Beanie level: Entertainer-in-training

My interest in k-dramas has rapidly been deteriorating as of late (thank goodness My Liberation Notes exists at least) and I have very little to contribute to any conversation of any kind here but as I deal with big changes in my life upending my self-esteem and just general sense of self, I thought I would share my favorite way to ignore reality and distract myself from the general state of both my chaotic brain and the world: video essays.

Anyone else here watch video essays? Got any favorite essayists? I tend to be quite picky with mine and then when I find one I enjoy I latch on like a leech and suck their library dry until hours, perhaps days later I am forced to face the consequences of my actions.

My most recent addiction is CJ the X, and he doesn’t do anything remotely related to k-dramas, so I thought I’d share his most recent video regarding the most recent Spiderman film, since it made a bunch of money or whatever and everyone saw it and it’s just really a decent entry point to his work, okay?!?

But you’d be crazy not to watch “Bo Burnham vs. Jeff Bezos” and “The Neurosis of Cat Valentine” next.

Thank you for tolerating my completely off-topic fanwall post and not chasing me off this website.

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    He tries really hard to be funny. Maybe I did not get him but why would Peter not have a choice? MJ made hers but he is also entitled to make his. It’s not sexist at all, MJ could easily be a man, as Ned is, and he would still make the exact same choice.

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    Not dramas but this is how I feel for Howard Ho’s channel. He talks about musicals and as someone who knows nothing about music, I find his videos almost magical lol

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I went into Kairos expecting a cool and intriguing sci-fi-tinged story and what I got was a makjang.

I am disappointed.

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I know this isn’t like a place overflowing with kpop fans but just want everyone to know that I love Sakura more than anyone

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My favorite moment of ep 7 (next to Gi-jeong’s crying-on-the-bus scene). His reaction is GOLD.


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    Yes. Master class here.

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    I have a feeling that he is going to be much more understanding about the whole Mi-jung/Gu thing that’s going on than Ki-jung will ever be able to. Sometimes it’s surprising how much Chang-hee and Mi-jung seems to be in the same wavelength compared to the two sisters.

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      Right? Even early in the episode when Mi-jeong was talking about how when she likes someone she feels at peace when she looks at them, he seemed to totally get her even though she was like “but maybe I’m weird”. Meanwhile he never understands what’s going through Ki-jeong’s mind LOL.

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    Same. That little “huh” then the music — love love love!

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Just an incredibly attractive family
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Calling all Liberation Beanies! Check out The Swoon’s IG Stories! 🥳
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Dreamcatcher has no bad songs

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Lee Min-ki is so good at immersing himself into everyman roles with absolutely no vanity or self-consciousness, contorting his face into expressions you didn’t think were humanly possible and yet make so much sense, that it’s easy to forget that his face is a freaking work of art.

Okay I’m done good night.




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All of Lee Min-ki’s characters’ fake girlfriends turn into real girlfriends so I’m placing all my bets on Hyeon-a
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    yesssss. i’m waiting

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    This would be a great development. Both are so clear-eyed, perhaps too clear-eyed.

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    Haha…
    Spot on. I’m also placing all my bets on Hyeona. It’s the first time I saw Chang-hee being completely relaxed around girls. Like there’s this invisible pressure he put on himself to be “something more” than who he actually is whenever he interacted with other people, and that pressure is non existent while he spent time with her.

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    I am totally team Hyeon-a!! He went so soft when he was with her! Gimme more!! moreeeeee

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Went up to Madison for the day to see a showing of Chungking Express at the university with my brother. He’s a huge movie buff and has gotten super into Hong Kong (and East Asian in general) cinema but he didn’t wanna go alone so I tagged along. I can finally cross this one off my list, and understand references in K-dramas!

It was a great day, and Madison is a cool little city! Also, they have a billion boba shops, and I got my brother to try his first boba. He said, “They drink milk tea in Hong Kong so I guess it’s fitting”, lol. He liked it!

Hope you Beanies are having a great day, too!

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This is the gayest thing I’ve seen all week. And I look in the mirror every day.

Getting ready to scream and cry next week when both this and Business Proposal are over and my life has no meaning anymore.


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Savoring the time between now and Saturday where I can pretend that Hee-do and Yu-rim are married. @Kdrama industry, when will you stop being COWARDS and let this writer write the epic lesbian love story she’s so obviously craving?





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I love them. I love them. I LOVE THEM.

Remember how I said I didn’t ship them? That was a lie.



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    How can anyone not ship them?

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    When HD made fun of YR & said she missed her being mean, same girl!

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    They are very shippable. They had great scenes in this episode.

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    They easily have the best umbrella scene in all of dramaland too

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      I know! I love their umbrella scene. Baek Yijin, I love you (and you also, Nam Joohyuk), but I want Heedo and Yurim to end up together. One thing that this drama absolutely excelled in was in the handling of the friendship of the women.

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        Definitely! The OTP usually gets the bulk of the focus but here we’ve really been blessed with such a sweet and supportive friendship that’s been given time to develop and shine

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Don\’t wanna be a party pooper but I can\’t hold it in anymore, seeing people squee about the second couple in Business Proposal when he had sex with her when she was so drunk that she could hardly stand or walk is making me think I\’m going insane.

Come on, show. This is the same problem I had with You Drive Me Crazy. If you\’re gonna have a drunk steamy night, both parties have to be sloshed OR it has to be a fake-out. It would have been so easy for the show to have him be just as drunk as her but he came across as totally sober. I was so hoping this show would make it a fake-out where they actually didn\’t do anything, because this show is SO good at subverting my worries and expectations, but nope. It actually happened.

Remember, everyone: someone who\’s blackout drunk can\’t consent.

K-dramas cross lines all the time but this is where I draw my definitive line. I\’m just glad it wasn\’t the main couple, because then I would probably drop. I wasn\’t really into this couple\’s romance anyway.

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    maybe to do with their culture of drinking.. this is “normal” for them?.. as long as she/he recognize other party and know what they are doing.. probably their definition is they are not resisting but initiating and excited about it so can’t be labeled as sthg wrong.. i don’t know

    similar scene is there is hu tian and shen hue chinese drama.. he just checked if she knew who he is and proposed marriage.. lol..

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    I was waiting for YS to finally talk to CSH and him to confess that nothing really happened. But alas, they didn’t go that way. This show is so good at subverting tropes that I was really hoping that it would be a fake out. It made their finally getting together tasteless.

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      Is it though? I like BP but I don’t understand how it subverts tropes? I’m on ep 7 and the trope I’m Glad My Rich/Handsome Boyfriend can Impress My Frenemies is really old. It’s not being played for laughs at all. There is no criticism on culture. Ha-Ri is gorgeous, smart, funny but all they care about is the boyfriend.

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    I had a problem with that too. I thought he would say they didn’t have sex either. She was fully clothed when she woke up. So, I kinda still think that they didn’t?

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      That’s where I am right now too. It’s still not fully explained and she woke up fully clothed.

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        Mainly because in Kdramas no one wakes up naked, even after having sex. But I was totally shocked when he said “I’ll make sure you never forget”. It was creepy!

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    Yes, this was very disappointing. Triple-so when SFL confirmed she can’t even remember what happened.

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    It disappointed me too. He had been drinking but the show makes it clear not nearly as much. I expected (and wanted) a fake out, especially when she couldn’t remember – that’s not embarrassing, that’s scary!

    It feels a bit like the show gets the fun bits right but has really not nailed the pay off moments at all – Tae Mu’s “I’ll keep asking you out until you give up rejecting me” moment also awfully non-consenty.

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      Yes. It’s good to be oh so funny, but with little experience and naïveté many young people can take these things the wrong way. I had hoped that they didn’t go that route, but unfortunately that was it.

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    I’m afraid the understanding of consent in many places hasn’t reached the inclusion of drunken consent as void, but that definitely doesn’t excuse the show failing to address this properly.

    A fake-out would have been a great way to work around this, as you suggested. It would have allowed the scene where they honestly talk through their feelings (Sung-hoon in the carpark, Young-seo in the entryway) to shine even more. They’re sober, they’re embarrassed as hell and plagued with uncertainty, but they still found the courage to tell each other the truth, and it paid off.

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    I’m still on ep 7 and I was thinking it was a misunderstanding, pity it was a fact. I wasn’t much into them either, love at first sight trope always seem dumb and childish.

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Between Twenty Five Twenty One and Business Proposal, my weeks really are set.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m kind of picky when it comes to romances. I watch a lot of shows involving romance (duh, kdramas), and I enjoy many of them, but mostly because they’re light and fun and because I appreciate the relationships in the show outside of the romance. This is the case with me and Twenty Five Twenty One. Back Yi-jin is nice and all, but come on, when you give me such a deliciously complex relationship arc between two girls, you can’t expect me to care about the guy. I love the progression of Hee-do and Yu-rim’s relationship, and I really hope the show doesn’t forget about them now that their tension is resolved.

I find romantic shipping to be one of the most boring parts of fandom, and it frustrates me that that’s pretty much 90% of what fandoms focus on. There are many reasons I’ve stepped away from fandom lately, and this is definitely one of them.

But then a show like Business Proposal comes around and reminds me that hey, this romance thing can be fun!

This is another show that has a strong relationship between two friends, but there isn’t tension between them, so their relationship doesn’t distract me from the romance brewing between Ha-ri and Tae-moo. This show is employing some of my favorite tropes (hidden identity! Contract relationships!) and is doing it in a way that strikes such a great balance. I’m not a big fan of enemies-to-lovers types of romances in dramas because they can come across as icky (although I do sometimes enjoy it in my books), and I never want the tension between the characters to become too fraught, especially when there is a power imbalance between the two like there is here.

I like male leads who like and respect the female lead, along with a liiittle bit of tension and conflict that just helps keep things from being boring. Business Proposal is absolutely excelling at this, and I LOVE IT. Every time it seems like it’s going to cross a line and make me dislike Tae-moo or the situation between them, it just… doesn’t. Tae-moo’s “revenge” manages to stop just short of it bothering me, and he realizes he’s being a petulant child and stops and apologizes. Him technically taking advantage of his power over her as her boss by sneakily trying to take her on dates is more sweet than anything, and it consistently backfires on him in hilarious ways. I’m amazed that the show is able to strike this balance so perfectly for me, and I really hope it continues until the end, because I actually think these two are really cute together. Don’t let me down, drama! Please!

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    I’m not into 2521 but agree with everything about BP, the romance line between boss/employee is sometimes tricky but drama is doing a fine job! The funny thing is I liked the first ep of 2521 but not the 3 that came after and dislike the first of BP but found the others very amusing.

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      Ep 1 of Business Proposal didn’t quite click with me but it’s really settles into its groove! Or maybe I have settled into its groove? Either way, I love!

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    I agree with everything you said. To be honest, the romance in 25 21 is the least interesting part of the drama for me. The enemies to friends though? Bring it on. Additionally, the parent/child relationships are interesting. We’re seeing so many different examples, both easy and complex, and I’m really liking how we see the way different families navigate the various outside forces impact them.

    Business Proposal? Just fun. Smartly done fun.

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      The parent/child relationships are interesting… but adult Hee-do drives me crazy! The actress they chose is just such an odd choice for the part. Absolutely nothing like Kim Tae-ri!

      Ep 1 made me think Business Proposal was just silly, but it quickly became apparent that it really IS smart. I love this writer.

      I miss you, egads 🙁

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        Adult Hee-do is the one wrong note in this drama. She’s so not Hee-do-ish. I have to remind myself when she comes on that this is adult Hee-do. Maybe she got a head injury and that explains the personality change and lack of memory.

        I miss you too. I hope you are doing okay.

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    Yes, while 2521’s romance storyline is sweet, I am more invested in the friendships,and the process of growing up, the many lessons being learned along the way. To me, a happy ending for this show does not have to be all about the couple getting together or who ends up with whom, but that they ended up to be happy and strong adults able to face any crisis along the way.

    OTH, Business Proposal’s romance (×2) is front and center, tropey but compelling, definitely funny not cringey. Happy ending here has to be all about Grandpa enjoying a family day with his great grandkids from HR and TM, and from SH and YS.

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      Completely agree! Everyone is so worried about 2521’s ending, but I’m not at all. I think they’ve made it clear that it’s about their journey, and I am anticipating seeing the reunions between the adult versions of the characters as well.

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    Completely agree with what you just said! I haven’t live-watched dramas in a while and I’m having a blast from Sat- Tues. Usually I watch one rom-com at a time, but like you said 25 21 is all about the different relationships and friendships that it becomes bearable to watch so much sweetness back to back!

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    Both dramas fill me up!

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    Mondy, please be proud of me! My Twitter friend is obsessed with Kim Minggyu and wants to watch more of him so I recommended BTIOFL and now she’s in love with the drama as well! Hahahahahaha~

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I’m too tired to really get into it but sometimes I think people really don’t get how redemption arcs work lol. Or even just imperfect characters with complex relationships. Especially female characters.

I guarantee you if Ko Yu-rim were a boy there wouldn’t be as many harsh comments about her (Bona has even gotten hate comments on IG!). In fact, if she were a boy you’d also get way more people shipping her and Hee-do as an enemies-to-lovers romance.

Like what you like, dislike what you dislike, but some of the comments truly baffle me.

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    I can try to understand older generation being so immersed in a drama, they fail to separate the actor from the character. Why? Because there are no real consequences as they’ll most likely never have to interact with the actors. But ‘younger gen’ going to comment negatively on an actor’s social media because of the actions of said character? I can’t even begin to wrap my head around that level of stupidity.

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    I get ya Mindy! There’s this unrealistic expectation for a female character to be good / nice 100% of the time and it doesn’t make sense because people aren’t like that. No one is pure goodness or pure evil, we’re all a chaotic mess but people are always more forgiving of male characters that aren’t shown as all black/white (hence the ever-successful tsundere trope).

    I actually like how they show YR’s sweet side with Jin Woong. Granted, her behaviour w Hee Do is appalling but i do think Show is going somewhere great with this story..I don’t know how or if these two can ever be friends now but I’m looking forward to the progress. I’m still rooting for them to be besties!

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      How she treats Heedo especially during the game was awful but it’s all going to hit her back once she finds out that Heedo is her friend online. It’s as big of a slap as she can get. It’s sad but sometimes we learn the hard way. Yoorim will too and I can’t wait for the moment she realizes just how wrong she was.

      I still think they can be friends once they go through life and experience more things. Just then will they understand each other. It’s kinda like hating your siblings when you’re young the realizing how much you really care for them when you’re older.

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    What?! That’s just appaling people are hating on an actress because they don’t like her character. I think the show is doing a great job of showing us why Yu-rim acts the way she does. It’s terrible how she treats Hee-do, but we’re shown where that resentment is coming from and how more negativity is being nurtured by the coach and the burden of expectation. All on top of still being a highschooler too where no one acts their best. Not that it gives her a free pass to act like that, but we’re going to be in for some awesome character growth and what is sure to be a very heartwarming friendship

    It’s fine to dislike the character, but they can save the hate for the coach lol. He sucks.

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    Frustrated me so much. I had to block someone on twitter. I get that they don’t like her but the backlash was insane.

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      Twitter is crazy. I hope Bona is ok.

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        The kdrama side if twitter is really awful. Of course, there are awesome people too but my gosh, I couldn’t take it. Makes me want to go back to having a small community of drama lovers who are mature and respectful.

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It\’s hard to care about K-dramas tonight.

Sitting in front of my TV watching the news with this haunting feeling that I\’ll remember this moment for the rest of my life.

My heart goes out to everyone in Ukraine right now, and I just want all of you Beanies out there to stay safe. If you\’re lucky like me to be far away from what\’s happening, take a moment to truly acknowledge that privilege. Let your loved ones know just how much you care about them.

Good night.

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    I’m with you. Terrible night, terrible time.

    I wanted to send you an emoji of holding hands, and there isn’t one. It feel like that says everything about our world right now. ❤️

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    ❤️

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    @mindy – I completely agree. I feel sick to my stomach and am genuinely worried about the Ukrainians and the global implications of this illegal invasion.

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      I’m filled with rage at the unfairness of it and our inability to stop it.

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    ❤️❤️❤️

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    Completely agree. You know when COVID first broke out in Wuhan, I remember feeling detached from the dystopian headlines of a city being “locked down” – I couldn’t imagine (like most of us) that the same thing would eventually happen in my own city. It makes me wonder sometimes, how long before other crises impact us too.

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    It’s such a helpless feeling, that all we can really do right now is hope ❤

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Finally, just in time for episode 3 today, I’ve written out my first impressions for Twenty Five Twenty One‘s premiere week!

I’m super into this show and can’t believe how quickly it has sucked me into its world. In times of crisis, we need a show like this, don’t we?

Kim Tae-ri has stolen my heart and she is free to never give it back.

https://sunsetdramaland.wordpress.com/2022/02/19/first-impressions-twenty-five-twenty-one-episodes-1-2/


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    Spoiler warning!

    The end of ep 3 made me wonder if there’s a possibility the other parent is Bona. I was actually a little worried the other person on the chat was some creepy old guy, or even worse Nam Joo Hyuk, but I strongly felt Injeolmi viewed Ryder as more than just friends (and we’re also clued in on Bona’s lack of who-am-I-attracted-to experience). I agree with you that they probably intend this to be a platonic rivalry, and now knowing that this show is helmed by the WWW team, I think my conjecture is squashed (and who are we kidding, this is Korea).

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      I definitely wouldn’t be mad if that is the case, but I’m not getting those vibes. Considering the fact that we got stories like Mine and Nevertheless last year (and smaller stories with Hometown Cha-cha-cha and Work Later, Drink Now) I wouldn’t write off the possibility completely, though. Change is happening.

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    I’m loving this one so far. She’s the third teen girl I’ve enjoyed this much (Hello, Me and When the Weather is Fine had the other two).

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    I could watch her try to learn choreography all day. This episode had me crying and laughing. I just love her.

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I’m almost a week late, but I finally finished my review of Love and Leashes!

Surprisingly sweet, warm, and hilarious, the film is a great adaptation of a delightful webtoon, and it gets a thumbs up from me!

(And I’ve got first impressions for Twenty Five Twenty One, Forecasting Love and Weather, and Thirty-Nine in the pipeline!)

https://sunsetdramaland.wordpress.com/2022/02/16/film-vs-webtoon-love-and-leashes/

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    Great review! I share most of your views: this isn’t an instant classic, but it’s very cute and fresh. The webtoon looks really good too, I’ve only read the first episodes available on Webtoon though

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      Oh, I didn’t know there were official translations now on Webtoon! Hooray! Hopefully that means they’ll translate the whole thing! The fan translation only seems to have completed around chapter 120ish.

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        120 chapters 😱
        Webtoon is releasing a chapter a day on daily pass/3 coins, and only until episode 15… Up until now I’ve been reading for free, but learning that there are so many episodes makes me fear for my coins, these long series have a way of wearing out my cheapness 😜

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          There are 145 chapters in total! The English fan translation also Americanized the names (Ji-woo was Samantha and Ji-hoo was Samuel, etc), which was annoying, so it’s nice to read the real character names.

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    Btw, until I saw it in the film, I was also intrigued about the “stepping over”-thing that shows up time and again in those Idols read Thirsty Tweets videos 🤣
    When I saw it, I went “Ooooooh… Really? Ugh, nope”. Can’t see the fun, but at least it was nice to be enlightened about the mechanics of it. Seems to be really popular, though 🤔

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I thought it might be fun to try and watch every single Baeksang-winning drama I could find English subtitles for, and then I discovered that the winner of the Daesang at the 2002 Baeksangs was a 200 episode sageuk.

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