@Ibisfeather, Episode 8 of Typhoon Family was excellent indeed. I suspect Mi Seon’s competence will get our team out of the sticky situation they find themselves at the end of the episode. Now I need to blast You’re Just Too Good To Be True.

Thanks @pcml for posting this. A good time to sort out oneself.

So:
Weekend dramas — 2.
Typhoon Family, solid professional cinematography and narrative storytelling. Engrossing if you like economics and history like I do — Woo-hoo the big port of Busan in the day! Loansharks and struggling businesses! They actually go to Bangkok! A director who knows how to present Junho at his absolute best, and a uniquely written character for his FL — Mi Seon’s not impulsive or terrified or sick — she says what needs to be said without blabbering, is diligent, ambitious, tactful and pretty cute.

Last Summer—a loyalty watch, LJW another guy who needs the extra oomph of good directing and a good FL. So we will see — mysteriously the twin has not yet made an appearance AT ALL. Storyline not exciting so far except for the sort of obvious joke-placement of the enemies-to-lovers story right next to the DMZ.

Midweek shows — 2.
Big Hopes for old-fashioned rom-coms!

Dynamite Kiss — Ahn Eun Jin and Jang Ki Yong!

Spiritfingers — absolutely great so far, Poop jokes are back! A web-toon adaptation, very faithful to a cool zany story. The presence of Noh Min Woo and Im Chul Soo in minor roles bodes well for the universe. As I have said, most of the young up-and-coming actors/actresses are in this looking their best and being well-directed.
Cho Jun Young finally getting a part with some sass to it. Indelible image of him wrapt tightly in a hot pink sleeping bag rolling around in the throes of rejection and constipation.

Ms. Incognito is wrapping up, as eccentric as I am. Those of you who guessed at the Plan were right, the wainscoting slid back and revealed Guess Who! last week. I would watch the idol-actor (composer/songwriter) Jung Jin Young in his next project, he was hayseed-quiet but developed some intensity.

Love in the Clouds is done on air and open for binge business.

The Rewatch, Remember; the War of the Son (RWotS), is deep in corruption and crime redeemed by youth and the Law. A weeper. Havent watched one lately so am happily doing the watch prep before the Rewatch.

@pcnl3, who was she texting? oh, that is the problem. Do Ha; who technically went abroad 2 yrs ago and has refused to answer his calls bec she and he had a huge fight. So she just randomly shoots off angry provoking messages to his phone.
But he answers.

So per the early info on the plot, HE who answers is not Do Ha, but the twin. Somehow in a way which involves the FL, Do Ha is dead. So the FL has got some kind of willful amnesia? I dont know….

However NOBODY ELSE HAS EVEN MENtIONED Do-Young at all up until ep 2, not his own father, not the FL, not the townspeople. What? Was hs in an asylum?… I also just stopped watching yesterday with some random activity as an excuse.

About to take a look-see again.

I am an Japanese Dorama watcher these days. If you don’t mid old dramas, I can recommend “Suika (2003)” and “Yuube no Curry, Ashita no Pan (2014)”.

“Suika” deals with those seasons in life where nothing goes our way and there is nothing to do but to correct ourselves and prepare to get out in the world again. It is full of symbolism, lessons that are shown but not spelled out, and easter eggs for the ones paying attention to the plot and the heartaches of the four ladies in the pension.

Found the complete drama in a site I didn’t know before. Is it OK to put it here, dear @PM3?

“Yuube no Curry, Ashita no Pan” deals with grief. It is the story of a young widow that lives with her father in law after seven years. The title is basically a claim that even in your worst moments you still need to eat, with all the logistics implied.

Both Dramas have a lot of heart.

As a bonus, “Bread and Soup and Cat Weather (2013)” is about a successful Editor that while facing a job posting that is not in her benefit within the company, decides to take over her deceased mother’s restaurant in her own terms, as a sandwich and soup restaurant. This has the least amount of conflict but it is also more about the flow of time. It is a very enjoyable slice-of-life show but it is the one with less depth from the three.

Hope to read you all soon!

Hi @pkml3…. I’d choose South Korea at the moment, because I’ve not been there before. I’d choose to try the mountains, coastal towns and go to Jeju-do on top of the usual Seoul spots.

However I did like a certain quietude in Japan. It seemed more peaceful and the Winter was beautiful in onsen country.

@pkml3 LOLOL that’s a great anecdote! I know exactly what you mean. Unless we start by saying we don’t really know the language but we can say this… the locals will speak to us like we’re fluent and we feel like frauds LOL.

Anybody else have a lovely time watching ep 1 of Dynamite Kiss? So much happened that I thought I had watched two episodes at the end!

It managed to be a thrill and interesting at the same time. No sign of the baby product company yet, but..

–the show opens with a romance daydream of the under-employed Go Da Rim.
–the actual Cinderella meet of the leads, later, is very funny and wonderfully glitzy, and we have been primed for it to be like the daydream; it will wisp away as soon as we land in the office again.
–There is a tiny bit of schmaltz, as in, at one point,the ML appears to fall for the FL unconsciously while watching her help a mother and child in distress. Shades of a 1920s image of a ‘good girl’.

For my money the kiss in question was excellently written, staged and choreographed. It was all the better because their mutual attraction was already well on the way beforehand.

@Snow Flower. I watched the first 2eps of Moon River because I couldnt (and cant yet) bring myself to watch as You Stood By. I was pleasantly surprised by MR — the two leads work well together!

@IB, I did a quick scan of “As You Stood By” and decided to not go into that show.

I listened to Paroma on YT about “The First Frost” and jumped into Ep 8 cold… Paroma’s review gave me enough background so that I did not need to watch the first 8 episodes and yet I knew what was going on. (Spoilers are very useful when one wants to cut short the viewing time!!!) So I don’t have to watch all 32 episodes.

I’m watching just the couple to see how they get out of the strange relationship loop of not admitting how they feel to each other, but are still so much with each other. At least in this drama, the reasons why they are looping seems to be a bit better than in other dramas. It’s a very slow burn romance drama with many opportunities to FFD and skip ‘annoying people scenes’ which is great for me, because I want a shorter watch. I like the co-habitation trope where everyone is in place and the situation is perfect for romance, but the romance is sort of at a standstill LOL. Both annoying and intriguing.

For the Rewatch, I should give Ep 1 of R:WotS a proper pre-party rewatch first. I’m glad Yoo Seung Ho is so easy on the eyes and cries 😢😭 so beautifully. 😂

Is anybody watching Spirit Fingers?

WooHoo, a real stunner of a body swap on Moon River tonight (ep4) — on a first-and-last date during a fireworks show, with mutual bleeding wounds and a sudden burning feeling at the wrists they tumble over the railing and almost drown realistically.

Worthwhile watching just for the postcard value, its conveniently right at the end of the episode.

@GB re Dynamite Kiss.

I am stuck to the screen on wed/thurs for it.

I am not kiss-counter so it is a small miracle that I have returned twice to see the aforesaid kiss (at the end of ep1 for the postcard-collectors).

Two moments just make me laugh and thrill:

— The kiss is part of the initial lite-con, so both are surprised by it but KJK has this stunned look — as she starts to flee, he stops her and almost stuttering asks if ‘they could do that again’!

— Second, he stumbles back to the couples’ table and is shaking so much his champagne glass almost clinks on his teeth.

Too wonderful.

I was pleasantly surprised by Jang Ki Yong’s comedy skills. He usually plays tortured souls, so it was refreshing to see him in different role. Based on family background reveals in Episode 2, he probably will get tortured soul scenes anyway.
Ahn Eun Jin is always delightful in any role.

@IB @Snowflower, I must say that Dynamite Kiss is better in it’s first 3 episodes than many other rom coms are even after 10. At least it kept me highly entertained and got me invested in the main characters.

The main couple is great to watch with a few unexpected moves that make the story feel fresh. On top of that, Show tends to tease the viewer with editing a scene (so far in a couple of episodes) so that we expect an outcome that does not happen.

I thought it would be just 12 episodes long but it turns out to be 14, which gets me hoping that it does not try to overly eke out sub-plots. Listing them makes it feel like there are a lot of side stories to either flesh out or gloss over.

Among the sub-plots, there’s the Sun Woo-Da Rim arc, the Ji Hyeok-Ha Yeong arc, the mother-son (Ji Heok) arc, brother (Ji Heok)-sister (Ji Hye) arc plus their cold, business-minded father, and Da Rim’s family with almost forgotten sister in hiding arc.

I believe that there might even be a nice romance between Sun Woo and Ha Yeong, if they can get past that Sun Woo cares a lot for Da Rim, and Ha Yeong currently wants to marry Ji Hyeok, and if Ha Yeong can accept that Sun Woo has a child.

@IB, @GB,

I enjoyed Episode 3 of Dynamite Kiss. Poor ML is so conflicted. He is angry and hurting, and yet he still cares for FL. Looking forward to secondary romance as well.

@IB @Snow Flower
My, my … Dynamite Kiss really knows how to please viewers who want lots of romance and couple moments. Ep 4 certainly packed them in.

SPOILER??

And the secondary couple may be having a good start with little Jun in favour of Ms Yu as dad’s future girlfriend.

I’ve rewatched the Ep 1, opening dream sequence. Da Rim’s dream offers us the diametrically opposed and yet ironically similar situation of her ‘to-be’ real life. She’s the much sought-after CEO who gets a marriage proposal and ring from an Intern whose face we never get to see and whose name Da Rim does not even know. But wonder of wonders, she accepts the proposal and the ring and even almost kisses the Intern.

In her real life, she is forced to wake up from her zombie state (she’s called Noryangjin Zombie by the lecturer) when packed off to Jeju-do and starts to lie that the man whose name she does not know is her boyfriend (and fiance). She really ends up receiving a ring as part of her makeover, and really kisses the man after only meeting him for a few hours.

I’ve noticed that kdramas like the Cinderella set up quite a bit. This is yet another drama that uses it unabashedly.

Ji Hyeok styles himself to Kim Jeong Gwon as the fairy god-father who dolls up Cinderella and sets her up with Prince Charming. Of course by the end of Ep 2 we see that JH is both the fairy godfather who gives Cinderella Da Rim a makeover and the prince who falls in love with her himself, but she literally runs off leaving behind not a slipper but a four-leaf clover. They even jointly repeat the magic spell of fairy godmother ‘Bibbidi, bobbidi boo’.

JH turns out to be over and over again, DR’s saviour or knight in great looking suits (his armour!) with a shining black credit card LOL.

@GB
I feel as if we are really on a role with men’s suiting.

The gangster chaebol/set-up of Awaken:War of the Sons (rewatch) makes for some meaningful woollens with satin pocket ‘chiefs. The words for the other materials used fail me…

In DK, JKY (an extremely successful model in RL) beautifully fills out his lovely suits without wrinkling them.

(I did recently watch The Outfit, a gloriously 1930ish-flavored stagey Netflix film about a British “cutter” in 1956 Chicago, where the suits are made before your eyes, so I may be temporarily oversensitive to haberdashery).

I am kind of bursting at the seams here without a DK thread. Ep5 was a real belly laugh. Most of the comments have been powerfully emotive over the now love-square between the 4 leads.

I went into today really annoyed at the humble and non-too-bright FL, and ended up lmao at the comedy of the episode.

Upon reflection the very cute couples wouldnt be as charming if the usual back bench wasnt super powerhouse.

Shin Joo Hyup, playing the secretary, amplifies JKY’s charms and grounds his frothiness. Besides being very good-looking.

Park Jin U, playing a team leader who is an ally of a very stepsistery older sister, has super physical skills — after a confrontation in the cafeteria his groan was epic.

The 3 women on the new-mothers-team, as always with comic groups, start off annoying and end up being endearing — my favourite is Park Jee Ah, who has a chronically sick child, but is bursting with aggressive energy herself.

And in a comedy about mothers, the child actor has to be a good one — Choi Ja Woon is a perfect little munchkin, not too grimacing or cutesy, but nicely opinionated.

JKY is doing an amazing job playing his character’s interaction as a son to his mother, who is suffering from serious depression. I actually dont remember seeing a stronger and truer relationship portrayal this year. PLenty of girls and their moms, but this is a special piece of work from JKY.

I finished two romance dramas. The first was “Extra-ordinary You.” It gently satirized the tropes of the high school romance manhwa, while also embracing them. Great performances by Kim Hye Yoon and Lee Jae Wook. Rowoon’s role was to look pretty and he excelled at it.

The second romance drama I finished was “The Tale Of Lady Ok.” I thought this drama was like a sensational romance novel that the ladies in Joseon era read in secret while blushing and swooning at the same time. It had the most romantic ML I have watched in a while.

Now I have to catch up on Dynamite Kiss. I want to start Spirit Fingers and Moon River. Any word on Dear X?

Snow Flower! The Tale of Lady Ok is sensational! No one ever mentions it. Because its buried in Kocowa?

Lim Ji Yeon was done a dirty over the awards in 24. She carried off the main narrative and had the courage to look like a slave to begin with, before she took on the guise of Lady Ok. SK still prefers glitz or innocence in its FLs.

Mr.Chu got the award, and has had his pick of roles since then. Its plain wrong. So many leading men have done doppelganger/twin roles since, without the hoopla. Oh well, he is quite the talent, we must admit.

@Ibisfeather,

I got a Kocowa free trial in order to finish the last two episodes of Extra-Ordinary You. Said drama mysteriously disappeared from Viki, so I had to go to Kocowa. I had been meaning to watch Lady OK for a while, so I am happy I finally did. Lim Ji Yeon is exceptional in this. Shame she did not win.

😄🥳🌈🥂🍲🍗🍾🎉
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates this special event!

I’m thankful for family and friends, time to relax, work to do, shows to watch and a great community to watch with!

😄🥳🌈🥂🍲🍗🍾🎉

Anyone else noticing that apart from DK and MR December is looking a little dry of romantic kdramas? Pro Bono will be lots of fun but it doesnt look romantic.

At the end of the month Idol I will drop (22nd) and Cashero may be romantic (26th).

There are 2 cdrama moderns coming — Why Is He Still Single? and a melo, I Swear.

Any other ideas?

I only have netflix and viki but am interested in what others will watch elsewhere: I read the descriptions and previews so much that I remain curious about how shows actually turn out.

For the holidays I may back up and watch many films on long lists. Or explore more doramas or Taiwanese past shows.

@GB — DK 7-8, I wasnt enjoying the situation-comedy of dominant ML and submissive FL so much, until the family dynamics at the engagement meeting — I am all there for JH and his mom, a note of true feeling settles the surrounding fluff nicely. …And then that cliffhanger at the end of 8!!! The look on his face, slo mo, editing and you can practically hear his heart gong once deeply in shock…beautiful.

Surprisingly I picked up and watched a Turkish movie, “Two Worlds, One Wish” which struck me as one of those stories that could have been (and to an extent was) adapted to a kdrama 12-16 episodes. (There are at least 2 kdramas with a somewhat similar premise/theme but they were 20 and 16 episodes long!!!)

It had the childhood meeting trope with making a wish.
It had a supernatural element and impossible romance.
There was the faith in a fairytale come true trope.
The falling in love as adults and sacrificing for each other tropes….
It was the same and yet different and a good enough watch, if one does not mind a mixed sort of ‘happy-ish’ ending.

And here is a general question — since I rarely drop a loyalty watch the way I dropped Last Summer, I feel guilty and want to at least ask responsibly,

did Last summer improve in the end?

Anybody in this group watch it all the way?

@agdr03 Thanks for the review of Love Ambition and Typhoon Family.

You’re not alone in wanting a thread for Dynamite Kiss. @ibisfeather and I have been hoping to share our thoughts without spoiling the show on this thread.

I really enjoyed the ending of Ep 8 and am impatient for Ep 9. The preview suggests that the OTP may have a conversation about the great deception. I hope Show won’t push that conversation into Ep 10!!!

I forgot to add why I feel that Dynamite Kiss is similar to Business Proposal.

1 – Office setting
2 – JH does the side sweep of hair
3 – black credit card
4 – boat scenes.

I’ll add more if something else comes up. 😃

I believe that if we had a thread for Dynamite Kiss, it would explode about now or very soon after enough of us have watched Episode 9.

MILD SPOILERS

I laughed quite a bit at the unexpected humour. Driving too slowly can be as stressful as driving too fast! The male posturing was cute and the mums getting together was lovely. I believe Secretary Kang is going quite strong in his pursuit of the young widow, and Ha Yeong’s pursuit of Seon Woo never falters. I’m even slightly interested in the chaebol sister’s arc with the ex and whether she can shake him off.

I really like that Show did not gloss over the fact that fraud was committed and that more than one lie was told. The resolutions have to be worked out in the next 5 episodes. JH’s Mum bringing in the lawyers was such a relief for her character, and a bit of hoot … they were played so over the top so I paid attention.

That was a plumper Namgoong Min behind the sunglasses, making a cameo, wasn’t it? I felt that he and his partner were doing a reprise of their roles from some other show(s). I just checked and I’m right!!! Namgoong Min was reprising his role as Cheon Ji Hun in Taxi Driver 2, while Kim Ji Eun was reprising her role as Baek Ma Ri in One Dollar Lawyer.

The forgotten sister whose loans from loan sharks started off the need for the lie is still almost forgotten but I’m glad, not quite. And now we have a new arc with the mums and an open quadrangle of lovers in hot pursuit of whom they fancy. What a fun last few episodes to look forward to!

@MM, that’s great!

I like how in contrast with the horrid ex, JH held back out of respect for Da Rim, when he could have taken advantage of his loftier position (plus so many opportuities) and made things nasty. But now, he can let himself go in a good way, and I’m all for him doing a proper pursuit at last!

Ep9 was great fun. DaRim is a really terrible driver!

Normally a large social event about to be derailed is not a source of merriment but so many women had so many different plans to stop the engagement party! Who accomplished it in the end?

Gloves off between ML and 2ML so they behave like 9 yr-olds during a joint interview for the exhibition!

@IB @Snow Flower

MINOR SPOILERS

Episode 10 of Dynamite Kiss was beset with pettiness and jealousy but it had a most heartily satisfactory albeit fiery end.

Once again we had more revelations and honest conversations: a relief after the subterfuge. Now we can cheer on the hot pursuit with abandon!

I am starting to get worried about packmule — have you stayed away for a longer vacation, Queen of Prose? Please check in …

I am going to be a bit contrarian here re Dynamite Kiss.

I am just starting Ep 9 of DK and irritated by the very clumsy public behaviour of the FL with her nephew and faux husband – even loudly proclaiming to others on the balcony that they are just brother and sister…

This is after all the engagement ceremony of her boss. She and non-BTS-Jin faux husband – she especially – have been terrified of the truth getting out. She was taken to hospital because of the tension she was feeling.

The situation remains as risky at the engagement ceremony – she needs her job which is based on her married identity – so why the sudden forgetfulness?

Poor plot continuity.

For me this is a fun and just ok show. I adored the comedy in episodes 5 and 6 – slightly farcical. But I am back to not being enthralled like some of you because I find the story a bit clunky. Some of the editing is slow and makes for over-stated comedy which could have been hilarious in better hands. I don’t think is is on a par with Business Contract which I have happily re-watched and laugh at every time. I don’t buy the chemistry either between the two leads. It is too staged.

I am watching 2 shows with heaps more chemistry (‘Sniper Butterfly’ and ‘Love and Redemption’) at the moment and both shows give me butterflies.

It is a grower but the start was just ok and it comes and goes in its strength.

So, there we are – grumpy comments from the cold and wet UK!

In the end too – this is a matter of personal taste!

Hi all, third attempt to post a contrarian view of Dynamite Kiss.

Although this confection has so many positive ingredients – I have had mixed responses to the various episodes. I was not blown away (pun intended) by the first few episodes. I didn’t buy the relationship between the ML and FL and the passion – from a standing start – in their kiss. And this is the driving force behind the story and the thing that sends the ML into crazy and sometimes comedic pursuit mode. The FL is a lovely actress but her comic timing is not great. The ML is wonderful at the comedy and sending himself up. They both bring a lot to the angsty moments, that said.

As a general point, in the early episodes, I found the story-telling predictable and the editing slow. This made it harder for the stars of the show to shine and left them a bit exposed at points.

Things improved for me with the farcical deception and avoidance of discovery storyline in Episodes 5 and 6. Very entertaining.

But now we are in Episode 9 with the FL who was so stressed by the role she was playing at work – that of a married woman with a child – that she ended up in hospital. That same FL while outside on a balcony at the engagement party of her boss who believes her to be married with a child – is happy to playfully interact with her faux son who calls her ‘Auntie!’ at the top of his lungs! She also bellows at some other friends that she and her faux husband are like brother and sister. All this while the ML (the boss), observes from ‘stage right’ and overhears their theatrically loud conversation.

Poor continuity. Yes, for stage panto but not for rom coms with some semblance of sophistication.

Business Proposal this is not. It is fun but not re-watchable fun. I will enjoy your comments and save watching this for a weekend when I am less tired and crochety and more likely to enjoy.

No worries @Kate! Our blog is very open to everyone’s honest opinion. ☺️

I haven’t seen the last 2 episodes but I’m just enjoying it. I’m really liking JKY. 😃

Thanks for letting me know, @Packmule 🙂. I was wracking my brains. All fine.

I’ll second @GB’s request for a Dynamite Kiss thread, please Queen? 🙇🏻‍♀️ Thank you.

@Kate, I like him too much I started his other drama with Song Hye Kyo. 😃🤦🏻‍♀️

Thanks @monmor , I’ve seen My Roommate Is A Gumiho. I enjoyed it. The kisses were hot. ☺️

@Kate
Sniper Butterfly is my butterflies-go-to as well!

MM has been bending my ear over Love and Redemption!

I just finished Spirit Fingers- such a heart warming drama. The little brother cracked me up.
Next drama to watch: Moon River

@agdr03 and @MM,

Re My Girlfriend is a Gumiho
Everyone has an entry drama or actor/ress which really enchanted them.
Lee Seung Gi in Hwayugi, Dimples Shin Min-ah in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and, silly me, Bae Suzy in The Gu Family Book…I went backwards into the wilds, safe with those smiles.

All repeat watches for me.
(its that time of the year…)

@GB, MM

In lieu of subscribing to iqiyi, I just started

The Vendetta of An, on Netflix — at least there is Cheng Yi!

Great intro, my favourite historico-fantasy tone, and great antiquarian stuff.

more dramas with a supernatural component that I have enjoyed.

Strong girl bong soon
another ms oh
hotel del luna

Hello ibis feather I responded to your comment above but was sent to the moderation bin. This drama is just too hot! I will try again later when I have time.

@IF @kate Yes, his acting is good. Right from the beginning it was easy to tell the difference between the young version and the older one just by his acting. Even though I am enjoying the FL I am glad she has different length hair in the 2 timelines.

I have finished episode 20 and the kisses are hot!

I am enjoying the stucture of this drama. Creating questions about their past relationship
by showing the future first contributes to the romantic tension and viewer engagement.

@Ibisfeather and @Monmor,

One more scene I loved was the encounter between Li Wu and husband number one, Wu Fu, when Wu Fu tries to return items to the Jin’s flat (I can’t recall the episode number).

Li Wu goes into full territorial mode — much to Wu Fu’s surprise — towering over him. Li Wu counters the ex-husband’s patronising comments about Jin with sharp observation about the way Wu Fu bullied her. Wu Fu is clearly taken aback: Li Wu is no longer the polite, appreciative student, and Li Wu admits he wouldn’t want the FL to see this side of him, but it’s a risk worth taking if Wu Fu gets the message.

What I loved is that this shows Li Wu as a strategist — someone who weighs risks and acts with a longer-term goal in mind. He’s a brilliant scholar who rises to the top of his class despite his background, and that intelligence is very much part of his appeal.

If he were just a love-sick puppy, the show wouldn’t hold nearly the same interest for us.

Dear Friends, how have you been?

Dear @Ibis, my very first Drama was “Gu Family Book” back in 2013. Got there because a cousin of mine recommended it. Bae Suzy was achingly beautiful in that Drama.

Its themes of goodness in the face of adversity along with facing prejudice with consistent character (until people that distrusts you understands you are truly on their side) still resonates with me.

My second was My Girlfriend is a Gumiho. I was so in love with Ms. Shin Min Ah’s Gu Miho character living in a magical Seoulthat in comparison my decaying Caracas was depressive. Got a down on that.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Sorry I haven’t been in contact. Let’s say that since September things have been “interesting” around here.

Will wait for a Christmas Post to properly greet you all!!!

@GB, @snow Flower, @Kate and @agdr

Ep11, Once again the newest episode wins me over!

Looking at their now-acknowledged girlfriends in the idiot throes of drunken sisterhood, the two boyfriend sigh together and sling their girlfriends’ bags off their own necks in perfect unison!

Priceless. Absolutely priceless.

And I do love a good villainess — the evil sister is up to standard.

@IB, @Snow Flower, @agdr03, @Kate
I finally had time to watch Ep 12 of DK. Some very nice moments and finally we see how the sh*t and the fan are going to come together. It’s a masterstroke of Chaebol Unni’s and that horrible brother of Ha Yeong.

However before all that, I just want to say how nice it is to have a team who has one’s back, how sweet the Jun and HY show was and what an interesting twist to HY’s mum and Seon Wu’s interaction. Oh and I like how we get to see many warm embraces.

So next week, it’s going to be Christmas week and our JH and DR are going to have some tough times. But we know that it’s going on end on Christmas Day and we will be watching it with smiles on our faces… right? Right!!!

Dear @packmule3 — speaking of the holidays….this thread is too long; how about a new open post – your title?
So many shows are coming up around Xmas or New Years, how are we to choose without you?

@Kate and @MM, Sniper Butterfly has really captivated me. Or should I say Zhou Ke Yu; in this I am joined by some large amount of viewers on the mainland.

I am curious, though — after the elegance of retro-Shanghai in Why is He Still Single, the jaw-dropping weirdness of the pop-art domestic interiors favored by the two leads in SB is hard to take. Do you all think that kids really like that decor?

I guess it sort of matches the fashions and general architectural modernity.

I am on the last few eps dropping one by one on viki.

I read that about ZKY — he seems to have been raised by his older brother, not sure if in the US or in China. Stories….

He apparently just recently successfully switched citizenship, so now he is Chinese (I guess it takes a few years to make the application).

What I am curious about is where he trained as an actor. My guess is China.

For me, SB has a Taiwanese flavor, maybe its Michelle, but the main director too is from the island. The open way that social issues are normalized in conversation, that patient listening look of Michelle…I keep planning to make time to seriously watch more Tdrama but keep putting it off.

Not too much of a spoiler but as an example, Chun Chang (the FL’s bestie) has a poor relationship with her mother, a remarried widow who consistently puts her new husband and son first before her own daughter (in First Frost the FL’s mom is similiar altho much more horrific).

When by chance Mom learns that her daughter has a respectable man as a lover suddenly her attitude changes and all of a sudden she wants to be involved in CC’s life. Without saying as much, Chun Chang makes it clear that she previously had still had self-worth without a man in her life and that her mom hurtfully hadnt seen that value. A very soft presentation, very sweet.

@Ibisfeather, @Monmor, @GB

@Ibisfeather — I’d been idly wondering about the interior design too, so I smiled at your comment. It does look like a style that will date very quickly, so perhaps it’s more C-drama aspirational than real-life desirable!

@GB, @Ibisfeather — what you say makes sense of DZ’s confident English pronunciation. Given his Chinese boy-band background, and the lack of clear information about a formal transition into acting, I suspect @IF’s assumption is right.

Interesting point about the Taiwanese vibes as well.

Avenue X has been critical of the series partly because of the dubbing of Michelle Chen — she feels the voice actor was very ‘job’s worth’ and muted the way the character came over. I didn’t pick up on this and wish I had a better grasp of the language – intonation etc. I’m glad I didn’t watch her review first; sometimes I agree with her, and sometimes she strains a gnat and misses a camel.

I’ve finished the show now and enjoyed it a lot overall, with the exception of one part of the story where it was helpful for me to remember how this drama will likely land with a Chinese rather than a Western audience.

Overall, DZ is very natural in the role, which adds to the immediacy and instinctive quality of his performance and the moments he shares with Michelle Chen. He’s said in interviews that he has a lot in common with Li Wu — although he is apparently much more of a talker in real life, according to Michelle Chen!

Howdy all! Queen must be very busy. I totally understand. ☺️

I’m up to date with DK. I’m still enjoying it. I’m not sure how the second leads will get together but I thought the performance for the school was cute. 🥰

I’ll start on Sniper Butterfly after DK.

Let’s have a safe and blessed Christmas! 🎄 🎄🎄

@agdr03 I think you’ll like Sniper Butterfly. The kisses are not bad and get better after Ep 20 or thereabouts.

A Holy and Happy Christmas to you and your loved ones!

Anyone watching Surely Tomorrow? It was not exactly an easy start, or it was but we know what was coming up so … but Ep 5 has me in stitches. It’s not a comedy, however finding the means to make a person stay put required a deal of hilarious cunning and creativity.

I wish they’d change Park Seo Joon’s style… he looks dowdy, I guess, on purpose? The jackets are too big for him! Will he appear at the end with hair slicked back and in a well-fitted suit? I watch to find out!!!

I like that the one who pulled the trick years ago gets some comeuppance in a way.

Re-thinking that drama drought —

Perhaps I should stop panicking, since my streaming services (viki and Netflix) this year have habitually been deal-making in the dark over Cdrama offerings and then dropping them without warning!!

Thusly…as of a few hours ago….

Sudden Arrivals Area: Shine on Me, with Song Weilong (Mr. I am Romantically Dark) and Zhao Jin Mai (of Our Generation infamy). SW is a dependable if not exciting ML. Many here will be put off by the FL but I was favorably impressed by her in Our Generation. Anyway this is definitely a standard rom-com, and one I have been waiting for.

You never know what is around the corner.

Hi @FGB! Thank you and a very happy and blessed Christmas to you too!

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it. 🎄🎄🎄 Sending you all joy, peace, love and kindness. 🙏🏼

Queen, I hope you and your family are well. Have a wonderful Christmas. We miss you here. ☺️

@GB , I can’t believe we’re almost saying goodbye to 2025! Where did the year go?

I hope you’re having a nice Christmas evening. ☺️ It’s bedtime now for me. I’m beat after having our clan’s Christmas Eve dinner last night and I didn’t finish helping my sister till 1:30am this morning. I still had to travel and so I didn’t get to sleep till 3am. 😬

@IB, @Snow Flower, @Kate, @MM

Wow oh wow …. what a great ending to Dynamite Kiss. They really got it right on so many fronts. This is the way a good drama ending should be. So much still happening that’s interesting, no filler, loose ends tied up satisfactorily … even the arcs I mentioned in the beginning… not forgotten.

Loved how the cast finally broke the 4th wall in free dance and all the credits were shown properly with each set of actors.

Looking back at rom-coms, I can’t recall one that has been designed to end so nicely, with a call back to stuff that started the drama off in the first place.

Minor Spoiler

This show had one of the best uses of the amnesia trope plus the time of separation, and time jump that I’ve come across. Those tropes were essential for the final reunions to make sense and work well. I’m so chuffed that we (at least @agdr03 and I, but I believe many others too) finally got our ideal ending to a rom-com. What a merry Christmas!!!

I just finished Dynamite Kiss. It was tropey and predictable, but I still enjoyed it. The amnesia in the last episode made me roll my eyes. I appreciated the suavely sarcastic side of Jang Ki Yong and I am looking forward to more romantic comedies with him.

Thanks @GB for the heads up. I’m so happy it’s a great ending for Dynamite Kiss. 🥰 I can’t wait to finish it. ☺️

@GB, I think it is just 4 episodes. The intensity of the emotions created by the college scenes creeps up on you slowly through the behaviors afterwards of the FL and that Ashley-(Gone with the Wind)-passive-aggressive-SML. The script is more sophisticated than I thought at first — more detailed and interesting re the characters’ emotions.

@IB,
Shine on Me – I have not reached Ep 7 yet, but thanks for the heads up that it improves. I was about to throw in the towel at the first half of Ep 5. Show picked up only just after that!!!

In this show, at least I won’t grumble about how the girl can’t figure out that so-and-so likes her… he was so wishy-washy, leaving things in silence, not being proactive when it mattered, not clarifying his other relationship, … how’s a girl to know. Just as well since she’s not supposed to end up with him.

I have to rewatch that part where Xi Guang supposedly met Yu Sen already… I guess it was at the Employment Fair? I probably fell asleep at that point in the show.

Comparing the 2 brothers looks ie Zhuang Xu and Zhuang Fei, I prefer the younger ZF heh! ZX merely looks strangely as if he’s disapproving most of the time. I’m guessing that the reverse class snobbery, as you call it, has something to do with ZX not wanting others or XG to think that he’s after her for her money and connections. He wants it clear that he does not want to owe her anything and will not take from her in the future as well. Of course, doing all that paying back stuff with that expression on his face does him no favours!!! And he fails to explain sweetly or at all, what he’s trying to do and why, so… I don’t blame XG at all.

@IB
Shine on Me SPOILERS

SPOILERS

I appreciate that finally we have 2 rather rich kids who are not spoilt brats, who actually know who each other’s parents are and who are voluntarily testing out a relationship like normal people and without subterfuge. No need for the usual drama-couple deceptions or parental machinations to bring these 2 together.

You mentioned a mistaken identity thing … I’m waiting to see how that is explained. It seems Yu Sen thought she was the one who asked to meet him, and because he had already admired her in the past, he agreed to attend some gathering. However that’s when he had his accident. But it seems she may not have noticed him at all before they met at work. She says she would have remembered if they’d met before.

I agree that the triangle is more interesting because the one in the middle actually liked the 2ML first. At least it makes more sense why it takes another 18-20 episodes for her to disentangle herself from a one-sided (almost) non-romance before going all-in (her words) into a proper romance. There is also the other option she has, which is, to be without any man for a bit. So far the young peoples interests (apart from work) seem to revolve around getting a bf or gf and food!!!

SPOILER

I just also posted a comment on flirtation in eps 11-12 — Li YuSen turns on a funny angle which plays on the formal structure/nuts and bolts of arranged marriage discussions — for once it isnt annoying that she is oblivious to it, because the structure is that she needs time to process the painful experiences with Rong and Zhuang Xu.

When you get there please check if I am reading too much comedy into it? I hear Chinese family, formal courtship echoes, maybe they arent there.

(oh Queen where are you! this is so up your alley). It may be that I am finally warming up to Song Weilong as an actor.

About the Title and Word Play
While we see the translation of this Show’s title as “Shine on Me”, the credits begin with “You are the sun in my life…” and the title of the novel in Chinese is 骄阳似我 or “The Sun is Like Me”. There is another OST (‘Two-way Love’ played during the Ep 11 movie scene) that says “You are the sun in my life, my light. We shine together, we rise, we glow…”

This, coupled with our OTP being in the solar energy industry makes it amusing like a double or triple alliteration. I like the concept of light, warmth, mutual healing and a healthy relationship. This is one of the pet themes of this writer.

Romantic Love and the ML
Your point about Yu Sen hanging tight and steady is very accurate. That is the type of male lead (as in the novels) who shows what love is like in action. As long as the girl did not put up a block to say ‘don’t woo me’, the ML would take slow and steady and realistic steps to win her heart, without showiness.

EPISODE 11 – One of the ideas behind love is ‘action speaks louder than words’. I find that these words are literally put into our ML’s mouth. We look forward to more ‘action’ henceforth.

To show the contrast we are provided the foil ie ZX who does not take action. He is the most passive of 2ML’s I’ve come across!! He fails to ask questions, and to answer them. It’s no wonder that his relationships with ladies drown in miscommunication.

@IB
The Choice of Settings in Shine on Me

EPISODE 12 – I like the picture perfect scene of the OTP talking honestly about their relationship against the background of a pretty building front while it is snowing on them. I was amused that instead of having that scene in a usual cafe setting (with PPL!!) we get an outdoor conversation that was long and meaningful. It was also apt mise-en-scène because what they were saying was Yu Sen was still outside Xi Guang’s heart, however she was on the outside with him trying to figure it out. She from what she said, it’s clear that the doors and windows of her heart (like of the facade behind them) were not entirely shut against him but might in fact open. The snow fell gently on them.

They were on an open road and had a choice of routes to take, and YS literally did point out that XG had the right to choose which man she preferred. I loved that when he said she could take her pick, the snow started falling UPWARDS for XG, it was obviously a revelation to her. This was the opposite of ZX who insisted that once she declared her feelings, then it should be all about him.

YS noted that she had not barred him from her life and told her openly that he was going to court her and try to win her heart. We so seldom get an upfront declaration that is so measured like this, it’s so refreshing.

This can be contrasted with the conversation between ZX and wannabe-gf Ye Rong on a bridge, also in the falling snow, but this was a swirling snow in a windy spot. Their conversation was one of blame, calling out responsibility for an unconfirmed romance, rightly or wrongly bringing in or denying Xi Guang as if she was at fault for their non-romance. The snow swirled in a disorderly way around them in the open space, reflecting their communication.

In the end they face opposite directions with ZX noting as he left that he had trusted Rong’s words on XG but that he had paid the price for this.

@GB, I have been off line mostly all day while you rolled through shine on me! I need to watch the last (17?) but first must read your comments on the previous! Goodness!

@GB, just finished 17, the ski trip isnt over! Quite a fancy New Years for them all.

In these Cdrama moderns the place of PPL is taken by promoting China’s attractions. In this case it is a real huge resort. I always find it interesting.
But thus time its a bit chilly. And XG was falling down with her knees at odd angles, very uncomfortable to watch.
I like the worker’s garden house better, it will be nice and warm.

I actually think that YS knows that she has a chance to run her dad’s business if not someone elses, or her owns, and that he is actually putting her in boss training.
Not just to distract her. YS is really taking the long view. Does he want an unhappy wife without a job of her own? Does he want a subordinate? No, he wants her to be happy and his partner in at least the most important way.
Since she is about 6 years younger and without preparation may be plunged into corporate politics by her dad without warning, he is really being very intelligent about helping her to begin to stand up on her own. He is a sort of romance multi-tasker.

It is very prescient of him to understand that she wont be happy when she grows up without meaningful work. He really does love her.

Oh dear @GB! I LOVE the busybodies in Cdrama! They make me feel cozy. I havent thought abt them in Kdrama.

I guess they can provide a feeling of claustrophobia if one is sensitive to family interference. Often, also, everyone is pulling in different directions according to hiw they understand the main leads’ situations.misunderstand

They provide the element of comedy and complication to keep me entertained whilst loves tumbles along its way.

BY the way, factoid –Niang Rui, her cousin and part of her closest family, Mom-Uncle, Wife and cousin, was probably only 13 or 14 when this was filmed. A child actor since he was 9.

sorry for the misspellings and Jiang Rui is 16 now, so more like 14-15 when it was filmed. He does look like a 15yr old.

@IB
Shine on Me Ep 20 I was wrong!!!

SPOILER

SPOILER

In the end the conflict is internal to the OTP and that’s the way I like it!!

XG’s reaction illustrates something that she has not yet realised about herself. I was looking up the issue of anger in a romantic relationship where 1 party is not informed. AI tells me that it’s about the meaning of the ‘not being informed’ and not the failure to act in itself. XG equates being informed with being considered/being thought of and hence cared for … so the failure to inform her seemed to her that she was not important enough to YS.

Her expectations were that he’d know that she would worry about him if she could not reach him. He, however, had no clue that his forgetting to send the message would be viewed as not prioritising XG as highly as he should, if he liked her.

The conversation or rather the one-sided fight (and this sounds familiar to me when it comes to young, beginning couples, and different expectations):

XG to YS: “Even while helping the patient, you still had time to leave me a message, didn’t you? Then why couldn’t you send me a quick text? … Even if my phone was off I could have seen it when I switched it on.”
YS apologises.

XG: “I’ve been running around looking for you like a complete idiot.” (Adding to XG’s anger was a sense of embarrassment and how she had been frantic while YS had not considered that she’d be affected).
YS: “I didn’t think you’d come looking for me.” (I feel this statement may have added fuel to the fire!)
XG: “Why wouldn’t you?”
YS is speechless. (LOLOL)

XG: “What’s the point of an apology? When it mattered I didn’t even cross your mind. And you claim to like me? I don’t think you like me at all. (It’s possible that she’s more sensitive because of her bad experience with ZX, however that was a bit of a low blow.)

XG: “You knew I’d be worried, and yet you didn’t even bother to text. No, wait,… you didn’t even think I’d be worried about you.” (It sounds like her fear for him added to her anger. She also sounds a bit unreasonable as if he should know her feelings).

YS remains speechless as ZG enters the cab in a huff and Jiang Rui warns: “Bro Lin, you’re dead meat. It’s my first time seeing XG this angry.”

Later Jiang Rui points out to ZG that although she had the right to be angry, she did not have to get that worked up.

JR: “Well, I don’t know but if I had been the one who did not inform you in time, you would probably have smacked me and been done with it. At least you wouldn’t feel this wronged.”

She is struck by this… that she had felt entitled to some special consideration from YS, and not getting it, had felt wronged. XG will realise that she cares a lot more for YS than she admits. Our OTP are not yet on the same page, but I like this ‘fight’ which should straighten some things out between them.

JR felt she had been too tough on YS, and I agree. However this scene sounds so familiar to me, and so true to life!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!! This is from one of those greetings I received which I send to you: “In 2026, may your cup be filled with kindness, peace, happiness, strength, joy, gratitude, peace, hope and love.” Have a Blessed Year!!

@IB
Shine on Me – Ep 21 and 22
It’s still going at a good pace and I like that we get more revelations here and there.

MILD SPOILER

Once again I was wrong about the source of the next conflict. However I was right that it was external, before it became almost internal, but I did not guess which quarter it would come from. It was great that it was sort of quickly resolved and my earlier question about the mistaken identity is answered.

ZX is still stuck in ‘almost-action’ which in effect is non-action, because he makes a move but does not follow through until the end.

This time the source of irritation for me was the cousin (as all the bff girls were not in the ep) as he tried to interfere in the OTP’s interactions, but he’s also quite a bit of fun to watch.

I applaud XG for being able to deal with a tiresome parent, but now we see that XG’s generation may have more to deal with, because of issues that the earlier generation may have caused.

My heart went out to YS when it becomes apparent what he has lost in terms of his medical career, which he says he’s come to terms with, but … and also in terms of how he still has to do therapy for his hand. One of the themes of this show is picking oneself up after adversity, but it has not really been explored, since YS has appeared to let go and to have moved on,… but one still wonders. One of the OSTs (Everything is the Same After Losing) that addresses the loss was poignant.

Which brings to mind that I like quite a lot of this show’s OSTs which is unusual for me. I generally only like a couple of songs per show, but I find myself wanting to listen to several of this show’s songs. 🙂

@GB
Shine On Me
ep 20
spoiler

The contretemps between FL and ML.

Such complex emotions when one gets frightened for a loved one. I was glad to have your breakdown of the components.

Once again I feel as if in a drama I have never seen actors who can carry off such everyday but complex interactions before. Kdrama tends to dwell on the emotional moment i.e. the psychological state of the character, for long seconds at a time, with all the weapons in the cinematic arsenal, boom!

But this is more literary — that self-revelation when you think about your own an others’ experiences as if they had been newly discovered by an arctic explorer.

I like it very much.

I like that SWL does a good job of showing that the revisit to his past carries with it some sort of echoing shock. Helped along with well-done but somewhat opaque flashbacks w/o voiceover.

I love the way JR provides a voice of sanity but he remains within the limits of the abilities of a normal 15-yr old boy — that shrug in response to mom’s question, with the pursed lip,s when they get back to the chalet! lol.

I like the way XG portrays the rush of adrenaline and its aftermath physically (and JR provides a pretty exact physical description in case anyone misses it).

What a good shows!

Word, everyone else —

How have (kdramas I cant watch yet, running in SK on tv, and on prime video etc) been?:

Nice to not Meet You
Surely Tomorrow
Love Me
?

@IB, I am watching ‘Surely Tomorrow’.

It’s less a light rom-com and more a romance drama with some serious bits. I’m hoping the ending will be happy, since there was suffering along the way to the present. Our leads are eminently watchable, and there’s a bit of an ensemble of side characters that helps the OTP and us along. Watch if you don’t mind that all is not entirely light and breezy; however the dark clouds are not too bad overall.

It will be interesting to know what others think of the FL’s character. Should she ever have made her way into ML’s life?

@IB, in case you have not watched Shine on Me Episodes 23 and 24 yet, I won’t comment on them yet.

Instead, I transcribed the conversations that puzzled me from Episode 21.

SPOILERS for Ep 21

Yu Sen comes with a great deal of fireworks to apologise to Xi Guang. XG knows he has come but does not go out to meet him until he texts her the image of the message he had thought he sent.

XG goes out to meet him and asks why when he’d thought that he had sent the message, he had not defended himself at the hospital earlier.

YS: “At that time, my head was a mess. And I had a pretty selfish thought. … I thought about not texting you at all.”

In a flashback we see that in the ambulance, YS had paused texting and for some reason looked at his left arm … (I wondered why before but now) I know it was because had been/still was blaming XG for the fact that because he had driven to meet her 2 years earlier, he had met with the accident that had injured his arm, and she had not even gone to visit him. Now in the ambulance he was tempted to just let XG stew and wonder why he did not turn up that evening for the hotpot appointment.

XG: “Why?”
YS: “Because … just think of it as me wanting you to be worried… wanting to know if you would be worried or not.” (Of course he couldn’t tell her the truth at this time.)

XG: “How could you think of that? I’d worry about a complete stranger if they were hurt. What more if were you.”
YS: “I know that now. You even came all the way to the hospital for me. I’m sorry. I go caught up in my own head. And I should have checked if my message actually went through.”

Originally I thought that this pairing was far healthier since they were quite open and honest with each other. However it turns out that there’s more to be thrashed out between them. YS had held a grudge against XG but had put it aside to pursue her. That situation would make their relationship untenable.

(Continued below…)

@IB
(Continued …)

When YS gets to his hotel, he seems overwhelmed with emotion. He hugs his mum and tells her that something bad happened to him.

YS: “I convinced myself to let go (of the resentment towards XG). I thought I had. But these past few months, I’ve been so conflicted. I kept telling myself to move on. And just follow my instincts, to let her in, to get close to her. But every now and then, in the middle of the night, I start to question myself [or rather question how he could let XG off for forgetting him]. ‘How can you forget that so easily?’ (He is again referring to how XG seems to not remember that he had got into the accident because of her).

“But today, everything changed. (We see his flashback memory of an anxious XG running up to him in the hospital.) I don’t think I’ll ever have to suffer through that again.” (“that” refers to XG not caring about him. Since XG had been concerned about him that day, he had come to believe that in future she’d be the same if they were together.) I finally feel whole.”

Mum was not sure what he was talking about but is happy for him.

YS: “And I think there might have been some misunderstandings (about the plum blossom viewing invitation). When our friends were playing messenger for us, maybe things didn’t get passed along quite right. I was avoiding it before so I never asked. But I think I need to find out exactly what happened.”

It’s about time he asked his friend, Shao Jia Qi to clarify, but this had to be deferred until his friend returned from the high seas somewhere.

It’s noteworthy that YS’s admiration for XG was strong enough to get him to pursue her even in the face of so much resentment. It was unwise, but it’s an interesting bit of conflict that has to be resolved so that these 2 can start dating without reservation.

Hi @IB,
RE: Shine on Me
Yes 2 episodes dropped. I can see that the next 2 are on the board but did not drop yet. 19 more hours to go for me.

SPOILERS for EP 21

YS’s annual plan. I wonder if he meant that he had a plan for what he would do each year to lead up to confessing his love or for what he would do for that 1 year so that by the end of it, they’d be engaged and married.

I guess I have to rewatch Ep 11 to see if he started on planning only after he ‘forgave’ XG for the past. The past was indeed a very recent one. Just 2 years prior.

I can guess that some of his moves were planned, but since we have/he has a very smart XG to contend with, who is also full of initiative, his rationale side took a hit, but it did not desert him.

For someone who was wondering why the girl could not remember him, or who wondered if the girl actually did not care about him, he was very measured, quite fair/just and unemotional most of the time. Might it have been because he planned a future time in which to thrash it out with her? … I think not, from his later sharing. He was simply prepared to play the long game of observing her and gauging how they might get along. Perhaps all the work he gave her might have been partially planned. We mentioned before that he was training her to be a boss.

What he explained about not wanting to text XG now makes perfect sense. He had been fed up that when he was injured, she whom he thought had invited him to see the plum blossoms had disregarded him. He had been ‘abandoned’ by family and now he was ignored by the girl he was attracted to. Because he made that trip to see her, he’d lost his career as a neurosurgeon. It was very understandable that he wanted to test if XG would worry about him if he didn’t text her.

It gets resolved in a couple more episodes, so enjoy!

@IB,
Shine on Me Eps 23-24.

I enjoyed all the ‘ads’ of the country. Those desert scenes were beautifully shot. They gave just enough time for us to appreciate the different ‘scapes before going back into the drama.

I do believe that we’ll see that this visit to the far northeastern or western solar farm will have a good impact for business expansion.

Seeing the great distances traveled, I wondered about how they’d have enough gas/petrol to get around. I’d be nervous being stranded in all that people-less wide spaces. That’s probably because I’m near people all the time!!!

@IB, thanks… I’m glad to know I’m not the only ‘nervous’ one!