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…

Chief Kim has the guy from Just Between Lovers in and I wish his hair was tousled. Also the ML from Beautiful Gong Shim.

It's good but not addictive so far.

I’m playing the field. The subtitles just petered out on ep 4 of Celebrity and it’s on a weekly drip feed after this episode, so I’m back to Hospital Ship for 20 min before I turn in. It’s not setting my world alight plotwise, but I’m enjoying the insights into providing services in a dispersed rural/archipelago setting. I’ve got to the episode with the guy picking up all the kids from different harbours in the elementary school boat. It’s yellow just like the US school buses and all the kids have lifejackets under their backpacks.

Prior to this, I hadn’t thought about the Korean govt sending military conscripts doing their national service off to do something useful. However, given that you can delay doing your 2 years until (?) 28, it means your conscripts have professional qualifications and decent technical/vocational skills which you don’t benefit from if everyone is made to do it at age 18. It’s actually a really clever way of providing continuity of care in hard to recruit areas and areas with low population/limited resources. The NHS struggles to recruit to posts in more remote areas of the UK and whole premise of Northern Exposure was a doctor from New York ‘repaying’ the Alaskan district that had sponsored his medical degree, so I’m guessing its a problem in many countries.

Also, (ona roll now I’m afraid) the hospital ship serves lots of poor and elderly people more at the margins of society. I’m enjoying seeing stories that aren’t all about primped and preened chaebol families and their hangers-on. The extras and peripheral characters are so lively and varied, I am enjoying them too.

Finally, back to Celebrity, I think the neighbourhood old lady gossip about FL’s rooftop neighbour (green tracksuit man) is correct. I think he is richer than he’s letting on. And he does like FL.

Aah so that’s the kind of thing they do when they have injuries (like Toasty LYS with his ACL rupture) and they do public service duties instead of active duty. Thought they’d be stuck in an office somewhere stapling forms but that makes more sense. Might give Hospital Ship a try later.

Have seen first 2 eps of Celebrity and found myself wondering big he’d had a wee yet.

If he’d had a wee yet dunno where big came from

Just finished ep 4 of Chief Kim and getting more into it as understanding the plot a bit more. Enjoying the quirks of the people (baddy prosecutor constantly eats, bad female director distresses with scent) and it is funny, Namgoong Min is very good at physical comedy.

Namgoong Min is a little like Jang Hyuk and am distracted slightly by his teeth, and the very short trousers, but suspect he may also have killer abs

Should be destresses with scent

Stayed up far too late with just between lovers last night.. 2am!!..but am really enjoying the quietness of it... Can't wait for the big reveals!...

Have seen first 2 eps of Celebrity and found myself wondering big he’d had a wee yet.

I had the same thought. She would had to hold it for him & wipe his bum after a BM toddler-style. She later relents and cuffs his wrists at the front so he can go to the loo unaided. Have to say the ML is such a tin-eared spoiled idiot. He sits there eating steak every night whilst she makes do with rice & kimchee.

Namgoong Min is a little like Jang Hyuk and am distracted slightly by his teeth, and the very short trousers, but suspect he may also have killer abs

I think Namgoong Min is a pretty good actor, to be honest. His comic timing is very good and he walked the line between irritating buffoon and serious/thoughtful very well in My Beautiful Gong Shim. He does seem to play jerks with depressing frequency though.

He’s got a new drama coming up where he plays a prison doctor so presumable a straight role, though still jerk potential.

I was right about the abs 😉👍though the obligatory shower scene is a little different lol!
Really into Chief Kim now, it has nice little touches. I like how the baddy prosecutor becomes completely gauche in front of the girl he’s fallen for.

ML/FL pairing in Hospital Ship is good value.

On ep 8 of Chief Kim & loving it now!

Ep 10 of just between lovers... I love it! Sooo glad I know it turns out well otherwise I would be seriously worried now! ❤️👍

I’ve been booted off Netflix for a bit by my son. 🙄

😱😱

We’re now watching an interesting film on Netflix set in Malawi and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor where a teenage boy finds a way to harness the wind and irrigate the crops during a drought. It’s hard viewing because life is so tough for the villagers, but DS says he is enjoying it.

Oh I saw Chiwetel Ejiofir talking about it on Graham Norton it sounded very good.

The Chiwetel film was very good. Harrowing in places, but ultimately uplifting. It was also substantially subtitled, so I see it as good training to build up DS’s reading speed til he can keep up with kdrama.

Hospital Ship has the ballet dancer ex from You are my Destiny yet again flogging a dead horse relationship. Poor dab, getting so typecast.

I’m in alley cat mode at the moment, so I watched the first 15 min of The Smile has left your eyes on Viki over breakfast, primarily because it has finished and every episode has been translated (yeah, I’d forgotten how annoying that is on viki). It looks really classy and shows promise.

I have deliberately left that one alone as even though it has the smiley-eyed 2ML from His Master's Sun I followed it on recaps.