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News bites: August 1, 2023


Ryeoun

  • A second season is in the works for Wavve’s action-thriller Weak Hero Class 1 and newly joining the cast is Ryeoun (The Secret Romantic Guesthouse). With production still in the early stages, there hasn’t been any information yet on the character Ryeoun will play and how he’ll be involved with Season 1’s hero Park Ji-hoon. [Star News]

  • Kim Hyang-gi (Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist 2) and Shin Hyun-seung (Behind Every Star) have been paired for a new romance called Secret Playlist. Based on a popular webtoon by the same title, the series is being released by Hulu Japan and is aiming to launch later this year. [My Daily]

  • Speaking of romance, a new poster has dropped JTBC’s Destined With You, featuring our main pair: Kim Ro-woon (Tomorrow) and Jo Boa (Military Prosecutor Doberman). Directed by PD Nam Ki-hoon (Big Bet, Tunnel) with scripts by Noh Ji-seol (100 Days My Prince), the fantasy is slated to broadcast later this month on August 23. [JTBC]
  • New stills have arrived for KBS’s My Lovely Boxer, featuring our desperate agent Lee Sang-yub (Eve) along with boxing prodigy Kim So-hye (How to Buy a Friend) and her first love Kim Jin-woo (Love for a Thousand More). Airing in the Monday-Tuesday slot, the sports drama will be coming to our screens on August 21. [News1]

  • ENA has finally given us our first look at Kim Ji-suk (Kiss Sixth Sense) in the newest trailer for New Recruit 2. With most of the main cast reprising their roles from Season 1 — including Kim Min-ho (Moonshine) and Nam Tae-woo (Youth of May) —the new second season premieres on August 28. [News1]
  • The first script reading stills are out for TVING’s new sageuk Queen Woo. Set in the Goguryeo era, the historical recently began filming and stars Jeon Jong-seo (Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area), Kim Mu-yeol (Trolley), and Ji Chang-wook (If You Wish Upon Me), in addition to Jung Yumi (Celebrity), Lee Soo-hyuk (Tomorrow), Park Ji-hwan (Our Blues), and others. [Sports Donga]

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2. I'm praying Big Bet's PD tones down whatever ML sweetness the writer has penned down. Destined with You will be getting a 2-4 episode grace from me. Excess sugar and I'm off.

Now Queen Woo is what you call cast-packed enticement. Ji Chang-wook, Lee Soo-hyuk... Isn't that Jo Han-chul? Each one are forces to be reckoned with.

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Queen Woo started calling my name with those pictures and I don’t even like sageuks 😆

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Saeguks breathe life into me! Hopefully you will be watching this one with us saeguk lovers!

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My soul mate!

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I simply cannot BELIEVE all those faces there together! I’m with @reply1988: with all of those names, I’ll have to check out Queen Woo, but I’m no connoisseur of sageuks. My favorites are the silly ones, I’m afraid.

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Me too - wowed by the whole raft of ace supporting actors and veterans! And I’m not a sageuk watcher…

But seriously, Joen Jong-seo is a very impressive actress who can act with an edge like nobody. Good to see her move from movies to dramas.

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And, Song Jae-rim is there too!!

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Heads up. You better be prepared to subscribe to Paramount+ if you want to watch QUEEN WOO next year. That is where it will be available to watch. Almost certainly it will be no go for me unfortunately.

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Ooohhhh, that’s why all those expensive names have been gathered together. It’s a loss-leader for the platform.

Sigh. Well, we have our ways to cope when these things happen…

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Lol. In my kdrama ‘youth’ I dabbled with the dark side but no more. Just a personal decision.

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…or just not watch and follow the weecaps!!! There are plenty of other drama fish in the K-drama sea.

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Desperate watchers find ways to watch, right? I'm not afraid of the dark side if needs be.

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I'm not sure I need a second season of Weak Hero Class 1. I found the first season very violent with no message.

I like Kim Hyang-gi but romance is not really her forte. Shin Hyun-seung is cute.

Come faster Destined With You!

I?m curious about My Lovely Boxer but overall I will watch for Lee Sang-yub as a lead!

So many known faces for Queen Woo! It will be great!

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Oh Weak Class Hero had a message. It was that there is no way out of violence in hierarchical systems because violence is not a bug of the system but a feature. And it was one of the most depressing things I've ever seen. Yes even more depressing than D.P.

I also have no idea how you make a second season of that show when the message is that there are no actions you can take, you will always lose.

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I found it very unrealistic. There were no adults or barely.

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It's a common theme in Korean school dramas, the complete absence of any caring adults. Do Korean teachers really just stand by and let students assault each other in school without intervention?

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The teachers, the parents, the doctors...

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In family dramas about school, parents are present. For example, in all dramas from the "School" series, their help is considerable. Except that rich, privileged parents do not care about the psychological development of their children, that they were good people, but about ensuring them the best possible place in the social hierarchy, and they go so far as to corruption. For example, in "Class of Lies", "My Strange Hero", "Moment at 18". Poor parents, on the other hand, almost never stand a chance in fighting for their children's rights in the fight against corrupt school management, etc. They have to apologize to the parents of children whose children bully them or transfer their children to another school when the perpetrators of bullying continue to act with impunity.

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@oasia it's always the same cliché, I guess it's why I'm little tired by bullying Kdramas. I think in Beautiful World they showed a different side and I really liked it.

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@leetennant. It is exactly for the same reason that I can’t stomach D.P.2 when it is showing the same hopeless world.

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Kim Hyang-gi is a talented child actress, and I agree when it comes to romance.
Maybe it's just me. but it's one of the challenges for child actors transitioning to adult roles and still looking like a kid.

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I think romance genre needs a minimum of personal experience. Being famous since a young age can make things more difficult to date between schedule, school and fame.

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In her case, it's not the fact that she started her career as a child actress, but her appearance, specifically her height. She can't help it and it's hard to blame her for that, but it affects how her roles are perceived. This gives the impression that you are not watching an adult woman, which she has been for several years, but that you are watching a child. This impression completely destroys the atmosphere of her romantic scenes.

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Secret playlist looks like an option so I have just subscribed to the webtoon😊

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Huh! That’s interesting, Reply…aren’t you worried that you’ll be setting yourself up for disappointment at all? I mean, by engaging in the original material as prep for the filmed drama? I’m truly asking! What are the pros and cons here, from your point of view?

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I see it as two different mediums. I am not as invested as I am in novels so hopefully will be fine with whatever they need to do for the sake of story telling.

I did it with Yumi’s cells watched season one read the whole thing in between the two seasons and was fine with the changes they made. I was grateful I had read it as the ending on the drama did not tie things up as neatly as the webtoon.

Seasons of Blossom I was more accepting of one of the timelines than most of the commenters on the site as I had met the characters in the webtoon as the first season, the webtoon divided the story into four seasons. The drama put two seasons alongside each other. The actors in one timeline were more experienced and this was what most people commented on and the themes in one timeline were heavier so the contrast added to the issue.

I also have a rubbish memory as I read and watch so many dramas and webtoons so I don't always notice the smaller changes. I got confused between two characters in Yumi’s cells because of my memory so thought they had gone way off the story but someone helped me out and the rest of the season made sense.

I am glad I did it with A Good day to be a dog as I feel I will be ready for some elements that may have been difficult and led to a drop if I was not prepared. Also, The girl downstairs has a key character smoking which is really a turn off for me but I have read the rest of the story so will be able to blank it.

I hope to finish Morning comes the ward or whatever it’s going to be called before the drama comes out. I have been waiting hoping for free episodes but not looking like that will happen any time soon! That one uses animals for the characters in the webtoon so the drama will be completely different. It covers patients in an adult mental health inpatient unit. It’s written by a psychiatric nurse so is going to be heavy subject matter and close to the day job so I wanted to be prepared for that especially if they decide to go for shock and awe or ridiculously unrealistic for the sake of dramaland. We have seen how they treat trauma in dramas so significant mental health will be a hard sell for the audience.

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Amazing! Thank you so much for this thoughtful reply, Reply.

It’s intriguing to me that you chalk some of this up to having a “rubbish memory” (which I very much doubt, but take your point!). I can also be “re-surprised” by a drama for which I’ve read the recaps. And I read recaps oftentimes for similar reasons to you: I don’t always like to be surprised by bad turns of events or, even, super-sad turns of events. The ongoing spate of live-watches that’s been going on for a few months now is a really new thing for me…I like it, but might be ready for some quieter (read: more-binge-watch-y) times. I’ve been watching many of the current shows with one eye closed, hoping that things don’t all fall apart (which, in some cases, they most definitely are…while in others, the jury is still out).

And I am also fascinated by the fact that you are more invested in the accurate drama adaptation of a novel than a webtoon! I’ve never read a webtoon [*ducks incoming sharp glances*] but could imagine these genres evoke quite different engagement responses from everyone. I think I understand from the recent commentary on that “Hot Takes” post that some folks are really quite invested in the accurate re-presentation webtoons, but perhaps they’d also be equally invested in the same for novels!!

It sounds, though, like you’re really living in the best of both worlds—if you like the storytelling better in the drama, that’s what you remember…but if you like it better from the webtoon, that’s what you take away. Genius. Sheer genius.

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Always happy to share of course. It’s all very personal as we all have very different perspectives. I only started reading webtoons relatively recently. It may be something you are interested in trying considering how many are adapted into dramas. I think the difference in investment is because with a book it’s all my imagination so I have my own idea about what people look and act like. With a webtoon it’s all laid out for you. For example in 19th Life the male lead really did look like the actor portrayed him with the hair style etc and I noticed this with other webtoons too.

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I saw that about Secret Playlist and I've decided not to read it before the drama. Apparently I can't handle changes if I don't agree with them, lol. I'm glad you read A Good Day to be a Dog, I'm still excited for that one even if I'm quite wary.

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wew I missed New Recruit season 1, I just hear it now. My k drama addict's ego can't handle it 😅 I'll check out the 1st season 1st ep if it is watchable.

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Secret Playlist is being released by… Hulu Japan??? Huh????

It doesn’t have a Korean platform??? Or is Hulu Japan also available in Korea?

This is so strange.

Some of poor Kim Hyang-gi’s recent dramas have weird releases.

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My thoughts too. Perplexing.

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Queen Woo looks really good, so excited for that.

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It's good to see Kim Mu-yeol and Jung Yumi back in a sageuk.
I wish they had more women in the show.

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I noticed that too, I was like are there only 2 women, lol

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QUEEN WOO looks good.

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I'm not a fan of sageuks in general but look at that cast. Looks like I might give Queen Woo a watch once it starts airing.

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