Happy Friday, beanies.

I liked Kang So-ra so much in Warm and Cozy that i finally decided to watch Misaeng. I know, I know! What took me so long?! I'm really enjoying it.

Since Warm and Cozy is definitely not one of the Hoang sisters best drama, can you beanies suggest some of their best work for me to watch?

Happy OT beanies.. ;-)

-CRIME SCENE S2: Bravo, show. I was expecting some twist for the last eps, but that thing you pull at the last minute is simply brilliant. So the casts found the victim slumped over his desk on his own pool of blood with stabbing wound on his neck, then they found out that the weapon is this giant clock's hand, and they succesfully arrested the criminal... Only to find out that the victim's cause of death is not excessive blood loss, but asphixia. Haha, that's one way to make your casts went riot when you insisted that the case ain't over and they got extra 1 hour to arrested the right criminal when it's freaking 5 a.m. And you even going as far as providing new site to investigate through. Thumbs up. Can't wait how they will played this out next week.

-PUNCH: Finishing this and it's really amazing, I can't praise it high enough. It's definitely one of the best drama I've ever watched. I love how everyone painted in a different shades of grey, how every situation can be peeled like onion and there is always something more behind all those layers, that there are always power shifts, that there is nothing certain about who will win this ultimate battle, and how every woman in this drama is actually a living character that can think and act, not just some unnecessary accessory. And the ending is surely brilliant and satisfying. Bravo, Punch. You are such a rarity.

-MASK: I was really frustrated with Jisook being meek and weak in front of everyone. She should just come clean with Minwoo about her identity when he already told her about his biggest secret so they can defeat Seokhoon together. Especially now that the crazy machinations is back in full swing. Please writer-nim, don't drag the misunderstanding unnecessarily. And please, let Jisook being a smart and resourceful woman we know in the earlier eps again.

-HIDDEN IDENTITY: Oooh, this show makes me giddy. It's slick and cool. Glad that all the police seems capable so far. I'm really invested on Geonwoo and Taein's relationship since they seem still have so many brotherly love left after whatever terrible things that happen back then.

Hi Everyone!

I hope you are all doing well today.

Glad to be here after missing last week. Experienced a horrible, summertime flu/cold. I felt really sick for a couple of days, but thank goodness I'm feeling a whole lot better! ....... I got behind a little bit on the drama-watching, but I'm catching up!

Watched this week:

Angry Mom - Finally finished this. It was good from beginning to end. Will certainly miss Go Bok-dong.

Hwajeong - Loving Cha Seung-won as the king.

Mask - Just started this and I've watched the first 4 episodes! ....... Oh my goodness, I'm so going to enjoy this one!

Divorce Lawyer In Love - It's cutesy, it's light. Just right for summer watching. ....... That new cheater divorce case with the "Korean Casanova", wow, what a disrespectful jerk!!

Masked Prosecutor - Decided to give it a chance and checked this out. Unfortunately, we didn't click right now, so the viewing lasted no more than 10 minutes. Don't think I'll be watching this at this time.

That's it for now. ....... Take care everyone and have a great Friday!

Happy Friday and OT and Weekend Everyone!!!

I'm so excited (I know it's silly) by the prospect of our virtual party for Ji Chang Wook's birthday next weekend with our fan-made Healer Kdrama Awards ... especially when I saw this cool page. Click and have fun on it by suggesting what you'd like for the party and of course you're invited to come to the party too!!!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qFeRjvV5I1FCUyR2sKQ9NJK4Ia2jBrKVlSzTQIKoKKo/viewform

Enjoy!

Hi all
Hoping everyone is well.
Hard to believe that in two weeks we’ll have been in Albany for a year. Time flies!

Dramas:
High Society: Am hooked on this one. I had assumed this would be all high concept cheesy but the writer is doing a good job so far. The story might get messy at times but the characters are so well-made (all the characters) that right now the story seems to be flowing from character motivations rather than writerly plotting. Love Joon-ki’s mom, the Chairman, and the mistress/concubine especially. They seemed really horrible to begin with but now we see there’s more to them than bad manners and an inability to grieve about a dead chaebol son. And am totally loving that everyone in the drama seems to be “learning” something. Learning how to be unrepressed and violent after being a perfect chaebol wife all these years. Learning how to be “soft” if one is to be kept as a concubine. Love both of the romantic couples.

Mask: Oh my! This drama. Hadn’t realized how much I wanted a makjang! Big Bad Villain is so ruthless. So glad she developed a backbone AT LAST.

House of Bluebird: I had stopped watching this because the villain was so mean-spirited and cruel in such a visceral and sneaky way. I just couldn’t take it. But it kept whispering to me and I couldn’t shake it. So I watched episode 32 and yep I’m pulled in again. This is one villain I want to go down to the pit of hell.

I Remember You: I have a lot of hope for this. I like the way the writer takes us along with the clues. The possible romance doesn’t feel necessary but since it’s gonna exist no matter what, we’ll just have to suck up and accept it. There are some great feels in this drama, espec in the backstory. The darker scenes have more heart than the romance so am hoping for more heart in the present. And loved it when serial killer called up. Wondering if serial killer is working with hero’s “missing” brother. Or if missing brother was adopted by good parents and is now an investigator. Which would be best because if the story is about nature versus nurture and “the critical moment” when nurture affects nature..then we should see that becoming a serial killer isn’t one’s only option if one is a child genius who paints odd paintings.

Hidden Identity: Remembered once again why I dislike action spy/thrillers. I don’t mind unbelievable. I mind unbelievable when the main characters are supposed to be super-great. Events, timing, etc falling into place to help them in EVERY situation is just hard to accept.

Masked Prosecutor: I keep fast-forwarding because I want to see what happens when Prosecutor Kang realizes he has a brother. That is the main reason why I’m watching. Writer should’ve worked more of that into the story.

Producers Loved Cindy and felt sorry for her but wow, has there ever been a more self-involved “lover” in k-drama? I understand that the writer showed her as caring for the little starlets, and that she became famous as a child...

oops...

as a child so she never had a chance to grow out of that narcissist solipsistic cognitive phase but really??? If she truly loves someone, she should worry about how HIS day was, what concerns were on HIS mind, but everything was about her and her feelings and I just kept shaking my head hoping she would realize that other people actually have existences and hearts and troubles. Poor oppa manager. I suppose the ending was okay and realistic. People don’t go through major changes within the space of six months. At least not all people. So..increments….

Summer ! Weeks of hot weather and thunderstorms.

My birthday on Sunday, and my granddaughter's birthday today, (2).

Not watching much, Hwajung (behind this weeks eps), Sound of the Desert and Cruel City.

Waiting on subs for Queen Insoo.

Cruel City is pretty good as far as cop dramas go.

Happy Friday~ Jet lag aside, it's a wonder I've managed to start two new shows and a movie since yesterday hehe

Hwajung - I had nothing currently airing after School 2015, Ex-Girlfriends' Club and Producer ended so I went back to my first love: sageuks. Marathon-ed it but frankly, I'm hooked from E01. Naturally rooting for Jeongmyeong and Queen Inmok but Gwanghae makes me so conflicted. He's not straight up good but also not completely incapable of evil. You just see him wanting to be a wise and competent king although it doesn't help his closest people (Lady Kim Gaeshi especially) does all these unspeakable deeds on a regular basis. Hands down to Gaeshi, in any case, she's awe-inspiring for wielding that amount of power. Injo though, is already hateful from the get go. He crossed the line when he inconsiderately brought up Yeongchang's death in front of the still grieving dowager queen. Wow, just no. He can chop off his head next week, for all I care, and save us from all the damage history tells us he'll do when he gets the throne.

Reset - Maybe it's the withdrawal from Kim Sohyun but 10 episodes of messed up murders and hypnosis shenanigans was not that bad. Especially when her character, coincidentally another Eunbi, a redhaired teenage delinquent ends up with a precious found family after the male protagonist, played by Chun Jung Myung, left her in the care of his co-workers from the prosecutor's office because she looks exactly like his first love who died 15 years ago. I'm pretty sure there were vague one-sided (?) lovelines (Chief Han with Cha Woojin, Inspector Go with Chief Han) but aside from the intense mystery, the three being co-guardians over Eunbi was what kept me tuning in for the next episode.

Mask - I've heard everyone raving about it (and I've read the first db recap on it) so I told myself it wouldn't hurt to try. And boy, it didn't. Sure, all the makjang tropes you could think of are employed and yet, they play it so straight that the crazy's refreshing (yes, over the top, theatrical Evil Ahjussi, I'm looking mostly at you). Oh, let's not forget how awesome it gets when Jisook and Minwoo are acting all dorky and adorably cute. Since Eunha's dead dead, we might as well get Jisook finally taking charge of her own life decisions (and maybe helping her husband not have induced insanity) and I'm so okay with the developments.

Warm and Cozy - I'm currently on E04 but I can see why it's irritating to watch. The male lead's stupidly dense and hugely self-centered (except for fleeting moments of barely okay concern for Jungjoo); the lady he pines on is just, if not more conceited than he is. A little too bland but right now, I'm going to continue because ~Kang Sora~.

Also, revisited an old kdrama I first saw when I was still in elementary: The Legend (2007). I could only vaguely remember the animal guardian spirits magically looming over but what made me go...

OK, what I've been watching....

I Remember You/Hello Monster - An intriguing show, well worth the watch. We are getting a good childhood backstory... a little dark because it starts our thinking about whether it is nature or nurture / birth or upbringing/labelling that determines if a person becomes a monster or not. The child actor is so good and of course so is the adult version ie Seo In Gook.

There are side murders and the main mystery(ies) about why Jang Na Ra (Ji An) was stalking the Seo In Gook (Lee Hyun) character, and I hope that there'll be more than just one or two other mysteries/crimes that they will get to solve together.

I've always wanted to watch a show where crime/mystery-cum-romance (with or without the comedy) mash well together and develop both the mystery side of the story and the romance equally well. This one is doing a good job. Even the darker back-story and the lighter modern day story don't seem to clash. The former gives off a creepiness and the other makes me laugh. Yes, intriguing.

Masked Prosecutor - Actually got much better now. However the "getting the bad guys" part of the plot is overshadowing the romance. But the story is holding well together and moving forward.

High Society - This is the other intriguing show I'm watching, not because the story is intriguing, but because I'm trying to decipher what each person is really saying or meaning or believing and I'm trying to gel it with what they are doing. Maybe it's more hard work than it's worth. If I give up thinking too much, I'll just watch for the couples to see if they become mature, grow close or bite the dust.

My Love Eun Dong - It is a bit of a slow, melo, illicit romance triangle kind of story. Sure to be full of angst amidst the romance. I know a lot of people love the Joo Jin Mo smoulder and he does look good with the actress, Kim Sa Rang. I'm just watching it to see how it goes, but am not investing too much into it.

Mask - Still is compelling for the promise of much romance from reluctant quarters and the solution of the complex fraud of passing a 'dead-or-otherwise-to-be-arrested-for-murder' nobody off as a politician's daughter and chaebol wife. I want to see the female lead re-connected with her real family, really in love with her husband and free from the clutches of the delusional bad guy. At the same time (a few of us) want to see the latter fall hard for her and suffer!!! *add maniacal laughter*. Yeah, it's so much fun.

Orange Marmalade - I really wanted to continue with this somehow, but it lost me when Mask and High Society came along and I had to choose. The recaps also did not make it sound too promising. I'll check in on it from time to time.
:)

Hello Beanies. I'm asking for a little help.
I am currently working on a K-Drama cartoon and I'm in the process of casting my actors and actresses. The (working) title is Convenience Store Clerk Vampire. The premise is that a young vampire works nights as a “P-Mart” store clerk.
A young woman has a crush on him and finds all sorts of excuses to come visit with him.
I think I want Lee Jong-Seok as my male lead. (He's always looked a little vampire-ish to me.) For my female lead I have to have a young actress who can play older than her actual age, because she has to look 18, but really be 26. I'm thinking about Ha Yeon So. (Mostly because she acted so mature when she did the radish kiss game with Kim Jong Kook on Running Man.)

But I'm open for suggestions. I also need other cast members. I am going to have cameo roles, where the clerk solves the problems of the people she brings in to see him. (He solves them by using his extensive knowledge of K-Dramas—because that is all he does. Work in a convenience store in the dark, sleep and then watch K-Dramas behind black out curtains during the day time.)

If you could cast ANYONE (it doesn't matter if they're currently in the army, I can draw them) in a K-drama, who would you cast?

High Society
I'm still loyal to this one. The setup was very messy and the writing is not really committed to what it is trying to achieve. But I know the writer has her strengths, I'm just waiting for them to show a little bit more.

Can we get married
Just to check, I rewatched a few earlier episodes from that 2012 JTBC show by the same writer. Wow! Much, much better camera work, better sets, much higher production value through and through.
It doesn't help that Uee simply isn't a good actress, even compared to a still very unfinished Han Groo (not to mention Jung So-min).

Mask
I would say I've been watching this, because quite honestly, it has been like staring at a screensaver* for the last 7 episodes. I either have to skip through it or do something else while I watch it.
I don't hate it though -- unlike Producer or Warm&Cozy -- I can easily leave it running in the background for now. And Episode 10 left a glimmer of hope that the plot might be getting started at some point in the future.

(*) For those younger ones among you: A screensaver was a computer program that put random repetitive animations on the display while the computer wasn't in use to prevent the display from burning in a static image.

I remember you

Interesting first two episodes, not so much for the story but for the different types of character concepts and genre mix, as well as the experimental narrative techniques.
I don't like overly backstory-heavy introductions and I'm really not a fan of the ever same cheap psycho-bullshit, but apart from that, it seems like an interesting show.