Hello everyone!
So whenever I miss out on OPEN THREAD I get really angry. But now I am here and I don't know what to do, maybe because I am a bit excited.

I started one of my close friends from college on kdramas over the summer with the supreme combo of Thirty But Seventeen & My ID is Gangnam Beauty. It was so nice FINALLY having a close friend to discuss dramas with and we spent so many hours dissecting every ounce of each of these dramas.

Then, real life hit as well as a major drama slump for me and my friend. We both could not find any dramas we adored as much as TBS & My ID. BUT ALAS, Romance is a Bonus Book has come to save the day. My friend watched the first 2 episodes and immediately texted me that this was the next drama we had to watch together. I binged all 4 episodes last weekend. We both have the same warm and fuzzy feels from our live-watch over the summer. And, because RIABB tears down standard drama conventions & relationships, we are loving analyzing the main leads. So excited that my real-life drama buddy is back and we are both out of a slump.

Happy weekend Beanies!

I went to bed way too late last Sunday, and woke up not much later because of a phone call around dawn: my sister went into labour and someone had to watch her daughter while she went to the hospital. So this beanie became a (fairy) godmother for the second time last Monday! My niece/goddaughter was born two and a half years ago, and now my older sister gave birth to my nephew/ godson this week. The whole family is healthy and happily back home.

Since my sister only wants close relatives as godparents, her choices have been limited to only our parents and I. So while my mother and I are godmothers to my niece, this time my dad and I get to do the honors. As a result I am one of those rare (if not the only) godparents who has ‘godsiblings’ as godchildren. ;)

Needless to say my schedule this week was filled with babysitting my goddaughter and bearing the good news around during the day and hospital visits in the evenings. I am glad that my sister is back home now, because now there is more peace, quiet and free time for my parents and I to catch up on sleep and our own errands, like job hunting and figuring out which K-drama to start watching next week.

Finished watching Longing Heart and I like it. IMO it's the best of OCN Romance dramas. I regretted watching Meloholic and That Man Oh-soo and I liked chemistry between the leads of My Secret Romance, but not the story.

I watched LH because of Seo Ji-hoon. I fell for him as Kim Geum, he is such a gem. His acting is really good! It's easy for me to relate to his characters. I can't resist his sad face, it's automatically make me sad too and his smile make me happy.

Back to LH, at first It's a bit hard believing young Shin-woo and adult Shin-woo are same person because face wise, Seo Ji-hoon and Lee Jung-shin aren't resemble in my eyes. Maybe I'll believe it right away if two SW played by Sehun and Yoo Yeon-seok, but then I wouldn't get my SJH fix. So it would be better if the adult version played by actor who resemble him. Hmm... I don't think I've seen one.

Beside the lack of resemblance between the two SW, the fact that the other characters (all of them) are played by the same actor for both past and present time made it more hard to accept that the two are same person. So I just made up an excuse that some time in between the 10 years SW had got plastic surgery. Hee...

Story wise, I never try too hard to understand the rule of time slip in time travel dramas I've watched because it will only make my head hurts. What I like from LH is that not only the present SW got transported to the past but also past SW to the present. I almost stop watching it when adult SW's back to the present because I thought I would never see young SW again. So when young SW appeared in the present, I was really happy.
My favorite scene is when young SW confesses to Ji-soo in the present time and he comes to know that JS's first love is him, the friend SW not the teacher. (It hurt me so much when young SW tell adult SW that even though he knows that adult SW is himself and glads that JS likes him, he feels sad because the one whom JS likes both in the past and present is the adult, not the 18 y.o. SW)

I love the dynamic between 2 SW in present time. I like it that Young SW always win when they argue. Ha, I think it's clear that I like Young SW more than the adult.

Lastly, I really like SW's MOM. She is one of few very good moms in dramaland.

Morning, beanies! Happy Friday to all!!

I want to send a massive amount of hugs to the Love, February beanies on the fan wall. You have made this bleak, wintry season feel so much warmer.

I love the infinite variety of posts and thank the organizers❤❤❤❤ and
I continue to be amazed by the awesomeness of beanies.

Might have a cold snowy weekend. Yay! Besides walks with the dog, hot coffee and chocolate, and maybe ice cream (I sometimes crave it when it is cold out) I am planning to catch up on some dramas.

Romance is a Bonus Book (really liked first ep) and The Story of Minglan are the two I want to focus on. They seem like good cold weather watches. Maybe another ep of Coffee Friends.

I'm really happy Viki picked up Beauty Inside pretty much right where I was at when DramaFever died. When I saw they had it they had 5 episodes and then added 2 the next week. ARGH. I so want to binge the whole thing right now. I wonder what kind of kooky licensing or re-licensing deal they got to get 2 eps at a time? I'm just glad they got it. Maybe they'll get Terius. (I keep meaning to do a 1 month trial of Kocowa to watch that...)

COMMEMORATION OF THE 4TH ANNIVERSARY OF @javabeans' HEALER: EPISODE 20 (FINAL) RECAP.
On Feb. 10, 2015 @javabeans submitted her HEALER: Episode 20 (Final) recap. Currently that recap has over 11,100 comments!
One of the interesting things, beside the sheer number of comments, is that Javabeans herself led off with the first comment which I consider a classic. It should have an entry in “Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations”:
“Healer is over! I need a drink.”
I mentioned to @growingbeautifully that it might be nice to commemorate this anniversary. So HEALER fans please share your memories or thoughts.
What a nice bit of serendipity to have Ji Chang-wook's image above.

I don't watch many dramas this year, but I'm proud with my achievement in 2019 so far.
1st week, completed my first serious sageuk, Deep Rooted Tree
3rd week, completed my first ever zombies show, Kingdom
4th week, completed my first noona romance, Encounter
5th week, completed my first 50 episodes Kdrama/k-soap opera, Gloria
Next I'm planning to finish my first 100+ episodes daily drama, any suggestion beanies?

Happy Friday everybody! I'm just dropping in to wish you a day filled with joy, whether big or small. Don't think, feel!

Happy OT Everyone!!
And ... as mentioned last week 🎉 💐Happy 4th Anniversary Healer Episode 20 Recap (10/2/2015) on DB! 💐 🎉

There are several anniversaries we might celebrate for a show.
We can commemorate:
- the date show started or ended
-the date of our intrepid hero's or heroine's birthday
-and now thanks to the idea from @bong-soo, even the date of DB's last recap thread can be commemorated!! Yay!!! 🎊 🎉 🎊

Reasons for celebrating:
1) Javabeans herself was recapping and loving this show and she began with a comment that was so full of fun and feeling, 😋 🍹 🍷 🍶 if only it were well known, it should become iconic in kdrama viewing comment history!

@marcusnyc20 says "One of the interesting things, beside the sheer number of comments, is that Javabeans herself led off with the first comment which I consider a classic. It should have an entry in “Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations”:

What was that comment? The first comment in the Ep 20 Recap thread. http://www.dramabeans.com/2015/02/healer-episode-20-final/#comment-1712680

2) The other reason ... that comment thread has now, 11,192 comments and most of them reflect our joy and satisfaction at show's end.

As part of our celebration, I thought it would be a chance for whoever watched the show to say here on the OT why they liked it or what was memorable to them about it or whether they felt the same as JB who began with a feeling first comment on her own recap.

Tagging for interest: @marcusnyc20 @seabreeze @blonote @cabbageleaf @heroonthebeach @astrojoy @mmmmm @pastmidnite @chandler @sicarius @giegie0384 @siesta @hyoria @cocomo @mzmeow @rigby2800 @meliyasha @korfan @crysta @noobita @sweetiepie54

So here's my little celebratory comment: Thanks JB and Healer for a once in a lifetime live viewing experience, which brought so many in this international community together, to squee and spazz to our hearts content, to the tune of 1000s of posts. And what a frisson of 😱 excitement, 😨 horror and 😌 relief we had together in that final episode twist.

Also kudos to a show for the ultimate in love triangle tropes … I've never yet come across another triangle as cute as where Park Bong Soo was jealous of his Healer self. 😂 😆 May the memory of this show continue to delight and warm our hearts! ❤ 💚 💛 💜

Happy Friday Beanies! I'm so happy it's Friday! 🎉🎊 Heading to my Moms for the weekend to finish off Encounter and start a new drama (either Clean With Passion or Beauty Inside).

Kingdom 9/10 Excellent. This was like watching a movie. I love the different take on the Zombies. I also love that it's not just about Zombies attacking but it's tied in political machinations. All the characters are great, both the heroes and baddies. My sisters and us kept shouting Moo-Young better not die. The mood, cinematography, writing and acting are all at movie levels. Excellent. My only issue is that now I have to wait forever for the 2nd season (why it's only 9/10). 🧟‍♀️

Hymn of Death 7/10 This was a tragic but beautiful drama. I loved the OST. Even though it was beautiful it felt like it was lacking something. But that might be due to the nature of the short format. 😢

Story of Ming Lang 7/10 This drama is a slower burn but it has pulled me in. The main leads weren't in the beginning very much and no romance between them so far (I'm on ep. 28), but around ep. 20 the drama started to center on them more and I am getting addicted. 😍

TGIF! Happy Lunar New Year! I didn't have a day off or anything but I enjoyed unexpected warm weather. btw How cute was Prof. Cha couple of SKY Castle in video clips going around? I tried to look up for Kim Byung-chul's interview, but it seems just about everyone from the show except him had an interview (and some translated ones are available in other sites. btw Is there anyone you'd like me to check into?)

The Crowned Clown -I was somewhat relieved to watch ep 9 because it seems they have clear idea about the rest of plot (Ha Sun pretending to be cray Lee Heon will work for me). And how was I impressed with Yeo Jin-goo's acting. He deserves an award and some (I think actors have to meet a right project to shine. meh "Reunited Worlds" for instance). I found one interview done in end of Dec. right before the drama started to air.
But first a little intro. According to Wiki[and namuwiki], Yeo Jin-goo(23) began his career as child actor, debuted in the film "Sad Movie" (2005) at the age of eight, playing Yeom Jung-ah(Sky Castle)'s son. Yeo went on to play the younger version of leading roles in many movies and TV dramas. In 2008, in Iljimae he played Iljimae(Lee Joon-gi)'s and in Tazza, Goni(Jang Huek)'s child version, and won the Best Child Actor award for both dramas at the SBS Drama Awards.

His big breakout project giving the fame and recognition was "Moon Embracing the Sun" (2012), where he played the crown prince Lee Hwon(Kim Soo-hyun)'s child version. This was followed by a melo Missing You. He won Best Young Actor at the 2012 MBC Drama Awards for both dramas. Even though he was teenager his unbelievable acting and charming voice and gaze earned himself quite a few nicknames including "Jin-goo oppa", "cheolkeong,cheolkeong"(heart drop). Unlike other child actors who appeal with cuteness like younger brother, Yeo Jin-goo became the epitome of oppa with jokes like "Jin-goo oppa is full name", "If you are handsome, you are oppa".

As side story he played Jang Heuk's child version 3 times(Dance of Dragon, Tazza, Deep rooted tree). For Deep rooted tree, it is said that the lead actor Jang Hyuk liked Yeo's JH younger version portrayal in Tazza, so he recommended Yeo for his child role in DRT, but Yeo grew up by then not to suit for the child role, so he made a brief appearance as teenage Ddol-bok. He also starred in the drama Giant(2012) as Lee Beom-soo's younger counterpart, which according to Yeo, it was the first time he fully immersed in the role and began taking acting seriously.

Now that DB has the review on "Kingdom", I thought to check into some interviews. I watched the show with expectations as fan of "Signal" but I guess my expectation was a bit too high. Yet some parts were exciting as I watched feeling edgy.

First, the writer Kim Eun-hee(47) had a short interview.[StarNews, 2019.01.28]
There was the movie "Rampant" which was released in October last year starring Hyun Bin and Jang Dong-gun. It was action film telling a story of prince Lee Chung (Hyun Bin) who fights against "Night Demons" to save the Joseon nation. With the monsters plaguing the country and the minister of military Kim Ja-joon (Jang Dong-gun) plotting to overthrow the nation, prince Lee Chung fights them with some help from people who understands the danger. Asked how Kingdom was different from Rampant, Kim responded "characters' emotions".

"I wanted to do Kingdom since 2011. I had been a fan of zombie films for a long time. When I heard they were planning to have "Rampant", I thought "People think alike". I think Rampant is the film focused on the action. For Kingdom, I tried to emphasize more on characters' sentiments. I wanted to talk about the hunger. For example, if a family with 8 members fight for a small fish, they have to act really quick to be able to eat. I thought it would be nice if this kind of situation could be expressed with sadness. My neighbors- these people turned to zombie not because they committed any misdeed, but because they were hungry, were struck with epidemic- I wanted to express such sentiment on a bigger scale."

Kim started to write Kingdom after Signal was finished. She said there was no meddling from Netflix maybe because they couldn't speak Korean(joke?). "Actually Netflix asked "What happens next?" So I asked "Is it ok because Korea is a country with different culture?" But they said not to worry and work freely. So I had my wish come true." Kim continued. "Audiences are already familiar with the theme like cutting the neck off a creature. But I thought it might be difficult to air in main stations. I asked Netflix if those extreme scenes were ok and they said they are more than welcome."

Interested parties in Netflix boasted "Kingdom is the content we decided looking at the possibility of seasonal show." It is known each episode costed close to 2M. After the first broadcast netizens' interests and praises poured in. The show has many cruel and gruesome scenes to show how far people could go being cruel. Writer Kim got the inspiration in a phrase of The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty- "Tens of thousands of people died from unknown mysterious disease." She thought about the plot that starving people transform into monsters due to the plague, so hunger is behind the epidemic disease in the ragged and miserable period in Joseon Dynasty. The powerful running the show, repressing people were also suffered from another kind of hunger. "Ultimately I wanted to talk about...

One of casting news in DB was L, also known as Kim Myung-soo who will star in new KBS drama "Dan, Only Love". I remember how he was impressive in the drama "Ms Hammurabi". Kim Myung-soo (27) had an interview last month after receiving the Best Icon award in AAA(Asia Artist Awards) in acting area for his role in Ms. Hammurabi. Kim is a member of the boy group Infinite where he made his debut with the name "L" as vocalist(and visual, His team members said "thigh") in 2010. He did various dramas since 2011 including tvN's "Shut Up Flower Boy Band".

[namuwiki] He was the case of "street casting". They say the CEO Lee Jeoung-yeop only accepted him impressed with his persistence "Is there a kid like him these days?" (but in official interview, Lee said seeing L tearing up talking about his parents made him change his mind to take him).

Kim said he had timid personality and he was known to be nice and shy. When asked which past he wanted to go back - the time he was happy, or the time he was having hardships, Kim chose to go back to the time he had difficulties so that he could make different choices. His personality might have contributed not having much dating experience. He said he would choose friendship over love. He has trouble with his monstrous curly hair, so he carries hair styler everywhere. And maybe because of that his ideal type includes a woman with long hair with nice perm. Even though he was known to be shy, when Kim is with people who are close with, he talks a lot. He himself commented that he wanted to talk but kept silent because of his image per instruction from the company. Thankfully as he gained seniority, he was able to talk more openly. (Still not considered as the talker in his group because other members are pretty talkative. heh)

Kim seems good at enduring/handling difficult situations. There was an incident when the team came back from an overseas performance, they found hundreds of ants in the room which made all members jumped from fear, but Kim cleaned up the mess in no time. Also he is known for having obsession. For instance, he liked shirts with check pattern so much so that he used to hang 10 of same shirts with just different color. Kim was able to get over his obsession only when the president torn up a shirt and prohibited him from buying more of them (but it moved to black fashion, heh). In another instance, during his trainee period, he only ate Kimchee Jjigye in one restaurant for one year. It is same with his habit of folding paper crane regardless of time and place. Kim can't eat raw seafood as well as Chinese food. He said he once had really bad indigestion, and couldn't eat them since. (I remember he impressed viewers by eating Jjajangmyun a few times in Ms. Hammurabi which he said later he threw up after filming the scene.)

Inspired by beanies comments I give a watch to The Story of Yanxi Palace, and I had to fight the urge to binge watch! It's so beautiful and so many female characters, I'm not into C-dramas, because they are so long, but here I don't mind.

So my parents watch kdramas occasionally. In the beginning, I basically forced them to watch a few with me. Lol but it seems to have worked as they asked me to find them the Original Good Doctor (they're watching the American adaption rn as well) Maybe 5 minutes in and my dad says he already likes this one more.. the cinematography he says. Lol

Anyway I watched a few with them and guys! I didn't remember Yoon Park, Kim Young Kwan, Wang Ji Won, or Jin Kyung in it. But then I did just barely get into dramas the year before it came out, 2012, so I was breezing through them like crazy. And 2013 was a great year for dramas. <3

Have a lovely weekend everyone!!

OT Week 104: Another late post from yours truly! AGHH! Work and life have just been killing me lately. Not enough time to spend with the people I love, let alone doing things that I love. I have been keeping up with @hotcocoagirl 's writing challenge, though, so I’m glad for that. We’ve had a crazy week this week. Mother nature has thrown everything at us, including a tornado that came pretty close to our house. I love my friends who texted me at midnight, asking me if everything was okay—everything was. Then my son got sick and thank God my father was able to get him from school. We ran all the tests we could yesterday, and nothing serious, not even the flu. When that boy gets sick, though, it’s like time stops for me because he always looks like death. Good thing he hardly ever gets sick. Also good thing that four people cancelled because of the weather so I could get him situated.

Drama-wise, My Ahjusshi is all I have had time and energy for. I’m in the middle of episode 13, where his brother just found out from his wife that she cheated on Dong Hoon. It’s certainly dramatic. Ki Hoon has a temper I would never want to see firsthand. I’d love to start Romance is a Bonus Book from all the rave reviews it’s getting and I need a rom-com. Also, on my radar, Reach of Sincerity.

Conversation:
Daughter: J had a picture of a kpop group on her laptop today.
Me: Really!?! Who was it?
Daughter: Well, it wasn’t Day6 or Highlight.
Me: Does J like kpop?
Daughter: I don’t know. But when my best friend saw it, she asked me if it was Day6.
Me: You told her about Day6?
Daughter: Oh, yeah, I showed her the “Shoot Me” video a couple weeks ago. She asked me how I could tell.
Me: Because all of them do look similar.
Daughter: I don’t know how I can tell, I just can. And Day6 has 5 guys, and there were 8 in the picture. But Park Bo-gum and another guy did look alike to me. I can’t remember the other guy’s name though. It took me forever to figure that out.
Me: *Beaming proudly*
Moral of the Story: My mini-me is learning the ways…
2nd Moral: OMGOMGOMG! Gong Yoo and Park Bo-gum!
3rd Moral: Have a great week everyone!