Here we are! The last of the year-end review series.

This post is something new, but I thought it would be an interesting experiment. Although each of us reviewers has our personal favorites, which we outlined in our personal reviews, it’s a different thing to move past preference and try to be objective in a sort of Dramabeans Awards — hence, these Editors’ Picks.

We voted in rounds, first nominating all potential candidates, then narrowing them down to a small pool of finalists, then culling that to one or two picks. As a result, not all of us got picks that we may have personally felt were most fitting, but we all respected the process and the opinions that led us to these selections.

SONG OF THE DAY

Queen Seon-deok OST – “아라로” (Araro) by I.U. [ Download ]

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Read the rest of 2009 Editors’ Picks [Year In Review, Part 6] (4,806 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 112 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Accidental Couple, Again My Love, Assorted Gems, awards, Boys Before Flowers, Brilliant Legacy, City Hall, Friend Our Legend, IRIS, Kyung Sook Kyung Sook's Father, Queen Seon-deok, Return of Iljimae, Smile, Story of a Man, year in review, You're Beautiful

My pick for Drama of the Year: City Hall.

I’ll start of with an admission.  When javabeans asked me to give my thoughts on 2009, I was pretty excited, and agreed without much thought.  After all, 2009 was the best year of k-drama watching I’ve ever had.  But then it hit me: 2009 was also the only year of k-drama watching I’ve ever had. lol. And so, even given the number of dramas as I have seen this year (probably topping 50) I feel a bit out of my league.  How can I be critique-ing with any legitimacy?  

Nevertheless, I do think a newbie’s perspective on dramas is not necessarily a bad thing - since everything is new to me, it is tougher for me to be jaded.  Like when I saw Save The Last Dance For Me (my third k-drama ever!), I spent days afterwords thinking about what it would be like to have amnesia and then a second round of amnesia where I would forget what I had promised to remember while being forgetful the first time time around…

So while I can’t do an expert review, since I’m not an expert, I can give a newbie opinion on what worked for me, and what didn’t.  First though, a little background on me so that you know where I am coming from.  Sample of pre-2009 dramas that I liked:  My Love Patzzi, Who Are You, Full House, Save The Last Dance For Me, Two Outs In The Bottom of the Ninth, and Super Rookie.  These dramas tend to mix cuteness and heart together in a way that Western television shows still haven’t figured out how to do consistently.  I think it has something to do with the soundtrack songs that act as demi leit motifs and burrow the sentiment of the drama into your heart and mind. I mean would Full House have been as good, without “I Think I” by Byul? Or how good would Save The Last Dance For Me have been, without Edward Chun’s breath-y lyrics?

And taking it up a notch, here is a sample of pre-2009 dramas I loved:  Goong, Coffee Prince, Bad Family, Dal Ja’s Spring, Hong Gil Dong and My Girl.  Even more than the first group, these latter dramas did more than just create a nice balance of cuteness and heart; these dramas created a love story so palpable and real that, if you wanted to, you would need both hands to reach out and hold onto one.  And lastly, my first and still favorite drama of all is My Name is Kim Sam Soon, which combined everything – the cuteness, heart, love story, wonderful acting and a kickass OST.

Enough with the old, however. In no particular order, here are my thoughts on 2009 (oh, btw, hit “play” for the mp3 so you get the full technicolor and sound effects of this review. if the song ends, and you’re not done reading, then just scroll back up and hit play again. hehehe!):

SONG OF THE DAY

City Hall OST – “웃어봐” (Laugh) by Chae Dong-ha [ Download ]

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Read the rest of A Newbie Reviews 2009 [Year In Review, Part 3] (3,980 words)

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Post tags: Accidental Couple, Assorted Gems, Cinderella Man, City Hall, Friend Our Legend, IRIS, Job Well Done, Kyung Sook Kyung Sook's Father, My Fair Lady, Partner, Queen Seon-deok, Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Story of a Man, Tamra the Island, Temptation of Wife, year in review, You're Beautiful

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

And to think that I headed into 2009 feeling so hopeful, too.

2008 was an awful year for K-dramas. That year ended with me feeling like I’d just swum through an ocean of excrement, and I figured that I’d need to soak myself in some good dramas for at least another year before I’d manage to wash the stink off of me.

Alas, that was not to be the case.

Thinking back on which dramas I saw in 2009, it occurred to me that, goddammit, I’m a lot more resilient than I’d thought. It awed me that I’d managed to watch crap like Cain and Abel and Everybody Cha Cha Cha all the way through, without even any fastforwarding! A year ago, this would not have been possible. A year ago, my stomach would have protested three seconds in, and I’d have had to be rushed to the doctor’s, only to be told (again) by dear old Dr. C that my condition is a complete mystery to him.

But this year, I discovered the secret to watching bad dramas without ending up gagging over a toilet. That secret has been spread so thick over my digestive organs that no amount of stress or disgust can penetrate it. We’ll get to what that secret is later, but the point of all this rambling is, I’ve discovered other reasons for watching dramas besides their innate quality. Call it a survival instinct. Reasons for drama-watching are a lot more complicated than I’d once thought.

So for this year’s write-up, I’m dividing the categories into the various reasons I watched the dramas in the first place. It’s going to be kinda embarrassing, but honest. I’ve found that honesty is always best in the end, whether people like it or not. As my mom likes to say: “If I find out you’re lying to me, I’ll turn your legs black and blue.”

SONG OF THE DAY

Broccoli, You Too? – “2009년의 우리들” (Us in 2009) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Duds and Delights of 2009 [Year In Review, Part 1] (6,376 words)

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Post tags: Accidental Couple, Boys Before Flowers, Cain and Abel, Everybody Cha Cha Cha, Friend Our Legend, Kyung Sook Kyung Sook's Father, Queen Seon-deok, Smile, Style, The Man Who Can't Get Married, Will It Snow For Christmas, year in review, You're Beautiful

With the year coming to an end, that means it’s time to take stock of the past twelve months (well, eleven really) in kdramas. The broadcast stations will be holding their awards ceremonies at the end of the month, and I’m working on my wrap-up of 2009′s offerings — as are some very talented (and prolific!) drama-watching fans — which I’ll post up closer to the end of the year.

But this is your turn to weigh in on what you liked or didn’t. I didn’t do a year-end poll last year (after putting one up in 2007) and people seemed to really want one, so it’s back.

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Read the rest of How was 2009 for you? (1,304 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 410 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A Star's Lover, Accidental Couple, Angel's Temptation, Boys Before Flowers, Brilliant Legacy, Cain and Abel, Cinderella Man, City Hall, Dream, Friend, Heading to the Ground, Hero, Hon, IRIS, Ja Myung Go, Job Well Done, Loving You a Thousand Times, My Fair Lady, Partner, Queen of Housewives, Queen Seon-deok, Return of Iljimae, Smile, Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Story of a Man, Strike Love, Style, Tamra the Island, Triple, year in review

Once again, I’m thrilled to have Dahee Fanel guest-posting her thoughts on a drama — in this case, KBS’s recently ended Wednesday-Thursday drama Accidental Couple, aka Just Looking aka That Fool. It’s always a pleasure, Dahee! –javabeans

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Judy Garland – “Over the Rainbow.” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Accidental Couple: A review (1,658 words)

© Dahee_Fanel for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 68 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Accidental Couple, Baek Sung-hyun, Hwang Jung-min, Kim Ah-joong

Twenty-year-old cutie Baek Sung-hyun (Our School E.T., Stairway to Heaven) is currently playing a movie star’s rebellious younger brother in KBS’s Accidental Couple and had a minor injury while filming the drama.

In Episode 5, his character gets into a fight with Hwang Jung-min (who is entering into a contract marriage with Baek’s sister, played by Kim Ah-joong). He hit a wall and scraped the skin from both hands, and while I’m sure that stung, this is such a minor story that it’s odd to see it in so many media sites. (In fact, at first I thought it must be a motorcycle-related accident, since all the articles were using photos of him seated on his bike.)

I wonder if it’s only being reported now to drum up ratings; while the Wednesday-Thursday drama ratings have been relatively even across the board so far, City Hall is in first, its most recent episode posting a 14.6%, with Accidental Couple in second with 10.3% and Cinderella Man slipping into last with 7.9%.

I liked the first couple episodes of Accidental Couple, but I’m starting to lose interest in this drama. Anyone watching think it’s going to get better and should be worth sticking around for? These days I just don’t have the time to stick with a “maybe-but-probably-not” series.

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Read the rest of Baek Sung-hyun shakes off minor filming injury (245 words)

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Post tags: Accidental Couple, Baek Sung-hyun, star accidents

First off, let me get this out of the way: Yes, I caught the first episode of City Hall, which premiered this week in the same time slot as this show (which has gone through so many titles I think I’m just going to pick one and stick with it). I’ll probably write about City Hall after I’ve seen the second episode, but I can tell you that I thought the first episode was terribly boring. Like, eyes-glazed-over boring. I found it rather cold and indifferent, despite having a really solid cast, both lead and supporting. But it’s Kim Sun-ah and Cha Seung-won, so I’m going to hope for better with the next episode.

As for this drama, in a nutshell: Accidental Couple is a sweet, pleasant show that is a little predictable so far (we all know the setup so nothing comes as a surprise in these first two episodes). It wasn’t a perfect start, but this drama’s charm rests largely on its two leads — but thankfully, Hwang Jung-min and Kim Ah-joong are wonderful. Hwang in particular is marvelous at making you feel for his character — already he made me cry twice in the first episode, and not even in sad scenes.

SONG OF THE DAY

Lena Park – “나 같은 사람 너 같은 사람” (A person like me, a person like you) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Accidental Couple / That Fool / Just Looking / Six Months (3,046 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 58 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Accidental Couple, first episodes, Hwang Jung-min, Kim Ah-joong, Six Months, That Fool

Just Looking [그저 바라보다가] is the new name for the drama formerly called Six Months, and while I think the title change — especially so late in the game — was unnecessary, the new title has the added bonus of being shortened to “그바보,” which means “That Fool.” And, judging from these new promo posters, that’s no coincidence.

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Read the rest of Just Looking at That Fool (185 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 35 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Accidental Couple, Hwang Jung-min, Just Looking, Kim Ah-joong, Six Months

First stills have been released as Six Months [식스먼스], the new KBS drama starring Kim Ah-joong and Hwang Jung-min, began filming earlier this week.

Cast and crew left Korea on April 12 for a four-night, five-day overseas shoot in Guam, which commenced on the morning of the 13th at PIC (Pacific Islands Club) Resort.

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Read the rest of First look: Six Months begins filming (187 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 29 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Accidental Couple, Hwang Jung-min, Just Looking, Kim Ah-joong, Six Months