Premiere Watch: Like Flowers in Sand
by missvictrix
Time slot: Wednesday-Thursday
Broadcaster: ENA
Genre: Sports, coming-of-age, human
Episode count: 12
Reasons to watch: Dramaland knows how to deliver really wonderful sports dramas that make even a sports-avoider like myself dive in headfirst. With the poetically titled Like Flowers in Sand, we have a hero (Jang Dong-yoon) with crushed dreams of success in the ring as a ssireum athlete. Just when he’s about to give up, those dreams are given new wings. Lee Joo-myung — who was pure joy in Twenty Five Twenty One — is the girl from his past who’s poised to change everything. Has it been done before? Yes. Does that mean they can’t put a special twist on it and make it magical? No, it does not. And I’m ready for the flowers, sand, blood, sweat, and tears.
TL;DR: Shirtless Jang Dong-yoon Jang Dong-yoon wrestles for his dreams
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1 Blue (@mayhemf)
December 20, 2023 at 5:41 AM
I see it on Netflix US!!
Let’s hope it’s good.
Watching two dramas at the same time with the same lead can get confusing for me. Hope I don’t see any Cupid here.
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2 bong-soo
December 20, 2023 at 7:01 AM
I am all in and the sooner we can get over the dreaded Noble Idiocy the better.
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zindigo
December 20, 2023 at 9:24 AM
I would agree with you but my current beanie status is in fact "Noble Idiot" so I'm conflicted. 🙃
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bong-soo
December 20, 2023 at 11:41 AM
Try to get out as soon as you can. I am sure there is a Rooftop Room (with a great view) waiting for you. I was up there for years lol.
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zindigo
December 20, 2023 at 1:46 PM
Can't wait! Although the sparkly tracksuit has some appeal as well...
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Diana Hansen
December 21, 2023 at 12:49 PM
LOL!
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3 Gikata
December 20, 2023 at 8:54 AM
Thanks for pointing such important detail out)))
And this too!
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bomibeans
December 20, 2023 at 11:20 AM
Have they ever done, "sports, coming-of-age, demon"? .... cause we need to fresh it up a bit, dramaland.
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
December 20, 2023 at 11:45 AM
🤔 what sports would a demon play - tango fight, balcony balancing, cake eating!
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DancingEmma
December 20, 2023 at 12:00 PM
Some crafty demons might be particularly good with fencing which requires skill, mental and physical agility, quick footwork and flair.
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
December 20, 2023 at 12:25 PM
Excellent choice.
bomibeans
December 20, 2023 at 12:48 PM
I vote for an open league competition in telekinesis of transporting beautiful young women into the chairs, but one poor teenage demon accidentally transports a young beautiful female into his arms (instead of an intended chair) which causes a huge scandal in the Other World, which then blossoms into a tender love between the two, and the demon learns not only what it means to love but also confidence by telekinetically carry the female lead into the intended chairs. The happy end.
Gikata
December 20, 2023 at 10:02 PM
There was some high school vampire show(s), but no sport in that, as far as I remember... And, ofc, we've already had a literal saint from another dimension as a kpop idol and a whole bunch of youngsters in monster horrors, zombie related and not. So perhaps a teenage sport drama with demon protagonist is not that impossible.
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DancingEmma
December 20, 2023 at 10:36 PM
This could be really funny in theory. Imagine how some earthling demonic teenagers could put the actual demon to shame by their shenanigans. Not being anywhere near evil, just garden variety impulsive, immature and selfish!
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Gikata
December 20, 2023 at 11:04 PM
Hmmm, demon as a sport school teacher then? To make the poor thing REALLY suffer from trying to manage the hellish human kids)))
Kurama
December 21, 2023 at 2:28 AM
Yu Yu Hakusho adaptation was released on Netflix not long ago.
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4 🌸 Seeker 🌸
December 20, 2023 at 11:20 AM
Aawww ... no recaps for this. Sigh, guess we'll just hangout. 😢
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Blue (@mayhemf)
December 20, 2023 at 12:02 PM
Oh no ☹️
Hope we get a hangout. I quite liked episode 1.
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
December 20, 2023 at 12:23 PM
Me too! Am so eager to discuss it now. Apparently I have no chill. 🔥 🥶
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Blue (@mayhemf)
December 20, 2023 at 1:56 PM
There is a good chance they might pick it up, like how they did with PMR.
I hope the introduction of FL adds to the story next episode. I still couldn’t believe she could topple him like that. 😅
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
December 20, 2023 at 3:22 PM
This is a strong girl 💪 I'd root for.
5 hacja
December 20, 2023 at 11:30 AM
I don't necessarily find it strange that kdramas with similar themes go through yearly waves of popularity. Still, I find it somewhat counterproductive for enlarging the viewing audience when kdramas with very similar plotlines are released concurrently or back to back, as has been the case almost all year.
I could be totally misinterpreting the promos-who knows these days? but remove the wrestling angle, and you have a former girlfriend returning to her small seaside town (coming from Seoul, perhaps?) rekindling relations with her boyfriend that never left. All I can say, is that I hope that unlike Return of Samdalri, I actually like the lead couple.
I'm sure there will be a drinking gang of hometown bros and at least a few gossipy halmeonis, since every small town in Korea comes fully stocked with those, although I've read that with migration into the big city, small towns have had to start importing them. Plus I know we're going to get a lot of spectacular sunrise/sunset shots of the coast, along with some wrestling of various kinds on the beach. So I'll be watching the first episodes at least, with a rope tied to my loin cloth!
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
December 20, 2023 at 11:41 AM
Omo … how true is that! 🫨
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bong-soo
December 20, 2023 at 11:53 AM
O/T @hacja, Did you happen to watch (or endure) ENA’s SUMMER STRIKE which aired a year ago now on Viki?
I would love to have your take on that one.
Lovely seaside town. After that it was (almost) all down hill, killer included. Inhabited by ‘townies’ from hell. I banished the whole lot (with the exception of Siwan) to an uninhabited island to learn how to be human. I did watch all 12 episodes out of loyalty to Siwan. Talk about a bean of disappointment!
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hacja
December 20, 2023 at 12:52 PM
I only lasted 4 episodes. I like Siwan, but not that much!
Besides the fact that rural locations in Korea, whether on the coast or in the mainland, are just really beautiful and make for great cinematography, my (pretty obvious) take on this show and others about small towns is that kdrama writers are very conflicted about small town life. On the one hand, they want to contrast it to the cold, impersonal, bustling big city, and portray it filled with simple, down to earth residents who care for each other.
On the other hand, they are more honest about small towns than the U.S. Hallmark movie specials, because they know that people have been abandoning them and flocking to Seoul for decades, and small towns can be terrible places for people to live, especially young people, because of the lack of economic opportunities and limited social and cultural life.
Thus, the Summer Strike weird sentimental/brutal combination of beautiful seascapes, serial killers, drunken louts and mean old folks, because they are part of a loving community of simple, down to earth people.
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DancingEmma
December 20, 2023 at 12:05 PM
In this one, there seems to be an added element of ambiguity regarding the identity of the former girlfriend who returns to the hometown.
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Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
December 20, 2023 at 1:12 PM
I watched the first three minutes and didn't get as far as the ambiguity, but there was a lovely title sequence, funny graffiti, poignant graffiti (both referencing the possible ambiguity), and Jang Dong-yoon bulked up and stripped down for wrestling. I'll be back for more.
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DancingEmma
December 20, 2023 at 1:22 PM
@Elinor: I’ll take your willingness to be back as a good sign and will dive in!
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hacja
December 20, 2023 at 1:22 PM
So the returning girlfriend was a graffiti artist in Seoul, who rediscovers her passion by tagging the shopfronts and backfences of her small town? I like it!
Seriously, good to know that the beginning at least is worth watching. I'll check out the first episode tonight, forgoing Good Day to be a Dog, which is pretty easy to do since I'm not watching it anyway.
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DancingEmma
December 20, 2023 at 1:29 PM
Don’t bait the sad GDTBAD watchers. I hear it has gone to the dogs!
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
December 20, 2023 at 2:40 PM
@DncingEmma I didn’t notice when I dropped the Dog Show, but I recently noticed that I had dropped it. I never had high hopes for it but I feel sympathy for the webtoon fans who did.
I’m praying this show keeps the annoying-locals trope to a minimum. That sends me screaming into the street faster than just about anything. (Of course, in my very small town the neighbors just think that’s an endearing bit of local flavor.)
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DancingEmma
December 20, 2023 at 2:51 PM
@Elinor: I didn’t realise you live in a small town. I always thought you were in SF!
And, me too re your dislike of any vicious and shrieking locals. Be gone!
DancingEmma
December 21, 2023 at 2:34 PM
@Elinor: i’m on Ep 2 and enjoying it. The locals are not screaming too much, are not annoying (relative to some horrid recent examples) and Jang Dongyoon’s Baekdu is likeable. And, I like the saturi. It fits in.
6 DancingEmma
December 20, 2023 at 11:56 AM
That long neck of his. I don’t know why I worry about this but there we go. I hope he was careful when filming the wrestling scenes.
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hacja
December 20, 2023 at 1:10 PM
Maybe that provides extra leverage. (Joking, but I have seen some very good collegiate wrestlers, that is truly competitive and not pro entertainer wrestlers) who are relatively tall, and use their reach and height to their advantage. I don't know about ssireum wrestling, however. Seems that that would be more strength and quickness than the kind of takedown, riding and turning moves that are part of Olympic freestyle wrestling. I guess we will see if his neck proves Jang dong Yoon's Achilles heel!
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DancingEmma
December 20, 2023 at 1:27 PM
I am chuffed in a weird way that we get to talk about traditional wrestling a bit here among other things as it is a sport - I’m not much of a sports fan per se - I would never have imagined coming within the realm of my interests. But what did I know? This aspect of life’s unpredictability is delightful.
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7 jillian
December 20, 2023 at 4:34 PM
12 episodes only. Its on Netflix yey!
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8 Dylan [Suffering from Judge from Hell brainrot]
December 20, 2023 at 5:09 PM
It was a fun first episode! Nothing spectacularly but it was interesting. The cinematography, though, is gorgeous.
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9 LaurenSophie
December 21, 2023 at 7:25 AM
I really liked the first episode, especially that it wasn't what I anticipated based on the promo materials. First, the ML is 32 so unless we're about to shift into episode after episode of flashbacks, this won't be a high school coming of age story. I don't care for wrestling much, but so far, the depictions of the training and matches were compelling, and I find the various relationships to be intriguing. I didn't really understand why it was a surprise to the coffee shop woman to learn that our FL is female, but it seems clear that we'll get plenty of backstory and explanation.
Jang Dong-yoon is good in this, although having now seen him in three things (including "Daily Dose of Sunshine," which I just finished two days ago) I feel like he definitely has a very identifiable character type--the cute, bumbling, emotionally immature but sweet guy who can't ever quite catch a break.
So far, the villagers are fine, except for that marketplace trio making snarky comments about the FL and her umbrella. Plus, we only had one scene of another villager yelling at a garbage truck, and the ML's parents haven't annoyed me yet, so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic.
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Dylan [Suffering from Judge from Hell brainrot]
December 21, 2023 at 5:49 PM
Apparently Du-sik is a boy's name, if the Netfli subs are correct. She also assumed Du-sik is a boy based on the nature of all the anecdotes about her.
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10 9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)
December 21, 2023 at 8:39 PM
I'm going to give this one a shot - it's been added to my Netflix queue right behind GYEONGSEONG CREATURE (Please be good... please be good... please be good...), MY DEMON (Ms. Wireless Charger and Mr Pokemon), and WELCOME TO SAMDAL-RI (Small-town romance that needs better pacing).
Jang Dong-Yoon shirtless is an intriguing visual prospect *cough cough*
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