Dramabeans » Strike Love

The Good, The Bad, The Middling [Year In Review, Part 2]

thunderbolt — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:01:09 +0000

(I’m very pleased to introduce guest review #2, which comes to you courtesy of thunderbolt. Tune back in tomorrow for more! —javabeans)

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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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

How was 2009 for you?

javabeans — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:00:54 +0000

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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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

The business of kdrama extensions and cuts

javabeans — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:03:38 +0000

Queen Seon-deok

Yep, we as drama-lovers tend to have a love-hate (mostly hate, I think) relationship with drama extensions and, even worse, unexpected cuts. Even a good drama can be ruined in the end by unnecessary extensions — a long-running epic series may suffer less from adding episodes than a short drama whose story was never meant to go beyond 16 or 20 installments. I know that this trend stems from that pernicious habit of broadcast stations’ knee-jerk reactions to ratings, but as much as we hate that, I think we all kind of understand why a station places so much importance on ratings. Here’s an article that discusses the trend.

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Post tags: drama ratings, Queen of Housewives, Queen Seon-deok, Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Strike Love, Tamra the Island

Sports dramas struggle to stay in the game

javabeans — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:29:55 +0000

Heading to the Ground; Dream

2009 was supposed to be the year of the sports drama revival, and it has had its share of sports-themed series, with at least another still to come. Unfortunately, they’ve all tanked.

The two currently struggling on the air are SBS’s fighting drama Dream, which has settled around the 4% mark for the bulk of its run, and MBC’s soccer series Heading to the Ground, which kicked off with a 7.2%, which dropped to an inauspicious 5.6% for its second episode and heads into its second week today.

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Post tags: Dream, Heading to the Ground, Strike Love, Taereung National Village, The Last Match, Triple

Strike Love’s chopped ending will get more development overseas

javabeans — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:00:39 +0000

MBC’s weekend sports drama Strike Love unfortunately got cut off early due to flagging ratings — its initial 20-episode run was cut to 16, even though the production had by that point nearly finished filming all 20. That meant that the last week of the series was rushed to cram in content and left out much of the story that meant to follow — leaving viewers dissatisfied with hanging story threads. (It was pointed out that the shortening may have been a hasty decision, as the drama picked up in ratings toward its end).

In any case, at least Strike Love will have the chance to air its full 20 episodes overseas, and will broadcast in countries like Japan the way it was meant to be seen. Lead actor Yoon Tae-young picked up a fan base after his role in Legend, which was quite popular in Japan (all hail Yonsama power).

According to the production side, a different ending had been intended originally. The first 16 episodes had unraveled as planned, but they had to hastily swap out the ending to wrap the series. I guess this means, if you really liked Strike Love, maybe you should wait to see the Japanese broadcast for a satisfactory resolution?

Via Segye

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Strike Love wraps up two weeks early

javabeans — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:18:52 +0000

Aw, this is too bad. MBC’s baseball drama Strike Love has been underperforming in its weekend time slot, and is now reducing its episode order. Rather than the planned 20, the drama will now end with Episode 16.

MBC says that their agreement with the production company allows for anywhere from 16 to 20 episodes (although the initial number was 20). Given the single-digit ratings, they have decided to cut things short and end on June 21. (Its last two episodes, 9 and 10, drew in 9.1% and 8.9% — not great, but not abysmal, either.) Because this comes late in the game (there are reports that the drama has already shot its 18th episode), the ending episodes will be edited down to finish by 16.

I hope this doesn’t become a trend with kdramas; one of the biggest reasons I prefer the kdrama one-season model to the U.S.’s indefinite run is because a finite length helps pace out the storytelling. While popular kdramas regularly get extended, until recently even low-rated ones were allowed to finish their planned broadcasts. This lack of a cancellation threat made for a less uneasy atmosphere when deciding to watch shows that don’t get all the popular attention.

I’m behind with this drama, but I had found the actors’ chemistry really compelling — Yoon Tae-young and Kim Min-jung do a great job conveying a sweet first love that is pure but not boring. The drama may be flawed — it’s more like familiar comfort fare rather than fresh new content — but I thought it was much more enjoyable than its numbers suggested.

In any case, the drama to follow in its Saturday-Sunday timeslot is the Friend adaptation (starring Hyun Bin and Kim Min-joon), Friend, Our Legend. It premieres June 27.

Via Newsis

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© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 21 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: drama ratings, Friend, Strike Love

Brilliant Legacy leads the weekend pack

javabeans — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:29:39 +0000

Moon Chae-won, Bae Soo-bin, Han Hyo-joo, Lee Seung-gi

SBS’s Saturday-Sunday drama Brilliant Legacy [찬란한 유산, aka Shining Inheritance] is pulling in the highest ratings among the weekend dramas, with yesterday’s episode recording a 26.8%. It airs against KBS’s historical series Iron Empress (13.3%) and MBC’s Strike Love (4.1%, ouch).

Meanwhile, at an earlier hour (weekends air two hours of dramas), the lively and enjoyable Sons of Sol Pharmacy House (aka My Too Perfect Sons) on KBS is holding strong with a 21%, over SBS’s Does Anybody Love (11.3%) and MBC’s Job Well Done (aka Good Job, Good Job; this Saturday canceled its broadcast due to an hour on ex-President Roh Moo-hyun’s death, but last Sunday’s episode brought in a 10.2%).

I’m not following Brilliant Legacy/Shining Inheritance, but I know a bunch of you are, and are enjoying it. (I’m sure the good-looking young cast doesn’t hurt! Moon Chae-won and Han Hyo-joo are both improving as actors and lovely ladies — even with Han’s hair resembling a mushroom cap, although she’s cute enough that she can pull it off. Meanwhile, Lee Seung-gi is playing against type as the bad boy, while Bae Soo-bin is always handsome, isn’t he?)

I caught the first episode and thought it was okay, but it just didn’t speak to me, I suppose. I am following two other weekend shows, however, and enjoying both Strike Love for the sweet romance and Sons of Sol Pharmacy House for its hilarious comedy.

What say you about the weekend dramas?

Via My Daily, Asia Economy

Open set day at Strike Love

javabeans — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:37:13 +0000

I haven’t written (yet?) about the latest episodes of MBC’s baseball drama Strike Love [2009 외인구단], but I’m still watching, and I’m still enjoying it. This couple — Yoon Tae-young and Kim Min-jung — is probably the biggest reason I’m sticking with it, because they are so sweet and adorable together, in addition to both being good actors.

The drama isn’t really new or incredibly original, but it’s kind of like really well-cooked comfort food. The romantic pairing is obvious from the start, but acted with chemistry and sweetness, while the athletic match-up is also a little predictable but still enjoyable to watch. The antagonist tends to be one-dimensional — but he’s the kind you love to hate, because our hero will have his day and when that happens, it will be so satisfying to watch.

The production opened up its Kyeonggi province set on May 22 while it filmed “training hell” sequences for the drama.

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Post tags: Kim Min-jung, Strike Love, Yoon Tae-young

Strike Love (MBC)

javabeans — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:17:27 +0000

(I know, I used the same picture in the previous post about this drama, but this version of the poster looks cleaner and cooler.)

I watched MBC’s new weekend baseball drama, Strike Love [2009 외인구단], without any preconceived notions or expectations. I never read the original comic on which it is based, and I don’t much like sports (baseball being at the bottom of those I can endure watching when father/brother/friend figures insist upon it). But I had an inkling, based on the preview clip, that this drama might be watchable. And lo, it is. Quite.

I was sucked into Strike Love in the first 60 seconds. After the first episode, I sighed, “Aw, man,” because I was hoping it would be bad so I could clear off my plate a little. After the second episode, I figured this meant I’d have to rearrange my list of drama priorities.

SONG OF THE DAY

EZ Hyoung – “Floating World.” There’s a nice song that plays several times in Strike Love, and it reminds me of EZ Hyoung whenever it comes on. So here’s some EZ Hyoung. [ Download ]

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© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 45 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: first episodes, Kim Min-jung, Park Sung-min, Song Ah-young, Strike Love, Yoon Tae-young

MBC winds up for baseball drama Strike Love

javabeans — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:24:07 +0000

MBC’s upcoming baseball drama Strike Love [2009외인구단, for which I previously used the literal translation Alien Baseball Team], is another drama adapted from a popular manhwa, and has fans eager for its premiere next month.

The sports-themed series stars Yoon Tae-young (Legend) in the lead role of baseball player Kachi, while Kim Min-jung (New Heart) is cast as his love interest Omji (or Umji).

I wasn’t sure how I’d like this drama, but the new preview video clip makes it look pretty good (watch below).

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Post tags: Kim Min-jung, manhwa adaptations, Strike Love, Yoon Tae-young