Annyeong Queen. 🙇🏻‍♀️

How are you?

I’m trying to decide which drama I’ll pick up after My Demon. As it is I’m still trying to finish AGDTBAD. 😆

I didn’t know about the LJW one so I might check that out.

There’s a few cdramas that’s out but I haven’t decided if I’m picking up anything from them.

I wonder if you’ll ever finish HL? The never ending love story? 😂

Kumawo! 😃

Kalimera @Packmule3! I do hope you are okay!

I am currently watching “Marry My Husband” and I have started “Doctor Slump” as you know, but I don’t know If I will continue to watch it, we shall see.

I need to catch up with “Love Song for Illusion” that I have started, but paused due to my program.

As for February, so far I am waiting for the shows you have written on the thread as well!

1. A Killer’s Paradox
I am waiting to see Choi Woo Sik playsing a wannabe killer.

I have also watched the movie “The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion” where he was playing with Kim DaMi and they were brilliant together, but I don’t think the majority of you, you will watch such a movie. It has guns and blood.

2. The Impossible Heir
Everything that has Lee Jae Wook in it I want to watch it!
From the trailer we get to see a very good synergy between Lee Jae Wook and Lee Jun Young! They look so very good together! As for the woman, so far she is a mystery.

Last but not the least, I would like to watch Lee Dong Wook’s “A Shop for Killers”. I have heard that he is pretty good in this role, as he was that good in “Strangers From Hell”.

Lee Jae Wook, yay! On Disney, sigh…

I am watching Like Flowers In Sand and Knight Flower. I watched the beginning of Captivating The King, and most likely will continue with it.

Thanks @pkml3 and must say I’m disappointed that Lee Jae Wook’s newest will be on Disney+😢Can’t bring myself to subscribe. He is a fav of mine since AOS. I plan to finish Like Flowers in Sand today…I have enjoyed this much more than I expected. The male lead character is delightful in character and behavior and well acted by Jang Dong Yoon. Also learning about
Ssireum , a Korean style of wrestling, was similar to learning all about fencing in Twenty Five Twenty One.
Planning to watch A Killer Paradox and Doctor Slump.

Like Flowers In Sand was such a satisfying watch! Like eating comfort food prepared with love. The ingredients were simple, but with good quality. This is now my go-to feel-good drama.

I’ll try to watch Marry My Husband too. You have a new crush in Na In Woo. ☺️

@agdr03,

The truth is and @Packmule3’s knows it as well, I have a crush on Na In Woo… LMAO! 😂🤣

Oh it’s your first time watching NIW in Marry My Husband. I’ve watched him in the drama with KSH and I thought he did good there. 😊

Gong Yoo, ok. I’ll never forget that. 🥰

I want him to do a drama with Yoon Eun Hye. I want to see them together again. ☺️

@agdr03,

As you know, both me and Gong Yoo share the same birthday. Since everyone is fighting for the actor they like that much I decided to go with Ji Cheol! LOL

And, we both have dimples, isn’t that amazing? 😅😊

His comeback show will be “The Trunk” along with Seo Hyun-Jin, but the last time I saw her she was too thin… O.o

More Here: https://asianwiki.com/The_Trunk

As for John Na, well, I really like that he is a sweetheart in “Marry My Husband”. He is like knight in a shine armor… 😊

@pkml3: I shall endeavour! I’m liking Shop for Killers so far. It’s a “coming of age” drama – we’re all in Jian’s shoes – trying to find out exactly who her uncle was, his ecosystem and his intentions, all the while trying to figure out friend from foe and keeping herself alive. (Jian is the niece protagonist to Jinman her uncle, the antihero: played by Kim Hye Joon and Lee Dong Wook respectively.)

The pacing is quite uneven, jumping to and fro various time periods – but I think it’s deliberately intended to mimic the patchy Jian’s memories of her life. Sometimes the pace simmers, sometimes things all happen at a go. And there’s always a twist somewhere – keeps me at the edge of my seat. It’s also grisly at times with the weapons and fighting going on so I do skip over it when I can’t bear the bloodshed and violence. The cinematography is deft (having also watched Moving and Vigilante on D+ I have also come to expect a certain look and feel to the camera work for D+ dramas).

As I mentioned before LDW is at his most dour and ratty here, so a nice change from his other dramas. Jinman is the discipler and as the story unfolds, it’s clear that he took it upon himself to prepare himself and Jian for a certain eventuality. I’m not so sure LDW is the most convincing in this role but it’s not awful. KHJ on the other hand is a star! She *is* Jian. Out of the supporting cast, Kim Min, who plays a migrant chef doubling up as Jian’s Muay Thai “sabu”(/teacher) is one to watch. I’ve never watched him elsewhere before but he’s charismatic and I enjoy his scenes too much.

Only at ep 5, still more to come so I’ll update when I can 🙂

@packmule3, good call. It is perfect for treadmill watching because it is quite engaging. I have found that being on a treadmill, no matter the speed, can get downright boring without either music or other media to keep one occupied There are lots of oaye4s to this drama, including a workplace drama that I may not have mentioned before. and, for you, it is not a legal drama or police procedural so you don’t have to mix entertainment with work. I hope yo7 enjoy this.

@Cleopatra,Your love of Gong Yoo shows that you have excellent taste. He has been in so many classics and with Squid Game, he shows that he is not afraid to portray a morally compromised person.He chooses interesting projects that speak to his range from dorky to heroic to romantic to cold. And, if course, he is handsome but not in a pretty way. He is no flower boy. And I loved him in A Man and A Woman with Hein Do-yeon. He took the role to work with her. Their live scenes were electric. And in Coffee Prince, there was an undercurrent with gender bending of LGBTQ+ content. I think this actor shows he can do it all. Yay-Gong Yoo for your versatility.

@nrllee @OAL @Cleo
About John Na In Woo, I’m the other way around. I’ve only started seeing him in Marry My Husband, so I had to look up 2D1N to catch him at his dorky best. 🤪😂🫣 It’s amazing that it’s the same person! That means that he’s a pretty good actor because I don’t see the ‘real’ NIW in the character of Ji Hyuk. 🤭

Hi @Good Twin! It’s fun reading you too!! And LOL we will do what we can to put up some fun comments for all to read and be entertained. Some of the best are when we disagree with each other (usually only partially) and argue most politely. See you around! 😉

@pkml3, @Fern, I went back to check and realised just how much I wrote on First Love/Hatsukoi. It was rife with metaphors, imagery, most appropriate OSTs and very appealing actors. It’s truly hard to come by another show quite like it again. Such a simple story and yet so rich.

Besides myself, @Welmaris, @Phoenix and others liked the show as well. Perhaps what they wrote inspired your watch as well? 🙂

February Korean Dramas I want to check out:

Doctor Slump: Actor Park Hyung Sik in a rom-com? Yes, please!

Queen of Divorce: I like the main lead actors, Kang Ki Young and Lee Ji Ah. I’m excited to see them working together. Drama at Viki.

Wedding Impossible- The plot sounds like it could be the cute rom com I’m looking for. Please be good, show! Coming to Viki.

I might check out these K Dramas depending on audience feedback and reviews:

Branding in Seongsu – It could be a fun rom-com, but body-swap is not one of my favorite tropes, so I will wait on this one. It’s coming to Viki.

Flex X Cop- I like the ML actor, but not sure about the storyline.

February Chinese Dramas I want to check out:

Amidst a Snowstorm of Love- I like ML Leo Wu. Available at WeTV, Tencent Video YT, and Viki. I’m going to watch it at Viki.

Sweet Trap- The trailer looks like it could be a cute rom-com. According to the info, the eps are supposed to be 37 min long, so hopefully it will be fast-paced. Available at WeTV, Tencent Video YT, and Viki. I will wait to watch the Edited Subs version at Viki.

My Boss- I like male lead Chen Xing Xu. I will wait to binge this, so will be watching later in February when all Edited episodes have been released at Viki. So probably toward the end of the month.

Hi @MM, I can read you here.

Annyeong BOD’s ~

Happy LOVE month everyone.

@Pm3 Kdramas are pretty thin on the ground this month indeed. all we need is just one good show really. am i right?

i am enjoying “Doctor Slump” esp EP 3. so far haha. Can’t wait for Ep 4

There are many Live shows out there … but i’m choosing the JOMO attitude towards the rest haha.

Coz of Zhao Lu Si from “hidden love” and other things (who rules the world etc)… I finished watching “dating in the kitchen” 🙂 then “I hear you” and now i’m in the middle of “please feel at ease, Mr Ling.” I”m liking all three male leads of these shows. She has so many shows.

@WEnchanteur, what an absolutely stunning image! Keep going!

I thought I would expand on what I am loving about Amidst a Snowstorm:
• The Finnish location – although I wish the cinematographer would do a little more with the landscape. (I wouldn’t surprised if they were sponsored by the Finnish public transportation system because how to get from point A to point B is a big part of the dialogue between the shy leads.)
• The snowy setting – it reminds me of Road Home.
• The snooker backdrop – something I know nothing about, so it is interesting.
• The awkward conversation between the leads and the way they use texting to overcome the shyness. (The male lead is not so much shy as not a big talker. He is actually quite direct that he is taken with her).
• Her voice over telling us what she is thinking when he is trying to woo her is cute and funny.
• The romantic tension between the leads – the tropes of leaning in close or the almost kiss really work here. If you told me these two were a couple irl – I’d believe it.
So far I would liken this drama to Meet Yourself or Road Home. Slow and romantic.

I’m up to date with Snowstorm and enjoying it a lot so far. The backdrop of billiards may not be some folks’ cup of tea, but it throws me back to my late teen years. There was a local pool hall that was a popular hangout for teenagers and I spent many a weekend there with my boyfriend at the time 🙂

LOL @Good Twin, snow and snowy landscapes makes all scenes somewhat romantic even without the falling petals.

I was heartily amused in Ep 4 (I’m watching slooooowly) when Lin killed the conversation and then admitted he was not much of a talker but wanted to chat with Yin Guo LOL. Poor girl didn’t know what to say to a guy he shot himself in the foot Heheheh!

@GoodTwin, @Stacy @GB Unnie,

Kalimera. I have watched the trailer of “Amidst a Snowstorm”. As it seems it is pretty good? I don’t know if I have time to start this, but I might give it a try…

I will let you know @GoodTWin! I enjoyed “Love me, Love my Voice” so very much!

@Wenchanteur, you can’t be me in the backwards race to be a drama slug. I can barely fit in one episode in a day. But good work on those illustrations. So impressive!

Hi @Cleo, ah you liked Love Me, Love My Voice? Then you’ll enjoy the pace and style and beauty of Amidst a Snowstorm of Love (Snowstorm for short!!!) The operating word is pretty… the location, the leads, their friends, the sweet romance that unfolds a petal at a time… all very pretty. 😉😌😂

Kalimera Unnie!

Yes I really liked “Love Me, Love My Voice”. I have written a comment about Episode 27, but noone answered so, I forgot to write it here! LOL.

FYI, I have started Snowstorm last night and I really like it! I don’t know how long it will take me to be up to date, but it is okay!

So, @Stacy I am enjoying it as well! LOL

I really enjoy reading this thread.

You all have convinced me to take a look at “Admidst a snow storm”. I love beautiful scenes of snow, and I am not getting them here in canada this winter- Just greyness, Fog, And rain.

For some reason that is beyond my understanding, I do not like leo wu. I think I need to give him another chance. I did not finish love like the galaxy and feel like I may be very alone in this. The reviews were all so wonderful and I was disappointed. It may be something as superficial as I don’t like his nose.

I just finished a one And only /forever and ever rewatch. I feel like I could continue watching both These shows In a continuous loop and still discover something new.

I still have matchmakers and twinkling watermelon left from Previously and i’m looking forward to watching both. I was not familiar with the Lead male actor in twinkling watermelon until I recently rewatched “18 Again”. Now I should find the first episode got a little easier to follow.

I am really enjoying MMH. This is my only live watch right now.

I want to watch More Chinese shows.
But so many of them are so long. Goodbye my princess, Story of Minglan, Le Coup de Foudre,Story of Yanzi Palace. If the new show with.
The journey to love male lead we’re showing today I would be watching it immediately. It is called “legend of jewelry”.

I have so many shows I would like to watch On apple That I want to watch and have been discontinuing other subscription. So I can subscribe temporarily to apple.

I have discovered serendipistously That I can access prime video When I thought It was only available in the states. So now I can rewatch sections of MMH. You may well know which Scenes I am referring to.

@MM, I’m amused by your post. There are a few actors that I just don’t really care to watch, without having a clear reason why. I’m glad Leo Wu Lei is not one of them. He was more active and interesting in Nothing But You which was a noona romance.

I also seem to be turning to more Chinese dramas nowadays. Pity so many are so long (and hence have filler episodes) but there are some gems among them.

I will attempt a first watch of Love Like the Galaxy in March to join another discussion that will take place on that show. Now THAT show is a loooong series at 56 episodes (in 2 parts)! I wonder if it has what it takes to hold my attention. 🙂

@MM you’re not the only one who didn’t finish LLTG, but in my case it was because I had binged most of the show and became over-saturated, if that makes any sense. Also, I suspected Great Angst was nearing and I went into avoidance mode. And I just never picked it back up. I do plan to finish it one day because I really did enjoy the drama. I love the leads and adored the wing-man Emperor 😀

I see a bit of Leo Wu’s character from LLTG in his character in Snowstorm – mainly, the *intensity* of his interest in the girl. Not complaining at all lol.

@Stacy, @MM and anyone who’s watched Zhao Lu Si acting. How do you find her voice? I have heard her speaking in her normal voice which is fine, however in shows like LLTG and even in Hidden Love, she speaks in a ‘little girl voice’ which is higher in pitch. I’m not sure if she was dubbed or she dubbed herself but the ‘little girl voice’ bothers me. It may be one of the factors that makes me drop a show, although I like Lu Si.

I started snowstorm. The directing is right on point in terms of what it’s like to experience cold and snow. The little things like blowing your nose when you go inside and putting up your hood when you exit the subway, The sounds of the tires on snow.

I have been missing the snow and cold here in Canada. Now I can just watch it from the warmth of my t v room.

I also like The subtleties up their interactions when they meet. She is suspicious and he seems a little annoyed. You can see they are interested in each other.

@GB I don’t mind ZLS’s voice near as much as I do Esther Yu’s, but even with Esther I can tolerate it if I want to watch the drama bad enough lol.

@monmor I didn’t know this was the same writer of Forever and Ever (one of my favorite cdramas along with You Are My Hero). This writer specializes in writing the most mundane dialogue. I read Road Home and bits of this novel and except for the location it has been adapted faithfully and excruciatingly. The location in the book is NY and Washington DC – and there is lots of concern about crime!! I think these dramas work because all of the actors have been first rate in all these adaptations. I’m still enjoying Amidst a Snowstorm but I do think his intensity is bit much. At some point being stared at intently in public all the time and pawed at anytime they’re alone would be too much. There is a very cute scene when he whisks her away for a vacation before she heads back to China and she says she is “overjoyed” which I thought was a sweet word choice.

I post my new experimentations on AI image generation (as it takes the time I could spend to watch dramas now). With one of my characters. She was indeed in W season 1 but I use her more in season 2. Yoon-Hee, and here awesome shots from this mmmh… yeah really pretty big girl. I test MidJourney soft now, it’s poor on prompt understanding, but rendering is amazing. Here my tests, your eyes won’t believe it:
https://twitter.com/EnchanteurW/status/1755332804676608455

Oh wow I’m not seeing new posts from this blog anymore. I must have messed up my settings (the reason for my delay in responding here).

In February–I’m still enjoying Knight Flower every week. I really look forward to it.

I started watching Marry My Husband because everyone else was watching it. But my Prime subscription is about to end and I’m debating if it’s worth resubscribing to see the final four episodes. I might wait until it’s over before I resubscribe to make sure I catch the ending. It’s not the best drama I’ve ever watched but it’s satisfying and easy to watch. I’m a little fatigued with noble idiocy but assume everything will work out in the end–her father/angel made it so, one would hope.

For reality I’m enjoying the Japanese Netflix show Love Deadline. It’s another polite show where the people date without all the trappings of American dating (i.e., no physical contact except occasional hand holding). Ultimately, the women must declare their interest in a man whenever it’s his turn to leave the show if they like him–a brave step since they’re then also kicked off the adventure/show, no matter the outcome. The one proposal I’ve seen was longer than the one my husband and I shared!

I tried to watch Captivating the King… I attempted it a couple of times but I found it boring. I went past the first episode and then quit in the midst of the second. Maybe it’s the ML. His face a lot of the time seems expressionless. And I’m getting pretty tired of seeing obvious women dressed as men in Joseon garb (though the Knight Flower FL is almost convincing, especially when she wore that fake mustache!).

I’m not sure about Dr. Slump. I’ll check to see what you all are saying about it. I’ve tried the first episode a few times but keep dropping it. I was worried since it seemed to start with a death… I wanted it to be a romance.

@WE, very impressive AI generated image of the actress! Can pass it off as her! Your previous one is evocative of the evil that emanates from the Queen of Darkness.

My husband tinkered a bit with AI ‘people’ images. He said the hardest part was getting the hands to look normal and natural. He’s stopped playing with AI drawing now, but it was funny seeing ‘people’ with more than one head etc. 😱

I agree @Good Twin about the mundane dialogue in Snowstorm and really, I could have thought of more than 20 questions I could have asked to find out more about each other and another 50 to keep a conversation going, but we get these long silent looks and awkwardness LOL and they keep saying ‘You’re not saying anything!’ I wanted to retort, ‘Exactly! Why aren’t you saying anything!’ LOLOL.

@Cleo, SLOWLY is the exactly it but yet, when you get on to Ep 10, I think the relationship is seen as happening fast ie I believe we are speaking of just a few meetings in less than a month or something like that.

I see the pattern in ‘Love Me Love My Voice’ and ‘Snowstorm’ with this Writer. The guy is always very generous, he’s the provider, he won’t accept much from the girl but will go out of his way to do whatever he can for her. He’s also pretty good at whatever he does ie he does not put a foot wrong (except for being tongue-tied), is well liked and succeeds in most everything he does.

The only difference with this male lead is that he retired too early because he got angry with the ruling at a Snooker competition.

Can we see him back playing professionally by the end of the series? 🙂

On ‘Snowstorm’ – oh yes, @Cleo, you’re right, the opening credits are probably showing us the future and not the past. He’ll play again at least in some competition and win.

I was trying to see if the accurate potting of the ball was really done by Leo Wu Lei in an unbroken camera shot or whether the shots were edited so that his shot and the ball were 2 separate scenes spliced together. Can you tell how well the actor (not the character) played?

Spoiler up to episode eight

I was feeling relieved that we might get some conflict in this show With the older cousin and maybe we still will. A twist though when he shows up in finland. Not what I was expecting.

An interesting side note is that the actor playing the older cousin is the actor who played the crown prince in one and only. In and of itself this introduces Conflict. Who can ever forgive him for The role he played in betraying the male lead..?

@Cleo, @Stacy, @Good Twin… I’m changing the description of “Snowstorm” from something that’s going very slowly to one that speeds up quite a lot.
And I’m not complaining.

Better scenery of Finland in the later episodes.

@GB I am glad to hear it picks up. I was thinking of starting something else. And just dipping my toes in and out of this show, As you had commented before.

I would like to see her be a more equal partner in this relationship Instead of the pursued.

I believe the same writer wrote forever. And ever and in that drama she Is the one pursuing him sexually. So this writer has some flexibility in her role delineations.

@Good Twin, I should learn from you the trick of switching the VPN in order to overcome regional restrictions on the streaming of some shows. I’ve just come back from a trip to England, and while abroad I couldn’t continue watching all the content I’d begun while home in the USA. Prime Video shut me out of Marry My Husband. Netflix gave me limited choice on what I could watch, and wouldn’t let me download anything while traveling. When I did have time and internet availabity, I chose to plod along on Viki with the Cdrama My Boss. It’s not a great show, but I found it comfortable to watch when I wanted to scratch my Asian drama itch.

I’m glad for my long plane rides I’d downloaded the entire 2023 Jdorama Trillion Game. I’d previously seen one of the lead actors, Ren Meguro, in Silent, in which I found him intriguing. He plays a very different kind of character in Trillion Game, so I’m appreciating his acting range. In Trillion Game, just when I’m tiring of his overly sunny demeanor, his character, Haru, gives us a glimpse of what’s behind the mask.

Now that I’m home, I’m happily wrapping up:
–Like Flowers in Sand (this gem will go on my rewatch list so I can savor it again)
–Marry My Husband (from my vantage point on Shallow Island, appreciating the acting skills and looks of Na In Woo, but reveling in the villainy of characters Park Min Hwan and Jung Soo Min)
–Dr. Slump (I’ve only watched the first two episodes so far. I’ll see if I stay happy as I continue watching it.)

And having started the rewatch of First Love with @Fern, my heart pulls me back to that beautiful Jdorama. It’s such a treat to revisit that show.

Based on the conversation above, I’ve added Snowstorm to my watchlist. I can’t think of other Cdramas I’ve watched with action taking place in Finland, but I have seen a few Kdramas with Finland tie-ins. There was the strange Finland Papa that I only finished because it was short. And I can’t remember the name of the show now, but there was an angsty Kdrama a few years ago featuring a recording studio, a tortured genius trying to develop an AI voice program, and a supporting female character who dies in Finland when crushed by a falling tree. Part of that show was filmed in Finland, especially scenes of the ML’s youth.

@welmaris – I was watching Trillion Game too! Actually I saw both Ren Meguro and Mio Imada (she plays the Princess Kiriko) in the J-movie “As Long as We Both Shall Live” (which itself is an adaptation of the anime My Happy Marriage on Netflix). And they were both so lovely in the film (polar opposite of Haru’s and Kiriko’s characters in Trillion Game). The anime (if anyone also watches anime) is also spectacular for a light watch.

I’d recommend the J-movie for another perspective on Meguro’s and Imada’s acting range.

@swiss_postscripts, that’s right! I did recently see Ren Meguro in the live-action film of My Happy Marriage. I’ve got to remember to add that to my MDL list. And same as you, @Stacy, I had to do a double take before I would believe the same actor was the ML in Silent and My Happy Marriage. That speaks well of his range. In Trillion Game he inhabits a character very different from either of those roles, so kudos to Ren Meguro!

My to-watch list grew quite a bit in the last 2 weeks with a surprising windfall ..
I was collecting potential good watches .. It was like being at a fruit stall choosing apples – pears – papaya .. those which looked good, I am turning them around to feel for ‘ripeness’ and dents or bumps, taking a chance .. bringing them home .. cutting them .. biting into them and hoping I chose well ..
I DID DID dee dee .. when I found a delish just right one .. for the mood (often the mood dictates if a drama clicks or not ;-p

So here’s stuff that I LOVED LOVED :

~ The Splendor of Dreams
~ A Journey to Love
~ Parallel World

What in your face in these shows??
YEAH .. THE KICK ASS women hold their own and call the shots and actively move the story forward on their own steam and agency ..
For the LOVE of The BEAUTY of EQUAL YIN to the YANG .. sometimes Yin is even MORE powerful than the YANG .. without women being made to “suit boot up and lose their own femininity”

~ ONLY FOR LOVE
The wicked and sweet power of old school rom-com which we devour with equal measure of guilty and intellectual pleasure AT ONCE ~ the producers laughing their way to the bank at having winked us into its seductive trap .. while we grin in foolish joy

AND NOW I am TRAPPED and entranced by a RARE gem of a modern workplace politics – business – romance drama that LOOKS so SEXY in terms of camerawork and drool OST !!!
It’s playing in the background as I write this. WAH what actors .. NEVER seen them before .. low low key and NATURAL .. It’s the one of the MOST REAL LIFE acting and love arc I have witnessed in a CDrama ..

~ FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT

I am HAPPY as a kid with a loaded BOX of Candy for the coming days ..

Hope ya’ll will sip on some of them and decide for yourself .. I feel 90% sure that the folks at BOD will fall for their charm.

<3 <3

HERE I LEAVE you with JUST the OST of FITYMI

https://youtu.be/AdC23YmXujo?si=k2h7PPWBXAJ_Ea8c

And update on what I am watching

I am currently watching “save the last dance for me” a 2004 melo with jisung. He is the draw.And watching the early tropes. His co star eugene an idol is an example of idol acting that gave idols a bad name as actors. There is something about the soundtracks of this era that I really enjoy , and this one is good.

I just finished ” Longing for you” with Na Inwoo. The first few episodes particularly were very enjoyable watching him play a very different kind of character than in our current watch.

I finished “alliance” and wished I had watched it when everybody else was watching it. It would have been a great one to discuss.

We are having a sunny cold day here in canada but still no snow. Better than the gray rainy weather we were having but not as warm.

re “save the last ance…”

There is something really odd about the camera work or the camera itself. I remember now trying to watch it online and only finding copies where everybody looked twice the width you expected them to be. So I bought the d v d and people are still unusually wide , but not quite as much so. This was the mid two thousands. Anybody know why this would be?

ah maybe it is something like you suggested and Icam look into that on my tv.

Thank you for the watch suggestion. I will have a look. That reminds me the new chinese show with park minyang is out I think. I don’t know if it is accessible for me. I am wondering if it is only coming out now because of the ban on korean actors in chinese shows a few years ago. That would be better than if they had production problems which which was my initial suspicion.

People??? I know it’s not March yet but is Queen of Tears on our list ?

I am extremely good at managing my life (note. Sarcasm) and that’s why manage to fly through only one drama every two or three months. Sometimes not even that. Thus, I’m usually never seen on “what are we watching” threads of BoD.

Also, due to my astute time management skills, I start dramas when other ppl are at ep 10.

But I want to start Queen of Tears from the beginning (wow, just wow) if possible. Hashtag trying to be a better version of myself. Of note @cleo 😛

Oh really! Ok… Thank you dear @Fern… I’ll petition. On what basis I don’t know? The ML ? The fact that FL cries well ?

But before that, you aren’t on the MMH boat @fern ? May I tempt you ?

Kim soo Hyun is such a good actor. I remember being taken by him as a relatively unknown actor to me anyway In “dream high.” I loved his rendition of a broad rural accent which I had never heard before. I read a comment recently which may have been on one of these posts about him becoming the lead actor when it was supposed to be the 2 p m guy.

@Fern ! You have the memory of a supercomputer / elephant in the animal kingdom ! You remember I recommended healer to you ??? What !!!!!

To all the people here, this happened AT LEAST three years back, if not more… Omg !

MMH may not compare to that in the sheer cheeky fun department, I’m afraid @fern. Although it’s a nice ride.

Glad to have you on board @cleo, hee hee.

Btw I just realised something reg. MMH ep 14 ! Over at the thread because this won’t be the right place!

@OAL I was a big fan of Motown back in the day. When I discovered kpop I could not believe it was supercharged Motown! My first fav group was Shinhwa and others from that era. There is a book titled “Soul in Seoul”, interestingly written by a black woman, an academic in the States, which has enthralled me with its discussion of kpop over the decades and its relationship to black music in the US.

Yes, the rhythms are infectious. Nothing beats kpop for wanting to dance and not wanting to stop.

I was excited to discover some chinese covers of elvis presley. Some of the K-Pop groups make use of classical music in their music.Shinhwa’s TOP Incorporates a piece from swan lake.

In a similar vein, the kdrama “lost” has as its main piece of music A song created by a very famous canadian musician leonard cohen. Some of the visual imagery is straight out of the lyrics of the song.

I have wondered in the past why some korean music sounds like abba. I think that is part of the asian connection to scandinavian countries. My impression is that they have used some of the same songwriters and perhaps producers.

So much to learn and enjoy!

I am not a musician nor a student of music. There was a quote in a k drama that applies to me. It was” I am tone deaf but I have a great sense of rhythm.”

I enjoy listening to the OS t’s because they evoke the feelings of certain scenes.And it is easier to multitask than when watching a show.🙂

For me, it is “I’m your maaaaaan.”

He was from Montreal, so it is not a surprise for me to hear he was big in France. I would not have thought it though because of course, his music is in english.

Despite the inappropriateness of the lyrics, Both myself as a child and my daughter were taught His songs in middle school. For me it was Suzanne goes down to the river. For my daughter, it was Hallelujah.
Which many think of as a religious song but it is actually about sex.

Yes. Inappropriate for sure. Makes me laugh to think. You are up late or very early!

@monmor, I had a French housemate in 1976. She loved to play Leonard Cohen songs on her guitar. I thought it was just her until I went back to France the next year and heard them played by others as well. I think the tune, strong sentiment, imagery and unusual, clever wording appealed universally.

He was and still is insanely popular in quebec and ontario. He wrote books of poetry as well as his music, A word smith, Indeed.

Now I am really going off tangent. Mien

There was a lot of controversy about this song. The chorus and the sound of the song is inspirational. But I close listen to the lyrics Reveals other meanings.

@monmorzi think the movie, correct me if I’m wrong about the title, Swing Kids, is about American influence on Korean music. With unfortunate ears and globalization, we see how each country’s music gets influenced. As I think I might have said before, it is really crazy when you hear rock n roll riffs in Hassidic Jewish music.

@monmor, Wow. In my younger days I went to Star Trek conventions. I got to go to lectures by Gene Roddenberry. I have a Leonard Nimoy Spock magnet on my refrigerator. Now I fan girl K Dramas.

@monmor, I loved Spock. I think Nimoy was burden3d by the role. I think one of the best take offs of the series was one of my favorite movies,,Galaxie Quest. The large, wonderful actor, Alan Rickman, did an absolutely wonderful Spocklike impression, including wha5 was a parody of Nimoy’s disdain for the role. Sigourney Weaver was great in that movie, that starred Tim Allen. The Star Trek franchize begat so many series and popularized a other captain, Picard, Sir 0atr7ck Stewart(I think he now lives in Brooklyn).

Called removed male lead

@Welmaris, I’m so happy that you liked Galaxy Quest. That movie is such a pleasure to watch. It flips so many notions of science fiction films in such a delightful way. The alien make up falling off Rickman’s face was so funny. The true believer kids starting with Justin Long was a lovely touch and the real out of space aliens who masked what they actually looked like was also a nice touch. I liked how the movie was full of the small details that so many of us understand as sci fi tropesmade us viewers movie insiders. K Dramas often have the wink wink nod nod of trope flipping. The Greatest Love did that.

Oh I forgot i had checked previously and noticed. There were some posts already for this show

Thank you so much. Now I know this is what I will watch this evening. I really like the male lead from the very first time I saw him in a drama.

@mormor, how far have you gotten with The Good Bad Mother? I enjoyed the show, especially since some excellent character actors are in it. We don’t usually get to see Choi Moo Sung play a villain, so I loved to hate him in this.

@swiss_postscripts, Silent is on Viki.

Tonight I finished a rewatch of the Jdorama First Love. More than ever, I am enchanted by this show. The cinematography is stunning, and the use of color serves the story well. All of the actors, old and young, turn in stellar performances. The soundtrack tugs my heart in all the right ways at all the right times. And because I lingered to the end of the closing credits after the final episode, I was rewarded with an epilogue I hadn’t seen the first time I watched the show. What a lovely gift! @Growing Beautifully, have you seen that final scene?

@OAL @Welmaris

I am in episode four. I enjoyed the scenes where the male lead refuses food just the way a child would. Painful but good acting.

There are lots of bits and pieces of plot to be Pulled together keeping me engaged along with the quality of the acting. And learning about pig farming.

@welmaris: thank you! will check that out. also, just saw news that trillion game will have a live action film come 2025, with the same cast from the drama!

Off tangent, but wanted to share with everyone a video that I came across on social media – it’s not recent but it warmed my heart! (don’t mind me if you’ve already seen this) you would spot a lot of supporting cast members in our fave Kdramas in this adaptation of “This is Me” from “The Greatest Showman”.

https://youtu.be/enoGbby75UY?si=06JDahiLx4xNlMlK

The link goes to a video about 20 mins, which includes all the BTS; performance itself starts about 13:34. I googled and found out about “Hot Singers” – wondered if anyone caught it?

@OAL Thank you for the recommendation of swing kids. It looks like something I would enjoy and stars one of the exo members.

@monmor, I have watched the film Swing Kids. Beware: You could get whiplash from the ending. DO performs very well in it, and he did all his own dancing, if I remember correctly. I believe that I read they hired a tap dance double for DO, but didn’t need to use him while filming. But if you think Swing Kids is a heartwarming story about prisoners turning a bad experience good by putting on a dance show while incarcerated, you only know part of the story. Watching the last few minutes of the film, I felt like the rug was pulled out from under me.

AAAAHHHH! I’m late to the Star Trek party!!! Another Trekkie checking it 😀 😀 😀

I grew up watching Star Trek reruns as a kid in the 70’s (dating myself I am). I remember as a young girl thinking that Captain Kirk was so handsome lol. So I guess you could say he was my first celebrity crush? Even so, Spock was my favorite character.

Loved Next Generation even more than the original. Was a teenager by this time and had my first “shipping” experience with Riker and Counselor Troi 🙂

But for some reason I never got that interested in Deep Space Nine or Voyager. I’ve seen about 1 1/2 seasons of DS9, and just lost interest.

Don’t worry about dating yourself. Your younger than I am. I watched the series in its original On television in the sixties.

@HK_Lady

That is quite a mashup then 😀

LLTG & AaSoL together?! Or do you mean you queued them up?

I’d recommend a small gem of a film of Wu Lei : UPCOMING SUMMER
It’s on Netflix.

He dazzles and shines and breaks your heart .. Just LOVELY. Even the FL holds up so well ..

I was thinking earlier when I was posting that it must have been a black and white Television at the time.

@AOL I was just looking up some Shows from the 60s
To jog my memory. I watched a lot of television. Mostly I was looking up the ones with cold man warm woman trope. Perry mason, Iron sides, The avengers, The FBI.

@monmor, I remember the Warner Brothers detective shows like 77 Sunset Trip, Surfside6 and Hawaii 50
They all had a collection of handsome men both det and younger to appeal to women of all ages. Each had one woman who was a secretary with names like Cricket. It took some time before we got Of Charlie’s Angels

re the globalization of music I was just listening to an SF9(Rowoon’s group) track which has some parts that sound like country and western. I had noticed this previously in some pre kpop korean music as well.

@monmor, I will watch anything with JiSung. I also love his wife, Lee Bo young. I first saw her in When My Love Blooms. She was so good with Yoo Ji-tae. The dual story with their younger selves was so touching. Her politics when she was young and her work contrasted effectively with his chaebol transformation. The story of how they were reaquainted because of their respective children was touching. She also played a talented pianist who earned extra money while playing in a mask
. The side story of his awful relationship with his wife also kept me watching. This was also a tear jerker

And JuSung in Kill Me Heal Me, playing someone with multiple personality disorder associated with childhood trauma was very affecting. I am amazed by the talent of these actors who have great range.

Completely unrelated

So I look at data for a living. Recently, I was reviewing some height related data post 1890s when data is available. Height is related to income, nutrition, infant mortality etc very closely.

Now, world over, as the nutrition and access to healthcare has improved, height (both male and female) have increased significantly. This is true all over the world, no exceptions. The ratio is jarring in countries like S. Korea which progressed from a middle income country to a developed, wealthy economy.

If you look at average heights of men and women in S. Korea over the past century, the difference is nowhere close to what we see in Kdramas. The average Korean woman is shorter by a only few cm and not 20-25 cm to average Korean man – what is true across the world.

As nutrition improves, women don’t selectively remain short and men turn into giraffes 🦒. That is not evolutionarily favourable. Species don’t work like that.

This makes me wonder if Kdrama industry selectively favours very short women and very, very tall men (racially, not objectively).

I think this is the reason even drama stretchers/hospital beds are comically short for men like In Woo, Rowoon and Lee J Suk because they are way taller than average.

The height difference may look romantic (umm… It pinches me actually) but is not realistic.

@Arihsi,

Shin Hye Sun, Lee Sung Kyung, and Lee Da Her are tall.
I am tall and was often made fun of because of that. I guess tall women are ignored unless they are supermodels…

@Arihsi, good research and good morning. I have long thought that the casting was deliberate. Especially in dramas that feature tall domineering/tsundere men. The women seem infantilised by the height difference. This is true in C-dramas and J-dramas, too. For every tall actress, there are many very short ones.

On the other hand, as a woman of average height in the UK, it’s rather nice to have a tall spouse around to get things off the top shelf for me.

I can’t say if it’s romantic, @Arihsi, but very helpful. 😁

My oldest brother is tall- 190.5cm in high school. Also tall are his wife and my niece and nephew. He is gentle/soft like your in-laws. My next brother is tall but not very. His wife is his height at least, possibly a fraction taller. Their kids are VERY tall. I’m the shrimp in the family – genetics rather than nutrition, I think. But I guess I feel comfortable with tall men because of my family situation.

Hi, I was 5’9″ until I hit old age so I’m now one inch shorter. I have been tall for most of my life and have had interesting(ahem) experiences when I dated shorter men. One was meeting short men with the Napoleon complex. There was too much in the way of domination. Another was when I was a college student. I had a blind date. It was a study date. He picked me up in his car. When we were about to get in, a dog appeared from out of nowhere. The dog jumped in the car and my date told me to pull it out because so was bigger than he was. So much for romance.

As a young woman, post college, I had a friendship with a shorter guy. We had one sensual encounter that was not repeated and we remained friends until we both moved away. We both married and from what I gather, he has become a serious person. My husband is 6’1″. I am happy to be with him. We are an example of friends to lovers(with K drama mad coincidences as his mother and my mother(who died when I was a toddler) were childhood friends and that she also knew my aunt).My husband and I were also an office romances. We were part of a lunch group(we mainly ate at restaurants in Manhattan’s Chinatown-we bonded over chow fun and dim sum).

I apologize if my question is too much.

@monmor, some height is due to genetics as well as to nutrition and healthcare. I would imagine that younger Filipinos these days are taller than their parents or grandparents. For me, I had the same nutrition and healthcare as my brothers but ended up average rather than tall, so genetics must be a factor. I worked with a professor from the Netherlands who was maybe 5’10” but he said that back home he was considered rather short. 182.9 cm/6 feet is average there and the others in the team from the Netherlands were all relatively tall including the women.

@Arihsi, I imagine the current average height of the Japanese populace will change rapidly as the older generations disappear from the computation. That may take awhile, since Japan has such a high life expectancy. But my experience visiting Japan, especially when I was in areas where young adults congregate, was that people towered over me. My height is on the lower side of average.

@monmor, if something piques your interest while watching an Asian drama, it’s okay to hit pause and make a few queries on the internet. Sometimes diving into a rabbit hole can be part of the fun of watching a drama. At least it is for me.

@monmor, your question is good. I’m going to do a little research to f8nd out about the average and median height of S. Korean men and women. i’m sure that people are much smaller in North Korea due to the fact that the government spends its money on munitions and not agriculture. Their elites look well-fed and I guess, getting fed is a reason to be in the military. I don’t know about conscription there but if service is mandatory, it may serve as a respite for N. Korean males.

@welmaris I have learned so much from watching asian dramas. I am so happy to live in the era of the internet and be able to look up Whatever I might be curious about. Much easier than doing a physical search Through indexes In the library When I was in University?. I could never keep my information straight.

Wow you are way ahead of me. I have just started buying miso paste and using it in some recipes. Finding the seaweed was a challenge. I have recently started making recipes that call for mirin, rIce vinegar, and tamari. I made a teriyaki sauce That was really good but it is different every time I make it. I have yet to look around locally to see if I can find bonito flakes.

Well said, @Arihsi.

Btw, 162.4 is average height for women for the UK but the UK these days is a very blended society and includes many races. This height is about 1cm below 5 foot 4 inches which is my height. I don’t know how tall you are, but I imagine you are taller than that!

When I look at the height of some Korean actresses, they are taller than I am unless the figures have been changed.

@welmaris My keenest memory is having many of these large books open on the shelf and scattered paper everywhere. I think I might have become a researcher.
If there was such a thing as the internet and databases at that time.

Ah, card catalogs, the Dewey Decimal System. Brings back fond memories.I used to purposely get lost in these. I also remember various Sources of abstracts that led to further research articles.

@monmor, let us know what you find. I just realised that height figures keep changing, so you have to enter the year as well. I read that both USA and Canada is 5’4″ now. UK is still 5’3″.

This latest conversation about height has me thinking and researching. I’ve learned that at 5’4.5″ (163.8cm), I’m at the worldwide average for adult women, average for white non-hispanic women in the USA, average for women in Switzerland (my father’s maternal line), and average for Germany (my father’s paternal line). I’ve always thought of myself as being on the short side, since my parents were taller than me, as are my three siblings. I now embrace my averageness, with a nod to my genetic heritage.

As for height considerations when Asian dramas are being cast, it does seem that shorter leading men such as D.O. and Song Joong Ki are the exception, not the rule. As for South Korean actresses considered tall, there are a fair number that measure 5’9″ (175cm) and 5’8″ (172.7cm), but even they’d look short next to the many, many actors measuring 6′ (182.8cm) and over.

Because I’d just finished some dramas, was caught up on others, and am waiting for the start of Queen of Tears, I went searching for another drama to watch. I tried a few minutes of a few Kdramas, Cdramas, and Jdoramas, and nothing stuck until I took a look at a 2020 Amazon Original recommended on Prime Video called Dinner Mate. I’m not familiar with the previous or subsequent work of the ML, Song Seung Heon, or the FL, Seo Ji Hye. But since reading all the comments on this thread about height, I have noticed that there isn’t a distracting discrepancy between the heights of these actors. He’s 5’11” (183cm) and she’s 5’7″ (170cm). They look good in scenes where they’re walking together, in my opinion. Something else I appreciate about these actors in this drama: they’re not youngsters.

@Good Twin, I wouldn’t say Dinner Mate is riveting, but I’m enjoying the script. Dialogue is intelligently written. The leads get to act out some humorous scenes to balance out their both living with heartbreak. Seo Ji Hye is good at physical humor: funny little movements, not broad slapstick. And there are actors in supporting and cameo roles that I like, particularly Park Ho San and Kim Won Hae.

Dinner Mate is also streaming on iQIYI, at least in my area.

@Welmarud, Dinner Mate gets consistently good marks from viewers. The ML has been in a lot and the FZl was in CLOY, playing Captain Ru’s North Korean fiance who comes from. A prominent family. I think the ML is in the movie called Obsession l, I think where he is involved in an affair with a married woman.It is on my very long to watchlist

@cleo: thank you for reminding me of impossible heir!!! now I know what will take up my march ❤️

@cleo: as you previously alluded – nothing comes between us and watching Lee Jae Wook 😜 I’m still watching Flex x Cop on Disney+ which is two episodes a week so that should tide me over while I wait on Impossible Heir episodes! FXC is not bad – the plot is thickening on our ML as we enter the midway of the season….

@Old American Lady, Son Joong Ki isn’t my very favourite actor either, but please be careful about spreading rumours about his private life. After all the recent K-pop and K-drama tragedies, it’s good to check facts before writing such things. If you have proof, that’s another story.

Son divorced in June 2020. He was still not signed to Vincenzo until July 2021, so he wouldn’t have met his current wife until near that time because she was his Italian coach for the drama.

@Old American Lady, first of all I have to say that I appreciate your posts and point of view. On this topic however, I think I’m a bit sensitive since the news about Lee Sun Kyun’s death in December and Moon Bin earlier in the year. I agree that Song Hye Kyo seemed a victim of rumours as well. Things can and do get blown out of proportion on public forums.

Thank you for your very considered reply. I don’t know if we can keep our opinions out of the BoD threads entirely because we are a discussion group.

I feel women in general are more ruthlessly impacted in any controversy, be it KPOP industry or Hollywood or natural disasters or wars, climate change or preventable blindness or human trafficking.

I started following PMY on Instagram recently as a pure woman to woman solidarity after people threatened to ban her drama. She didn’t do anything illegal. It was some random stuff. I started following NIW, not because I’m interested in what he’s doing in life but rather because people called him ugly (no matter his physical looks. I’m ugly too.)

I feel compelled to stand with the underdog and the needlessly abused – in media or otherwise. Maybe it comes with years of working in advocacy sector.

I see so much evidence of needless and deliberate abuse that after a while, I’m ready to do whatever that makes even a dent of a difference for anyone. Who cares if you’ll never know me ? Do my grant recipients know how many nights I didn’t sleep ? One doesn’t work for that. I’m fed up with humans on most days. Then I feel, ah, one must get up and be different – otherwise, I’m one of them.

This is one of the reasons MDL drove me nuts in 30 seconds straight. I really can’t bring myself to visit the site again.

@OAL we all learn 💝

Hi @Arihsi=Yes, we all learn. I, too, have been professionally involved in advocacy. In the early nineties I helped to found a group that advocated for domestic violence and elder abuse victims. At the time the police were not touching dv cases with a ten foot pole. That changed very quickly. I still feel that we are looking at the top of the iceberg because do many victims are scared to report it. They don’t know about having an escape plan and about available services
It is so important to have shelters and safe houses. The public also needs to know the signs of victimhood.tjingd are better than they used to be but we have a long way to go. And in our multicultural society, there are subcultures that use things like corporal punishment and other forms of spanking as regular parts of childhood discipline. That can’t be encouraged. The education pZrt is very necessary. I think schools are a natural place to teach young people the signs and where help can be found. The same can be said for hospitals, namely emergency rooms. I remember a time when ERs were not equipped with rape kits as they are now. Dochanges to help victims are slowly becoming the norm.