Beanie level: Entertainer-in-training

The third and final round is here
The Very Big End of Decade Korean Drama Poll
http://invisibledragon.home.blog/2020/08/01/the-very-big-end-of-decade-korean-drama-poll-final-round/

10
5

    I will admit that in the best category I rated some dramas that I have not watched based solely on Mindy’s opinion of them.

    7
    1

    Done! Definitely curious to see the results.

    2
    0

    Done!

    2
    0

    It was the hardest 5 mins of my life trying to rank my fav babies and also trying to be objective about the best kdrama, like woman, I know you love Healer to bits (maybe even a little bit more than your hubby) but there is no way it is better than the masterpiece that is My Ahjussi or even Forest of Secrets, right???

    #thetoughlifeofkdramafan

    2
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Since we’re doing this, let’s do it

How like me are you?

10% – I’m Not a Robot
10% – My Ajusshi
10% – Forest of Secrets
10% – Sky Castle
10% – A Piece of Your Mind
10% – I Hear Your Voice
10% – Circle
10% – My Fellow Citizens
10% – Healer
10% – Avenger’s Social Club

11
32

    20% 🤣
    It’s ok. I can’t aspire to be like Dame Judi. Or LMH’s coat.

    4
    0

    40%

    1
    0

    Oh my God only 10% and it’s Hwang Shi Mok

    1
    0

    35%. My main problem with these lists is that there is just so much I haven’t seen. I’m still a toddler in dramaland :).

    2
    0

    30% (I still need to watch FOS, Sky Castle, and Circle)

    1
    0

    I haven’t watched a bunch of these. I can say that I despise I Hear Your Voice and Healer though. Conversely, I adore I’m Not A Robot, Forest of Secrets, and A Piece of Your Mind.

    1
    1

      I’d be interested in why you despised IHYV and Healer.
      I did a post on IHYV if you felt the urge to comment on it
      http://invisibledragon.home.blog/2020/05/15/nostalgia-watch-i-hear-your-voice/

      1
      2

        I don’t remember much about IHYV other than the fact that, like Pinocchio, I felt it didn’t do justice to the main female character.

        For Healer, I just found it dreadfully boring. I hated the contrived backstory surrounding first the childhood acquaintance of the mains, then all the stuff surrounding the reporter and his brother’s cold war of sorts and the secret the brother was trying to keep. It just felt very over the top. I also remember thinking PMY’s character sometimes seemed like a bit of a pushover, although idk if other people will agree with this description.

        2
        1

          @maq it’s always nice to meet someone else who doesn’t get the healer hype since we’re such a rarity we might as well be another species.

          1
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        Also, 10/10 for using the word “pulchritudinous”. I once used the word “pulchritude” in a conversation with my mom and was promptly called condescending. I still maintain the word “pulchritude” is great, although I also love Latin phrases (“vel non”, “a fortiori”, “arguendo”, “pro tanto”, etc.) and French phrases (“soi disant”, “bien pensant”, “trahison des clercs”, etc.).

        2
        1

          I love the word pulchritudinous but have never had the chance to work it into a conversation unfortunately. Weirdly enough, I need to use it quite a lot when writing about Korean dramas.

          2
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            The word always comes to mind when I see a picture or watch a scene in watch a man with abs is shirtless. I think it’s because I originally learned the word from a tumblr page back in the day which just posted pictures of shirtless muscle-y men. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The people who tell you the internet – or, more specifically, social media – don’t teach you things are wrong.

            1
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    60% matched, but if I include the two which are in my ‘yeah I enjoyed it’s list then we got 80%!

    2
    1

    40%

    1
    0

    80% – but I haven’t seen I Hear Your Voice or My Fellow Citizens (yet). But the rest are some of my faves, esp. Circle and Avengers Social Club.

    4
    1

      Two soulmates!

      1
      1

        This…exercise(?) is making me realize that if I watch a drama to completion, I probably like it, and that I rarely finish dramas I dislike (anymore)…but I’m also going off the strictly “I did not hate this drama i.e. I remember the main plot points and/or characters of this drama and I’m not having a negative emotional reaction” standard, and not “These are in my top faves!” when adding up. (Does that make sense? It’s 2 AM here, I should be sleeping. I’m a bit loopy.)

        6
        1

          I’m getting to this stage: I don’t have to hate a drama to drop it. If I don’t like it, I just drop it. I see no reason why I must complete it. So my viewing history acts as an automatic filter.

          3
          0

    20%

    1
    0

    40%.
    I haven’t watched I hear your voice, Circle, Avenger’s Social Club.
    I didn’t like My Fellow citizens (I fnished the second half by FF) and I’m watching Healer right now for the first time. I’m loving it, but still on episode 6.

    3
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    I have a 30% match for dramas I enjoyed.

    I am aware of your deep love for INAR and APOYM, but we diverge there. 😀

    I dropped SKY Castle like a hot potato in four eps. And haven’t watched IHYV, Circle, MFC (on my list!!, probably next up) or Avengers Social Club (this has never ever shown up on my radar! – must investigate further).

    1
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    Damn, 60%! I didn’t expect that!

    2
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    60%, but I haven’t seen the other 40%

    3
    0

    40%. I see some titles which are forever on my watchlist though.

    2
    0

    20%. I have yet to complete Sky Castle. And liked a few more but not in my top10

    1
    0

    40%

    1
    0

    30%. It could increase to 50 if I’d watch Circle and FoS.

    2
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    30% lmao but I haven’t seen 60% of it and we just don’t talk about Circle, you and I hahahaha

    1
    1

Kfangurl has done me the amazing honour of publishing a piece I wrote on Greasy Melo

https://thefangirlverdict.com/2020/07/19/guest-review-greasy-melo-an-alternative-lens/

10
9

Saya’s nailed it as usual

https://dramasoverflowers.net/2020/07/06/diversity-in-dramaland-k-dramas-and-racial-stereotypes/

9
2

    Loved the articles she linked!

    I’m wondering what the actor who played the Nigerian man thought about doing this scene. I read that he’s the father of Han Hyun-min, a young model who’s become quite popular in South Korea. Hyun-min has spoken out a lot about his hurtful experiences growing up biracial in Korea, and I also wonder what he thought watching this scene (and the drama as a whole).

    8
    0

    Eye-opening piece, thanks & good job @saya
    What you said about k-drama being made for intl or domestic audience, I feel that it’s even more important to get correct representation when the target is domestic, since for some, it could be the only avenue they learn about the outside world or a different culture.

    5
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Instead of wasting everyone’s time on a repetitious foray into conversations about Backstreet Rookie I instead wrote this rant on it. This is my first and final say on the matter. I’m now hiding until it goes away

http://invisibledragon.home.blog/2020/06/23/backstreet-rookie-the-drama-that-should-not-exist/

14
5

    Credit to @gem28 whose screenshots I pilfered.

    4
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    That was a great write up and beautifully stated.

    When I saw all the people commenting here about the racism and how we need to have a sense a humor…well, can’t say it surprised me.

    4
    1

    I knew nothing about the manwha so I didn’t know what the fuss was about but what you described seems very trashy. I would never try to defend the dreadlock guy. The relationship between the leads however seems to have been changed from the original. In the drama she is 19 when she meets him and she kisses him like a prank and against his will. When they meet 3 years later, he is 29 and she is 22, she tries to get a job in his store because it seems she is trying to get to know him. I’m not saying it’s not a bad show but believe it or not I didn’t consider it to be weird like Goblin, I mean the fact she is stalking him so much time later is weirder than the age difference. Anyway, sorry if you didn’t want to know any detail about the drama itself.

    1
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    Those screenshots were hard to look at. It was a terrific blog, LT. You said it all.

    2
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I’m still not sure why Korea created my own personal circle of Hell and then went to the trouble of placing me in it.
But finally it’s over.
This hell’s torment at least is not eternal
10
11

Where Your Eyes Linger turned out to be quite good overall

https://mydramalist.com/profile/ChinguMode/review/80243

7
8

    It should have been a full series on tv.

    5
    2

    I want to watch this drama but every time I go to Vicky it gives me problem 🙁

    2
    0

    Maybe it will be the first of many other attempts at korean BL? I was quite surprised at how many nice moments they managed to put in the first six episodes even if the pace was rushed.

    3
    0

    Oh, I still need to finish this…will read once I do!

    2
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    That’s pretty high praise coming from you! I’m a music person too, and yeah, the music was all over the place. The leads did well here, their chemistry was amazing—which usually happens in BL’s in general for me. They but CRAP if I didn’t fall for Kang Gook by the end of this. Geez, how he’s styled at the end made me SWOOOON. Good thing I was already lying down. When Taejo said, “whoa, you got more handsome,” he took the words straight out of my mouth! 😆

    3
    0

I’ve made the call for Wi Mary’s father. And her wannabe future father-in-law as well…
4
2

    UGH I hated her father so much I can’t watch him play another character without hating him. It took me years to like Lawrence Fishburne after he played Ike Turner.

    2
    0

    🤣 I’d like to see ToD have a shot first.

    1
    0

Extended: Round 2 of my Best and Favourite Poll is still open and taking votes

http://invisibledragon.home.blog/2020/05/05/the-very-big-end-of-decade-korean-drama-poll-round-2/

2
3

I hate to break it to Mary but I don’t think she’s in the genre she thinks she is…
9
1

Another 14 episodes of Bohn freaking out over his boyfriend interacting with other human beings and Duen freaking out because his boyfriend wants to touch him?
No thanks, one was enough.
6
5

🎶My Precious🎶
4
6

    Noooooo! (I knew you’d get some mileage out of this drama.) I have a huge grin on my face every time I imagine you watching this. See, you’ve made me soooo happy.

    3
    0

    Did I forget to mention this drama has almost every trope and is full of misogyny?

    2
    1

      The sheer volume of tropes is kind of amusing (i’m waiting for the TOD to cause amnesia, also the birth secret). But the misogyny is a bit hard to take.

      2
      1

Not to make any other comment on Marry Me Mary but this song makes me laugh so hard. I can’t stop imagining Jang Geun Suk as Gollum on stage intoning “My Precccciiiioussss”.



9
0

Remember in 2019 when we were like, \”Wow this is a bad drama year, there\’s both Abyss AND That Melted Icecream Show. Poor naive, innocent us.

16
4

I\’m thinking of pitching a drama about an actor from a very powerful and wealthy family who uses his family\’s money and connections to buy his way out of sexual assault charges.

He then buys his way back into the industry but is eventually taken down by an international cadre of radicalised drama watchers hired by female actors who\’ve been forced to work with him.

The title is United Unnis.

30
5

    Wait, wait, I know who can play the actor!

    7
    0

    Woah I need the second part to come true asap. Why does money rule over freaking everything? I checked a while ago probably the Burning Sun **it pieces were also trying to reduce their sentence. Not even all of them were caught anyway.

    4
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    Can it please include a happy ending with the death of misogyny?

    4
    1

    Yes please. I need this really badly.

    1
    0

It’s about time I binged this classic, don’t you think?
I was chatting to Samsooki on Twitter the other day and realised I’ve never seen My Name is Kim Sam Soon and it’s a classic.
Going in…
14
19

    Oh boy.

    3
    1

    Look forward to your comments. I am not a super-fan of either of the leads (watched only 1 of KSA and 2 of HB, to be fair), but there’s a lot of cross-referencing to MNIKSS in City Hall which got me curious.

    1
    1

      I’m a huge fan of KSA but could take or leave Hyun Bin (plus I have that twitch that developed during MoA when people used THOSE WORDS). I was in the mood for a classic kdrama but hopefully not one with the elements that annoy me. So far (episode 2) it’s good and I enjoy it.

      0
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    Samsooki’s recaps of City Hall are awesome, btw. They’ve considerably enhanced my viewing experience of the show. Please let him know when you chat with him next!

    3
    1

      They are. I’ve only read the first two so far and they add so much to my understanding of what’s on screen.

      0
      1

        Sorry that is to say Samsooki’s recaps of Kim Sam Soon are great and have considerably enhanced my viewing experience. I think I binged City Hall at one point without reading the recaps. Maybe I should dive into them as well.

        2
        1

    Be prepared.

    2
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    I am a super fan of HB, KSA and the show ❤️❤️❤️ I know you will watch it with a sort of historical perspective, knowing that it’s fifteen years old. It broke a lot of the rules of kdrama at that time, introducing one of the first non-candy heroines and one who Had a career (and didn’t look like a fashion model).
    I didn’t think anything could raise my opinion of the show and the Samsooki came along with his recaps. Heaven. 🌈
    Gosh, I hope you will like it!

    2
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    It was my 1st kdrama and I loved it but I don’t know if it stands the test of time… Good luck!

    2
    0

    She should have ran away with Daniel Henney

    2
    0

    Ah. This is why.

    1
    0

    Lord bless you.

    Actually, except for the ML being written as such a *insert expletives* I rather enjoyed it.

    1
    1

      I’m still not convinced she doesn’t slip cyanide into his almond pastry at one point but at least he’s less likely to be murdered than Secretary Kim’s husband…

      0
      1

Some people have asked about my cameo in Eternal Monarch today.
I am not responding to questions about this at this time.

11
5

🎵Same as ever, everyone heads toward the same place🎵
Te film in the dark theatre of his life shows an image of going nowhere without effort.
We are all on these tracks.
Life moves forward with us onboard whether we want it to or not.
The only thing we have control over is whether we call to somebody else in the dark
And they answer.

My Ahjussi Episode 14
16
4

    The Viki cut btw has removed that scene from the film in the theatre and I have no idea why (some rights issue to the film)?? But that quick cut to the train track is what makes that scene. It’s barely a second but it’s everything. The fact it’s missing from the Viki version makes me sad,

    5
    2

      That makes me sad too.

      2
      0

      That’s exactly why I couldn’t remember seeing it because well I didn’t see it all. It does make all the difference and I love your view about it.

      2
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    Gosh, I need to catch up! Shame about Viki cutting it – didn’t know this scene was there. It seems perfect.

    1
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Ji-an, the girl who wins every battle but who can never win the war.
Because until now she’s been fighting alone.
Nobody wins a war alone.
But they can fight.

My Ahjussi Episode 13
16
0

No interest in starting a fight on the recap page but honestly KES has literally said in interviews that she could write good dramas but doesn\’t because when she writes quality nobody watches. She said outright she’d rather write popular crap. Any notion that she cares more for art than ratings contradicts not only the evidence of her work but also her own words. How much clearer can it be then a writer saying outright, “I do not care about quality, I only care about ratings”.

She’s probably panicking right about now. Because it’s possible that the KES Formula to Glossy Nonsense that has served her well for a decade is past its prime. And if that’s the case I may be interested in what she writes next for the first time in forever.

Because she can write. She just actively chooses not to.

26
11

    KES writernim…bring back dramas like City Hall and On Air. Maybe those dramas were ahead of their time.

    9
    2

      She is the writer of City Hall?!!! Omg! What went wrong?!

      2
      1

        She decided people didn’t want complex dramas with something to say and she should
        just write the kind of dramas she’s been writing since. The funny thing is, City Hall’s ratings were pretty good by today’s standards but I guess for pre-2012 it wasn’t seen that way.

        5
        0

      Ahead of their time indeed.

      0
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    I don’t think The King is anywhere near becoming a flop. I think The World of the Married airing just an hour after it has its effects too but obviously the show is very lackluster rn. I have a feeling it will pick up in ratings after TWOTM ends, they air at different times but I guess at some point they overlap (when the king ends and twotm starts a few 10 to 15 min overlap there) but also if I were a viewer who needs to watch a show on TV, I may not want to watch two dramas on a single day especially when I know one is better than the other and more dramatic. So I do think the audience is choosing to watch one over the other and this will change when TWOTM ends gaining The King the viewers.
    Also I think KES deviated or experimented a little with Mr Sunshine. It wasn’t sth she writes like Dots or Goblin. I wasn’t invested because of the lackluster middle part which is KES’s weakness but she did put some effort in that show. There was cheese but less of it, a very understated romance as much as I remember. So if she has to write differently it’ll probably be sth like Mr sunshine provided I’ve never seen City Hall which everyone praises. She is actually really good at world building. I give her props for doing the whole fantasy setup in both Goblin and The King. So yeah she definitely has the tendency to write great. And I think she learnt the hard way that unfortunately in order to earn a livelihood in this industry you have to write what sells rather than write what you’re passionate about and what you want to tell. This is sad, I know but I totally get her. This is a cut throat industry where you can only prevail if you make hits and she understood that formula and probably left behind what she wanted to do(if i remember in her interview that’s what she said, she had to choose between sth she wanted to do and sth she realized works). And it’s not always the writer’s choice. The pds tell you to write that way or alter your story too. I’m in no way defending her writing, I’m not fond of it. But as a human I’m respecting her choice. That’s basically just survival. I know if I ever want to write a philosophical slice of life drama it’ll gain way less viewers than a romance drama and I may not be able to get to write another drama if my passion project fails even if it’s a masterpiece (lol). Second chances in this industry hardly come by no matter what country it is. Though I still hugely respect Korea for making shows like Misaeng, My Ajusshi and Dear my friends who even despite average ratings (except for Misaeng) made their way to the screen and I think they were passion projects too. So KES just deciding that she’s going to write a show that just hooks the viewers even if it suspends any logic but brings her ratings which in return gets her more projects to work on, well I can’t appreciate her for that(because I want her to write better and know that she can)but I understand her. Also the stability she has gained by writing the same old stuff…

    4
    1

      gives her a chance to write what she wants and people will watch it only because of her name. I was annoyed at her interview years ago too that why would she write crap for us to see until I realised I wasn’t her audience anyway. The ones who bring her the numbers are and they like this stuff anyway. When you come across people who are so not enthusiastic about anything other than commercial stuff in the industry that’s when you realize that oh I just may have to change my writing style to ever fit in or make it because at the end producers care less about your passion and more about the value of your product and how much money it’ll generate them. In my country we had an outrageous misogynist show leading the ratings over a beautiful philosophical show and nobody cared about the latter no matter how great it was. That’s how it is everywhere. But by Mr Sunshine I guess KES definitely wanted to write sth she cared about and now that she has a pile of hits under her name, even if that deviated from her usual formula, people watched it for her name.
      Lol I never knew I’ll write sth so long on KES but yeah these standards annoy me, the fact that mostly entertaining and commercial stuff works annoys me. But that’s how it is mostly. So when KES says that yeah people watch dramas for entertainment she’s talking about the majority that watch her shows, not everyone but she knows her formula works so she comfortably works like that while getting thousands(millions) of wons and prestigious awards.

      4
      0

    The fact that she’s aware of this *smh
    And yes City Hall was one of a kind.

    3
    0

    So far i’m skipping comments on the recaps. All the theories (some I’ve read are really great tho) are giving me a headache. Personally i have low expectation of this drama since I’m not a fan of LMH, so i just enjoy the bits and pieces i like and don’t think too much about the other parts.

    4
    0

    I’m finding it less painful than Melty but I wouldn’t be watching if WDH weren’t in it. I wonder if Netflix will bring her more fans or antis?

    4
    0

    Did she really say that kk? If she did, at least I admire her courage in being so honest. I don’t like her style but I do like elements in some of her shows. I was thinking she imagined Mr Sunshine was one of her good shows, don’t have any opinion because I didn’t get past the second ep but it just seemed like she tried harder with that.

    3
    0

    This may not be the point but I love her honesty in this matter

    0
    0