Beanie level: Rooftop room dweller

Goosebumps!
When will I get to see another epic like Bloody Heart 😭
P. S. The cinematography remained beautiful till the end credits.



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    One of the best sageuks I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe this was the PD’s first solo full-length drama. I know the ratings weren’t that high, but I hope this gets some award love.

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      Totally agree. It ended so well.

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      The PD and cinematographer definitely deserves an award but unfortunately popularity equalas awards as well. I hoped it will reach 10 percent till the finale but it didn’t.

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    Brilliant 👏 👏 👏 A work of art.

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    It was a good one.

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Bloody Heart is easily the best drama I\’ve seen in last 3 years. If you told me I\’d be squealing over political machinations in a sageuk a few months back, I would not be able to fathom it at all. Even romcoms haven\’t given me the same delight as seeing the palace politics in this drama unfold. This show is smart, characters deliciously grey, follows an exciting storytelling structure each episode, and has outstanding music. Plus you have the actors that all are microexpression experts. I\’m not ready to bid it goodbye tomorrow. And as far as the show is going on, I can\’t predict how they will end it in one episode. Hoping it catches up with ratings and hype because we need such shows.

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What a twist My Liberation Notes! If anything, I\’ll give it credit for being totally unpredictable.

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    exactly.. i am still on shock 😲 and then confuse to make sense of unexpected time jump

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      I actually thought that was beautifully done. We were deluded to think it’s the same year. The winter we see Gu in and the spring we see Mi Jeong in only to tell us that it’s actually 2.5 years apart.

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        Lol sorry not spring but autumn. Haha i can tell it surely is confusing.

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          lol.. no worries. i am still not sure how to make sense of all the seasons passed in that short time span.. ill hv to watch again to connect some more dots.
          but.. seeing Mi Jeongs dad that way was painful.. for m3 n for Gussi too

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            Very hurtful indeed. I’ve always liked the parents, both of them so seeing him that way was painful.

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        oh you figured it out to be 2.5 years.. while i was thinking it to be only 3 seasons apart.. so may be 9 months apart.
        btw how you concluded 2.5 years ???

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          Oh I’m not sure tgat it’s exactly that but there seems to be a bigger jump. The 2022 snippet earlier in the show is what I’m basing it on. It could be in between 2019 and 2022 too but I don’t think it was only 3 seasons.

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    This writer!! She just gives us something lighthearted like the Dad – Changhee car racing scene and then smack us with the sadness of Mama Yeom.
    She is happy with Ki-jeong finally meets someone and also sad knowing Mi-jeong’s heartbreak over Mr. Gu leaving.
    This drama is like a 16 ep movie.

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I can\’t seem to stop singing praises for Bloody/Red Heart every week. While it may be too early for its run, it spellbinds me each episode. It is a good example of how direction, beautiful cinematography, excellent acting, the right amount of tension and angst and suitable music can elevate a script that is predictable and not predictable at the same time. The entire episode is juicy but the last few minutes are especially juicier which makes it the perfect setup for a crack drama. I wonder why the ratings are so low. I hope the ratings get higher and people here give it a shot too.

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    i second you.. being sick i dint want to watch a brainy drama to make me use already dull brain but i cant stop no matter what.
    Finished 2 episodes back to back and now keeping for 3rd for tomorrow so that my brain get some rest.
    Cinematography, Direction and screenplay is amazingly done in this one.. 👏

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Oh my oh my! Bloody heart\’s first episode is SO good. Reminds me a lot of Seven Day Queen. And I thank you for changing the name.

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    It really was, not to mention gorgeous. I don’t normally care for palace politics, but I liked that the leads were smart and ruthless. Let the games begin!

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      Not a fan of palace politics too but one that involves both the leads in it rather than simply making it a side story especially for the female lead, usually reels me in. This seems to be exactly the case and gosh how good are all actors. Not to forget, the cinematography and music were great too.

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Huh? Huh! Grid! I\’m not sure if you disappointed me any less than 39. At least I dropped that one but I kept hoping Grid will get better. Or all of it will make sense. Lol. Everyone hoping to binge it can skip it instead. Thanks.

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How is My Liberation Notes so good?
I could relate to Ki jeongs\’s tiredness, Change Hee\’s lack of plan and noone finding him doing his job enough and everything about Mi jeong. Plus I loved how worship was not given the atypical romantic meaning. Hoping the mystery around Mr Gu is good enough. Though I think it won\’t be anything big but it\’ll deliver. Just how the first 2 episodes of MA looked like a espionage drama lol

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After slice of life romances like Yumi\’s cells and 25 21, Business Proposal isn\’t working for me. I want rom coms to atleast do the comedy part well if they take a formulaic approach on the romance.

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    I think it’s purposefully OTT. It’s making fun of those rom-coms.

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      Maybe. The comedy wasn’t working for me in the first episode but it did pull through in the second one. Sticking with it for now.

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I don\’t connect with anything in 39 much. The characters are kind of caricatures for how 39 yo women would be. YWJ is wasted and honestly his character is slightly annoying and idk why a show about terminal illness needs romance pushed in. What\’s worse, you have SYJ and JMD crying about a terminal illness and I couldn\’t feel anything really because we still don\’t know a lot about their bond or it isn\’t shown that well. The writing is really off somehow. That said, as much as I think the Joo moo saeng/cheating story arc is forceful too(and I don\’t like the convenient angle it has taken) , only he made me cry this episode. His scene with JMD was so raw. So maybe I\’ll stay for that, or the unnie or maybe for the unrealistic high expectations i set for this show that left me disappointed in many ways.

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    Exactly I wanted to see their bond but these romance arcs looking too pushed

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    first 2 episode and i am already on dropping mode.
    this show feels soo superficial and added terminal illness at plot point makes it even more shallow to me. its going to be a big Indian Khichdi (porridge) with all big selling plot points in one pot to expect viewers would like… i am badly disappointed with this show.
    last week one night stand put me off and now this terminal illness being trivialized.. i am dopping it officially.

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Any luck with I haven\’t done my best yet\’s subs?

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Watching Grid before 39 was a good decision. Needed sth thrilling and it delivered while I paused at 39\’s first few minutes. Plus the 48 minute compared to the 1h17 min was an instant catch.

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Love February ends on a perfect note by watching 25 21. This show has everything working for me and it has exceeded my expectations. I\’m so glad to be out of slump (well atleast for Sat Sun so i look forward to something). Also Jaurim\’s 25, 21 (which I guess is where the show gets its name from) was the icing on the cake. I didn\’t know the song but Kim Yoon ah is my ultimate favorite singer. I lover her voice and skills but I haven\’t been listening to her for a while so I couldn\’t put my finger on it, however, I immediately liked it like I have many of her songs. So I was pleasantly surprised to find out it is indeed her and such a beautiful song that is.

I haven\’t been active for Love, February this year but I\’d really like to thank every beanie for always listening and sharing their wisdom making this a community that\’s very hard to leave even if I\’m in a drama slump. I go to beanies rather than people in my circle for real life advice because I find people here are from different backgrounds and experiences but the same level of compassion. This year when I finally quit all social media, I\’m more than glad to only retain my connection to this world. So thank you everyone, I hardly ever return disappointed from here.

Love, February

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I know I sad I was over RSC… but not its BTS yet 😛 Does anyone know where can I watch Radio star\’s latest episode with subs?

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I don\’t know if dramas are particularly stingy over releasing BGM(instrumentals) or they are at some place I\’m unaware of. Anyways guys please let me know if you find the instrumentals for Red Sleeve Cuff.

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    On Itunes, you can find almost all k-dramas’ OST, either searching using the English name of the drama + OSt to reduce the results, or sometimes you have to copy-paste the korean name. The Albums always encompass the entire OST once the drama is finished, meaning songs + instrumentals only when there were… during the drama broadcasting, they release the main song per “part” only. But at the end, on the full album / various artists version, you find instrumentals if there were …

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    following my first reply, for the Red Sleeve, the full Album hasn’t been released yet…

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      weird, i don’t see my first reply…
      I wrote that you find almost all dramas’ OST on Itunes, and the instrumentals only if there were some, on the full album/ various artists, only released after the drama broadcasting end. Before, they release the main song per “Part” only…

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    I’ve just checked on iTunes and only the songs are available.
    It happened as well with Run On, I never could find the album itself.
    I wish I could also find the whole album, if I do I will let you know on Discord, but as Ally said it would be more likely to find it on YouTube.

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http://koalasplayground.com/2021/12/09/viewers-impressed-with-the-mbc-production-teams-color-adjustment-techniques-to-make-the-red-sleeve-cuff-look-visually-stunning/
This is right on time. Only today I was watching the BTS of Red Sleeve Cuff and it shows that the preproduction team has been at work. The color grading makes a huge difference.

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It\’s so good to see the fanwall full of posts again. Everytime I log in, there\’s a bunch more to catch up to. I will not be joining because I haven\’t watched as many shows so I\’ll be repeating myself in each category but I\’m thoroughly enjoying reading all of yours!

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    But post anytime if you want. I mean, I will repeat myself a lot because even if I watched lots of dramas, most of them were awful choices…

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    I plan on repeating every time (almost).

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It\’s so sad that there is no recap for Red Sleeve Cuff because after ages I want to discuss and spazz about it on recaps. It\’s still not too late DB staff. Every episode of this show is great and I really appreacite how theu don\’t use songs and only instrumentals to set the mood. Intense sageuks like this one should only have instrumentals. Can\’t wait for the next episode, Friday Come soon!

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    I’m so gutted we have nowhere to camp for this show. I guess we could take over a news thread, till dB doesn’t load or something…

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    It really is unfortunate. I understand that not every show can be recapped and traditional sageuks in particular can be tricky, but this show is such a gem. I can practically feel all the missing discussions we could’ve had in the comments.

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      Yeah there would’ve been plenty of comments and interesting discussions.

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    Whereabouts are you watching it?

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      Unfortunately the dark sites. Kocowa and Viki are not available in my region and that’s where it’s available legally to watch with subs.

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    For lack of DB recaps I go to reddit. It has some interesting comments.

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    Maybe @db-staff can create a ” (Insert Drama name) : Beanies’ Discussion Thread”, for series which they won’t be covering in recaps, Open Thread or “1st Episode Review only” . This way all the dramas can have their own space for discussion 😅😅

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      They don’t even have to wee cap it or say anything. We have plenty to contribute.

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        I’m all in for this but I can already imagine my wifi failing trying to load the page, Bossam memories. 😅

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      Oh, and I forgot @stroopwafel to create the drama hangout for Red Sleeve Cuff soon. Or come someone who will creating a series review after this Kdrama was over already so you better wait for the series review for this sageuk patiently.

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    I also appreciate the use of instrumentals. It would be nice if @db-staff would recap these episodes.

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    Right? It’s frustrating to watch a scene and think, “oh boy I can’t wait to talk about this in the recap. Oh, there is no recap” ☹️
    Many thanks to @kiara for helping us out on the fan wall.

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These real world dystopian shows from Netflix are really something. Gave me the creeps about the world we live in and how conveniently we ignore the problematic elements.
Hellbound

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    Just being curious here. What elements of the real world do you consider as being problematic and are brushed off as insignificant?

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      If you watch the show it hints a lot at people being judgemental in the pretense of self righteousness and where that could lead the world to (For instance there’s a scene of teenagers beating up a professor for saying sth that does not align with their beliefs and the supposed beliefs which are thought to be ideal yet are problematic) . Idk if you watched it yet or plan to but saying more will spoil it for you. It actually felt more like a Black Mirror episode.

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        Thanks for explaining! I watched all the episodes of the drama and didn’t like it because I was waiting for logic behind the supernatural events, which they never elaborated. Regarding the judgemental aspect of the drama, I feel it was similar to “The Devil Judge” which I found was more entertaining even with all the dramatic set-up to catch the baddies.

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          At first, I was waiting for the supernatural explanation too but soon realise that’s not what the story is about. The prophecy cases are in fact sporadic like many unexplainable things reported around the world (like UFOs). At the core of this storytelling is how human manipulates situations to their own gain or justification – and how it should be undone. I find it a very satisfying watch. I like its ending a lot but not the epilogue as it brings back to supernatural.

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            I get that the series wanted to focus more on humans, but the execution from ep 4 din’t make much sense. It went completely one directional with the religious cult and fear mongering using “sinners”. They showed a time skip, but nothing was actually shown about how human lives changed, how crime rates were affected or how the families of the “sinners” were trying to live in a society after demonstration.

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Something is really off about this pairing. Love GHJ and the writer. I\’m also okay with LMH but he and GHJ together just don\’t seem like a good fit.
http://koalasplayground.com/2021/11/17/gong-hyo-jin-and-lee-min-ho-in-talks-for-2022-space-rom-com-drama-ask-the-stars/

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    And to be honest, I can’t picture Lee Min-ho pulling off writer Seo Sook-hyang’s brand of bizarre and oddly sensible dialogues.

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      Maybe we’ll see if LMWho can act?

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        Maybe…
        But then again, Seo Sook-hyang is one of my fave writer, so I’m pretty sure I’ll hold a grudge if he did say yes to the offer. Besides, I’m cringing already since writer Seo is fond of cocky (almost jerk-y) lead male, and I can’t stand LMH playing that kind of character.

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          Oh yes SSH’ leads maybe a jerk but they carry warmth and nuance which people like JJS and even Junho could ace. I doubt LMH can pull off that and add warmth to his character. But also i think both of these actors only have drama news when they have confirmed it already especially GHJ so maybe this is happening.

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      Yes, this is my favorite writer too. I honestly scratch my head – what, LMH? How will he measure up to LSK and JJS……

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      Maybe there’s hope? Lee Yeon Hee did really well in Miss Korea. Seo Sook Hyang could probably do the same for LMH, who knows.

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    LMH most definitely the rich space tourist character
    his character traits can be taken from any of his previous dramas
    lol

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      Yeah. GHJ plays the same characters too so I won’t be surprised if its a rich guy poor girl scenario again.

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What will I do without Yumi\’s cells? I don\’t remember liking any other kdrama this much in 2021. Gladly it has another season to follow!

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