Hello Beanies~ Have a good weekend ! 😄 I'm excitedly waiting for Nokdu Flower ep 13-14 this Friday to see special appearance from Lee Jun Hyeok and Yoon Kyun Sang 😆 Six Fying Dragons reunion, a chance to see Yoon Kyun Sang and Yoon Si Yoon together in one drama. It feels nice~ 😊

Hi Everyone and Happy OT! Thanks for an earlier OT this week @mary (I'm having difficulty selecting the correct @mary from the long auto-complete list!!! In fact I didn't see your usual handle with photo of SJR. Maybe the auto-complete list is only displaying the first 10 @marys?

I've finished the kdrama Confession, and I'm glad to report that I am happy with it. And this is inspite of the various weaknesses that were obvious and knowing full well how it could have been even better. Still, I'm amazingly satisfied.

Why satisfied, I wonder, when the show was not as solid as Healer or as intriguing as Signal or as well executed as Forest of Secrets? I was very pleased with the ending. Such poetic justice, and so apt that it takes place in court. I'd have liked to have been able to see to the very end, the justice meted out, with Do Hyun and that good lady judge impartially rendering judgement.

My thoughts on the show are here:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2019/03/confession-episode-1/comment-page-3/#comment-3461608

Absolute Boyfriend began stronger than I dared to hope. It only had to be likable with a leading lady who'd elicit my commiserations in order to work, and it's been more than that already in just 1-2 episodes. (How did the episodes get divided? were they half an hour each? I saw it as one unbroken episode). This one is likely for keeps and I'm so pleased!

However I can't say the same of Abyss which I've faithfully watched 4 episodes of already! It also only had to be likable with leads that I'd root for. Those feels are missing somehow. Problem with execution???

Still I'm reading what 'Bitches over Dramas' may have to say about Abyss. She has a different take on details that can make my viewing pleasure greater. For starters she has suggested, and I quote: "... in kdramas, the word “abyss” is often tied to Nietzsche’s famous quote from “Beyond Good and Evil”. It goes something like this: Whoever fights monsters should beware not to become a monster himself. For when he gazes long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into him." And maybe the abyss of what they dislike is what our leads have looked long into and so they have become what they hate.

You can read more of Bitches yourself at: http://bitchesoverdramas.com/2019/05/15/abyss-eps-1-2-first-impressions/

Now the fun shows are the cdramas. The Head on Shoulder is the fluffier of the 2 I'm watching with Le Coup De Foudre balancing between serious and light with touches of funny. They entertain without frustrating, which is what I appreciate right now!

Happy Friday! I am taking a break from dramas after Possessed, but I have delved into British television. I love Killing Eve and Jodie Comer, so I have started a deep-dive into her body of work. Currently watching My Mad Fat Diary. Also watching Fleabag from Killing Eve showrunner Phoebe Waller-Bridge. It is hilarious and so unique. I love how she breaks the fourth wall for an instant and then the scene resumes. No plans to resume drama watching yet, although I am enticed by the second half of HPL (I've watched the first half, but put it on hold).

I will be on vacation in Las Vegas two weeks from now (my first vacation since Christmas!) and I am so excited to soak up some sun, lay by the pool, and spend time with my family. Hoping to come back refreshed and ready to return to dramaland.

Hey there

Yep, climate change. that's it. Horrible needing to wear gloves in the middle of May.

Dramas:

Fellow Citizens: Been waiting for Big Sis to arrive and stir things up.
Doctor Prisoner: I felt a bit unsatisfied that the villain we love to hate has a happy ending and even gets promoted. He's killed folks, right? So cynical.

Abyss: Bring on more worldbuilding, you talkative crystal you! Slowly doling out important info is good, i guess but dang ...stuff we viewers are told at the last minute.Okay, big bad, use our crystal and let's see what a serial killer will do with his revival power.

Private life: although we all figured ryan and shi an were related, i really do not like this lost/abandoned child trope. i shall have to endure.

Beautiful World. Oh Man Seok is sooooooooooooo good! I fell in love with him way back in wang family and have adored him ever since.

cdramas --listening snow tower. Very pretty. clothing is kinda subdued. i'm suspecting tragedy lies ahead.

Saw Misbehavior, a korean movie with Kim Ha Neul. So good but tragic. Yep, it doesn't end well. It's on Amazon Prime.

That's about it. Have a great weekend, all.

Hi Everyone! ..... I hope you are all doing well today!

My Fellow Citizens - You just can't get tired of watching Jung-gook inadvertently messing up Hoo-ja's plans as he's trying to be an upright assemblyman.

Doctor Prisoner - I was totally surprised this ended this week because I was under the impression that this drama was 20 episodes long. Anyway, really enjoyed this show. ..... Loved watching Namgoong Min and Kim Byung-chul go at each other. Kudos to Choi won-young for giving us a character that was a memorable mix of villainy, illness and entitlement. ..... A bit surprised that even after all that work Dr. Na put into his grand plan, some of the baddies are, at least, not in jail. I'm just going to assume that the end we saw was not completely the end of Dr. Na's plan. The time will come to get the others, just not now.

Confession - It's now over and I'll miss our trusty quartet. We didn't get some answers and we were left with some suspicions that certain things didn't exactly end like they appeared to. However, I'm certainly happy that Choi-Do-hyun and his father are now reunited.

Nokdu Flower - Just started this one and so far so good. I already know it'll be a mix of heroes and heartbreak, especially with those two brothers.

Her Private Life - This seems to be the show I'm now always behind on, so once again I haven't watched what's going on with Deok-mi and Ryan Gold. *sadface* I'll hopefully get to it this weekend.

That's all for now. Everyone take care and have a great Friday!

Hi everybody,

Just a quick reminder that everybody interested is invited to the local meet-up for dramafans in Germany next Saturday, 25th May 2019. Meeting point is right in front of Frankfurt main station. There will be a sign to make it easy to find each other. Not only k-drama but c-drama, j-dorama and and lakorn fans are welcome.

We will go to a korean restaurant for lunch and chat. The meeting will end in the early afternoon to enable people with a longer journey to make a one day trip.

Feel free to pass the news about the meet-up on to drama friends.

See you in Frankfurt!

Lovely weather here. Everything is blooming, birds chirping, bees buzzing.

Looking forward to this week’s eps of Nokdu Flower.

Giving Absolute Boyfriend a try, leery of abusive Chaebol heiress. ☹️
Not being familiar with the source material, I had to look into it.
Wikipedia discusses the difference between the manga, the J and T live adaptations. No abusive heiress, only in Korea.🙄 Why writer ?

The Boy Next Door , lol 😂❤️❗️

Finished C drama White Snake. Yesterday, my wife rescued a little tiny snake from one of our cats.

Started a C drama, The Legends

K dating show, Love Me Actually

J drama, Annatsuraru, (Unnatural)

happy weekend everyone!!
I just want to say hi, this week went by from early morning to late night studies.
Adulthood hit me hard last couple of months with some reality, career-wise. Now, I’m alone trying to travel to Dubai for an important exam next month. Not everything is sunshines and rainbows. But, I’m being hopeful and positive again. I guess, that’s all it takes to be happy, isn’t it?

Hi beanies! It's a rainy, rainy day. Her Private Life is very satisfying - I love how Deok Mi and Ryan show their genuine charms to each other and actually talk about what it takes to grow closer in a relationship (my new definition of romance). Ryan even makes room in their relationship and tells Deok Min to do so as well for Eun Ki's feelings. Jae Wook is INCREDIBLY handsome, sexy, charming, and a great actor. I loved him in Temperature of Love where his character was similar in a lot of ways to Ryan. Park Min Young is a lovely actress - don't they make the couple of the year in every way! Here's to #1 fangirl and #1 fanboy! \/

I can't find where to watch Nokdu Flower, boo!

I'm dragging my toes on finishing Doctor Prisoner - the behind the bars dueling is wearing me out. Same with Kill It - need to finish but I'm dragging. Absolute Boyfriend, ep 1, interesting though not my top genre.

Just picked up a new book, The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See, about the haenyeo (women divers) of Jeju Island. Next Friday I'll drive cross the Continental Divide again to visit Mom. See you in a couple of weeks!

I see BTS t-shirts in the unlikeliest places! They've make their mark on the world, so happy for their success and love the adorable 24/7 grins that they just can't wipe off! Happy weekend!

Happy Friday fellow Beanies! I hope everyone had a lovely week and will have a lovely weekend! ❤️

Kill It 8/10 I'm really liking this but I'm not sure how this will end (I have 2 episodes left). I can't see a happy ending as Kim Soo-Hyun IS a murderer and Do Hyun-Jin is all about justice. My only problem is I feel Chang Ki-Yong lacks as an actor. In the last 2 dramas (this and Come and Hug Me) he has been a block of wood. I know both characters were these cold, stoic type characters but he makes the characters so unbelievably boring with his single, unchanged expression through an entire drama.

Romance Is a Bonus Book 7.5/10 This was cute and I liked the slow burn of the romance. It made sense in the context of the drama and their initial relationship. Cha Eun-Ho was an adorable puppy, especially with her. Kang Dan-Yi was sweet but wore the MOST HIDEOUS outfits ever. The running joke with me and my mom was what hideous sack would she wear this time. The drama also made me rage. Is Korea really that biased towards older people? She is in her late 30s but despite being extremely qualified for all these jobs she kept being rejected because she took a break? Absolutely asinine. Why would companies rather hire less experienced people then those with clear experience? And then she wasn't going to be hired on at this company because she was a contract worker despite her being extremely talented and a hard worker? Yes, I raged hard at the stupidity of it all.

His is Psychometric 8/10 I liked this more in the beginning then the end. I also knew who the perpetrator was by episode 3 as it was made blatantly obvious, so when it was revealed I was not surprised at all. I’ve never seen the actors before but they all did a great job in their roles. It was quite an enjoyable watch despite the inconsistencies in the overall plot and pacing.

Legend of Hao Lan 7/10 This drama is ok but it spun its wheels for so long that I lost some interest by the time it actually started going somewhere. I liked the first about 5 episodes but then it spent the next about 20 with absolutely no plot progression. It was literally plot after plot after plot to try and take the 3 main people down. People would plot against them just for them to come out safely by luck or wits over and over and over. Haolan was sentenced to be executed 3 times just for them to luckily escape. Yiren tried to escape 5 times just to be caught everytime and weasel their way out of punishment by their wits and luck. Over and over and over. As well as I am tired of the princess and her crazy over-the-top obsession with Yiren. But once the drama actually started moving somewhere it started picking up and becoming enjoyable again. I love the actors but sadly this is no Story of Yanxi Palace which is one of my favorite cdramas (and has almost the same cast in it).

Goodbye My Princess 7/10 I did enjoy this for the most part despite both guys being assholes. I was pretty sure there couldn’t be a happy ending after what Li Chengyin did to Xiaofeng in the beginning and then especially what he did within the last 5 or so ep. So I wasn’t surprised with how this ended (it was the only way I could see things ending and plus, he deserved it). I loved Xiaofeng as a character. She was spunky, cheerful, but had a spine of steal. Gu Jian was creepy. Lying to her when she lost her memory to be close to her is just gross. Li Chengyin was a selfish asshole. Totally ignoring her happiness and desires for his own (which Xiaofeng called him out on) and then thinking they could be happy after all the bullshit he pulled. And then being confused when she resisted. However, the actors did a great job and hope to see them in more upcoming dramas.

Hi Beanies, happy Friday!

I was happily watching an old family drama on the KBS World YouTube channel, only to ... run out of episodes. Even though Wonderful Days originally aired in 2014, KBS seemed to be releasing one episode a day and none on the weekend. I had got to ep 32 and caught up with what was available.

I feel cheated! And also, I calculated that as there are 18 eps left to go it will be almost a month before I'll have finished it! I'm seriously peeved. But not peeved enough to go watch it somewhere illegal. I'll be patient.

Catching up with My Fellow Citizens in the mean time. That drama is just so giffable (is that a word? it should be a word)

Has anyone ever noticed how many actors have cleft chins (aka butt chin, dimple chin)?
Any theories? Is there something about a cleft chin that makes their brains cleft too so they're better actors? I find them very distracting.

The Burning Sun scandal is lurching and stumbling to an unsatisfactory end. The police investigation of its own corruption came back (surprise) with no charges. The paths to the upper class, international organized crime links and entertainment leaders seem to have lost all traction in the media reports. Disappointing.

Ah, another Open Thread Friday. Woot! Haven't been watching anything too new lately. I've found that I don't have the patience to watch live airings. Marathons are more my style. This time of year, I have a little side business sewing pop culture-related aprons to sell at cons and handmade fairs over the year. So setting shows on autoplay is the best.

A couple of days ago I realized something was missing from my drama viewing: The Walk. Thanks to Fiery Priest, watching Kim Nam-gil do his slo-mo catwalk strut has ruined me. Then I got to thinking, why don't all men walk pretty? Because K-dra has taken over my life, I tend to notice these things, especially if The Walk is missing or not natural.

It's even more glaring in English-speaking tv shows. There's nothing like a long strided, confident, loose-limbed walk of a tall man. Then I wonder if it has anything to do with perceived masculinity in America. Let's face it, some men can wear the heck out of a flowered shirt (I'm looking very hard at you, Lee Min-ho!)

Thinking back, I'm pretty sure it was Song Seung-heon who initially brought The Walk to my attention. He's been in some not-so-good shows, but dang it, I will watch just to see him walk. Player was my favorite, but seeing him in all black in the show Black got me giddy. Jang Hyuk has a great thug walk, especially in Greasy Melo. Park Seo Joon with his hand in pocket, quick walk is fantastic too...

Anyway, end of walking rant. Finally watching Come Here and Hug Me (WOW this show), and Doctor Prisoner (full of strutting peacocks!). Have a good weekend and happy watching!

I'm not watching Game of Thrones, but I've been enjoying reading about it the past few weeks, with the photon-deprived episode, coffee-cup, etc, etc. So I'm looking forward to reading in a few ways about how lots of people are throwing one last fit about the finale :)

Happy weekend Beanies!

OT seems pretty quiet these last few weeks. Since I have not been weekly OT-ing for a year yet, I wondered if May is a busy month elsewhere too? :) I just came back from a job exam that did not go well, but since I am already working and gave it my all I am fine with it. Or I am just too exhausted to care, since I am not sleeping or introverting enough these days. It seems like I will have to hold on until June comes around, with all the festivities and job interviews after work hours. :)

The last few weeks I have been worrying about getting fired, because I was told that I worked too slow. My lack of speed was holding me back from receiving formations and therefore also from growing and learning new tasks. There was also the language minority problem. I made the nasty discovery at work that those two problems are related. It turns out that the major language speakers have been discriminating the minor language speakers for ages. A couple of colleagues who share my native language and have been rallying against this for ages, were very frank with me about my place in the company.

These sunbaes were also denied the necessary formations, and had to do the same simple tasks for months before they suddenly had to do other tasks and figure out how to perform them on their own. And yet they are also the first ones to get scolded for mistakes. Fortunately my sunbaes are not only warning me about this, but also encouraging and teaching me. One sunbae performed his scheduled task, while at the same time teaching me how to perform that task in the near future myself, and in a manner that was a lot faster and easier to grasp for me than any formation would.

While I am disgusted by the discovery, I am actually more relieved. It is not my personality, it is not my lack of speed (but I do admit it needs to improve), I just speak the wrong language and do not have the fake doll profile my superiors love so much. In short, they will never view me as a good employee anyway. So I plan to lay low for as long as I can to keep my job safe, and to get the necessary instructions from my sunbaes. It seems that I will be getting a lot of those in the near future, since a lot of staff members are on leave during the summer holidays and they need enough people to keep everything going. ;)

TGIF! Aw another nice drama has ended- I felt so relieved after finishing Confession- I was worried if something bad would happen to dad. Plot didn't have twists(no new surprise on the big bad) and there was no romance in this drama, but it was so well written that I never felt bored. Kudoes to the writer! (Did I hear he was publishing scripts into two-volume book?) Hope there are some interviews. Btw There was one interview I wanted to cover in all interviews done on casts from the Fiery Priest (I liked all characters, which is rare). Paek Ji-won (46) who played the nun delightfully had a few interviews.
[Nocut Interview, 2019.05.04; Starnews, 2019.05.07] Paek who played the role of sister Kim In-kyung, the head of the Gutam cathedral in the Fiery Priest received a lot of love from the viewers with the twist in her plot. After debuting as a theater actress in the play "My big-mouth dad got cancer" in 1996, she did her first TV drama JTBC's Wife's Credential in 2012. As a veteran actress doing projects consistently, with looks resembling Hollywood actress Sandra Oh, Paek became familiar face to the public. Here is Q&A session.

Q: How did you feel after finishing the show which was loved by many people?
Paek: I do not feel it is over yet. Sister Kim had many twists and turns as having taken a dramatic life. Kim was a person who made me to see many different sides of myself. There was a lot of discovery. I wish I could keep good parts reflected in acting and personal life. I want to send her after spending some more time with her by my side because I want to get more good influences- I can hear her nagging when I am wrong, her worry about what I do and comforting me.

Q: It is drama which caught both of the rating and the issue. Did you anticipate the popularity of the show?
Paek: I thought it would do well. It was not so much about the viewer ratings, but the combination of actors and their spirits which were very good. All of lead characters acted well and tried to be considerate of all supporting actors. I watched them not being greedy as individuals, but gathering power without being selfish from the beginning. So I thought that the drama could not fail. Because I know it's not easy for actors to do that. I'm glad ratings came out well.

Being impressed with Choi Won-young's acting this week, who played Lee Jae-joon in Dr. Prisoner, I thought about actors who stand out with their acting in currently airing dramas (to me at least), and one of such actors is Jo Jung-suk who plays Paek Yi-kang in the Nokdu flower. So I looked him up. Actually I'm surprised I didn't do one on him already as he made such impression in a few previous projects.
[namuwiki] Jo Jung-suk(39) was born as only child (but he has 3 step siblings with big age gap -like 18 years). His father died in 2000 so he was exempted from military service as the head of the family to support his mother. He wanted to be a guitarist, but he went to major in Theater in college with the recommendation of a church evangelist who recognized his talents. In the publicity interview of the film "The Face Reader", when Lee Jung-jae(Abyss) asked why he felt Patho/suffering in Jo Jung-suk's acting, Jo mentioned the experience that his nephew died early might be the cause. In addition to losing his father before he entered the college in 2000, the sudden death of his nephew three months before his debut in 2004 hit him so hard that he even had bad thoughts(suicide). (Good he had his mother)

Jo debuted in musical "Nutcracker" in 2004. His nickname is 'PPo' which he got doing the musical Hedwig. In the case of a play or a musical, when multiple people cast for a single character, a nick is created using the front letter of their real name and some of character name, so it would be Jo-deu-wig, but Jo Seung-woo(Life) already had it, thus Jo Jung-suk became "Ppo-deu-wig" because he had milky skin (His skin is very white and clean). Since then, in the theater and musical world, 'Ppo' has become a word to indicate Jo Jung-suk. Not just musicals, Jo has been actively involved in film, drama, and stage play. He made news by dating and marrying the singer Gummy in late 2018.

His drama debut was 2011's "What's Up". In 2012, Jo gained popularity by playing a royal guard chief Eun Si-kyung in the drama "King 2 Hearts", and the lead's friend "Napdeuk-yi" in the movie "Introduction to Architecture" giving different charms. The gap between comic acting in the movie and the serious role in the drama were so big that they said many people couldn't recognize them as same person. Jo also appeared in the drama "Oh My Ghost" in 2015 and enjoyed success. In 2016, he was considered having his "life character" in the drama "Jealousy Incarnate" which got him many commercial opportunities. Since then he appeared in Legend of blue sea (2016), Two cops(2017), Knowing wife(2018) and Nokdu flower(2019). His first award was new actor award in Korean Musical Grand Prix in 2008, and the latest one was Best Actor Award for "Two Cops" in MBC drama awards in 2017.

There were also interviews from the casts in "Waikiki 2" now that the show ended, and one of them was Moon Ga-young (23). Per Wiki, debuted with film "To Sir, with Love", and drama "Fallen Angel, Jenny" in 2006, she is veteran actress with over 10 years of acting experience. Her father was a physicist and her mother was a musician, and they went to Germany to study and married. So Moon was born and grew up in Germany until she returned home when she was in the third grade of elementary school. She can speak Korean, English and German (but she says she speaks zero language because they are lacking). She started acting as a coincidence when her uncles submitted her and her sister's pictures in a playful fashion to a company looking for advertising model.

[Starnews, 2019.05.17] Moon played Han Soo-yeon who was the first love of Cha Woo-sik (Kim Sun-ho), Lee Jun-ki (Lee Yi-kyung), and Kook Gi-bong (Shin Hyun-soo) showing the image of youth living in this period struggling. Her acting drew viewers' attention through comical acting. Here is Q&A session.
Q: How do you feel now that "Waikiki 2" ended?
Moon: I still think about the set. I feel strange because I don't report after having reported every day. The film set is in Paju, and I still feel like I need to go.

Q: What does this work mean to Moon Ga-young?
Moon: I enjoyed filming. I wonder if I can find another project I get ruined like in Waikiki. I did it because I thought I wouldn't be able to do it if I don't do it now. I hope people remember the most youthful and innocent 20's Moon Ga-young with this show.

Q: Season 1 was loved so much. Did you feel burdensome doing the season 2?
Moon: It seems that there was a burden to meet expectations and love season 1 enjoyed. Since season 1 received much love, I thought people might love season 2 too.

Q: This time, you attracted the attention of viewers doing comical acting, risking of ruining your image. What was it like doing the comic acting? You didn't feel burdened?
Moon: No. I didn't have any burden. I did male disguise as well as action before. It was challenge and joy. I plan to keep challenging. Unless I do a web drama, I don't have chance to do exaggerated comical acting. After the drama "The Great Seducer" was over, I tried to show a different image. So I was more excited than having fear. There was no burden of comic acting.

Been so long since I last joined an Open Thread! How's everyone doing?

I'm going to the NCT concert in Vancouver on Sunday. Anybody else going? Let's be friends!

As for the dramas, of course, I haven't been watching... This always happens to me. Like midway, I just stop no matter how I like the show. I'm two weeks behind on Her Private Life and Nokdu Flower. I just can't make myself watch them. Sigh. And it's not the show, it's me.

Interestingly, I have no problem rewatching dramas. While on this slump, I've rewatched Tree (SFD is not available on viki anymore booo) and Signal. Rewatching Signal made me more frustrated with all the injustice that's happening in this world. Like ugh if you have money, you get away with crime. It's so freaking unfair and we all know it's happening. This has been going on for centuries and I feel so hopeless at the thought of us living through all of that forever. On that note, I'd be really mad if Oh Jinpyo (from Beautiful World) does not get at least jailed. Seon-ho, wake up soon!

That wa just me mostly ranting lol. May everyone have an awesome weekend!

Hi everyone!

Dropping in to share that tomorrow Shin Sung Rok will have a fansigning event. Ehehehe

That's all. And no. I'm not going. 🤣