I swear ONE more f*cking ad.

My best friend is writing a web tool where everyone can be headcanon as trans and its amazing.

I need to get back into webtoons today. I need to get back into anise but can't afford my Crunchyroll. Might look into that next Friday.

I would write what I'm looking forward to. But I'm bored.

If you want to follow any of my missions: my eating recovery, EtJ, or media feels, ask me for the links.

Just realized POT book 3 is complete. I have 1 chapter left in book 4. Lol

Yeah. I'm focusing on food intake right now. But soon I'll add exercise.

Have you seen the Anne of Green Gables web series on Youtube? I think there are 3 of them.

Feel better soon, lovely.

I think there is a subjective part in the chemistry between actors that depends on people.
For AoS's exemple, I didn't find any couple good. The second part was more focused on the love story and for me they just gave more romantic scenes to Go Yoo-Jung than Jung So-Min.

For Our Blooming Youth, I think they're cute together. I had fun to watch the actor's interview, they looked confortable together. But I don't think they have the best chemistry I watched in Kdramas for now.

Chemistry between the OTP is kinda close to the charisma of an individual actor - it is somewhat objective thing (some people are simply born to be on stage/loved by camera), but viewers personal preferences still more or less influence their perception of it. I don't think equating chemistry with sexual tension is the right answer, tho it often overlaps when it comes to romcoms specifically, or there won't be any platonic bromances, sismances and other -mances that aren't ROmances in cinema at all. I'd describe it more as a very smooth team play when you can SEE one performer's actions affecting people around and their performances positively. That's why it's called chemistry - it's all about the diffusion)))

When people lament lack of chemistry between the OTP, it often means they don't like them enough visually or the script behind the showcased romance is not doing it for them. Personally I liked leads together in the first week of OBY and found their chemistry rather promising - actually I liked it so much that this week's heavy injection of sugar into their dynamic left me a bit confused and even slightly underwhelmed because I wanted that original complexity and tension to last a little longer. But apparently most viewers ate it up with gusto and actually thought that drama seriously improved in terms of chemistry once it went for the more conventional heart eyes and bashful smiles instead of initial "they fight so passionately that can also start making out by accident". Idk if it says A LOT about those viewers - or me. Or both)))

Gaus couple was just enough hot for the utterly non-serious show they were in. And I'm still kinda shocked that they actually went there in a few scenes^^

You must have missed our lengthy discussion of chemistry last year, @hacja! https://www.dramabeans.com/2022/09/open-thread-778/

In the end I think I decided it's pretty subjective (though other people came down in different places!). For me, chemistry relies on good writing and solid acting, but is also influenced by lots of other factors, including the soundtrack. The good news is (according to me) you're never wrong! If you see chemistry, that's awesome, you should totally enjoy it and not listen to others for whom it's not quite working.

As a big fan of AoS, I actually agree with your assessment of the chemistry between the two leads, for what it's worth.

Chemistry is defined as (1) the branch of science that deals with the identification of the substances of which matter is composed; the investigation of their properties and the ways in which they interact, combine, and change; and the use of these processes to form new substances; or (2) the complex emotional or psychological interaction between two people.


Good chemistry is when when pairing of characters go so well together that they let you believe they are partners/friends for real. Chemistry is the complex emotional or psychological interaction between two people. Saying actors have “chemistry” is a vague way of saying two players shoot sparks of apparent attraction, or are perceived to be well paired by the audience. There is a certain extra frisson from watching such pairings on screen.

Chemistry in a relationship is an intense feeling of connection. Romantic partners can build chemistry over time by practicing open communication and developing trust. Romantic chemistry focuses on characteristics present between two people, including mutual interests, similarity, and intimacy. According to Kelly Campbell, P.h.D., the more present these characteristics are, the more likely two individuals will perceive chemistry between each other. To achieve romantic chemistry, show how the characters interact with one another through the four levels of attraction starting with the foundation of physical attraction and work up to explore intellectual, emotional and social levels the characters’ possess.

A chemical formula is an expression that shows the elements in a compound and the relative proportions of those elements. Likewise, one can view characters as chemical compositions (positive and negative charges of attraction that orbit around their personality). A script writer’s goal to make those individual charges interact in a way that we see personal bonds develop and grow in a realistic way.

I once read a comment from Jun Ji-Hyun who starred in “Legend of the Blue Sea” that she had trouble getting the right “chemistry” going with Lee Min-ho. I always wondered what she meant. Maybe they didn’t like each other? I suppose if actors don’t hit it off, that could come out onscreen as bad chemistry, but if they’re pros, who could tell?

Really good article hacja. Thanks for the link.

I think one of the things I consider when I'm thinking of chemistry is the tension between people. When it's good chemistry, you can almost feel the tension coming out of your screen. And it's not just a "will they won't they" kind of thing, though that can be part of it, it's that you can sense their visceral awareness of each other at all times. When someone doesn't care about another person, whether it's love or hate, that awareness is lacking and it shows. Good actors can fake it, good actors who have that chemistry in real life can even make it explosive.

I do think there is definitely a subjective element to chemistry, and that we're more likely to feel it when the actors or characters are types we'd personally be attracted to. However, as a theatre director who often casts actors in romantic pairings, I will say that some combinations just light up the room and others . . . don't. Weirdly, I find it has very little connection to overall level of acting talent or to even whether or not the actors like each other in real life. Sometimes actors who are actually dating have very little on-stage chemistry and actors who hate each other produce great sparks in scenes.

Also, can't believe they actually CGI'd a kiss. A kiss THAT TAME. I'm sorry, but if you don't wanna give your colleague a little peck during what is supposed to be the romantic high point of your movie, don't act in a rom-com. I don't think you're committed to creating romantic chemistry if you won't even go for a little peck without needing CGI.

@mindy I completely agree with you on every point, but especially on the appeal of kdrama romances. It is not because they are "traditional" in a Victorian sense. (As if a romance between a gumiho and a young woman or a robot and a chaebol was "traditional.") It is because the best of them show a love that recognizes the interests of both partners and yet also intensely connects them.

U.S. pop culture has no trouble with sentimentality--love of nation, of mothers, of pets, of soldiers, of automobiles, of guns is always sentimentally portrayed. Its just love between romantic partners that people are really cynical about. There are a lot of reasons for this, I know, including the simple one that all of us have had failed relationships at some point or another. The best of kdrama romances allow an escape from this cynicism without a descent into meaningless sentimentality.

These were my intro the rom com format--seen everyone of those films 5-6 times.
But there's also, a decade later, the great sports rom-com in the same mold, Pat and Mike (1952) with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, with Hepburn as the star athlete emerging as the protective figure and breadwinner,and Deskset (1957), a very interesting film reflecting early fears about office workers being displaced by computers. There Hepburn is a classic career woman in a manager role, albeit subordinate to Tracy.

While I think the 1930s films really did capture a somewhat progressive mindset, I think by the 1950s into the 1960s the two Hepburn and Tracy films were somewhat unique. In fact the 1960s-1970s probably represented the first "death of the rom-com" in the U.S.

Today, I really do think kdramas are playing an important role in the U.S. in keeping rom-coms alive, but I don't have hard viewership statistics on that.

I have this interesting thing with Sleepless in Seattle where the first time I saw it, I was like “what the heck, this is so creepy” ; the second time I saw it, I found it very romantic and their chemistry believeable; the third I saw it I was back to “what, no” ….so in summary I believe that

A) Sleepless in Seattle would like to be romantic but is creepy

And

B) how you feel about chemistry and whether a situation is romantic relies heavily on how you’re feeling at the time. (Similarly, why sometimes you try a drama and it just doesn’t do it for you, but you try again another time and it’s the best thing ever)

Well, maybe I'll watch Kiss Me for the 2000th time. It's my favorite adaptation of the story. Have you watched the Thai Full House? Much better than the kdrama version, but sadly missing the really great (?) fashion.

If you like the various adaptations of Itazura Na Kiss, I recommend the jdrama An Incurable Case of Love. It’s a similar vibe but the heroine is a bit more competent 😅

Both solid choices.

I mean, I'm not saying you should watch it again.

Because this life is our first

i was saying that it's Open Thread #800 this week...

Interesting…have you seen it?

The author says his novel was inspired by Jeremy Lin, the Taiwanese-American basketball player who had a brief moment of fame playing for the NY Knicks in the NBA.

Let us know what you think after you’ve done listening to it! I’m waiting for the book to become available at my local library; they have it on order.

Ahhh! That makes sense haha
So are managers like personal assistants?

It means a person with a chronic illness. It comes from 'spoon theory' which is something a blogger (Christine Miserandino) created to describe the limited & unpredictable amount of energy she had due to Lupus.
In my case, it's Rheumatoid Arthritis that makes me moan, groan & laze around.
May you never run out of spoons & never have personal experience of being a spoonie!

Thanks PurpleOwl. K-dramas & Dramabeans have been a good distraction for me, taking my mind off troubles large & small.

I have a question that perhaps you or someone else can answer: is there a Beginner's Guide to Dramabeans? Like a how-to guide to all the parts of the site?

Also: in my head I am now reciting, "I've never seen a purple owl, I never hope to see one . . . . "