TGIF! Happy Birthday (3 Dec) to Hwang Chi Yeul! :) HCY will be holding his first solo concert in two years in Seoul on 4 & 5 Dec, I'll be watching online :) Here's hoping that he will sing at least three of his OSTs, especially "Even For A While", ending OST of "Ruler - Master of the Mask". Even for HCY I couldn't finish the drama, because the writers lost the plot.

Here is a clip of HCY performing live "Even For A While" at his first solo concert in South Korea - in June 2017. Thanks to the uploader: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIjSYaw2Wgk "gotong sogui harureul sarado"

Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo had a recent article lamenting the lack of A-list actresses being ratings winners.

The results have mostly disappointing. Lee Young-ae starred in "Inspector Koo," Ko Hyun-jung in "Reflection of You" and Jeon Do-yeon in "Lost," but the dramas are losing viewers with every episode and their star power seems lacking to carry a show.

"Jirisan," which was subject to a lot of hype thanks to Jeon Ji-hyun in the starring role and top script writer Kim Eun-hee, was panned for its bizarre visual effects and a strange plot.

The writer indicated that Just a few years ago their presence alone would have guaranteed success, and each episode would spark a fad for what they wore and ate and which location they visited that mean tastes are shifting?

Song Hye-kyo is the only one of the country's top stars currently doing well with "Now We Are Breaking Up," but her power of generating headlines seems to be somewhat diminished. "It feels like watching any soap that Song did in the past," one viewer commented.

The real question is not whether a top actor can carry a marginal show across the finish line, but whether other factors such as PPL, budgets, advertising and streaming options are diluting the star power (actors, director and writer) that used to make quality shows.

As I have said before, traditional network ratings is more a gauge of netizen "buzz" over a show rather than a true rating meter because the fragmented viewing habits of people.

Any guesses on why for KBS’s upcoming 32 episode S/S sageuk TAEJONG YI BANG WON (Joo Sang-wook, Park Jin-Hee) no information on international licensing and availability as been released? Episode one will air next Saturday, Dec. 11.

Busy Week. Season is on. Little boy is active. Nothing more.

Santa has also started working for the business world.
Being a mascot demands much more responsibilities.
The only ever incredible salesman. With a smile checks your pocket and with a smile you empty the pockets.
Money galore with white beard looks so beautiful.

Hey guys... So I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the roundup posts. Enjoying reading others but can't get myself to post about my own opinions. I'm starting by commenting on other's round up posts. Btw is anyone watching Melancholia. I'm quite liking it and the teacher student relationship was well done but felt like the characters could've avoided some situations. Very disheartening seeing no one about it here and also the low ratings. I mean it's not that bad of a drama right??

Happy friday, beanies!
Only two more days to Sunday! My entire week is being reduced to waiting for new episodes of RED SLEEVE and RAINLESS LOVE IN A GODLESS LAND. My children have also been down with the flu this past week so I've had nothing better to do than to clean and watch dramas. The OST of Rain God is also wonderful, a tad on the mystic and bit of the traditional, it fits so well into the story-telling. I started watching SCHOLAR WHO WALKS THE NIGHT after seeng a music video of Lee Soo hyuk as evil vampire and.... well, what more reason could I ever need?

Where did the time go? Seeing all the round-up is making me panicky that 2021 just flew by and all I can say is, I haven’t done much but lived life vicariously through kdramas and cdramas.

Also, it’s my birth month so that’s always kept me happy! Any other December beanie babies?

What will the WHO do when they run out of Greek letters?

Beanies, I'm home! Don't feel like going into much detail, because it was a tough ride. But now it's all behind me, and I'm focusing on healing (and getting a session with my therapist pronto!). Drama watching is therapeutic too, so I've been doing a lot of healing these days ☺️ And now that Beanies' drama roundup started, it's so much fun to read and to take notes about what I've missed (Vincenzo, cough)

Happy weekend Beanies and keep Beaning On!

It is December!!!😱Time probably died of covid in March last year, because no one seems to know where or what it is.🧐 In my case it is a lifelong frenemy. Timing on the other hand, has proclaimed itself my anxiety planner. It convinced my health insurance company that the right time to inform me of the inaccuracies in my medical file was right when my friend arrived for a sleepover last Saturday. It also nudged the control doctor to visit right when I was going for a walk only a few blocks further.🤦‍♀️It all worked out in the end, but the extra anxiety was not needed.

Third time's a charm apparently, so I am curious whether the next week will actually, genuinely be a calm one for a change.😆Then again, I am aiming for Fifth Theme of the Month Post, participating in #2021RoundUp, reading Christmas stories, finishing K-dramas and hopefully starting new ones from next week onwards. Now if I just could start writing and press the play button, that would be great.😂

Like most people, I can't believe it's December. Or maybe I can, but like - December 2019? What is time when 2020 didn't exist and 2021 melted like a cheap birthday candle on a cake you ate by yourself because you were in lockdown.

Hmm... cake...

Anyway, despite my disbelief, it is indeed that time of the year. The time for reflection, introspection, dissection (vivisection?) of our drama year.

For the past few years, we've run an End of Year drama poll of our own and this year is no exception.

What was the best drama? Your favourite? The one that made you laugh or cry the most. Now is your chance to let us know.

http://invisibledragon.home.blog/2021/12/02/2021-in-kdrama-the-end-of-year-poll/

Results will be on the blog before the end of the year.

Vote now! Vote often!

As a beanie errand boy seemingly stuck forever running around doing errands, I've suddenly developed empathy for people for whom this is their job, and then I came across this doco
Gwarosa: Working to Death in South Korea | Foreign Correspondent
https://youtu.be/1Xij_cIe5_A
and realised it's no joke. It made me think again and also made me think about the role that Coupang play. It's a serious watch, so if you can only deal with light and fluffy at the moment, avoid it.

Upcoming Sageuk Availability Report:
KBS’s M/T sageuk MOONSHINE/WHEN FLOWERS BLOOM, I THINK OF THE MOON (Yoo Seung-ho, Lee Hye-ri) 16 eps. (Dec. 20- Feb. 15, ‘22)
has appeared on Kocowa’s “Coming Soon” list. Hopefully it will be available also on Viki.

Annoyingly, there is still no news on availability for KBS’s 32 episode S/S sageuk TAEJONG YI BANG WON. Episode one airs Dec. 11.