Since I have only two more weekends of “A Bona Fide Killer,” I have time to spare for other dramas. However, I’m NOT interested in:
1. “A Love Other Than Yours” starring Seo Kang Joon (“When the Weather is Fine”) and Ahn Eun Jin (“Dynamite Kiss” and “My Dearest”).
This kdrama is about a couple who have reached a turning point in their ten-year-old relationship: either to settle down and marry each other or to break up and find different partners. I don’t know about you, but this show is giving me “The Third Charm” (2018) vibes. Seo Kang Joon also starred in the ktrauma. What does he pick these makjang scripts?
Hard pass.
2. “The Scandal” with Son YeJin (“Crash Landing on You”), Ji ChangWoo (“Healer”) and Nana.
I read the synopsis and it’s a sageuk version of “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988) which itself was adapted from a 1782 French novel “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.” Son YeJin plays an aristocrat who wagers with the most prominent playboy in Joseon society that he can’t seduce a widow. Ugh! I’ve already seen kdrama’s high school version of this plot, named “Tempted” (2018), starring Mun GaYoung, Woo DoHwan and Joy.
Can’t screenwriters be more original? What’s next? A remake set in a nursing home?
I may look into:
1. The Ordinary Jackpot
A man wins 1.3 billion won (roughly $950,000) in a lottery, which is a large sum, but not enough to buy a house in Seoul. So what does he do? Instead of investing the money in real estate, he invests in himself. He acquires a new mindset, new energy in life, new confidence at work.
Cast: Lee Jun Hyuk (“Love Scout”)
Episodes: 10
Start Date: Thursday, Sept 10
Airs on Thursdays? Or will all episodes drop at once?
Where to Watch it: I don’t know. Netflix? Not Disney, I hope.
Network: tvN
To be honest, I’m not really into Lee Jun Hyuk. I find him bland, and his acting anemic, like Go KyungPyo (“Undercover Miss Hong”), but I’ll give this show a try because of the novel plot. I like that romance isn’t a focus.
https://youtu.be/CXnJGXy-O4A?is=RpFnVwCNa8MOQmE2
2. Teach You a Lesson
I can binge-watch this and learn what the buzz was all about last June.
3. Pinocchio
So I can join @GB, @WEnchanteur, and @ibyssfeather in their rewatch.
As for cdrama, I can finally watch “Pursuit of Jade.”
I’ve begun “Pull Strings” mainly for Ao Rui Peng (“Coroner’s Diary”) but I don’t know where this is going and I may drop it after Episode 3.
I tried “The Early Spring” but there’s something about THIS particular office romance that’s getting under my skin. I didn’t mind the boss/employee dating trope in other cdramas “Love Between Lines” (2026) and “Love is Sweet” (2020) and even in the sophomoric, cringe-fest “My Bias, My Boss.”
Perhaps it’s Jing Boram’s character that I find icky. 😂
What are you? What are you watching this month?
I have to finish “Spooky In Love.”
I just started “Four Hands Two Sonatas.” It is a piano makjang told in flashbacks. It has not managed to irritate me, so I am looking forward to next week’s episodes.
I thought of you, @Snow Flower, when I heard about FH2S. Is it going somewhere along the lines of “Amadeus” with two rivalries, one prodigious musician but undisciplined/irresponsible, and the other one, a very competent, hard-working musician but less renowned?
Please give updates when you can. Thanks!
@pkml3,
Song Lang’s character comes from privileged background, but he strives in vain for his grandfather’s approval. His paternity is uncertain, so I expect a big makjang reveal down the road.
Lee Jun Young’s character has an alcoholic father. His mother seems to have been his piano teacher, but she died when he was a child. He suffers from intense stage fright.
I am just happy that both characters can read music and don’t rely on “feels.”
The FL is supposed to be good at discovering talent. I thought she was rude to her accompanist.
Hi @pkml3, by all means do join us for our Rewatch. The show continues to be so good! I find that I do not wish to watch anything else for a while!
Needing a breath of air after tES,
I have taken refuge lately in ‘Doctors’ (2016). Because a review said that the main romance was a grown-up relationship, meaning sane and communicative.
Park Shin Hye does a great job at a better role than the poor darling often gets. Kim Rae Won, a hardworker of longstanding is very sweet in this.
And on the other side of things, ‘The Autumn Ballad’ (2022) is a comfy watch, and interesting to see why everyone loves Jeremy Tsui so much.
Rewatches: Pinocchio, The Beauty Inside.
Pre-watches, dipping in and out re discussions: On Air (2008), The Producers (2016).
Will probably watch Scandals (I MISS Ji Chang Wook),
Otherwise I am waiting for October:
‘Love Doctor’ (Choo YoungWoo and other god actors)
‘100 days of Deception’ (Park JinYoung, Kim So Hyun)
The sheer quantity of what look like fun Japanese shows and now, lately, Thai shows has me a little befuddled. I would also like to learn more about Taiwanese shows. I need a plan. Maybe quit dramas and go for movies? Desperate move.
Hi @IB, you sound inundated with goodies!!! A plan may help. What will you like to do? A round robin of shows from different countries twice a week? Maybe alternate between movies and dramas… 😁
I like the pitch of “ordinary jackpot”, however I won’t have time to watch before a long time.
I’m currently watching “Something happened in Bali” (2004).
@pm3, if you have to choose “teach you a lesson” or “Pinocchio”, of course choose Pinocchio, it’s really better. Maybe you can watch first episode of TYAL, it’s almost enough. There are two better episodes somewhere in the show, but I don’t remember which ones. It’s mostly a procedural, so first episode says all.
Hello September and everyone! I’ve been getting busy so the little I get to indulge in is just The Early Spring on my own. Finished the novel and the fun is comparing the novel and drama.
First time watching Jing Boran, never watch any of his other shows before but this I felt he embodied the character really well. The nuances of that almost red-flag character but really it’s 2 people who started a r/s on the wrong foot, bad communication habits and desires. I really am enjoying this though. All that push pull and angst. It’s like no one is making the perfect decisions, both of them are being so imperfect and how they are going to overcome these to a better them.
This is a drama where they hired an intimacy coordinator for the scenes. Obviously much have been cut. Netflix rates it PG tho.. suggestive content…
Just finished Cases Between Us with hubby and Republican Era drama that’s prob less dramatic than Overdo. It seems to be very bromancing but the interactions are not awkward or weird. Prob watch Pull Strings with him. I need something funny.
Blossom through the Cloud (24 ep cdrama modern) passes the 2 minute test — dance in your seat song, great coloration (I love early morning sun in an airport), really over-the-top symmetrical scene framing (very funny really), FL and funny roommate cheerful as all get out, with Miles Wei/Wei ZheMing in the offing. Here’s hoping the potential WZM showed in his amazing character in Flourished Peony will blossom. Well, he was a tragic character there, but hopefully he will be a cutie-pie here.
The Ordinary Jackpot is coming to Viki.
Oh, nice! All the episodes won’t be released on the same day then. I’ve trouble finding a free 10 hour-block to binge-watch a show so I end up not watching. 🙁
@ibisfeather,
I thought you meant “Blossoms OF POWER” instead of “Blossom through the Cloud” and I started watching BoP. I was wondering where the airport scene was since this cdrama is a historical starring Meng ZiYi and some guy I never heard of.
Good luck to Miles Wei/Wei ZheMing. At the moment, we’re inundated by so male cutie-pies (e.g., Wang Xing Yue from “The Double” and Ao RuiPeng from “The Coroner’s Diary” and Zhang LingYe from “The Pursuit of Jade”) that I wonder what more do they need to do to stand out from the crowd.
In comparison, when Yang Yang came out in “Love O2O” (2016), he had no real competitors. Lol.
@grace,
Jing BoRan was in that cdrama, “Road Home” (2023). I believe @GB and @Welmaris watched that cdrama. I tried to watch it but couldn’t get past that episode where they met in Mongolia (or somewhere like it), rekindled their feelings, and shared a yurt (that round tent used by normadic shepherds). I’m allergic to camping of all sorts. Lol.
I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with Jing BoRan’s acting but I couldn’t warm up to him because he played the role of male lead (i.e., Xiao Nai) in the movie adaptation of Love O2O. And you know I was a solid Yang Yang fan.
I’m watching “Pull Strings” starring Ao Rui Peng (“A Coroner’s Diary”). I don’t understand the point of the cdrama (is he trying to reach god status without getting anybody’s attention? For what? To get back to his previous life in the modern times?) but I’m just here for the laughs.
ARP’s acting is a hoot. So is his character. I’m sure I’m getting only a third of the jokes because Chinese puns don’t translate well into English. But I do like the visual jokes, like in Episode 3, when he tied the unconscious girl onto his makeshift sleigh and dragged the sleigh through the forest. The poor girl’s head bopped the wooden sleigh nonstop because of the rough terrain. Lol.
Thanks for the tip, @WEnchanteur.
I was in Korea when the show premiered and I want to know what was depicted in the kdrama that prompted the teachers’ federation to release a statement — something to the effect that what the teachers need in the classrooms nowadays is not “fist” but legal protection.
Anyway, I’ll see if I’m up to it.
@pm3,
I guess watching Jing Boran without prior previous drama experience helps with my first impression of him in The Early Spring 😅. I’m not sure if I want to try watching The Road Home now that you mentioned it.
You are watching Pull Strings! Yeap not as deep kinda drama but I’m there for the laughs.
One of the puns is usually the names. Changshou in Chinese sounds like long life, which is his goal and aspiration. Then the aunt Jiujiu means very long, but it also sounds like the word for alcohol 酒 which she loves. The puns are mainly in the names of people and the magical things.
Good you’re back @Grace! I have a few questions.
Like you, I’m still watching “Pull Strings” because of the jokes. Some of them I get, but I’m sure most of them are going over my head. Please explain:
1. Ep 1, timestamp: 2:34. Why does the ML Chanshou hold his right boot when he’s summoning his Alexa-like AI? He named his AI “Tian.”
2. Ep 1, timestamp: 17:16. Is there a reason that he likes to use origami cranes as drones? Upon rewatch, I realized that the first crane he set free was carrying a miniature wine jug which he dropped on the bully.
One thing I like about this show is how the ML doesn’t really possess powerful magical instruments like the bad guy, but since he’s from the 21st century, he’s learned to reproduce modern gadgets (I don’t know how he did it unless he’s some sort of Elon Musk in the 21st century).
I finally realized that the weird “spaceship” Aunt Jiujiu was shaped like a wine gourd because she loves drinking alcohol from that calabash-shaped flask. I also googled it and found out that gourd in Chinese sounds like “good fortune.” So I guess she’s the bringer of good luck — or at least her ride is. I guess it’s better than a regular magic carpet.
3.Episode 1, timestamp: 29:00. What’s so special about the food his Mentor prepped for his birthday? It’s soup with noodles, some sort of leafy veggie (bokchoy?) and fried egg?
4. Episode 2, timestamp: 5:09. Why is the ML’s handwriting so bad? Is that a commentary on the folks of today? They don’t practice handwriting because everything is done on computer or smart phones?
I was impressed with his “soul-capturing pearl” necklae (timestamp: 12:45). It was a miniature spycam and projector.
5. Episode 2, Timestamp: 19:06. When the beautiful disciple Youqin Xuan Ya appeared, why did the Male Lead scurry away like THAT? He had his two hands balled in a fist in front of his face? He looked like he was mimicking the hand gesture of a c-pop dance group.
That’s it for now. Thanks!!!
@pm3, in reply..
1. 小天童鞋 literal translation is “little heavenly/sky kid shoe” so very likely a heavenly kid or little angel. Tian means sky usually but I can mean heavens or what’s above or god or nature or day, depending on what word it match with.
2. Haha… The cranes. Do you notice that he writes like a spell inside it? Prob a kind of programming instruction to tell the crane what to do 😅 it also reminds me of those yellow papers with red picture-like writing you also see in KDrama shamans curses.
Yes, I really love how they integrate modern tech in umm.. Heavenly magic?
The gourd or Hulu is so silly cos usually they fly on dragons.. And sometimes they will almost slip off this round “vehicle”. I wonder if things will come out of it.
3. The noodle is called longevity noodle – changshou noodles 长寿面. It’s Changshou’s name! Usually served during birthdays, weddings, and Lunar New Year to symbolize health, happiness, and a long life. The noodles are really long strands you slurp at one go.
4. This isn’t the first time i see modern characters in traditional settings with terrible handwriting. Chinese Calligraphy 书法(shu1 fa3) requires training…they don’t have pens and pencils there 😅 he has to write with a brush and black ink so I empathise with that bad calligraphy. I tried but it’s not easy. My daughter did a 5 day workshop to mainly practice strokes, and hers is prob better than his but written so slowly. Lol. It’s not as easy as copperplate calligraphy.
摄魂宝珠 aka soul-stirring treasured pearls. But I guess it captures the soul of something precious. This was so ingenious! Can video capture and screen cast whoa!
5. This one where they scuttle away from the couple…I’m not sure if it has a significance. I thought so that they won’t be in the limelight.
If I catch any puns I will try to write them down! I’m at ep 4 for now.
Oh heavens, Packmule, I just caught your message above.
I think that Blossoms of Power is my personal favorite of all the sweet cdramas we have seen this year! And that includes Pursuit of Jade, which ended up being more of a learning experience for me. Dont get me started.
I say Blossoms of Power is a personal favorite because cdrama fans had a hard time with it very loudly, and kdrama fans werent mostly watching. I found that it abided very closely by all kdrama rules and was easy as pie to understand.
He Yu/He YiQian is the guy you have never heard of because he is from the youth genres — groups of young people dashing around in costumes.
It is a breakout performance for him.
I feel as you probably do about Meng ZiYi but never say never, because sometimes said lucky girl will have a script which is great for her and director who knows how to use her at her best just drop into her lap (and she was friends with HY so he came in with her).
Why do I adore it? As has been said by many, it has the best gender bender in a decade. A sickly Crown Prince, poisoned in his youth, returns to court after many years away. His plan is to find out the truth about said poisoning and in support of this, from afar has prepared his own secret court faction. And then to die, since the poison is incurable, mostly.
He CHANGES HIS PLAN. The trick is to figure out when he does so and what the new plan is.
Enter a county princess daughter of the General of the West, coming to court to get a nice Prince husband. Killed enroute by an enemy within the family household in the capital, as she drifts down/up, she is captured by another soul who appears to have been lurking for three years on the off-chance.
The new inhabitant is a cold-blooded patrician suicide who killed herself in order to put the blame on the clan who killed her clan.
The twist is that this is not a revenge story for the lady. She is perfectly happy with her death because it gave her the needed revenge, She didnt care for her now ex-husband. She has seized this chance at a new life in order to find some independence from external control.
Her goal is power. Thus the title. The Crown Prince falls in love instantly, from afar, smitten with
1. her beauty
2. her bloodthirstiness
3. her capacity for..well, manipulating others to gain power.
BUT ALSO
He can somehow see that the county princess is there too. Love has eyes that see…
1. a girl who likes kittens and kids
2. who was brought up surrounded by love.
As you probably know I have a private taste for low-key shows and this is one. But one which is hysterically funny for most of the middle section because the Crown Prince is utterly shamelessly flirtacious whilst the two bicker along somewhere in a sort of almost marriage of convenience. And he finally gets her to fall in love with him. He deserves it too, after all that effort.
HE WANTS TO HAVE BABIES!!
If you watch it you will not be sorry.
Blossoms of Power is a 36ep however, @45minsea. which puts it at 27 hours runtime.
Slightly spoilery update on Four Hands Two Sonatas: This is over the top, but compelling to watch. Each of the two MLs has his own struggles and I am rooting for both of them to overcome their circumstances and become successful musicians. The adults around them are just awful. I am bracing myself for more melodrama next week. We have two birth secrets to deal with.
@ibisfeather,
I loved Blossoms of Power, all the styling at set and ML/FL all looked so beautiful!!
But now in the thick of The Early Spring, I am also forgetting generally what happened in detail for BoP. Sometimes I wished I have time to record what I watch instead of sometimes speeding through it. Like the thoughts come when I watch it. I’m doing that for Early Spring, so am kinda slow…
@Grace, hello fellow TES watcher!
From my point of view, TES is a primo technical watch. So I go slowly to try to catch as much of the cleverness as I can.
The flaming discussions of how the relationship ought to be and how the leads ought to behave themselves can be very serious and analytical, or silly and annoying abut more frequently pretty amusing, but most importantly the comments themselves have made the show popular. I happily laughed out loud reading them every day!
However, watching the show is like having one of the truly poor relationships on the periphery of one’s life (or in the rearview mirror of same) move into your house.
I keep a grip by actively focussing on and admiring the acting and writing. But otherwise black humour has served me well.
@ibisfeather,
Hi5! I read the novel so I get how terrible LuanNian is but in the drama it showed more clearly Shang Zhitao’s issues. I would say none of them is a saint but all the imperfection and weakness create quite good discussions and taking sides!
I am watching Snowfall for a cooldown while waiting for the rest of TES to air (god knows when, the Youku express package just dropped).
I am at episode 20 and Ren Shihao/Ryan Ren is absolutely running away with the show.
Is it a misjudgement on the writers part, did they think that this villain turned lover who trained in opera (the character not the actor?) could safely be stuck in the background?? Nobody could tell from the storyboards that the camera was going to focus on this thug with horrified fascination?
Or was it a misjudgement on the director’s part, that they somehow couldnt see the impact of the performance was going to unbalance an already dangerously complicated plot?
Or is the first impression true, that Ren ShiHao’s acting skills just blew everybody else out of the water?
The lovely Ouyang Nana out of acting royalty, a musician to boot, just gorgeous and fascinating in stills. The lively WinWin, a fan favorite from NCT. And Vengo Gao, a seasoned romantic lead for a decade.
These three had A level roles and did A- performances; proper character arcs are currently (ep20) wrapping up, and consequences are unfolding.
They seem a little static but this is a moody vampire series, so that is the way their roles were written.
But RSH in a secondary role, a B role, had a character arc from the depths of evil to romantic heights (relatively speaking). And he threw himself into it.
I have been looking for RSH to break through in main roles in bigger dramas in the future (he was an incredibly funny Baili in Fateful Love), after seeing his ridiculously crisp performances as the suave toxic lead in 3 mini dramas. Nada. Did he offend?
Did somebody mention “Snowfall”?
I agree with you, @ibyssfeather.
I can’t recall much of what happened from Episode 2 onwards, but I remember the actors and the characters they played —
Vengo Gao was memorable. I couldn’t tell why I found him attractive…no, unsettling is the better word…until a friend of mine brought up “Rebecca.” (It’s an early 20th century book. Goodness! So ancient already.) My friend was describing to me how the interior of her house was inspired by Manderley, that fictional manor in “Rebecca.” It got us thinking that the novel was so subtly influential, quietly impactful that it shaped the idea of romance for a generation (or two?) of women.
Anyway, before I go down that rabbit hole of OVERsharing my conversation with my friend, I know now why Vengo Gao and his character looked familiar. He reminded me of Mr. deWinter. His character in the cdrama was the safe, clean version of Mr. deWinter.
And OuYang Nana can play the narrator/2nd Mrs. deWinter. There’s the same imbalance of power between them. And just like in the book, OuYang Nana’s character was dazed that a man like Vengo Gao’s character could’ve fallen for her.
(oooh, I’m beginning to remember their scenes now…)
Yes, I remember Winwin, too, but none of his actions. Were they consequential? Wait! Was he the long-lost brother or something?
As for Ren ShiHao, I totally forgot about his character. I had to google his name just now to remind me of his role in the cdrama. But as soon as his face popped up on the screen, the images came back. I remember his obsession to be of service to Vengo Gao (the matches, right?), his bedroom that he turned into a prison cell, his abject misery. Poor guy.
So, thank you for this trip down cdrama memory lane, @ibyssfeather.
@Grace, thanks so much! It’s great to have an in-house Chinese translator/specialist!
The cranes. I didn’t pay attention to the writings on them. I thought he was just recycling old papers but you’re right. Those must be his spells (or programming codes/javascript) he came up with before releasing the cranes to do their jobs.
Ahhhh, longevity noodles = his name. See? How would we Americans get that if the connection wasn’t explained to us?
The calligraphy. So his messy handwriting is a telltale sign that he’s from the 21st century because he never practiced calligraphy like most modern folks. It’s funny then that the pretty princess Xuan Ya (?) is swooning over it. She thinks he’s so special that even his handwriting is special. Lol.
I fast-forwarded to Episode 8. I may have to shelve it for now because “The Ordinary Jackpot” started.
Thanks, @Snowflower. Any remarkable piano playing scenes yet?
It’s interesting that Song Kang is here as he played a ballerino before in “Navillera” (2021). He must be pegged as a struggling, sensitive artiste in kdrama world.
Two birth secrets?? Don’t tell me the 2 MLs are brothers from another mother or something.
Hi Packmule! I have been trying off-and-on to pack all of the neo-gothic Romantic era echoes of Snowfall into one perfect phrase but I havent gotten anywhere. The soulful maiden whose love teeters on the edge of the carnal, the pale older man, the ultimate question of who is a monster and who is a human, the ‘scientific experiments’ as per the same…..
And then Ren ShiHao comes haring in from offside on his own track, operatically unhinged in several ways —
Impossible.
I came by after a long gap
Wanted to see if the group here had watched
~ MY DEAREST
~ When Life Gives you Tangerines
~ Royal Nirvana (ok this doesn’t count since this isn’t that into C Drama :-p
But no MY DEAREST?
It’s EPIC IMO 😀
@ibisfeather,
Re. Ren Shihao
I don’t think he’s the problem. I think it’s the cdrama entertainment world.
I read that it’s currently struggling and there are less cdramas being produced this year compared to previous years. Of course, AI is the scapegoat but I think we can also blame:
-censorship (we heard about the stringent government guidelines that the production teams have to go through, right?),
-the economic recession in China (less investors willing to risk money on cdramas that may not even pass censors),
-bloated budgets of cdramas with big name actors (the A-listers: can’t live with them, but can’t live without them), and
-oversaturated market (really, how many time travel shows, cultivation dramas, female generals, idol historicals can viewers stomach?)
In fact, Hengdian World Studios (or China’s Hollywood) is renting out its space to tourists who would like to act in their “own” drama in sets used in famous cdramas like “The Double,” “The Story of Minglan” and “Scarlet Heart” (that show adapted into the tearjerker with IU). Lol. I wouldn’t mind paying their rates (it’s a whole lot cheaper than this blog, anyway) but I don’t think my coloring will suit cdramas unless I do drastic something drastic to my hair, eyes and skin. And then, it won’t be me in the cameras.
@packmule3,
I can think of two memorable scenes from 4H2S involving a piano performance. The first one is at the very beginning of the show. Song Kang is playing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with a bleeding pinky finger. As the concerto progresses, so does the bleeding, and at the end of the performance the piano keys are covered with blood. I never thought a pinky could bleed so much.
The other scene is Lee Jun Young playing the piano blindfolded in public. As I mentioned before, his character suffers from stage fright, so playing blindfolded was his way to cope. I have not tried it, so I don’t know how effective it is.
As for birth secrets, the word on the internet is that Song Kang’s father is his new piano teacher. His mom and the teacher seem to have history.
Lee Jun Young’s father is Song Kang’s Evil Grandpa. So, if this is indeed true, our main characters are not brothers, but uncle and nephew.
I take all the internet theories with a grain of salt, so I will wait to see what writernim has in store for us.
It is fun to listen to the music and identify piano pieces without the help of AI, so I continue to watch and enjoy the show. Big competition showdown is coming in Episodes 5-6.
@pm3
One really cool part I had to search out myself. The General Yecha blue guy? He wanted a new name and then I thought to search out us name meaning. 夜叉 (Ye4 cha1)means a malevolent spirit or tedious ferocious person. So fitting for him isn’t it.
Always expect them to play on the names, esp for comedies.
On giving Chinese names sometimes involve paying some expert to choose an auspicious name for the child based on their birthdate. My mum did that for my sis, my SIL did that for all her kids. The last thing you also want to do is give a name that means well but sound like another word…like Shi1ting2. Sounds like shi*ting.
Last name to take note. Those shrimp soldiers and crab generals? They call those guys literally that. But it is also an idiom. 虾兵蟹将 (Xia1 bing1 xie4 jiang4). It means hopeless soldiers or ineffective troops.
About Snowfall.
I figured out my own unease, although not why RSH seems to be a better actor than others.
When we get to the end of Snowfall the moral discussion has moved away from from ‘science’ vs. ‘natural’ humanity, via Mr.Shen(Vengo Gao)’s definition of being human as the maintenance of bonds and (‘family’) responsibilities.
Such that we end with cascade of self-sacrifice along lines of family, starting with Li(RSH)’s loyal friend, Mr.Sheng, and ending with Mr.Shen.
Mr.Shen, the rapidly aging vampire who has lived according to this code of morality on a diet of what seems to be chicken blood, has tried to teach MiLan what her human family did not, how to survive in this world and how to love.
Mr.Shen seems to have decided that laying the responsibility for the family partially on his irresponsible younger brother is a good risk, but he has hedged it with a promise of care from the family of Shen retainers.
Although we began with a solid context of 19th century western revolutionary ideas, we end with an active exploration of ‘painted skin’ problematics. These ‘different’ beings wonder what it is like to be human, and are fatally attracted to human lives.
Mr.Li(Ren ShiHao)’s festering grudge against Mr.Shen is outside of the supernatural mechanics. His hidden tie to Mr.Shen is one of the tragic motors of misfortune to begin with. The two partially resolve this while wounded lying in a mine about to explode, and during the explosions thereafter the grudge etc is resolved by self-sacrifice.
My problems arose from the tendency of the western sub-context to lean towards allegory. Republican era shows also often have subtext of tension between westernization and home values, but that doesnt work out as allegory here either.
Nope, straight-up painted skin with vampires instead of demons.
However, Mr.Li is all human, with severed bonds to Mr.Shen, his once-benefactor, and with JingXue, a remnant of the family which adopted him. This humanity is powerful and central, but I think it is the writer’s fault that it marries awkwardly with Mr.Shen’s anxieties about his vampire family.
Anybody else watching odd reruns? Idly swiping through netflix trailers? Watching shows that have been on the back burner.
I am watching Mouse, with lots of popcorn.
On the swiping front, I remembered why I doted upon The Auditors, an office drama, whose music editor, cinematographer. director and camera team MUST come back for a planned Season 2 or it wont be the same show — For me the music and soundtrack were great (some people absolutely hated then specifically, which shows that they were front and centre). But on the trailer I was looking at the perspective shots of really smashing office corridors and lighting.
Lol, @ibisfeather, are you living inside my Ipad? How did you know I’m watching reruns?? Because I succumbed and got myself a Kocowa subscription, I’ve access to old kdramas that I first saw in Dramafever (remember that site?).
I recently fast-forwarded through “Little Bride” which used to titled, “Sweet 18.” I guess, getting married at 18 to a 26? 27? year old man isn’t a thing nowadays so the title was changed. This kdrama was released 2004 or 24 years ago so it was interesting to watch how social norms have evolved since then. It was the feisty female lead who wanted a traditional wife existence with her fuddy-duddy husband from an arranged marriage.
I have to mention that the screenwriter (or co-screenwriter) of “Sweet 18” is also the one who wrote the screenplay of the recently kdrama, “A Bona Fide Killer,” which based on the webtoon by Yoon and Geomdung. In some ways, she’s changed. But in the essentials, she’s remained the same. I may watch her other shows if I can find them and if I have time.
Yes, “The Auditors” popped up on my Netflix as well. It looks like interesting, too.
I don’t agree with the prevailing opinion that kdramas nowadays have become boring or repetitive. It amuses me that these people who claim to be bored are pretending to be such connoisseurs and expert judges on “fine” kdramas when their deep dives on these shows are nonexistent (or rather shallow at best). I wonder if they’re complaining out of nostalgia. When they first discovered kdramas, they thought everything was absolutely spiffy and novel and original (Like those viewers who jumped on the bandwagon during the Covid/”Crash Landing on You” phase and were amazed by the plot. Hmph!) It’s only now they’ve begun to see what we’ve always seen: the tropes, the formulas, the HEAs, the stereotypes, the character arcs. So they complain, thinking that they’ve seen it all already.
[roll eyes emoji]
I say that there’s always a good script or two out there, being released right now. The problem however is the glut. There’s a plethora of dramas released from Korean, Chinese, Japanese entertainments, that it has become harder to CURATE the good ones. The overabundance of shows, from the good, mediocre and bad ones, demands that we become picky from the get-go so we consume wisely and spend time contemplating on worthwhile dramas. But sometimes, what presents to be good in the beginning, turns out to be a dud halfway through. It’s just the luck of the draw, I guess.
And you know me: I’ve always tell BODers NOT to fear missing out on things, especially kdrama things. I prefer if we go out into the world. Travel. Spend time with family and friends. Visit a museum. Read a book. Celebrate feast days and holidays. Bake. Take solitary walks. Host a tour of your garden or a block party. Spend time with your elderly relatives. These other engagements take time too but they allow us to understand life a little better. This way, when we watch a show, we can agree or disagree with the screenwriter, and we can do so based on our experiences and our honed worldview.
@pm3, so good. yes live the real life! not the reel life. I think the show becomes elevated for me when there is good stories that make you reflect on your own life, smart use of storytelling or visual devices to show the story. Of course when it’s beautifully filmed, it’s a feast for the eyes, I’m not saying just people but scenes, props, costume, places etc.
I just finished The Early Spring and tapering my crazy TES novel reading & drama watching (only when I am cooking & with hubby who is tired lately and can’t finish a 40min drama without dozing off). Work has been busy lately, managing projects feels like I can’t turn off after work hours and so my mind keeps thinking of what I have missed out, such that my mind doesn’t dwell on an dramas.
Watching older but not that old Regeneration, Jing BoRan’s older short drama and the suspense is keeping me on the drama as I cook.
Any good kdramas lately?
Waiting impatiently for October, when all the autumn rom coms will be released. Plus the final drama from Ahn Pan Seok and Kim Yoo Jung/Park Jin Young drama.
For September, I will focus on catching up on older dramas and I will check out The Early Spring.
Yikes! I thought I had a good idea of the kdramas and cdramas which were left for 2026.
But no, The ‘upcoming’ list in MDL just exploded.
Many cdramas that I had no idea were done and ready to come out before the end of the year! Right now they take up about 3 pages (currently 9-12).
Also more kdramas, some of which I havent even heard of, are listed, which are a bit intermingled with thai/Japanese and other places, again from 9 but they continue on thru14.
Too much to bear.
I haven’t been able to make it past the halfway point for most of the dramas I have started over the summer, but last week I happened to start Against the Current with Liu Xueyi (recently in A Moment But Forever) and Seven Tan (also in Road Home). Loosely, it is a story set in an idea of ancient China, revolving around a particular (fictional) noble house.
Instead of all the flash and beauty of noble houses that anyone who has seen mainland historical dramas would be familiar with, it places the gritty life (and death) of their servants at the forefront. Everything, the music, the dialogue, the costumes, the lighting, the camera angles, feels both intentional and natural. The only struggle is that it always ends with a sense of more to come, but I must wait 24 hours for the next episodes 😅 If I had not read somewhere that the source material is rather darker than the drama, I would be tempted to go read it. At episode 14, I strongly recommend it especially for those who enjoy needing to pay attention, remember past events, and catch the meaning in a split-second expression.
Small warning: have tissues ready. I would not say that it is overwhelmingly sad, but when the sad comes it is overwhelming.
I am watching it too, both interesting and relaxing. Since it is a longer form show the plot is not rushed. Or plots. (47 episodes = 33hrs plus runtime).
@sorbetdreams,
I’m watching it too and enjoying very much. Will open a thread later.
Pm3