Dramabeans Podcast #14, Part 1
by javabeans
We’re a bit overdue for a podcast, which means that this one’s super long. In our defense, there was a ton of ground to cover. And yeah, so maybe we just had a lot to say about Gaksital. I was SO determined to make this podcast fit into one reasonably-lengthed entry… but who was I kidding? It was over with ‘reasonable.’ Two parts it is! And we weren’t even drunkin’ it.
Podcast #14, Part 1
Running time: 67:40
In which we:
- talk about the disappointment that was Big and why the Hong Sisters didn’t deliver (3:10);
- begin the very long discussion on Gaksital, beginning with overall impressions and how we rate the show (9:53);
- discuss Gaksital’s dealing of historical events and people, with a brief mention of The Princess’s Man (16:40);
- still Gaksital: its technical merits, why the director rocks, why the action scenes are meaningful, and how it went dark (20:35);
- move on, finally, to Answer Me 1997, why we loved it, and where it faltered (32:35);
- wonder about To the Beautiful You, where characters act like aliens (43:50);
- puzzle out the dichotomy of Faith of its potential versus execution (49:19);
- and discuss its lead stars Kim Hee-sun and Lee Min-ho (60:06).
[ Download podcast ]
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Songs Used in Podcast (In order of use)
Vanilla Acoustic – “Goodbye June…”
Venny – “Hey U” from the Big OST
“심판의 날” (Judgment Day) with Joo-won from the Gaksital OST
“내가 니 앞에 있는데” (But I’m Right Next To You) from the Gaksital OST
“각시탈” (Bridal Mask) from the Gaksital OST
Seo In-gook, Jung Eun-ji – “All For You”
J-Min – “일어나 (Stand Up)” from the To the Beautiful You OST
Ali – “Carry On” from the Faith OST
Younha – “눈물이 한방울” (One Tear) from the Faith OST
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Tags: Answer Me 1997, Big, Faith, featured, Gaksital, To the Beautiful You
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51 wanne
October 8, 2012 at 4:47 AM
Regarding Faith, I think people who are not feeling the romance may feel bored while those who are feeling it, are ecstatic and obsessed. There's a lot of fanfics, fanvids and comic illustrations around for this drama and many of them are r-rated I tell you.
I'm actually puzzled when you guys describe the use of the osts during the romantic scenes because I didn't realize it at all. I adore every scenes Choi Young and Eun Soo together that it surprises me by how little gesture and skinship can cause me swooning so much. The way ES likes to hold onto CY's sleeve, the warming hands among many others, I don't know, its just so romantic the way they do it.
I think it really comes down to if you can feel it, then you feel and if you don't, you dont.
But I agree, the directing is really disappointing.
With Answer Me 1997, I love that drama. So real, intimate and makes me nostalgic. I also like the high school portion more.
The rest,
Big - Dropped midway
Gaksital - Dropped after 2 episodes maybe. Its one of the dramas that I see people rave how great it is so I try watching but just not feeling it.
Too Beautiful - Didn't like the previous versions ,so not bothered to watch this one.
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canxi
October 8, 2012 at 10:49 AM
Try Gaksital again? It's one of those dramas where the first five or so episodes are so-so because of the longer episode count. It picks up though, when Shunji starts descending into madness. I dunno, when a good villain enters is always when the fun starts for me,lol.
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guerrero
October 8, 2012 at 11:49 AM
first episode of gaksital: was ok to me,but i didnt love it
second: i couldnt finish it :/
third: the first episode that i loved soo much x)
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canxi
October 8, 2012 at 5:31 PM
LOL yeah. I wanted to run and hide from embarrassment when they started dancing.
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52 Saima
October 8, 2012 at 5:50 AM
Totally agree with everything the both of you mentioned about AM97. By giving in to the fan fervor the makers of this show did take away the very elements that made it a success. The last bunch of episodes seemed too looong...esp the finale. Did we really need a 70+min finale when a 45 min one would've worked much better. For instance, the skinship served to just fill the lull b/w the narrative. This is actually unfortunate since it took away the fuzzies that the first half of this show filled me with.
K-drama makers will have to figure out a way to not give into fan requests/ploys to generate ratings and instead do justice to the story. How many times have most of us been burned by bad endings. I'd rather have a short show than a longer one where the likelihood of it making missteps increases. When a good show does this it becomes even more frustrating since you looved it SO much.
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53 neener
October 8, 2012 at 6:07 AM
WOW! it's been a long time :D
off to DL this and listen probably while in school hehehe not during exams though hahaha
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54 MEK
October 8, 2012 at 9:47 AM
you guys are so on about Faith. I like it because of Lee MinHo but you're right. Its supposed to be a romantic scene and Eunsoo and Choi Young are just looking at each other...wth. I do however still wait for it every Monday and Tuesday because of Lee Min Ho...only! Who is playing the king of the uncle...dont you guys think he's cute as hell?
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55 James
October 8, 2012 at 10:31 AM
I wasn't sure if Javabeans was a male or not, but now I know.
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56 peace88
October 8, 2012 at 11:50 AM
younha <3
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57 SEK
October 8, 2012 at 1:39 PM
First podcast listen! And thank you for giving the times, since I don't want to be spoiled for AM1997.
I SO wanted to love Big because I love Gong Yoo. He is the reason I watched the show, and he's the reason I stayed till the end. Like you said, there were parts in the middle that were so good, so butterfly-inducing--like the part when she finally comes to grips with her feelings and he finds her and kisses the hell out of her--damn. I have to say, I think Gong Yoo is a fine kisser--all of his dramas showcase good kissing. :) And the whole 10:10 thing. It was when they had to deal with the body swap/coma/medical/fantasy aspects that the show failed. Why, oh why isn't a simple relationship development enough for a k-drama? *sigh*
And Faith? I really, really want to love Faith. There are moments, but it's so sloooow. Nothing happens. Best parts: when Choi Young kicks ass and when he's teasing the Suribang people. I think it's really poor direction. When LMH is on, he's ON. Like in the beginning of City Hunter, when he's loving life and running around causing silly trouble in the jungle. He has the capacity to be really great--that face of his can be so expressive and so captivating. It's a shame he's so often asked to be stoic and repressed in so many dramas. Regardless, I'll watch this one till the very end.
Thanks for your thoughts!
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58 JenJen
October 8, 2012 at 2:47 PM
Thank goodness for your recaps, they come in handy for skipping the boring political dialogues in Faith (and for knowing which episodes to skip over when I do watch the episodes). I completely agree with you 2 about how out-of-place the magic is and how non-action-packed Faith is. It's very unfortunate considering the initially novel premise that it set out to build on.
And Answer Me 1997 post-time skip was also disappointing. I felt it slowly lost its cohesiveness after the post-time-skip car scene between YoonJae and ShiWon until it was quite meh~ by the end. But I still consider it one of the best for the year.
Even though I loved the Gaksital action sequences and beautiful camera work, costumes, etc, I really wish the female characters had more layers (or maybe just MokDan...). Ah well, It seems that a lot of the dramas for this year have high highs and low lows.
Can't wait for the next half of the podcast :)
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mud
October 9, 2012 at 7:33 PM
I definitely think Faith could have been told in fewer episodes (I had to verify this, but 24 eps? Eeks!) How are they going to be able to hold onto our attention for that long of a run? We need more action, more action using the magic (& hopefully more explanation as to the reason for the magic) and MOAR animated sequences (a girl can dream, right?) I completely agree with JB & GF about the suddenly dropped usage of the magic. It was actually something fresh in the time-travelling trend and it is such a waste to just let the ball drop like that.
I was so super excited in the first 2 episodes. I remember bawling my eyes out at the airport at the end of episode 2 and just wanting to fast-forward my life to the next week just to find out what happens to our story. It was an awkward and embarrassing moment at the terminal, but ze pain of a dying Lee Min-ho was too much for my frail drama-watching heart. Nowadays, I'm like...meh.... I guess I can watch the next episode, but there's also a new episode of VP2. *watches VP2 promptly!* Faith needs to pick up its pace. Also bring back the funny Eun-soo!
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59 MEK
October 8, 2012 at 2:48 PM
i started ep 1 of gaksital - im not sure about it yet though so I havent watched anymore...i love JOOWON!!!
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60 hartofseeker
October 9, 2012 at 11:18 AM
lol honestly, king gongmin (or ryu deok hwan's performance) is the only thing i'm watching Faith for... him and nogook has been set on a good trajectory... i can't find myself a reason to really like CY so their bromance doesn't draw me in enough. GM's growth as a king... where you see his raw, glowing ideal to be a GOOD king for his people vs what you know about how it ends as history tells us, i'm desperately trying to shut that out and whimper in hope that GM will stay on track and be an awesome king (though now that i look at the pacing of the drama i don't think they'll get to the ending phase of his reign)<-- THIS is what keeps me going back to Faith... whether GM can keep his heart while taking grasp of his throne... gah... the love i have for his character (or this rendition of the character, as played by ryu deok hwan)!! T-T
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61 maeye86
October 15, 2012 at 3:48 AM
so love your bgm selection!
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62 TS
December 12, 2012 at 3:03 PM
You guys are a bit unfair to Faith: I came to it new, not expecting anything from any trailers because it's the third K-drama for me, and it was a funny, romantic fantasy.
Of course your hilarious recaps helped, but then they help me with all the k-dramas.
Anyway, if you come to Faith with a fresh mind, it's like watching a comic book. It's awesome.
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