KDrama Addicts Anonymous (part 4)

[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 there other sources, including Dramabus and AmazonPrime.

Previous Threads, with discussion of what we’ve enjoyed and what to avoid:

Thread 1

Thread 2

Thread 3

Some suggestions for shows that we’ve enjoyed - those marked with an asterisk are more uniformly loved or admired:

Because This Is My First Life (Viki)*
Black (Netflix)*
Chicago Typewriter (Viki)*
Don’t Dare to Dream (Netflix, or as Jealousy Incarnate on Viki)*
Fight For My Way (Viki/Drama bus)*
Goblin (Viki)
Healer (Netflix)*
His Master’s Sun (Netflix)
I Hear Your Voice (Netflix /Viki)
Just Between Lovers (Viki)
Last Train to Busan - film (Amazon Prime)
Live (Netflix)
Love from a Star (netflix)*
My Strange Hero (Viki)
Pinocchio (Netflix)
Pride & Prejudice (Netflix)*
Prison Playbook (Netflix)*
Romance is the Bonus Book (Netflix)*
She Was Pretty (Dramabus/Netflix)*
Something in the Rain (Netflix)
Strong Girl Bong Soon (Netflix)
Suspicious Partner (netflix)*
W (Viki & Netflix)*
What’s Up With Secretary Kim (Viki)*
While You Were Sleeping (viki)*
You are my Destiny (Netflix)

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

If you want to know your oppas from your unnis try this helpful guide to Korean terms of address and honorifics.

We are generally fans of all things Korean, so equally happy to talk about Korean cookery, film 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

We have a few frequently used acronyms:
FL/2FL = female lead/2nd female lead
ML/2ML = male lead/2nd male lead
SLS = Second Lead Syndrome (where the FL/MLis too thick to realise how much better the 2ML/2FL is)

We also abbreviate titles if they’re long, but only after using the full title & acronym together. Some of the regular favourite actors have been abbreviated too for speed/efficiency, although “him off Black” seems to have stuck for Song Seung-Heon. Don’t be afraid to ask for help/clues if we’re not making sense or have descended into acronym soup.

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

Instagram pups though instant pups could be fun

Now having a quick sample of Jung’s solo output on Spotify for comparison purposes. The CNBLUE stuff I listened to got liked for my playlist.

He’s a decent guitarist.

It's pretty darn cold on that island at night, but does she put on the jumper that is artfully draped around her shoulders?

Don’t be silly, Betty!

I also don’t understand why FL still has a large wheeled suitcase in the departures lounge in a later episode. Does no one check their baggage into the hold in kdrama land?

Also noticed that the booze in all the French bars is served with a fruit platter (or just once cheese) like back home. The idea that Europeans are wine-swilling-sans-snack hooligans is clearly too awful to contemplate.

The expressions on the French bar staff’s faces when the men were mixing red & white wine & necking it in one was good.

I like Mrs Cheater’s version of being in a meeting 🤣🤣

Also realistic smooching scenes for once instead startled eyes frozen lip bumps

Yes, to all of your points Betty. More realistic snogging definitely a bonus. I’ve started watching Heartstrings on Viki which has same ML, though younger and (to my mind) not as appealing as his Package character. It’s basically a college battle of the bands - Korean folk instrumentalists led by feisty FL and cocky rock band led by Package ML. Will they mend their differences and learn how to make beautiful music? 🤔

Yikes. The drummer was just eating handfuls of bashed up dried packet ramyeon with the flavouring mixed in, like low rent Korean bombay mix. 😱

Romance. M. Ohhhh! It's just sooo beautifully done...😍😍
The night out with Gangnam Leopard was brilliant!! 😂😂😂
The letter in the bookcase made me sob! 😭😩😩☹️
.... Am absolutely loving it and letting it pootle along very nicely! 👍
Going to watch ep 11 and then should go to bed! 😍😁
Hope you're all getting your weekend kdrama fix! ❤️❤️❤️

I’m taking myself off to bed now, seeing as we lose an hour tonight.

Happy day! My mothers’ day gift is a Korean-English dictionary with hangul alphabet and grammar sections.

Eek. I am now realising how much there is to learn.

I am soooo frustrated by the slow updating of the subtitles on Celebrity. It’s starting to get interesting.

I just stumbled on Giant on Viki, which has 60! episodes. Reader, I backed slowly out of that listing without making eye contact. 😆

Awwwww The Package was lovely! and the end shot was very clever & neat

‘Twas brill, I agree. IMO, ML is improving with age. The college boyband in Heartstrings have an identikit haircut, shaggy bowlcut, which does not suit him.

I am very excited. Having read the hangul explanatory intro to my dictionary this morning, I paused a frame on viki to read a sign & was able to sound it out and see how the character order in each syllable followed the rules in my dictionary - I was then able to confirm the name was exactly as subtitled a couple of frames later. 😄 It really is logical and phonetic. But there are 40 letters in the Korean alphabet to learn...

You know you can watch with korean subs as well ? It’s the Learn mode button in settings 😉

How come just when I think my oppas list is full another one pops up? Package ML is also in You Are Beautiful but I didn’t make it past the first 5 minutes

Random thought, would the FL in The Package always have taken the ML’s side as opposed to baddie corporate gf, or was it because she’s been exposed to French values?

I tried You Are Beautiful yesterday as well & folded about 30 mins in, basically because it was “too GCSE” (family shorthand) - basic, obvious plotting; shoddy production; slipshod acting; a bit too teen-style; cheesy but not in a good way. It has the same ML/FL pairing as Heartstrings, which is borderline AS/A level by the same measure & I semi-abandoned after 3 eps. We’ll just have to wait another year or so for Jung to finish his military service & get back to acting, I’m afraid, as his back cataogue is not stellar.

I agree that FL was able to be more supportive of ML because she’d gone native in France and had different values. I know the ending doesn’t give much away, but I wondered if they would end up back in France or even working in Africa because of the decisions he took with his career. On the other hand, her family and her brother’s in laws were very accepting of her brother despite his difficulties, which I thought boded well. Just depends how accepting wider society is & whether you could make a viable living after taking such a principled stand.

I am attaching this page grab because the macro-to-micro thing is brill. I’d already worked it out about syntax & names, but the address this is genuinely surprising.

Thing, not this...

I also ordered a set of godori (Go-Stop) cards last night, as we like pocket-sized games for holidays/the pub.I was quite taken with the premise of a calendar-based deck with a flower and animal for each month of the year.

So did i miss something? Was Mrs Cheater an actress or model? Was it explained?

Mrs Cheater had her initial dealings with Mr Cheater through his import/export logistics business, so I think she may have had her own undercrackers business. Why she’d want model her own range (which is what I inferred) is anyone’s guess. It was a good play, though.

How are you getting on with Romance, Bea? Have you managed to resist the temptation to binge it?