I know it’s four weeks since Can You Hear My Boss Protect the New Gisaeng’s Heart began airing, but better late than never, right? Especially since Dramabeans has been assailed by “Please recap this drama!” pleas from many of you. I’m not at all surprised by the fandom because the first episode is a blast with its adorable leads, zippy pacing, and intriguing story arcs (just look at that title!). Also, the drama is chock-a-block with eye candy. Total win!

[For the confused, first a primer: Parts one and two. –javabeans]

SONG OF THE DAY

Shin Jae – “심장이 미쳐서” (Because my heart has gone crazy) from the Warrior Baek Dong-soo OST. [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Can You Hear My Boss Protect the New Gisaeng’s Heart: Episode 1 (2,397 words)

© thunderbolt for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 352 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Can You Hear My Heart, featured, New Gisaeng Story, Protect the Boss

This has been an exceptional year for kdramas. Just ask Kim Gab-soo, if you can catch him in an idle moment, that is. The man appeared in ten dramas this year, a number that is mind-boggling in itself and one which is bound to make Bae Yong-joon’s fans wail.

But it isn’t just the sheer volume of Kim Gab-soo awesomeness that we could feast on that makes 2010 a heady year. No, for me it was how many dramas were jostling for first place that makes this year especially exhilarating. Not since 2007 have I seen such quality or liked so many dramas in a span of just twelve months. Altogether I watched more than twenty but will exclude from this year-end review the ones that I dropped or put on hold after 1-3 episodes. That leaves me with fifteen dramas, arranged from least-liked to the one that owns my heart this year.

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Read the rest of Heady with a chance of ho hum [Year In Review, Part 3] (9,579 words)

© thunderbolt for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 145 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chuno, Coffee House, Comrades, Dr. Champ, featured, Giant, Jejoongwon, Joseon X-Files, Mary Stayed Out All Night, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Oh My Lady, Secret Garden, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry, Wish Upon a Star, year in review

Hi, I’m thunderbolt and I’m the last of the 2009 year-end reviewers writing a Chuno recap. That means there are five of us recapping what many believe will be crowned Drama of the Year. Some detractors, however, think Chuno is more joke than jewel. Varying opinions aside (and it is not unusual to feel conflicted about the drama’s merits and flaws, changing one’s mind from episode to episode or even frame to frame), there is no denying we are looking at some truly outstanding production values.

As this is my first recap for Dramabeans, I must warn readers that my recaps have been likened to grandmothers’ tales, filled with digressions and make-believe. Also, my inability to think or write linearly (read: “As It Unfolds”) means my comments are scattered everywhere. Don’t send a ferocious slave hunter (eyes blazing, dagger pointing sideways) after me because of that!

SONG OF THE DAY

Return of Iljimae OST (Yearning) by Bae Hae-sun. I recently finished The Return of Iljimae and can’t stop thinking about it. I’ve chosen two songs whose titles and lyrics match the scenes being recapped.
[ Download ]

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Read the rest of Chuno: Episode 14 (5,758 words)

© thunderbolt for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 53 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chuno, Han Jung-soo, Jang Hyuk, Kim Ji-suk, Lee Da-hae, Lee Jong-hyuk, Oh Ji-ho

Have you watched The Good, The Bad, The Weird? If you haven’t and the movie is available for rent in a store near you, pick it up and invite a few friends over. It’s truckloads of fun and will fit in perfectly with the fêting and feasting this time of the year. Moreover, you’ll find yourself clutching your sides because he who plays “The Weird” is so funny. Between the figurative good, bad and weird in the movie, I’ll take whoever makes me laugh the hardest.

Likewise, in a year where I watched fewer dramas but finished more of them, my favorites were the ones that made me squeal and giggle. As the months passed and it became apparent that this was going to be another so-so year, I lowered my expectations and decided a good drama need not be perfect in every aspect. All I asked was that the writing was alight (not necessarily crackling in every scene), that it worked my laugh muscles, and that it wouldn’t leave me with hives or a nauseating hangover.

SONG OF THE DAY

You’re Beautiful OST – “Promise” (A.N.JELL version) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of The Good, The Bad, The Middling [Year In Review, Part 2] (8,683 words)

© thunderbolt for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 147 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Accidental Couple, Again My Love, Assorted Gems, Brilliant Legacy, City Hall, Hometown of Legends 2009, Kyung Sook Kyung Sook's Father, Loving You a Thousand Times, Partner, Queen Seon-deok, Smile, Strike Love, The Man Who Can't Get Married, year in review, You're Beautiful

How should one convey bad news in writing? By creating a buffer first. Avoid traumatizing your audience with the bad news all at once, but instead cushion the blow so that you can maintain goodwill. That textbook approach (business communication, by the way) would be dandy if the crop of 2008 dramas I watched was anything like the stellar quality of 2007. But no, this was a harvest to make one downright grumpy.

This time last year, eight dramas vied to be in my Top 3. Even the ones that disappointed weren’t half bad and at least I finished them. Not this year. I picked up around twenty dramas and dropped at least fifteen. “Dropped” is putting it mildly. I ran from some of them like a kid fleeing an apparition: hands in the air and hair standing on end. As the year wore on, my patience wore thin and my grumpiness increased.

So, no, I can’t use the buffer approach when reviewing this year’s dramas. Hedging doesn’t work for this grumpy cookie. I will present to you the worst dramas first, followed by the so-so ones, and then the few gems of 2008. Even though the year was overcast and gloomy, the sun broke through the clouds occasionally and when it did the effect was glorious. Let’s get the bad news out of the way and we can enjoy the good stuff, shall we?

SONG OF THE DAY

Jin Yi-han – “This is the Moment” which he sang (live!) in Episode 3 of Who Are You. [ Download ]

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Read the rest of A Grump Reviews 2008 [Year in Review, Part 2] (4,881 words)

© thunderbolt for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 89 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beethoven Virus, Bulhandang/Robbers, Conspiracy in the Court, East of Eden, Gourmet, Hong Gil Dong, I Love You, Kingdom of Wind, La Dolce Vita, On Air, One Mom, Rivals, Strongest Chil Woo, The Last Scandal of My Life, The Painter of Wind, The World They Live In, Three Dads, Who Are You?, year in review

Has this happened to you? You’re reading a book on the bus or train and all of a sudden you burst out laughing. Everyone’s staring but you can’t stop grinning. And all because that line you just read was so unexpectedly funny.

Here’s another scenario. You’re watching one of the hit kdramas of 2006 and after being entertained for the first eighteen episodes or so, you’re down to the last few episodes. And though you had been warned that it was going to be draggy from here, you had no idea how draggy. So now you’re climbing the walls. Your mood’s so foul from the plot shenanigans you want to hurl two cartons of rotten tomatoes at your TV screen.

That was my 2007. A year where I laughed and cried my way through dramas so good they made me even more of an addict. A year where I watched stuff that people were raving about and I shook my head and said, “Something’s seriously amiss with me because I. JUST. DON’T. GET. THE. HYPE.” I raved, I ranted, and just like that, a year has gone by. Here’s my “hits and misses” (how original a title, right?^^) roundup for 2007.

THUNDERBOLT’S SONG OF THE DAY

Uhm Tae Woong – “사랑하지 말아줘” (Don’t love me) from the OST of Devil. Singing must run in the family. (Older sis is the “Korean Madonna” Uhm Jung Hwa.) [ zShare download ]

And it comes with a video! Live performance by actor/singer Uhm Tae Woong:

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Read the rest of The Year in Review, Part 2: Thunderbolt’s hits and misses (2,366 words)

© thunderbolt for Dramabeans, 2007. | Permalink | 58 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Dal Ja's Spring, Devil, Legend, Mixed-up Investigative Agency, Surgeon Bong Dal Hee, Thank You, Time of Dog and Wolf, White Tower, year in review