Beanie level: Entertainer-in-training

So… Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol… That happened…

18
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    Yep! No amount of fan service compensates for the crumping storyline.

    5
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      I almost just stopped in the middle of the ep but then decided I should see how it really ends and…

      🤦🏼‍♀️

      It somehow made it even worse.

      8
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        I’ve seen a lot of terrible endings, but I think this one takes the cake. Anyone who viewed that as cute or romantic has serious problems.

        It’s somehow worse because I liked this writer’s past dramas a lot.

        5
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        Now I keep thinking, I should have known when they did that ridiculous piano-on-the-beach baloney. 🤦🏼‍♀️

        3
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    *sigh*

    2
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    That gif sums up my feelings pretty well too. I was prepared for a certain amount of fake-outery as the show wasn’t short on that. But the ending … you lost me show and I’d been loyal. Too much manipulation even for me.

    5
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    I hated it. I don’t know if it was cowardice of actually going through with it. Or just plain manipulation of viewer’s feelings. The ending ruined the show for me.

    6
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If anyone is thinking of picking up Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol, DON’T DO IT.

TURN BACK NOW.

STEP AWAY FROM THE DRAMA.

That preview… That PREVIEW…

*SCREAMS*

17
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STILL EXPERIENCING “MISSING INTO THE RING” HOURS.

I’m doing a rewatch on kosmi with Beanies next month (days/times yet to be determined). Please let me know if you’re interested!!!

What a gem of a show, seriously. Se-ra and Gong-myung forever!!!!!

15
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    This kiss was honestly amazing. Was really surprised that KBS had a kiss like this. I usually expect such kisses from JTBC or TvN

    2
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      This is funny cuz at 4am this morning I had the thought that public broadcasters do tend to be more conservative and if MBC doesn’t allow for actual good kiss scenes for Oh! Jooinnim I WILL start a riot!!!

      2
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    This song! The feelings! These two! My heart!

    1
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Wake me up when Start-Up is over.

I’ve never been so turned off by the discussions surrounding a drama before. A drama that I’m also watching!!!!!

17
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    The comments have completely turned me off of ever picking this up again.

    8
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    I need to start it. It definitely is making people feel things if nothing else.

    Watched the first two eps of Live. I like it but definitely something I might watch slowly.
    On a shallower note about it their is an actor that I dont think I’ve come across before. He is very handsome,lol.

    2
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      The thing is, Start Up is lovely. Having a rage-filled shipping war really undermines the sensitive and nuanced story it’s trying to tell!

      7
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        I havent watched so not sure if this fits, but often wish writers would just give the 2nd leads their own love lines. Or, especially if it is a interesting character played by a good actor, any storyline that fulfills the need that I think we viewers want to see of them making emotional connections.

        0
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          I think part of the issue is that the SL’s backstory is more filled out in the first half, he’s a scene stealing actor (and has been since at least Strongest Deliveryman), and he has dimples.

          2
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            Well dimples are always a draw.
            Pacing it that way does probably ensure that your audience may bond or empathize with him first.

            1
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    I had this reaction to Itaewon Class; the “discourse” (if you can even call people spitting venom at each other that) made me drop it like a hot potato.

    4
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      Itaewon came to my mind too. I ended up dropping the show because I didn’t like the way it was going. However adding the comments to that just left such a bad feeling overall about the show.

      3
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      Same with Itaewon Class. I ended up hate watching it because of all the comments about it!

      3
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        I just skipped most of the comments, like I’m doing with this one.

        0
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    I’m with you. Really bored about everything on the discussions and on the drama.

    2
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    never have i seen such unreasonable rage over one character, who was never supposed to be the lead, having the focus shifted away from them. at this point, most of these people are not even judging the show at face-value. they’re literally only looking at this as a story that should have revolved around hjp, and bc it doesn’t, it’s “bad writing”.

    7
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    It’s all a bit unsettling. Watched Itaewon Class a couple of months ago and never really understood what people were getting so worked up about – like, personally I felt like romance was a bit of an afterthought in that drama… I’m patiently waiting for Start up to be available on Netflix in my region to start watching it. Sometimes living in a crappy Netflix region is a perk, ah! 😁

    6
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      Same. It’s coming to my region on Dec 3 (I think). I’m kind of turned off after all the comments, but I assume that by the time I get to it (I’m going to start with Private Lives, which seems to have its own pendulum of reviews), the furor will all have died down.

      0
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    I’ve given up for now, I’ll finish later. At the moment it just makes me too tired to care.

    0
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    I’m enjoying it and mostly ignoring the comments. It’s entertaining and not one that I think about once I finish an episode.

    1
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OH! JOOINNIM HAS BEGUN FILMING!!!!

Maybe? Possibly?

I saw these pictures someone took in Seocheon of Lee Min-ki and cameras around, so either it\’s him filming the drama or it\’s a magazine photoshoot or something, although the area shown in the blog that posted the picture seems like a random location for a photoshoot to happen. We\’re 4 months out from the drama, so it would be around time for filming to begin!!!

From the blog (shoddily translated by papago translate and myself):
\”On my way to a cafe, I saw cameras from far away. Is it a celebrity? Superstar? Unbelievably, a real superstar. Lee Min-ki! At first glance, is he a rookie model I don\’t know? That\’s what I thought, but it was Lee Min-ki. I was so excited, I grabbed my oppa by the shirt collar and shook him hehehehe. He\’s so handsome!!! I looked so closely I got embarrassed. What a wonderful coincidence!\”

If it is from the drama, as excited as I am to see a glimpse of his character (and super excited he\’s not wearing rich people clothes but normal-looking people clothes!!!), the haircut… I was hoping for forehead liberation. I hate it. 🙃 OH WELL. Whatever. He\’s gonna look great anyway. His bone structure is impossible, I swear.

But seriously, me whenever I finally do see Min-ki\’s forehead again:

I really hope we get glimpses of Nana filming soon, and I think I\’m going to spontaneously combust when I see them filming together. Don\’t even talk to me about how I\’ll react when official script reading pictures and then stills drop, OMG.

Anyway, these pictures will feed me for an entire month… even with that haircut. I\’m easy to please.

12
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    I’m so eagerly waiting for this drama. I loved Nana in Into The Ring and I’ve heard only positive things about Lee Min Ki. Overall, I’m super excited for this drama

    1
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      Mani-chan!!! Go watch Because This Life is Our First and Shut Up: Flower Boy Band right now!!!!!

      Of course, he has other good dramas and films, too, but BTLIOF is my fave 🤭 and then seeing the huge contrast between him in that and SUFBB really demonstrates his incredible range.

      He’s great in everything (except one thing… Cough) and I can’t wait to see him with Nana after absolutely loving her in Into the Ring!!! 🥺💖

      3
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    So glad to see you’re keeping your excitement in check. 😉

    1
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      Oh, did I say I was going to do that? I completely forgot 🤭

      Forget that!!! If the drama ends up sucking and I am all doom-and-gloom about it the whole time then that means no happiness at all for me. If I hype it up now and least I can be happy now!!!

      But it will definitely be a dumpster fire.

      See? A healthy balance.

      1
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If I could give one drama the award of “Best Score of the Year”, this year it would go to I’ll Find You On a Beautiful Day~

I’ll be listening to this a lot this winter, I think!

9
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    I love this!

    2
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    I agree.

    1
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    You are so right. While watching, I always thought music and light were another character in the drama.
    This Ost is so warm and calmed. I listen to it on a loop. Not just the songs, but the music.
    Totally, absolutely, completely obsessed.

    2
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    Hands-down my favorite OST to this day. It’s so warming during cold weather. It basically felt like its own character in the show. I’ve never waited for an OST to drop on iTunes, but I did for this one. ❤

    1
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Anyway… you know which show had the best recap comments sections, with the perfect mixture of unified squeeing and in-depth character analysis and discussion without getting nasty, even with a controversial ending?

But of course, no one would ever crucify the Best Male Lead of All Time.

Still by far the most fun live-watching experience I’ve ever had.


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Personally, I think shipping wars are among the least interesting media discussions that can happen, especially when they boil down to “who gets the girl” like she’s a piece of meat. This is why I don’t like love triangles.

Even in shows that have love triangles as a main theme, some viewers tend to blow it way out of proportion and twist the narrative of the show to fit their shipping justifications rather than looking at what the text itself is saying. They become blinded by their ships and have nothing of real interest to say about anything else, other than pitting the two love interests against each other (even when the text itself really isn’t!).

I should just steer-clear of recaps of shows involving love triangles, because the discussion always, always, always gets bogged down by the shipping wars, even in shows where romance is not the main theme (*cough* Answer Me 1988 *cough*), and for some reason people get particularly nasty about shipping, even on a website that tends to be pretty level-headed like Dramabeans.

I think the most “fun” shipping war on the site was You Who Forgot Poetry, because for the most part people didn’t take the shipping wars seriously and made it all something of a fun joke. But even those recap comments had their nasty moments, especially towards the end.

I feel like I need a gif so here’s the most legendary scene in YWFP.

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    Not even watching SU, but now you made me want to watch YWFP. Love a good seaweed slap! 🤣

    3
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    The only drama I have watched in which a love triangle was the main theme was Jealousy Incarnate and it was so funny throughout that I didnt have any complaints. It’s my first time experiencing a shipping war and my god is it getting a bit nasty

    2
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    “They become blinded by their ships and have nothing of real interest to say about anything else, other than pitting the two love interests against each other (even when the text itself really isn’t!).”

    You said it, Mindy! I don’t think there’s a war to be had here, other than folks fawning over one male actor, and desperately wanting him to get the female lead in any form. This is a non fight. Also I don’t think this show – Startup, i.e. – is set up as primarily a rom-com, so people are kind of also missing the point. It’s an underdog story, a story about finding self-esteem and self-worth, a story about real and found families… there’s so much more happening, and so much more to be appreciated! It’s frustrating to see it being reduced to something that it ought not to be.

    6
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      You got it so right and to say it again
      “some viewers tend to blow it way out of proportion and twist the narrative of the show to fit their shipping justifications rather than looking at what the text itself is saying”

      0
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    oh and I haven’t watched APAD – that seaweed slap is super!

    2
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    I understand you as you’ve put your thoughts into words beautifully, but I think I might be one of the minority here that actually kinda enjoy the war -especially in the latest Start-Up thread. As long as I’m not really invested in it, it’s fun to look at some being so emotional about their preferred character.

    I think it kind of is an indicator that the show is THAT good – like it made people so invested in it and made them look a bit crazy. LoL. At least Kim Seon-ho got offered a lead role right away even during the filming of this one.

    3
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      He was such a scene stealer in Strongest Deliveryman that I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.

      3
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    I loved this show

    1
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    Thanks @mindy for going down APAD/YWFP memory lane. That is a great image that whole beach excursion was great. APAD’s shipping war was my first (of two so far) and like you said it was a lot of fun (for the most part). Iirc there might have been one ‘official’ intervention by recapper @saya to lower the heat lol. It is where I discovered the Island of Neutrality.
    The second shipping war I hung around a little was this year at ITAEWON CLASS. This one was more “who gets the guy” if you will. I think IC’s shipping war generated more heat than APAD’s. Just my opinion.

    4
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    I’m just watching with a bemused expression. I’m seeing some good character analysis even if some of it is only focussed on the romance/s. I don’t think we’ll see another APAD style shipping war again.

    3
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      APAD was 99% good-natured and I don’t even remember the other 1%! (Sometimes you have to let amnesia have its day lolll)

      3
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Hi I’m just here to say that I found out that Queen Cheorin, which I assumed was just another standard sageuk, is about a man who finds himself transported back in time in the body of a woman and he falls in love with another man and I’M 100% THERE DECEMBER 12 COME QUICK.

I’m not getting my hopes up that this will be a profound exploration of gender and sexuality or anything but it’s not like it can sweep its entire premise under the rug, so it will have to deal with it in some capacity, and I AM EXCITED.

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    I logged in for the first time in months to post exactly this. And it’s called ‘No Touch Princess’, which is fantastic and I am here for it. All of it, even if I’ll eventually be side-eyeing the queer-baiting.

    2
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      Tbh kdramas are so behind the times with regards to LGBTQ+ characters that I’ll accept even queer-baiting.

      1
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    Yes, this drama is now back on my radar!

    1
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    It might have been based on the Chinese we drama Go Princess Go, which was also a hilarious silly little we drama. They kinda explored the gay panic of the main character a bit too…check it out if you’re curious how it might go!

    1
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I’m just here to say that Twice’s new song is a bop

9
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    Super catchy.

    1
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    I was miffed with JYPent because they kinda struggled to transition TWICE to give them more mature music and how low budget the last MV looked but this made up for all of that…..great MV, Cinematography on point, color palette lush, girls look like Goddesses they are, line distribution done right, its a great A track…this is their best since debut for me

    2
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    Yes to this. It’s super catchy!

    1
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I would like to thank my Into the Ring Hype Squad comrade @egads for spreading the good word (and praising my substandard gifs) and would also like to share the very important gifs I just made

I promise we’re not a cult


19
6

Two months later and I’m still scrolling through YouTube getting emo over Into the Ring videos when I should be studying.

This OST and score and just entire show puts me at peace. It really has a special place in my heart. Listening to this song makes me tear up. It’s so rare to find a piece of media–art, even–that is so delightful from start to finish but also manages to worm its way into your heart in such a unique way. It made me holler with laughter while also gently squeezing my heart.

There have been many dramas this year that I have loved, but none have stuck with me as much as this one. And, sadly, it’s also probably the one that got the least amount of recognition. What an underrated little gem.

13
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    Agreed re underrated! This drama is a real gem.

    4
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    This was a good show.

    4
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    I loved everything about this show.
    I declared SeRa and GongMyung the best OTP ever in drama land.
    And the OST is just wonderful.

    3
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    I’m so sloooow and only about half way into this show but it’s the kind of drama you just fall in love with from episode one ❤

    2
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    I trust your taste and I love Nana, so I’m definitely going to try this show out!

    1
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      Oh my gosh this is the biggest compliment someone could give me fjkdjglf. I hope you don’t regret trusting me. But it is a really really good and underrated gem!! I hope you enjoy it!

      1
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        (not me coming back to this a month later adygfuydsffgh) but whenever I come back onto DB I feel like you always have something insightful to say about dramas! I still haven’t watched it yet but since I’ve caught up with all my k-dramas it’s on my list 👀

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Song of the Day 10/18: Lipstick by Orange Caramel

I am really inconsistent with these posts, aren’t I? LOL.

Today’s been a very Orange Caramel day~ and “Lipstick” is one of my favorites. Omo omo~

Even after so many years, I still think Orange Caramel has some of the most fun (yet often simple) music videos in K-Pop. The members got to show off their quirky, weird personalities while still looking super cute. I’m of the opinion that K-pop today is simply not weird enough. Lizzy has such a great smile! And Nana’s charisma is undeniable. Raina’s cheeks are the most pinchable.

Lipstick stick seugo~

6
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HAHAHAHA YANG-CHON’S DAD IS WATCHING BTLIOF

I knew I liked Live for a reason

I heard the music before they showed the TV and was like “That sounds familiar” and then they showed the TV and Se-hee started talking and I freaked out.

Does this count as new Lee Min-ki content for me? Maybe.
10
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    tvN promoting it’s own drama in a drama hahaha.

    4
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    I think you’ve found your new niche for the time between LMK’s dramas. I bet there’s at least one piece of Byung Hee wall art in a tvN drama.

    1
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      LOL. I guess I should give all tvN dramas a watch just to make sure…

      1
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Why does it seem like he’d like that
6
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When someone asks me, “How are you?”

11
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I’m only four episodes into Live and it’s already begging to fly towards the top of my favorites list.

Honestly, I’m kind of offended that no one ever really recommended this drama to me directly. It was on my to-watch list because of the high praises I’d seen people give it, but no one ever said, “Hey Mindy, you HAVE to watch Live, you’d love it!”, because YOU GUYS, this is exactly the type of show that I adore! I really regret not watching it while it was airing!

After the first episode, I was hesitant as to how the show would make me feel for these police officers given the state of law enforcement here in the US. However, learning more about how the police work in Korea (and how glaringly different some of their rules and procedures are to the US) is so fascinating to me. One of the main reasons I will always be more open to Korean crime dramas over American crime dramas is that in Korea, the corruption and abuse of power rife within the system is always addressed, and is often a central theme. They dig deep into it and, while the shows of course want us to connect to and feel for the protagonists, the level of “copaganda” is no where near what we see in American media. We see these individual officers as whole, three-dimensional people, but we also see the grossly evident deficiencies of the system as a whole. There are things in this show that make me raise an eyebrow, but I think, for the most part, they’re supposed to.

Even completely disregarding the police backdrop, I’m already in awe of the writing in this show. The characters and their situations are so complex, and my feelings about each of them are even more so. This show makes me feel conflicted. It makes me feel stressed out. Sometimes, it makes me feel a little sick. But I love it. None of the violence is ever gratuitous, and the subject matters are handled as sensitively as I think they can be while still delivering an incredible impact and showing the complexity of it all.

Sometimes when I fall in love with a show this early it makes me worried. It’s rare that this level of affection and emotion that a show draws out of me can be sustained throughout its run, but I have a feeling Live will be one of the ones to do it. I believe in you, show! I can’t wait for these next 14 episodes. Let’s go!

Ah, did I mention how much I adore the OST?

Oh, and Jeong-o is a badass.

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    The OSTs are icing on the cake! It makes everything better ❤️

    2
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      100% agree! I still play the OST!

      2
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        I wish they would’ve released a full OST with the English songs as well!

        2
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          I have some on my Spotify live playlist. Lol.

          0
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          i feel like they released the whole ost album on spotify but i need to check again.

          0
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    This has been on my to watch list for awhile.

    1
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      We seem to have similar taste, Bev, so definitely put it on your list!

      1
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    Live is in my top ten list. You will love it even MORE as you go further.

    2018 was a drama bumper year with four top notch productions – My Ajusshi, Live, Life on Mars, and Life. I remember Live and My Ajusshi were released in TVN around similar time. As I started Live first, I loved it so much and felt the need to be loyal to it that I wouldn’t start My Ajusshi despite reading all the praises for the latter. That tells you how I feel about Live. Someone mentioned it’s like Hill Street Blue (if you are old enough to know this US series).

    I am a fan of Jung Yumi and she’s terrific in everything I’ve seen her in – but her character and story here in Live is much, much darker. I applaud her for picking up this project and then turn her role in a memorable one.

    But, Live turns me into a fan of the two Bae’s – Bae Sung-woo and Bae Jong-ok. They are front and centre anchoring this human tale with our emotion rising and falling with theirs.

    Certainly a superb piece penned by Noh Hee-kyung. I only just finished her My Dear Friends that has been been on my to-watch-list for a while – and it’s definitely worth my 20 hours. Go for that one after Live.

    Meanwhile, I’m in my drama slump after FoS2……

    7
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      “2018 was a drama bumper year with four top notch productions – My Ajusshi, Live, Life on Mars, and Life.”

      You’re forgetting Mother! Mother, Live, and My Ajusshi all overlapped on tvN at the beginning of 2018. Amazing.

      3
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        Unfortunately, I am no fan of Lee Bo Young whose acting is the same no matter what role she plays. No intention to watch Mother, sorry.

        1
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          Well you are missing out imo! I think that LBY is a great actress in dramatic fare, plus she’s an elegant beauty. Oh well, different strokes for different folks!

          2
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            100% agree!

            Mother is one of the most perfect dramas I’ve ever seen

            2
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            No dispute, I agree Lee Bo-young is an elegant beauty and a hard working actress.

            I’ve watched numerous of her works over the years from “Save the Last Dance for me” as the 2nd FL (and where she met her real life boyfriend and then husband Ji Sung) to her star-making turn in “My Daughter Seo Young” and some recent ones. Occasionally, I’d rewatch MDSY because it’s a good family drama with interesting characters and subplots.

            Somehow, I don’t think her acting has moved beyond her MDSY performance. She’s not someone I’d follow so to speak but if a good script plus other great cast comes along, I may watch.

            0
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      2018 was a good drama year. Live got good ratings and received critical praise, but unfortunately, kind of got overshadowed by the other dramas that year.

      Dear My Friends was excellent too.

      1
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        Dear My Friends is exceptionally good, especially with its theme and a stellar cast of veterans. The kind of story that will stay with you for a long, long time.

        1
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    You must have never seen @cloggie and me fangirling hard about this show. It’s hard to really recommend this one because it is so gritty and gets way dark at times. It’s unapologetic in its depictions of human trafficking, abuse, and homicide, and these are topics many people would rather not see in their evening television, but the relationships are worth It. This is where we discussed it while live watching LIVE. Lots of intelligent conversation here between @hades, @pikalanapikake, @cloggie and others. https://www.dramabeans.com/2017/11/noh-hee-kyungs-live-recruits-shin-dong-wook-as-loyal-policeman/

    Here was my 2018 end of year review with it. It was never published here, but on my blog. https://freethekimchi.wordpress.com/2019/01/05/when-you-cant-ignore-life-because-of-kdramas/

    3
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      I probably saw you guys, but again, I only SAW other people praise it! No one recommended it to me! 😛

      And hey, I was watching Mother at this time, and I recommend it to everyone despite the heavy subject matter! No excuses, Ally! 😂

      1
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        True, but one reason I didn’t watch mother at the same time was because LIVE was so heavy. I think I would have needed an antidepressant if I saw both!

        1
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        It’s a masterpiece. And I don’t say that very often

        3
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    The OST was so good.

    I hope you love it until the end. I did. I’ve gone back and re-watched the last arc a time or two. The drama packs such a punch.

    1
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    Wow, you are almost convincing me to watch this! I have a lot of trouble with cop-focused shows because like 90% of my job is literally suing law enforcement, so…yeah. I can do k-drama procedurals where it’s detective work rather than actual police work because it’s so different from what I deal with, but it still can get to me, which is why I don’t watch more of them. I do appreciate, as you said, that dramas tend to focus on the corruption and injustice, which makes it easier too.

    I remember hearing good things about Live and loving the cast but the cop thing got to me and I never tried it. I’ve been in this field (on and off) for so long that I know my views are biased. Honestly, the state of American law enforcement is a large reason I needed to drop most of my American shows back in the day because I can’t deal with the copaganda (my one holdout, weirdly, is B99, because that show is very self-aware). But hearing you say it’s good makes me want to reconsider it…

    1
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      If any cop-focused show could make you get over your bias, I think this one would be it!

      I was watching B99 as it was airing, and the most recent season ended right before this year’s wave of protests started. I’ll be interested to see what changes the show makes for its next season, and how it will go about addressing the current discourse. I really loved the show but I’m not sure if I could still watch it unless they really do a good job with this next season.

      1
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        I actually am really looking forward to see what the new season does, since apparently they had 4 episodes written in June but decided to bin them entirely in order to regroup after the protests started, and work to actively address the systemic issues in policing head on. I am extremely curious as to what that B99 will look like.

        I also have been re-watching B99 because it’s what me and my mom watch together. We’re on season 6 now and it’s pretty good overall, in the sense that it does touch a lot on cultural issues and is well aware of the issues with police; the episode where Terry got profiled was great, if a bit ham-handed. And Captain Holt often talks about how his goal is to change the NYPD and its policies from within, which I really appreciate (though I roll my eyes too because never gonna happen in the real world; an officer like Holt would have left NYPD IRL), and suspect that the show will be digging into this more this year.

        Again, a large part of the reason B99 is watchable to me is because it focuses on detective work rather than your day-to-day uniformed officers, which who I usually deal with. I do think that the fact that the majority of the cast are POC helps – but again it also speaks to a “whitewashing” of the actual issues in policing in America on TV. My experience has been that the race of an officer has nothing to do with their behavior – it is entirely an “us versus them” mindset that officers have. Which is terrifying when you think about the fact that their job is supposed to be to protect and serve. I can’t watch any sort of straight procedural anymore because I tend to get angry at the righteousness of the characters because it is such bullshit (I am not a fan of prosecutors – spare me the stories of their heroism).

        1
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    I am at ep 1 for the last 2 weeks but not dropping it… just pacing myself. It gets too dark, too real very quick.

    1
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    The OST is so gorgeous!

    You’ve got the smile I wanna see, you’ve got the heart to carry me~

    1
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    Ooh, great points btw! I haven’t seen Live, but I’ll say that S.K addresses issues regarding police enforcement and shows how they are corrupt and etc. Which makes me feel better about watching these type of shows than NCIS type of shows in the U.S due to copaganda/current social events in the U.S.

    Korea went through a P.R cleanse with cops, (see the cute mascots they’ve for police officers). There are moments that make me eyebrow raise too, but the self-awareness in regards to law enforcers in K-dramas for the most part makes it easier for me to digest them than American shows that portray cops in a wholesome/one dimensional matter.

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    I loved Live so much. Yangchon is just me, and I wrote an entire piece about it (I will never shut up about this), I’m glad you’re getting into it 😀

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Forest of Secrets 2 vibes.

I’m learning so much about the Korean legal system lately.
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After having it on my to-watch list for two years, I finally started watching Live! Post-School Nurse Files I was definitely craving some Jung Yu-mi, and knew this would hit the spot. I’ve read nothing but praises for it, and I really am enjoying it two episodes in.

It’s not an easy watch, and to be honest, it stresses me out! Given the current discourse around police in the US, I’ll be interested to see how the show will be able to make me feel for these officers. Obviously South Korea is a different country with a different law enforcement history, so I don’t want to view it with a strictly American lens, but it’s still interesting to think about.

Also, I proclaim this hug to be the cutest hug in dramaland.


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    Live is one of my absolute favorites! I rewatched it in May just before all the protests started and it did make me think about things. I know it’s different than in the US, but still it’s not bad to think on complicated things like this. Like, what if US police had to discharge a blank bullet before being able to shoot live ones? What if shooting your gun meant you’d probably lose your job? Beyond the police stuff, I just really love all the relationships at the heart of this show!!

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      Seeing them go to the protest and not take any action at all besides making a barrier was stunning to me after the things I’ve seen police here in the US do at protests. And yes, the guns! I remember noting this as well while watching The Lies Within where when Lee Min-ki’s hoobae was shot with an officer’s gun and he was framed for it, how big of a deal they made about the procedure that Korean cops have to go through to even be allowed to have a gun on them. Sooo different from the US (in a very good way).

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    I really enjoyed it. I discovered Bae Sung-woo as an actor – like I was the only one in the world who didn’t know how good he is… (and that lanky Lee Kwang-soo)
    I would have to rewatch it in light of what has happened since, but from memory, it got to the nitty gritty of the physical experience of policing in SK. It’s probably another small masterpiece of everyday life with all of its small and big issues. As always, it nuances the emotional side of life.

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      I took a peek at Bae Sung-woo’s filmography and realized I’ve seen multiple films he’s been in! I don’t know why I can’t remember seeing him in anything before this. He’s VERY good!

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    I watched it last year. Incredibly stressful to watch. I didn’t expect to enjoy the drama because it’s about police, but it became one of my favorites. The character building was done so well, the relationship building was done so well, many different issues were explored.

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      I have a feeling already that it’s gonna earn a place on my favorites list, too! <3

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    I watched this with my sister and mom. I agree with the comments that there are many stressful moments in this show. I was amazed that police in Korea do everything to avoid using their firearms.

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      So different from what we see of US police on American TV shows, sigh…

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    Such an underrated gem! Happy watching!

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Me on most days since Lee Min-ki and Nana\’s rom-com was announced: Calm, cool, able to function like a normal human being in a society

Me today:

You don\’t understand how HARD it is for me to not just watch Into the Ring and Because This Life is Our First on loop and get my hopes up way too high only for them to come crashing down when it airs and I end up hating it

No other dramas until March really matter

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