KDrama Addicts Anonymous (thread 2)

[boatyardblues]

A quiet corner of MN for serious addicts of Kdrama, or the Kdrama-curious. Most of our viewing is drawn from Netflix and Viki, but the more seriously addicted have other sources, including dramabus. To our surprise, we managed to fill a whole thread, which is full of recommendations (and ones to swerve): www.mumsnet.com/Talk/streamed_tv/3337309-K-Drama-recommendations?pg=1

We have some recommendations for newbies:

My (current) top 5 – all Netflix
Live
Prison Playbook
Don’t Dare to Dream
Black
His Master’s Sun

Betty’s top 5
Black (Netflix)
Fight For My Way (Drama bus)
What’s Up With Secretary Kim (Viki)
I Hear Your Voice (Netflix /Viki)
Don’t Dare To Dream (Netflix / Viki)

Bea’s top 5
Strong Girl Bong Soon (netflix)
What's Wrong With Secretary kim (Viki)
She Was Pretty (dramabus)
Healer (netflix)

Our lovely occasional posters who have lived in Korea, are Korean or have Korean partners/family members pop up to provide the context for some of the more baffling cultural references.

We love a good kdrama bingo card to mark off the regular tropes – white truck of doom, drunk/med evac piggybacks, stalkers, rooftop apartments etc

We also stray into Korean cookery and kpop when the mood takes us. To get to grips with the lingo, try dramaloveaddicts.proboards.com/thread/24/korean-word-day?page=1

If you want to join us down the kdrama rabbit hole, pull up a chair, say goodbye to early nights and get stuck in…

Easy peasy lemon squeezey!

Just dipping into all my faves at the moment!...

Ep 1 of Suspicious Partner
Ep 11 of Strong Girl Bong Soon

After watching lovely Investigator Choi in WYWS I'm more inclined to watch him with kinder eyes as the gangster /doppelganger in SGBS... which for all its faults is still eternally one of my faves!... I know! I know!... I'm in the minority here!... But wouldn't it be boring to all love the same think! It would be an endless bun fight... And the Venn Diagram would look very very boring,! 😂😁

Oh yes! I remember Pippa dolls... Before Sindy!... My sister had one,! 😁

😂😂😂😂 Suspicious Partner.. EP 1... Grrr JCW in the shower already! And a drunken soju piggy back ride aiready!!

Evil lawyer Yoo Beom from WYWS has just turned up in Hymn of Death and I actually feel sorry for him!

Oooo, hymn of death!... Tell me how it goes!... I think I already know! 😭😢😭😢😭😢

Has anyone watched Warrior Baek Dong Soo with JCW on viki yet? Any good?

Devilish Joy continues to be a solid 6/10 and I’m not sure I care enough to keep going. I need rescuing from my torpor before I accidentally watch the whole damned series through inertia.

The first 10 min of Warrior BDS are Monkey-bad. I’m not even sure I can ride out long enough to see JCW....

Hymn of Death.....hmmm....was good overall. Lots of lovely Toasty LJS in 20s clothes but I didn't blub (which I did watching the end of WYWS for the 2nd time) . I didn't really connect with the central relationship somehow, but I was fascinated by the period detail and the clash between Joseon and Japanese occupation. Worth giving it a go.

Just took a look at The Guardian but it failed the 10 minute test. I'm willing to go back to it though if someone says it's really good

Oh I agree with you about Warrior BDS....I so wanted to like it as it has lots of Grr JCW possible bare-chested but I barely managed the first episode so didn't get to see the grown up version.

ie the grown up version of GRR JCW that is.

I'm going to give Familiar Wife (Viki) the 10 minute test

I’ve doing a fair bit of dipping this evening (the food on Wok of Love looks amazing), but I’ve returned to Devikish Joy. What can I say? 🤷‍♂️

I've just finished ep 3 of the guardian... It's OK... But not enough to keep me watching all night... Though I like the strong female characters so far... Think it's worth sticking with... Until I find something that's worth getting a 🍑🍑🍑😂

Is that on viki, Bea?

The Guardian is on Netflix

Watched 30 mins of Familiar Wife, not sure where its going yet, but the ML is JiSung who was v good in Kill Me Heal Me

Sounds like Devilish Joy can't be that bad then

It’s tootling along. A couple of slimy characters have turned up and started hassling FL, which stirred ML’s protective instincts. AKA he’s not made of stone after all... it’s pretty formulaic, but it has some charm. The man mountain is broader and less boyish than the likes of LJS, so is more my style - although I wish he’d jettison all his old man baggy suit trousers. He needs styling properly IMO.

Anyhow, I keep nodding off and having replay scenes so I’m turning in now. Night all!

I've been noticing more baggy suit trousers, I hope they're mot making a comeback.

There’s a more tailored suit in ep 5 - phew! I sense they are struggling to remain faithful to the central premise about not retaining any short term memory - chiding the employee about borrowing money being an example. Yes, there’s a voice recording but you’d need to remember it was there...

On the subject of style there seems to be a trope where women with curly hair are hopeless failures and straight haired women much more successful & desirable. The FL in Familiar Wife has a curly hairdo when she is a nagging disorganised wife and a sleek tamed appearance when she is a career women with a sorted life. I've also noticed this in My Secret Terius and She Was Pretty

I've been sucked in to Familiar Wife even though I think I can see where it's going and I think the ML is a selfish git - but then that's the point of the story in a way.

Harassed married man with kids gets chance to go back in time to reconnect with first love. Things get switched around and lives changed. May skippitydoodah with this one a bit.

Contemplating my evening’s viewing, I’m struggling a bit to understand why I’m still watching Devilish Joy but there is every likelihood I will continue this evening. On reflection, I like it more than Sec Kim and I watched all of that, so perhaps I shouldn’t overthink it. It’s probably because it is sure-footed, but the writing is not clever or innovative. W was so clever and well-done that I felt actual delight and joy as the plot twisted and turned. This one is more like a mug of Horlicks and comfy slippers.

Interestingly, being a chaebol heir is presented as constraining and as limiting life choices in this one. The ML is not in the merry millionare mould, more the albatross around neck version. Similarly, it comments on how fame can become a prison.

Boatyard.. I'm in the same boat as you!... I want to find something clever... Funny and delightful (for want of a better word!..)... Funny you mentioned W as I've just popped it on again as the story was soooo good and clever... And I loved WYWS... And I'm really missing it... Strange though that may sound... Just dragging my heals to pick something! nothing is really lasting the 10 minute rule... My go back to the guardian.. Or try Something In The Rain.. Also hankering for something to make me feel like when I watched My Love From A Star... That angst and love for the characters... Basically I've got too much choice!! 😭😂

"heels"!!.... Doh, 😩

W... I just love the style and colours!... This! ❤️😍😍😍