tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54826349996023752372024-03-14T16:50:24.623-04:00Mildly Bitter's MusingsSarcasm. Opinions. Theater. K-Dramas. Welcome to my island of misfit toy opinions.Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.comBlogger433125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-74700384032966668112024-03-03T15:06:00.001-05:002024-03-03T15:06:56.900-05:00February 2024: Demons Mental and Literal <div>I've had a bit too much time on my hands and have been watching too much TV. Some shows were not even worth finishing. I'm listing them for completeness. But 12 shows in one month is too many (ethe shortest month with only 1 extra day) and I was scraping the bottom of the TV barrel at times. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTlu1m2cy4LE7X7fGPc3B10IbHLOTFZOT1rk0kkyN1psgAX4CdRrCYwTswn7nXoL8Z50J9JWWikVMcyDp1NjxrZV3poG7B9vmKdJwlBYBjkmYPbKca5l-O9c57Y4h7RiSUPsOCiFAe19_tF2T5-Rce3KDq3CLDA-DX5M1PhQItK9CUOJu4x_sejvVbN8i/s4032/IMG_4928.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTlu1m2cy4LE7X7fGPc3B10IbHLOTFZOT1rk0kkyN1psgAX4CdRrCYwTswn7nXoL8Z50J9JWWikVMcyDp1NjxrZV3poG7B9vmKdJwlBYBjkmYPbKca5l-O9c57Y4h7RiSUPsOCiFAe19_tF2T5-Rce3KDq3CLDA-DX5M1PhQItK9CUOJu4x_sejvVbN8i/s320/IMG_4928.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marry My Husband asking the important questions.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Just Between Lovers (aka Rain or Shine)</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I looooved one of the central concepts of this show but as so often is the case it started to lose momentum over time. But there's a sweet, weepy melodrama here even if it's stretched out too much. </div><div><br /></div><div>Both, Lee Kang-doo (Lee Jun-ho) and Ha Moon-soo (Won Jin-ah) were involved in a terrible accident when they were teens. They were in a mall collapse and survived. But in the same accident, Kang-doo's father and Moon-soo's little sister both died. They have lived with the after-effects of this trauma for years--some physical and some mental. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then they both find themselves working with the company that is trying to rebuild on the site of the mall collapse. The project is led by the same family who was involved in building the mall, including the architect's son, Seo Joo-won (Lee Ki-woo). Kang-doo and Moon-soo end up working together on a project to memorialize the mall collapse at the building site. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have written about the complexities of <a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2017/07/memory-and-memorial-come-from-away-and.html">memorializing tragedies</a> before. I was surprised a drama was tackling such a topic. This is by no means the central conceit of the show--it is simply a plot machination to bring the couple together. But it does become part of their healing process. Each of them have their own experiences in forgetting and remembering--as do their bodies which still suffer from that day. Pain manifests in different ways and even Moon-soo's grieving parents who have separated have their own ways of "coping." And then there is the survivors' guilt which they are both processing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Kang-doo is this interesting set of contradictions. He can beat people up for money but he's just this broken kid who is craving love and affection. And he finds a new family of sorts with a loan shark who becomes his lovingly bullying grandmother, a mothering but also needy woman who runs a club, and a mentally challenged man who becomes his de facto little brother. </div><div><br /></div><div>Moon-soo spends all her time taking care of her alcoholic mother and her relationship with Kang-doo becomes the first thing she does for herself, as she wonders if she should be able to live well when her sister died. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's a terrible melodramatic score and I think the material could have been written and directed better. But at least for the first 10 episodes this did feel like a unique take. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>My Demon</b></div><br /></div><div>Despite some really awful costume choices, I was initially curious about this drama that was getting a lot of buzz. But it did not live up to expectations.</div><div><br /></div><div>A potential heiress, Do Do-hee (Kim You-jung) is somehow mysteriously connected to a demon who says he is the devil (Song Kang). He loses his powers and they suddenly transfer to her (via a tattoo that leaps from his wrist to hers). He needs to touch her wrist to use them. So, they end up in a contract marriage each hoping the other can help out with problems they are facing but as they spend more time together, he starts to see the point of humans (creatures he has always disdained). He comes to have feelings for Do-hee and wants to do everything in his power to protect her and there are a lot of people out to get her. </div><div><br /></div><div>Blah blah blah plot. My main criticism of this show is why is her styling impeccable and his atrocious? This show has maybe the worst costume design I have seen in a long time. They have dressed Song Kang in giant lapels, massive shoulder pads, and silk shirts with pussy bows. Something about this unhinged and all over the map soft styling undermines his power and confidence. It’s almost like he’s been put in the same kind of women’s wear as her. But it looks so odd on his very tall skinny body. Like it is constantly fighting with his body. Did they not have faith that he had shoulders? HE HAS SHOULDERS. </div><div><br /></div><div>And maybe I would not have been fixated on the costuming if I had cared about the plot. But it’s YET ANOTHER past life cursing present life story. </div><div><br />And the late in the show plot twists come out of nowhere and are so incongruous with the characters. Just machinations to make the story move. <br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Marry My Husband</b></div><div><br /></div><div>While there is zero chemistry in this revenge-romance, it was a soapy enough plot that I needed to watch it all the way through and the twists and turns made it worth the journey. </div><div><br /></div><div>Kang Ji-won (Park Min-young) is married to the insensitive and cruel Park Min-hwan (Lee Yi-kyung). She is dying from cancer and walks in on him and her best friend, Jeong Su-min (Song Ha-yoon) having an affair and excitedly discussing living off the life insurance they will get when she dies. He ends up killing her in that moment, but rather than dying she is sent back in time to relive the past decade again. </div><div><br /></div><div>But all the things that happened to her before will happen again...but this time she must manipulate the situation so they happen to someone else. So she conspires with her boss, Yoo Ji-hyuk (Na In-woo) who also has been sent back in time (a BTS reference is how they figure out they are both from the future), to get Su-min and Min-hwan to get married instead. But even with all their planning they encounter some unexpected interference. </div><div><br /></div><div>This show got me thinking about all the ways K-dramas operate as female fantasy. The ways people watch these shows to escape their lives and maybe their shitty husbands, abusive workplaces, and see validation in the struggles they have with raising their kids and being respected. So even if I didn't believe any of the feelings between Na In-woo (who I consistently find dull) and Park Min-young, I was desperate to see the terrible people around get their comeuppance. It has moments of lighter comedy mixed in with serious melodrama. But the challenge to get circumstances to turn in their favor is hard-earned journey and it does not come without costs to people they care about. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Knight Flower</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkMB9od69B1r5q-kjKZs7W5-RJ-LnFiJeMCX8CZXLVF0ohiZ-DqNUmmbCLb0IVZbAcBjiQcYee0x27cdeVtbegeOK-3cfYtqY9xsSTi5Si6qwn79W8sgH5qj_6Hd0_DC9VO4M5Ew1amIY0D7tXTjgbr4h_gHS5uKOJ5dfgmIQVfT_rT88Auvn309xU8lK/s2080/8037F68A-6541-4120-B82E-6E5E24B82856.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="1170" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkMB9od69B1r5q-kjKZs7W5-RJ-LnFiJeMCX8CZXLVF0ohiZ-DqNUmmbCLb0IVZbAcBjiQcYee0x27cdeVtbegeOK-3cfYtqY9xsSTi5Si6qwn79W8sgH5qj_6Hd0_DC9VO4M5Ew1amIY0D7tXTjgbr4h_gHS5uKOJ5dfgmIQVfT_rT88Auvn309xU8lK/s320/8037F68A-6541-4120-B82E-6E5E24B82856.JPG" width="180" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Another "widows doing it for themself" drama (a la <a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/02/january-2024-creatures-from-past.html">The Matchmakers</a>). Is this a new trend? Here, the widow, again the daughter-in-law of the Left State Minister, has a different secret pastime. She is not matchmaking but swashbuckling. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jo Yeo-hwa (Lee Hanee/Honey lee), has been the dutiful widow during the day for 15 years. She never even met her husband. He died on the day of their wedding. But she has served her in-laws well as she is expected to do and then she is to just die (preferably on her husband's grave if she's really looking to bring virtue upon her in-laws house). Meanwhile, at night, she puts on a mask and rescues trafficked children and tries to serve justice which is severely lacking among all the corrupt court officials. </div><div><br /></div><div>In one of her late night escapades, she encounters Park Soo-ho (Lee Jong-won) a newly appointed military officer who finds her Robin Hood routine, at first, criminal. And then he comes to respect the work she is doing (and figures out she is a woman in disguise) and comes to help her. Together, they try to solve the mystery behind the late King's death that relates to both their families. </div><div><br /></div><div>Honestly, love a romance where the man has the crush and the woman is too busy doing her work to notice. While I'm not sure there was much chemistry between them I did appreciate Lee Jong-won's saucer eyes when he was looking at her lovingly. And we love it when a woman sticks it to powerful men who think they know everything. </div><div><br /></div><div>With only 12 episodes, the plot fit the arc well and everything ties together. A solid little drama without much fuss. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;">Revenant</div><div><br /></div><div>I am not a scary movie person. This ghost driven story was not really one for me. I thought the real character development (the thing I DO CARE ABOUT) came quite late in the series. </div><div><br /></div><div>On some level, this drama suggests that it takes possession by a murderous ghost to actually do some self-care. And I maybe started to root for the ghost who had some boomer gripes about kids today. </div><div><br /></div><div>That was the moment where things got really kind of interesting. There is a cultural issue that the grumpy ghost was getting at. The ghost died in the 1950s. At the time, her rural life in Korea was harsh, her opportunities were nil, and she and her community were barely surviving. But as she jumps bodies into the present, she is furious that she struggled to live and now modern Korea is a world of plenty. Yet, people today are still somehow unhappy. This is not grounds to kill a bunch of people but that psychological leap and the extreme changes in Korean society between the 1950s and now was interesting to contemplate. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;">Welcome to Samdal-ri</div><div><br /></div><div>I wasn't going to review this one because I just fast-forwarded to the end. It's a perfectly acceptable going-home-to-Jeju-and-reconnecting-with-the-people-in-your-past story. But my real comment is that it's nice Ji Chang-wook is back and doing not totally unwatchable dramas. This one started out well but I just wasn't interested enough in the characters when it all felt very inevitable and obvious. There was hardly a love triangle. Also I'm getting pretty tired of "evil" characters doing things that are outrageous without even a mild grounding in reality. </div><div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Secret Romantic Guesthouse</div><div><br /></div><div>Honestly, a quick watch with some not great performances but an unusual story for how a deposed prince manages to take back power. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;">Captivating the King</div><div><br /></div><div>I had to stop watching this one half-way through. </div><div><br /></div><div>I liked the romance at the start. A woman (Shin Se-kyung) disguises herself as a man to gamble over baduk. She uses her winnings to fund rescuing trafficked people. And she falls for the prince (Jo Jung-suk) when she is playing baduk. He is someone she has always admired. But then the prince has a personality transplant when he decides to steal the throne. He ends up sentencing his old baduk friend to death claiming they were never friends and just cuts her off for his newly minted ambition or whatever. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jo Jung-suk is acting through jaw tension alone and with no other parts of his body. It's exhaustingly boring. Very one note. </div><div><br /></div><div>I almost could handle the baduk player coming back from death (she doesn't die but he thinks she did) seeking revenge on the prince. BUT THEN SHE FALLS IN LOVE WITH HIM. I'm sorry my forgiveness does not stretch that far. I could not overcome that barrier. I actually wanted to throw up when they had sex. Even if this is somehow part of her revenge scheme (vomit) I was immediately out. So bad choices all around, especially by me for watching this one. </div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;">Love Song for Illusion</div><div><br /></div><div>Dual-personality/evil spirit nonsense. Just too over the top at times and silly. Park Ji-hoon deserves better material. I stopped watching a couple episodes before the end. Hope it all worked out for all the personalities. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;">Doctor Romantic 2</div><div><br /></div><div>Young people learn to grow up and be more complete humans while also doing a lot of close-up surgery that made me ill to watch. I was in the mood to see more of Lee Sung-kyung's work after her appearance on Suchwita. And she's lovely here alongside Ahn Hyo-seop. They have good chemistry and their romance was kind of hot. But the evil machinations of the people trying to destroy the lead doctor and his hospital wasn't really interesting to me. Sorry. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;">A Piece of Your Mind</div><div><br /></div><div>I should have probably stopped this series early on when a character goes to Norway (without proper warm clothes), because they are sad, and then quickly dies in a snow incident that seems wholly preventable. But this death is what kind of motivates all the other characters who are all sad because of another death that happened years before and also lost love. </div><div><br /></div><div>Not great if this is what your whole plot depends on to make romance happen. And then there's a creepy AI voice replica situation of the dead girl from Norway going on. </div><div><br /></div><div>All these actors have done better work elsewhere (Jung Hae-in, Chae Soo-bin). </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCStga6I08SL2PNqHI-d82RqOB44youfHHY8STMRI0QTNc5H-diCa3WkR0aV9D3o-cNYd2Z3ciOTXw5TDium7ssTf15cBItV-TrXFIeBcpI5IzXPyThCKi1z7KdovCrrbjrZrsCBKWQ9tPdOptAHreb4Xof2EeOStaR2wszg-sNk6vvb89LdjaTA32qREh/s4032/IMG_5291.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCStga6I08SL2PNqHI-d82RqOB44youfHHY8STMRI0QTNc5H-diCa3WkR0aV9D3o-cNYd2Z3ciOTXw5TDium7ssTf15cBItV-TrXFIeBcpI5IzXPyThCKi1z7KdovCrrbjrZrsCBKWQ9tPdOptAHreb4Xof2EeOStaR2wszg-sNk6vvb89LdjaTA32qREh/s320/IMG_5291.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This leather trench coat was a bad costuming choice</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">********************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;">While You Were Sleeping</div><div><br /></div><div>This was a quirkier show than I was expecting. Three people end up connected and they each have dreams that predict the future for each other. Once they meet they find out maybe they can stop the inevitable in these dreams from happening. </div><div><br /></div><div>I actually found the triumvirate of dreaming characters played by Bae Suzy, Lee Jong-suk, and Jung Hae-in to be a fun combination--well two of them anyway. When they played up the comedy and the love triangle of sorts between them it worked well. But I still do not find Lee Jong-suk actually watchable as an actor. And Suzy's character could be anywhere from 12 to 35 depending on the maturity level she was showing in any one scene. It was confusing at times how bratty and immature this grown woman who was a hard hitting journalist was supposed to be. </div><div><br /></div><div>I got bored by the end by the romance and was fast-forwarding. </div><div><br /></div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-83298464979618444642024-03-03T10:40:00.000-05:002024-03-03T15:11:53.988-05:00My Favorite K-Dramas Ranked<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinA-qTtsQTQODY5iOqis-qVWRtGuykf268s5Um4MualV0qI1_YBt3frQltRZRU0Jk_wmXUAdh0FyLthPtxpYzhoL2_YzC1SJu9N3vUPfDxRrU4OAyH74z7SWKUTrWR-YQCOeWb8nQkYY2X/s2048/IMG_4820.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinA-qTtsQTQODY5iOqis-qVWRtGuykf268s5Um4MualV0qI1_YBt3frQltRZRU0Jk_wmXUAdh0FyLthPtxpYzhoL2_YzC1SJu9N3vUPfDxRrU4OAyH74z7SWKUTrWR-YQCOeWb8nQkYY2X/s320/IMG_4820.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Park Seo-joon happily thinking about dramas</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>Just to keep a ranking of the shows I have blogged about...all subject to change: <div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">MUST SEE SHOWS</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/05/pandemic-diary-march-crash-landing-on.html">Crash Landing On You</a>: Just the perfect blend of comedy, drama, and romance with a narrative that sustains itself and interesting conversations about borders and separation. Characters and chemistry win the day. I can't imagine a more perfect pairing than Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/05/pandemic-diary-april-mr-sunshine.html">Mr. Sunshine</a>: Strong historical drama focused on important issues but never losing sight of the personal connections between the characters and the impossible choices they face. So heartbreaking.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-august-zombies-lawyers.html">Kingdom</a>: A little bit of Shakespeare, a little bit of <i>Handmaid's Tale</i>, and a whole lotta what-happens-when-your-leaders-care-more-about-preserving-their-power-than-serving-the-people." Apt for pandemic times.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/11/pandemic-diary-october-history-and.html">Rookie Historian: Goo Hae-ryung:</a> A mostly lighthearted meet-cute romance, with intriguing palace machinations that integrates Joseon politics and history with an array of well-crafted characters. A nearly ideal narrative that's gripping throughout all 20 episodes but fumbles with a too-cutesy ending for my liking. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/10/pandemic-diary-september-half-year.html">I Will Come To You When the Weather is Nice</a>: Life, love, family, and getting through every day is hard. This precious little gem of a show lets sadness live alongside happiness giving meaning to both.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/06/pandemic-diary-june-characters-filled.html">Itaewon Class</a>: I heart this group of misfits and their struggles feel poignant and grounded in important issues. Also Park Seo-joon heart eyes 4-eva.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/06/pandemic-diary-june-characters-filled.html">Signal</a>: Strong writing and compulsive plot make up for shortfalls in some character development.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-july-wounded-men.html">What's Wrong With Secretary Kim</a>: It's sexy and flirty and knows what it needs to do and thank you for that. Dynamic duo of Park Seo-joon and Park Min-young.</li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/01/january-2023-boys-revenge-and-violence.html">Weak Hero Class 1</a>: A heart-breaking series on teenage bullying and the fragility of young men being indoctrinated into violence.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/11/pandemic-diary-september-october-2021.html">D.P.</a>: A challenging and direct short series about toxic masculinity, the armed forces, and the violence of men. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/12/october-december-2022-queens-cross.html">Under the Queen's Umbrella</a>: A twist on an old palace succession formula that focuses on the women in the palace, their status being tied to their royal sons, and the limited paths they have for survival. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/01/january-2022-happiness-revenge.html">Happiness</a>: A post-pandemic exploration of human nature, sacrifice, loss, and happiness. Balancing a lighter comedy on top of a zombie virus plot and a tender romance too. I've watched it multiple times now and I feel like the writing here is far and away better than most. The sly humor it sneaks in cannot be beat. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/06/pandemic-diary-may-grasping-for-k-drama.html">Stranger</a>: Doona Bae. Send tweet.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/12/pandemic-diary-december-2021-dramas-to.html">The King's Affection</a>: A woman-playing-a-man story that feels more like a queer love story with swoonworthy writing and meaningful commentary about personal choice. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/02/pandemic-diary-january-2021-monsters.html">Fight For My Way</a>: A drama about the real heartache and struggles of working class kids delivered in a tender comedy with great performances from Park Seo-joon and Kim Ji-won. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/05/pandemic-diary-may-2021-divorce.html">Alone in Love</a>: A bittersweet romance about a divorced couple trying to unlove each other and move on. Nuanced, funny, and thoughtfully handled. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/07/may-june-2023-liberation-grief-and.html">My Liberation Notes</a>: Three siblings are deeply disappointed in their lives. But this unusual series is tinged with enough hope to keep you guessing and engaged about what might befall them. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/05/may-2022-demons-suicide-and-complicated.html">Tomorrow</a>: An empathic drama about Grim Reapers who try to help people who are suicidal. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/04/pandemic-diary-march-2021-team-good-boy.html">Start-Up</a>: A well-crafted character drama and romance that will have you torn between who will make Dal-mi happier. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/01/pandemic-diary-december-getting-out-of.html">Descendants of the Sun</a>: Flirty bickering, great chemistry, multiple couples to root for, and a nonsense plot that just keeps upping the ante. A wild ride if you don't take it too seriously. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/07/pandemic-diary-june-2021-revenge-grief.html">Move to Heaven</a>: A beautifully written show about grief, quiet unobserved lives, and the secrets we carry even in death. It ends abruptly but I am forgiving that because of the craft of the 10 episodes. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/09/august-2022-whales-and-wizards.html">Alchemy of Souls</a>: Fantasy, romance epic where not everyone is as they seem. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/01/january-2023-boys-revenge-and-violence.html">Alchemy of Souls Part 2</a>: Sweeping epic fantasy comes to its conclusion with a darker center in Part 2 and a sexier romance.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/07/pandemic-diary-june-2021-revenge-grief.html">Taxi Driver</a>: A slick revenge drama that tries to address the lack of justice in the justice system with empathy and respect for survivors. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/06/april-2023-glory-of-slow-burn.html">Our Blooming Youth</a>: Two people under attack find they need each other and grow to love each other in the process of discovering who wants them out of the way. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/02/february-2022-quiet-pain-secret-joy.html">Our Beloved Summer</a>: The situation comedy from a former couple being reunited for a documentary gives way to something a lot deeper when we start to learn what's behind their insecurities and what pain they hide from each other. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/07/may-june-2023-liberation-grief-and.html">Summer Strike</a>: A woman finds herself trying to change her life and deal with her grief in a small town. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-august-zombies-lawyers.html">Because This Is My First Time Life</a>: Two roommates agree to marry for financial reasons, but their hearts start thumping for each other. A look at financial and housing precarity, marriage, and relationships as a younger generation starts to question tradition. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/05/pandemic-diary-may-2021-divorce.html">True Beauty</a>: A teen rom-com that is funny, bright, and well-crafted, even if the issues of "beauty" and "ugliness" are hard to negotiate well. Added bonus of thoughtful exploration of fractured male friendship. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/01/december-2023-korean-sojourn.html">Moments of Eighteen</a>: A tender teen drama about bullying and finding your way forward in life. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/10/september-2023-liars-liars-and-love.html">My Lovely Liar</a>: A convoluted little romance but with nice chemistry from the leads and enough momentum to keep you in it and a solid execution. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/10/september-2023-liars-liars-and-love.html">Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency</a>: A love triangle with consequences and reasons to be torn. Some characterization issues but not enough to stop me from recommending this period romance.</li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/08/july-2022-hobipalooza-and-melodramas.html">She Would Never Know</a>: A quiet, uncomplicated romance about figuring out what you want in life. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/01/january-2023-boys-revenge-and-violence.html">Reborn Rich</a>: A revenge tale that deepens into something more complex once the rivals come to see and recognize each other. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/03/pandemic-diary-february-2021-12-months.html">Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth: </a>A period drama full of K-pop stars that has a unique rambunctious boy energy, a strong female lead, and also explores the challenges of leadership. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/05/may-2022-demons-suicide-and-complicated.html">Semantic Error</a>: A darling BL drama between an uptight engineering student and a carefree design student. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/10/september-2022-death-psychiatry-and.html">Today's Webtoon</a>: A workplace coming-of-age story with thoughtful discussions of mental illness, abuse, and what happens when you quit your dream. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/08/july-2022-hobipalooza-and-melodramas.html">Why Her</a>: A mystery-romance melodrama of buried secrets, political machinations, and people's lives ruined in the wake. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/04/march-2022-teen-to-noona-romance.html">The Heirs</a>: Classic teen K-drama and all the problematic elements that entails but still you can't stop watching it. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/06/april-2023-glory-of-slow-burn.html">At a Distance, Spring is Green</a>: A coming of age drama about college friends and navigating crushes, trauma, and how to open yourself up to others. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-august-zombies-lawyers.html">Hyena</a>: A questionable initial premise but eventually it becomes a slick legal-corruption show exposing the hypocrisy of the Korean society and taking aim at the patriarchy and class structures. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/04/pandemic-diary-april-2021-rabies.html">Search</a>: An action-mystery about nuclear rabies in the DMZ. But seriously, a gripping yarn and some well-crafted characters raised the stakes on this short but solid show. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/04/pandemic-diary-april-2021-rabies.html">Solomon's Perjury</a>: An unsettling mystery told from the perspective of teens fighting for their voices and lives to matter. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/05/pandemic-diary-may-2021-divorce.html">Navillera</a>: A sentimental but moving friendship between a twenty-something ballet dancer and the 70-year-old man who becomes his student. Quiet, gentle, and well-written. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/06/pandemic-diary-may-grasping-for-k-drama.html">The K2</a>: It's so stupid but it's so fun. Action-comedy-romance guilty pleasure. 210% ridiculous. But still would recommend because of Ji Chang-wook and his face.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-july-wounded-men.html">Healer</a>: A great pairing of Park Min-young and Ji Chang-wook. While the story runs out of steam, they are such cuties together, we have to stan. Plus the fashion sequence for no reason is pure pleasure. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-july-wounded-men.html">Her Private Life</a>: Great lens on fangirl culture and some steamy moments for sure. But not quite enough to carry it all the way through</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/06/pandemic-diary-june-characters-filled.html">Romance is a Bonus Book</a>: Social issues are stronger here than romance or anything else. Wasting a handsome side man when he should be your lead.</li><li><span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/03/february-2024-demons-mental-and-literal.html">Marry My Husband</a>: A melodrama about revenge you will want to see through to the end even if the romance is lacking. </span></li><li style="text-align: center;">THESE SHOWS HAVE THEIR CHARMS</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/02/pandemic-diary-january-2021-monsters.html">Record of Youth</a>: Less romance and more growing up in your 20s, this bittersweet story about success not making life any easier had a lot of unfulfilled promise. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/01/pandemic-diary-december-getting-out-of.html">Thirty But Seventeen</a>: Low-key romance about finding family and growing up. A winsome Yang Se-jong.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/12/pandemic-diary-november-happy-birthday.html">One Spring Night</a>: A sweet romance between a single dad and a librarian. But the couple faces family objection obstacles. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/04/pandemic-diary-march-2021-team-good-boy.html">Run On</a>: Frustrating because the primary romance is not all that interesting, but some really strong character work from Shin Se-kyung, Sooyoung and Kang Tae-oh. Worth watching for the actors and the secondary romance which has all the push/pull, love/hate to keep you tuning in. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/07/june-2022-losing-plot.html">Sh**ting Star</a>s: A fun celebrity PR romance that shows how hard it is for famous actors to date. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/12/october-december-2022-queens-cross.html">Love in the Moonlight</a>: A woman pretending to be a eunuch catches the Crown Prince's eye, natch. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/12/pandemic-diary-december-2021-dramas-to.html">Jirisan</a>: An unusual mystical murder-mystery with a beautiful mountain setting and sweeping cinematography. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/06/april-2023-glory-of-slow-burn.html">The Glory</a>: Graphic, extreme bullying revenge drama that wants to be American cable TV a bit too much. But eventually develops some nuance. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/11/november-2023-destiny.html">The Worst of Evil</a>: Classic gangster story told conventionally but Ji Chang-wook and Wi Ha-joon raise the material. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/06/april-2023-glory-of-slow-burn.html">Taxi Driver 2</a>: A return of the taxi driver vengeance team but the plots are less interesting and personal than season 1. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/07/june-2022-losing-plot.html">Do You Like Brahms</a>: A quiet, melancholy romance about unrequited love and trying to figure out what you want in life. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/03/february-2024-demons-mental-and-literal.html">Just Between Lovers (aka Rain or Shine)</a>: A powerful story of coming back from trauma and how to acknowledge and memorialize a painful past for survivors. </li><li><span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/03/february-2024-demons-mental-and-literal.html ">Knight Flower</a>: A widow with a secret identity is doing good and teams up with a military officer who is keeping her secret and solving a palace mystery that impacts them both. </span></li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/10/september-2022-death-psychiatry-and.html">Poong, The Joseon Psychiatrist</a>: A strong female lead and a romance built on mutual respect make this a little better than it's Scooby-doo mystery plot. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/07/may-june-2023-liberation-grief-and.html">Divorce Attorney Shin</a>: A perfectly solid little drama mostly focused on male friendship. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/10/pandemic-diary-september-half-year.html">Hospital Playlist</a>: A medical drama about 5 friends creates some engaging characters but then makes us wade through a lot of surgery before we get to see the characters do or feel anything. Hoping for better pacing in season 2. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/03/february-2024-demons-mental-and-literal.html">Doctor Romantic 2</a>: Perfectly fine I just didn't get super into it. Also a lot of surgery. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/11/pandemic-diary-october-history-and.html">Stranger 2</a>: A slow start and a dense contemporary legal plot issue made this a slow burn, but eventually it gets a groove and I was happy to be reunited with these characters. If only, there was more time spent on them and less on the plot.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/04/pandemic-diary-march-2021-team-good-boy.html">You Drive Me Crazy</a>: A short drama series, but if you love Kim Seon-ho this show spotlights his charms well. And a very hot kiss. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/03/february-2024-demons-mental-and-literal.html">Revenant</a>: Ghost stories and scary dramas are not my thing. Character development comes late with just empty scares until then. </li><li style="text-align: center;">MESSY BUT STILL A LITTLE SOMETHING THERE</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/08/pandemic-diary-july-2021-sad-stuff-and.html">Youth of May:</a> An interesting historic setting and a sweet couple, but the plot was hurried, obvious, and wonky. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/01/january-2022-happiness-revenge.html">My Name</a>: A woman seeking revenge for her father's death joins a gang but a too hurried format took this from promising to frustrating</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/02/february-2022-quiet-pain-secret-joy.html">The Secret Royal Inspector and Joy</a>: Not always the slickest of plots, but the chemistry of the leads is undeniable and they make for a fun watch. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/03/pandemic-diary-february-2021-12-months.html">Suspicious Partner</a>: Ji Chang-wook and Nam Ji-hyun have a fun love/hate dynamic in this murder mystery-comedy-romance. But the show loses it's momentum. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/01/january-2022-happiness-revenge.html">Now We're Breaking Up</a>: Some quality smoldering in a melodrama that gets lost in its own logic. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/04/march-2022-teen-to-noona-romance.html">Search WWW</a>: Too much search engine intrigue and not enough Noona romance. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/01/pandemic-diary-december-getting-out-of.html">My Country</a>: With some highs and lows, a choppy, historic drama that offers up some tasty characters but then loses plot momentum. A downer that keeps doubling down on sadness. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/02/pandemic-diary-january-2021-monsters.html">Sweet Home</a>: A monster-horror drama about how terrible people can be to each other and how much pain we can endure. Song Kang is a precious baby teenage angel in this but lordt it was a rough watch if you are sensitive to violence. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/04/pandemic-diary-april-2021-rabies.html">The Tale of Nok-du:</a> A cross-dressing, mystery-identity drama that is stronger on romance than plot. But worth seeking out for Jang Dong-yoon's performance. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/09/august-2023-running-out-of-steam.html">Heartbeat</a>: At first I was really taken with this story of a vampire sincerely trying to reconnect with his lost love and get a heart(beat). It didn't sustain my interest but Taecyeon remains a fun comedic actor. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/04/pandemic-diary-march-2021-team-good-boy.html">The Uncanny Counter</a>: I'm just not that into genre shows like this. I was more taken by the ensemble than the lead and I was not as emotionally invested as I was supposed to be. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/05/pandemic-diary-may-2021-divorce.html">Bring It On Ghost</a>: Horror-comedy about an exorcist college student and the ghost he falls for. Cute couple. Could live without the creepy ghosts or over-the-top "comic relief." </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/02/pandemic-diary-january-2021-monsters.html">Love Alarm</a>: I'm not writing this off yet. But with only 8 episodes this teen drama felt like it was only getting started. I guess I'm waiting for season 2 to be able to sort out my full feelings on it. Song Kang is the handsome, less angelic lead here.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-july-goblins-kings-and.html">Goblin</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#"> </a>(Guardian: The Lonely and Great God): I just wanted to push all the characters into a volcano at some point. Dragged out. I was not into it at all. Surly, sly comedy works. Treacly cringe romance with a teenager not so much.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/10/pandemic-diary-september-half-year.html">It's Okay To Not Be Okay</a>: I know people love this show but for me it was a stylized, gothic fairy tale that mixes serious and important mental health and care issues, with a destructive and unhealthy romance.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/03/pandemic-diary-february-2021-12-months.html">Suits</a>: A remake of the American show so suffers an unfortunate shallowness. Hyungsik does what he can with the limited material. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/11/pandemic-diary-october-history-and.html">Sungkyunkwan Scandal</a>: Cross-dressing <i>She's the Man</i>-esque comedy set in bro-ey Joseon--Broseon. Some fun side characters (love me a brooding political Robin Hood), a good dose of yearning, but some truly awful dialogue. Loses it's mojo half-way through.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/12/pandemic-diary-november-happy-birthday.html">Chicago Typewriter</a>: So much potential with a 1930s political plot but the contemporary characters don't live up to that promise. But A+ kiss and a sometimes smoldering Yoo Ah-in. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/11/november-2023-destiny.html">Destined With You</a>: Past lives, love spells, and an unusual enemies to lovers path should have made this show delightful (also it has Rowoon) but I kept resisting its charms. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/09/august-2023-running-out-of-steam.html">See You in My 19th Life</a>: An unexpected reincarnation romance that started strong but faltered. Plus some cringe childhood romance dynamics.</li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/03/february-2024-demons-mental-and-literal.html">While You Were Sleeping</a>: 3 people are connected by dreams that give them the power to see the future. Quirky, awkward Bae Suzy. Still can't convince me Lee Jong-suk is good at acting. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/03/pandemic-diary-february-2021-12-months.html">A Witch's Romance</a>: Hooray for an "older" woman romance and lots of sensitive Park Seo-joon to enjoy, but not much else. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/12/october-december-2022-queens-cross.html">Touch My Heart</a>: A harmless situational romance between an actress and a lawyer.</li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/01/december-2023-korean-sojourn.html">Doona!</a>: A K-pop idol falls for a Muggle. It's a great set-up but a short 9-episode arc just cuts this all down to a nub. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/03/february-2024-demons-mental-and-literal.html">The Secret Romantic Guest House</a>: Three men stay in a guest house but one of them might be the hidden crown prince. Fair little romance historic drama. Not great acting. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/11/pandemic-diary-september-october-2021.html">River Where the Moon Rises</a>: A historic drama that flipped gender roles in an interesting way but then lost sight of the characters. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/10/september-2022-death-psychiatry-and.html">If You Wish Upon Me</a>: Weepy, sentimental melodrama that pulls at your heartstrings a lot. </li><li><span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/03/february-2024-demons-mental-and-literal.html">My Demon</a>: This one spirals into nonsense and the intense attraction may be the only thing holding it together. The plot and costume choices are not. </span></li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/05/may-2022-demons-suicide-and-complicated.html">The Red Sleeve</a>: I really liked the actors and the strong female lead but a king looking to take a maid as his concubine is just a hard story to tell today without giving us enough of her perspective. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/09/august-2022-whales-and-wizards.html">Extraordinary Attorney Woo</a>: A strong acting ensemble but I was uncomfortable with the performance of autism and the infantilizing portrayal </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/12/october-december-2022-queens-cross.html">The Fabulous:</a> A group of friends in the fashion industry find success and romance. </li><li style="text-align: center;">YOU CAN SKIP THESE SHOWS</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/07/pandemic-diary-june-2021-revenge-grief.html">To the Beautiful You</a>: Choi Minho gives a lot of good face here. But it's a 6 episode story stretched out to 16. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/11/pandemic-diary-october-history-and.html">Strong Woman Do Bong Soon</a>: Enjoyed the bickering romance, but the dumb characters and nonsense plot eventually dragged it down, plus some weirdly homophobic overtones.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/02/pandemic-diary-january-2021-monsters.html">100 Days My Prince</a>: A miserable prince loses his memory and eventually falls in love with a poor woman. Nam Ji-hyun and Kim Seon-ho are delightful but sadly the show's focus was elsewhere. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/12/october-december-2022-queens-cross.html">Love in Contract</a>: A woman who marries men to help them out finally starts helping herself out. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/10/september-2022-death-psychiatry-and.html">Once Upon a Small Town</a>: A little rural romance where nothing happens and it's not bad but it's not good. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/08/pandemic-diary-july-2021-sad-stuff-and.html">Doom At Your Service</a>: I found this whole show confusing and overly dreary. But good kisses. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-august-zombies-lawyers.html">Vagabond</a>: A stunt man is going to solve a complex terrorist conspiracy with his bare hands and maybe also his kicky feet.</li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/04/pandemic-diary-april-2021-rabies.html">Flower of Evil</a>: A show that is not as interested in the psychological aspects of its characters as I was. Sloppy on murder and mystery, but there are emotional moments that kept me tuning in. However, frustrating throughout. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/09/august-2022-whales-and-wizards.html">High Society</a>: Very daytime soap opera with a pretty low quality look but Park Hyung-sik leads the cast. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/10/pandemic-diary-september-half-year.html">Oh My Ghost</a>: If only this ghost were not so rapey, this show might have been a cute romance. Or maybe I would never get over the consent issues. We'll never know. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/05/may-2022-demons-suicide-and-complicated.html">Lovers of the Red Sky</a>: This could have been an intriguing palace drama with a childhood romance but then there was an evil spirit possessing someone and the fantasy layer didn't work. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/04/pandemic-diary-march-2021-team-good-boy.html">Two Cops</a>: Some very good actors are wasted in this meagerly written drama about a conman and a detective whose fates are intertwined. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/01/pandemic-diary-december-getting-out-of.html">My Sassy Girl</a>: A palace mystery/romance that I forgot 1 minute after watching. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/12/pandemic-diary-december-2021-dramas-to.html">Yumi's Cells:</a> A romance that gets sunk with terrible female archetypes and a couple I did not root for. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/02/february-2022-quiet-pain-secret-joy.html">Imitation</a>: An idol drama that's one note. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/08/pandemic-diary-july-2021-sad-stuff-and.html">Shopping King Louis</a>: Seo In-guk is cute and puppyish but that's it. I could not get to the end. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/11/november-2023-destiny.html">Dali and the Cocky Prince</a>: Too much of a helpless woman needing rescuing for my taste. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-july-goblins-kings-and.html">The King: Eternal Monarch</a>: I was confused and didn't mean to watch this. I regret the error.</li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/03/february-2024-demons-mental-and-literal.html">Captivating the King</a>: Don't make me accept a romance with a man who tried to destroy a woman's life. No fucking way. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/03/february-2024-demons-mental-and-literal.html">Love Song for Illusion</a>: Dual personality monarch makes for political trouble and a super dumb plot. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-august-zombies-lawyers.html">Tunnel</a>: A magic tunnel, a murderer, a smart woman making dumb choices. Nope. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/02/pandemic-diary-january-2021-monsters.html">She Was Pretty</a>: Park Seo-joon is wasted in this drama about an "ugly" woman struggling to confess her feelings to her childhood first love when he turns up as her mean boss. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/09/august-2023-running-out-of-steam.html">My Roommate is a Gumiho</a>: I got very confused about the magic gumiho gumball of power and what happened in this show. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/03/february-2024-demons-mental-and-literal.html">A Piece of Your Mind</a>: Creepy use of AI replica of a dead woman and her dumb death by avalanche. There's not a lot that is good here. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/10/september-2023-liars-liars-and-love.html">Call It Love</a>: Started out with lonely, struggling people learning to open up again in a sad, sweet way and then just died of its own accord. Boooooooo. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/09/august-2023-running-out-of-steam.html">Live On</a>: Total nonsense bullying drama. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/08/pandemic-diary-july-2021-sad-stuff-and.html">Reply 1997</a>: I could not finish this show because I found a particular romance plotline creepy and gross. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-july-wounded-men.html">My Holo Love</a>: I was so offended for 85% of this show. Some real consent issues here. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/06/pandemic-diary-may-grasping-for-k-drama.html">Something in the Rain</a>: A good cast and an important sexual harassment story line but the creative choices made this one hard to get through. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/01/pandemic-diary-december-getting-out-of.html">Where Stars Land</a>: A show that had promise and squandered it and made some confusing statements about disability. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/10/september-2023-liars-liars-and-love.html">Moving</a>: Fuck this expensive, comic book story that says some weird shit about fat people. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/12/pandemic-diary-november-happy-birthday.html">My ID is Gangnam Beauty</a>: A poorly executed look at beauty, plastic surgery, and societal expectations for young women. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2020/08/pandemic-diary-august-zombies-lawyers.html">Melting Me Softly</a>: 2 people get cryogenically frozen thinking it will be for 24-hours and they get unfrozen 20 years later. This might also melt your brain. </li><li><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2024/01/december-2023-korean-sojourn.html">Our Blues</a>: I found the pro-teen pregnancy story line so offensive I stopped watching this show. </li><li><a href="http://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/07/pandemic-diary-june-2021-revenge-grief.html">So I Married The Anti-Fan</a>: Run away. </li></ol></div></div><div><div><div><br /></div>Shows I turned off before watching all of: Black, My Mister, Where Stars Land, Chocolate, Radiant, Vincenzo, My Shy Boss, Reply 1997, Shopping King Louis, Coffee Prince, Weightlifting Fairy, Kim Bok-joo, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, River Where the Moon Rises, Yumi's Cells, Melancholy, Moving, Our Blues, Love Song for Illusion, Captivating the King </div><div><br /></div><div>Shows I watched but didn't review: Squid Game, A Business Proposal, Our Relationship Sim, The Eighth Sense, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, To My Star<br /><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-8988994633082926262024-02-07T11:43:00.003-05:002024-02-07T11:43:57.289-05:00January 2024: Creatures from the Past<p>In January, New York City broke it's 700-day no-snow streak and I encountered some real stellar dramas.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">*************************************</p><p style="text-align: center;">Gyeongsang Creature</p><p><i>Gyeongseong Creature</i> sets an incredible stage for how the Japanese occupation, Japanese military violence, and the people of Korea survived such atrocities. It then kind of sells out its own nuanced and careful character development for a "second season." I'm reserving some judgment on this until I see this future second season, but I didn't love the way the final episodes wrap-up. On the whole, this 10-episode first series gives a rare look at this time period and with it asks who are the real heroes when no one is free. </p><p>The stakes are so high in this setting where the Korean people are under the oppressive regime of the Japanese occupation. There is an underground movement for independence but Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon) wants nothing to do with it. He is just out for his own survival. He runs a successful pawnshop, keeps the Japanese military mostly off of his back, and provides some safety for his small circle of colleagues. But when the Japanese chief of the police forces him to go looking for the officer's missing mistress, Tae-sang can no longer remain "neutral." He will lose everything he has built if he does not comply. During his search, he encounters a father/daughter duo who are also searching for a missing person. He is instantly struck by Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee) and he is forced to make choices that push him to ask what value does his survival have and what can he do for others. </p><p>The show layers this political backdrop over a horror story of the Japanese doing biological experiments on Korean people (which is a historic truth--they also conducted tests on Chinese people as well) which results in the creation of a killing-machine "creature." No one knows what is happening behind the locked doors of this hospital and once they find out it is hard to ignore it. </p><p>What makes the show so successful on first blush is this marriage of history and horror. This brutality of occupation is the first layer of horror and the abhorrent experiments the second. With this setting, the characters are pushed to the brink. For most of them, they have never known a moment's peace in their lives as they have always lived under this occupation. The narrative conflict is not just about immediate harm but about these YEARS of oppression rising to a level of violence no one had even contemplated. </p><p>Tae Sang has not lived a righteous path by the measure of many around him. Some see him as just an opportunist and a collaborator with the Japanese. This collaboration has allowed him to survive and thrive. But as the show reveals, many people who "collaborated' with the Japanese had no choice but to do so. Some may have been tortured or abused or threatened with death if they didn't. What they feel in their hearts versus what actions they take are somewhat divorced. And appearances can also be deceiving. For some, Tae Sang looks like he's only out for himself but he has quietly supported a community around him. </p><p>Tae-sang and Chae-ok have lost so much in their young lives so this brief moment where[ they open their hearts to each other feels risky, fleeting, and worth every minute of it. </p><p>I loved so much of this character work which is why it was frustrating to see some of that go out the window at the end of the series. I debated whether it was wise to also "show" the creature so much. I kind of wish they had taken the <i>Jaws </i>route and held back on us seeing so much of the creature. I also found the sped-up action scenes really cheap looking. </p><p>But I was deeply engaged in the story, the complicated questions around patriotism, opportunism, loyalty, betrayal, and hope when it seems like you will never be free. </p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">*************************************</p><p style="text-align: center;">The Matchmakers</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBjg7hR4TZXzlNLEA5jn5dfllWI0m_RUczNkhzQg4LoaeaaJgkfjZQRwz3vvwKP8HEeBcf4KUhiDd1dYv5mdJ-u7-NJ70mhiX20-FImTU116kljk5-fbL4oAF7UPpdbFLD9j2JxM0DX_-74MmMazKyxPPHdUr0Cz_fICpp7_NxqduSSn4PLv6Ot5MWsUL/s4032/IMG_2317.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBjg7hR4TZXzlNLEA5jn5dfllWI0m_RUczNkhzQg4LoaeaaJgkfjZQRwz3vvwKP8HEeBcf4KUhiDd1dYv5mdJ-u7-NJ70mhiX20-FImTU116kljk5-fbL4oAF7UPpdbFLD9j2JxM0DX_-74MmMazKyxPPHdUr0Cz_fICpp7_NxqduSSn4PLv6Ot5MWsUL/s320/IMG_2317.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><i>The Matchmakers</i> might be the best slow-burn, longing romance in awhile. It took me a few episodes (and some initial confusion over who is who) but the interwoven characters, the mysteries, and the unique character goals all worked together well. </p><p>A widower, Prince Gyeongwoojae (Rowoon), is uptight and miserable. Known around town as The Resentful Man, it is rumored that he was forced to marry the princess rather than pursue his goal of becoming a state minister only to watch her die shortly after their wedding. Being a widower, he cannot marry again but also being a member of the royal family he cannot do anything else. Now he is stuck writing endless petitions to the King in the hopes of annulling his marriage. </p><p>Prince Gyeongwoojae, who is sometimes a little too smart for his own good, must solve a problem for the King so that the young Crown Prince can marry (against the wishes of his political enemies who want their prince to take the crown). Gyeongwoojae is tasked with marrying off three old maids. </p><p>In doing so, he encounters a widow matchmaker Yeojudaek (Cho Yi-hyun) who disguises her real identity. Unbeknownst to him, she is a member of a powerful political family-- the one trying to stop the Crown Prince from marrying. She believes she has a calling to matchmaking and connecting people who will truly be happy together. She deeply loved her husband who died young and wants this love for others. She sneaks out of her family compound, disguises herself as a peddler/matchmaker and sets out to work with the Prince to match these three impossible "old maids" to three "old bachelors" and in doing so they awaken their own feelings for each other. </p><p>One of the key elements of a superior drama is when the supporting characters, secondary love stories, and plot machinations are as tight as the central romance and story. Here, I was invested in all the characters. The three old maids are unique--one smart and calm, one quick-tempered and sweary, and one secretly writes smutty romance novels. </p><p>Even the "evil" Left State Minister and his scheming wife are not just the usual cookie-cutter power hungry duo here. She's all the brains behind his success and the one time he schemed on his own he really fucked up and is trying to keep what he did from her. </p><p>I didn't love that the Crown Prince is 14 and is being matched to an adult. Even if this might have been normal for Joseon times...it was a little icky. Though the relationship is kept very chaste here. </p><p>Prince Gyeongwoojae is oversensitive and annoying at first. But as he becomes overwhelmed by his crush he softens. He has his moments of being a sulky, cry-baby when things are not going his way. But I love how thunderstruck they are for each other, each knowing they cannot act on these feelings, and trying to figure out if there is a way forward together. So there's a lot of sparkling eyes of sadness as they gaze upon each other. </p><p>The final matchmaking and weddings has a delightful madcap feel. Usually, some aspect of all these tangled stories can be tortured or drawn-out but here we get an array of rich characters, proper romantic twists and turns, and threats of consequences. </p><p style="text-align: center;">*************************************</p><p style="text-align: center;">A Good Day to Be a Dog</p><p><i>A Good Day to Be a Dog</i> is a quirky romance has an odd set-up which you kind of just have to accept and move on. Classic K-drama. But then then this light-hearted concept turns into yet another past lives- curse story and I think we have complete market saturation on these right now (see <a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/11/november-2023-destiny.html">Destined With You</a>, <a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/09/august-2023-running-out-of-steam.html">See You in My 19th Life</a>, <a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/09/august-2023-running-out-of-steam.html">Heartbeat</a>). </p><p>Schoolteacher Han Hae-na (Park Gyu-young) accidentally kisses her co-worker Jin Seo-won (Cha Eun-woo) while drunk. What could just be an embarrassing incident becomes a complete disaster for Hae-na because she suffers from a family curse. </p><p>If she kisses someone, she will turn into a dog every night. If after thirty days she is not kissed again, in dog form, she will be doomed to stay a dog. But Seo-won is actually terrified of dogs and getting him in a room with one, let alone kissing one, is a huge challenge. </p><p>Besides she does not even like him, not one bit, not at all...except maybe he's been harboring a crush on her for a while. She sets out to try to trick him into kissing her but the more time they spend together the closer they become. And this would all work out just fine if there was not also a meddling co-worker, Lee Bo-gyeom (Lee Hyun-woo) who seems really focused on keeping them apart. </p><div>What starts out as a very cute, silly comedy, shifts from light and quirky to darkness/death/past lives/mystery in a way that doesn’t feel seamless. And worse it just gets very heavy in a less interesting way. There's also a little cringey dynamic between the teacher, Bo-gyeom and one of the students for mystical reasons but still...<shiver></div><div><br /></div><div>I enjoyed where we started but not where we ended up. </div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-55179666697566312072024-01-07T16:06:00.002-05:002024-01-07T16:06:57.386-05:00December 2023: Korean Sojourn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqgw6Br44OuT10Ko6fWuUuQtXFxdRz2za-CAOuyOXjSjxOISWvWkNfkvo04SBLiPJL-yn8xBa2Qv_lqOAEIFWQnYe-9swHb-wWanEvarfk6_eE1oReV1bWdtSE6gQwRvL7G3rSW4kRVNAxJsOvu7GSmipiWs6lawzXId7YAGyIfuxn2y9fHPw8n79ht6IY/s4032/IMG_3819.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqgw6Br44OuT10Ko6fWuUuQtXFxdRz2za-CAOuyOXjSjxOISWvWkNfkvo04SBLiPJL-yn8xBa2Qv_lqOAEIFWQnYe-9swHb-wWanEvarfk6_eE1oReV1bWdtSE6gQwRvL7G3rSW4kRVNAxJsOvu7GSmipiWs6lawzXId7YAGyIfuxn2y9fHPw8n79ht6IY/s320/IMG_3819.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p>I spent three weeks in Korea this December. While it was cold and we got snow (a white Christmas!), I was glad to see the country at this time of year. Winter light festivals brightened the frigid nights. There were an incredible number of concerts to attend. And I went to see some theater (which I wrote about here). Some places I went had few tourists (which I love) and I got to drink my favorite Korean warm beverage, Omija tea. </p><p>I went to Gwangju for a few days to see some of the historic sites of the democracy movement. Not all travel is about bright and pretty things. I spend a lot of time thinking about culture and what that means in the larger sense. </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhjgfbGLuBqdjWBcQxirs1Jp5dD9nVvBNnjkZswHnxcaIIcOWvCGuwGzvzs4Yt-M7X-ijUWcYVowCiVvjFDxCN3Y7y63L9rX5mo5GPVTeQ1bwq-XnmAbN0ScEviKfTkpuUXvYrQpYSFfTbfhkFPWFamGcR1RJqVdLDqaO5GpaxIwl7Cpl0eC_RbzqO6kz/s4032/IMG_2807.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhjgfbGLuBqdjWBcQxirs1Jp5dD9nVvBNnjkZswHnxcaIIcOWvCGuwGzvzs4Yt-M7X-ijUWcYVowCiVvjFDxCN3Y7y63L9rX5mo5GPVTeQ1bwq-XnmAbN0ScEviKfTkpuUXvYrQpYSFfTbfhkFPWFamGcR1RJqVdLDqaO5GpaxIwl7Cpl0eC_RbzqO6kz/s320/IMG_2807.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy 20th Anniversary to Epik High</td></tr></tbody></table>Seeing the buildings, faces, and images of the Gwangju Uprising I came to see how shows like <i>Snowdrop</i> were deeply offensive and actually perpetuating dangerous falsehoods fed by the conservative government. I understood why in the protests that rose up against Park Geun-hye the students sang "Do You Hear the People Sing" from <i>Les Miserables</i>. <p></p><p>I was also left thinking about how shame operates in a culture when Lee Sun-Kyun died by suicide after being hounded by the media and netizens. </p><p>I got thrown off of my drama watching but here is my monthly wrap-up. </p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Moments of Eighteen</b></p><p>This was a wonderful, tender series about a poor, bullied boy Choi Jun-u (Ong Seong-wu) who is forced to transfer schools. Rather than just be pushed out of his new school by forces beyond his control, he decides to stay (with the help of a supportive teacher). In committing to starting over, he makes friends, falls in love, learns to listen to his own talents, and even forgives. It is not without a great deal of pain and loss but by believing in himself a bit more than the rigged systems around him he finds he can be happy. </p><p>While dramas are often/always rooted in fantasy, I enjoy when they seemed grounded in realistic circumstances. Yes, there will always be driven parents forcing their kids to be perfect and get into good colleges. But in this story, we see how that pressure manifests in different students. Some lash out at others. Some have come to understand how money and power works so they play the system their parents have taught them. Some buckle with these unrealistic expectations. </p><p>This drama respects these teens and honors how hard this process is on them. Despite all this pressure, these teens keep moving forward, holding it together, and holding each other up. </p><p>There were different kinds of romances here too. Jun-u falls for Yoo Soo-bin (Kim Hyang-gi) who is not supposed to focus on anything else in her life except getting into SNU like her mother did. But everyone expects Soo-bin to date her childhood friend Ma Hwi-young (Shin Seung-ho) who comes from a rich family is the number one student in their grade. Hwi-young takes out his ire on Jun-u when Soo-bin starts spending time with Jun-u. Soo-bin's friend Dae-in sort of declares that she and Jung Oh-je (the late Moonbin) are dating and he does not totally resist this dating by force. He dotes on her but there's something missing in their dynamic. </p><p>In a rare moment, characters here actually face consequences for their actions. </p><p>It's a quiet, little, heart-breaking drama and I am glad I stumbled upon it. </p><p style="text-align: center;">**********************************</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Doona!</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">In my ongoing gripes at Netflix for misunderstanding what makes K-dramas work, this is a 9-episode show that just falls apart. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Bae Suzy is Doona a K-pop idol who crashes and burns and suddenly walks away from her group, Sweet Dream. She is hiding out in an apartment building, avoiding her manager and her mother, smoking more cigarettes than there are on earth. She encounters a college student, Lee Won-jun (Yang Se-jong), who has just moved to the big city and has no idea who she is. </p><p style="text-align: left;">The show walks a fiiiiiiiine line around a manic pixie dream girl. The show is less clear on what exactly her relationship is/was with her manager who trained her since she was a child which leaves some questionable ick on the table. </p><p style="text-align: left;">The entire production has a hazy, dreamy quality to it (or it could be the cigarette smoke). It is definitely a unique look and style but, as per usual, if the story cannot flesh out the style it comes out a bit empty in the end. </p><p style="text-align: left;">It was frustrating because I think it's a great set-up. It's nice to see Yang Se-jong back after his military service (although why is a 31-year-old playing a college student). And the visuals could have provided a dynamic back-drop to the storytelling if only it had not run out of story. </p><p style="text-align: center;">**********************************</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Our Blues</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">I stopped watching this show when it decided that it was pro-teen pregnancy and anti-abortion. Talk about a show that did not respect it's teen characters (in contrast to <i>Moment of Eighteen</i>). Don't establish a character as a brilliant student and then pretend she does not know how pregnancy works in the year of our lord 2022 or whenever this show was made. I could not take it and turned it off. </p>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-23370748242864608372023-11-29T11:29:00.004-05:002023-11-29T11:29:50.944-05:00November 2023: Destiny<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMUCcsRA0H455X9pFIKzgoLqVfc9pPvk39uDCq-MgjWgJTrNO9HtUKPSeade6DEv1-vV8ZMz0GESGASpRTqhcJocFTrtKvt4lcni2GtaDz5CsIft3QgLMJsyXxEsIJBIw8_PMQxfbPD_7px7B7I1B46XHArrMu6i0rN9TljXhoDmeqqJuhS47yxQwFTbZ/s4032/IMG_2091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMUCcsRA0H455X9pFIKzgoLqVfc9pPvk39uDCq-MgjWgJTrNO9HtUKPSeade6DEv1-vV8ZMz0GESGASpRTqhcJocFTrtKvt4lcni2GtaDz5CsIft3QgLMJsyXxEsIJBIw8_PMQxfbPD_7px7B7I1B46XHArrMu6i0rN9TljXhoDmeqqJuhS47yxQwFTbZ/s320/IMG_2091.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some demonic Xmas trees for you this season</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>I'm deep in Korea travel planning but here are some interesting shows from November. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Destined with You </b></p><p>In <i>Destined With You</i>, Rowoon plays a rude, standoffish lawyer, Jang Shin-yu, who is haunted by a hand covered in blood. Totes normal. In a new job at city hall, he encounters and immediately dislikes civil servant, Lee Hong-jo (Jo Bo-ah). Meanwhile, Hong-jo has a crush on Kwon Jae-kyung (Ha Jun) another lawyer who works at city hall. Jae-kyung rejects her confession which sets the stage for her casting a love spell which maybe accidentally gets delivered to Shin-yu. Shin-yu feels constantly drawn to Hong-jo but neither of them are sure if these feelings are real or the spell. But he manages a drunken confession of his own which is swoonworthy. Layered into this is another plot that involves the past lives of Shin-yu and Hong-jo. Why is this such a popular trope lately (<a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/09/august-2023-running-out-of-steam.html"><i>See You in My 19th Life</i>,</a> <i><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/09/august-2023-running-out-of-steam.html">Heartbeat</a></i>)? </p><p>The is-it-a-spell-or-not of this story made it hard to fall for the couple at first because they did not even want to fall for each other. It would have been stalker-esque had the man even wanted to be there in the first place. So it just set a strange tone from the start. Then the mystical elements of casting spells, past lives, and that bloody hand sort of came and went jarringly. The very real evil around them (another "whoops there's a murderer in this romance" and a truly atrocious fiancée) was hard enough to fight. </p><p>But the actors kept me in it. Buried somewhere in here is a message about the major sacrifices one makes for love. But I'm wondering if that message could have had better packaging. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>The Worst of Evil </b></p><p>Ji Chang-wook is back in an action-drama. While the gangland storytelling might be familiar in framing, it was a great showcase for his talents. Since he's been doing a lot of bad dramas, it was a relief to finally see him in something that suited him. Amen. </p><p>This very <i>Donnie Brascoe</i>-esque K-drama is set in the 1990s--you know because there are pagers. Park Jun-mo (Ji Chang-wook) is a police officer married to another officer, Yoo Eui-jeong (Im Se-mi). She is a member of an elite police squad and her whole family is full of cops. Jun-mo is always trying to prove himself worthy to her and her family. So he takes a risky undercover job to help him land a big promotion. He agrees to go undercover to join a drug gang led by Jung Gi-cheul (Wi Ha-joon). Gi-cheul just happens to also be his wife's first love. When he is caught by the gangsters meeting up with Eui-jeong, she ends up joining the assignment to try to help, and pretends to be divorced and interested in Gi-cheul. As Jun-mo gets deeper into the drug organization, gaining Gi-cheul's trust, so does his wife. Meanwhile, Jun-mo is paired with a Korean-Chinese drug leader (Bibi) who he is meant to take care of. </p><div>This is a very classic gangster tale. The gangster wants out of this life but he has to just do one more big score. The organization is held together through deep ties of loyalty, but he trusts the wrong man who then weakens those bonds. At the same time, he finds those around him are not as loyal as he thought they were. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jun-mo and Gi-cheul are not wildly different from each other. Their lives could have gone in either direction. But as Jun-mo spends more and more time with the gangsters the lines around him blur and who he is becomes fuzzy. Worse, this is happening in front of his wife who cannot help but see that he has changed (or has this always been a part of him). </div><div><br /></div><div>Ji-Chang-wook excels at tender-hearted characters who express themself best through action and violence over words. So the role is a perfect fit. Wi Ha-joon too suits this upstanding drug dealer who wants a better, clean life. Bibi is haunting as a woman fighting to be taken seriously in this business and who ends up trusting Jun-mo more than she should. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paranoia, misplaced loyalty, corrupt cops, Catholicism, and extreme violence make this an atmospheric show. They smoke so many cigarettes you feel like you can smell them. While it may not be an original story, it had some valid twists and turns and it was a relief to finally be able to see JCW back in action. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Dali & the Cocky Prince</b></div><div><br /></div>Not sure why I finished this one. <div><br /></div><div>Kim Dali (Park Gyu-young) is a polished chaebol who works in the art world in Switzerland. Through a case of mistaken identity, she encounters a boorish restauranter Jin Moo-hak (Kim Min-jae) who she finds curious and funny. They lose track of each other and then find each other again back in Korea once Dali takes over the museum her late father was running. She discovers the museum owes a large financial debt to Moo-hak. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fundamental problem with this show was that Dali is just so dull and uninteresting once she comes back to Korea. She was quirky in Switzerland but once she has to buckle down to run the family business all her personality evaporates. Worse, she's inept in all ways with running the business and her backbone is intermittent. It’s just boring to watch. She’s also helpless in ways that feel unreasonable for someone of her age, class, and connections. It's no fun to watch her be constantly fooled by men and their machinations. </div><div><br />Meanwhile, Moo-hak has the more interesting story. His pure survival focus on money shifts when he meets Dali and he starts to slightly understand that there is more to life than money. There was the potential here to dig into class issues in Korea and the show attempts to. But it's all quite hacky. </div><div><br /></div><div>I like Kim Min-jae but he's done better shows. This one is not worth the time. <br /><div><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /></div></div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-4432731436845922062023-10-28T16:22:00.001-04:002023-10-28T16:42:08.878-04:00September-October 2023: Liars, Liars, and Love<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rGjcqK2q1vsS4VQi0_1HnMR_4MJjUlZeBZJa7D4if9RC-KAbUWmyV1KkM68Dm0Oifn_lhb01YJtoNEv-U_hdirLZuURmS-AIRunWiLpmV0g0wco-wg1U6upWs5bg3kNbC3hX_7XTXNrv8Pp_Cw7gVEVSPKZ6kTvhyphenhyphenbOUFQD0bPzsWS60k-nQ14YdVWUX/s4032/IMG_9569.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rGjcqK2q1vsS4VQi0_1HnMR_4MJjUlZeBZJa7D4if9RC-KAbUWmyV1KkM68Dm0Oifn_lhb01YJtoNEv-U_hdirLZuURmS-AIRunWiLpmV0g0wco-wg1U6upWs5bg3kNbC3hX_7XTXNrv8Pp_Cw7gVEVSPKZ6kTvhyphenhyphenbOUFQD0bPzsWS60k-nQ14YdVWUX/s320/IMG_9569.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A classic truly terrible drama lyric</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>A bunch of shows sort of drifted between September to October so here's my wrap-up for the two months. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>My Lovely Liar</b></div></b><br />I was smitten with this lil convoluted show starring Hwang Min-hyun and Kim So-hyun who shared a sweet chemistry. <br /><br />Mok Sol-hee (Kim So-hyun) has been able to tell when people are lying since she was young. Rather than this be any sort of gift, it has brought her a lot of pain. So she turns it into a business and stays away from relationships. With a con-artist mother who went to prison due to Sol-hee tattling on her lies, her mother sponges off her when she can if she's not lying her way into landing a rich husband. <br /><br />Sol-hee has some loyal employees who help her but she's pretty cynical about the world around her. Kim Seung-joo (Hwang Min-hyun) was accused of murdering his girlfriend back in college. Even his mother assumes he's done it. And he's been in hiding ever since as Kim Do-ha. But he's become quite famous as the songwriter for a famous idol, Sha On, and trying to keep his identity hidden with his increasing notoriety is hard. After a media scandal being paired with Sha On, he ends up going into hiding in the apartment next door to Sol-hee. When they meet, she finds he does not lie to her. <br /><br />As with any good K-drama romance, these characters come out of their shells and learn to be in the world again thanks to the presence of the other. Sol-hee needs to believe there are people who won't lie and Seung-joo needs somewhere he can feel safe and out of the celebrity spotlight. For the most part, this feels organic and earned. <br /><br />The pacing of them coming together as a couple is also handled nicely. They gradually and naturally get closer and find they want to protect the other, with romance following further down the line. They have shared interests and are kind of good match for one another. It's just those pesky lies and one murder get in the way. <br /><br />The murder mystery isn't as carefully done, but by that point I was on board with the characters and just kind of rode that nonsense through until the end.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Call It Love</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I loooooooved this show at the start and then it died for me completely. It did not survive a romance vibe shift. Boooooooo. From sad desperate broken people to schmoopy dull people. Ddeng. </div><div><br /></div><div>Shim Woo-joo's (Lee Sung-kyung) life falls apart when her estranged father dies and his mistress-to-second wife inherits the family home Shim Woo-joo and her siblings have been living in. The widow kicks the kids out and Woo-joo plots revenge. She takes a job at the company run by the mistress's son Han Dong-jin (Kim Young-kwang) who gave money to his mother to buy the family home. But after working there for a while she realizes she has feelings for him and her for her. The siblings have their own problems and are rescued by Woo-joo's long-time friend (Sung Joon) who gives them a place to live. </div><div><br /></div><div>This melodrama started out with an interesting posture as these two broken, lonely people who had struggled for so long because of the respective families find solace in each other. But some terrible filming choices (an overdose of sepia that actually starts to make your eyes hurt) and a complete narrative collapse causes this show to fall apart. </div><div><br /></div><div>The best friend's affection for this loving, messy family is a nice side story as he has cold, unfeeling parents and longs for this kind of closeness in his life. I enjoy "sad people being sad" dramas but I thought Kim Young-kwang was just bad. His performance was so subtle he was mostly just a tall skull with brief glints of reactions. Though I liked Lee Sung-kyung and her fierce, tough exterior as she thinks through what her emotions even are after years of packing them away to take care of everyone around her.</div><div><br /></div><div>But ultimately the things standing in the way of this relationship are not real and there's no actual impediment and the dramatic tension is gone once the couple admits their feelings for each other. <farty balloon sound></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div>This was a good example where you feel truly torn by the love triangle where the two men love the woman for who she is, if you can stomach a grumpy man who is maybe mean to cover up his true feelings. <br /><br />The matchmaking agency, Flower Crew, is run by three handsome men (Kim Min-jae, Park Ji-hoon, Byeon Woo-seok). After much persuading, they take on a poor blacksmith as a client, Lee Soo (Seo Ji-hoon). They organize and prepare his wedding to his tomboyish best friend, Gae-ttong (Gong Seung-yeon), who is rough around the edges but he loves her ardently. On the day of the wedding, Lee Soo disappears leaving Gae-ttong with huge debt for the marriage. <div><br /></div><div>With nowhere to go, she eventually weasels her way into working with the Flower Crew. She has spent her life on the run and with the Flower Crew, particularly the taciturn leader Ma Hoon (Kim Min-jae) she starts to feel like she has a home. And as her heart begins to open to Ma Hoon, Lee Soo returns. In a twist of fate, he has been named the king of Joseon (gasp!) but he still wants to marry her. But for her own safety she cannot know because, as per usual, everyone wants to control the king and who he marries. <div><br /></div><div>Each of the characters have a complicated backstory that once revealed shows they have a personal anguish they are trying to heal. With layers of complications, evil doers mucking things up, and believable plot machinations, it does feel like no one will come out of this story happy. </div><div><br /></div><div>So it keeps you engaged on that front. My gripes are small but significant. First, Gae-ttong starts to lose some of her feistiness once she "falls in love." I find this so irritating. She has not had a lobotomy. Let her be a whole person. Gong Seung-yeon acts as if she's in a toothpaste commercial with a shiny, vacant smile and I wanted to scream. Eventually her personality returns and it's satisfying to see it. </div><div><br /></div><div>My second complaint is more of a confused observation. Park Ji-hoon's character seems like he's coded gay. He does the make-up for the brides, he's obsessed with fashion, and he even calls his male senior Ma Hoon, Unni (which is what a woman would call her older sister). I truly could not tell if this was play on old stereotypes or progressive inclusion. <br /><br />With a strong ensemble, a plot that yanks you around hoping it will all work out, and some nice characterizations even with my grumbles this is one I'd recommend as a solid romance. <br /><b><br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div></b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Moving</b></div><br />I'm sure <i>Moving</i> is going to get a lot of ink. It's a high-budget slick webtoon to screen adaptation that feels very muppet baby Marvel. Think X-Men parents and X-Men kids in secret government training being chased by assassins. This is all sooooooooo not my interest or style. </div><div><br />There is gory violence and endlessly bloody fight scenes which I find exceedingly boring. I gave up after 8 episodes. </div><div><br /></div><div>And my biggest complaint is that one of the characters needs to gain weight so he does not float off the ground (his superhero power). So the actor playing him bulked up for the role. But for some reason he is characterized as kind of mentally slow or maybe stupid. I was deeply uncomfortable with whatever the fuck was going on with this. It just felt fatphobic to me. </div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone else can enjoy this series without me. <br /><br /></div></div></div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-58502240795441981602023-09-12T12:37:00.001-04:002023-09-12T12:37:51.280-04:00August 2023: Running Out of Steam<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzlPZh_kmmAaS81XAxEjQpmXr8KiBgMDb6J0VFhy9DE2td7XW03ceNQ8B1y5UwmoXlDphVT680ZohiMmeGSS9Or6aupfhxQuE3tXlkGUaV5kVnZYyDl3bkjCG-9hXr6fYN0VjZjjKMkL9shBJo0sSAawS026aNRcZOoZMSvro4pN5tEN6P_FJ-qONQmsQ/s1782/IMG_9780.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="1782" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzlPZh_kmmAaS81XAxEjQpmXr8KiBgMDb6J0VFhy9DE2td7XW03ceNQ8B1y5UwmoXlDphVT680ZohiMmeGSS9Or6aupfhxQuE3tXlkGUaV5kVnZYyDl3bkjCG-9hXr6fYN0VjZjjKMkL9shBJo0sSAawS026aNRcZOoZMSvro4pN5tEN6P_FJ-qONQmsQ/s320/IMG_9780.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Did the dramas I watched in August run out of steam or did I? </p><p>Looking back on how I fell into K-dramas, it was clearly about the collective trauma of the pandemic. I needed this narrative softness to fall into and a certain sense of clarity in a moment of extreme confusion. While the pandemic is not over, the world has moved on. But I am still watching dramas.</p><p>And the month of August was in no way the equivalent of the early pandemic but I was under a lot of stress. My bathroom renovation was almost done and my contractor quit the job. I had been navigating so much conflict with him the entire time. The shows I watched were not giving me what I needed in the midst of this. </p><p>It is hard to separate that from my experience of them. Not every show is a perfect fit for me but these were not ideal this month. </p><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>My Roommate is a Gumiho </b></p><p><i>My Roommate is a Gumiho</i> involved a magical marble that a nine-tailed fox (Jang Ki-yong) passed to a random girl (Lee Hye-ri) who later becomes his girlfriend and then it passes back again and I could not for the life of me understand the magic marble and it's significance, power, or weird implantation dynamics. </p><p>Was this totally on me? I don't think so. It was a cast of actors I've enjoyed elsewhere but I did not press on until the end. I will never know what happened with the magical marble and whether it was somehow a sexual metaphor or just a power marble or something else. </p><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>See You in My 19th Life</b></p><p>There was some magical thinking in <i>See You in My 19th Life </i>but on a level I could comprehend. But as the lead character encountered more conflict, I checked out. It might be one I need to go back to and rewatch, or it just missed its moment with me. </p><p>In it, Ban Ji-eum (Shin Hye-sun) is living her 19th life but unlike others who have been reincarnated, she remembers all of her past lives. She died quite young in her 18th life and tracks down the people from that life (and earlier) and re-inserts herself into their lives. With one woman, she is the reincarnation of that woman's uncle and Ban Ji-eum tells her that. But others she encounters don't know that she is the person they once knew and loved. She experiences the consequences of being reborn and seeing the grief she left behind. She also has no place for her own grief. </p><p>I enjoyed her being smarter and more talented than most (she remembered all of her past life skills as well) and her teasing, flirtatious nature with adult Moon Seo-ha (Ahn Bo-hyun) her childhood friend that she loved. But there was something a little uncomfortable about the teen version of her being in love with maybe a 10-year-old boy. I don't know. With the casting, it just looked like an 18-year-old girl hitting on a kid. Not great. </p><p>Eventually, the mysterious and possibly nefarious Kang Min-gi (Lee Chae-min) shows up and it takes some unfurling to know what their connection is. </p><p>The magical issues around her remembering her past lives and how that might impact others got fuzzy but also by then I was barely holding on. </p><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Heartbeat</b></p><p><i>See You in My 19th Life </i>unexpectedly shared some parallels with another show I watched in August, <i>Heartbeat. </i></p><p>There Seon Woo-hyul (Ok Taec-yeon), a vampire who has lived for centuries, remembers the people he has lost. He hopes the woman he loved will eventually return to him. He's stuck in the past and is not sure how to move on. </p><p>He's been asleep for 100 years (in a failed attempt to become human--he becomes half-human) and everything has changed except him. Miraculously, his house from 100 years ago is still standing but he is accidentally awoken from his 99.9 years of slumber by Joo In-hae (Won Ji-an) which is what prevents him from becoming human. They develop an untold connection and must figure out how to share this house. </p><p><i>Heartbeat </i>is a lot more playful than <i>19th Life</i>. I've enjoyed Tac-yeon in comedies. Here it's a nonsense set-up involving a vampire looking for love. The cure he needs involves Joo In-hae finding love. But she does not believe in love. </p><p>For all this goofiness, there is something quite tender about Seon Woo-hyul seeing the woman he thinks is the reincarnation of his love who does not know who he is and does not remember him. This fated love he thinks will instantly come rushing back does not. And he must navigate this reality and disappointment. It would be easy to chalk this up as a bit of a silly story but Tac-yeon makes this a lot more meaningful within the larger fabric of the storytelling. </p><p>But the subplots and side-charactered started to weigh the whole thing down and again my attention drifted. </p><p style="text-align: center;">**********************************</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Live On</b></p><p>I also watched a terrible teen bullying drama because Hwang Min-hyun was in it. It involves a mean, rich influencer who keeps everyone at arm's length and is rude and obnoxious. But it turns out she's just such a mean girl because she was the victim of bullying but didn't want to let anyone know. WHAT? And then there's a very Pretty Little Liars plot about a secret hater who is trying to take her down. But they didn't even have good reasons. There was something all too blunt and poor in the character development. I did not get it. </p>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-37208963148207301982023-08-06T16:51:00.001-04:002023-08-06T16:51:10.528-04:00July 2023: Life is Hard<div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5eserNfpE_nnUlsaxO7R_LkT9Dh6ffO3JUyzEWlaqlwVm3_FOLhrGQX175d-GK2r9TTeEoaD_IUjDHx7G1xKBbED3Gi2UtIn8AptSdgorr_6Ru8mwz9qBnn1R8-9xd0EHIbh9uFjwCdPmP6n_G19RySsXGgmD8FNVRxR_gq-C-FxauUz6oIPAE9OHqlb/s4032/IMG_8550.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5eserNfpE_nnUlsaxO7R_LkT9Dh6ffO3JUyzEWlaqlwVm3_FOLhrGQX175d-GK2r9TTeEoaD_IUjDHx7G1xKBbED3Gi2UtIn8AptSdgorr_6Ru8mwz9qBnn1R8-9xd0EHIbh9uFjwCdPmP6n_G19RySsXGgmD8FNVRxR_gq-C-FxauUz6oIPAE9OHqlb/s320/IMG_8550.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jungkook in tiny at GMA <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>I didn't finish as many series as I would have liked in July. But I did go see Jungkook sing on Good Morning America and start my long-awaited bathroom renovation. So it was a productive month (haha) and here are two worthwhile shows I saw. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Misaeng: Incomplete Life</b></div><br />This is a well-known series that I had put off because the first 10 minutes of the first episode were confusing and off-putting. But once I got over that hump (it's a wholly out of context flashback), this first episode might among the most emotionally harrowing episodes of K-drama television. Without physical violence, we see a man's soul get crushed over and over for just existing. And it sets the tone for life as a company worker in Korea. </div><div><br /><div>Jang Geu-rae (Im Si-wan) was a successful baduk player who was planning to go pro but he had to quit. Now he's stuck in dead-end jobs with only a GED and no academic credentials or work experience. He ends up getting recommended for an internship and must compete with his academically over-achieving colleagues to try to get a permanent placement at the job. </div><div><br /></div><div>He makes it through round one but his colleagues get permanent offers whereas he is left a contract worker still having to prove himself. At first rivals, this group of former interns, Ahn Young-yi (Kang So-ra), Jang Baek-gi (Kang Ha-neul), Han Seok-yool (Byun Yo-han), end up getting closer as they each have reasons to prove themselves in this job. </div><div><br />The show, which was wildly successful in Korea, shows the repetitive and soul-smashing humiliations these young workers are put through. But we also see how that abuse continues up the pecking order within the corporation. </div><div><br /></div><div>People are punished for being too bright and a threat to others. They are exploited by superiors with no justification except a tradition of hazing and an expectation that you need to take this kind of treatment to survive in this industry. No one is training or teaching them for fear they surpass them. So it is trial-by-fire with injustice after injustice stacking up. </div><div><br /></div><div>Through these characters, we see rampant sexism and misogyny, pregnancy discrimination, working moms struggling, and the challenges of being ethical in an unethical industry. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'd say this falls into the category of a coming-of-age drama, where these young professionals are acculturized into corporate life. But we also see how their seniors have had their own struggles in the past so it's not just the young people who suffer in this system. <br /><br />One of the strengths of the show is seeing how each young person has to figure out the way to make this work for themselves. Used to being ultra-competitive, some need to learn how to collaborate and support one another. Others are rigid and need to understand flexibility. Geu-rae has spent a life learning game strategies and in a way this helps him adapt to this world that has an unknown set of rules he has to figure out. But it's a painful process filled with failure and setbacks. </div><div><br /></div><div>With a stellar cast, this is not an easy watch. The corporate system and fixed cultural hierarchies are awful and abusive. There's nothing humane about the way this company operates. But within the company, there are good people who do eventually reach out to these young people and offer them kindness in the face of all this. We want to cheer for their survival and success against all these odds. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Joseon Attorney- A Morality</b></div><br />The title didn't catch my attention so glad a friend recommended it. It's a Joseon-era dramedy about a cavalier traveling attorney who has a secret revenge plan he's trying to enact. <div><br /></div><div>Kang Han-soo (Woo Do-hwan) starts out as an obnoxious jerk who will take on challenging legal cases for all sorts of clients. But some of this is a front as he’s playing a long con to slowly knock out all the people who killed his parents and ruined his life. He finds help from a local woman Lee Yeon-joo (Bona) who assists the town innkeeper. Little does he know she is keeping a secret from him. She is the princess and the royal family is on his hit list. She realizes their fated connection after she has already fallen for him. Meanwhile, she has been long-promised to marry Yoo Ji-sun (Cha Hak-yeon) who has his own run-ins with Kang Han-soo. So a love triangle with complications comes into play. <br /><br />The show addresses the corrupt institutions around both the princess and the lawyer and the inciting incident is one of those drama moments that takes the show from playful to something deeper and ore meaningful. It's nice when the dramatic stakes feel worthy of that narrative shift and that is not always the case. </div><div><br /></div><div>A solid drama with a fun ensemble and a richer pay-off than may be expected from the lighter start. </div><br /></div></div><br />Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-33875826668313367312023-07-04T16:17:00.000-04:002023-07-04T16:17:05.116-04:00May-June 2023: Liberation, Grief and Divorce<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1h-ZfI_Jv8u8hxMPrbmHnYQ9YqaehN2DlUbGgM7c-ilBBpBk3l5XKrVHi8FBEfSnmSOAgUL1Kx0_TmfsmKU_R_waunu4XW9O0WjPZqKVd1p6ANnCB9XlHehD2FRCLNovupascpFj2EBgCEW-MqZ0ZUg9yuLs1U9-PzyvH6-GFCwG8buEN8lVrSNv5mfo4/s4032/IMG_7935.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1h-ZfI_Jv8u8hxMPrbmHnYQ9YqaehN2DlUbGgM7c-ilBBpBk3l5XKrVHi8FBEfSnmSOAgUL1Kx0_TmfsmKU_R_waunu4XW9O0WjPZqKVd1p6ANnCB9XlHehD2FRCLNovupascpFj2EBgCEW-MqZ0ZUg9yuLs1U9-PzyvH6-GFCwG8buEN8lVrSNv5mfo4/s320/IMG_7935.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>I ended up watching a couple of "sad people shows" ™ done in very different styles but both with a languid thoughtfulness.<div><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Summer Strike</b></div>I found Im Siwan very one-note in <i>Run On</i> so I was dragging my feet to see more of his work. But when I read Jae-hae Kim's review of his other shows I thought I should give him another try. I'm glad I did starting with this small town show with murder. <div><br /></div><div><i>Summer Strike</i> is focused on a young woman, Lee Yeo-reum (Kim Seol-hyun) whose career and love life have not been going to plan. When her mother dies and leaves her some funds, she decides to quit working and live as frugally as possible until she figures out her life. In the non-stop achievement race in Korea, this is a radical departure. She finds herself in a small town with a library and decides this is the spot. She moves into a former pool hall where someone died (why it's been empty for so long and they are willing to give her a massive rent discount) and she begins this new life where she can unpack her grief. </div><div><br /></div><div>But small towns are not chock full of kindly, sweet folk and she finds a lot of people skeptical of her and her lifestyle and those who want to take advantage of her naivete. But over time she starts to form bonds with the quiet librarian, Ahn Dae-beom (Im Siwan) who also quit his successful academic career in math, and a rebellious high school student Kim Bom (Shin Eun-soo) who is suffering with an alcoholic dad. <br /><br />As with the best of K-dramas, the ones where there is a strong ensemble behind the romantic pairs makes for a richer show overall. There's a nice secondary romance where a single dad in town has always had a crush on the other librarian who treats him like the pal she had in high school. </div><div><br /></div><div>While I don't always love, romances with "and then there is a murder" but here the consequences and stakes of that feed into the past traumas of the characters and it becomes a powerful inciting incident which forces the characters to grow and change. And there's no reason for the story to force a character to forgive an abuser. But sadly this is common in K-dramas. Grrrr. <br /><br />There are lessons to be learned about what is really needed to make for a happy life and it might not be the same for everyone. <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>My Liberation Notes</b></div><br />I'm not sure I have encountered a K-drama like My Liberation Notes. In a world of a lot of successful formulas, this one stands apart. </div><div><br /></div><div>Three siblings live at the end of the train line outside of Seoul and help their parents with their failing farm and small business. They have an extreme commute into Seoul for work and the dream of moving up in Korean society feels like it slips away every day. They are mildly achieving corporate drones who don’t make enough money to move out of their family home nor start families of their own.</div><div><br /></div><div>The youngest, Yeom Mi-jeong (Kim Ji-won), sees a billboard from her train every day that says “Something good will happen to you today." And it is almost never true. She is a contract worker at a company where her boss does not support her work and belittles her. Her older sister is Yeom Ki-jeong (Lee El) is unmarried, drinks too much, and is too honest causing all sorts of tension wherever she goes. Their brother, Yeom Chang-hee (Lee Min-ki) is angry and frustrated at his job overseeing convenience stores and thinks he can never marry because he will never have the money. A strange man, Gu (Son Suk-ku), whose full name they do not even know ends up on their doorstep and he begins to help out their father with his sink business slowly getting integrated into their every day lives while drinking himself to sleep every night. </div><div><br />In another format, this would be a slow-moving indie film. But in the drama format, we get to spend ample time with each character and see their unique sadness. Gu is dealing with his grief, personal betrayals and alcoholism to numb all his pain. Chang-hee is so painfully aware of how stuck he is and he resents everyone else around him who is not. Ki-jeong wants to date a divorced colleague of Mi-jeong's but seems to screw it up at every turn. Mi-jeong loaned money to a man who ghosted her and now she's buried under the weight to pay it back. She also finds Gu fascinating and forces herself into his life. </div><div><br />The show demonstrates how life is hard, not always in grand or complex ways. Here it is the quotidian struggle of dealing with other people, loss, sadness and never moving ahead. These characters experience so many setbacks, embarrassments, and humiliations in just the small failures of life. Their small-scale failures feel real and the they have no choice but to keep going. </div><div><br /></div><div>And while this can sound depressing, the show ends up still holding onto some small flame of hope, as the characters do, that maybe tomorrow will be different. And they press on and in small ways try to change the direction of their lives. We just ride the quiet, mysterious rhythm of the characters during their sweaty, buggy, hot days and snowy, dark nights while constantly perched on the edge of hope. </div><div><br />What a unique gem. </div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Divorce Attorney Shin</b></div><br />In this story of a concert-pianist-turned-divorce-lawyer (Cho Seung-woo) who is very good at what he does, the real focus is his group of middle-aged male friends. They've known each other for so long and they understand each other more than anyone. Romance is secondary to the friends who will drop everything for each other. It's quite sweet actually, even if sometimes they are immature idiots. </div><div><br /></div></div></div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-17274132774733436212023-06-03T14:59:00.007-04:002023-06-03T15:11:12.656-04:00April 2023: The Glory of a Slow Burn<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zjRIvHXGwtsg37n9LApKCD_2DamRiQFdjJ44D2DVLf2a4qbRrmXTzqE1KNHgCkA-U90X4wHx6ALMutT0ze78zWlDi-JbvUwYgTgCkAnCx7gBl3yWibYlP94bFFv7b1YisqzNwsUAyzeeMrtEidmVWAsCXmMvccj8awl1bHY9zIchPu1edBOhbw8pxQ/s1440/31461185-17FC-4902-870F-016C57DA2CBC.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="1440" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zjRIvHXGwtsg37n9LApKCD_2DamRiQFdjJ44D2DVLf2a4qbRrmXTzqE1KNHgCkA-U90X4wHx6ALMutT0ze78zWlDi-JbvUwYgTgCkAnCx7gBl3yWibYlP94bFFv7b1YisqzNwsUAyzeeMrtEidmVWAsCXmMvccj8awl1bHY9zIchPu1edBOhbw8pxQ/s320/31461185-17FC-4902-870F-016C57DA2CBC.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I did a Namjooning trip to DIA: Beacon to see the Indigo album MV locations in April. <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p> I'm way behind in my blogging about K-dramas due to my <a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/05/april-2023-d-day-is-coming.html">D-Day activities</a>. So let's get into it. </p><br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Glory</b></div></b><div><br /><div><i>The Glory</i> has had so much attention I felt like I could not ignore it. As usual, for a Netflix series, my skepticism around their use of sex and violence remains acute. Taking a boring, predictable page out of American cable TV in a space that so often focuses on character and relationships, I worry the deeper investment Netflix makes in K-dramas, the less these works will interest me. <br /><br />Nevertheless, <i>The Glory</i> is a revenge drama focused on a woman Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) who comes back from what can only be described as absolute physical and emotional torture in high school (graphically depicted) to track down her school-day bullies-tormentors and slowly, methodically blow up their adult lives. <br /><br />Park Yeon-jin (Lim Ji-yeon) is a weather forecaster on TV and the ringleader of the high school group. She's rich and powerful and basically just likes to pull the wings off of insects (torture her poor classmate for no reason other than she exists). Yeon-jin has no characteristics besides shouting a lot when she does not get her way or getting really mad when she is caught doing anything wrong. <div><br /></div><div>Chaebol Jeon Jae-joon (Park Sung-hoon) has always been in love with her and will do anything she asks. But she is married to the successful and moral Ha Do-yeon (Jung Sung-il) who has never seemed to notice he's married to psychopath but when Dong-eun brings it to his attention their marriage is put under pressure. Dong-eun encounters Joo Yeo-jeong (Lee Do-hyun), a plastic surgeon, who agrees to help her for his own reasons and together they chip away at these pathologically devious characters. <br /><br />My big gripe is the extreme nature of the violence and the lack of real remorse turns these bullies into monsters rather than people. And I think that chips away at any meaningful pathos. <br /><br />But what made me stick around and keep watching was the sincere relationships Dong-eun had with Joo Yeo-jeong and Kang Hyeon-nam (Yeom Hye-ran) a housekeeper experiencing domestic violence. Slowly characters grounded in some reality start to appear and things get a bit more interesting then. I think it's also important to show that the world is not just made up of monsters. Monsters are boring and one note. Bad humans are a whole different creature which forces us to deal with the nuance of evil existing within us all. Dong-eun's revenge team actually starts to reflect more that nuance and complexity.<div> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Our Blooming Youth</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>One of the great joys of the romance genre is all the different ways you can show how someone comes to love someone else. In <i>Our Blooming Youth</i>, we see a prince fall for a woman by appreciating her mind, her cunning, her survival and spirit. <br /><br />The Crown Prince (Park Hyung-sik) rose to his position by the sudden death of his older brother. Even after he has become Crown Prince, his position has been under constant threat. He was shot by a poisoned arrow and received a thretening prediction from a ghost about his downfall. He slowly recovers from the arrow and must prove himself to a skeptical court that he can be the heir to the throne. He encounters Min Jae-yi (Jeon So-nee) who is the daughter of his mentor. Her whole family was murdered and she has been framed for it. She escaped capture and came to the Prince in the hopes that he would help her figure out what happened. She ends up hiding in his court as a eunuch and he comes to trust her to help him solve the mystery around who is threatening him. <br /><br />I saw someone on Twitter complain this series was too slow. But I thought it was a wonderful aching series where the impediments to the couple coming together are substantial and real and the threats to their lives otherwise take the front seat over any romantic feelings. Until they are safe, there cannot be romance. And they need each other to solve the mystery of who wants both of them out of the picture. But even as they are under threat their feelings for each other grow. They want to spend all their time together and their respect and admiration for the other enriches over time. <br /><br />She is also liberated in many ways once she is a man/eunuch to use her mind, solve mysteries and engage in the world not as a noblewoman. She can be more of herself as a man. <br /><br />While the Scooby-doo mystery solving romance is a genre I've spoken about before, I thought getting to the bottom of the palace mystery and who killed Jae-yi's family was as compelling as their growing love. <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><b>At a Distance, Spring is Green</b></div><br />Despite a truly terrible hair dye job and bad Viki show art, I stumbled upon this thoughtful, bittersweet coming-of-age drama of college aged kids navigating their crushes, family abuse, and coming to understand each other and themselves better over time. <br /><br />Yeo Jun (Park Ji-hoon) is the golden boy on campus. Handsome (despite the worst blond hair), rich, and congenial so that all the women love him and all the men want him as their friend. But he wears a plastic smile and keeps people at a distance to cover up something troubled in his heart. </div><div><br /></div><div>He runs into his senior in business school Nam Soo-hyun (Bae In-hyuk) who is very standoffish, poor, hard-working and too busy and skeptical of this rich boy who has everything. But Yeo Jun is desperate to befriend Soo-hyun. Like a nagging puppy, he won't let go and eventually Soo-hyun and Yeo Jun see each other for who they are and find that a friendship between them might help them in ways they did not realize. Rounding out this trio of eventual friends is Kim So-bin (Kang Min-ah) who is a bit too shy and quiet. She cannot believe the campus prince would even look at her but Yeo Jun is drawn to her as a friend. <br /><p>With this sad boyz hook, I was in. Park Ji-hoon was so great in <a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2023/01/january-2023-boys-revenge-and-violence.html">Weak Hero Class 1</a>, and while this show <br />does not have as much depth as that, it is another unique series looking at the tender struggles of male friendship and growing up when you have experienced violence. He has an interesting charm of being both well-suited to the idealized character as well as the disaffected one. Here he is both. <br /><br />There's a whole plot line about Yeo Jun and his brother and their confusing relationship that I don't think works as well as it's supposed to. Na In Woo is kind of terrible as the older brother. <br /><br />But I loved the ways these friends grow and benefit from having each other in their lives. The series also tries to address serious issues such as school bullying and domestic violence in mostly thoughtful <br />ways.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="text-align: center;">**********************************</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Taxi Driver 2</b></div><br />This second season was not quite as tight and meaningful as season one. The team's efforts of righteous vengeance gets a little lost in the fight against an overall generic evil organization. But when it’s personal to the characters it works best.<p></p></div></div></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-83060754034897012562023-05-11T23:37:00.007-04:002023-05-12T00:08:16.108-04:00April 2023: D-Day Is Coming<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxt5tEUl1ewN1VrjEKg8gn_LeRf6RSA_WpWT_CdAJTziwk9rCF_odjwm8R22Hv7fS1P2GdxruUs460CfoeirsusjOR8MlpxClY6Crw0i3Qcy_g6eftwPg9VAKnF71PuXEgSWLM_xCFw7vo8EQZcu0QUBTGSVCOhIzZ7ExQfRZ_b5HpYqVH04DdS86XJQ/s4032/IMG_5315.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxt5tEUl1ewN1VrjEKg8gn_LeRf6RSA_WpWT_CdAJTziwk9rCF_odjwm8R22Hv7fS1P2GdxruUs460CfoeirsusjOR8MlpxClY6Crw0i3Qcy_g6eftwPg9VAKnF71PuXEgSWLM_xCFw7vo8EQZcu0QUBTGSVCOhIzZ7ExQfRZ_b5HpYqVH04DdS86XJQ/s320/IMG_5315.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br />From a cluster of dancers dressed in gray and black, Suga emerges in beaming white. </div><div><br /></div><div>As he performs "Interlude: Shadow," we watch this mob around him film him, follow him, and crowd him. The song is about his fame, loneliness, and fears. The dancers stand around the stage holding up their phones, an action which is mirrored by the fans doing the same on the floor of the arena. He finishes the song to the sound of endless camera clicks.<div><br /></div><div>As a member of BTS, Suga has been under the microscope for much of his career. Paparazzi, fans, haters, rivals, and an industry waiting for BTS to fall or fail have scrutinized his every move. But what sets apart his <i>D-Day </i>world tour concert (launched by his new album <i>D-Day</i> under his rap performance moniker Agust D), is that the examination he undertakes here is one of his own making. </div><div><br /></div><div>Observing, reflecting, interrogating, and setting fire to the identities that make up the man on stage--Suga of BTS, Agust D, and the name of his birth, Min Yoongi.<div><br /></div><div><div>He sings from his Agust D album trilogy (<i>Agust D</i>, <i>D-2</i> and <i>D-Day</i>) and includes some Suga solo songs and BTS songs as well. While <i>D-Day</i> was released under the name Agust D, Suga has spoken about how he’s not sure he needs the persona anymore. There was a time when it made sense to say things through a character who wasn’t an idol. But now there is a unification of these identities and calm that he exudes in his post-pandemic self. </div><div><br /></div><div>He re-emphasizes this as he welcomes us to call him "Suga, Agust D, or Yoongi." He appears at peace with all three. And whoever is standing before us on stage is magnetic, authentic, and happy. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cwiAUgzeUmGcg40qrrcwKHn4oPCeAerMDjusOzq5tLYixf-IFzwq_nH99_k0zU8jeBFlLQpY6joKPDQNDTzRU_qaB400vdDhe3HxviG4pa1X3L4EUq7Xi_HA4O8sR2oyig3ES0n_K5VI0dVmODNQEpsgmmR8JoK6rdxGQdMfKmLKecsDAZRW4PHHMA/s4032/IMG_4378.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cwiAUgzeUmGcg40qrrcwKHn4oPCeAerMDjusOzq5tLYixf-IFzwq_nH99_k0zU8jeBFlLQpY6joKPDQNDTzRU_qaB400vdDhe3HxviG4pa1X3L4EUq7Xi_HA4O8sR2oyig3ES0n_K5VI0dVmODNQEpsgmmR8JoK6rdxGQdMfKmLKecsDAZRW4PHHMA/s320/IMG_4378.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div>For years he has been haunted by his past and as a younger man fixated on his future. He said he wanted <i>D-Day</i> to be about trying to live in the present. When he takes in the crowds screams and hears them singing along to his lyrics in English and Korean, you can see him doing exactly that.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s the most joyous and beautiful thing. He is amused, tickled, and thrilled by everything unfolding in front of him. No matter how raucous or searing the songs are, this man is at home here on this stage with his long-time fans. </div><div><br /></div><div>And spends a good deal of the night just tearing up that stage, confidently singing, rapping, and moving like a wild bit of tumbleweed. He's a headbanging whirligig with sweeping arms and tumbling legs. The music just surges through him like electricity and he's an unstoppable force for two hours. </div><div><div><br /></div><div>The most stunning dichotomy of the show is the marriage of his present joy mixed with the dark material he excavates from his past. He has invited us to join him in a therapeutic purge of demons.</div><div><br /></div><div>He surprisingly structures the show around his famous motorbike accident. It happened when he was a trainee and it nearly derailed his career. He injured his shoulder. Shoulder pain plagued him for years as a performer until he had surgery recently. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpTJXaEcvM9qVHETgQtaeoQpR6EKou8hSftNCjEMFxxOdHE9g7-EsEK2u2XKich6g8OZgnsfLUHxjOC4kSTAd2nHdJJyfJQlLDUodl6YTjpwjLYNZC44hxb4qaOq5JVS6yjTcip2C4W3iJvuwF3UIYVtx7cuHaCOK9UUDzl47BC3-NWppgoFvC1ujxg/s4032/IMG_5557.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpTJXaEcvM9qVHETgQtaeoQpR6EKou8hSftNCjEMFxxOdHE9g7-EsEK2u2XKich6g8OZgnsfLUHxjOC4kSTAd2nHdJJyfJQlLDUodl6YTjpwjLYNZC44hxb4qaOq5JVS6yjTcip2C4W3iJvuwF3UIYVtx7cuHaCOK9UUDzl47BC3-NWppgoFvC1ujxg/s320/IMG_5557.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>The dramaturgical structure of the show is remarkable. Starting with this traumatic incident he delves into chapters of his past. Talent, skill, and confidence can only carry you so far with trauma. It can demonstrate to everyone you are one of the greatest rappers alive. But it won’t change the storm inside your head.</div><div><br />In the concert, he shows off both his talent and recreates that storm for us. Beginning with the sound of his motorbike crash, and from the moment of impact, time moves backwards to childhood and forward to his time in BTS. And through the VCRs and projections over the course of the evening there are flashes of his different personas and famous moments in his career. We sometimes see him between the cracked lines of mirrors or with a camera lens target upon him. Image, identity, reflection, and refraction are constant themes of the show. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT8HbjeHHMrY0D54B1JPgOSDlTibr4e9eizhDV-y3jEzdYM0SMRimzyUsMBD5Mh48uHIwVqDrkzbDa8kNTF-zER-ROAFYHgBdvh24GRZOwv9j7WMNgV5t8JanNwlAqkY3HQ8ACoOsiUlibxA5v5vZYl1pvpOh-5D8PBaaJb3EIJrvGkAyNQZGhrTjRRQ/s4032/IMG_4787.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT8HbjeHHMrY0D54B1JPgOSDlTibr4e9eizhDV-y3jEzdYM0SMRimzyUsMBD5Mh48uHIwVqDrkzbDa8kNTF-zER-ROAFYHgBdvh24GRZOwv9j7WMNgV5t8JanNwlAqkY3HQ8ACoOsiUlibxA5v5vZYl1pvpOh-5D8PBaaJb3EIJrvGkAyNQZGhrTjRRQ/s320/IMG_4787.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><div>At the start of the first half, he is carried on stage by the group of dancers. He is wearing all black and is laid on the floor on his back, mirroring the image we see in the first VCR where he is prone on the street in the pouring rain with his motorbike next to him. But in the VCR, the scarred version of his character Agust D, watches this injured version of pre-debut Min Yoongi. It is the first of many meetings between his personas we will in the course of the concert. </div><div><br />Looking at three of his music videos, "Daechwita," "Haegeum," and "Amygdala," he’s given us a rich text of his multiple identities, scarred and not that interact. This imagery carries through the show as well. Versions of himself scrutinize the others. Sometimes they are trying to understand him, track him, or catalog him. But at other times they seem to want to erase or destroy him. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGxy-Fboy7dSkVUIKCJY1arXDGB_-kGelCBbfDUNOiUsErli5KtSLSs9mHZATI_HZu86qrULPTpAy4FEs4pB6G0WovRlA8baLK3pATeKFFPTY-50vHXXJ_S9l3jxrYv_gR1ANd1hT7bgOtHLHT9hnjQREQzOlThnVtDF94KMgZnnhjB1wOt3QvO7dhA/s4032/IMG_4513.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGxy-Fboy7dSkVUIKCJY1arXDGB_-kGelCBbfDUNOiUsErli5KtSLSs9mHZATI_HZu86qrULPTpAy4FEs4pB6G0WovRlA8baLK3pATeKFFPTY-50vHXXJ_S9l3jxrYv_gR1ANd1hT7bgOtHLHT9hnjQREQzOlThnVtDF94KMgZnnhjB1wOt3QvO7dhA/s320/IMG_4513.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div>The show gives ample space to think about his public performance identities, what these personas mean to him and to us, and the internal process one undergoes as one gets older to make sense of self, pain, trauma, and recovery. </div><div><br /></div><div>It seems impossible that the show can be all so wild, furious, and fiery while at the same time being this introspective platform to explore his inner self and his complicated past. Ultimately, the catharsis of the concert is evidenced by his healing. As he heralds in his title track, "D-Day," "Future's gonna be okay." When we see this man before us who exudes such inner peace after so much pain, it's possible to believe that. </div><div><br />The <i>D-Day</i> album all together feels like a work that is trying to comfort, validate, and recognize these difficulties that he has borne. But he acknowledges others may carry similar weight as well. He wants to ease everyone’s burden and perhaps self-soothe too. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tDKWhYEDmlP6ZZZR02-W0hd5k26F9v6uW5yisf6ZbCOILBoFCS1hIZ0eEb7wkeGA7tu6WAk6y6r0-usqY1B38Zed3vw90EmXEJK4sI8hCW3oVF2HivmuYLDJsIm8sJgetWxyl8QdaIMg38pO69t4JG7qIS1cLfwYTzA2oeAOJC5ZEEqDzrC7FDrAxQ/s4032/IMG_4834.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tDKWhYEDmlP6ZZZR02-W0hd5k26F9v6uW5yisf6ZbCOILBoFCS1hIZ0eEb7wkeGA7tu6WAk6y6r0-usqY1B38Zed3vw90EmXEJK4sI8hCW3oVF2HivmuYLDJsIm8sJgetWxyl8QdaIMg38pO69t4JG7qIS1cLfwYTzA2oeAOJC5ZEEqDzrC7FDrAxQ/s320/IMG_4834.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>One of his gifts as a lyricist and artist is not to minimize that which has come before. He juxtaposes honest, truthful melancholy with ebullient hope. His rendition of "Life Goes On" was not used on the BTS <i>BE </i>album. He released his more pensive version on <i>D-Day.</i> It is not as bright as the BTS mix. But it delivers a different kind of comfort.<br /><br />At almost every concert there was a sign that said “Your music saved my life.” His choice to speak and sing openly about his mental health over the years has been an act of generosity and kindness to fans. But during one show in Chicago he said the smiles in the audience made him happy. "That's the reason I'm alive," he said. <div><br /></div><div>In moments like these, one wonders which way the parasocial relationship flows. But more importantly he is quite serious about his need to make music and share that with others. The heavy and the light. The darkness and the joy. It is all from the same man and it's incomplete without an audience to share it with. <br /><br />He says during the shows that he's a bit lonely being up on stage without his fellow members but he encourages and leans on the audience to sing the songs for him or with him. When he’s pleased with the audience’s work, he gives us the thumbs up. He has spoken about how much the cheers give him energy. And he revvs up the crowd repeatedly calling for us to scream louder or more. And we oblige. It's so jarring to see him out there on his own when we are so used to seeing him as part of a team. Of course, we want to provide whatever support we can. But he also looks comfortable taking control on his own. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfTcjlqTjG_YvOoVALGons2ZIOY2IVMeew-WYqsf_cYw-cqkaSEUM68xkJb--oArrRWn5BiJ0xGzuew0rkT5y2rOID8m0u3LOszBmfTn3qqwlz1YYP3sroMA5N0A9VU9214XOifS2GUlwP4e1iD6ggIEJzsfRCf9VKJms8joLAGcSIA_CpAcMwpfk8w/s4032/IMG_5397.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfTcjlqTjG_YvOoVALGons2ZIOY2IVMeew-WYqsf_cYw-cqkaSEUM68xkJb--oArrRWn5BiJ0xGzuew0rkT5y2rOID8m0u3LOszBmfTn3qqwlz1YYP3sroMA5N0A9VU9214XOifS2GUlwP4e1iD6ggIEJzsfRCf9VKJms8joLAGcSIA_CpAcMwpfk8w/s320/IMG_5397.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>There are many powerful moments in the concert but seeing him perform "Burn It" live, amped it up to another level. With unbelievable grace and dexterity he leaps up and down throughout the song. His Tigger-like bounces catch so much air. He's soaring and yet he calls forth in Korean "Let burn the past me." With each bounding jump is more release. </div><div><br /></div><div>In his lyrics, we circle back to a moment of identity in crisis. </div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div><blockquote><div><div><div><div><div><div>“I see the ashes falling out your window. There’s someone in the mirror that you don’t know. And everything was all wrong. So burn it till it’s all gone"</div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"></div></div></blockquote><div><div>Our Army Bombs (synced by the show) glow red and with this cathartic explosion of fire and music. But there is also some kind of peace. It is this song that ends the first half of the show and he exits in complete control--a phoenix who rises from the ashes. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV9w8b6uDCAFM1dMcZcksj8Qla8u75khMLAfsUu_TiczMB01YyJs1aHEffEw5bbdxomhQoB996WgxmaWrb1iAvUBkXC8nRAXlAjPM3RS5fBuvMKHciUQ7KN94JWrjW18Jcd0BXbe1U-mv0H0Bj6tkJnQ2s2RlbJbQXMrfHd2nUeGc98FD0w-SaLzdyPQ/s4032/IMG_5844.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV9w8b6uDCAFM1dMcZcksj8Qla8u75khMLAfsUu_TiczMB01YyJs1aHEffEw5bbdxomhQoB996WgxmaWrb1iAvUBkXC8nRAXlAjPM3RS5fBuvMKHciUQ7KN94JWrjW18Jcd0BXbe1U-mv0H0Bj6tkJnQ2s2RlbJbQXMrfHd2nUeGc98FD0w-SaLzdyPQ/s320/IMG_5844.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />After burning it all down, when he returns to the stage he’s dressed all in white (although this costuming varied a little city by city, night by night). <br /><br />The show has two distinct halves. Yet, the second half feels, in part, more directly tied to BTS and the challenges he and the group faced together through his song selection.<br /><br />He begins with the narrative paparazzi staging of "Interlude: Shadow." He then does a blistering rap medley where BTS’s messages to haters and critics over the years become apparent. Here he (and the audience) shout Cypher 3's “But I don’t care. you can’t control my shit” and Cypher 4’s “I love I love I love myself. I know I know I know myself. Ya playa haters you should love yourself." He even has us repeat that last bit acapella with him during his comments afterwards. These are not empty platitudes or rambunctious nonsense but an ethos woven into BTS's discography.</div><div><br /></div><div>The medley (which also included BTS's Ugh! and Ddaeng) evidences the years of BTS’s frustration and fury with those out to tear them down. Extracted from the longer songs and taken in the full context of the show, these touts and warnings by BTS feel like prescient words from their youth that still apply as they move on towards maturity. </div><div><br /></div><div>That too is a theme of the show--integrating these moments of Suga's anxiety-plagued youth with his gentler mature perspective. </div><div><br /></div><div>That said <i>D-Day</i> does include the recent song "Huh?!" where the refrain is, "Fuck that shit, you think you know ’bout me." So perhaps there's still space in his maturity to push back at antis and internet rumors. <br /><br />Suga shows off his musical versatility through the evening by playing acoustic guitar and the piano at times. There is moment where he shares some video of his meeting with his musical hero Ryuichi Sakamoto before the legendary artist passed away. Suga then plays the piano and sings "Snooze" the song Sakamoto played on for the <i>D-Day</i> album. </div><div><br /></div><div>Suga has said "Snooze" was written for young artists coming up behind him. He wants them to know that the hardships they are experiencing are ones he’s gone through as well. And he wants to ease their pain. But he also is willing to be there for them. </div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">"If you’re afraid of falling, I’ll gladly catch you. So don’t suffer like I did. You, surviving on snoozes to get closer to your dream, it’s okay to rest."</blockquote><div><div><br /></div><div>As a man who has spent a lifetime singing about his dreams, he knows the double-edged sword of those dreams. They give and they take so much. So he encourages his juniors to both have a dream and rest. </div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">"Today at least, don’t even dream."</div></div></blockquote><div><div><br /></div><div>For 16 bars in "Snooze" he sings, "It’s all gonna be all right." There were times where he stopped singing along in this part and let the backing track carry him as he leaned on the mic stand and hung his head. Perhaps, these reassurances are not just for his juniors but for himself as well. The "thorny path" he speaks of in the song is not entirely in his past either. <br /><br />He boldly closes out the show with "Amygdala": the song directly about his traumas. In it, he references his mother heart surgery, his father’s cancer diagnosis, and the MV for the song squarely focuses on the bike accident and his non-stop shoulder pain. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk95vB51ezBzEHx2P41HO_c1ulbZcY8iVCc8mXTH9MF7c_HXn2jUqkH6N_3xsUB1kmctcnqK9yF248ihUdioiig8jrZWf6RV__xJXdczSBq9vuHbDMoFNYww3JmgThIfhFNV7ULJ3bVQPhWFAe0zWVY-TaZMqu5KwvggEzpHjQ9ilbqVQOyeFM21KuTA/s4032/IMG_5980.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk95vB51ezBzEHx2P41HO_c1ulbZcY8iVCc8mXTH9MF7c_HXn2jUqkH6N_3xsUB1kmctcnqK9yF248ihUdioiig8jrZWf6RV__xJXdczSBq9vuHbDMoFNYww3JmgThIfhFNV7ULJ3bVQPhWFAe0zWVY-TaZMqu5KwvggEzpHjQ9ilbqVQOyeFM21KuTA/s320/IMG_5980.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div>The chorus, “I don’t know your name,” continues the theme of his blurred journey finding himself. On stage, the flames rise up around him as he sings. It's such a raw and beautiful act to close out the main show with this song he has said he struggled to write as it was so painful. </div><div><br /></div><div>When he finishes, he collapses in the same pose on the stage as he started and he’s carried off by the dancers.</div><div><br /></div><div>But with each segment of the show, he demonstrates none of this has defeated him. He re-emerges for an encore starting with the upbeat, reassuring "D-Day." </div><div><br /></div><div>Throughout the show, segments of the stage rise into the rafters. Over time, the sliver of space Suga has to stand gets smaller and smaller. By the end, they have all disappeared. Like layers of self-protection, all that's left for the end of the show is a microphone and that's all he ever needs. </div><div><br /></div><div>From that final microphone, he ends the show with another painfully honest song from his first album, "The Last." In it he discusses his depression, social anxiety, and makes references to suicidal ideation. In the song, he is focused on the conflicts between his dream of making music and his reality. His hardships, agonies, and crises of self stack up. He even says, "Min Yoongi has already died (I killed him)." </div><div><br /></div><div>I had wondered what it would be like for him to return to these thoughts of himself as teen and a trainee and how he would process them on stage as a 30 year-old-man. Of course, we all carry our inner children with us forever. But one hopes he's miles away from those days in his head. </div><div><br /></div><div>But the song ends with his trademark defiance. </div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">"Those who used to sell us out, it’s not that you didn’t do it, you couldn’t do it shit." </div></div></blockquote><div><div><br /></div><div>He has this sense of fight no matter the setbacks and struggles. As he winds up, there are small stage explosions as he gets closer to the crescendo of the song. These pops are like short circuiting. Tiny jabs pushing back against anyone who crosses him. Perhaps they are the persistent flame of Min Yoongi who will get knocked down but still find his feet again no matter what. </div><div><br /></div><div>The concert as a whole demonstrates his lifetime of resilience when faced with physical pain, media scrutiny, industry skeptics, and mental health struggles all while squarely having to live in the public eye. We only know what he has shared but from songs like Amygdala and The Last, he opens up about a lot. He may be a charismatic performer and skilled rapper but this emotional vulnerability remains central in the concert.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a show where there are so many big moments, Suga chooses to close with straightforward truth. When he finishes "The Last" there is no fanfare. He just walks off the stage with the room lights up. Before he’s even off the stage, the crew comes out to reset or remove the staging. </div><div><br /></div><div>All stage artifice is briskly eliminated. The song quickly recedes into the past. </div><div><br /></div><div>We are swiftly ushered into the present. The now. The right now. </div><div><br /></div><div>And where is Suga, Agust D, or Yoongi? </div><div><br />This incandescent performer who has held us in his grip for two hours becomes, before our eyes, just a man who comfortably walks away from all he has wrought. Most importantly, he’s standing tall. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-4m2wPsl8vGSW9yVFVlBZe2A2qanANAQuTCsCB9UXh_HotYOjmRjnpvn7_DVLvN8QEG-t6Vuqf54cwyKqeUYLeBSRvhTvfvZ1tZw2BYR-d2ApI0TIJ0-tncx9q4wrOmMlGOc7pK8Zf8p5OCd2dMTbQ6jHDvPluilejmNnFug1lysu6CO67NQg7SYcZQ/s4032/IMG_5472.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-4m2wPsl8vGSW9yVFVlBZe2A2qanANAQuTCsCB9UXh_HotYOjmRjnpvn7_DVLvN8QEG-t6Vuqf54cwyKqeUYLeBSRvhTvfvZ1tZw2BYR-d2ApI0TIJ0-tncx9q4wrOmMlGOc7pK8Zf8p5OCd2dMTbQ6jHDvPluilejmNnFug1lysu6CO67NQg7SYcZQ/s320/IMG_5472.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><i>Note: All lyric translations are used with credit to <a href="https://doolsetbangtan.wordpress.com/">Doolset</a> </i></div></div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-54211918790827432862023-04-02T13:43:00.001-04:002023-04-02T13:43:10.773-04:00February-March 2023: SKZ, Crash Course in Bad Dramas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kzoSQ1il1GQprZxFq81_LSIM0r54AAQ3hWoARH79lTBMyojfVEvtBIA4PGNT9MLzMUAPTnBlXbHLI8boztyxZqUEhAPQ5k6cfWSZz0XjnUYp9antxEQskKkE3eKUrIf6AalcJYDzjj0jRq8VI-AS1tDHUPL7zIJMxGAMlaTYUBhAnv52PIj9JPW37g/s4032/IMG_2850.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kzoSQ1il1GQprZxFq81_LSIM0r54AAQ3hWoARH79lTBMyojfVEvtBIA4PGNT9MLzMUAPTnBlXbHLI8boztyxZqUEhAPQ5k6cfWSZz0XjnUYp9antxEQskKkE3eKUrIf6AalcJYDzjj0jRq8VI-AS1tDHUPL7zIJMxGAMlaTYUBhAnv52PIj9JPW37g/s320/IMG_2850.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>I've been really busy with work for the past few months and my drama writing has fallen to the wayside. But I wanted to keep track for posterity a few shows I saw. </p><p>Plus I went to Atlanta to see Stray Kids. I had bought the tickets a while ago when I felt like I might need a pick-me-up in 2023 as the members of BTS enlisted in the military. Little did I know that was going to be a bit slower than expected, Yoongi would announce a goddamn tour (AHHHHHHHHH), and there would be so many BTS solo projects it's been hard to keep up. Nothing is quiet in BTS Chapter 2. </p><p>That said it was a really refreshing break to see SKZ. I had seen them last year on a whim, having only been listening to their music for a few weeks, so I was happy to see them again now that I am more invested.</p><p>I'm not dedicating my life to them but I enjoy their music and their personalities. I had fun on my own and met others who were attending the concerts on their own. I maybe didn't see any of Atlanta itself but I felt connected to a new community of fans and it's been to have that in K-pop.</p><p style="text-align: center;">**********************************</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Crash Course in Romance</b></p><p>I really loved how this show started out so when it veered off-course for me into a murder mystery drama I lost total interest.</p><p>Nam Haeng-seon (Jeon Do-yeon) runs a banchan shop and is raising a teenager, Hae-yi (Roh Yoon-seo), on her own. Hae-yi is a strong student preparing for college entrance on her own while everyone else pays for extra study academies and tutors. Choi Chi-yeol (Jung Kyung-ho) is a famous math tutor. All the mothers fight to get their kids in his class. He and Nam Haeng-seon have a run-in and hate each other from this initial misunderstanding. But they find their way back into each others lives. </p><p>Nam Haeng-seon and Choi Chi-yeol have overcome difficulties in their past and in many ways they seem ill-suited to each other. He is not good with people. She is terrible with boundaries. But he starts eating her food which heals his stomach issues and he decides he wants to help her out by tutoring her daughter in exchange for the food. But Hae-yi starts to succeed with this tutoring over her rich school rivals who then want to take her out of the competition. </p><p>The strength of the series is the way the couple slowly makes their way to each other, with all these missteps, miscommunications, and misunderstandings. It's cute, funny, embarrassing, and charming.</p><p>This is layered over the scary competition over college entrance exams, parents who will do anything to give their kids an edge, and the harm all these pressure is doing to these children (ethically and physically). </p><p>So I was deeply on-board, until a murder plot got shoehorned in. This is not the first drama to do this but by that point the couple had gotten together. So my investment was less and then there is a sub-plot that emerges late that challenges all the preconceived notions of the characters that we had seen before. It gave me whiplash and was wholly implausible. So a disappointment once the show went so far afield. </p><p style="text-align: center;">**********************************</p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist Season 2 </b></div><p>I was a soft fan of <a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/10/september-2022-death-psychiatry-and.html">Season 1</a>. It was not a total hit with me but I was deeply invested in the the main characters. I like how they worked hard to solve mysteries together and the romance slowly bloomed from a love and respect for each other. </p><p>But with Season 2, the mysteries were not as compelling, there was hardly a plot holding things together or a reason to keep the characters apart any longer. A love triangle was hastily thrown together. The side characters remained broad comedic sketches which I never liked from the start. I made it through Season 2, but barely.</p><p style="text-align: center;">**********************************</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Love to Hate You</b></p><p>I continue to feel Netflix is churning out salacious crap in the K-drama space. It's getting really frustrating. Their series are short, cheap, and pushing the envelope on sex and/or violence just because they can, not because any of it is narratively justified. And the shows are not even good. </p><p>I hated this series which was full of unlikable characters. When characters do battle with each other through manipulation, it's an immediate put-off for me. They do not ever win my goodwill back. </p>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-2901646712905018432023-01-27T16:43:00.000-05:002023-01-27T16:43:12.902-05:00January 2023: Boys, Revenge, and Violence<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Bd2AFhlLeSs5prZx4gT5tNR2Bv11ei5ZW_UfazeiPiIY44_UjU9PuSGQHCmZhwkQV-JgHLwcOkDoEsusECWUgDd0kW-Qrp7UG6QTQb0QcjlAoZEE0hyxAbkzAv2ToDWi7lDc8OjakuliywLMOJJiTmUxKDKUEJDtVZNgQaASmBalC_2KpviDUthYJA/s4032/IMG_0189.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Bd2AFhlLeSs5prZx4gT5tNR2Bv11ei5ZW_UfazeiPiIY44_UjU9PuSGQHCmZhwkQV-JgHLwcOkDoEsusECWUgDd0kW-Qrp7UG6QTQb0QcjlAoZEE0hyxAbkzAv2ToDWi7lDc8OjakuliywLMOJJiTmUxKDKUEJDtVZNgQaASmBalC_2KpviDUthYJA/s320/IMG_0189.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gratuitous cat pic for 2023</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>Viciously striking out at the thing that has hurt you is a human response but in two K-dramas I watched this month, revenge plays out differently for teenage boys and grown men.</div><div><br /></div><span style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Weak Hero Class 1</b></div><br />School bullying is a frequent topic of K-dramas but in <i>Weak Hero Class 1 </i>the bullied fight back. For a time, a trio of outcast high school students find an alliance and maybe even a bit of joy in their friendship. But then jealousy and hurt feelings lead to a fracture in which the bullied become bullies themselves. <br /><br />Based on the web comic, <i>Weak Hero</i>, Si Eun (Park Ji-hoon) keeps his head down at school and focuses on nothing but his studies. His parents are divorced and no one pays much attention to him. His life is school and cram school. But a rich kid bully, Jeon Young-Bin (Kim Su-gyeom) starts to pick on him. But with a disturbing steely gaze Si Eun won't back down and Young-bin has to find sneakier ways to torment him. So Young-bin forces the new student, Oh Bum-seok (Hong Kyung) to stick a tab of fentynal on Si Eun during a test. An Soo-ho (Choi Hyun-wook) steps in to help out Si Eun. Slowly, they become friends along with Bum-seok. <br /><br /><i>Weak Hero Class 1 </i>is a compulsive but difficult and violent watch. What makes it so is that these young boys cannot express their feelings any other way but through their fists. They don't know how to ask for help. They don't know how to lean on others. Even their bonds of friendship are tentative and fragile. Each boy faces pressures in his personal life which would be enough to carry on its own. The bullying and threats of external violence just create a tinder box. School is a microcosm of the larger world they see around them. And its just these tender boys being shaped and toxified by this society. Violence begets violence. <br /><br />But through these stellar performances we see how little moments of connection and comfort are huge for them. One smile. A feeling of safety. A sense of camaraderie. We get these glimpses of the children in these raging bodies. Little elements of the production--a pink sleeping pillow, a closet full of toys--remind us of their youth and inexperience. <br /><br />It's almost unbearable to see how toxic masculinity is seeded, watered, and grows. The violence becomes a snowball that grows bigger and bigger until it cannot be avoided. All we can do is watch and weep. <br /><br />While this may sound bleak, the performances here are so subtle, heart-breaking, and beautiful that it's a must see. Choi Hyun-wook is like a young Park Seo-joon. He projects that affability juxtaposed with unpredictability. His Soo-ho is self-confidence, brawn, and sweetness. He collects these stray boys and one girl. He works three jobs and yet he finds time to take care of others. You could never question his loyalty--and yet that's what happens which is so shattering to everyone. Park Ji-hoon too has this intensity that breaks every once in a while into a moment of happiness or deeper sadness. <br /><br />Ultimately, this is about a form of intimate violence. Maybe the most devastating line in the whole show is “We were close.” They opened themselves up to each other for a short time and that vulnerability becomes the path for revenge. Although the concept of revenge sounds too calculated intellectual. This is about wanting to inflict a kind of hurt not thinking of any consequences until its too late.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Reborn Rich</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><i>Reborn Rich</i> is the more sophisticated adult revenge tale about leveling the playing field against corrupt chaebols. So I can't say I felt bad for anyone's wallet getting hurt in the show. <br /><br />In this drama, Song Joong-ki plays Yoon Hyun-woo a long-time dedicated employee for the Soonyang family. He will go to any lengths and be humiliated as much as necessary to keep the family happy. He agrees to go collect a secret slush fund that he discovered abroad. But when he does so he ends up being shot by another Soonyang employee. <div><br /></div><div>Suddenly, he finds himself reborn as Jin Do-jun, the youngest grandson of the Soonyang family back in the 1980s. He knows all the inner-workings of the organization and the personalities of all the family members from either working with them or from reading Jin Yang-chu's autobiography (Lee Sung-min), the founder of Soonyang. He finds himself as Yang-chu's grandson with an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past. Do-jun's father is the product of an affair and married an actress so was always on the outs in the family anyway. Do-jun impresses his grandfather and begins to amass his own fortune in an attempt to takedown Soonyang. But along the way he comes to match wits with Yang-chu and even develops an affection for him. <br /><br />The show has this odd re-birth premise and for a number of episodes it gets repetitive--Do-jun knows the future so he can stay one step ahead of the family and keep showing them up. Satisfying though that may be it gets a little dull that he is leading this secret mission behind the scenes to cause problems. But eventually his cat-and-mouse game is out in the open. The grandfather knows its his grandson who is his opponent. They become closer and the battles between the siblings for succession are more personal. <br /><br />Because of the timeline of the show, it reflects back on the economic and historic crises of the 80s, 90s and aughts on Korea. Even if Do-jun is protected being a chaebol, his real family is precariously situated and series does not shy away from how these big companies find ways to protect themselves when individuals have no such recourse. </div><div><br /></div><div>Once the show becomes about these two men recognizing something in each other (seeing themselves in the other like a ghost of Christmas future) and even clinging to each other "family" their bond grows and thus Do-jun's plan to take down the conglomerate becomes more complicated. He has affection for this man but the next generation is just poisonous. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>There is a romance subplot that is a little surprising--just for who he chooses to pursue. And it becomes another complication of his revenge plot. </div><div><br /></div></div><div>Do-jun has tasted defeats from both sides--as Hyun-woo and Do-jun. He would have done anything as Hyun-woo to escape the poverty he was experiencing and stepping into Do-jun's shoes he starts to understand himself better. </div><br /><div>It is a bit awkward to have a 37-year-old play a teenager to twenty-something even if he is youthful looking. But I think if you can get over some of that and the general premise, there is an unusual revenge story being told here.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Alchemy of Souls Part 2</b></div><div><br /></div><div>As cliffhangers go, <i>Alchemy of Souls</i> did not disappoint as Part 1 ended. </div><div><br /></div><div>SPOILERS if you haven't seen it. </div><div>*</div><div>*</div><div>*</div><div>*</div><div>*</div><div>*</div><div>*</div><div>We left off with Jang Uk (Lee Jae-wook) dying at the hands of his beloved Mu Deoki/Naksu (who was under the spell of Jin Mu). Mu Deoki had "run wild" as a soul shifter so she would die. Jang Uk then was literally reborn with the power of the ice stone lodged in his body. </div><div><br /></div><div>But what of Mu Deoki for Part 2? Because the body of Mu Deoki played by actor Jung So-min had "died" they had the actor who had played Naksu (before she soul-shifted) originally in Part 1, Go Yoon-jung, play this reincarnated Naksu in Part 2. </div><div><br /></div><div>I missed Jung So-min who just had so much character and personality. The new Naksu had no memory of her past or who she was. She was told she was the daughter of the House of Jin, Jin Bu-yeon. Since the blind Jin Bu-yeon had been missing since childhood no on questioned this. But Lady Jin had her locked up and she did not have full use of her powers. She ends up encountering Jang Uk and he hopes with her powers she can help him die. So he agrees to help her escape her mother. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jang Uk is a lot more interesting in series 2. I found his quest to get his power back kind of dully ego-driven and not all that compelling in Part 1. Man desperate for power blah blah.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Part 2, he is miserable being alive, he is stricken with grief for his loss of Mu Deoki, he is the most powerful man in their world, and he is haunted by spirits all the time. Suddenly, these dramatic stakes give Lee Jae-wook a lot more fun places to go. </div><div><br /></div><div>He is just this walking phantom of sadness. Oddly, in rebirth, with no memory of who she is, Naksu/Ju-byeon is ebullient and bright-eyed. She looks to him with such hope and is this open-hearted person in a way that Mu Deoki/Naksu was certainly not. And the set-up between them works well. Needing things from each other that only the other can give--meanwhile unknowingly being the separate couple we know them to be. Swoon, tragedy. </div><div><br /></div><div>That said, my heart has always belonged to Yul (Hwang Min-hyun)and I was happy to see him rejoin the fold in Part 2 even if he also experiences a lot of quiet Yul-like suffering. Justice for Yul 5-eva. </div><div><br /></div><div>Part 2 delivers on hot kisses, dramatic music, and twists. </div><div><br /></div><div>But I'm still disappointed in the ending. They leaned more on the supernatural than the emotional. This series has always had a lot of magical nonsense that I tacitly accepted because I loved the characters so much. But I was not in any way into the magic. I think they may have overestimated anyone's cares about this world-building (or my investment in it...fire bird what now). There are also some really stupid choices smart characters make that feel like plot machinations. </div><div><br /></div><div>But I had to know how it ended. If you got hooked on Part 1, then you have to give in to Part 2. That is the law. </div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-60600206499098220862022-12-26T13:07:00.003-05:002022-12-26T13:14:40.632-05:00October-December 2022: Queens, Cross-Dressing, and a trip to Korea<p>Due to travel, I am behind on my drama posts. I also had some trouble watching shows while I was on the road so my viewing got interrupted. But I finally fulfilled my early pandemic plan to make a trip to Korea (and a little side jaunt to Japan). I spent two weeks in Seoul, Busan, and Tokyo in November. It was an incredibly relaxing trip. I've included some pictures below for fun. </p><p>We did some sightseeing, visited museums, napped, ate, and saw some musicals--including the <i>Crash Landing On You </i>musical which turned out to be a lot better than I expected. </p><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Under the Queen's Umbrella</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div>While setting a drama in a palace and focusing on succession issues is not unique, <i>Under the Queen's Umbrella </i>approaches the story from a different angle. Instead of just fixating on the King and his power brokers, this drama is about the Queen, the King's concubines, the Dowager Queen, and the many young princes hoping to be chosen as the successor. </div><div><br /></div><div>Queen Im Hwa-ryeong (Kim Hye-soo) has five sons. The Crown Prince is happily married and has two kids but he suspiciously takes ill and suddenly there is a succession crisis. The Chief State Councilor wants to see his grandson take the throne. His grandson is the oldest of the King's sons but his mother is a concubine and not the Queen. The Queen Dowager, herself a former concubine, who put her own son on the throne through her machinations hates the Queen and does not want the Queen's sons to succeed. So there is a proxy battle between all these parties as to which prince will get their support as the princes compete. </div><div><br /></div><div>It ends up being about what lengths mothers will go for their sons. With a riveting performance from Kim Hye-soo, we are drawn into this competitive space.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDy4cfQuRfaaZ_PcdGyl-O_r9M3s_KjQLIqOCVIlfoG-VGXE8AqOHNw7gvD05ktTAtzJejzPmPDQnnNwg7MUjzWsxP72kcxdYbe5uKLdp0A0Lk8hqnUHtU4rJ86XQxyxHtp2t0YhZQXSJ7qCUP3bjc54bsbzv9hbpPqrbWdJf3wS8WHXlD7gYAb7EzA/s1799/42E6A794-8F59-46AE-A1D8-5490FD5CDC63.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1799" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDy4cfQuRfaaZ_PcdGyl-O_r9M3s_KjQLIqOCVIlfoG-VGXE8AqOHNw7gvD05ktTAtzJejzPmPDQnnNwg7MUjzWsxP72kcxdYbe5uKLdp0A0Lk8hqnUHtU4rJ86XQxyxHtp2t0YhZQXSJ7qCUP3bjc54bsbzv9hbpPqrbWdJf3wS8WHXlD7gYAb7EzA/s320/42E6A794-8F59-46AE-A1D8-5490FD5CDC63.JPG" width="256" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div>What makes her different from the other mothers is that she loves her kids so fiercely she will do anything to protect them. Sure, she'd like her son to be king (though she'd really like her oldest son not to die), but she wants to make sure they survive whatever hellfire the Queen Dowager is planning. She is faced with some complicated issues and how to out maneuver the others who will do her sons harm. But she also is willing to step in to protect other people's sons. That's what sets her apart. The Queen is full of compassion for those she loves and even those who cross her. It's a really unique character. </div><div><br /></div><div>SPOILER</div><div>*</div><div>*</div><div>*</div><div>*</div><div>*</div><div>I have to mention that one of young princes, Prince Gyeseong (Yoo Seon-ho) dresses up in women's clothes to imagine his true self. How the show handles this and the Queen's reaction is really lovely. Considering how little K-dramas deal in gender identity issues (while at the same time doing a lot of character cross-dressing--see next review) I thought this was addressed carefully and with love. <br />*</div><div>*</div><div>*</div><div>*<br />END OF SPOILER<br /><br />The show deals with the real consequences of betrayal and back-stabbing. So while we get the drama of these actions we also feel the pain of what comes next for many of the characters. These women are trapped in their circumstances and are being made to fight to survive (or for their sons to survive). The men might be all about power, greed, and control but this rains down on these women and their hearts. They are the ones most wounded. And the show demonstrates the limited paths these women have, how their entire existence and power is related to the sons they give birth to, and that status is fleeting. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's also the issue that many of the princes are young and total idiots. The show finds joy in them being just run-of-the-mill troublemakers exploring their youth and not understanding how this could blow back on them or the Queen. So for all the challenges the Queen faces there are these moments of release where she's running through the palace to stop trouble before it starts. </div><div><br /></div><div>Every once in a while the show lets us just see these young men having fun, being brothers, and helping each other and we understand how much the Queen is fighting to make these moments possible. </div><div><br /></div><div>Truly a stellar show with a great cast and a new spin on an old trope. There are so many new young actors in the show to keep an eye out for in the future. Yoo Seon-ho has already been cast as a new member of <i>Two Days One Night</i>. Moon Sang-min was a compelling leading man. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhts_0y0w3XfekdSx7YvxxbtESskRa1tX6oH6Nz-7-EcMYykS7vZCa_MRpMDgSZmb9ve5FNbhf6XjzcbRlI5Pdws2VzdeNPhPWbGloe97xsMDOSJb1sjNVqz9CxyxveJPqBYXfZ9hBqwexp8j3Clslflc56Cfv6NaaKDlbDATboTzyjYjvBnaFNW_392Q/s1800/96395213-15C8-4F27-9C29-EE1A1E8F7C70.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhts_0y0w3XfekdSx7YvxxbtESskRa1tX6oH6Nz-7-EcMYykS7vZCa_MRpMDgSZmb9ve5FNbhf6XjzcbRlI5Pdws2VzdeNPhPWbGloe97xsMDOSJb1sjNVqz9CxyxveJPqBYXfZ9hBqwexp8j3Clslflc56Cfv6NaaKDlbDATboTzyjYjvBnaFNW_392Q/s320/96395213-15C8-4F27-9C29-EE1A1E8F7C70.JPG" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Love in the Moonlight</b></div><br />I decided to catch up on this 2016 series which was wildly popular at the time. Several cast remembers reunited recently for the variety show <i>Young Actors' Retrea</i>t. <div><br /></div><div>In an enemies to lovers arc, a woman is hiding in the palace as a eunuch and after much squabbling the Crown Prince (Park Bo-gum) falls for her--at first not knowing she is a woman. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hong Ra-on (Kim Yoo-jung) has always hidden her identity as a woman. She manages to escape detection as a eunuch and ends up serving the Crown Prince. Kim Yoon-sung (Jung Jinyoung), the grandson of the prime minister, figures out her secret. He falls for her instantly but helps protect her. She ends up also befriending the stand-offish Royal Guard Kim Byung-yeon (Kwak Dong-yeon). He is sworn to protect the Prince but has his own secrets he is keeping. The Crown Prince falling for Hong Ra-on, a commoner/eunuch/secret woman, is complicated by issues from her past that neither she nor the Prince know about. </div><div><br /><div>I'm not a huge Park Bo-Gum fan but he plays this insolent Prince well. He has a certain on-screen smugness that I don't enjoy (and I think he acts with his teeth a lot of the time). He fits this character well but it makes it hard for me to root for him as a romantic lead. </div><div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw2cY_Zci84yMFLiZHxb7QHVhfLKvamQMMUpdURCBSgc6qEf01cUJpV2vmO2l2yXi4wCf0sY4xOFynvxpO7-etH4b493--WVfPVrp6TRV326YEtxsTV3qurZW1jj12U7FovaAbSyifqkCflsRfzl-o-CPdoVrqozwhtOXbN22DTVa12W7f0n6w1tPHcQ/s1800/87C56FC0-EAA4-4FA6-88B9-AA656ECED118.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw2cY_Zci84yMFLiZHxb7QHVhfLKvamQMMUpdURCBSgc6qEf01cUJpV2vmO2l2yXi4wCf0sY4xOFynvxpO7-etH4b493--WVfPVrp6TRV326YEtxsTV3qurZW1jj12U7FovaAbSyifqkCflsRfzl-o-CPdoVrqozwhtOXbN22DTVa12W7f0n6w1tPHcQ/s320/87C56FC0-EAA4-4FA6-88B9-AA656ECED118.JPG" width="256" /></a></div><br /><div><br />Nevertheless, I liked the threading of complications with all these characters and the supporting characters who help them. As always, I fell victim to the second-lead syndrome but it kept me watching. I think as time has gone on we've gotten stronger female leads in K-dramas and this role ended up being a little too damsel-in-distress for my liking. It was stretched out at 20 episodes but with the emotional engagement from the supporting cast I understand why this is a fan favorite.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Fabulous</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This very short series set in the fashion world has pretty low dramatic stakes but it's a sweet ensemble of friends. At only 8 episodes, there's just not a lot that happens. I blame Netflix for continuing to put vague concept over actual writing and substance on their series. Do they just greenlight this with a pitch and then forget to write the shows? </div><div><br /></div><div>At some point it feels like this show boils down to: show Min-ho shirtless, sex on a kitchen table, fashion, fashion, fashion, catfights, big personalities, and friendz. Like the whole show is just a trailer for the actual show someone was supposed to write. I binged it in two days and I love Choi Min-ho and was really excited for him to get a leading role again. But the whole cast deserves better. </div><br />In a circle of friends, Ji Woo-min (Choi Min-ho) is a photographer and photo retoucher, Pyo Ji-eun (Chae Soo-bin) is a fashion marketer, Joseph (Lee Sang-woon) is a fashion designer, and Ye Seon-ho (Park Hee-jung) is a super model. Woo-min and Ji-eun used to be a couple and now they are just friends. But they both still have feelings for one another that come up whenever Ji-eun has a new boyfriend. <div><br /></div><div>Even in a mullet, Choi Min-ho is absolutely the guy you would throw your boyfriend over so any resistance by Ji-eun seems futile from the start. She faces some professional setbacks and troubles but the boyfriend character they have given her is a jerk from the start and then we are to believe she wants to get back together with him, ever? I just cannot suspend my disbelief that far....not when Min-ho is right there. They do have him be shirtless a lot and then play sports a lot. </div><div><br /></div><div>I didn't hate watching the show but they just didn't seem to be trying all that hard to write a story.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Touch My Heart</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">An actress whose career was ruined by an ex-boyfriend tries to start over by volunteering to work at a law firm in an effort to score a new role as a lawyer on a TV series. She gets assigned to a straight-forward lawyer who has no interest in this celebrity but wins him over with her hard work.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There was not a lot to this series but it addressed issues of stalking and abuse and it was nice to see the actress "grow-up" through this work she committed herself to. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was mostly watching for Lee Dong-wook. It was a harmless series. Not super memorable. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Love In Contract </b></div><br />I love Park Min-young but this romance was not one of her stronger shows. </div><div><br /></div><div>Choi Sang-eun (Park Min-young) has been marrying men for years in contract arrangements. She's a professional and all these relationships are just on paper. She takes on clients who she believes really need her help. For five years, she's had a standing dinner appointment with one husband, a family court judge Jung Ji-ho (Go Kyung-pyo) who hardly speaks. She gets a new client, a big TV star Kang Hae-jin (Kim Jae-young) who actually knows about her real background. The two men both live in the same building and a rivalry begins between them. Meanwhile, she lives with one of her ex-husbands, a gay man who needed her help keeping his sexual orientation secret from his family. And then the evil woman who raised her on behalf of a chaebol family who adopted her ends up moving in. </div><div><br /></div><div>The show begins with a darker storyline that’s kind of a smoke screen. At first, that was an impediment to getting into the series for me. Eventually it's about two men who are vying for the love of a woman who has sacrificed much of her life for the happiness of others and is only now trying to figure out what she wants. Her motivations are slowly revealed but even so not all her actions are clear. Her connection with the judge is hard to believe and she does seem more suited to the suffering TV star who has a similar background to hers. </div><div><br /></div><div>And it's one of those romances where the woman becomes very gooey once the relationship starts and I lost all interest at that point. The last episode really drags everything out for filler and for fake drama. </div><div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ti8kdXGecE8t5Whm1T6V0O2GwEFRiiaKWDsi-iWmGOXkxIr47y63tYUzZXUpTaH4x6ADITqOHUP2X3qbfl9qT2Fs6wJQ7ZKeZpViRPX1B-tF0NcuERW-TFZutyZXL8KWS29FDPnLD1sXivzR4BMqIh0zcWaZbEBb7IiI1rQcV4t6CW3FCNdwp861rA/s1800/AD922599-C022-4B71-821F-CF75789CF31A.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ti8kdXGecE8t5Whm1T6V0O2GwEFRiiaKWDsi-iWmGOXkxIr47y63tYUzZXUpTaH4x6ADITqOHUP2X3qbfl9qT2Fs6wJQ7ZKeZpViRPX1B-tF0NcuERW-TFZutyZXL8KWS29FDPnLD1sXivzR4BMqIh0zcWaZbEBb7IiI1rQcV4t6CW3FCNdwp861rA/s320/AD922599-C022-4B71-821F-CF75789CF31A.JPG" width="256" /></a></div><br /></div></div></div></div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-62649629915656942272022-10-16T13:56:00.001-04:002022-10-16T13:56:26.571-04:00September 2022: Death, Psychiatry, and Webtoons<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3CiNmOXCInc4KiNBuPe8aVBcNJwBxabbfPnaHNCJO2gkP4JBXJaqk9DM4CxESIzrFDmRhDxwWm64a9ROzpcg4XT2W2VyCrdH4m6f8xLdWasGMRZ4-39Y8qWkcnt8KZ9WjpCLLHvkroOgxI-T1-ClpT7q0G0FQDOHPxTo8P39uGlaufUQ3MvtzJ4n8EQ/s4032/IMG_7793.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3CiNmOXCInc4KiNBuPe8aVBcNJwBxabbfPnaHNCJO2gkP4JBXJaqk9DM4CxESIzrFDmRhDxwWm64a9ROzpcg4XT2W2VyCrdH4m6f8xLdWasGMRZ4-39Y8qWkcnt8KZ9WjpCLLHvkroOgxI-T1-ClpT7q0G0FQDOHPxTo8P39uGlaufUQ3MvtzJ4n8EQ/s320/IMG_7793.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Birthday to Jungkook. </td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>In September, I finalized my plans to go to Korea. It's my first international trip since December 2019. After two years of Korean lessons, I am hoping I can handle some basic interactions. But really just excited to get out of town and be AWAY. </div><div><br /></div><div>And now for the monthly drama check-in...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Today's Webtoon</b></div><br />Kim Sejeong is absolutely darling in dramas and this one is no exception. It's a workplace coming-of-age story more than a romance, but it's an interesting collections of characters and the interpersonal dynamics drive the story. There are some creative choices that come and go and maybe a little strained plot points near the end, but I was into the characters enough to overlook some unevenness. </div><div><br /></div><div>On Ma-eum (Kim Sejeong) is a top-tier national judo athlete who ends up quitting the sport and trying to get a job working in webtoons. She's taken on as a contract worker with the rag-tag crew at Neon who are fighting to keep their company alive. She starts at the time as full-time worker Goo Jun-yeong (Nam Yoon-su) who is as uptight as Ma-eum is heart-warming. Jun-yeong doesn't care about webtoons and seems to have a grudge against them. But he and Ma-eum are made editors and are put in charge of a number of webtoon artists to help them reach their goals and keep their deadlines. </div><div><br /></div><div>While the show leans on too many athlete metaphors up-front, eventually, we see how Ma-eum's training and enthusiasm serve her as she faces setbacks and struggles trying to learn the ropes of her new job. Dealing with temperamental and emotionally sensitive artists she has to be mother-friend-boss-nurse depending on the situation. </div><div><br /></div><div>The show tries to use some animated webtoons visually early on with the storytelling and then that seems to disappear. The strength of the show are the characters. We also learn to appreciate the grueling demands of creating art on a weekly deadline basis. Clearly this is a business but they try to show that this team cares about developing, taking care of, and growing their artists. </div><div><br /></div><div>We encounter characters who have tried for years to break into webtoons and have failed to find success. We see new artists starting out and the difficulties they face. These small heartbreaks teach Ma-eum about the business and what she will have to deal with as an editor. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not a huge fan of some K-dramas efforts to rehabilitate/forgive bad parents but there is a twist on this one that I guess I can forgive. </div><div><br />It also feels like they wanted to add in a romance to the series but then were tentative about it so it drifts in at the 11th hour. Let's face it, it's impossible not to fall for Kim Se-jeong. Her character is just so damn winsome, caring, and dedicated here. </div><div><br /></div><div>Also, shout out to the sunbae hottie Choi Daniel who plays Ma-eum's mentor. Would watch a romance with him. Just saying...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>If You Wish Upon Me</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Oh Ji Chang-wook. I cannot quit you. This is a not-great melodrama but he plays a wounded puppy of a man who falls for a character played by Choi Soo-young so I had no choice but to watch. <br /><br />It is a sappy, sentimental drama about abuse, healing, grief and loss. It brings together a group of misfits at a hospice, Team Genie, who grant final wishes to people who are dying. Yoon Gyeo-re (Ji Chang-wook) is a criminal just recently let out of prison. He is being chased by his former gangster boss and being hunted down by his childhood friend Ha Joon-kyung (Won Ji-an) who threatens to kill herself if he ever leaves her. The leader of the Genies, Kang Tae-shik (Sung Dong-il) tries to get Gyeo-re to help out as part of his community service and slowly adopts him like a son. Seo Yeon-joo is the nurse who works with the Genies and comes to care for the emotionally guarded Gyeo-re. </div><div><br /></div><div>Basically every single character is suffering and has deep wounds that they are all trying to heal. And I am a basic bitch sucker for this. Nevertheless I did wish ill upon the manipulative Joon-kyung no matter what her sad backstory was. </div><div><br />And yes things get weird and bonkers because its a melodrama and maybe there's even a musical scene. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's not a good series but I cried through the end as one has to. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Poong, The Joseon Psychiatrist</b></div><div><div><br /></div><div>This a quietly cute Joseon era romance with a royal mystery to be solved. It's not going to be taking home awards but I liked the characters enough that if it has a second season I would tune in. </div><div><br /></div><div>The leading doctor in Joseon Yoo Se-yeop (Kim Min-jae) accidentally killed the King (oops) and now cannot pick up a acupuncture needle. He finds himself in the backwoods and roped into working at a medical clinic. There he meets (for a second time) a widowed woman Seo Eun-woo (Kim Hyang-gi) who has been trying to kill herself. Seo-yeop...now known as Poong stops her and helps her out of her situation. She decides to study medicine with him and become the acupuncture hands he needs. They form a partnership. He will teach her and she will make him a better doctor. They also then Scooby-doo it and solve murders. </div><div><br />I like a romance where the person falls for the other person's strength and conviction. Poong is a bit in awe of her courage and dedication. She also helps him face his past so that he starts to unwind what ACTUALLY happened with the King and the death of his father. <br /><br />At only 12 episodes, it felt like they were leaving the door open for another season and I'd like to see where this couple Scooby-doos next. <br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Once Upon a Small Town</b></div><br />I spent the entire time watching this show waiting for this story to "get going" and then it was over. So it was a low drama K-drama. Blink and you might miss it. </div><div><br /></div><div>And as someone else pointed out...it's basically a lesser <i>Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha</i> with a city veterinarian moving to the countryside temporarily to take over his grandfather's vet clinic only to slowly fall for the small town charms. </div><div><br />But unlike <i>Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha</i> the supporting characters are not as well-written and the raison d'etre is just a wisp of an excuse to make a show. The romance doesn’t have legs. The challenges aren’t really challenges. The conflicts are minimal. It's just a little dull. The community isn’t interesting or unique, except maybe that one elderly man who loved his bull (in a not gross way) who was dying.</div><div><br />I would not waste your time on this one. </div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-81914008966839488492022-09-10T17:25:00.000-04:002022-09-10T17:33:09.578-04:00August 2022: Whales and Wizards<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGLx7y1oeK-ruNpYjc7Dfvk5bpqziCzX2ckgEjvUBQD2O9QxdtTVT-Ptyj1sI4IsY3BTcA4ihkIvbM_yaLBedie7faB6NWk-4DE-yni95BW9zsKBz80V0wUvlD3J8ZvqY3mm5k9lyqMkP2-0zDCpYpPBeFko7hobGnqAg6HdSa5MnjOe2bgs4a3Rp8Q/s4032/IMG_7586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGLx7y1oeK-ruNpYjc7Dfvk5bpqziCzX2ckgEjvUBQD2O9QxdtTVT-Ptyj1sI4IsY3BTcA4ihkIvbM_yaLBedie7faB6NWk-4DE-yni95BW9zsKBz80V0wUvlD3J8ZvqY3mm5k9lyqMkP2-0zDCpYpPBeFko7hobGnqAg6HdSa5MnjOe2bgs4a3Rp8Q/w400-h300/IMG_7586.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All 13 of Seventeen</td></tr></tbody></table><div></div><div><br /></div><div>It was a hot month and I didn't want to leave my house much. I did go see Seventeen in concert which was fun. I had not really been following their work but still a good show. </div><div><br /></div><div>I started a ton of dramas but still waiting for a bunch of them to wrap-up so these were the ones I finished in August. </div><div><br /></div><div>Controversial opinion forthcoming. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Extraordinary Attorney Woo</b></div><br /><i>Extraordinary Attorney Woo </i>was a big hit in Korea. While I'm thrilled to see audiences catching on Kang Tae-oh's charms, I struggled with what this procedural law drama was trying to do and what exactly should we expect from media portrayals of neurodivergent characters. <div><br /></div><div>Attorney Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin) is the first attorney on the autism spectrum in Korea and she is hired by one of the best firms in the country. She can recite any law she has read, but this is her first job and encounters new challenges being in the workplace including catty colleagues, misreading social situations, and a daunting revolving door. But a co-worker Lee Jun-ho (Kang Tae-oh) tries to help her and he develops feelings for her. They then try to navigate a relationship. </div><div><br /></div><div>Park Eun-bin is not on the autism spectrum so this is a case of an actor "performing" autism (which unto itself is a practice we should be seeing less of). The instructive tone of the show is focused on trying to get audiences to see the challenges, skills, and humanity of people on the autism spectrum. They show her sensitivity to sound and emotional overload and her coping mechanisms with entering new rooms or encountering the revolving doors. </div><div><br /></div><div>Attorney Woo is obsessed with whales and they incorporate this into the show's imagery. Sometimes beautiful CGI whales appear besides her as a kind of expression of her mind. Attorney Woo proves herself in the courtroom and her colleagues who, at first, struggled with someone who was different from them, come to see her as a valued member of the team.</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_UGM_GdoTzTZNuTjzxwc6rt2lYS8S2mC88Tk07X4w6rckBGuevPT4fJAHIO2442D2i_SOWutC2uoBZvbRsmCY5V5R-pEk7w3-4jlAvlrDgZtVwBTwPih1HXd4np7migUwNpoi0w3bsfFlnr_hO6QXn25qL8sPZL5KXTr6B_pKSml4Z4e0yJZvjr0j8w/s4030/IMG_6765.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1971" data-original-width="4030" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_UGM_GdoTzTZNuTjzxwc6rt2lYS8S2mC88Tk07X4w6rckBGuevPT4fJAHIO2442D2i_SOWutC2uoBZvbRsmCY5V5R-pEk7w3-4jlAvlrDgZtVwBTwPih1HXd4np7migUwNpoi0w3bsfFlnr_hO6QXn25qL8sPZL5KXTr6B_pKSml4Z4e0yJZvjr0j8w/s320/IMG_6765.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mystery restaurant that is haunting me showed up again</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>But it's still an infantilizing and "cutesy" portrayal. Whenever Attorney Woo has an idea breakthrough, they show a whale shooting water from its blowhole--like she's just had some sort of idea-whale orgasm. And honestly anything beautiful and creative that was done by using the whale imagery gets undone with this obtuse visual. </div><div><br /></div><div>The nature of the romance here also gnawed at me. Jun-ho is the picture perfect, noble romantic foil with zero personality of his own and in total service to her. We make allowances for partners and their wants and needs. Not every relationship is in perfect balance. But this dynamic is so one-sided. Jun-ho hardly even gets to be a person. I love Kang Tae-oh and he performs this role admirably. But Jun-ho articulates more of caretaking relationship with Young-woo than a two-sided romance and that too is infantilizing. </div><div><br /></div><div>The one relationship that felt balanced was Young-woo and her best friend from childhood, Dong Geu-ra-mi. At least they seem to enjoy each other, fully embracing their differences. </div><div><br /></div><div>With it's popularity, might this show chip away at preconceived notions of neurodivergency--maybe. But it is also still an autistic "genius" narrative--as we've seen many times before. It left me wondering about the employment reality for anyone without such a perfect memory. </div><div><br /></div><div>If people on the autistic spectrum find this an accurate portrayal and it serves to further greater representation of neurodivergent characters on the screen (and employment of neurodivergent actors), then great. But something about it just felt off from the get-go and in the end the series ended with me just as uncomfortable as it started. </div><div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Alchemy of Souls</b></div></b><br />This sweeping magical fantasy epic, with the budget to back it up, is at its core about a young man fighting to be taken seriously and a woman, who has been wronged, forcing her way back from death. Sometimes it can get bogged down a little in its own internal mythology (ice stone fog, what?), but the vibrant characters and the interpersonal struggles are strong enough to overcome this. It's also the case of a romance that the characters resist for as long as they can making for peak romantic tension. </div><div><br /></div><div>Set in the fictional world of Daeho, there are powerful mages (sort of wizards/magicians) who train for years to control their magical powers. There are rival mage families in Daeho who are at a tenuous peace. There is also a royal family they try not to overshadow. Amidst this is nobleman Jang Uk (Lee Jae-wook) who is supposed to be the son of one of the most powerful mage's but his father sealed up Uk's magical energy so he could not use it and then disappeared. Uk is constantly trying to find someone who will unleashed his powers and train him in magic. </div><div><br /></div><div>Uk encounters an assassin Nak-su who is killed by the mages. But through a powerful spell--the alchemy of souls--Nak-su is able to live again by taking over the body of a poor, physically weak woman from the countryside, Mu-deok (Jung So-min). Nak-su, in the body of Mu-deok, will train Uk in an effort to help her regain her powers. She pretends to be Uk's servant to stay close by. </div><div><br /></div><div>The show's great pleasure is the bickering romance that grows between Uk and Mu-deok. She is full of snarky fury and he is arrogant which just leads to constant fireworks. They are both fighting powers beyond themselves against the odds and they recognize that in each other. Mu-deok is an honest and loyal partner even if she’s not nice to him at all. But then this grows into a grumpy affection as she warms to him. She also has to fight her years of assassin training and cold, dead heart to accept love. It's a journey that's fun to be on with her. </div><div><br /></div><div>Three different men end up drawn to Mu-deok including the Crown Prince (Shin Seung-ho), Uk's friend Yul (Hwang Min-hyun) who has a childhood connection to her, and Uk himself. Personally, I was rooting for sweet, uptight Yul. </div><div><br />While there's a lot of magical nonsense (powerful ice stones that help people change bodies but also could turn people into soul sucking zombies) the themes of family, honor, and the dangers of absolute power transcend this. It's also a beautifully designed alternative universe, with a heavy emphasis on fabulous eye make-up. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jung So-min is absolutely transfixing here. There are times she is playing Nak-su in Mu-deok's body and then playing the wholly different character of Mu-deok. She is such a dynamic presence. I love to watch her character react and how her machinations cross her face. I could watch her just reading a phone book but she really gets to shine in this performance. <br /><br />Season 1 ended on a major cliffhanger and a mini-season 2 is coming soon. I cannot wait. <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>High Society</b></div></b><br />Sometimes you choose to watch an old soapy unsubtle drama that is chockablock with class issues, star-crossed lovers, objecting families, a brother lost at sea, a showy mistress, and an unloving chaebol dad (natch). I did it for Park Hyung-sik and I don't totally regret it. <br /><br />A rich chaebol heir (Park Hyung-sik) falls for a poor woman who works in one of his companies. Meanwhile, the chaebol woman he was supposed to be set-up with to forge a marriage alliance between their two family companies has also fallen for someone her family will not accept. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>What will happen? You know what will happen. But sometimes you just want to watch Park Hyung-sik cry through his struggles to make the right decision. </div></div><br />Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-81287843841081543052022-08-07T20:26:00.005-04:002022-08-07T20:27:37.125-04:00July 2022: Hobipalooza and Melodramas<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGxjDv1P0w-cBIlW7f48xQHkkmk4f-pJ7M_AmFLiN4OGxfdwwxdILprSkdBen55CZBDJZfFogK23ZUhO-tPdqpPb1jgxuAqTkdJycXnttkP-d6-OqC8QPKJ4m51vGTGaqdqb6HKU0A84-Dp05aVGi3hdemO2aG9mZGJHP6x50a-8A8V4tRIte-HwOCA/s4032/IMG_6916.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGxjDv1P0w-cBIlW7f48xQHkkmk4f-pJ7M_AmFLiN4OGxfdwwxdILprSkdBen55CZBDJZfFogK23ZUhO-tPdqpPb1jgxuAqTkdJycXnttkP-d6-OqC8QPKJ4m51vGTGaqdqb6HKU0A84-Dp05aVGi3hdemO2aG9mZGJHP6x50a-8A8V4tRIte-HwOCA/w300-h400/IMG_6916.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />The BTS group "hiatus" is processed now. It has been for sure, NOT A BREAK. As always, barely keeping up with all they are doing. <div><br /></div><div>It's exciting to see the different paths each of the artists will take and I'm really happy to see them getting off the non-stop merry-go-round of BTS promotion and maybe taking on new challenges and taking a break when they need it. No one has earned that more than BTS. </div><div><br /></div><div>Admitting that you are creatively burned out is incredibly hard. I cannot imagine when the pressure of a whole nation and massive fanbase also comes along with that. As always, BTS's honesty about their struggles and these weird times is such a balm. We all have been having a hard time. They are not immune. I hope we can give them the space they need to do what they need to heal. </div><div><br /><div>Apo-Bangpo! 아포방포! </div><div><br /></div><div>In the sprit of that, I went to Hobipalooza in Chicago this month. I am someone who hates the outdoors, heat, sunshine, and people so an outdoor music festival is the last place I would ever imagine myself. But I could not miss this moment. So I made all sorts of preparations to make it the least miserable experience I could for myself. And that pre-planning worked out. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was one of the most fun nights of my life and watching someone experience a new kind of creative liberation was deeply inspiring. Getting to redefine yourself mid-career, write yourself a new future, and do it on your terms. What a gift! There was, of course, screaming, jumping, and dancing. I felt my own kind of mid-pandemic catharsis.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was a perfect weekend until several friends in my group got COVID when they came home. It sort of feels inevitable at this moment no matter what precautions you are taking. I am testing negative. But it feels like a narrow escape. </div><div><p></p><p>On the drama front, I enjoyed some quality melodramas.</p><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>She Would Never Know</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0JgrYuWGQSR8MLmvPKWuGMfVpXWB88uIFGno-2-khO8WXtAf2ANwLLEEHeTLuVd_IqJM4_9CUvVSSOUkW3mQcYTyKPf3QPUg2uJaUJAx-DTcxdhuD-e79qpZ4zRsUZ4GFPwWtigFBf6uacxosHBQfqsQtDzMExla_Mmg_imi5R60yn9HGItANWhtCQ/s4032/IMG_6521.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0JgrYuWGQSR8MLmvPKWuGMfVpXWB88uIFGno-2-khO8WXtAf2ANwLLEEHeTLuVd_IqJM4_9CUvVSSOUkW3mQcYTyKPf3QPUg2uJaUJAx-DTcxdhuD-e79qpZ4zRsUZ4GFPwWtigFBf6uacxosHBQfqsQtDzMExla_Mmg_imi5R60yn9HGItANWhtCQ/s320/IMG_6521.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tallest man in Korea</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b></div></b><div>This was a lovely little hidden gem of a noona drama that I missed in 2021. The title makes it sound like a creepy mystery and it could not be further from that. </div><div><br /></div><div>It’s a quiet, gentle melodrama without a wild and crazy plot. It’s quite simple and involves a very real-life struggle to get over heartbreak and let someone new into your life. Through a number of characters in the series, this drama offers several examples about how sometimes life does not go the way you expect, but the outcome does not have to be disaster. Change, loss, and break-ups can sometimes make space for something better to come along. <br /><br />Yoon Song-ah (Won Jin-ah) is thriving in her career at a cosmetics company. She gets along swimmingly with her trainee Chae Hyun-seung (Rowoon). He's harbored a secret crush on her for a while but discovers she is in a secret relationship with her manager, Lee Jae-shin (Lee Hyun-wook). But Hyun-seung also knows that Lee Jae-shin is keeping a secret from Song-ah. So he opts to show her the difficult truth hoping that when the air clears maybe she will fall for him. It's a gamble but he does it out of respect for her rather than spite (it's a tough tone to balance). She then has to pick up the pieces of her life and figure out if she wants a relationship with Hyun-seung or not. </div><div><br /></div><div>This drama was everything <i><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2022/01/january-2022-happiness-revenge.html">Now Were Breaking Up</a> </i>wanted to be but could not pull off. The reasons each character acts the way they do is based on true-to-life issues--traumatic and toxic family relationships, following the expectations of society over personal happiness, and struggling to balance romance and careers when both mean a lot to you. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was not thrilled that the series tried to justify Lee Jae-shin's actions or try to conjure our sympathy when he committed such a huge betrayal for essentially selfish reasons. But eventually even he does start to sort out his life and choose a healthy path forward. And he owns his mistakes. <br /><br />Song-ah has an infantile mother who is very demanding, dependent, and whiny. So it makes a lot of sense why she's so independent and needs to stand on her own. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hyun-seung has two older sisters and they meet regularly and are deeply involved in each others lives. Sometimes this can come off as meddlesome but when things get difficult for them they show up for each other. It was one of the nicest sibling dynamics I've seen on screen. </div><div><br /></div><div>The show also gets quite serious about how marriage can be a trap and a liberation depending on how healthy, open, and supportive the relationship is. There is also a gay subplot that is hinted at pretty early but is handled incredibly well. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am a complete sucker for the confident, but respectful hoobae who is willing to wait for the sunbae to come around and accept his love or live with her rejection. It's a fantasy but an enjoyable one.</div><div><br /></div><div>Row-swoon again proves his leading-man credentials. He is the doting hoobae, the sweet younger brother, the dedicated uncle, and righteously noble when called upon. Everything we want from a romantic lead. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Why Her</b></div><div><div><br />As more of a traditional bat-shit crazy melodrama and murder mystery, mixed with a noona romance, <i>Why Her</i> is a compulsive watch. </div><div><br /></div><div>Oh Soo-jae (Seo Hyun-jin) is a ruthless attorney working for a leading law firm in Korea. She gets demoted and is forced to take on the role of a law professor. In class, she meets Gong Chan (Hwang In-yeop). As she struggles to negotiate the machinations of her law firm against her and make her next move, Gong Chan and his fellow students end up coming to her aid. A case from her past comes back to haunt her and she must confront the choices she made then and how they continue to reverberate today. Both Oh Soo-jae and Gong Chan have secrets they are keeping from one another but they start to get closer and worry what these secrets might mean to the other. </div><div><br />While Soo-jae is relentless in her pursuit of winning for her firm, as the plot progresses, we see how she got to this point. She's been the fixer for these evil men in power for a while and she knows how she is being used. She is surrounded by vipers and she is in a battle against them while trying not to appear disloyal. She must keep her guard up always. </div><div><br /></div><div>To insert a sweet romance into all this muck is a challenge. But Gong Chan just kind of love bombs her to the point where she cannot resist. She has only ever dealt with manipulative and controlling men and here is someone so pure. It is also a romance that is in peril from the get-go because her life is under constant attack. So grabbing a bit of happiness for the both of them is so hopeful. <br /><br />The stakes just keep increasing, and with it, the intensity of the drama. There is a plot point that I just had suspend my disbelief on early on. And there are some overwrought moments in the last couple of episodes but it is all in keeping with the melodrama format. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's the kind of show where you are rooting for this woman to destroy these men and you hope she's smart enough to outfox their money and power.</div></div></div></div></div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-24933856927387191872022-07-03T15:45:00.002-04:002022-08-06T12:14:54.806-04:00June 2022: Losing the Plot<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjHslMzr8ex8GG5reggAR1KlesvcQYVHO8-yzFLbw-mh4uXB9ZEb487W_YlxsuxsM74KQ2WukelksoxDxQ-SvYVNcI_4sJRd7di5Xo7EVytcgQhVZQ-MZBWQdP7LGNKZdGFKCI2aH9ddcDxnDvP-SsAKNLOPrKE56AcAdqGLzRr2IXZOwiu_4PQH2TVg/s1800/4BE87D49-6810-48BC-B736-7F07EB638672.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjHslMzr8ex8GG5reggAR1KlesvcQYVHO8-yzFLbw-mh4uXB9ZEb487W_YlxsuxsM74KQ2WukelksoxDxQ-SvYVNcI_4sJRd7di5Xo7EVytcgQhVZQ-MZBWQdP7LGNKZdGFKCI2aH9ddcDxnDvP-SsAKNLOPrKE56AcAdqGLzRr2IXZOwiu_4PQH2TVg/s320/4BE87D49-6810-48BC-B736-7F07EB638672.JPG" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a disappointment--seeing Stray Kids in concert. <br />K-dramas sometimes a disappointment </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>It was an emotional month for BTS news. And we're all still adjusting. </p><p>It can be frustrating when a drama has interesting characters and a compelling setting, and then just fizzles on story. It's why the great ones really stand out because they stick the landing. But even with some of the fizzlers, they can still be a pleasant ride. </p><p>Such were the shows I watched in June...</p><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Sh**ting Stars</b></p><p>This enemies to lovers yarn is set in the world of celebrity PR (the title being a play on words for a Korean expression relating to dealing with celebrity poop). A leading TV and movie star Gong Tae-sung (Kim Young-dae) has know his publicist Oh Han-byul (Lee Sung-kyung) since college. They've been at each others throats for years but come to discover their passion for each other drifts over the thin line from hate to love. </p><p>It's always nice to see a workplace drama where a female character holds her own up against the "mean" boss. Here, Oh Han-byul is incredibly good at her job and no amount of teasing or minor torture from Gong Tae-sung, her agency's biggest client, is going to stop her. In fact, he needs her to do spin on his own life and she does so with great care for him. </p><p>The couple's anger shifting to romance is the best thing about this show. While Gong Tae-sung starts off like a jerk, they do reveal the years of quiet nice things he's done for Oh Han-byul. She’s also not that easy to win over. She’s rightfully put up a wall with him, but that also makes him have to work for her affection. He also is quite overcome once he's sorted out his feelings and he is hilariously useless at wooing her since she sees all his machinations as part of his previous teasing. </p><p>The narrative conflicts are where the show gets thin. There are some PR situations surrounding Gong Tae-sung which go from a bizarre stalker to someone threatening him (but I swear this storyline just disappears--did I have a stroke and miss it?). There's class K-drama buried trauma that you can see coming a mile a way (forgivable). But the show peters out before the last few episodes and takes the long road to wrap things up with three couples eventually in its focus. Oh Han-byul's friends also have romances of their own. </p><p>This is Kim Young-dae's first leading role and he plays the cool aspects of his character's star power well and then shifts admirably to the bumbling romantic fool. I was not a fan of <i>Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo</i> but it's nice to see Lee Sung-kyung as a more capable and substantial character. </p><p>Although there is no boner-killer like someone patting you on the head. Ugh, not charming romantic gesture by any stretch. Let's not do that in any future shows please. </p><p style="text-align: center;">***************************</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Do You Like Brahms</b></p><p>Set in the competitive world of classical musicians, Chae Song-ah (Park Eun-bin) ditches her business degree to start over again in music school because she's so passionate about the violin. She's last in her class and everyone keeps reminding her of this. But nevertheless she presses on because it makes her happy. </p><p>Meanwhile, the number 2 ranked pianist in Korea, Park Joon-young (Kim Min-jae) has moved back from Europe and is struggling to keep funneling money to his family who are always in financial trouble. All he wants to do is take a break having lost his passion for music a long time ago. Both of these people are trapped in unrequited love triangles with other people they've been friends with for years. Since their crushes are kind of doomed (well they think they are), they drift towards one another. </p><p>I'm a bit of a sucker for sad love and there's such melancholy to the way both of these characters are struggling in their lives. Finding each other feels like the way out but it's not an easy path. </p><p>Since both characters are introverted, it can be challenging at times to fully appreciate what anyone is feeling. Park Joon-young, in particular, has spent his life suppressing his own wants and needs and is not really in touch with what they are so he does not verbally express what he feels. Chae Song-ah tries to voice things but she's also quite mousy and reticent to say too much. So you can imagine this creates a lot of romantic and emotional build-up. And also an impediment for the audience. </p><p>They also both exist in a world where wealthy patrons hold all the power. Even within the academic world of music, everyone is clamoring for funds, support, and status. No one seems to care about teaching or mentoring their students. Way down at the bottom of the list, is the music itself. The show develops this atmosphere and toxic environment well. No wonder everyone is a little bit sad.</p><p>Park Eun-bin is still not my favorite actress. The stiffness I saw in her in <i><a href="https://mildlybitter.blogspot.com/2021/12/pandemic-diary-december-2021-dramas-to.html">The King's Affection</a></i> is here as well. While her characters may have reasons for their closed-off nature, it would be nice if we could see more of what's happening emotionally in her performance. </p><p>It is not always clear what's stopping this couple from finding happiness with each other. Be prepared for a slow amble towards romance. </p>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-44716157291550812692022-05-30T14:59:00.000-04:002022-05-30T14:59:03.165-04:00May 2022: Demons, Suicide, and Complicated Concubines<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZuN-7FZSij_xQ3IQObaBxIeLkycT99y4caNwinKSzW_q7wDnUWp3i608EU2HUESSFa9P2ab12JjCRhuvBB0QFjXqMVzJHzKmyaK2gbY4Xg-e6fFFVJo5mt5DaBhdlRawM3GO9lW4L3HtQgMrskSMKvmLNuAADdRfRaDDpHtsWfSRVxEK68E8qy_Jhw/s4032/FD4308C4-8951-4484-AAAE-2F29EA2F4D82.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZuN-7FZSij_xQ3IQObaBxIeLkycT99y4caNwinKSzW_q7wDnUWp3i608EU2HUESSFa9P2ab12JjCRhuvBB0QFjXqMVzJHzKmyaK2gbY4Xg-e6fFFVJo5mt5DaBhdlRawM3GO9lW4L3HtQgMrskSMKvmLNuAADdRfRaDDpHtsWfSRVxEK68E8qy_Jhw/s320/FD4308C4-8951-4484-AAAE-2F29EA2F4D82.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bigfoot was more into The Red Sleeve than I was</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>A lot of Sad Rowoon this month and it would be nice to see him in a light comedy. If you're listening Korea, please let him have a fun and lighthearted show. We love him. </p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><div style="text-align: center;">Tomorrow</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">With a dark subject matter, Tomorrow is a heavier drama to watch. But it boasts a solid cast, strong writing, and mostly thoughtful handling of sensitive subjects. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Set in the bureaucratic land of grim reapers, Choi Jun-woong (Rowoon) ends up in a coma in the Land of the Living but he temporarily joins a team of grim reapers, Koo Ryeon (Kim Hee-sun) and Lim Ryung Gu (Yoon Ji-on), who try to stop people from dying by suicide. If he does his time with this team, he will be returned to his body and family. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The reapers themselves have emotional baggage to unwind. But the series focuses on a different character each week and what has driven them to the edge of suicide. The premise is to get the audience to stand in their shoes and understand what it feels like for these characters to experience miscarriages, online bullying, sexual assault, workplace harassment, and community driven shame.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Much like <i>Move to Heaven</i> which had a story arc around the main characters while also exploring individual character stories in each episode, here the pasts of the reapers (and Jun-woong) are brought out as well while they help each person at suicide risk. There's also a mysterious connection between Koo Ryeon and the hostile leader of the reapers who escort souls, Park Joong-gil (Lee Soo-hyuk) that the series teases out over time. <div><br /></div><div>Not all subjects were handled as well. The eating disorder episode really lacked in understanding and sort of diminished the reality of body dysmorphia. But episodes addressing the experience of veterans, comfort women, and the failures of the Korean justice system with respect to sexual assault were strong. </div><div><br /></div><div>The show can be graphic at times but it felt justified by the storytelling. </div><div><br /></div><div>They also create a nice juxtaposition between Jun-woong who open-heartedly cares so much about each person and the stand-offish reapers who have deep feelings about these issues but do not show them as readily. I appreciated how quick to tears Jun-woong was and how healthy his attitude was about showing affection and emotion. <br /><div><br /></div><div>I have not found Lee Soo-hyuk to be deft at romance but he does better with a role like this where he's cold and calculating. <br /><br />Rowoon who was great in <i>The King's Affection</i> takes on a very different role here. But again he shows his range and gives us another sensitive character portrait <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><div style="text-align: center;">Semantic Error</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Sometimes Boy Love series look like one step away from straight-to-video soft core porn in their filming and writing. With low-budgets, weaker casts, and dreadful writing, I have fast-forwarded my way through a few and have been waiting to come across one that feels worth writing about. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Semantic Error </i>is definitely one of the best ones I've seen. It's an enemies to lovers story of an engineering student, Chu Sang Woo (Jae Chan), who ends up taking on a group project at university. The other students bail on him. So he torpedoes them all on the project, including graphic design student, Jang Jae Young (Park Seo Ham) who then cannot graduate because of his grade in that class. </div><div><br /></div><div>In an attempt to get back at Chu Sang-woo, Jang Jae Young starts following him around obsessively and getting on his nerves at every turn. But they end up getting to know each other well by getting under each others' skin and a romance blossoms. Naturally, one is uptight and the other too laid back, and they learn to be more tolerant and appreciative of the others' strengths and weaknesses. It was also nice to see casual queerness in a Korean series--no one is batting an eye at queer romances and queer characters here. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's a short series full of longing and attraction. A bite-sized delection.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Red Sleeve</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Ugh. I really wanted to like <i>The Red Sleeve.</i> It was nominated for several number of awards at the Baeksangs this year (Lee Jun-ho won one award for it). It offers an uncomfortable romance, but works better as historic melodrama. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>It is based on the historical relationship between King Jeongjo (Lee Jun-ho) and court maid Sung Deok-im (Lee Se-young). They meet as children in the palace. She is training to be maid in the Crown Prince's household and she does not realize he is the Crown Prince when they meet. Years later she begins her formal service to him and again she runs into an arrogant man not understanding he's the Prince. She’s troublesome and headstrong and he has never encountered that before. No one ever challenges him. She treats him as an equal when their circumstances are anything but. Eventually she untangles her confusion and dedicates her life to protecting and serving him as the Prince. While he has romantic feelings for he, she rebuffs him over and over. He wants her as his concubine and she does not to give up her whole life and her whole self to that role (even if she may have feelings for him). </div><div><br /></div>It's a little hard to watch this today and not struggle with the concept of the concubine. At some point there is a child playing a court concubine and I don't even know what to do with that. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's not really a sexy path to romance to start out as a loyal servant who is cornered and negged by this powerful person who can have you killed at any minute on a whim. It's quite clear in the court that the lives of the servants were often quite meaningless to the royals. </div><div><br /></div><div>And while it's refreshing she's so independent and self-assured, she comes up against his petty fits of jealousy a lot. It's also of "affection" through aggression. </div><div><br /></div><div>So while I enjoyed their bickering and genuine moments of tenderness early on things get messier later and it was hard to give in to the romance where the power dynamics are so out of whack and frankly where the script does not give us real transparency into her thinking. She speaks to him with defiance. It’s not that her resistance isn’t principled. It is. It’s just not articulated in a way that gets at how she's going to get from "Not a Concubine" to "Okay For Sure I'm Your Concubine." I don't know as a modern viewer if this leap can ever be traversed. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's also just an undercurrent of cruelty with him that is not sexy. There is an oddly erotic bath scene that's almost laughably too much. </div><div><br /></div><div>The romance is just not unfettered so I think stepping back and looking at this as more of historic melodrama makes more sense. The plot there ranges from intriguing to batshit crazy. But this Prince is also the son of Prince Sado who was killed by his own father by locking him in a box for days. So this family has a lot of issues to work out. The Prince has suffered his whole life. His grandfather was both his torturer and his greatest champion. His aunt is out to get him. His mother has been kinda banished because she was married to Prince Sado but she's got some machinations happening behind the scenes too. I mean he's got good reasons to keep his guard up and be suspicious of everyone. Even his best friend is SUSPECT. So the ONE palace maid who looks out for him is his saving grace. </div><div><br /></div><div>But it's a lot easier to tell this story from his POV than it is to tell hers. While I think they are trying to do both, fundamentally her story is just less clear. I don't know if she ever really had power or control or consent to what was happening to her. Everything she does is always fraught because of her powerlessness. And no amount of romance can soften the edges of that truth. </div><div><br /></div><div>I know the point is to suspend your disbelief but I could not turn off my brain on this that much. </div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><div style="text-align: center;">Lovers of the Red Sky</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>There is a demon god possessing people here and it's pretty goofy. I enjoyed this romance when there was not a demon god ruining things. It took many episodes before I got into this show and then it was hard to sustain my interest. I think you can skip it. Unless you really want to see a Painting Crazed Goblin. </div></div></div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-80010934924229577862022-05-01T17:29:00.000-04:002022-05-01T17:29:08.146-04:00April 2022: A Forecast of Business and Snowdrops<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOQV8BrfdkrNqBc2AjKs7L1ezlXL8eo9oNBuJjON9Kacl-qlE7_IwpWo93Y7-0zxXTOT8NEuXypJz1Nf7HbPh6HVef59kycRV79y0IY0_516UaJI0dUpFBlZ5UNPlTN36iaE2nkln2DTtRme2dnBboshtlDiNdXtuQaUkXZ1MPC5n_i8KTm3_YPQHogg/s3780/034FF29F-9A1E-4218-900E-6E4999581311.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3780" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOQV8BrfdkrNqBc2AjKs7L1ezlXL8eo9oNBuJjON9Kacl-qlE7_IwpWo93Y7-0zxXTOT8NEuXypJz1Nf7HbPh6HVef59kycRV79y0IY0_516UaJI0dUpFBlZ5UNPlTN36iaE2nkln2DTtRme2dnBboshtlDiNdXtuQaUkXZ1MPC5n_i8KTm3_YPQHogg/s320/034FF29F-9A1E-4218-900E-6E4999581311.JPG" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gratuitous pic of my foster cat</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Disney+ has broken into the business of K-dramas and whoa was it a mess. But Netflix offered some new shows that work well for their formulas. </p><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Snowdrop</b></p><p>I ended up with a free subscription to Disney+ so I thought I would check out <i>Snowdrop</i>, their <a href="https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/snowdrop-controversy-explained-disney">politically controversial</a> K-drama. While there was an uproar about what the show might say about Korean democracy activists and their association with North Korean spies, in the end the show was such an absolute mess politically and artistically that the only real controversy is how did this nonsense show get made in the first place. </p><p>Set in 1987, a college student, Eun Yeong-ro (Jisoo), falls for a mysterious graduate student (Jung Hae-in) who ends up shot and bleeding in her dorm room. She saves him, protects him, and then finds out he's a North Korean spy. Their sweet attraction sours when he takes her and her friends hostage. AWKWARD. </p><p>Some South Korean politicians actually helped to fund part of the spy's scheme in an effort to win their re-election (I think...things get very confusing) and then they decide it would help their election efforts if they just blow up the dorm full of students to erase their mistake and blame everything on the North Koreans but it's not quite as simple as that. </p><p>The trouble is the show cannot manage its own tone barometer. First it's a darling romance, then a comic caper, and then a serious hostage crisis with moments of the ridiculous. And the romance disappears and is revived. Sometimes K-drama can make these pendulums swings pay off. Here, not so much. </p><p>The male politicians are inept and their wives pull a lot of their strings but then the wives are also obsessed with a fortune teller telling them that their husbands' political futures depend on 13 virgins dying...and so they encourage them to kill the college students. Seriously. So much circling back to this plot point for why? </p><p>The tension does not rise. Rather we’re jerked from here to there. And it’s not clear what the consequences are for some of these characters or why they do what they do. The storytelling just spins in circles. So many of the attacks and counterattacks feel more narratively accidental than intentional. You cannot root for the romance because of the deeply troubling lies and manipulation. </p><p>If the show is taking a political position it was hard for me, an outsider, to see it. Politicians pulling the strings on both sides are portrayed as terrible. </p><p>The show had my goodwill at the start and then squandered it so badly that I hated every single character and I wanted to blow up the dorm myself by the end. Not a great outcome for any of us. </p><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Business Proposal</b></p><p>This workplace romance was a big hit but I struggled to totally give in to its charms. It follows a formula of a outwardly angry boss who we eventually warm to because his anger is a cover for his issues. But something never sat right with me about this set-up. </p><p>Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop) is the boss of a food company who has been impressed by the work of Shin Ha-ri (Kim Sejeong). But when he shows up for a family-arranged blind date with Jin Yeong-seo (Seol In-ah) it turns out Shin Ha-ri shows up instead pretending to be her rich friend. Jin Yeong-seo has paid Shin Ha-ri to blow up the date and Shin Ha-ri needs the money. But Kang Tae-moo is intrigued and wants to stop going on blind dates so he proposes. But then he finds out she has been lying about being Yeong-seo. He then entraps her in a contract to help him convince his pestering grandfather that she is his girlfriend so he can stop going on blind dates. They of course fall for each other. Meanwhile, Jin Seong-seo falls for Kang Tae-moo's secretary and long-time friend Cha Sung-hoon (Kim Min-kyu). </p><p>I just could not get over Kang Tae-moo's anger and his retaliatory entrapment. The person who really lied to him was Yeong-seo and Shin Ha-ri was a victim here and then he victimized her again. Even when they become a couple he teases her in a lightly blackmail kind of way. Her resistance to their romance is just because of the gap between them in status (her family runs a chicken shop and he's a chaebol) so I didn't love his disrespect of her concerns. </p><p>That said it's a pretty hot show and there is chemistry with the two couples. Maybe I was just being a grump. Everyone else I know seemed to be really into it from the start. </p><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Forecasting Love and Weather</b></p><p>If you can get over the overabundance of weather/relationship metaphors, this is a solid Noona romance. </p><p>Jin Ha-kyung (Park Min-young) works at the Korea Meteorological Administration. She is a rising star but her long-time engagement to her co-worker Han Ki-joon (Yoon Park) ends in a disastrous fashion. She swears off office romance forever just as Lee Shi-woo (Song Kang) joins her team. Lee Shi-woo is a bit of a weather prodigy. He is earnest and excited about weather and her. </p><p>Jin Ha-kyung is muted to the point of uninteresting at times. Once she gets to be unleashed a bit we root for her. Lee Shi-woo meanwhile wears his heart so openly that we cannot help but be on his side immediately. Oh someone love this precious puppy. </p><p>Being a Noona drama, the stakes of romance always feel higher. And short-term romance is often balanced against the long-term prospects of this kind of match. But whatever stands between them, from the start, you want them to work it out. They both deserve a little happiness and they are better together than apart. </p><p>I was less interested in Han Ki-joon and his romantic issues after betraying Jin Ha-kyung. Maybe other viewers are more sympathetic. But that plotline did address maturity and failures of communication in relationships. </p><p>Overall, there is a strong ensemble of actors, with many of the supporting characters having their own relationship conflicts. Each of these is a meaningful portrait of people at different ages and situations in their lives and how hard relationships can be. </p><p>But when the series focuses on the challenges of predicting the weather and the public being mad when they get it wrong, it feels like a PSA to support the Korea Meteorological Administration. I now know the value and difficulty of fog reports. </p>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-81560915407543270832022-04-21T19:33:00.000-04:002022-04-21T19:33:16.481-04:00March 2022: Teen to Noona Romance<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha1hwH5iGwEDvarPVg2IYf8h3tU1jSczAQLoZNTdWsyYx23e8Xy9d4ftLGhvnJEgTbkXPg6DK8PSoCGTqYYjDXqnon6gw81KzF1af9pLfbmdVIRMrGZgw_D22ERSlFRY2FCCcOiFxxbOLmbmrATmOQF9O5pyftgdAyCAwDwogLhQ6z5O0DoJCUS6LBmA/s3452/IMG_8163.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2031" data-original-width="3452" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha1hwH5iGwEDvarPVg2IYf8h3tU1jSczAQLoZNTdWsyYx23e8Xy9d4ftLGhvnJEgTbkXPg6DK8PSoCGTqYYjDXqnon6gw81KzF1af9pLfbmdVIRMrGZgw_D22ERSlFRY2FCCcOiFxxbOLmbmrATmOQF9O5pyftgdAyCAwDwogLhQ6z5O0DoJCUS6LBmA/s320/IMG_8163.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Park Hyung-sik speaks for all of us during The Heirs</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p>
From teens to Noonas, lots of romance this month.<div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Heirs</b></div><br /><i>The Heirs </i>is a classic teen K-drama from 2013. I had avoided it because I did not have a great first impression of Lee Min-ho from the eternal stiffness that was <i>Eternal Monarch</i>. But after seeing this, I get his appeal. <br /><br /><i>The Heirs</i> is both amazing and bad. It is full of terrible messaging and some truly shitty men. But it’s also so delightfully soapy that you cannot help but fall for it immediately, especially if you were raised on similar overwrought teen movies from the 80s. <br /><br />Kim Tan (Lee Min-ho) is a rich chaebol banished to the United States by his family. Cha Eun-sang (Park Shin-hye) comes to the US to see her sister get married only to have her sister lie about the marriage and steal the money she has brought. Kim Tan sees what’s happened to Cha Eun-sang and eventually tries to help her out. When they both end up back in Korea, whatever they felt overseas is still smoldering, but that smashes into the stark reality of their real lives. <br /><br />He’s a pawn in his father’s business and being played against his older brother. She’s the daughter of the maid at Kim Tan’s house. She also catches the eye of Kim Tan’s ex bestie Choi Young-do (Kim Woo-bin) who is angry and aggressive but drawn to Cha Eun-sang as well. <br /><br />There’s a lot of aggression as affection in this show. If I scare you, you will love me. If I grab you, you will love me. The teen boys are immature and their self-expression is on a very limited spectrum. It’s lite misogyny 101 and I know we’ve been conditioned to find this bad boy behavior attractive. I’m glad many dramas have moved away from some of these dynamics. Nevertheless, the show is catnip and for the most part you want to find out what is going to happen next. <br /><br />With two different rich guys forcing themselves on her, neither fully appreciates the consequences for Cha Eun-sang. Even if she wants to date them, disaster waits for her for sure--their families will never approve, nor will her "peers." She’s damned if she gives into her feelings and they are making her damned if she doesn’t choose one of them. She is also unprepared for the social issues she’s about to face from her peers once she ends up at Kim Tan’s fancy prep school. <br /><br />There are reasons these boys are so ill-behaved. And the chaebol kids are miserable in their own way. They are all victims of their circumstances and end up suffering based on what their parents have done. They are playing games their parents have set-up for them and they know no alternate path. Eventually the show focuses on the chaebol dynasties and it feels like this wants to be Shakespearean (which brother shall be crowned etc), but it can’t quite reach that level of DRAMA. <br /><br />But if you are into broken, sad bad boys behaving badly and the romantic travails of wealthy teens (and who among us can truly resist this), then this show still has a lot to offer.</div><div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH2Wa4-Oadol_JXtESZXvbxcXHQeAwTemGHtN_Xcz26R83PBrvsID_g7aKQF19ItQ8BE959TTz0WXfgDs7KilvOzDZJ95LRGJZHdPCKLB67bDpS-kroeMcd6q_M9v7O4ah7cxRpcm660EeMKPBGzdsUOA3PDFue_GbsqKZ88kwlIu6_6dsEesebeoyBg/s4030/IMG_7859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1915" data-original-width="4030" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH2Wa4-Oadol_JXtESZXvbxcXHQeAwTemGHtN_Xcz26R83PBrvsID_g7aKQF19ItQ8BE959TTz0WXfgDs7KilvOzDZJ95LRGJZHdPCKLB67bDpS-kroeMcd6q_M9v7O4ah7cxRpcm660EeMKPBGzdsUOA3PDFue_GbsqKZ88kwlIu6_6dsEesebeoyBg/s320/IMG_7859.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Search WWW</b></div><br />Jang Ki-yong is just romancing his way through the K-Drama Noonas and I’m not complaining. After seeing him in <i>Now Were Breaking Up</i>, I checked out another Noona drama, <i>Search WWW</i>. <br /><br />Following the lives of three professional women and their struggles at work and in love, the show unfortunately spends more time on the battles between search engine companies and not enough on the romance. <br /><br />Bae Ta-mi (Im Soo-jung) gets fired from her job at the web portal Unicon and then goes to work for the rival company Barro. She also has a one-night stand with Park Mo-gun (Jang Ki-yong) who eventually gets hired to do work at the web portals. Her immediate rival at Barro is Scarlett (Lee Da-hee) but eventually Scarlett is won over by Ta-mi’s ideas and work. Scarlett becomes obsessed with a new actor on a daytime soap Seol Ji-hwan (Lee Jae-wook). Running Unicon, Song Ga-kyeong (Jeon Hye-jin) was close to Ta-mi but their differences in how to handle political pressure on the web portals drives them apart. Scarlett also knew Song Ga-kyeong growing up and they have a deep bond from those years. <br /><br />This show is full of young men who are confident and direct and want to romance the Noonas. There’s something very enticing about their enthusiasm for these relationships that is neither smothering nor does it deny the woman’s agency. Park Mo-gun is happy to wait until Bae Ta-mi has sorted out her feelings. But his feelings for her remain strong whether she ends up wanting to date him or not. <br /><br />Based on my very scientific poll of two shows, Jang Ki-young plays characters who the Noonas struggle to stop fucking. And he’s very good at it. There is a lot of horny staring, sex, and passionate kisses. Again 85% of his success in these dramas is him walking towards the woman and all of us melting as he does so. <br /><br />Why is this so effective? Also please don’t stop doing it. <br /><br />But the show’s focus is more the intense nature of female friendships and those break-ups. As far as I am concerned, there was some intense lesbian energy between Song Ga-kyeong and Scarlett. Nothing is overt but their pull towards each other was not explained in the limited story flashbacks. <br /><br />The show also worked to explain why each of the women is driven to be the way they are. Song Ga-kyeong may be ruthless but she is also in a chaebol marriage that is devouring her whole. She was sold off by her ungrateful parents and is now trapped. <br /><br />Scarlett is a little too happy to use violence and her obsession with the actor borders on stalking. She has one intensity and it is dialed-up to 11. <br /><br />Ta-mi, at 38, doesn’t believe in marriage but she’s dating the 28-year-old who does. He needs family in a way she doesn’t. It’s a fundamental disagreement rooted deeper than their relationship. <br /><br />It’s all meaningful stuff but I have found Im Soo-jung just too blank and wide-eyed. This is the third drama I’ve watched with her and she just doesn’t shade in the characters she plays very much. So while I enjoyed moments I didn't fall for this show. </div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-68888976065381786722022-03-08T19:57:00.001-05:002022-10-15T12:15:45.904-04:00We Interrupt this Blog to Say Nazis are BadI was deeply disturbed by the play This Beautiful Future in 2017 when I first saw it in London.<br /><br />It’s written by Rita Kalnejas about two teenagers in 1944 France. They’ve snuck away to have sex. One is a French girl, Elodie, who is angry with her mother and most authority figures, disturbed by the occupation of Nazis, and listens to illegal BBC radio waiting to hear if they will be rescued. At the same time, she is meeting the boy she has been flirting with, Otto, an actual Nazi. <br /><br />In the recent New York production, as the teens are going through the motions of their relationship, an older contemporary couple sing karaoke serenades behind them and cast an adoring gaze on this “young love.”<br /><br />These older adults spout aphorisms of how “if they had it to do again” they might live their life differently. They wouldn’t let other people’s opinions get in the way so much. We are given a litany of “advice.” Just let down your hair. Be yourself. Don’t worry so much about what other people think. Free yourself from that kind of internal monologue. Fall in love. Be free.<div><br /></div><div>It's that juxtaposition of "just do it" over this sex scene that is so poisonous. <br /><br />When I saw the play in 2017, I wondered if I was misinterpreting the playwright’s intentions. It could not be an unrepentant play arguing, the first year of Trump in office, that its actually okay to fuck a Nazi. But the playwright has in fact clearly stated her intentions were to <a href="http://exeuntmagazine.com/features/rita-kalnejais-interview/">“send a love song to the audience.”</a> She intended to take politics out of this “romance” between a French girl and German boy in the midst of 1944 (while they have sex in the empty house of her Jewish neighbors who have been taken by the Nazis). The playwright believes no one has anything to apologize for. <br /><br />I left the theater with a British writer and vigorously discussed the play. At the time, the media were reporting on people who were in relationships with Trump supporters and the question about whether you could separate that from your relationship was being raised. It was not some World War II hypothetical. It was a thing we were all living through then.<br /><br />It was deeply disturbing that the play posited that one should not worry about the politics of white supremacy and Nazis and be apolitical about love (or frankly as I saw the intentions of the play…lust). <br /><br />But that is, of course, political. To try to divorce this relationship between teenagers in 1944 from Nazism when one of them is a literal Nazi is deeply disingenuous. The patronizing nature of the naïveté/stupidity/the “just kids”-ness of this play is such an insult to every teenager who joined the resistance and died at the hands of Nazis. And frankly it’s just condescending to all teenagers who might not always make the best choices but know they are pushing boundaries--as these teenagers are here.<br /><br />Also, I really struggle with the idea that there is ever a relationship (love or lust) that is actually truly separate from politics—even among teenagers. The politics of gender, race, culture, societal expectations, heterosexual hegemony are often present.<br /><br />So even if one could (and it’s a huge fucking IF that looms so large that you cannot see around it) put Nazism to the side for 30 seconds of magical thinking, this relationship is still suffuse with political choices. Whiteness certainly looms here. The playwright damn well knows that. That is why she set her play in 1944 with a literal NAZI.<br /><br />The pretense that we even want for a moment to stop time/politics/reality and just bathe in the warmth of “love” (again, I argue lust) between a NAZI and a Nazi supporter/sympathizer/overlooker is such a huge leap and one that I'm not sure the audience gets to take willingly. The playwright forces us to participate in this farce and then tells us we should like it--or at least it's good for us to see "the other side."<br /><br />The playwright and production heap on creative elements pushing the narrative of the fragility of life, tenderness, and vulnerability (a live baby chick is employed in both the London and New York productions to hammer this point). This play and its production elements are meant to make us feel for these young lovers who just want to bang in peace while bombs fall around them. Just let them live their lives. They have inherited a world that’s a mess. So let them have sex and maybe a night of escape. But it’s also clear they don’t respect each other’s beliefs and they don’t see each other as complete people. And just don't worry about white supremacy. <br /><br />The ideology at issue is so deeply rooted in erasing the humanity of others that I cannot for one single second give it a “pass.” No dick is worth fascism. Are we actually debating that? <br /><br />The playwright wants us to pretend (along with the characters) that it’s just them in a room with mood lights and a bed. The escapism is central to the playwright’s efforts to work. But what are you asking us to overlook? And at what cost to our humanity?<div><br />Don’t try to convince me this pretense of escape is somehow my liberation. <br /><br />Neither character is written in such a way that they have been coerced to be here.<br /><br />Elodie's actions are entirely within her character’s transgressive nature. She defiantly steals someone else’s chicken and fakes possession in church. I get that being a teenager is hard and life in 1944 France was probably hell. But there was still a line that she was absolutely aware of within her community and she chose to cross it. In fact, that was likely a good deal of the attraction. Her reasons are meaningless to the Jewish family being murdered while she is in their bed. Further, she is emblematic of so many white women who continue to reify white supremacy. Otto, the dim bulb, believes in Hitler and wants to be lifted up by him. He likes ethnic cleansing. He’s not super bothered by that. <br /><br />If the playwright also chooses to not be troubled by this, I am plenty troubled for the both of us. She has suggested that the ideology here doesn’t matter. Except it absolutely does. She wants the audience to interrogate its demonization of these characters--that demonization is rooted in a very specific ideology. Are you suggesting I not question the issues of white supremacy that Nazism stands for? <br /><br />And having the older characters come out to give Otto and Elodie a hug because they are going through some heavy shit (e.g., the consequences of their choices) I seriously have to ask, are you fucking with me?<br /><br />And the thing is there’s a reason we can’t just let this be. Because we agreed as a society that the planned mass extermination of a group of people was one of the worst things ever to have happened. <br /><br />Also, white supremacy is alive and well and embedded in much of what we do in America. We're at a moment where maybe, finally, some white people are ever so slightly starting to interrogate that. Somehow you think we need to look away from it? Like it's a distraction from the more important thing you want us to focus on here...love (lust)? I just cannot process this bizarro equivalency. <br /><br />And I’m just not built to look at this “relationship” and say this is morally neutral.<br /><br />Worse, when the play and production have the audience sing along to Adele as the lovers lie in bed together, you are demanding I participate. <br /><br />You want me to interrogate my judgment for these characters. But I’ve sat with this play for 5 years and it’s been eating away at me all this time. Not because it’s a great text with meaty things to mull over. It’s been bothering me because it’s pretending its own politics are either neutral or good. But I’m completely comfortable with saying fucking Nazis--both the act of fucking them and the people themselves--are bad. <br /><br />I don’t think there’s moral ambiguity here. Even a small slide towards softening our attitudes towards white supremacists is a problem. The characters know who they are and what they are doing.<br /><br />Life is a series of choices. And the weathered adults regret some of their life choices. But having them come to some conclusion that we shouldn't let what other people think dictate our lives and our choices, isn’t the equivalent of just throwing away your moral compass.<br /><br />The play makes it feel like it’s arguing that the audience is trapped in a cycle of internal judgment that we should be free from and part of the internal judgment is our judgment of these characters. And I argue the demonization of the characters is earned. Let them own their choices. And I will own my judgment.<br /><br />If you choose a political doctrine that absolutely erases other people’s humanity, don’t expect a fucking hug. Definitely not from me.</div></div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-92058387150379932612022-02-28T21:10:00.003-05:002022-02-28T21:38:34.168-05:00February 2022: Quiet Pain, Secret Joy, Idols in Luv<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4ErdSnzsYztO4ps_16ZIByBBDEjQthM4m0M0nCU-pt7YRaj-X_MjZJtftVxIRNs4cbEP2xhdJLh85jRuWC6KIb4Amn1yS-d4Mz-eFUkSy38JdAv8ej3pJp3fkoHhJrYV_sAVnDOwv52m3OkhOJvRs20s8KS7sWMurpQ9cHiANdtyGsmAAKLPTPfXfCQ=s4032" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4ErdSnzsYztO4ps_16ZIByBBDEjQthM4m0M0nCU-pt7YRaj-X_MjZJtftVxIRNs4cbEP2xhdJLh85jRuWC6KIb4Amn1yS-d4Mz-eFUkSy38JdAv8ej3pJp3fkoHhJrYV_sAVnDOwv52m3OkhOJvRs20s8KS7sWMurpQ9cHiANdtyGsmAAKLPTPfXfCQ=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you don't tell me...</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhH4L_ybpeSWGXe_VFSGoeQWl9ug_DlD-Fu_9WsqnqxMDomBLb4UyRCFit6QojtLqT4QELgIx3M51REEr3A0XcWli05pjHIQmmqkJS8MptJEQ3igdghEoVPeN06eZhAM0fRULUshZx2FTmud9iAit1pKEA8IbGIzc7agdEpOMeDd7CGKjw3Q9P9PTC4bw=s4032" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhH4L_ybpeSWGXe_VFSGoeQWl9ug_DlD-Fu_9WsqnqxMDomBLb4UyRCFit6QojtLqT4QELgIx3M51REEr3A0XcWli05pjHIQmmqkJS8MptJEQ3igdghEoVPeN06eZhAM0fRULUshZx2FTmud9iAit1pKEA8IbGIzc7agdEpOMeDd7CGKjw3Q9P9PTC4bw=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I won't know since I am idiot. </td></tr></tbody></table><br />We stan the self-aware leading man of <i>Our Beloved Summer.</i> <div><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Our Beloved Summer</b></div><p class="MsoNormal">The great pleasure with some K-dramas is the hidden depths
that you’re not expecting. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With <i>Our Beloved Summer</i>, it is structured around high
school sweethearts who once filmed a reality TV together when they were
young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell in love afterwards but
had a crushing break-up and have not spoken for five years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now Kook Yeon-soo (Kim Da-mi) works in PR and
Choi Ung (Choi Woo-shik) is an artist. They are reunited for a follow-up
documentary by a mutual high school friend, Ji-ung (Kim Sung-cheol) and agree
to participate out of a mix of necessity, spite and curiosity. </p><p class="MsoNormal">While the explosive
surface is about these former lovers turned enemies and what went wrong with
their relationship, the undercurrent is something more complex and profound. Throw
in a celebrated idol, NJ (Roh Jeong-eui), who inserts herself into the middle
of them and watch the sparks fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In a way, the documentary is simply the McGuffin to get all
these characters together. The richness comes from the emotional stakes each of
them has. The story is full of broken people who are muddling through a lot of
pain they don’t voice or share. Raising class issues, poverty, abandonment, absent parents, or the struggle to grow-up, somehow this
breezy romantic-comedy becomes a mediation on the deep loneliness and fears
each of them have. The gulf between what they say and what they feel is
immense. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we watch them say one thing
when they want to express something else. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also, the story avoids easy clichés. NJ ends up one of the
more observant ones when it comes to the behaviors of the others. Her life of
fame and attention is as hard to navigate emotionally as any of their paths
are. The brotherly affection between non-brothers Ji-ung and Ung becomes
complicated since they both have feelings for Yeon-soo but are basically family.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ji-ung was a latch-key kid showered with affection by Ung’s
parents. But no matter how much love you receive from surrogate families it
doesn’t heal the lack of love from your actual parent. The show does not shy
away from that either. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Choi Woo-shik brings incredibly subtly to the role. Once we
get beyond the couple's bickering (which is still quite enjoyable), he gives many shades of how his character’s pain
manifests and also how his character tries to hide that pain. I was more frustrated with Kim
Da-mi who does not have his range. Yeon-soo is an unlikeable character at the
start but without a hint of what’s happening inside it’s hard to get as
invested in her as we are in Ung.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But it's overall a strong ensemble, a poignant romance, and as we learn more about
each character the harder it is to look away. <o:p></o:p></p><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Secret Royal
Inspector and Joy</b></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>The Secret Royal Inspector and Joy</i> is light and
fluffy series which blends comedy, mystery, and romance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s uneven and a little dumb at times, but
the cast is winsome and there’s a female lead whose interior journey is
fulfilling. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kim Joy (Kim Hye-yoon) is a woman begging local officials to
let her divorce her gambling louse of a husband. Ra Ian (Ok Taec-yeon) is a foodie
who has been dragged into the role of secret royal inspector. Unexpectedly,
they find they can help each other achieve what they need to. They team up to
investigate political corruption. Between his cunning and her seasoned
street-smarts, they make a good team.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The characters' struggles are not particularly heavy or
painful. Certainly, extracting Joy from her terrible marriage early on helps
things and her desire to live independently is refreshing. She’s lived a
difficult impoverished life and her excitement at going places and doing
meaningful work has a deeper resonance. <o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoRp0pIVQZaDkcajqQX4hOJBqUDESsAtxg1Kgn5c4-krPP5PJ3AmKIF6NoBpqjqceT7F4Yw6ylEYq6rx4gzhitLXjtN9NrePXkoLT0HPYrEImi5eC4wLdfK7XrFXI43WxsolqXLvqB2yu1cP4HkiBajXJ3XI6TyklnNuyqNZSstDlF_AcOgwPi0ENsXg=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoRp0pIVQZaDkcajqQX4hOJBqUDESsAtxg1Kgn5c4-krPP5PJ3AmKIF6NoBpqjqceT7F4Yw6ylEYq6rx4gzhitLXjtN9NrePXkoLT0HPYrEImi5eC4wLdfK7XrFXI43WxsolqXLvqB2yu1cP4HkiBajXJ3XI6TyklnNuyqNZSstDlF_AcOgwPi0ENsXg=w320-h210" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long-suffering Joy</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the secret inspector is supposed to be very naïve when
it comes to women but I struggled to believe Taecyeon as such a dimwit about
romance or all that inexperienced. He’s such a perfect matinee idol
that this is a stretch. And he always reads smarter than this particular character. It’s what
makes him an interesting actor to watch, but that knowing-nature didn’t quite fit the role here. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The whole plotline about him just wanting to be a cook and
live out his days making gourmet meals disappears for whole swaths of the
series. When it returned, I had forgotten it had been there. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It also was not at all clear to me that the two “servants’”
who were helping the secret inspector were actually slaves. So, his threats to
them or their forced participation in some of his schemes hits differently with
that information. The light comedy gets a bit grimmer. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But Taecyeon and Kim Hye-yoon have great chemistry. I’d love
to see them together in a better written series. Even if this show was flawed, tuning into for them was worth it. </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">***************************</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>Imitation<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With real idols in the cast (members from Ateez, SF9), <i>Imitation</i>
involves a mysterious disappearance of an idol from the band Shax, the
struggles of a debut girls group, and the serious challenges of idol life. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It's certainly an interesting subject matter with plenty of behind the scene machinations by managers and unique power of fans in K-pop. But other than that, it felt like a very low-budget series that was
underwritten and mostly poorly acted. Whole plot points that made no sense and timelines were poorly laid out. I didn't even realize some scenes were flashbacks. But I liked Jeong Yun-ho who played the second-male lead. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For a series about idols, the music was totally dull. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-44722439449926929852022-01-27T19:12:00.000-05:002022-01-27T19:12:38.229-05:00January 2022: Happiness, Revenge, Answering Machines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgh2IvESlTG4mh0cERNan1vOuFGBaixapaWRYm4otkXuUEEjHgWbGplafYur-zSXfTMooddP09mpitUQOmKTjzgMAWIKKO2TO5QE6SBrK8TD90xbO8G1wEnmXnUv48cqzufpQt1SZPBmaq5uyTcD73kVIPUInplwz4qu5Q87c8aonbLvKfAm9rZYyfL8Q=s3780" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3780" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgh2IvESlTG4mh0cERNan1vOuFGBaixapaWRYm4otkXuUEEjHgWbGplafYur-zSXfTMooddP09mpitUQOmKTjzgMAWIKKO2TO5QE6SBrK8TD90xbO8G1wEnmXnUv48cqzufpQt1SZPBmaq5uyTcD73kVIPUInplwz4qu5Q87c8aonbLvKfAm9rZYyfL8Q=s320" width="256" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">While the pandemic is not over, with the new year, I no
longer feel the need to call this a Pandemic Diary.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">I’m just going to review the dramas I am watching or share
my thoughts about them informally. And anything else that pops into my head. <o:p></o:p></p><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>Happiness</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If the premise of a zombie-esque epidemic, makes you want to
run away after two years of your own exhausting pandemic experiences I hear
you. But <i>Happiness</i> is actually a show that acknowledges our present
moment and wants to have that conversation with the audience. It’s well-timed,
smart, funny, tender-hearted, and walks a well-drawn line between social commentary,
action, and romance. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While certain zombie/monster epidemic series pre-date COVID
(<i>Kingdom</i>, <i>Sweet Home</i>) and parallel lessons could be drawn from
them, <i>Happiness </i>is the first post-COVID drama I’ve watched that focuses
on what we have learned about human behavior from the pandemic itself. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Turns out people are often terrible, selfish, self-interested, and a little fed-up and exhausted with lockdowns, government alerts, and more restrictions
on their lives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, Happiness is
not interested in blanket condemnation or moralizing around infectious
disease. Rather, it tries to remind us that that behavior co-exists with people
trying to help. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is set in a world where COVID is over, but a mysterious “madman
rabies” plague is spreading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yoon
Sae-bom (Han Hyo-joo), a solider in an elite unit, and her long-time friend Jung
Yi-hyun (Park Hyung-sik), a police detective, get swept up in this plague. They
find themselves living in a new housing development which without warning gets
put under military lockdown to try and contain the spread. Trapped inside, they
are trying to find a way to organize the tenants and resources, protect the
people there, and survive until hopefully they can be safely released.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, the government isn’t particularly
focused on helping anyone. They just want to curb the disease. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Where <i>Happiness</i> really blossoms is in its ability to
somehow maintain some lightness about a rampant plague, pandemic exhaustion,
and the nightmare of neighbors misbehaving at the worst possible moment. It
also creates characters who, despite all this, believe that things can get
better and we can work together to survive. It lights this flame of hope, that frankly
in 2022, is pretty damn welcome. But it’s a snarky, knowing bit of hope which
is what makes the series so satisfying. There’s no pretense or glossing over. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The show is constantly reframing the epidemic to remind everyone
that even if someone is infected, they are still human. They also weave in
issues of Korean housing scarcity, class issues, and strained family relations.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Most of all the show is led by two characters we just want
to root for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, Sae-bom is a feisty
woman who will not give up on her dreams no matter what monster, criminal, or
government tank stands in her way. Yi-hyun, who has been in love with her since
high school, will do anything to help her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And nothing has come easily for either of them. You want this one thing
to go right for them…but this one thing is surviving a zombie plague. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The show uses drama tropes we’ve seen before (pretend
marriage, vampire/zombie outbreak) but tweaks them in a new way. The textured sound
design and score incorporate breathing and scraping adding to the atmosphere
and tension. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This series is less about the outbreak itself and more about
people attacking each other. There’s no need for <i>Sweet Home</i> violence or
gore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is meaning beyond just the
horror and this crisis. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Somehow in the midst of all of this chaos and struggle, the
show just wants to remind everyone about how precious life is and how hard it
is to find any shred of happiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
everyone’s dreams work out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not all
paths end up fulfilling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But these
setbacks, defeats, and diversions are simply life. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Maybe all the things we think are important, or are told by
society are important, are not as important as living with compassion and
kindness and fighting to help people. And love.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-align: center;">***************************</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>My Name</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sometimes I get very frustrated that Netflix focuses on
surface flash, action, and violence as a substitute for actual character development
in the shows it distributes/produces. <i>My Name</i> is an intriguing revenge
drama with a female lead that starts off with great promise. But with only
8-episodes, it rushes through an outline of plot points and negates its
achievements. And in the end it did not feel all that liberating. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Having an action series led by a woman feels unique in the
K-drama landscape. Han So-hee plays a woman who is seeking revenge for the
murder of her father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She joins an
underground gang where she is mentored by the gang boss himself. The gang then sends
her into the police force as a secret agent to find the killer and protect
their interests. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is partnered with a
detective (Ahn Bo-hyun) who questions whether she is up for the job, but he
sees she is driven by a passion similar to his, having also lost a family
member to crime. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As annoying as it is, one aspect of her revenge story is
also rooted in sexual assault and violence. This just tends to be a lazy shorthand
with female characters. And the dynamic with the gang boss is so personal and
intense it’s hard not to read something lightly sexual about it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With only 8 episodes, there is a lot dedicated to the set-up
only to have the unwinding be inartful, fast, and furious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the twists and turns become a very
obvious and direct straight line in the final reel which is frustrating and disappointing.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And there’s an element of sexism still kind of built-in. She’s
turned into this lethal fighter, but then it’s shown she doesn’t have the
killer instinct? She still human and soft and a woman. I’d like to think she
can be a woman and still murder whoever she needs to. Hashtag equality.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-align: center;">***************************</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>Now We’re Breaking Up</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is a classic melodrama that starts with a lot of sexual
heat only to get lost in its own internal logic. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A fashion designer(Song Hye-kyo) has a one night stand with a fashion
photographer (Jang Ki-yong) only to discover later the intricate ways in which they are
actually connected. A sort of doomed fate besets them and they can either avoid
romance or give into it. But they set up obstacles for themselves that don’t
quite make sense. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the first half of this series, there was just a lot of
standing around projecting smoldering hotness between Song Hye-kyo and Jang Ki-yong. 75% of this
show is Jang Ki-yong walking towards Song Hye-kyo looking goooood. And I’m not complaining about
any of that.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And there are real issues that stand between them (family
objections for reasons and also some truly needless parental meddling). But
they are also two independent adults who have not always followed the straight
and narrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, somehow, they keep
letting things get in the way of their relationship and the issues start to
feel quite strained. At some point, it
seems like the circumstances keeping them apart are simple phone calls. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also, there is an answering machine in this show. Do they
not have cell phones or voice mail in Paris? It made me laugh. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nevertheless, there are many things to like here. With older
characters, there’s just a whole other layer to their past and their love lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weight of their decisions and the feelings
do come across deeper and the struggles have more heft. I like that Song Hye-kyo's character fights back against workplace
sexual harassment.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I didn’t love the false equivalence the show sets up between
her friend dying of cancer and breaking up with this guy where the
circumstances are complicated but not impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">So enjoy the smoldering while it lasts...but this may lose its effectiveness over time. </span></p>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482634999602375237.post-89784409356577064382021-12-26T17:00:00.003-05:002021-12-27T11:22:18.941-05:00Pandemic Diary December 2021: Dramas to Recommend<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjiuAImSf8WhERMdzohAO_Ke1xf_Ywn-CGpyoDH0MENZIy0AgAV2JFABbBPYmQW4R_tiwhhhBDt0zBofiLhb1qGGSjaVEY142-xOtNriNIEv8Vv683j1JQ5TuK--P31C_Zq8Eu-1dozoM_ha-Fyo1N8d3cBWdMfi4pd0IxYEGk1fJDBgSfWnBVHtKAI0A=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjiuAImSf8WhERMdzohAO_Ke1xf_Ywn-CGpyoDH0MENZIy0AgAV2JFABbBPYmQW4R_tiwhhhBDt0zBofiLhb1qGGSjaVEY142-xOtNriNIEv8Vv683j1JQ5TuK--P31C_Zq8Eu-1dozoM_ha-Fyo1N8d3cBWdMfi4pd0IxYEGk1fJDBgSfWnBVHtKAI0A=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gratuitous pic of LA and a sunset at LACMA</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Back on my drama bullshit and feeling good. I have had a really good month of dramas I've enjoyed and I feel a bit renewed in my enthusiasm. </p><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>The King’s Affection</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s been a while since I came across a romance I could
heartily recommend to others. But T<i>he King’s Affection </i>is worth the time. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It involves a complicated and dangerous scheme, where a
court maid Da-mi (Choi Myung-bin as a child, Park Eun-bin as an adult) turns out to be a secret twin to the crown prince. She ends up
taking his place as prince when he is killed. She is forced into the role at great risk to herself
and those she cares about around her. She attempts to rise to the
occasion and become the male heir to the throne. She must forget her first love
and embrace being a member of a royal family (which tried to have her killed at birth). Her first
love, Jung Ji-woon (Rowoon) comes back into her life as an annoying tutor. Although she has always
kept people at arm’s length, he gets closer and closer to her not knowing her
secret. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s a great set-up which is helped by some strong performance
by the child actors. The wide-eyed terror from Choi Myung-bin as the young maid sets up the
tension well early on and we sense every thing she is risking in taking on this impossible task. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was less enamored of Park Eun-bin as the adult Crown Prince. Her
character is supposed to be standoffish (for fear people will learn her secret) but that turned into a very one note performance
for much of the series. Eventually she starts to show some life, but it’s far
into the series when it happens. Even with that potential hindrance, Rowoon is charming, handsome, and intense enough for the both of them. He could convincingly romance a brick wall and apparently I would tune in. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As with a lot of these women-playing-men storylines, the
audience knows her real gender identity. I think that allows for a certain
amount of sly queer romance to slip by under these hetero pretenses—even if it
is literally the reverse (hetero romance, queer pretense).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was something about the tone and the
way the romance is handled that it felt more queer than other stories like
this. Eventually “gay rumors” start within the court because of the closeness
of the Prince and “his” tutor. So the story attempts to address this as well
within the context of the period. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This was one of the few series I have seen where the man
discovering he is in love with another man was handled with such tenderness and
care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is not shocked or horrified by
his own attraction. He’s puzzled with this discovery and then embraces it
wholeheartedly. He engages in the romance completely thinking the Prince is a
man (including kissing her). Even upon the eventual reveal, his reaction is
delicately handled and to my mind did not erase his same-sex attraction. It wasn’t
played like a “phew I’m straight” sigh of relief. Rowoon made me believe Ji-woon could absolutely fall in love with another man at any time. It just so happens
the man he loves turns out to be a woman. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The writing is particularly strong here with the under-the-radar queerness of it and the quality of the romance. Every time Ji-woon confesses his feelings, the writing is beautiful, open-hearted, and honest. There
are a lot of swoonworthy moments. And the writer balances this emotional engagement against the royal succession plotline well. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The themes of sacrifice, suffering for family, and suppressing
your desires felt new. Of course, there’s going to be an evil court minister
pulling the strings of the royals and murderous relatives looking to take the
throne. But both the Prince and the tutor are dealing with families who want
things for them they don’t want for themselves. This may be set in the past but
they made it feel reflective of contemporary issues of this ilk too. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The way the show deals with the fact of her gender and being
King (not a spoiler…the title is <i>The King’s Affection</i> and she was the Crown
Prince after all) also gets to dig at some of the misogyny within the contemporary
culture too. Sure it’s Joseon but also…it’s today’s misogyny too. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There’s another love interest, Lee Hyun (Nam Yoon-su), who plays a
supportive cousin to the Prince. He has a bit of a Jung Jae-in vibe to him (that
kind of gentle, softness). I would like to see him in more things. </p><p class="MsoNormal">A solid romance with some undercover social commentary to
boot. </p><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p><b style="text-align: center;">Jirisan</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This supernatural, murder-mystery combines awe and respect
for nature with the way humans mistreat each other and the earth. With the non-linear
storytelling, I was not totally sure where it was headed for much of the series. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The mystical qualities and big budget nature photography were unique. But sometimes
it did feel like an advertisement for the Korean forest rangers. The mystery mostly
pays off but in one of those “the villain has to explain their motivations at
the end” kind of ways. But with a great cast, beautiful scenery, and an
unexpected format it was a solid action series. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Seo Ki-yang (Jun Ji-hyun) has grown up near Jirisan and suffered
a family tragedy that keeps her cut off from people. Kang Hyun-jo (Ju Ji-hoon)
has also lost people close to him but he’s a lot more tender hearted. They are
paired up as rangers on Jirisan and work to rescue people on the mountain. The
timeline moves back and forth, so we leap forward to see they have both been in
an accident and Ki-yang now uses a wheelchair whereas Hyun-jo is in a coma. She
is trying to get to the bottom of a series of murders on the mountain that they
were investigating together. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The series is focused more on action than romance. But the character are well-written enough that we care about their struggles and the issues motivating them beyond just solving a crime. So if you
enjoy chasing murderer stories, this is an unusual version of that genre.<o:p></o:p></p><div style="text-align: center;">***************************</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>Yumi’s Cells</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I only got to about episode 11 of this series (based on a
webtoon) before I gave up. It uses animated sequences to illustrate the
emotional interiors of two characters who fall in love. </p><p class="MsoNormal">I found the
animation annoying and the voices of the “feelings” not very distinctive (except
the “horny” emotional cell was very clear), so I had a hard time telling the
feelings apart. But they were quite cutesy and cloying and I would have preferred to spend less time in the animated universe. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As for the humans, it’s not a bad premise. Yumi (Kim Go-eun)
falls for one of her co-workers (Choi Minho) whose friendly overtures she
misunderstands. He’s not attracted to her, but he sets her up with one of his
friends, Goo Woong (Ahn Bo-hyun) and they hit it off. They are both kind of a
mess in their own ways This is a romance where the two of them can grow and
mature through this relationship. The drama comes from their emotions getting
in the way of making them happy and I suppose sorting out those feelings. I
just didn’t get as far as that. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the series went on, I was really bothered by the female
archetypes on display. There is Yumi’s co-worker Ruby who just gives endless pouty
aeygo. There is Goo Woong’s friend and co-worker Sae-yi who is a spiteful, jealous
meddler. Even Yumi becomes tiresomely annoying and needy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There was one really smart conversation between Goo Woong
and Sae-yi that dug into the nature of friendship and how that changes over
time. I also liked seeing a well-known actor-idol playing a gay character (and I wish I could just gotten to the end to see how things turned out for that character...my hope was that the show dealt with the gay character in a positive way). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I just could not engage in the stakes of this
couple at all. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s getting a second season apparently so clearly it found
an audience. But that audience was not me. <o:p></o:p></p>Nicole Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717227507945199387noreply@blogger.com0