#Kim Beom nails these scenes

[rosenlily-aka-choconut]

She is his hope, his will to live ❤️❤️

He's the brightest jewel in her life, the light at the end of a tunnel ❤️❤️

She wants him to move on after she's gone, tries to push him away 🥺🥺

But he refuses to grant her that wish ❤️❤️

He seals their bond with his love and a promise of a lifetime of togetherness ❤️❤️

He won't let go of her hand. He won't break this time ❤️❤️

He has already taken the hit in the future. Don't let him fall this time. Don't snatch it away from them! ❤️❤️🥺🥺❤️❤️

[drivingsideways]

k-drama rec list

Prior to 2020 I’d maybe watched 2 k-dramas in my entire life, but this year I got sucked in, thanks to some great recs, and y’know, *gestures * everything.  

I think I’d held off watching kdramas because my impression of them was limited to romances that I didn’t enjoy at all. But this was the year I discovered the equivalent of “gen fic” kdrama- dramas that had wonderful ensemble casts, strong story lines that weren’t entirely romance focused and also a variety in terms of themes and styles. A big plus was that I found so many of these dramas had women leading the writers’ room, and seeing the effect of that in the story telling. (Notable exceptions: a certain “star” writer who should please stop inflicting her badly written, formulaic crap on the world, yes Kim Eun-Sook, I mean you, and whoever wrote that trashfire Flower of Evil)

So here I am with my own rec list! Caveat- these are mostly not the dramas released in 2020, I’m still playing catch up! :)

Under the cut for length

My Mister/ My Ahjussi  (2018, Written by Park Hae-Young, Directed by Kim Won-Seok, starring Lee Sun-kyun and Lee Ji-eun aka IU) 

This was definitely my absolute favourite of the shows I watched this year across western/ asian media. It’s a story about the thread that binds us all and the ineffability of human connection. It’s also a story that deconstructs ideas of masculinity and honour and shame in a non-western context, but with an extremely compassionate touch.  It’s a story that doesn’t shy away from showing the consequences of material and spiritual poverty; and how one can so easily feed into the other. It’s a love story that isn’t a romance, except that it’s a Romance. It’s about finding salvation in one another and in the kindness of strangers.  It’s about choosing life, and picking yourself up off the floor to take that one last step and then the next and then the next. The one quibble I have with the series is that it could have been better paced, it does get extremely slow after the half way mark. But god, do they land the ending. Both Lee Sun-kyun and IU turn in absolutely heartbreaking performances, and fair warning, be prepared to go through an entire box of tissues watching this series. 

Life  (2018,  written by Lee Soo-yeon  and directed by Hong Jong-chan, starring Lee Dong-wook, Cho Seung-woo, Won Jin-ah, Lee Kyu-hyung, Yoo Jae-myung and Moon So-ri.)

Medical dramas are very much not my thing, and I wouldn’t have taken a chance on it except that @michyeosseo said I should, and she was right! It’s a medical drama in the sense that it’s set in a hospital, but rather than a “case-fic” format, this is actually a sharp commentary on the corporatization of health care, and the business of mixing, well, money and what should be a fundamental human right. Writer Lee Soo-yeon was coming off the global success of Stranger/Secret Forest S1 when this aired, so I understand that expectations were probably sky-high, and people were disappointed when this show didn’t give them the adrenaline rush that they wanted. On the other hand, I thought that this outing was really much more nuanced in terms of the politics and also how the ending doesn’t allow you the luxury of easy-fixes. This show has a great ensemble cast, and while it took me a while to get used to Lee Dong-wook’s woodenness (i ended up calling him mr.cadaver after watching this and was surprised to learn that he’s very popular?), in the end I was quite sold on his version of angry angst-bucket elder-sibling Dr.Ye Jin-woo. His best scenes were with Lee Kyu-hyung who turns in a lovely, achy performance as the paraplegic Dr. Ye Seon-woo who just wants to live a normal life. The love story between the two brothers is actually the emotional backbone of the story, and I think they landed that perfectly. 

My one quibble with writer-nim is that she ended up writing in a forgettable and somewhat (for me at least) uncomfortable romance between the characters played by Won Jin-ah and Cho Seung-Woo. I think part of my uncomfortable-feeling was that I got the strong sense that the writer herself didn’t want to write this romance, it was as if she was being made to shoe-horn it in for Studio Reasons, and she basically grit her teeth and did the worst possible job of it.  I do wish we could have absolutely had the OT3 of my dreams: Moon So-ri/Cho Seung-woo/Yoo Jae-myung like, c’mon TV gods MAKE IT HAPPEN, just...look at them!!!! 

Anyway, that apart, I think this was a very engaging series, and by engaging, I also mean thirst-enabling, see below. 

 Stranger (aka Secret Forest  or Forest of Secrets) S1 & 2 : (2017-, Written by Lee Soo-yeon, directed by 

2017′s smash hit aired a much anticipated second season in 2020, and I managed to catch up just in time to watch that live, so that was thrilling :D . Writer Lee Soo-yeon  mixes up thriller/office comedy/political commentary in an ambitious series. I think S1 is more “exciting” than S2 in terms of the mystery and pacing,  but S2 is far more dense and interesting in terms of political commentary because it takes a long hard look at institutional corruption and in true writer-nim fashion doesn’t prescribe any easy solutions. Anyway, please enjoy public prosecutor Cho Seung-woo and police officer Bae Doona as partners/soulmates kicking ass and taking names in pursuit of Truth, Justice and just a goddamn peaceful meal, along with a stunningly competent ensemble cast. Also yes, Han Yeo Jin is a lesbian, sorry, I don’t make the rules. 

Search: WWW  (2019, Written by Kwon Do-Eun, directed by Jung Ji-hyun & Kwon Young-il, starring  Im Soo-jung, Lee Da-hee, Jeon Hye-jin)

GOD. Where do I start? +1000 for writer Kwon Do-Eun saying “fuck the patriarchy” in the most grandiose way possible, i.e. absolutely refusing to acknowledge that it exists. Yes, this is that power fantasy, and it’s also a fun, slice-of-life  tale about three women navigating their way through work, romance, national politics and everything in between. It’s true that I wasn’t entirely sold on the amount of time spent on the romance, and I really wish they’d actually had a textual wlw romance, though the subtext through the entire series is PRACTICALLY TEXT. But still, it maintains that veneer of plausible deniability and I think queer fans who are sick of that kind of treatment in media have a very valid grouse against the show. On the other hand, personally I felt that the queer-platonic vibe of the show is very wonderful and true to real life, and it was only reinforced by the ending. This is a show written by a woman for women (like me), and it shows. 

Hyena  (2020, Written by Kim Roo-Ri, directed by Jang Tae-yoo & Lee Chang Woo, starring  Kim Hye-soo and Ju Ji-hoon )

Those of you who’ve been watching hit zombie epic Kingdom are probably familiar with Ju Ji-hoon’s brand of sexiness already. I had not watched Kingdom and got hit in the face by Mr.Sexy McSexyPants’ turn as a brash, privileged-by-birth, up and coming lawyer who gets completely runover by the smoking hot and incredibly dangerous fellow lawyer/competitor from the other side of the tracks in the person of Kim Hye-Soo. When I say they set the room on fire, I mean it, ok. Every single scene between these two is an actual bonfire of sexual attraction and emotional hand grenades, and they’re both absolutely riveting to watch. “Flower of Evil” wishes they had what this show has- an actual grown up romance as opposed to a thirteen year old twilight fan’s idea of an adult romance. 

The “lawyer” shenanigans and the “cases” are hit or miss, and I think the occasional comedy fell flat for me. But that’s not why I mainlined like 6 episodes of this series overnight like a coke addict, and that’s not why you’re going to do it either. It’s so RARE, even in these enlightened days to find a female character like Jung Geum-ja: hard as nails, unapologetic about it, and not punished by the narrative for it. The best part for me is that she feels like a woman’s woman, not a man’s idea of what a Strong Female Character should be. Anyways, when I grow up I want to have what Kim Hye-soo has ok?

Other dramas that I watched this year, quickly rated:

The King: Eternal Monarch (3/10 and those 3 points are only for the combined goodness of second leads who deserved better- Jung Eun Chae, Woo Do Hwan and Kim Kyung Nam. Please head over to my AO3 and read my attempts to fix this garbage fire and rescue their characters from canon)

Flower of Evil (-10/100, dont @ me)

Tale of the Nine Tailed (5/10, I think it succeeds at what it set out to do, which is a light hearted, sweet fantasy-romance-melodrama, plus “second lead” Kim Beom will make you cry as the hot mess of a half human/ half fox spirit ALL TEARS character. I think if you’re into kdrama romances as a genre, this is probably a good bet?)

Signal  (7/10,  This was the first full kdrama I watched this year and would definitely recommend. It’s a police procedural with time travel shenanigans and has an engaging plot, good pacing, texture and compelling performances. My one disappointment with it was the way they wrote Kim Hye-soo’s character. As literally the only female character to survive in any way, she was given short shrift, and toward the end it really began to grate on me.)

Six Flying Dragons - (7/10, also would recommend if you’re interested in Korean historicals. It definitely already feels a bit dated in terms of styling and production values, and even scripting and acting choices. But it has a good balance of fantasy and history and political commentary. I was not a fan of Yoo In-Ah’s performance in this series, but it’s not anything that would make you want to nope out of the series. It’s GoT , if GoT was thoughtful about politics and characters and not the misogynist, racist trashfire that it became.)

My Country: The New Age - (3.5/10, and that’s 3 points to Jang Hyuk’s fan and 0.5.points to Woo Do Hwan’s heaving bosom. If you like your historical drama/fantasy with very pretty men, very gay subtext -seriously RIP to show makers who thought they could hetero it but didn’t account for Woo Do Hwan’s Tragic Face- lots of blood and tears and very nonsense plot, this is right up your alley. I probably would have enjoyed it more in other circumstances, I think? But this one just annoyed me too much at the time! 

I have a couple of more dramas to watch on my list, that’ll probably carry me over into 2021, so see ya on the other side! :D

[daebakoreandrama]

Drama: Beauty Inside (2018)

Starring: Seo Hyun Jin, Lee Min Ki

Rating: ★★★★☆

I think this drama had a really good plot and moral-- although some of the scenes were kind of boring, I powered through them. All in all, I would recommend this drama to someone who is struggling with their confidence. This drama will really lift your spirits and make you appreciate everything and everyone in your life. 

Now let’s dive into a few of my favorite scenes:

1) Their First Kiss in the Airport Radar Tower: 

Throughout the first couple of episodes, you could tell that these two liked each other but wouldn’t admit it. And then came the fake relationship contract! But then when they finally kissed, you could feel the tension break ahhaaha. 

2) When Han Se Gye turns into this guy:

The actor’s name is Kim Min Seok and he plays Han Se Gye when she “turns”. I kind of just loved his character because of the whole skit he made up with the girl that was getting bullied by all the boys in school. He (or rather she) stood up for her which really made my heart melt. 

Alsoooo, I knew he was a familiar face! He played Kim Gi Beom in Descendants of the Sun!!

3) Their conversation during their fake dates:

It was so funny seeing them being snarky to one another-- as if they secretly hated each other but we really knew that they liked one another.

My favorite lines from them were when he tried to give her a piece of him shrimp, and she says that she doesn’t want it since she’s on a diet. Then he says that dieting must be hard, and she replies with “no as hard as this (fake dating him).”

4) When they get caught making out by her mom:

Could you imagine in this happened to you?? Jeeeeez. But Seo Jae Do doesn’t seem phased at all. It was just funny because her mom says “I knew it.”

5) The shaving scene.. only to know that later on, she would shaving his face for him. It was such a cute moment. 

6) When her mom passed away and she was afraid to show her true face (since she had “changed”)

This scene really broke my heart. I think Seo Hyun Jin did a fabulous job depicting the emotions of Han Se Gye in this drama. She really nailed all the teary scenes. I think it was this scene that really humbled me, and made me take a step back to look at how great my life is rather than nick picking and harping on the things in my life that I’m not super happy about. 

7) The second couple (Kang Sara and Ryu Eun Ho)!!

I thought they were super cute. Although I’m not the biggest fan of Ahn Jae Hyun. I thought it was such a nice love story-- him struggling about whether or not he wanted to become a priest but ultimately he chose her in the end. I know this may not be your favorite love story if you’re deeply pious. However, because I’m atheist, I think it’s just another story of someone finding themselves. 

And this seen, when all the guys went out to buy more alcohol and all the girls were crying that they had left them. ICONIC. 

[rosenlily-aka-choconut]

season 1 rang's necklaces were such a sexy choice peeking out from his shirt collars. every time he showed up in that white shirt i died a little bit. black is his bad guy color but they gave him white when he needed to be vulnerable and that made it even more appealing.

ok my story about his opening scene was that i thought his little nerdy persona was gonna become ji-ah's sidekick or something or even a boyish second lead to contrast to yeon. he bothered to explain his whole backstory! i thought for sure that meant he'd be important! but then i stared at his face a second longer and recognized him from the posters and was like OH MY GOD HE'S THE BAD GUY and then 30 seconds later he does his transformation sequence and climbs into the car with gorgeous yongji and i was like. oh. uh oh. this is how it's gonna be is it. welp 😂

also after thinking about it more my favorite character of his after rang is probably yijung. he didn't reach his full potential because a the show was stupidly written and directed and b because his plot was secondary but it let him explore cruelty and vulnerability and arrogance and kindness (i'll never forget he actually stood up for jandi to junpyo being a bitch) and basically just do really well for a young actor. again why i want him to do a role like that again potentially with even more amorality and greater depth after 15 years of experience.

-kbcu anon

You know, before I started with TOTNT, I had finished all other LDW dramas. After Game of thrones and its pathetic last season, I began looking up shows before beginning with them, checking out the end, and when I happened to do that with TOTNT, I read about this character Rang and how he completely overshadowed the leads.

Now, being an LDW fan, I wasn’t happy with that, but when I read that LDWs character got a happy ending and this Rang fellow dies (yes, I was okay with that because I didn’t know Kim Beom then), I started with it, expecting to like Yeon.

But the moment Beom entered the scene, I was bowled over. My plan to hate Rang and like Yeon began fizzling out and failed spectacularly when I came to episode 9. As I moved on, I resented Yeon’s plan to keep Jia alive at the cost of so many others. I’d have been happy if she’d died in Rang’s place. I would even have been okay with it if Yeon stayed dead at Episode 15.

But… we got what we got and I cried when Rang uttered his last word, “hyung.” Season 2 was a consolation prize, putting us in a happy bubble where Rang built a life of his own. And… while I can’t forgive what they did to him in season 1, I think it’s best I confine myself to this bubble 😊

As for Yi-jung, I would’ve probably appreciated that character if he were a little older - would’ve been more convincing. I’m definitely sure he’ll nail it if he did a similar role now. Like I said 2020!Rang would’ve made a very convincing playboy!

I quite liked Lee Gook-soo - he’s a bright ray of sunshine, though it took me some patience to wade through the show. His chemistry with the second girl is cute!

P.S : 2020!Rang had the top button of his shirt open in a lot of scenes - That little skin show does things to me ☺️☺️