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 ]

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

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 315 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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

If there’s anything that Santa has taught me over the years (other than a musical mnemonic about single-malt scotches), it’s that Christmas is a time of giving. Dramaland gives us so much throughout the year, that I thought it was finally time for me to stop being a grinch and give back, out of the goodness of my heart. *waits for credit*

So this year I’ve made a Christmas list, and every drama I’ve watched this year is on it. Because everyone deserves presents. Yes, even you, Show.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

The King 2 Hearts OST – “Hang-ah’s Dream” [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of Dramaland: The gift that keeps on giving [Year In Review, Part 5] (8,856 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 138 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A Gentleman's Dignity, Answer Me 1997, Arang and the Magistrate, Big, Faith, featured, Gaksital, I Do I Do, I Miss You, I Need Romance 2012, King of Dramas, Nice Guy, Queen In-hyun's Man, Rooftop Prince, Shut Up: Flower Boy Band, The Chaser, The King 2 Hearts, The Moon That Embraces the Sun, To the Beautiful You, Vampire Prosecutor 2, year in review

Review extravaganza time!

I know: Already? It feels like just the other day I was killing myself to corral all my thoughts in coherent fashion in a monster review of 2011′s dramas, and already it’s time to lose sleep wrangling my thoughts together for 2012. Time sure flies when you’re having fun, or old. Guess which one I am?

These days I shy away from blanket statements like “This was an awesome year” or “This was a terrible year.” Dramaland has been putting out so much material that all the nuance gets sucked out of a flattening statement like that. If anything, 2012 was the year it overflowed with variety—so yes, there were terrible shows, and there were awesome shows, and there were shows every step in between. But thanks to the explosion of cable programming—aided by the launching of not one, not two, but four new cable stations boasting big drama lineups—there was just about something for everyone.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Shut Up Flower Boy Band OST – “Jaywalking” [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of 2012: Something for everyone? [Year In Review, Part 1] (9,584 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 260 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Answer Me 1997, Arang and the Magistrate, Big, Color of Woman, Dr. Jin, Dream High 2, Faith, featured, Gaksital, History of the Salaryman, I Do I Do, Ma Boy, Nice Guy, Oohlala Spouses, Queen In-hyun's Man, Rooftop Prince, Shut Up: Flower Boy Band, Standby, The Moon That Embraces the Sun, Vampire Idol, Vampire Prosecutor 2, year in review, You're Here You're Here You're Really Here

Podcast #12, Part 1

Running time: 58:53

In which we:

• Catch up on which new shows have premiered in the new year;
• discuss Rooftop Prince (3:05);
• Queen In-hyun’s Man and its ending (10:50);
• The King 2 Hearts with a tangent on Sohn Ji-chang and the origins of girlfriday’s Seung-gi love (19:39);
• Jang Dong-gun’s popularity and A Gentleman’s Dignity (38:45);
• and the craziness that is Dr. Jin (47:35).

(...)
Read the rest of Dramabeans Podcast #12, Part 1 (162 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 178 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Queen In-hyun's Man, Rooftop Prince, The King 2 Hearts

girlfriday: So there’s this strange phenomenon in dramaland, whereby everything good comes in groups of four. Why is this? Who determined that four should be the magic number?

javabeans: I think, as with so many things, we can trace the root of the problem to Boys Before Flowers.

girlfriday: It’s a great mystery of the universe why that show spawned as many things as it did.

javabeans: Great mystery, or simple answer? (Lee Min-ho. ‘s all you need. I mean, SERIOUSLY. He can kick off any and all trends, no matter how nonsensical. Pink trousers. Corkscrew curls. Cropped-too-short pants. Bare feet and boat shoes.)

girlfriday: Um… he still has all those things, minus the curls.

javabeans: And yet, still so hot.

(...)
Read the rest of Thing vs. Thing: Foursomes 4eva (2,190 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 177 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A Gentleman's Dignity, Boys Before Flowers, conversation post, featured, Rooftop Prince, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Thing vs. Thing, You're Beautiful

Well, wouldn’tcha know: Here’s a surprisingly satisfying ending for a series that was in danger of losing its way on multiple occasions. We finally get at the truth of the big Joseon mystery, and I was pleasantly surprised with how well it worked with the plot we’ve seen thus far, and the characterizations of our characters (in both time zones).

I’ve always wanted to go back to the Joseon times more, and missed the story that got left hanging after the first episode, so I was reminded of how I felt when beginning the show. It makes me think that it was a shame the show didn’t capitalize on the past storyline more, though I can see that the whole point was in making the future the key to the past.

In any case, if a flagging drama had to pull out one really strong episode amid a bunch of middling ones, the finale sure is the place to do it. It seems viewers agreed, since the finale pulled Rooftop Prince into first place after giving up that slot to Equator Man for weeks; it went out with a 14.8%, while Equator closed with a 14.1%. The King 2 Hearts ended on an 11.8% rating.

SONG OF THE DAY

Fanny Fink – “Hear Song” [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of Rooftop Prince: Episode 20 (Final) (4,348 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 487 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ji-min, Jung Yumi (2), Lee Tae-sung, Micky Yoochun, Rooftop Prince

It’s a surprisingly moving episode, one that I didn’t expect given the dumbness of last week. But when you take away the tired corporate plots, resolve the villain conflict, and remove them from the picture, what’s left? Turns out it’s all the good stuff that made me enjoy the show so much in the first place. When we get to focus on relationships that matter to us, the result can be unexpectedly poignant. WHO KNEW.

SONG OF THE DAY

Infinite – “눈물만” (Only tears) [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of Rooftop Prince: Episode 19 (3,764 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 158 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ji-min, Jung Yumi (2), Lee Tae-sung, Micky Yoochun, Rooftop Prince

So much unintentional comedy in this episode, where you just have to laugh at the disconnect between what was meant and what you actually feel. I guess the alternative would be to get aggravated, but I prefer laughing, even if I wasn’t meant to. After all, it doesn’t matter so much why I’m entertained, as long as I am, right? And really, isn’t that what performance art is all about?

SONG OF THE DAY

Urban Zakapa – “Beautiful Day” [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of Rooftop Prince: Episode 18 (3,982 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 311 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ji-min, Jung Yumi (2), Lee Tae-sung, Micky Yoochun, Rooftop Prince

Secrets come pouring out and lots of dots are connected, praise be! Secrets are great when they twist the viewers’ expectations, but when the secrets are things that the viewers have been aware of for a long while, they lose their dramatic punch when we’re just waiting for them to come out. Now that some big hurdles are cleared out of the way, we can turn our attention to the more interesting stuff.

SONG OF THE DAY

Feelbay – “비밀의 방” (Secret room) [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of Rooftop Prince: Episode 17 (3,115 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 153 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ji-min, Jung Yumi (2), Lee Tae-sung, Micky Yoochun, Rooftop Prince

javabeans: Maybe we’re loopy from all this drama-watching, or maybe it’s that sixth glass of wine talkin’, but we’re bringing a new feature to you that we’re calling Thing vs. Thing, where we compare apples to oranges. Mostly ‘cause somebody told us you’re not supposed to do that. Challenge accepted!

girlfriday: We laugh in your face, rules!

javabeans: For this inaugural edition, we decided to take up a topic that’s been on our minds lately (‘cause it’s everywhere): time travel. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say we were rambling on about this topic and had to figure out a new feature just so we could make it marginally DB-relevant. What, eggs can lay hens, right?

girlfriday: What? We are always relevant!

javabeans: Relevant like a cross-eyed water mongoose!

girlfriday: That makes no sense.

javabeans: I rest my case. So, time travel. So many heroes, so many hijinks.

girlfriday: You’d think there was a fire sale on wormholes.

(...)
Read the rest of Thing vs. Thing: Time-traveling Heroes (2,402 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 207 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: conversation post, featured, Queen In-hyun's Man, Rooftop Prince, Thing vs. Thing