Here we are, Part 5!

As girlfriday said in her review, I’d also like to thank guest bloggers Dahee Fanel and thunderbolt for participating in this year’s year-in-review roundup. A particular thank-you goes out to GF herself for being so game to jump into this whole world of crazy with me, and I think you’ll all agree when I say that Dramabeans is better for her addition to it. I never fail to get a huge kick out of her wicked humor, or for Dahee’s frank and bold insights, or thundie’s thoughtful eloquence. We don’t always agree, but that’s exactly why I love hearing the differing points of views.

Most of all, thanks to the DB readership — that means you! — who have been so supportive, vibrant, and often laugh-out-loud funny. We don’t take you guys for granted, rest assured, and are honored by the community you’ve built here. It’s like a second home, which sounds like a metaphor but actually isn’t because with all the hours I spend here, it really IS one.

So here’s the last of the reviews! With that, we bid adieu to the past year and look forward to lots more laughs, craziness, and yes, head-pounding-WTF-ery in the new year. Bring it on, 2011.

SONG OF THE DAY

Standing Egg – “First Christmas.” The song’s a day or two late, but no matter: Hope your Christmas (or other seasonal holiday) was merry! [ Download ]

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Read the rest of 2010 Editors’ Picks [Year In Review, Part 5] (5,374 words)

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Post tags: Baker King Kim Tak-gu, Cinderella's Sister, Coffee House, Eom Ji-won, featured, Giant, Jang Hyuk, Jejoongwon, Joseon X-Files, Jung Bo-seok, Kim Gab-soo, Kim Hyun-joong, Lee Mi-sook, Micky Yoochun, Moon Geun-young, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Personal Taste, Rain, Runaway, Shin Mina, Sohn Ye-jin, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry, year in review, Yoo Ah-in

I have to say, 2010 was a downright awesome year. It was the year of bromance, the year that Santa came in August, the year when guys had perms and noonas ruled, the year of the sparkly tracksuit and hoi-hoi, the year that makgulli made a comeback. But most importantly for me, it was the year I joined Dramabeans and got to know all of you. So thanks, for all the encouragement, the thoughtful commentary, the dissenting voices, the snark, and of course…the fangirling. It’s been a helluva year for this recapper, and I for one couldn’t ask for anything better for Christmas than one giant, crazy, Dramabeans family.

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Read the rest of Objects in mirror are closer than they appear [Year In Review, Part 4] (8,432 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 153 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Athena, Bad Guy, Baker King Kim Tak-gu, Cinderella's Sister, Coffee House, Dr. Champ, Drama Special, featured, God of Study, I Am Legend, Mary Stayed Out All Night, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Pasta, Personal Taste, Playful Kiss, Prosecutor Princess, Queen of Reversals, Runaway, Secret Garden, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry, year in review

What a fascinating roller coaster of a ride this year has been. There were many disappointments (most of which I stopped watching halfway, because Life Is Too Short For Bad Dramas (copyright Gangsta Kitteh and hjkomo)), but also so many unexpected gems that shone with a light that proved impossible to stifle. Maybe it’s just the swan song before an untimely death, but in 2010 at least, K-dramas had their moment of rebellion and glory. And I. Am. Ecstatic.

The following are divided between long dramas and short dramas, and are in alphabetical order.

SONG OF THE DAY

Comrades OST – “친구여” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Finding the gems among the stones [Year In Review, Part 2] (7,162 words)

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Post tags: Chuno, Cinderella's Sister, Comrades, Drama Special, featured, Gloria, Joseon X-Files, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Pasta, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, year in review

It’s that time of year again, when we look back and size up the past twelve months of dramas. This is my fourth year (this is my fourth year?!) doing this, and it’s always one of my favorite posts to write, because while I love to analyze and parse dramas to within an inch of their lives via recaps, I also enjoy looking at them through a holistic lens, to survey the forest as well as the trees. Plus, I eagerly anticipate what my fellow drama-loving friends have to say. I know that we’ll always have differences of opinion, but that’s the fun of it.

As in past years, this’ll be a multi-part series, with five posts in total. If you’d like to check out past Year In Review posts, you can get there by way of this handy link — linky! — or via the recap index.

Without further ado, let’s get this show on the road.

SONG OF THE DAY

Cinderella’s Sister OST – “Smile Again” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of A year of surprises and disappointments [Year In Review, Part 1] (7,921 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 184 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bad Guy, Cinderella's Sister, Coffee House, Dr. Champ, Drama Special, featured, I Am Legend, Joseon X-Files, Mary Stayed Out All Night, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Oh My Lady, Personal Taste, Playful Kiss, Runaway, Secret Garden, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry, Wish Upon a Star, year in review

It’s December, and you know what that means around these parts: Time to reflect on the past year and see how the dramas stacked up! And boy, were there a lot of them.

As in previous years, I am planning a multi-part series (with special guest bloggers, natch!) to wrap up the year, which we’re busily writing up now — keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks! If you want a refresher on how previous years have gone, here’s this handy tag to take you right to them.

But before we tell you what we thought about the dramas of 2010, this is YOUR turn to weigh in and vote for your favorite shows, couples, bromances — and, yes, your big disappointments — in what we’re calling the Beanie Awards. They’re in your hands; give ‘em out with care!

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Read the rest of 2010 Beanie Awards: Vote for your favorite dramas of the year (1,194 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 679 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bad Guy, Baker King Kim Tak-gu, Chuno, Cinderella's Sister, Coffee House, Comrades, Daemul, Dong Yi, Dr. Champ, featured, Giant, God of Study, I Am Legend, Jejoongwon, Joseon X-Files, Mary Stayed Out All Night, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Oh My Lady, Pasta, Personal Taste, Playful Kiss, Prosecutor Princess, Road No. 1, Runaway, Secret Garden, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry, Wish Upon a Star, year in review

A parody video has been making the rounds, which mashes up the plot of two KBS hit dramas this year, Cinderella’s Sister and Baker King Kim Tak-gu. The 10-minute clip was broadcast during the Chuseok week on KBS’s Big Star X File, described as a “hyper-speed makjang mashup mini-drama Baker King Cinderella.”

In it, the loveline is drawn between the prickly Eun-jo (Cinderella’s Sister’s Moon Geun-young) and Tak-gu (Baker King hero Yoon Shi-yoon), who fall in love and work together to find the perfect yeast — she for her makgulli factory, he for his baking recipe. Ma-jun’s father (Baker’s Jeon Kwang-ryul) is run off the road and wakes up in a strange house (Daesung Factory), where he falls for Kang-sook (Cinderella‘s Lee Mi-sook). He sets up two households, leaving the bitter wife (Jeon In-hwa) back at home.

Naturally, she’s not pleased, and this leads to a showdown between the two mean moms over their man. (I’m sorry this isn’t subbed, because the moms’ face-off is pretty awesome, with Ma-jun’s mother trying to get the upper hand but Eun-jo’s mom retorting, “Do you know who I am? I’m the bitch who faced off against God and Buddha and won.”) Ma-jun’s mother loses this round, so she sends Hyo-sun (Seo Woo) to off her rival, and Hyo-sun attempts this through scare tactics.

The clip has been a hit, and viewers are putting in a request for a sequel, Kim Tak-gu Unni.

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Read the rest of Baker King Cinderella: a mashup (82 words)

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Post tags: Baker King Kim Tak-gu, Cinderella's Sister

While Eun-jo never called Ki-hoon “oppa,” she certainly used her share of banmal with him

One of the things I find endlessly fascinating about the Korean language is the magnitude of what people call each other, and how they address one another as relationships evolve. As javabeans noted, in romantic comedies, we often squee equally over kisses as we do over the first time characters use banmal with each other. So what is banmal, and what are the rules? How can banmal be rude in one moment, and romantic in the next? Who gets to use banmal, and why is it meaningful when characters switch from jondae to banmal?

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Read the rest of Glossary: Banmal (1,448 words)

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Post tags: Boys Before Flowers, Cinderella's Sister, Coffee Prince, Pasta

Next in the Dramabeans Glossary series is jondaemal, which can be described as “polite speech” or “formal speech.” (Jondae means “honorific,” while mal is the suffix for “speech.”)

Just as oppa and noona are two terms that are closely related, so are jondaemal and its casual counterpart banmal; girlfriday will follow up with the latter term. There will be some necessary overlap in our entries because they’re really two sides of the same coin, but I’ll focus more on the polite side while girlfriday will explain the familiar side.

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Read the rest of Glossary: Jondaemal (1,659 words)

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Post tags: Bad Guy, Cinderella's Sister, My Fair Lady, Soulmate, The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry

Perhaps you’ve seen that Glossary link in the menu to the left, languishing in neglect with nary an update. I decided, what better way to update than to expound upon those familiar kdrama terms and concepts in a Glossary Series? Because while longtime drama lovers may know exactly what a chaebol is, why pojangmachas rule, and why makjangs induce eye-rolls, sometimes we toss around these Korean terms freely without explanation. And we suspect (we being myself and girlfriday, of course!) that some people are left in confusion.

Hence: the Dramabeans (Extended) Glossary. First up in this ongoing series is that ubiquitous, loaded term that we see in practically every drama ever: “Oppa.”

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Read the rest of Glossary: Oppa (1,416 words)

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Post tags: Bad Guy, Cinderella's Sister, Coffee Prince, My Girl, Triple

I don’t know if it’s me, but I’m just not hitting it off with finales this time around. [It is SO NOT just you. --javabeans] It’s just, when you think about it…you’ve spent sixteen, or TWENTY friggin episodes in the will-they-or-won’t-they-oh-god-they-won’t-even-get-close, and speak!-please-for-the-love-of-all-that-is-holy-speak! So it’s not asking for too much to be rewarded at the end with a satisfying conclusion. It’s actually the cardinal rule of episodic storytelling. Otherwise why on earth would we submit ourselves to such torture? (I mean this generally, in terms of enduring all lengthy plots of all dramas.)

I wanted to love this finale. Hell, I even wanted to hate this finale. Either would have been awesome. But it just sort of fell flat, without kicking up the tension, the chemistry, or even the cuteness, which I would have accepted in exchange. Maybe. What makes me extra crazy is that it has a pre-ordained ending in the Cinderella framework—all you’d have to do is turn it on its head, and add a touch of whimsy, and you’re golden. It’s a classic fairytale for a reason. I would have forgiven all your sins for a great finale, but you missed your shot, Show. And for that, I am truly sad. [And I'm pissed. --jb]

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Read the rest of Cinderella’s Sister: Episode 20 (Final) (208 words)

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Post tags: Chun Jung-myung, Cinderella's Sister, Lee Mi-sook, Moon Geun-young, Taecyeon