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)

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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

First, I’d like to start by thanking Sarah for inviting me to be a guest reviewer. I must admit that I was, at first, a bit daunted (okay, scared ****less would be more precise), but how else could I begin to pay a little back to those who have given me so much? I’m neither a blogger nor a writer, but I am an avid fan of kdramas (possibly, too avid), as well as Javabeans’ blog, and these past few years have been brighter and better because I get to come here, my home away from home, each and every day. Good company makes for good times. It truly is an honor to be included with the likes of Dahee, Thundie, JB…and, yes, even Samsooki .

Overall, I’d say 2009 had more to offer than the kdrama drought of the previous year, but as I watched more than 20 of this year’s fare (plus several more that I dropped midway), I found myself becoming increasingly…..well, grumpy. Usually, I tend to finish dramas that I start, I don’t have many expectations from dramas when they begin because I never know how they will affect me personally, and I don’t easily succumb to boredom…so what could’ve caused the permanent indentation on my forehead [from all the headdesking]?

Could it have been the number of daily dramas I was so easily suck[er]ed into watching due to fangirliness and the prospect of shared ogling and squeeing with friends (I haven’t forgotten who recommended those dramas to me, mind you!)? Had my tastes changed so drastically since reaching triple-digits for total dramas watched over the years? Or was I simply turning into one of those persnickety old ajummas with rapidly decreasing patience for idiocy? I’m sure it’s a combination of all that, along with an increased appreciation for solid writing, directing, and acting.

Then towards the end of the year, just when I thought I could not endure any more squama frontalis abuse, I finally watched Kwak Jung Hwan’s 2007 masterpiece, Conspiracy In The Court. It had always been a part of my Horn of Plenty (my ever-increasing list of dramas to watch), but it wasn’t until this mind-blowing experience that I finally realized why I had been drawn to the underrated gems of 2009 while being left unmoved by those that brought in the big ratings.

SONG OF THE DAY

Conspiracy in the Court OST – “Parallel Lines (평행선)” by JK Kim Dong-wook (Because this is just an awesome song, covered in a decadent awesome sauce with whipped cream and a cherry on top.)
[ Download ]

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Read the rest of Finding Hidden Gems And Lumps of Coal in 2009 [Year In Review, Part 5] (4,629 words)

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Post tags: Assorted Gems, Don't Hesitate, Everybody Cha Cha Cha, Family Honor, Hero, I Love You Don't Cry, Queen of Housewives, Return of Iljimae, Romance Zero, The Road Home, year in review, You're Beautiful

After a pretty meh 2008, I was ready for the drama landscape to fire back up with 2009. And while there were a number of misses and disappointments — isn’t there always? — I was pretty satisfied with the dramas I watched in 2009. I still don’t think there were as many top offerings as, say, 2007, but I found a number of series to entertain me and satisfy my drama craving. There were a few selections early on that got me pumped for the year and things lagged during and after the summer months, but all told, I had an entertaining year.

(Okay, this is LONG. I tried to contain myself, really.)

SONG OF THE DAY

IRIS – “Empty” by Juni [ Download ]

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Read the rest of All Told, A Pretty Fun Year [Year In Review, Part 4] (7,596 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 141 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Boys Before Flowers, Cinderella Man, Dream, Heading to the Ground, Hero, Hon, IRIS, Kyung Sook Kyung Sook's Father, My Fair Lady, Partner, Queen Seon-deok, Return of Iljimae, Smile, Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Story of a Man, Style, Swallow the Sun, Tamra the Island, Triple, Will It Snow For Christmas, 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)

© Dahee_Fanel for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 240 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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

You’re Beautiful is putting out a director’s cut DVD, and it’s available for overseas fans to purchase (preorder). The set will have English subtitles and is available as a limited version.

The production company has gone out of its way to make this available to overseas fans, but apparently order numbers are surprisingly low — I suspect it’s because information is hard to come by. (Also, the shopping site admittedly looks a little sketch, but I just ordered and it seems legit.)

The DVD set will be released around February. The episodes will include previously deleted scenes; set also includes interviews with the cast and behind-the-scenes looks. For full information, check out http://minamdvd.wordpress.com/preorder-information/.

For US residents:

Price: USD $120. It is only available for order from Innolife. Preorder here. Credit card required.

1. Click the shopping cart.
2. Select “next” under the non-members button.
3. Fill out your name, address, and contact info. (Check the box under “receiver” if billing and shipping address are the same.) Click “next.”
4. Enter credit card information. Click next for confirmation page.

 
After you place your order, you will receive a confirmation email from “paygate.” You should also receive a confirmation email from Innolife. When the DVD becomes available (as this is a preorder), you may have to pay additional postage. The DVD weight/size is not determined yet, so the postage fee is not fixed.

For residents in Korea or Japan, there is a different process. Please check the MinamDVD site for info.

Via minamdvd.wordpress.com

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• You’re Beautiful: Episode 1

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 142 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: You're Beautiful

I had no idea this stuff was available, but someone asked me for help finding piano sheet music for songs from the soundtrack of You’re Beautiful. Lo and behold, there are several available so I thought I’d share:
[ Download sheet music | Mirror ]

The file contains music for the following songs:

• “Goodbye” by Jang Geun-seok
• “말도 없이” (Without Words), Park Shin-hye version
• “여전히” (Still), Lee Hong-ki version
• “Lovely Day” by Park Shin-hye
• “어떡하죠” (What Should I Do) by Park Da-yeh
• “바보를위한노래” (Song for a Fool) by Park Sang-woo

 
Enjoy!

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 159 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: You're Beautiful

10 Asia takes another look at an up-and-comer, this time focusing on You’re Beautiful‘s resident “towel guy” and unrequited lover, Kang Shin-woo aka newbie actor Jung Yong-hwa. He may have not gotten THE girl in the drama, but he sure won over all the others in the real world. Jung talks about how he got the role, his (extremely packed) schedule for future activities, and his friendships with the close-knit cast members.

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Read the rest of Jung Yong-hwa follows in the grand tradition of kdrama second leads (1,951 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 116 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: interviews, Jung Yong-hwa, You're Beautiful

Well, here we are: the final episode.

I liked it quite a lot, and thought it tied up our ends nicely. I enjoyed the way the main conflict was resolved, and while it wasn’t perfect, I like its balance between hitting that dramatic climax and reminding us of its sense of fun.

(Beware, this thing is freaking LONG!)

SONG OF THE DAY

Wheesung – “사랑해” (I Love You) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of You’re Beautiful: Episode 16 (Final) (72 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 467 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jang Geun-seok, Jung Yong-hwa, Lee Hong-ki, Park Shin-hye, You're Beautiful