KDrama Addicts Anonymous (part 5)

[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 4 (previous threads linked from OP of this one)

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)*
He is Psychometric (Viki)
Her Private Life (Viki)*
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 usually 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…

First episode was good. Turning in now.

I'm finding Life on Mars alternately dark & funny. The Gene Hunt character is great, and ML character quite tragic but v attractive (and runs very well)
Weirdly though I was grown-up in 1988 it seems very old somehow, perhaps because I associate the 80s with power dressing, glamour and city slicker type stuff but that was London not SK. I don't remember the Seoul Olympics at all either, but I was not watching very much TV at the time

I keep getting distracted by the 1st pic I posted of KJW with almost no kecks on so have asked for it to be removed

I randomly speedwatched series 1 of In Need of Romance last night for early CJH and it was dreadful! Completely unwatchable. Anyway now JCW is back CJH might have been edged out of my top 5

I found the sexual assault in the first episode of Life on Mars quite shocking. By switching to kdrama from US/British/Scandi drama I notice that I have dramatically reduced my consumption of casual sexual violence against women & girls presented as entertainment. It was uncharacteristically specific for a Korean drama. I now see what you meant about it being darker than usual, Betty.

Just finished episode 9 and the story is really dark, but it is leavened by the antics of Gene Hunt and his subordinates. I'm very impressed with Jung Kyung-Ho in this, and also the Gene Hunt guy who I found a bit annoying in Man to Man but he treads the dubious line of good/bad cop in this very well. OCN does seem to have darker dramas as they also did Tunnel , Priest , Black and Kill It.

I'm sticking with this but may need something frothy after.

I have enjoyed the first two, so will stick with it but it is much darker.

I'm very impressed with Jung Kyung-Ho in this

Same here, though he looks permanently tired and like he needs a decent dinner in him.

I'm in the middle of kill it... Which is becoming more intriguing!.... 😱🙄😎😎

I got a bit fed up of watching Life on Mars on my phone (too pixellated on the telly), so I’m trying out Heartless City on Viki. It’s a bit less recent (2013), but well done. It has the weightloss doctor from Weightlifting Fairy as the lead detective in a special investigations unit and Jung Kyung-Ho as the king pin of a drug trade gang. It’s pretty violent. KJH has already thrown someone off the roof of a building and knifed about half a dozen heavies in a corridor fight. 😧 He’s quite scary and cold in this, but very sharp in his king pin suit.

Oh noes. Gunner Jang as a hard-nut gang capo. 🙁

😱

Where are you up to Bea on Kill it? I’ve petered our at episode 5...

Just had the discombobulating experience of trying to work out whether FL detective was sitting by a mirror. Turns out there were 2 female detectives in more or less identical pastel pink jackets and identikit bobs sitting right next to each other in a squad room full of men.

Just on ep3... I'm curious how this is going to turn out as he is after all a killer!... How will he avoid the repurcussions of his killings!... It's not like he's healer... Who doesn't kill! 😂

Yes quite! I’m not sure there is enough of a spark in the story to keep me interested, it might be a skip to the end one

I think it's only a short run... So happy to watch through it!... Meanwhile still watching Are You Human...!

I'm going to need some romantic fluff after Life on Mars, will Are You Human fit the bill?

Oh yes!... A bit of fluff and nonsense yet there is the usual skullduggery fight over the family business all tied up with a pull at the heartstrings of what makes us human?... It's quite sweet! ❤️

... And it's got a lovely cheesy Kpop ost.. This being a particular favourite at the moment!.. 😱😳😳😳

❤️ 😍

I’ve been struggling a bit with DuoLingo Korean over the weekend. There seemed to be an awful lot of guesswork involved, although I had made the top 10 learners by Sunday. 😆 I discovered by accident earlier today that you can tap on each hangul word at the top of the screen to listen to the individual sound & to see the translation. 🤦‍♀️ Let’s just say I’m now storming through it.

Betty - Jung Kyung-Ho gets a shower scene in Heartless City. 👍

Would they fuzz out a massive fake back tattoo like they do with knife blades, or only a real one that JKH wants to keep private? I thought the TV had lost resolution for a bit.

Oh. Em. Gee. Great twist at the very end of ep 3 of Heartless City. I am now officially intrigued.

Which ep Boatyard? he's looking very knackered in Life on Mars poor thing, he is in practically every scene.

Pretty much bang in the middle of ep 3. He obviously works out & looks after himself, but he should have a chat with the guy off Money Flower about pilates and developing excellent posture as he stoops.