#he had such great chemistry with attorney jung too

[consumeronionbulletin]

Hospital Playlist (2020, 2021)

This show was great! Some of the medical stuff was a little too real (for my taste), but the characters were the best! It's great TV, where you just get to follow around these interesting people with cool jobs for a year or two of their life. What's not to enjoy?

What Worked

The scenes with the band. All the friendships. Most of the romance stuff. The thoughtful approach to medical issues. The fact that they avoided most of the typical medical drama tropes. The cute little kids (especially the actor that played Lee Ik-jun's son). All the scenes with the five just hanging out!

What Didn't Work

The pacing was a little slow sometimes, which I didn't have a problem with, but I know bothered some people. Some of the medical stuff, but again that's more of a preference.

The Performances

This is a show with a huge ensemble cast and lots of guest stars. And the writers are good, so they make sure and give each of them a few moments, at least, to shine. There's no way to cover everything without writing a huge novel. So I'll stick to my favorites.

Jo Jung-suk as Lee Ik-jun. This guy was just so much fun to watch. All of the funniest moments on the show were centered around him. All of the cringiest dad jokes also featured him. I never got tired of watching him.

Jeon Mi-do as Chae Song-hwa. I loved this character, and this actress. The biggest "in-joke" this show ever did was hire an experienced musical theatre actor and make her pretend she couldn't sing for two seasons. And it was still charming to watch! She was the heart of the show, and we need more smart, goofy, nerdy characters like this on TV.

Yoo Yeon-seok as Ahn Jeong-win (Andrea). It took awhile for me to warm up to this character, because he felt too good to be believed. But once we got to know him, and saw more about his point of view, he became one of my favorites.

Junk Kyung-ho as Kim Jun-wan. It took longer for me to warm up to this character, but that was mostly the writing. By the end of the first season, I really enjoyed watching him be the grumpy straight-man for all the antics going on. I also really liked his relationship with Lee Ik-sun, even though the arc felt a little manufactured.

Kim Dae-myung as Yang Seok-hyeong. The show did really good on the medical stuff with this character, but less good with the everyday life stuff. He had to deal with some of the most sensitive and heartbreaking situations and the actor and the writers handled them all very well. Worth watching because of this.

Kwak Sun-young as Lee Ik-sun. I saw her in Encounter and she was really enjoyable, especially when they let her break out some of her comedy skills, but she wasn't particularly memorable. She was great in this role. Lots of good chemistry with both her romantic arc and with her family stories. Just charming and funny and the show did a good job of letting her shine. The romantic arc had a little fake drama added, but the actors still made it work.

Shin Hyun-been as Jang Gyeo-ul. The show took its time with this character, and didn't really bring her to the front until season two. But I liked her interactions with the other characters, and her romantic arc was really good too. She handled the family drama stuff in it particularly well.

Ahn Eun-jin as Chu Min-ha. I feel like the character is kind of a mirror for her romantic interest in the show (Seok-hyeong). She got a ton of character stuff and was forced to stand to the side in alot of the medical stuff. Ahn Eun-jin basically carried the romance arc for season two (which is partly on the writers), but she made it fun to watch.

Ha Yoon-kyung as Heo Sun-bin. This was one of the actor's earlier roles, but she did a good job with what they writers gave her. You can see why they started giving her bigger roles later on (especially Extraordinary Attorney Woo), though she was definitely a minor character here.

Everyone else: Again, there are so many people and the guest stars / "patients" show up occasionally later on, which is nice when you can remember who they are. The two med-student twins were fun to watch. The old people antics were enjoyable, and the actors for them did a good job with the drama when it was called for. There were lots of adorable child actors that rarely got annoying. Just alot of good talent showing up when needed.

TL; DR:

I'm not usually a fan of medical dramas. The last one that really hooked me was maybe ER and that was such a long time ago it may as well be the stone age. But I loved this one. The actors were great, the show was serious when it needed to be, but was not afraid to joke around and that created a really good balance.

[lastofthe20thcenturygirls]

heyaaa! hope you are having a wonderful day, if it's comfortable with you can I ask for some k drama recs I really liked coffee prince and reply 1988 but can't find something similar

hiii, so i haven't seen reply 1988 but i really loved reply 1997 which was first in the reply series followed by reply 1994 (haven't seen this either so idk if it's good or bad)

here's some classics that really got me addicted to kdramas back when i started watching

full house: my first kdrama. very silly but cute af. back when romcoms didn't used to have serial killers in them the ost my beloved

my name is kim sam-soon/ my lovely sam soon: fake dating/ bickering. and the background was a restaurant i think. i had so much fun binging it. sam-soon really was the best.

boys over flowers: a classic adapted from a classic shoujo manga where you'll find every crazy thing that can only happen in a drama. it's absurd at times very many times but it's addictive af. also great soundtrack

playful kiss: i became a jung so-min stan after this. tho i like the taiwanese version best now it was fun binging it when i didn't know of the tw version.

personal taste: lee min ho pretended to be gay because he wanted to get inside a house for architectural reasons. i did like it. maybe check it out because the pain gong yoo felt, son ye-jin also goes through something similar although it was different.

my girlfriend is a gumiho: fantasy romance about a 900yo nine tailed fox and a wannabe action star. it was fun and cute and i cried at times too. shin min-a is the most beautiful human to walk this earth. great songs esp lee sun-hee's fox rain (acoustic)

sungkyunkwan scandal*: female lead pretends to be a boy because she wanted to study in a university when women weren't allowed to study. university ofc full of boys

rooftop prince*: time slip romance. was extremely popular

my love from another star: a top star gets accused of murdering her rival. lives across from a professor who's a 400yo alien who ends up becoming her manager. first romance drama i remember watching where there was a serial killer. both the second leads were annoying af

some other faves of mine that aren't as old

i can hear your voice: lee jong-suk can read minds if he looks into your eyes. public attorneys and prosecutors and a killer. loved it

pinocchio: news channels and reporters and fake news. one of my favourite kdramas ever. there's very few that keep you hooked from the beginning till the end. not one bad episode. i made so many people get into this one and everybody loved it too. great ost. you won't see vlc media player the same after this. made by the same people who made ichyv so you might enjoy it more because of some references but it's alright otherwise too.

healer: do you believe in the poooower of ever lasting loooooove.... another one in my forever faves that i got other people into. the chemistry of jcw and pmy was through the roof. people died because of them. some of the best kissing scenes ever too. no love triangle. reporters and tabloids and a messenger and world's greatest ahjumma. first couple of episodes weren't that good but i promise it gets so much better after my beloved Park Bong-soo shows up. usually i am not for english songs in kdramas but eternal love by MLTR has a special place in my heart.

fated to love you: jang hyuk and jang na-ra are just too good together. i watched because of ailee's goodbye my love and then regretted not starting it when it was airing. all of the soundtrack is great. lee gun's laugh >>>

her private life: since you loved coffee prince i am sure you liked kim jae-wook and this was his first kdrama lead role after everyone waiting for god knows how many years. couldn't watch it when it was airing because i was in my kdrama slump but when i got out i regretted not watching then. pmy and kjw together are just soooooo

one more happy ending: i just love jang na-ra. romcom with good songs about 4 women trying to find love again. jung kyung-ho and jang na-ra need to work together again idec about the genre.

come back ahjussi: two dead guys come back to life hotter. one in a man's body and other in a woman's. had fun watching it. ratings were low because one of the most overrated kdrama was airing at the same timeslot.

jealousy incarnate/ don't dare to dream: weather girl finds out the anchor she'd have a crush on forever had breast cancer. it's a romcom. had a love triangle and gave people major second-lead syndrome not me tho. back when gong hyo-jin used to be the romcom queen. great soundtrack

extra-ordinary you: and it was extraordinary. fantasy romance about an extra who is just trying to keep herself alive. eun dan-o was the life of the drama. high school romance. green flaggest male lead (i don't usually say that for anyone but he sure was). good songs and very rare for me to say that for a soundtrack of a drama only as recent as 2019.

crazy love: kjw is just too good in romcoms. this drama was crazy as the name suggests and hella fun. lee sin-a you'll always be famous.

lovely runner: ended just this tuesday and idk if you watched it but definitely worth watching. up there with pinocchio being good from the beginning till the end and no bad episode im sight. great songs great cast great characters. first loves time slips rain sunshine k-pop idols it had everything. ten years from now it'll surely be in the classics list

*haven't watched so i can't if they're good or bad but used to be very popular and were always in kdrama rec lists back then.

[thesecretbits]

I keep a list of all the kdramas I watch every year. I do this thing at the end of the year where I recap the kdramas I finished for that year. I think I forgot last year, so this year you get 2022 and 2023.

What I watched in 2022 (in the order I liked them and what I rated them out of 5):

Alchemy of Souls pt. 2 (5/5) - this was by far my favorite drama of 2022. I watched the first couple of episodes from the first part, but as I am not the biggest fan of Jung Somin, I couldn't get into the first part. I did, however, really like GYJ as Naksu and since she was coming back in part 2, I read as much about what happened in the first season (and watched the last episode of part 1) to prepare for part 2.

Loved the show. YJ and JW's chemistry was so good. My only complaint was that it was only 10 episodes. I wish it was longer.

May I Help You (4.5/5) - I really enjoyed this drama. The male lead in this, LJY, was the same lead from Love and Leashes, which I really enjoyed. He and LHR had such good chemistry. This drama had the perfect amount of angst and comedy and a lead couple that were just really perfect together.

Business Proposal (4.5/5)- this was just so funny. Not too heavy on the angst. Great leads and second leads. Just a really fun watch.

2521 (4.5/5)- this was such a good show. I was not as upset about the ending as other people were. I could see realistically how the two leads would not be together in the end. First love doesn't always last. But KTR is just such an amazing actor.

Movies I watched in 2022:

Love and Leashes (4/5) - cute little movie about a girl and her sub. This was adorable. I need to watch it again. And LJY's performance in this made me check out May I Help You and I wasn't disappointed. He's a great actor.

Yaksha: Ruthless Operations (4/5) - I'm an action movie girlie at heart, so I really loved it. I watched it for Jinyoung, but I thought everyone was great.

Shows I watched in 2023 (not in the order I liked them, but with what I rated them out of 5):

Island pt. 1 (2.5/5): I tried to get into this show. My favorite part of it was Cha Eunwoo, which is saying something since he's not an actor I'm particularly fond of (this is probably the only project of his that he had a major part I've actually enjoyed him in). It had potential for me, but I just wasn't engaged enough to watch part 2.

Joseon Attorney (4/5): I'm a Woo Do Hwan girly all the way and this did not disappoint. A great blend of humor and angst, the romance wasn't overdone, and the whole cast had a really great dynamic. This was not my favorite WDH drama this year tho.

Bloodhounds (5/5): My favorite WDH project this year was definitely Bloodhounds. This show was great from start to finish. Best bromance I've seen all year, those two were ride or die for each other. Great fights, it tested me emotionally, it made me laugh, it made me angry. I binged all 8 episodes in one night because I had to know what happened next. One of my favorite dramas of 2023. I recommend it to everybody.

Black Knight (5/5): Another one of my favorite dramas of 2023. It had an interesting premise that I enjoyed. As I said before, I'm an action girly so if you give me good story and great fights, I'm in there. I think I also binged this in one night. I highly recommend this one, too.

Revenant (5/5): Kim Taeri deserved awards for this show and if she didn't get any, I'd be mad (I just checked she won a Daesang for this role as she should, she was amazing). This show was creepy, dark, and so well acted (by everybody, this cast was good), that I was waiting impatiently every single week for new episodes. Excellent show, one of my top 3 favorite shows of the year.

King the Land (3/5): I liked this. It was cute, it didn't reinvent the romcom, but the leads had excellent chemistry (so good people were convinced they were dating irl) and it was funny. It was a pretty easy watch. And they made sure they made their two idol leads make out anytime they could, so props to the director for that.

The Killing Vote (4/5): Kim Kwon played evil in two shows I watched this year, and he was great at being horrible in both. Considering the first thing I ever watched him in he was a good guy, it was nice to see him in a completely different role. Anyway, I really liked this show. The premise, a guy who asks the people to vote on whether or not criminals deserve to die and then killing them if over 50% of the public votes yes, was interesting. Good show, questioning whether or not everyone, not just the criminals, but the cops and lawyers and judges, and even the so-called innocent civilians who were so invested in the murder of criminals are all as bad as each other. They left the ending open for another season and if they made it, I'd probably watch.

Destined with You (4/5): I had some problems with this initially (I was judging the female lead HARD), but eventually it won me over. The leads did some really good acting and that scene in the closet was hot.

The Story of Park's Marriage Contract (3.5/5): This was okay. The fashion was great. I think one of the best things about Yeon-woo being in the present is how great her outfit choices were. You could tell that fashion design was really her thing and being in the future really highlighted how important that was to her. So many shitty people in this drama. It sucks when you can't even trust your own family. Yeon-woo and Tae-ha had a cute relationship and I'm glad they got their happy ending.

And there we have it, my recap of all the dramas I completed in 2022 and 2023.

I look forward to seeing what 2024 brings.

[theemptyspacehelmet]

Was really hoping this dude was just going to end up some lovable weirdo who is a pro at his job and loves to tease his one and only colleague whose probably been rivaling against him for years since college but given the last episode’s preview he’s just another ableist jerk.

[rosekim]

TOUCH YOUR HEART | Review

OH YUN SEO IS LITERALLY AN ANGEL.

DISCLAIMER: All of these are only base on my opinion.

Her sweet voice and baby face is too captivating, plus her character’s personality in TYH is really lovable. She is that kind of character perfectly made with good traits and flaws. Yoon In Na’s acting is really amazing, hands down!

But of course, I would never forget Kwon Jung Rok’s character! The drama wouldn’t be perfect without him. Lee Dong Wok really did well portraying his character. I love Jung Rok’s personality especially as an attorney. His sacrifice just to save Park Soo Myung (the boy murder suspect) was really notable. He proved that he’s not just a lawyer for money (LOL).

Also, speaking about it, that Im Yoon Hee murder case really got me shock. I didn’t notice immediately that it was all planned for money! Hands down.

Well, back to the two, I love love love their chemistry so so much! I haven’t watched Goblin yet, it’s my first time watching the two’s drama but I already love them as partners. I love how they grow as a person in the course of the series. How Jung Rok tried to do his best to be Yun Seo’s boyfriend because it’s his first time. Note their workshop scene’s where everyone was trying to get Yun Seo’s attention, making Jung Rok to be always the last guy. And then at the end of the night, he searched for her lucky mirror, aww. And also the kiss! AAAAA Sir, that is illegal! LOL.

Also, before I forget, I love Yoon Ha (the girl who was accused of lying) backstory here. I feel her so much. I think her personality would be great for a lead character. Miss Yang and her daughter’s story is also touching. I was kinda pissed at her daughter at first, thinking she really did it after what her mom saw that night, but I understood her at the end. Speaking of Miss Yang, I feel sad after she rejected Doo Sub,  I think he really likes her. But I could understand why she refuse.

And, oh, my ship is really sailing for Kim Se-won and Yoo Yeo-reum! Yeo-rum, you don’t know how lucky you are two have the two guys. I feel so happy for them! I’m really rotting for their relationship since the start and I hope to see more of them soon!

This drama is really highly recommended. If you’re looking for some light k-drama to watch, go check it out! Every character’s important and you can really learn a lot about them. Just prepare your tissue for their break-up (I literally can’t stop thinking about it since I watched it late at night and had to watch the next episode for the next morning)! Overall, I’ll rate this series 9/10, highly recommended!

This review is transfered from my writeblr account: lumierezi. i would be posting my reviews and kdrama things here from now.

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Rave: Touch Your Heart

It's funny. I've known people have been grieving and thinking about Grim Reaper and Sunny ever since Goblin ended, but the other issues I had with that show (the pacing, the ending, the main pairing) so overshadowed the secondary couple, that I managed to forget just how good Yoo In Na and Lee Dong Wook are together and how much chemistry they have.

When Touch Your Heart was announced, I was initially disappointed that Jung Kyung Ho declined the lead role, because I thought (and still think) that he and Yoo In Na would make a great comic couple. And yet, now having now see the drama, I can't imagine how an actor other than Lee Dong Wook could have given Jung Rok the same mixture of meticulous, reserved, awkward sincerity that he did. The actor and character are so inextricably linked in my mind.

Touch Your Heart is the story of Universal Goddess Oh Yeon Soo, a fallen top star whose involvement with a spurious and traumatizing drug scandal left her acting career in shambles. Ever the positive and generous spirit, Yeon Soo tries to pick up the pieces. After coming across the newest script from a favorite screenwriter she is hellbent on getting the lead part, but in order to do so she needs to brush up on her acting skills with some hands on experience in the world where the new drama is set: the courtroom. To fulfill this stipulation she covertly takes the role of legal secretary to the eternally prickly, no nonsense Attorney Kwon Jung Rok. However, her real world research results in more than just a television romance, when these two opposites inevitably attract.

Those of you who have followed this blog for a long time probably know that I occasionally have problems with the romcom genre. Largely because I'm a grump and my threshold for mindless fluff is pretty low. Not that I don't love a good sappy romance, I just need a certain amount of tension, angst and suffering to get my engine going. Additionally, I feel that the modern Kdrama romcoms have a tendency to progress the main romance too fast, with the first kiss often happening well within the first half of the drama, leaving the second half struggling to pad out time or resorting to long stretches of pointless and predictable noble idiocy that make you low-key hate the characters.

I can't even count how many times this very thing has happened to me (which is to say, I could count but I don't feel like it). I tend to get to episode 8 or 9 and my interest in the drama plummets through the floor. No matter how much I enjoyed the first handful of episodes, once the momentum is lost, I usually can't maintain my engagement, these dramas end up dropped, and I'm left feeling unfulfilled, searching for my next fix.

The first episodes of Touch Your Heart were delightfully airy and sparkling, the leads carrying the show on force of charisma with the support of a talented and comedic supporting cast, not getting too bogged down in little details like plot or gravitas. I was enjoying myself, but in the back of my mind I was already dreading the second half drag that I have by now become accustomed to. Every single week I found myself enjoying the new episodes, always with that doubt at the back of my mind. But to my great surprise and relief that drag never came.

Touch Your Heart is a credit to its genre. It manages to maintain a light and candy floss sweet sense of humor until the end. Which is not to say that nothing serious ever happens in this drama, or that there aren't moments of high drama and tension. This is a hybrid romcom/legal drama after all, complete with high stakes court cases, a murder mystery, a chaebol stalker, and lots and lots of celebrity shenanigans. It's just that none of these arcs is ever allowed to outstay its welcome, or overpower the central romance. Toward the end of the drama we even get the obligatory separation with a splash of noble idiocy, but even as I ground my teeth at the same old tropes, I found that the story continued to hop along at a satisfying pace, never leaving me to stew too long.

I've been waiting for Yoo In Na to come back with the full force of her first female lead powers, and Touch Your Heart turned out to be a perfect vehicle for her ample charms. Seriously, if you don't already know and love this woman, what's holding you back? She's fabulous. It helps that she's got a good male lead to play off of and moon over, and the central relationship is as health and mutually supportive as it is cute.

Bottom Line: This drama is so sweet and so much fun that it had even an old curmudgeon like me grinning and giggling up a storm throughout the run. Finales usually lose me, feeling more like a matter of course than a capstone to a completed story, but I didn't feel that with this. I enjoyed how TYH mixed light and heavy without every get carried away by the one or bogged down by the other. I fully recommend it. It's not ground breaking television, it probably won't make you into a better person, but it might just spark some joy. And at the end of the day, isn't that why we're here? 8.5/10