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)

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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

I have found my people.

I suppose I can stop feeling bad for having absolutely no interest in some dramas despite them being popular, well-received, and successful. Dramas that come highly recommended but for which I just cannot seem to make it past the first episode. Dramas like War of Money, Jumong, Lobbyist…

Mixed-up Investigative Agency, for example, is underperforming in the ratings, being caught smack in the middle of two well-performing sageuk dramas — SBS’s King and I and MBC’s Yi San (which is produced by the PD who made Dae Jang Geum into a monster hit). However, its “quiet popularity” has amassed the drama enough of a devoted fan base to earn itself “mania drama” status, or what is in the Western world probably better described as a cult hit. As I am generally a cult-hit fan, I’m not too disappointed. (Low ratings + no fans = sad. Low ratings + devoted fan base = I don’t care that nobody is watching, it’s cool anyway.)

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Read the rest of Mania dramas and the people who love ‘em (934 words)

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Post tags: Conspiracy in the Court, Legend, Lobbyist, Mixed-up Investigative Agency

 
Yunno, I might just have to rethink my opinion on the whole sageuk thing. And by “rethink,” I mean “start watching.”

I’ve never been a fan of historical “sageuk” dramas. The Adults In The Family watched them all the time when I was growing up, and they’re consistently solid ratings performers among Korean viewers. But I didn’t get the appeal. Maybe it was the antiquated speech, maybe it was the (generally) low production values, maybe it was a culture gap thing. Maybe it struck me as old granny dramas since my grannies watched them. Even in light of recent, well-produced sageuk blockbusters (Dae Jang Geum, Jumong, Dae Jo Young…), I’ve remained staunchly anti-sageuk.

 
(Jumong)

 
I asked my parents a while ago what the appeal of sageuk dramas were, since they both watched them, although neither are huge sageuk fans. My mother (the literary buff) agreed that sageuks aren’t very fun, but they’re familiar and reliable, stories she’d grown up hearing. My father (the history buff) had a different interpretation, and that was that they are an important aspect of Korean people reclaiming their own histories.

After all, Korea has for ages resisted its conquerors who tried to rewrite its storied, rich history, and had to fight the marginalization of its historical importance. Hallyu is a great source of pride for Koreans for a great many different reasons — there’s the simple sense of pride in a job well done, seeing such overseas popularity of domestic products — but I’ve got to think part of the satisfaction must also stem from a sense of ownership, of one’s own folklore and history, that its achievements are finally being recognized outside its own insular culture. On a more visible platform than previously, at least.

My mother watches sageuks because they’re familiar entertainment; my father watches them because they’re important. As for me……

SONG OF THE DAY

Leeds 리즈 – “그깟 사랑” (That kind of love) [ zShare download ]

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Read the rest of The Sageuk Bandwagon (1,057 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2007. | Permalink | 50 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Conspiracy in the Court, Dae Jang Geum, Hong Gil Dong, Jumong, King and I, Legend, Story of Hyang Dan