actress and didn’t think she could live up to the high expectations of such a big production. She was definitely confirmed as an actress because she was at script reading.
Wasn’t this last year’s controversy, nrllee? Jung So Min (Monthly Home Magazine) was brought in to replace this rookie actress? 🙂
Yes it was @packmule3. This was back in July2021? And they had script reading already. If they had script reading way back then surely they would’ve already filmed quite a lot of it by now? Which was why I thought it was odd that Jung HaeIn was asked to join the drama cast recently. I would’ve thought if they had already done script reading back in July2021, that they would’ve had all the cast assembled? The timing is just strange.
^ignore my misinformed/confused comment above. I mixed the dramas up. 😂. JHI signed up for the drama with KHN and SYJ. The Hong sisters drama is LJW and JSM. 😂
If anyone is looking for a Chinese drama in the 30 episode range, I binged the first 8 episodes of Legally Romance on weTV (also available on VIKI) and it is a delight. I almost dropped during the first episode but I’m glad I stuck with it. It’s funny and different and I’m glad I stumbled upon it. The female lead was just in the kitchen one and I’m not sure I’ve seen the male lead but their banter is perfect and the surrounding cast members are getting fleshed out and the FL breaks the fourth wall and it surprises me and tickles me every time. I hope someone else enjoys it as well.
Although only 8 episodes in, the law part of the story seems pretty minimal in case that’s a reason some of you would avoid
@birdie007 – thank you for the tip. I’ll try Legally Romance – it will suit my mood.
Also Business Proposal – frothy and addictive.
Forecasting Love and Weather – enough quirkiness to make it fresh
@Packmule03 or others… have you contemplated a re-watch of Moon Lovers Scarlet Hear Ryeo? I am a fan.
Anneyong!
I know that most of the B.O.D’ers are not in to psychological thrillers, but “Through the Darkness” needs to be acknowledged!
I loved it! Kim Nam Gil was spectacular!
I will leave here the link from asianwiki and if you are into these genre, give it a try! It is on the same level with “Beyond Evil” that took several Baesangs awards last year!
https://asianwiki.com/Through_the_Darkness