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Open Thread #887

by DB Staff

Happy Friday everyone!

Here is your Open Thread, which is here for you to chat about anything you want, whether it be drama-related or not. Nothing’s off-topic here! Spoilers may be rife, so proceed accordingly.

 
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9TAILEDVIXEN'S MID-OCTOBER 2024 NOTES:

1. Bits and Bobs from 9TailedVixen's Week

(a) I had to teach an evening class in the middle of a sudden blackout - it was dark and hot and of course the national power company took their own sweet time to fix whatever it was that shorted out the entire neighbourhood. And of course the power only came back just as class was about to end.

The national power company has the monopoly on electricity supply and they do a piss-poor job whenever there's an emergency power outage (usually caused by inept government road repair crews or water supply company crews hitting something while digging about *sigh*).

Monopolies SUCK!

(b) I managed to do my first complete silks-supported backend (with my fingers reaching the floor!) at Aerial Yoga class! Woohoo!

(c) An amusing visual moment ensued when J-Hope from BTS was discharged from his military service and had a really amusing press conference during which his bandmate Jin was squatting next to him and holding up multiple mics for the media:

https://www.soompi.com/article/1695808wpp/watch-btss-j-hope-discharged-from-the-military-with-warm-welcome-from-jin

2. This Week in Korean Women's News:

(a) The Last of the Sea Women review – female Korean divers as picturesque eco-feminist tradition

Sue Kim’s film about South Korea’s underwater fishers has everything from nuclear pollution to sexism to cover, but sticks to bland reportage.

The documentary was co-produced by Malala Yousafzai.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/09/the-last-of-the-sea-women-review-documentary-sue-kim

(b) In landmark ruling, South Korea court recognises misogyny as motive for hate crime

An appellate court has ruled that the assault on a female convenience store clerk by a man in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, allegedly motivated by her short haircut, constituted a misogynistic hate crime. The landmark ruling is the first time a Korean court has explicitly recognized misogyny as a condemnable motive in a criminal case.

https://asianews.network/in-landmark-ruling-south-korea-court-recognises-misogyny-as-motive-for-hate-crime/

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Edit: I did a backBEND, not a backend. LMAO!

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Here is a different, less harsh review of The Last of the Sea Women. I'm sure I saw the women pictured as extras in Samdal-ri https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-15/malala-yousafzai-the-last-of-the-sea-women-sue-kim-haenyeo-apple/104468852

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Impressive moves in the yoga journey continue 🌟 well done.

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@db-staff Um... I think my comment that has news links for this week's major Korean women's news (including breaking news that a South Korean court ruled misogyny a crime for the first time ever!) is caught in the spam filter.

Help?

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Thanks for the help, @db-staff !

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Modern storytelling should be thought provoking instead of being told in a plain vanilla formula way. One of the main problems today is that a drama story is telling you the answer instead of being intriguing enough for the viewer to find the answer on their own. When was the last time a show was more than just a story, but thought provoking?

This discussion was recently made during a Conan O’Brien podcast with Jon Stewart. They were talking that since their debuts in the 1990s, creativity and story telling has become more compressed as viewer attention spans got shorter. Stewart said the Vine app with its six seconds of “entertainment” was the start of the attention span gap that haunts today’s story telling. In order to keep attention of an audience, creatives are pandering to compression techniques. Dramas are like that because they start with murder, flashback, then cut to police arriving, flashback, etc. . . . because producers don’t trust long linear story telling scenes for current audiences. Flashbacks were once used to give background information of a character’s current decision making process. Now, it is used more as a diversion; a way to misdirect than add to the story; a filler technique to engage short attention spans of viewers with a change of scenery. Even in a mystery series, flashbacks were only used near the end to show the viewers how the clues sprinkled throughout the story line come together at the climax. Now, flashbacks appear to hide more information from the viewer. Too many flashbacks confuse viewers. It also hinders actors telling other characters what happened to them. Shorter scenes are a problem. Characters are actually communicating less with each other. How do we learn about others? Through thoughtful conversations.

For those who grew up with linear story telling (books, history, documentary), the scrambled way story bits are arranged “to create drama” and viewer retention seems like a lazy trick. Have noticed the rhythm and pace of shows are different? That the way the facts are presented is unclear? That scripts appear to wander off on tangents for no apparent reason?

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Maybe because I'm old, but I actually lose interest when there are too many gimicks used in storytelling.

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I'm old too, and worked in the history profession all my life. This disqualifies me from warming up to non-linear storytelling. My first experience was the confusing DON'T LOOK NOW (1973) which scared the bejesus out of me. I'm not a fan of jumping all over chronology in an effort to tell a story. Granted it can be well done, but it's more often poorly done and too clever by half.

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From my experience with manga/anime, for some reason Japan does non-linear storytelling much better than its neighbors, not to mention West. For example, mindscrewingblowing franchise THE GARDEN OF SINNERS, particularly its 5th movie SPIRAL PARADOX (hugely recommend, if you can stomach... well, just about anything one may find triggering in media, and then some). I suspect it's because for their media the actual reveals and facts are far less important than character study viewers experience during all the back and forth timeline jumps... It's more like a philosophy thing - journey matters more than destination etc. But, ofc, it can be both hella interesting AND hella annoying to need watch something multiple times just to get the whole picture.

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This reminded me of Love Next Door and its flashbacks that were a bunch of nothing. Just there to "trick" people into thinking the show was... Idk, smart?

I don't know if kdramaland has ever used flashbacks properly tho. They usually use them as a reminder of what happened two minutes ago. Maybe it has to do with the attention span thing? Directors think we weren't paying attention two minutes ago? Or they just think we're too dumb to make the connection/infer what they refer to? Who knows.

Also, even if the flashbacks aren't really a reminder, and they use them as "hints", like you said, they feel more like a diversion than real information.

One of the reasons I had such a hard time with the first three episodes of What Comes After Love is because I had no idea what was going on.
If they were selling a profound and ever lasting love story, it didn't work, because we never understood why their love was special. And if they were trying to focus on the journey and state of the characters (individually), it didn't work either because we never got to understand who they were.

The flashbacks didn't add much to my connection or understanding of the characters. They just created confusion. Especially because we don't even know how much those flashbacks matter. It's like the real important stuff are being locked up until some big final reveal, when the show is about to end and at that point it's too late to care.

On the other hand, there are shows that are throwing everything in in the first few episodes and you just don't know what to do with all that. Like, they showed you all they cards, so you're like "now what?"

And thought provoking stories... We're in dramabeans, we can make anything seem like a thought provoking story. That's our superpower. So I think kdramaland is safe for now. I don't watch Hollywood anymore tho.

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The other day I made a list of all kind of flashbacks I use, and that we find in kdramas. I posted that here:
https://x.com/EnchanteurW/status/1840344101188714901

I classified the type of flashback you are talking about as "emotional echo". It's used to show that a previous moment weights a lot on a character, and the character is thinking about it later, so the flashback is a Recall type, showing the memory. It's often short. Very used in kdramas.

I can't speak about examples you give, as I didn't watched the dramas. I often take notes when the flashbacks are well made, but forget to take notes when they don't are. However I take notes about other stuff I don't like.

You mention the first episode throwing everything and you don't know what to do with that. There is a classic exposition used in many dramas, consist of introducing each character of the story. It can be confusing sometimes, and useless when we don't have time to memorize characters or stick on something. Some important information can be given, but as we don't know what to do with that, we forget it.

I noticed some recent kdramas with shallow content, and not enough guts in the main story. Those dramas use lot of secondary characters as diversion. So, each one has their own story, not much deep. I don't like this way to do because I feel strongly the writer use that as a safety net, for fillers.

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At the moment I'm watching Beyond Evil, and I think the drama makes many things from your list right. Like the foreshadowing recap, emotional echo or revelations.

It's clear that the drama is using those flashbacks/recalls with a real propuse. They have weight on the viewer (usually emotional weight or just a valuable piece of info).

However, many dramas use them in a condensing way as if telling us "in case you're the one with amnesia and not this character" or, even worse, the typical "haha, you thought! I tricked you!". Wait no. For me, the absolutely worse is when they keep showing something sad/traumatic to make you feel bad out of nowhere, but they never let you sympathize with what happened back then and with what the character who is recalling it felt.
For example, I personally disliked a recall in the first week of the new show Jeongnyeong. That came out of NOWHERE, and it had no real impact in the story, or even in that scene itself. I would've felt way more connected to what was happening if they just had just let Kim Tae Ri show her great acting skills uninterrupted. Especially because that scene was about (good) acting. And because she literally says what she remembered in that moment. It would've been better to be surprised/amazed/confused like the people who were in front of her in that scene. We would've know what she was feeling just by watching her face and hearing her explanation later anyway. But anyway, that may be just me and my preferences.

And yes, many secondary characters with nothing to do is a sad thing to watch. For ex, the brothers in Lovely Runner and Love Next Door felt extremely random in the narrative. Maybe in better hands LND could've used him better, but LR really didn't have the need of a brother. The show would've been exactly the same if Sol (the FL) didn't have family or friends. Maybe her halmoni. But her bestie and brother had ZERO impact in the story. If anything they just made it worse.

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We are both in "evil" drama. I'm watching Worst of evil, because I need to do screenshot of a character for my next short. And I don't want it to spoil the drama, so I watch the drama first, lol!
It's a good one, I'm lucky.

For sure, I'll watch Beyond Evil too.

On BOD we are in "365 repeat the year" rewatch. A delight about screenplay. Just the drama is maybe too much plot oriented.
There is a specific type of flashback I should add to my list, it's "onion flashback". Used in this kind of mystery in the mystery dramas.
You get a situation but not the end of this situation.
Then, a ulterior flashback show you what happens next BUT it's not the truth yet, because... another ulterior flashback show you what happens next again, and again another. It's like plot-twists are in the flashbacks and situation has many reversals we didn't expect.

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Oh. I'm not a fan of those.
I get very tired of movies or shows that tried to make more plot twists that work on anything real. For me, those twists only work if you're invested on something (that means you need a solid story first).
And if you don't see them coming, of course.

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One of the reasons I never loved the Forest of Secrets script as much as most beanies was that the first murder scene was repeated in flashback so many times nearly back to back that I got completely frustrated with it.
Even now, although I did like Dong-jae and the villain/anti-hero storylines, the first thing I remember when FoS is mentioned is that murder scene and the feeling of irritation.

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@wenchanteur

I love love love 365: Repeat the Year!

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@midnight, maybe you'd want to join for the rewatch on bitchesoverdrama blog? We are watching ep7 today.

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Thank you! I'm working today, but I nearly know it by heart, so I will definitely check in at some point!

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Of course I forgot one type I use a lot:
What-happened flashback: It happens when a situation comes as a surprise, and it's explained later what happened.
By the way, it can also be made in reverse: put that situation as a flashforward, then tell in normal time what happens before.

Once I also used a Rewind, but can't really say it's a flashback. It's when we see something and we don't know it yet but it's imaginary. Then rewind to the moment the situation started and tell the real facts.

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I interpreted the "revelations" from your list the way you're describing What-happened.

I like the "rewind" when the story has an unreliable narrator (I guess like the film Memento) or when they're mixing POVs.

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It's different because revelations are often montage. When "what-happened" are regular scenes, just happening before.

I used once the Rewind for a gag. A character imagines something, but it never happened. So we can say this guy is the unreliable narrator of the scene, LOL!
I don't remember well Memento, just that I was amazed. I'd need to rewatch it. I like almost all Nolan's movies.

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Then it's the perfect time for a rewatch. That's the type of films that would only work when your memory fails to remember them.

And I think you may like the animation film Paprika too (it's like OG Inception).

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I'm lucky, I could find Paprika on internet. Japanese movies can be really crazy. I remember watching a bizarre movie once, it's "symbol". A guy prisoner of a white room.

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I like both and couldn't generalize. It would be more a criticism I make for specific dramas or specific scenes.

I noticed that recent kdramas use a faster introduction, something to hook fast, or an inciting incident coming sooner, can be half of episode 1 or at the end of episode 1.

Some older dramas was telling a story with a situation and you just follow it, being patient, take the story for itself, without knowing where it goes, and main situation changer could happens episode 4.

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I wanted to have a witty, attention grabbing opening but I'm just drawing a blank so let me just jump right into it.

I don't know if both cases involve gambling but both cases involve loan shark. This week it was revealed a comedian, who was a member on knowing bros, racked up debt due to online gambling. He borrowed money from a bunch of celebrity friends including his co host/co member Lee Soo Geun and BTS' Jimin. He also used Soo Geun's name to get other people to lend him money. After it was revealed, he's lost his job on knowing bros and some ambassadorship to his hometown.

Then at Lee Soo Geun's agency, a manager gave out a bunch of celebrities' contact numbers as collateral to a bunch of loan shark agencies. He also gave out the number of other aquantances, mangers, etc. This led to folks getting harassing calls from the loan sharks.

Personally, I can't really wrap my head around the giving out the people's numbers because how does that get the money back? Did the manager or the loan sharks assume the celebrities or the other people called were gonna pay off his debts? It would just make MORE people pissed off at the manager and they would tell him to pay off his freaking debts. Why involve them?
The manager has since been fired and we circle back to how is he gonna pay his debts now? I don't know if he was also involved in gambling but the whole thing reeks of some sort of addiction cause it makes no sense (at least to me).

I didn't know who Taemin was until last week and the first news story I see is about the manager possibly giving out his number to loan sharks.

I feel especially bad for Lee Soo Geun because this just hasn't been a good week for him. And he had his own career pitfall once due to gambling and he was lucky enough to be able to come back and now, just because he was trying to help out a friend or because his agency is weird, he's involved in these cases. (I say his agency is weird because weeks ago they were the victims of hacking)

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Korean fandoms are crazy. Maybe it's Asian fandoms in general but seriously, the symbiotic relationships between fandoms and companies is just 🤯🫤😟🙄😬😮‍💨

RIIZE's Seunghan was dropped from his group (the company will say he chose this for himself) 2 or 3 days after it was announced he would return to it. This was only a day or 2 after one of the members commented on the return. I think he said something like even though it was unfortunate some fans were mad, watch them prove themselves as a 7 member group (I could definitely be wrong about the message. I just know it wasn't slamming Seunghan). Then there were the tweets and backlash demanding that guy be kicked from the group. After ALL that, the announcement that Seunghan was no longer a member was made while the group was on a plane so they arrived at an airport to that ridiculousness.

It's just so disrespectful and rude on so many levels and I just, as an outsider, don't understand this disconnect so called fans and agencies have when it comes to these celebrities. I saw that people justified sending the funeral wreaths but just thought the amount might've been too much. What?!?!

Seunghan didn't even do anything worthy of the level of backlash he received that led to his hiatus in the first place but he DEFINITELY didn't do anything worthy of the backlash this time. To have a bunch of funeral wreaths directed at him. To have the company give him hope and snatch it away. All cause he dated and smoked BEFORE he was a trainee or an idol (I don't know the timeline. I know he was underage cause apparently he's only 21 now).

And then to justify their feelings that he wasn't "worthy" of being in the group, someone posted a picture, that may or may not be him, going to a convenience store to buy alcohol and snacks with some other people. A GROWN, DRINKING AGE KOREAN is being criticized for buying drinking alcohol and snacks with friends on a day when the group he was apart of performed a fan concert WITHOUT him. What?!

And these "fans" think wholeheartedly they are right. And the company just cosigns this by caving to their antics.

A culture can change if people are willing to make it so. If the company hadn't turned their backs on Seunghan 10 months ago, none of this would've happened. The people who were gonna leave could've left and everyone could've found a way forward with those who stayed.

And the "fans" keep doing these humiliating and cruel acts in the name of protesting as if the celebrities aren't human being with thoughts and feelings. It is mind blowing how fans will get pissed and demand cancellation for a celebrity who is accused of bullying but have absolutely NO qualms about doing it themselves. And then they get rewarded for it. They still get the group they want, they get to cheer about how they won. It's all so gross.

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It still remains that they expect the object of their fandom to remain pristine, or even subject themselves to a life of austerity, except this time from the world's pleasures. The way they protest when marriageable aged celebrities tie the knot or date someone leaves me asking how their faculties work. Pleasures the said fandoms themselves indulge in on a daily basis, or even wish for themselves.

"He dated someone and smoked"... that's laughable. I'm no fan of underage dating, but I'm not gonna kill anyone over it. My classmates dated themselves in high school and one died. So I don't even understand the fuss, and it is very amusing.

I really wished agencies stand by the celebrities they represent and protect them from the heat. Somehow they are enablers of this fans, and the fans weaponize this reaction from the agencies. They are just so sure...too sure even.

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Maybe they don't enjoy those pleasures. Maybe that's why they're so weird about the idols dating & marrying.

But this is also why I don't like knowing or hearing about celebrities' private lives. It affects the perception for them when they do their professional thing. For example, during Black Knight (I think that's what it was called), there were smoking scenes (apparently it was CGI but still) and I just kept thinking that the actor had some type of nose/throat cancer so he probably shouldn't be smoking.
With Lee Seung Gi, I just associate his personal life with his career being adversely affected.

There's nothing good that comes from knowing people's personal lives.

And yet, for some reason, agencies keep fostering these parasocial relationships where EVERYTHING is interconnected and known to everyone.

I've been watching some Seventeen content and while I've been enjoying it and it's entertaining, I can't help but think they are ALWAYS "on". They have to do the livestreams at all hours. They have to post on instagram however often they do that. They have their variety show they film however often.

I don't remember if it was this year or last year but one of the members was caught up in dating allegations and again, "fans" were all up in arms and demanding answers and/or his removal. And the guy is 28/29!

Once upon a time, some Hollywood actor commented on the "mystique of the actor" is gone because celebrities are so accessible now. They see them all the time vs seeing them onscreen as their characters.

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Published today 10/19 in the New York Times, this unsparing opinion piece reflects on insatiable fandom and corporate greed re: youthful megastars.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/19/opinion/liam-payne-death-boy-band.html

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Published today 10/20 in the Guardian, this piece recommends limiting boy bands to 18 and over; more interesting is the discussion of agencies setting up mental health funds to support clients.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/20/dont-let-under-18s-join-pop-bands-says-leading-songwriter-after-liam-paynes-death

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I wonder how often idols have to dye their hair and how do they even choose. I wonder if dartboards are ever used.

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More idol stuff I'm curious about: how long do the members live together? Do they have multiple bathrooms?

Sidenote: as soon as I wrote multiple bathrooms, I thought of the show Legends of Tomorrow and how even though it's situated on a futuristic spaceship with a squad of people, it only had 1 bathroom haha. I think it was commented on a few times haha

Ahh, I miss that show. It found it's groove the more seasons it ran.

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I feel sorry for Rose from the group Blackpink. It must be stipulated in the contract that she MUST be blonde. Other artists change from black to blonde to brown to pink, Rose is always blonde-blonde-blonde from 2016 to today.

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The site Dramawiki has been inaccessible for me this past week. I wonder if anyone else has had the same problem?

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It works for me.

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Happy Friday, Beanies! Sorry, I'm late today - was busy with manly job of setting up a heater... While we're STILL waiting for crumbs like TSOPG release date, nominations are out for Weibo TV And Internet Video Summit 2024, and guess who is presented there in whopping 16 (!) positions across ALL categories possible? Right, our workaholic! Bear with me, it's gonna be long))) So, he's nominated for:
- “Drama Character”: Ning Yuanzhou, A JOURNEY TO LOVE
- “Drama And Variety Person”: A JOURNEY TO LOVE, HEROES (2024), JiangsuTV New Year's concert (the one where he made whole c-web ugly crying during NYE? makes sense), THE TRUTH S2, MELODY JOURNEY, OUR SONG S6.
- “Drama OST”: “If love remembers” WONDERLAND OF LOVE, “Don't ask about the future” WHITE CAT LEGEND, “Old friend” ETERNAL BROTHERHOOD, “Lifetimes” THE LEGEND OF SHEN LI, “Heroes” HEROES, “Heart's longing” FOLLOW YOUR HEART, “Author” INTERLACED SCENES, “Lonely boat” LONELY HERO'S JOURNEY.

I think awards itself will take place on November 2nd, so we can look forward to him packing some trophies and blessing our eyes and ears there.

OK, back to the standard music stuff. We also had another OST – and more are coming, since he basically admitted to sing for every big drama for the rest of the year lol. I don't think he'll be able to broke his last years record, but he's still doing his best to catch up. “Dare not meet spring” from KILL ME LOVE ME is not gonna in the list of my 2024 faves – it's nice and lyrics flow quite well from I've seen of this drama (it's like ML's romance theme song – or, rather, romance denial one lol), but music is... The whole OST is not my cup of tea – I keep wishing for it to go harder, hit deeper to match the intensity of plot, but only instrumental tracks seem to understand assignment. Pity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNENCF4STas

We also got live version of “Search for shore” (DARK NIGHT AND DAWN OST in case you already forgot) from recent livestream. He had the time of his life playing with filters (sorry if you get dizzy watching it!) and his new recording equipment overall - which played him back, refusing to stay in focus for long. Hope he'll be able to fix whatever the problem is I'm confident it's NOT the size of his eyes and if he utters such BS again imma spank him in a non-fun way, I swear! and stream again in LESS than 2 months this time – weather is getting colder, I need more serotonin on a daily basis... This song I do like a lot, esp how it goes all low while staying mellow and sentimental at the same time – it never fails to amaze me how he can achieve great emotional intensity even without straining his voice much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34QAJlBAw0A

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I was starting to wonder what else should I add to this post since OUR SONG is over and he didn't sing in MELODY JOURNEY latest episode either (more on that in WWWW thread), then this old stage of his debut track “Imagination” popped up in my recommendations and somehow I never saw it before? He's much better dressed here than he was in the version I gave yall before - still far from sharp (jumpsuit with necktie?! it ain't male striptease! unfortunately), but that's a progress already! Also very cool stage design, esp in the end. He's going at it significantly softer than originally – was it during his post-surgery recover phase? He also started getting professional vocal lessons somewhere around the time, big scolding for his unhealthy technique habits very likely included... Still, what a fiery track! I'd love him to perform it again now, just to see even more of evolution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1uUgHvyO4s

Erase mellowness of the last week entirely – we're ending with a bang! Which was Yuning's epic appearance on Douyin Wonderful Night with an absolutely killer look (donning all Balmain's latest collection – it's his second time flaunting their clothes lately, are they trying to get a contract with him? good luck, guys, I'm rooting for your doomed cause!) and equally killer performance of Jacky Cheung's “Stolen heart”. That stage was wow, no, WOW! Not only the song itself is like sea waves – from smallest and gentlest to a deadly storm and back and forth again – but also the emotions he put into it! In some parts his voice – and face – left me all chocked up, I'm not kidding. Looked up lyrics and it's about giving up on love entirely after one heartbreak too many: ”From now on I won't cry for anyone.” Who hurt you so much, beautiful? It's not heart stealing anymore – it is heart assassination! Mine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTp_QNPQTk8

Solo fancam for bigger emotional damage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KadpEyiXyLM

4 songs may be too little for an entry (and not a good number, as far as China is concerned), but I just didn't want to lessen the impact of this lineup for yall. There will be more next time^^

Bonus: photoshoot for DWN – damn, he was out for blood there! Glove to the face pic in particular is pure freaking violence. This is the guy that supposedly hates posing because he's BAD at it? And the eyes cnetz claim to be too small to be expressive?! Lies, big fat lies everywhere!
https://www.tumblr.com/heymeowmao/764168837751095297/liu-yuning-x-2024%E7%BE%8E%E5%A5%BD%E5%A5%87%E5%A6%99%E5%A4%9C-douyin-wonder-night

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Bonus2: vlog from it – not his studio calling him “hearts stealing zero-zero-N”, bwahaha, what in the epic cringe?))) YOU are playing with fire, guys – next time he'll refuse to take any photos at all... Cheesy description aside, another lethal clip: what did they feed him with before that shoot - blood of virgin maidens? Cannot be Bond's trademark martini – lightweight boy would drunkenly faint just from smelling it^^
https://x.com/LYNThailandFC/status/1845376202334409133

Bonus3: I recall someone lamenting that MELODY JOURNEY tracks aren't on Spotify – they are actually, just take time to be uploaded. I'm gonna share them once they're out. So far we have:
- “Do you dare”: https://open.spotify.com/track/3uoasPcqyf7arNIGXde84h?si=82c72c7374914e83

- “This sky blue”: https://open.spotify.com/track/6PBG0jKgdG5Y1lrNFzX4jm?si=4364a4a4e2834302

- “Want to write a song for you”: https://open.spotify.com/track/4iXKU7HyP6fDMB5SFHJp1H?si=126894a1a4314015

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@kiara, @jillian, @zindigo, @isagc, @wonhwa, @seeker, @mochakat9, @wishfultoki, @cliosservant1846

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Whoo boy. Hollywood treatment there in the photoshoots. I like.

I don't know if these awards are significant, but there are multiple nominations for A JOURNEY TO LOVE here:

https://www.asiantelevisionawards.net/nominees/

Also nominated, Singing With Legends season 5, is that the same as Our Song?

Others receiving multiple nominations: THE DOUBLE, MYSTERIOUS LOTUS CASEBOOK, TO THE WONDER... just many more nominations for quality programing from China than South Korea. May mean nothing really, but may be a trend too.

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@cliosservant1846 yes, I covered AJTL nominations in my draft for tomorrow, among other things. It's the first time I've heard about this award, but it seems serious enough given the amount of categories and countries presented... Kdramas have no one else to blame for staying behind here, imo. And 2024 was supposedly not all that for cdramas either...

SINGING WITH LEGENDS is a direct translation of OUR SONG native title, I believe, so yes, the same show.

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Happy Friday @gikata!
Wow! That is a testament to how much of a workaholic he is. Thats an impressive list of nominations!
*off to check the links*

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Thank you, chingu! I have a lot to add to my playlist. It's good to still hear noise on AJTL.

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Seriously I get an existential crisis every week when I see just how much he has done in the exact same week where I thought I was very busy 🙃 but apparently did not *do* much. Thanks for the inspiration Gikata and a bigger thank you for the music. The pics are 🔥 😱

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😂👌

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Lol same - I always think "wow, I wish to be as productive as him one day... no, wait, actually I don't, that's too much for a mere mortal"))) And this was a supposedly relaxed week for him, next few will be much busier - he's gonna hop from event to event like that Duracell rabbit...

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I know you addressed it in your recent posts, but the upgrade in LYN livestream is obviously so much better. Just let the equipment do its work.

And the upgrade in his styling for special appearances is moving in the right direction. Question: do they not prepare in advance for pant leg inseam measurements? Because I keep noticing that LYN pants are not only too long, but badly too long to the point he could trip over the extra fabric. Idk. How hard would it be for LYN's "people" to say prepare for 30" waist, 39" inseam or whatever?

Or is this a current fashion?

Thank you again Fridays With Gikata. Been traveling all week, and was looking forward to your post.

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Yeah, I wasn't a fan of super "anime" filtered previous camera/software either. Hope he'll just fix whatever is off with the current one without "upgrading" it back.

I think super long pants is a bit of both: he admitted to have eternal trouble with finding fitting pairs in general, but oversize and overlength is HUGE rn, so he's probably just buying anything that's not too short/small and then hopes his preferred thick platformed shoes will do the rest. Wouldn't say there's a lot of additional tailoring going on because some of his formal wears clearly still need a serious retouch... I do suspect he/his team finally had a long overdue epiphany to buy combos from different sizes for upper/lower body and that's where most of his good fits lately come from.

Hope your travels have been easy and joyful and will remain this way))) Next Friday we'll have A LOT to cover both in terms of music and fashion^^

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I know it can't be true but it just feels like it to me but why are the good kdrama dads so good?!
I always remember the good dads (ex: Angel Dad from Castaway Diva or the dads in Moving)

Moms don't resonate as much to me. Like I have to wrack my brain to remember *good* moms.

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In kdrama world most good mothers don't live long...

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Isn't that also a thing in the world of Disney? Though it might've changed by now. I know in Inside Out, the girl has both parents alive and well.

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Dead parent(s) is the most essential trope for "hero(ine) goes trough stuff" genre indeed. Tho reasoning is slightly different - Disney mostly killed parents off to make their leads more alone/unsupported in this big harsh world and thus extra pitiful, while in kdramas dead parents serve as a motivation for leads, usually to get revenge/justice on their behalf. Disney did that with LION KING, but not much otherwise.

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I think K-drama writers just like to write perfect men as fantasies like our trend of perfect (boring) male leads. K-drama dads can't just be good -- they have to be unrealistically perfect angels.

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Because a mum being a mum is normal but a father being a father is seen as extraordinary? They have a show called Return of Superman when it's just fathers taking care of the children they wanted in the first place...

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I have always been confused by the title of that show and more importantly how they got any families to be on the show. It just seemed a ridiculous concept as it implies that dad’s babysit their own children.

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I don't know what word to use but the first word that came to mind was betrayed. I feel so betrayed because I was told Family By Choice wasn't gonna have a love triangle so I watched it only to read the synopsis that confirms a freaking love triangle. Damn it to hell in a handbasket! Why?! Why can't there just have a lovely strong bond without romantic feelings developing?

I should probably submit a recommendation requests for dramas that feature platonic opposite sex friendships.

I can only think of one drama that didn't feature a romance between the leads and that's Chief Kim. I don't even remember if that was played with. The female lead in that was not memorable to me.

Sidenote: I know "betrayed" is too harsh of a word. It's more like lulled into a false sense of security. And the worst part is that it does make sense in universe if they separated for a period of time and then came back together to see each other in a different light but ugh, I hate it! Also it's telegraphed who is gonna end up together. Ugh, I just hate love polygons.

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Who told you Family by Choice wouldn't have a love triangle? It's a remake of the Chinese drama Go Ahead, so it was clear from the beginning that there would be a love triangle.

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Oh, people tell all sort of lies misleading info when it comes to dramas! I was once fooled to watch ANOTHER OH HAE YOUNG with a promise that it was romcom)))

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I got the same memo🤣

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I have hope with the prominence of the FL's friend that the one leg of the triangle will have his own romance in this version. Maybe then it won't be as drawn out.

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I don't know anything about the original so I just watched the show and said that it looked more like it would have two couples instead of a love triangle.

They made a love triangle (in the OG) between who? The siblings? Tell me it isn't because not even anime bro... Like, the FL literally goes around talking about adoption and shares dad with one. They really added a love triangle to that?

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Between the siblings, but the feelings of the brother who didn't end up with her weren't that deep.

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There is On The Verge Of Insanity wherein there were no lovelines between the FL and ML.

In Chief Kim, the SML had a crush on FL. But ML main goal is to mess with SML. 😅

I personally am tired of love triangles. So I prefer romcoms not to have one.

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Oh, yeah, OTVOI!

Another example could be My Roomie Gumiho. For me, its only redeeming quality was the friendship between the FL and her bestie, and how it NEVER became a romantic thing. Instead, they gave him his own love story (which became way better than the main one), with the coolest character in the show.

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Pox 🤣

Hye Sun is my fave gumiho in that show. 😊

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Same!

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Is anyone else unable to see the notification, or is it just me? There are so many ads now it's getting annoying.

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Same.

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Is it just me becoming immune to the charm of kdrama OSTs.
I haven’t added to my OST playlist for a while.
Our Beloved Summer, Goblin, Crash Landing, 25-21, it’s okay to not be okay all had epic soundtracks.
I guess I haven’t watched a drama in the past year where I was blown away by the OST.

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I am still in love with Alchemy of souls OST, but nothing has catched my ears since.

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@welh640 @enriquequierecagar - Here what I was working on, and why I needed some screenshots from "The Worst of Evil".
https://w-two-worlds-season-2.blogspot.com/2024/10/welcome.html
It's a short 10 minutes kdrama.
But the fun fact about it: there is NO flashback!!
Really first time I write a kdrama without flashbacks. 😅

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