News bites: June 21, 2023

20 June 21, 2023June 21, 2023

by tccolb

Han Ji-min, Lee Min-ki, Suho

JTBC’s fantasy Behind Your Touch has finally been slotted into the year’s schedule, premiering this summer on August 12. Starring Lee Min-ki (My Liberation Notes), Han Ji-min (Yonder), and EXO’s Suho (Rich Man), it’s reunions all around with production led by the duo behind The Light in Your Eyes — PD Kim Seok-yoon (My Liberation Notes) and writer Lee Nam-kyu (Awl). The series will follow King the Land in the weekend slot. [JTBC]

SBS announced that National Death Penalty Vote is coming this summer as well, headlined by Park Hae-jin (Showtime Begins), Park Sung-woong (Bloodhounds), and one of the busiest women this year Im Ji-yeon (Lies Hidden in My Garden). Directed by filmmaker Park Shin-woo (White Night) with scripts by Jo Yoon-young (Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo), the thriller will be kicking off with two episodes back-to-back on August 10 and will be airing once a week on Thursdays thereafter. [SBS]

The first poster has dropped for the Netflix series D.P. 2, confirming the new season’s release date on July 28. Continuing the story from where we left off in Season 1, Jung Hae-in (Connect), Gu Kyo-hwan (Monstrous), Kim Sung-kyun (Divorce Attorney Shin), and Sohn Seok-gu (Big Bet) will all be returning to reprise their roles. Production also remains in the trusted hands of filmmaker Han Joon-hee (Hit-and-Run Squad) and the original webtoon creator Kim Bo-tong. [Sports Chosun]
Over on tvN, we get a clearer divide of good versus evil in the new group posters for The Uncanny Counter 2: Counter Punch. Coming back to our screens to re-start the fight against demons on July 29, the large ensemble cast will be led by Season 1’s original foursome: Jo Byung-kyu (Stove League), Yoon Joon-sang (Alchemy of Souls), Kim Se-jung (Today’s Webtoon), and Yeom Hye-ran(The Glory). [News1]

A new youth drama called Night Has Fallen (roughly translated) is in the works for LG’s U+ Mobile TV, lining up Lee Jae-in (Racket Boys), Kim Woo-seok (Finland Papa), Choi Ye-bin (It’s Beautiful Now), Cha Woo-min (Weak Hero Class 1), Ahn Ji-ho (All of Us Are Dead), and Jung Sori (Move to Heaven). The mystery-thriller has PD Im Dae-woong attached to direct and is planning to start filming in July. [Sports Kyunghyang]
The ~mysterious~ Hwang Min-hyun (Alchemy of Souls) takes the center stage in tvN’s newest poster for My Lovely Liar, which also stars Kim So-hyun (Love Alarm 2), Yoon Ji-on (Tomorrow), Seo Ji-hoon (Revenge of Others), and Lee Si-woo (The Fabulous). Adding to the growing list of K-superheroes this summer, the fantasy rom-com launches next month on July 31. [Sports Donga]

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1 Qingdao: likes scented candles

June 21, 2023 at 2:25 PM

More DP and Jung Hae-In please!

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2 Minnie🫘👩🏻‍🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻‍🏫🌱🏹

June 21, 2023 at 2:47 PM

Im Ji-yeon is insanely busy this year.

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3 HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞

June 21, 2023 at 3:03 PM

Ooh I'm getting more excited for My Lovely Liar!!

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4 💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜

June 21, 2023 at 3:08 PM

I didn't like D.P. and I neither like nor agree with the message it made by its finale, but making a season 2 renders that message, which was clearly very intentional despite how much I loathe it, meaningless, and calls into question the validity and authenticity of the work and the creator's worldview.

S1 made a point and finished its story. By making a S2 you jeopardise the point of your S1, in a way that makes you look like a hack, or maybe even just makes you a hack entirely.

I could say this in a more scathing way, but I think I'll just leave it there for now.
Needless to say, this is a recurring issue I have in Kdramaland's turn to the multi season darkside, for both things I like and don't like.

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Soyesterday

June 21, 2023 at 7:23 PM

Yeah, i also hate the turn to multi-seaon format, mostly because its a cheap cash grab, why invest in a new story (which might flop) when you can produce something with a built in audience i guess.

The format kind of undermines what makes Asian dramas great in the first place. (Cdramas and Jdramas seem to be following this trend too)

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💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜

June 21, 2023 at 7:59 PM

That is the more in your face issue, yeahp, alas.

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Blue (@mayhemf)

June 22, 2023 at 4:57 AM

The multi season format of cdramas is mostly to work around the episode limitation that has been set. So the usual 50-70 episode historicals are now seasons. And many do release back to back with little wait time. I don’t know if any of them do seasons in the real sense. Detective Chinatown is one I can think of.
I didn’t know jdramas had seasons!

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hacja

June 22, 2023 at 7:34 AM

Do you think the turn to multi-season formats (actually, for me a REturn, because of course that is the U.S. tv model I grew up with) might benefit writers financially, even as it might hurt artistically? One thing I've been reading about the WGA strike is that the new model of one-off shows on U.S streaming services means that even established writers' income shrinks and becomes less stable.

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5 bong-soo

June 21, 2023 at 5:53 PM

What did Michael say, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”? My short hiatus/sabbatical from kdramas is coming to an end.
On my viewing card I unexpectedly added ENA’s LIES HIDDEN IN MY GARDEN (Viki US) while I await MBC’s NUMBERS (Viki US), KBS’s HEARTBEAT (Amazon Prime Video) and JTBC’s THE MIRACLE BROTHERS (US Availability?).
From the above report, the two dramas on my viewing card will be:
No. 3. Netflix’s D.P. 2. Short drama. 6 episodes. No availability angst here. Episode one airs 28 July over a month from now which is good.
It will be good to se Jung Hae-in again since I haven’t sen him since the original D.P. (2021).
O/T. JHI item (maybe). This is for those who have watched the terrific reality show JUNG HAE IN’S TRAVEL LOG (2019) where he travels to NYC for the first time. I am sure it was filmed in October 2018 so you get a good look at the city pre-pandemic. I was living in NYC in Queens at the time. During the show JHI visits the Grand Central Oyster Bar and Restaurant and packs away oysters and beer. The server asked him for an ID to see if he is old enough to drink in NYC. The legal drinking age in NYC is 21and JHI was 30 at the time. He was a good sport about the whole thing. He was naturally confused.
I was back to NYC last April and went to the same place to see how business was doing now post pandemic and looked over to where JHI had been seated (at the bar) and sure enough the same ajumma/server was at her station which I guess is a good thing.

No. 4. TUC2: COUNTER PUNCH. I see reports that this will be available on Netflix. I hope that is officially confirmed soon.
These two dramas will probably join KBS’s OASIS (Viki US) and Netflix’s BLOODHOUNDS as the most physical (i.e. fight oriented) 2023 dramas that I will watch.

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DancingEmma

June 22, 2023 at 6:11 AM

“Lies Hidden in my garden” has the worst blurb including a kine about the terrible smell coming from the garden. No, thank you. Reminded me of when I was living in Manhattan and after a surgery, had taken refuge from my walk up in my friends’ apt in the LES. The friend who was going away said to me “You might regret this as there is an awful smell since yesterday”. Well, he was not wrong. Three dead and decomposing rats were finally removed after many calls and pleadings from the space under the patio. Good times! I don’t miss dodging rats when coming back from work at night. Yikes.

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bong-soo

June 22, 2023 at 8:14 AM

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bong-soo

June 22, 2023 at 8:15 AM

One of the ‘joys’ of living in NYC. I had an almost 8 year run there from 2013-21 with 4 years in Manhattan and 4 in Queens. Overall it was a good experience but the whole pandemic situation did me in and I decided to move on. In Queens I lived 2-3 miles from Elmhurst which was like ground zero for Covid at the beginning of the pandemic.

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DancingEmma

June 22, 2023 at 8:30 AM

That would have been rough for sure. I had a lot of fun in Manhattan too and don’t regret it one bit (well, except having to encounter rats and dealing with slumlords).

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6 Soyesterday

June 21, 2023 at 7:16 PM

The first season of Uncanny counter was really good, i hope they dont drop the ball with the follow up season.

Im Ji-yeon is employed!!! raising Koreas GDP by herself at this point, get it lady.

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7 Kurama

June 21, 2023 at 9:14 PM

Behind Your Touch : Why Suho? I don't understand casting choices sometimes. They gave him the role of Oguri Shun in the remake of Rich Man, Poor Woman. This character worked because it was Oguri Shun!

D.P. was really good, so I'm excited to watch the second season. They have material with the webtoon. I hope they will focus on the main characters.

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PYC

June 23, 2023 at 7:37 AM

Oguri Shun makes anything work.

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8 The Kdrama Enthusiast

June 21, 2023 at 9:43 PM

D.P. season 2. Finallyyyyyyy.

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9 Minka

June 21, 2023 at 11:06 PM

Can’t wait for Behind Your Touch. I miss Lee Min-ki so much. August, please come fast.

Will watch out for D.P. too.

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10 Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain

June 22, 2023 at 1:41 PM

Behind Your Touch: The premise is weird and not very appealing (veterinarian whose psychometric powers are activated by touching humans’ or animals’ butts + pushy detective from the big city + serial murders), but I’ll watch one episode of anything for Lee Min-ki. Suho is a bit of a head-scratcher here, though.

National Death Penalty Vote: The cast! 🤩 The plot 😬🫣

Uncanny Counter 2: Guess I’ll have to watch UC1 pretty soon. Is curly hair some kind of supernatural manifestation?

My Lovely Liar: This has the potential to be fun and I really hope it’s more than just pretty - and that Minhyun can match the standard of the rest of the cast.