Beanie level: Rooftop room dweller

I’ve had a rather a Loveless February but if there’s one confession that will live in my mind rent free for eternity and fuel my escapism , it will be this one.

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It\’s great to see the fanwall full of heartfelt posts again this February. For people who return here for this month, to many who are joining for the first time and the ones who are no longer here, hope you are living your best lives.

Love,
February

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Dear @db-staff I always see an older version of the site and especially the Beanies page whenever I access the site without logging in. Is that a glitch?

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    For faster response and specific help like this try emailing: Hello@dramabeans.com

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    You are not the only one to notice it. Even the comments section doesn’t refresh when accessing offline.

    Also, @db-staff whenever I login from mobile broswer, I successfully get logged in, but I keep seeing the “Login/Register” link instead of the “search/notifications/profile” icons until I click on a post.

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      Yeah same here. And it’s been happening for a while.

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      Same. I have to click on Beanies or another link to confirm I have logged in and to see any notifications. Happens on mobile browser.

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Okay I\’ll bite. I haven\’t watched enough kdramas this year so I intended to skip out entirely this time but I\’m seeing lots of you guys mentioning Cdramas. They are the ones giving me joy this year and the \”can\’t wait to be free and watch the new episode\” feeling. Since I\’ve never been consistent in these lists, I\’ll write them in bulk.
1. Best Female Lead
It\’s a tie between Na heed do from 2521and Yoo Jeong from Bloody Heart.
I like the former a tad bit more because NHD\’s passion and optimism for her goal inspired me to do something with my life too.
Though similarly, Yoo Jeong\’s compassion made me see things from a different perspective on a large scale. Not to forget her wits and being an incredibly smart FL that can easily outsmart two prominent men in the kingdom.
I think I need a rewatch of both shows.

2. Best Male Lead
Hands down Dongfang Qingcang from Love between Fairy and Devil.
Noone comes close especially in a year of lackluster Male leads but he would\’ve maintained the spot among strong competitors too.
It has been quite a while since I\’ve seen such a tangible character growth, not happening over night and if it does even happen because of love there is so much logic behind that. Not getting over his \”Benzou\” any soon.

Honorable Mention: Yin Zheng, New life begins: Best husband
Lu Xun, Legally Romance :Or I should say younger Lu Xun.

3. Best Womance/Bromance
For Womance: All the women in New Life Begins
This show is consciously made to reverse all tropes about women in palace. This is the best costume historical fluff drama I have seen about women and it solely focuses on female friendship and comradeship in a place where they all are strangers. Such a feel good and light breezy drama for winters. I\’m loving every bit of it.

Honorable Mentions: Na hee do and Ko Yu Rim as an excellent enemies to friends relationship.

For bromance: Dongfang Qingcang and Changheng
I know many would think DFQC and Shangque need to be here. But these were loyal comrades.
Like Na hee do and Ko Yu Rim, DFQC and Changheng were enemies, just on a very bigger scale.
These two ended up becoming friends through a very tangible and understandable route. There are two ways to go about fantasy. You can either complicate it more because there are so many leeways you can take or you can use the fantasy devices to simplify things that are difficult to show in an otherwise non fantasy drama. The show did the latter and oh so well. Not only did Changheng knew his boundaries as a second lead, he also became good friends with the Male lead. I loved both their growth arcs and how it wasn\’t one dimensional or only related to one form of love.

4. Biggest Disappointment
Love is for Suckers! You have Lee Da Hee, Choi Si Won, an interesting 4 premier episodes, what went wrong? I feel the writer originally wanted to write a low key slice of life like the first 4 episodes but was told that\’s not interesting enough. So she added the dating reality show. Or maybe the show was always a mess. I dropped it long ago but I wish I hadn\’t hoped it would be good from the beginning.

Honorable/Dishonorable mention: My Liberation Notes. I expected better, a lot better but I knew I wasn\’t going to like it from the moment they took the romantic route between the leads. Still haven\’t seen the last episode, I was just so disappointed because it could\’ve been really better.
Also She and her perfect husband: I waited 2 years to see this much lawyering? Really show?

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    Apart from the shows I haven’t watched (I.e., Love Is for Suckers, Bloody Heart, My Liberation Notes) I agree with everything you said.

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This brings back memories! While it’s only been 3 years to Arsenal Military Academy, all the funny clips still hold well. Dramaland is in need of an absolutely crazy male lead like Gu Yanzhen 😂

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    I miss Xu Kai’s eyebrows! Where is the perfect husband??? Please air it fast.

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      I no longer have any hope or anticipation lol. But Xu Kai is more inclined to doing serious shows now while crazy silly ones like Gu Yanzhen are his strong points, hopefully he gets back to doing these.

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How did Curtain Call know I needed a good cry? While KHN and HJW were epic in the first sequence, I was certain Go Doo Shim will be the scene stealer here. \”That is correct. That is right. Yes. Yes\” all delivered in the same breath, with the same meaning but 4 different expressions.

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    I wanted to watch Curtain Call but didn’t know where I could watch it. Do you watch it on Viki? And did you have to subscribe (with fee) to it?

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      Unfortunately CC must be geographically restricted on Viki. I just watched episode one on Viki US and the subbing team did a great job getting it quickly available.

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        😭 I really wanna watch this one, but thank you for your answer!

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    I have a feeling that this might actually be good. I have this unexplainable faith in how KHN chooses his projects, and I feel like HJW knows what kind of role suits her best. Unless the writing becomes too makjangish, I think this show is in good hands.

    Having said all that, I haven’t watched the first ep. I need to find where I can watch the first ep, at least, of this one.

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    Great first episode.

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    She was amazing! her story so heartbreaking. I almost thought we have a incest plot, he he..
    so the original grandson is the smuggler dude and KHN just happens to be a look alike?
    I hope to see more of him tomorrow! so far I am not sure of the story, I worry it can turn a bit makjang.. Hope it keeps its heart.

    p.s. loved the Hyun Bin reference.. lol

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Oook Love is for Suckers ep 4. I like where this is going. It\’s going to be a slow breezy ride. I\’m on it for now.

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    Me too!☺️ I’m very bad at waiting between new episodes, though.😅 What on earth did Kim In Woo tell YR? (I have my theories but waiting is so hard!)

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      Well I’m thinking he didn’t tell her anything as cowardly as he is, his girlfriend did.

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        I hadn’t even considered that as a possibility but you’re right – I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t the one to have told her. Geez.

        Whilst I understand the reasoning behind JH’s cowardly omissions in communication, I’m struggling to understand IW. It’s not yet clear to me why he hadn’t told YR about his wish to work in New York, and now…is it just sheer stupidity that makes him think that his life in NY won’t ever come up with YR? It’s bizarre to me, but I guess we might find out more next week if he doesn’t disappear from the drama altogether after the wedding gets called off.

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    I’m really liking it so far!

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      I actually didn’t like it as much till ep 3. Ep 3 was slightly better but I really like what they’ve done in ep 4. This is more of a slice of life friends to lovers than rom com friends to lovers and I’m digging that.

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I really like Lee Da Hae and Choi Si Won so I was naturally waiting for Love is for Suckers but ep 1 wasn\’t working me for till…the last 15 minutes. They saved the show and I\’ll definitely watch the next episode now. Thank goodness there\’s one show that\’s not sparing a ML for his rudeness towards his blind date.

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    I will continue the drama just for that one scene. So I am hoping the writers show maturity in handling the story.
    I wasn’t hooked either but I will definitely continue. It’s troubling to see how little respect she commands at work.
    The drone incident – it was the team members fault and she should have taken him to task and made him go retrieve it.
    Also, not another ML with trauma. Lol.

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      Ugh the ML with trauma. But I like that he is not rude, just jaded. That scene saved the episode for me. The last scene, though, cheesy did the same.

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I’ve had a good drama year in 2022 thus far. There has always been one show in each batch that I really liked. They were all competing for the number one spot untill Love Between Fairy and Devil showed up. Even if I’d like to say that’s subjective, this show is also objectively very good. It’s hard to find a flaw in it and I haven’t felt this strongly for a drama in a long time. Heck, I have Never rewatched a show but i broke that rule for this one because I couldn’t resist and there are so many details you pounce upon a rewatch. It maintains a strong narrative consistency till the end. Easily the best fantasy romcom/romance drama I’ve seen.



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    That’s a strong recommendation! I’ve been hesitating because I can’t handle Esther Yu’s voice. It was such a problem for me that I had to watch her last drama on mute. But with all the love the show has been getting, I think I’ll give it a try once it’s on Netflix in my region in a few weeks.

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      Oh that’s indeed a problem. I always face an issue with Esther Yu’s voice however, I get over it soon too. By ep 3 or 4 it no longer bothered me but going through ep 1 was difficult. That said, don’t skip the show for that and my recommendation may be high but it was also in the moment of finishing the finale 😂 I still stand by what I said but your mileage can vary regarding the term “best”.

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        Haha! Don’t worry I won’t blame if it’s not the BESTEST THING EVER 😂.

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    I wil check this one out..I need a palate cleanser for the trainwreck of a fantasy show that I just watched.

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      I have yet not seen the last episodes of AOS because the show paled in comparison to LBFD which had occupied my mind in its entire run. Going in just remember its xanxia, so see it from pure fantasy lens and it will also have some old tropes but they are tastefully wired to 2022’s audience holding the principle true that tropes aren’t exactly bad, they need to be accomodated to today’s audience’s likeness.

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    I was eyeing this off on Viki. Might give it a go.

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    I’m going to have to try this again because the animated series (https://www.iq.com/album/love-between-fairy-and-devil-2022-ffsxk2apr1?lang=en_us) has been hilarious.

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      Thanks a lot for the link to the animation because whenever I tried searching it, I was pointed to the drama. As much as I’ve heard the drama is better than the animation which follows the novel closely. Definitely give the drama a try and probably more than 2 episodes. Ep 3 is where the fun starts and within a few episodes there is a grand episode.

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        Thanks for the heads up about giving it a few episodes to get going. 👍

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      Thanks a lot for the link to the animation because whenever I tried searching it, I was pointed to the drama. As much as I’ve heard the drama is better than the animation which follows the novel closely. Definitely give the drama a try and probably more than 2 episodes. Ep 3 is where the fun starts and within a few episodes there is a grand episode.

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I see Noh Sang Hyun, I click. This guy has everything to make him an IT actor in the coming years. Hopefully he gets some solid roles. He was good in whatever little I saw him in Pachinko.

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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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    @dancingemma
    I was reminded of what you used to say about Tae in the earlier episodes, in this penultimate episode. A king wanting total power does not bode well for the citizens but Bloody Heart was already prepared to handle that.

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    Not that I don’t like good political machinations but I haven’t seen that in many of the sageuks because I have been more aware of the fusion/fantasy ones. But I think in sageuks good palace politics that involves all leads and explains every move is my niche? I guess that’s quite hard to find so BH really is a gem.

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    It is excellent. I don’t usually like palace politics but they are fun here. I think because there is no bad guy, per say, everyone is both right and wrong.

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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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      Yeah just make it about the girls. But that won’t be a kdrama then lol.

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      Worse is that there’s no chemistry btw the pairings.

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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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