Kahoko's special episode

Yui Aragaki's new show - Kemonare

Erika Toda's - Dai Renai

Beautiful Arimura Kasumi's controersial - Chuga Kusei Nikki

1st episode aired for above 3 shows and no translation yet.

Movies

Sakamichi no Apollon aka Kids on the Slope - Must watch
Annoymous Noise aka Fukumenkai noise - usual shoujo
Marmalade Boy - old shoujo incest
Fukuoka Renai - real life love stories
Miseinen Dakedo Kodomo Janai aka Teen Bride - usual shoujo

All above movies are translated.

JAPANESE AUTUMN Season is far far far better than korean.

Tokyo Girl (on NetFlix). One of the better j-dramas by far.

I am currently obsessed with Bungaku Shojo (Literary Virgin or Book Girl). Two episodes are subbed and I keep rewatching them (under 30 min epi) while waiting for the next.
The story is about a junior editor who up to this point has experienced her deepest emotions through reading. She gets assigned an jaded established author of mystery suspense who has a reputation as a ladies man. She is eager to collaborate and despite the decline in quality of his novels, believes he can write a moving story. Years ago, his debut novel had a profound affect on her and she considers the protaganist her “first love”.
The main characters are well cast. The lead female is likable with a believable passion for books. She looks plain and then 30 seconds later, beautiful. The lead male, who I only recall from a supporting role in Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, has a casual playfulness to his womanizing that prevents it from being a defect. He is emotionally closed off, but not it the usual tortured, angsty way.
It does have some of the exaggerated manga moments, but think of them as expressions of internal thought rather than realistic portrayals of behavior.
I think it is an on-going light novel series, so the ending with probably be the partly open-ended one common to Japanese dramas. It is definitely in the shoujo category if you need a break from antsy or disrupting dramas.

I never thought it was only JH fault that their marriage ended up like that. Anyway, it was a pleasant watch till the end but it didn’t affect me the way Go Back Couple did. GBC remains my favourite drama about a divorced couple getting back together.

i am wondering, if army got a lot of requests for enlistment from fan boys because GD was enlisting this year :)

I can't help but like the lead female character. Not the usual helpless candy girl nor the Bitch From Hell - overall just a nice person trying to get through life as best she can.

The Guest is still my fave among the currently airing!! The twistiness in answering who's being possessed by the big bad spirit has gone up a notch! So much fun! 😋

Where are people watching The Guest? Don't see on DF, Viki, or NetFlix.

2 years after graduating law school I confirm I needed absolutely no legal training to be able to pretend to be a lawyer (no practical skills learned at all), but you need to be able to use Google and the CTRL-F option very well, as well as be able to keep a convincing straight face when you do not understand what is happening.

"Let Me Introduce Her - the female lead's mom..".
By the time I finished the series, I ended up hating her more than all the other supposedly evil characters.

I was also unaware that their prejudice against this was so common, before MIGB I thought it was taboo to speak openly bad about anyone just because they had something done.
It is very hypocritical.

I have nothing against plastic surgery. I just feel sorry for those who get addicted to it or have a botch job.

Recently while watching Im Soo Hyang in My ID Is Gangnam Beauty, I wondered if she had some plastic surgery done. I hazard a guess that she did a nose job and a terrible one at that. I saw some of her earlier photos and couldn't fathom what she needed to correct. Whatever her reasons were, I just felt sad for her that it wasn't a case for the better.

I don't have anything against plastic surgery either if it makes the person truly happy. Where I have an issue with is if it is forced to please someone else. I still remember this scene in Grey Anatomy where a woman comes in for a boob job with her boyfriend and every time the doctor asks a question (about the size, shape, whatnot), her boyfriend would answer for her and she would just kind of nod.

in the end, the doctor realized she was doing it not for her but her boyfriend and decided not to go through with it.

I wanted to this my topic today in the main comment. Objectively i have no problems with Plastic surgery. But, i won't go through any of these procedures. I consider Makeup from light to heavy also mild version of PS as main purpose is to achieve something more acceptable.

Mixed feelings. It's there choice, but I have the feeling that the bigger issue is not looks, but low self esteem. Gangnam Beauty pointed that out pretty clearly. Year or so ago ran across a survey done in South Korea where 100 or so university students were shown before and after photos of a bunch of non-celebrities. 75% said they looked better BEFORE the surgery.

The reason why suzy is famous amonst idols

Welcome! Isn’t it wonderful - that first feeling of getting sucked into kdrama (Asian dramas in general I think) there’s a whole different aesthetic to it which was such a welcome change for me from Indian tv🤢 and American tv(which we get a lot of over here in India) which just beats a dead horse for years and years and .....

Ps: man to man was a bit disappointing. Bad guys I LOVED. Haven’t watched iris but I know fellow beanies rave about it. Netflix has sassy go go which is a cute high school drama. It also has reply 1997 or answer me 1997 which is huge squeefest. Happy watching!!

Welcome to our little and dynamic fandom!! It's always interesting to learn how people are introduced to KDramas which lead them to this website, where we watch dramas happily ever after 😁. I enjoyed Black as well; it unexpectingly grew on me, although I was disappointed by the ending. If you liked this writer, you could give a try to her/his previous drama: 14 days, god's gift. (Sadly not available on netflix I believe). Man to man was funny but many people were left disappointed by Something in the Rain, so proceed with caution. On netflix, I would advise you the following: Wise Prison Life (=Prison playbook), Stranger (=Forest of Secrets), and maybe Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (if your are open to wacky comedy). Have fun!

Welcome! Glad you found us and that you decided to join us!

I sat down to watch the first episode and was baffled, amazed, annoyed, and lots of other emotions too, and emerged 90 minutes later wondering what the hell I'd just watched. I liked it though.

And this, dear friend, is how all of us fell into the black hole that is the kdrama world. I came here wanting to know more about a certain drama too--2 years ago, and the rest is on the open thread and Dramabeans. Be sure to check out the Beanie fan walls to really see some entertainment. And you can introduce yourself on your own fan wall as well! *Rolls out welcome mat!*

As for dramas, Netflix is getting more and more content and new dramas too. I would echo "Stranger" (aka Forest of Secrets) for thriller, mystery, "Live" for a police drama that is really a character study, "Prison Playbook" for the opposite side of the law, but also a character study, "Life" a medical drama and largely character-driven written by the same writer as Stranger (do you see a kdrama pattern here?). I like character-driven shows. I'm also watching Hyori's Bed and Breakfast (reality) on Netflix too! And if you want to go find content elsewhere, VIKI and Dramafever are the legal go-to sites where you can find lots of free and paid content, to your heart's desire. Also, k-movies and other Asian entertainment are found there. I always forget Amazon Prime content, but I go there too for k-movies. For "Something in the Rain" I would watch the first 8 or so episodes, and then read the recaps for the rest and watch the last episode. Just some sage advice. I was in-love with this one, but it went off the rails, which happens frequently, but makes it that much more entertaining as well. Have a great time here!

Welcome to kdramaland!
As others said, you're so lucky to start only now: there's nothing like the feels of excitation of discovering a complete new world of never seen stories!

To follow your ask for recommendations on netflix:

The must watch/masterpieces (on the same level as western countries shows): they are the best kdrama ever made
-Misaeng
-Stranger
- Not on Netflix (yet but it's been announced to come in 2019) and a absolute must see: Signal

Excellent drama very well done and intense watch: they're not without flaws in term of character development or pace but still very addictive
-Life (same team as Stranger)
- Live
- Mr Sunshine
- Argon
- Listen to Love (other title this week my wife will have an affair)

i would suggest to replace Something in the Rain which got mixed reviews with Age of Youth: it's a slice of life about 4 girls who share a house. The main characters are very endearing and their friendship is a pure treat.

If you have time left, there's too few japanese drama that are excellent:
- Erased
- Million Yen Women

I recommend you to browse the site: there's ton of quick reviews to give you an idea about what to watch (lot of them are not on legal plateforms but still easy to find...)

Welcome to DB, @charlie! I discovery of DB echoes yours. After getting intrigued by a show (Live Up To Your Name, Dr. Heo!, which I still enthusiastically recommend), I went looking for reviews and fell into this Wonderland.

Three recommendations:

1. Add "Splish Splash Love" to your list. If you like a little bit of sweet, I regard it as essential viewing. It's just over 2 hours in total. I happen to love time-slip stories so this is right up my alley. The leads are charming and it's funny with just the right touch of bittersweet.

(2) Track your dramas onmydramalist.

(3) You'll also find that DB recaps are a wonderful way to skip-binge old dramas. I will sometimes watch just the first couple episodes to get a sense of the characters and then read the remaining recaps—with occasional dips into the juicy bits.

@mary—Can you please link to your post with HTML styles?

Welcome to kdrama and Dramabeans! Your baffled, amazed, and annoyed introduction to Korean dramas brings me back to my own slide into this entertainment vacuum of fun. Finding DB will make your experience even better.

Everyone has already suggested the good stuff on Netflix, and there is so much much more content out there from other sources. Have fun discovering, and do use the sage minds of Beanies for advice and recommendations.

There are some good Korean movies on Netflix also, and I highly recommend Train to Busan.

Welcome to dramaworld, @charlie! Baffled, amazed, annoyed was how I felt when I first started watching kdramas, but I have to add ... entertained and hooked! Dramabeans has always been with me through the hundred dramas I watched since then. Being a non-Korean, many things were lost in translation as well as in the understanding of Korean culture. DB gave me explained to me the stuff I missed and gave me deeper insights on the drama.

I have to say that the comments from the Beanies enriched my drama-watching experience. Not only did they provide deep insights that I would never even have thought about, they also made me giggle!

I recommend City Hunter and Healer, you will want to binge watch.

If you like mysteries and crime dramas, one of the very best ones I have ever watched in any language (and I like the British and Scandi ones, too) is Stranger. It's a Korean one and available on Netflix. You won't be sorry!

Replace “Black” and Netflix with “My Name is Kim Sam Soon” and Hulu and you have my initiation story. I didn’t just binge—I inhaled that drama. I ran on fumes for two days. I suggest you start slow and cultivate a discerning palate.

I think you described my experience from 2 years ago. I got my start on Netflix too. While watching, a little voice is always nagging at me that I'm missing something then I read the DB recaps and I know I missed something. LOL! If you like history, Netflix has Mr. Sunshine. It drags a bit in the middle but I was interested in the setting that the writer presents the story in. We were taught very little about this part of the world so the story seems fresh and the production is beautiful. Check it out.
If you want something light, Moonlight Drawn By Clouds is fluffy and sweet. It's set in historical Joseon so that means traditional costumes but it's fusiony enough to keep the watching fun. Again, the shots, the costumes, the cast... are all beautiful too.
For a modern sweet show, check out Weightlifting Fairy: Kim Bok Joo. It has so much heart. My teens and I love it. That should tell you something.
For something cringy, Come and Hug Me did it. It's not gory and didn't have ghosts or anything. It just made the hairs on my arms stand up.
W-2 Worlds has an interesting story line too. Our lady in the real world gets to cross over into the comic world to get tangled up with a swoony lead character that her dad created. It's cool.
I've only ventured out into one Taiwanese drama titled "In a good way". it's super sweet. Very nostalgic and sweet and will take you back to your school years. I take take that back. Also watched Love Cuisine. It was entertaining but I'm not craving to rewatch it.

I can recommend my top 10, even though it may not suit your taste. Enjoy your new found adventures.

Answer Me 1997 - youth nostalgia; on Netflix
Misaeng - healing drama; on Netflix
Secret Affair - melo; on Netflix
Answer Me 1988; family, nostalgia
Six Flying Dragons - historical
Age of Youth - slice of life; on Netflix
Age of Youth 2 - slice of life; on Netflix
Healer - romance/thriller
Padam Padam - melo
Missing Noir M -- thriller; police procedural

I would also recommend the dramas @coolgirl mentioned above. Those are good options.

Part 1 of 4

Greetings, @charlie K-Charlie!

Welcome to DramaBeans. You've come to the right place. I'm not sure what happened, but I got kind of carried away when I started writing some notes for you. What the heck. Proceed at your own risk. ;-)

I got hooked on Kdramas on HULU in 2013 or so, and watched only costume dramas (sageuks) for the first couple of years. Eventually I got around to contemporary shows. By all means, check out the DB recaps. Reading them has made a huge difference for me as I do not speak Korean, and I feel that I miss a lot even with good subtitles. The cultural, historical, and linguistic background provided by the DB recappers and live-watching viewers in the comment threads are just what the doctor ordered. Plus it's wonderful to have buddies with whom to hash over plots, character arcs, etc.

Be sure to check out the weekend feature “What We're Watching” for more recommendations. Here's my rundown of the currently-airing shows (*preceded with asterisk) I'm watching and can recommend, along with selected older productions.

BLACK was a great show until the last two episodes, IMHO. For Song Seung-heon in the title role, it was his best outing to date. SSH was the male lead in my first Kdrama, the Joseon time-travel medical sageuk DR. JIN. Read the recaps to fully appreciate how epic his performance in BLACK was.

*THE PLAYER – Song Seung-heon is again on a roll in this heist caper reminiscent of LEVERAGE. I am so glad to see him in his element. In true Kdrama fashion, there's more to this show than car chases and fistfights with gangsters. The team's individual back stories have yet to be revealed.

CHIEF KIM – Namgoong Min plays a gangland accountant and money manager renowned for his inspired bookkeeping that thwarts prosecutors' investigations every time. He gets recruited to ferret out corporate financial malfeasance, in the process crossing paths with a former prosecutor (Lee Jun-ho) he refers to as “Gluttonous Psychopath” who has sold out and gone over to the dark side. Their adversarial relationship leads the latter to a change of heart, hilarious bromance, and successful prosecution of a chaebol crook.

JUST BETWEEN LOVERS – Lee Jun-ho was so good in CHIEF KIM that I had to check out this gorgeously bleak but uplifting character study of two people whose lives were drastically altered by a case of faulty construction based on the same real-life 1995 shopping center collapse as the one in BLACK. Excellent and moving.

- Continued -

k-Charlie, you must be a bit overwhelmed with all the recommendations...lols. Probably it would help if you write it down on the note app. Maybe you can go through the list by checking the trailer (usually they have it on youtube), or read the comments (I usually go to mydramalist or soompi), and pick which one that catch your attention the most. Sometimes I go to soompi and see which drama thread has the most pages. Something must be good going on. Good luck :)

Just to say a massive thank you to each and every one of you for being so lovely and welcoming me into this huge crazy world.
Sadly, I live in the UK and DramaFever's premium content is closed off to me at the moment - which I hope will change. I still have a ton of K-Dramas on Netflix to watch.

I finished Black - what a ride. I enjoyed it (and the recaps) right up until the very end. I didn't really feel the last 2 episodes were lacking, and the writer certainly kept tying things into earlier events in the show, which was satisfying. It is difficult for mystery thrillers to NOT be anticlimactic, and I think Black succeeded by and large. I loved the twist with Leo - and talking of Leo, the very ending had me crying (even with the iffy makeup), thinking of how he kept his promise to Black, about how Ha-ram still led her life helping people, and how she finally got to remember him.

I started Strong Girl Bong Soon and Something in the Rain last night. I thought I would try two shows at different ends of the spectrum. Strong Girl had me laughing out loud and Park Bo Young is amazing. I love Park Hyung Shik as her boss too. And then Something in the Rain made me very emotional. I thought Sun Ye Jin and Jung Hae In were brilliant together. Oohh god I'm so drained after the weekend.

I feel like a proud parent, having just birthed a beanie. *wipes tear from eye*

Welcome, K-Charlie! Feel free to stick around and make yourself cozy. ^_^

I probably read the same thing you did. I haven't read anything that actually mentions the reason for her decision. Who knows what happened.

I didn’t recognize you! Are you back for good? :P

I think her agency released a statement saying that Prometheus filming schedule changed and this conflicted with other things. But I don't remember where I saw this. And who knows if it's really true.

Saw some translated comment from korean talking about there not yet being any PD on the drama, and therefor her not being willing to adjust her schedule... also many seem not that interested in another north korean spy drama. I can understand that consider there is allot of that type of movies. this is just speculation tough, so take it with grain of salt.

Me too! They deserve happiness and love !

30 eps C drama? That's a rarity!

I have never watched a Cdrama, but from what I've read of beanie comments, "no dubbing" has much higher recommendation points than no evil second leads! 😄

I loved Guardian! Is Bai Yu with facial hair in Suddenly, This Summer?

Thank you for the recommendation! I've added it to my watch list. Every time I finish a 50-60 part C-drama, I say "No more until next year!" But I can't stay away. ;)

I wish you a good recovery!

For now, the drama I'm expect the most every week (every week since this week :p), it's The Smile Has Left Your Eyes.

All the best and have a good recovery @debbie

If you're not already watching the currently airing kdramas, for lighter fare I'd recommend My Secret Terrius, for scary/thrilling yet warm-hearted fare go for The Guest and for twisty, mind-game playing try The Smile Has Left Your Eyes. 😃

@debbie,

Holy cow! Dysentery? Glad to hear that you're on the mend.

I just posted suggestions for another Beanie above. Here's hoping you find some that float your boat. Take care!

http://www.dramabeans.com/2018/10/open-thread-573/#comment-3320784

Me: Okay. *continues to wipe the counter*

Moral of the Story: I have a cat, his name is Bogummy.

Second Moral: My husband doesn’t know the half of it.

Third Moral: Have a great weekend dear sweet Beanies who are more obsessed than I am!

Re fall activities: this is beach season, mainly because the summer people are gone to deal with fall stuff like cold weather and amber leaves. Of course, this is when the snowbirds descend, but it’s not too bad.

The “Hyori’s” episodes with PBG are actually episodes 6-10 for anyone who wanted to see him. 😉

@thewanderer—Bravo on participating in a Ted event! Researching Ted events has helped me become a better storyteller at work. Now I love making slide decks and I'm no longer tethered to a podium.