Dramabeans » Drama Reactions & Reviews

Name That Drama: Non-K-drama edition

javabeans — Thu, 02 May 2013 19:29:39 +0000

Most of the Name That Drama entries have been Korean dramas (or thought to be Korean dramas — looks like quite a number of other Asian dramas have slipped through the ol’ memory cracks!) because, well, we know those best and that’s where we’re most helpful. But I think the ‘Beaniehood is pretty well-versed in all sorts of international dramas, so this one is dedicated specifically to all those Japanese, Taiwanese, and other-language shows that have been niggling at your memories. Go to town.

lovelyday knows her entry is a J-drama, but needs help narrowing down the title:

Hello, I’m trying to find this Japanese drama that probably aired in the early 2000s (not very sure). It’s about this group of female staff in the same department, and their department does all these trivial and miscellaneous tasks such as repairing equipment and moving things around in the company building. Then there’s their head of department (I think) who’s an eccentric man who keeps a cat on his desk, and their department’s office is in a dingy, dark, messy room. Basically their department is looked down upon by the other staff, and the ladies in the department always get into confrontations with another group of female staff (probably from another department that’s more highly regarded). I remember watching them stare at each other from across the corridor. I remember there being a few seasons as well. I hope that’s enough info, thanks for any help!

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Read the rest of Name That Drama: Non-K-drama edition (1,252 words)

Name That Drama: House-hunting, identity-swapping, prison babies

javabeans — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:04:05 +0000

Seungri asks:

There was this drama that I watched back in the early 2000′s, somewhere between 2002-2005. I don’t remember much except that there was a scene where the main guy is sitting at a playground at night and he looks up at the moon and sees the main girl’s face on it. He’s very startled by this vision and it’s quite comic. XD If I’m not being confused with another drama, at the end of the series, he marries her and you see them walking along with babies strapped to their backs.

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Read the rest of Name That Drama: House-hunting, identity-swapping, prison babies (1,131 words)

Name That Drama: Kidnapping, drugs, and identical twins

javabeans — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 20:05:12 +0000

Lots more Name that Drama ahead!

I initially conceived this idea to help identify Korean dramas specifically, since that’s what we do on this here site. But it makes sense that fans of Korean dramas are fans of dramas, period, and so there’s been a bit of crossover between countries, and we have some more of that in this edition.

I’m giving this drama the side-eye. Angela asks:

So, I watched this drama when I was really young. (I want to say 8 or so? I’m 17 now). All I remember was that the main guy was the main girl’s proctologist. There was one scene where they were playing a game of go-stop and it was getting really intense. He was supposed to give her a “love slap” (hit as hard as you love her) and he ended up grabbing her wrist (of course) and hauling her outside to have another yelling match. The last scene of the drama was her going for an exam, specifically requesting a different proctologist, but he came in anyway and…yeah. She was in a lot of pain. It was a very strange drama.

…I’ll say.

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Read the rest of Name That Drama: Kidnapping, drugs, and identical twins (2,180 words)

Name That Drama: Prosecutors, accidents, one-night stands

javabeans — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 20:03:55 +0000

Lots and lots of unidentified dramas in this edition! In fact, I got so many drama requests this time around that I kept some of them out of this round, to keep things manageable. They’ll be in a future post, so if yours didn’t get featured this time, stay tuned.

Have at ‘em, folks!

NC asks:

Hi, I’ve been trying to find the name of this Korean drama I’ve seen a long time ago. It was my first Korean drama and by chance I saw it during one of my sleepless nights. The main guy is some sort of reporter I guess. The main girl is quiet and she sculpts these clay wings. The guy must have done something bad to the girl because her mom? and friends don’t like or approve of him. But she likes him and he was in denial about his feelings (of course). Towards the end he was going to see her but on his way there something fell on him and he didn’t make it. Aaannd that’s it. I don’t know what happens after that because it was aired at an ungodly hour and I didn’t know know what days it aired on.

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Read the rest of Name That Drama: Prosecutors, accidents, one-night stands (1,445 words)

Name That Drama: Cheaters, rain, and airports

javabeans — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:11:39 +0000

Time to play another round of Name That Drama!

If you’ve got a drama you’re dying to identify, whether you’ve got lots of details or just a precious few to offer, send them in and we’ll feature them in future posts.

I could identify the drama Sophie’s looking for, but why spoil the fun for someone else? This one’s a doozy:
This was my very first Kdrama and I watched it with my whole family, including my grandmother, so it has a special meaning to me and I would greatly appreciate it if someone could recognize it. It had over one hundred episodes and I’m pretty sure it was filmed in the 2000s.
- The protagonist was a woman who was forced into marriage by a man. The man later cheats on her with her best friend and then tries to drown the main character when he finds out she’s pregnant with his child. She survives, but loses the baby.
- She lives in poverty, and then meets our leading man who helps her and she is later adopted into his family
- She becomes a successful makeup artist working with her new adoptive mother *One reason she earned the mother’s love/sympathy was because her fake name was the same as the mother’s supposed dead daughter.
- She falls in love with her adoptive brother (the man who helped her).
- Beautiful and rich, she goes back to her ex husband pretending that she is a stranger who happens to have the same face as his supposed “dead” wife. She marries her ex again, wanting to ruin his life.
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Read the rest of Name That Drama: Cheaters, rain, and airports (512 words)

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Post tags: featured, Name That Drama

Name That Drama: Murders, slackers, and (more) diseases

javabeans — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 20:56:46 +0000

…though maybe “diseases” doesn’t have to be specified as an identifier, in that they are in so many dramas as a baseline plot element. Sad but true?

Here is a new batch of puzzlers for you to identify: Name That Drama, go!

asmaa asks:

This drama isn’t old at all, it was probably made a few years back. It had a lot of main characters in it, and included some type of murder. They went to this abandoned town full of old people, and it had someone from Standby, though I’m not sure who. It was really funny, and I remember loving it. Can you please help me?

I love that it had “someone” from Standby but the identity remains fuzzy. Are the actors all similar, or did that show have a way of blurring everyone’s individuality into a big blob of blandness? Questions to ponder.

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Read the rest of Name That Drama: Murders, slackers, and (more) diseases (573 words)

Thing vs. Thing: Comic book heroes of sageukland

javabeans — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 04:01:35 +0000

javabeans: If American comic book-dom is perpetually confronted with the question “Who’s better, Superman or Batman?” then dramaland is equally confronted with the question… “Who’s better, Superman or Batman?” Because really, they sorta all fall into those archetypes. Just also wearing hanbok and manes o’ glory. Okay, with a fair dash of Robin Hood sprinkled in.

girlfriday: The most famous heroes in Korean folklore are all Robin Hoody types, really. There’s a whole lot of thievery goin’ on among the good guys, though it’s all to restore the balance and punish the corrupt, of course.

javabeans: Because they are all Robin Hood, we almost have to strip away that layer (mm, stripped hero layers) to do any comparing, since that’s just going to be a built-in trait. But who’s got the best cover? The niftiest tricks? Whose revenge cuts deepest?

girlfriday: Who’s got the best girlfriday? The flowiest hair?

javabeans: So many Things, so many other Things to compare them with.

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Read the rest of Thing vs. Thing: Comic book heroes of sageukland (1,527 words)

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Post tags: conversation post, featured, Gaksital, Hong Gil Dong, Iljimae, Jeon Woo-chi, Return of Iljimae, Strongest Chil Woo, Thing vs. Thing

Name That Drama: Doppelgangers, blindness, ballerinas

javabeans — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 13:05:10 +0000

Our first Name That Drama entry was pretty popular and prompted a bunch of new requests, so we’ve got a couple more head-scratchers for you to solve today!

I’ve got a few guesses myself, but always find myself stumped by that ONE detail that doesn’t really fit. So take your crack at ‘em:

Luna writes:

So there’s the drama that I saw a short teaser trailer on and really want to watch it but can’t find it anywhere and it’s Korean. Here’s the bits I remember,

main guy and main girl love each other

main girl suddenly disappears and main guy goes crazy

main girl comes back but it isn’t main girl (looks similar to her) and this girl and main guy fall in love

the REAL main girl comes back and then main guy goes WTF because there are two girls that look alike except the main girl is in a wheelchair

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Read the rest of Name That Drama: Doppelgangers, blindness, ballerinas (498 words)

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Post tags: featured, Name That Drama

2012 Editors’ Picks [Year In Review, Part 6]

javabeans — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 04:02:38 +0000

Annnnnnnd another year comes to a close.

Big thanks to our recap minions HeadsNo2, gummimochi, and kaedejun for sharing their reviews with us and joining the spirited discussion for the Editors’ Picks this year. There wasn’t even any hair-pulling, and only one person lost an eye! It’s been a great year for K-dramas and an even better one at Dramabeans because of all our readers, so thanks to you guys for making this community what it is. Okay, enough mushy stuff.

And the winners are…

SONG OF THE DAY

Queen In-hyun’s Man OST – “내 남자, 김붕도” (My Man, Kim Boong-do) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of 2012 Editors’ Picks [Year In Review, Part 6] (4,080 words)

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Post tags: Answer Me 1997, Arang and the Magistrate, Big, Dr. Jin, Fashion King, featured, Gaksital, History of the Salaryman, Nice Guy, Padam Padam, Queen In-hyun's Man, Rooftop Prince, Shut Up: Flower Boy Band, The King 2 Hearts, The Moon That Embraces the Sun, year in review

Name That Drama: High school rebels and tragic loves

javabeans — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 13:04:12 +0000

Every now and again a reader will write in asking for help identifying an old drama—something watched in bygone days, or perhaps caught only in snippet form here and there. And while sometimes I’m able to figure it out (Young girl marries into fantasy monarchy? Goong, of course! Go Soo on the lam and out for revenge? Green Rose it is), this one eludes me.

So I thought I’d turn over the question to you—surely somebody will recognize the drama in question?

Michelle asks:

I was just wondering if you might know this drama, because I saw it in Hmong Dub, and it did not stay true to original names and titles. I will list off some key moments and details in the drama, and hopefully you could help me out! Thank you!

A girl makes friends with a rebel, and falls in love with his brother, who turns out to be their teacher. The rebel gets in trouble for riding his motorcycle recklessly in front of the city bus, and she gets in trouble for getting out of the bus and yelling at him. Their punishment is to sweep out the gymnasium, during which they develop their special gesture; sitting with their backs to each other, forgetting their troubles.

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Read the rest of Name That Drama: High school rebels and tragic loves (238 words)

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Post tags: featured, Name That Drama