First Prize goes to @unit for her work on Brewing Love. Min-ju is overwhelmed with pride! This ear-worm-of-a-ditty goes a little something like this:
Young Yoon Min-joo had a (hop) farm, E-I-E-I-O
And on that farm he had Yong-joo, E-I-E-I-O
With a Joo-Joo here and a Joo-Joo there
Here a Joo, there a Joo, everywhere a Joo-Joo
Young Yoon Min-joo had a (hop) farm, E-I-E-I-O
Second Prize goes to the entireCinderella at 2am soundtrack for being simply amazing homages to the mid-1980s, with special shout-outs going first and foremost to “Sweet Drama” (which will always delightfully be/sound like “Sweet Trauma” to me), but “Sailing, “IF,” and “Shining You” are also absolutely worth your time.
Third Prize goes to the Serendipity’s Embrace soundtrack, and it’s only third because the drama itself wasn’t as good as Cinderella at 2am…I love almost this entire OST album too. While C2am is more rock-forward, this is all bubble-gum-pop and it’s been on repeat in my favorites list for months now. Listen especially for “Stars,” “Wonder,” “Is This Love,” and “Fire Gazing.”
All credit to @unit for her skills as a lyricist, but any mention of Brewing Love’s OST as a potential award winner must take into account the melodically simpleminded, overly bouncy “Daisy” by a duo from Dreamcatcher, a girl group that I had previously associated with goth kpop, whose every song seems like the background to an overblown DC Comic movie featuring some superhero that no one has ever heard of.
I can’t really translate “Daisy’s” Korean lines myself, but it includes these stirring, emotional lines in English:
“Hello, How are you/
I’m fine don’t worry”
and
“Can you be my daisy /My twizzin, Biggie, Bestie Daisy Girl
Daisy love, daisy love ”
So at first I thought maybe “daisy girl” might refer to the “she loves me–loves me not” petal picking game; or daisy girl meaning something really exceptional; but I don’t see any indication in the song that that is what the lyrics are talking about. I had to look up “twizzin” and apparently its been used both to mean “twin” (which would fit, I guess with “bestie” but, “biggie?”) OR twizzin can also mean intoxicated, which would fit with the beer theme. However, either way, its the kind of annoying song that, despite Unit’s best efforts, puts the Brewing Love OST near the bottom of this year’s OSTs for me.
I truly, and honestly, have this song in my playlist so that when I’m driving from point a to point b, feeling like my life has no meaning, I can wonder, “What the HELL is this song??”
It’s a modern classic, written to help us cope with a dystopia.
Go Yoon as Gong Jin-dan in Beauty and Mr. Romantic. As this weekender wore on–and wore us down–more and more light came forth always, and only, when Jin-dan was there. Above, this is Jin-dan, I kid you not, trying to feel a feeling. Look at how it does not work. 🤣
The drama started out so well too. Jin-dan just was a good looking ne’er-do-well. The son of a now-dead chaebol’s concubine. What could go wrong with inventive plot points like that? There were, all told, about 24 episodes of pure fun…followed by 26 episodes made up of watching a slowly-dissolving pile of carefully stacked sugar cubes.
Take, for example, this scene. Just…what? This is supposed to be lover’s jealousy, but really it’s a tantrum. I laugh so hard at the line, “Was that [plushie] your stunt partner?” Who wrote this crap, Yoon? You’re doing such a good job selling it, tho. You throw that thing and watch it bounce while you spit out your next line.
By about episode 40, Go Yoon really started to vamp it up in such a glorious fashion that Gong Jin-dan became–without a doubt–the reason I finished this godforsaken drama.
Go Yoon can also…pronounce English from the back of his throat (also here). Unbelievable!! He stole the whole show.
If I could, I’d offer a ceremony like this for Go Yoon to be rid of this drama’s shadow. Go forth!! Find better vehicles for your talent. I’m not sure Red Swan was it either. 🥺
The actor was clearly having so much fun with this role wholly embracing the crazy. The plushie smashing will go down as one of the peak unhinged kdrama moments for me.
If anyone of the, like, five us watching wants to discuss Marry YOU up to episode 6, here\’s a place we can do that…the Marry YOU hangout didn\’t even make it to the homepage (kicked out by Face Me I guess?). I think Lee Yi-kyung and Lee Min-ki should fence for the spot on some neutral ground like in Love Your Enemy? 😁
Aaaanyway, I really keep wanting to dislike this show, but every week they find a way for me to care about what happens…this week, the adorable twins (\”What is this now? It\’s probably revenge for the affair\” *makjang music*). Aaand the above pratfall. Anyone else have a favorite moment? Or a least favorite?
I suppose my least favorite is the moralizing about marriage, but only because it\’s so clear they\’re pitching it as the best option despite all odds and it feels more like a policy statement than something heartfelt.
Oh! One other thing…this guy (Total rookie?! The kid playing the nephew has a resume 20 dramas longer than this man.) could be Choo Young-woo\’s brother could he not? I kept thinking they could have gotten him to play the \”twin brother\” in Lady Ok to make things even more confusing for the audience. 😉
I keep watching Marry You too! 🙋♀️
Objectively it’s not very good but it is nice and I look forward to the episodes each week.
The script is deeper and more intelligent than it seemed when the drama started.
Now I need the next four episodes focus on the main couple because there is long way to go and I still don’t know what the FL wants or if she likes the ML (not only as a friend).
Yes, I want to see some more nice, mutual relationship-building!!! What do you think about the fact that they shortened the run? I can’t help but think it might be a good thing?
I’m still watching this drama too, and absolutely, un-cynically, loving it (much to my surprise). It’s been such a warm and surprisingly thoughtful drama, and I’ve really enjoyed all the conversations about relationships. I’m trying not to worry about the 10-episode length… I feel that it’s very clear that the relationship trajectory of the leads is meant for a 16-episode run… But I LOVE Lee Yi-kyung in this role. He’s making this character (and this drama) so much better than it deserves to be. And I’ve warmed up to the FL… I originally called her “bland,” and she kind of is, but I appreciate SO MUCH that she’s not shrill, shouty, or otherwise someone who overreacts. She balances with the ML’s character really nicely. I’ve loved all the cameo/side characters who are featured each week (my favorite was the sweet nerdy IT guy and the lovely lovely introvert date).
It might be a good thing.
I like seeing other couples first dates, but I thought the SML was getting too much screen time in the first episodes. I wish I knew which scenes have been left out.
I sure didn’t know who “the brother” was when our 2FL clearly did–I bet some of that got cut? Come to think of it the FL also knew exactly who he was on sight…
You are probably right. I also felt something was missing in that sub-plot. That character appeared so suddenly, without previous explanation.
In fact, I had thought the children were orphans.
Ok, I’m gonna keep adding to this post, because I’ve been quietly squeeing in my corner about this drama for the past two weeks while everyone else is going on about When the Phone Rings and I don’t have anywhere to let it all out!!😂 I LOVE the twins!!! Yes, they’re preternaturally worldly-wise, but they’re charming and they’re the adorable Greek Chorus that is keeping everything on track. “She’s our uncle’s real girlfriend!” <- Yes INDEED you tell everyone that, kids!!! I agree that that was an impressively good pratfall from Lee Yi-Kyung – I can only imagine the practice that goes into flopping so limply and realistically on the ground MULTIPLE times! I was also thrilled by the tiny little meta moment of Lee Yi-Kyung struggling to use the seatbelt in the FL's old car (*callback to his broken car Rebecca in Welcome to Waikiki!*). But most of all, I love love love how genuine, honest, and kind the ML is. He's not a slapstick caricature or a dumb bumpkin – he's just a genuine guy. And I also love how low-key this drama has been, and that most things have had such "mundane" explanations or solutions. The SFL has treated the ML like a hot new accessory since the beginning, so ngl, I'm pleased that she's the real villain here. I would like for the FL and ML to acknowledge their mutual regard and enjoyment of each other and GET THEIR BUTTS IN GEAR to start something before we have to end this drama 🥲 Every time he learns something the FL likes and then does it for her or cooks it for her, I'm just like GET IT TOGETHER YOU TWO! 🫠 I'm typing on my computer rather than my phone (my usual), so you're getting even more words than usual 🙈
Happy to offer a venue for essays about K-dramas!! Always. The more words, the better.
That was indeed some real villainy on the 2FL’s part. I was honestly shocked that she would think that Cheol-hee would be all, “Oh, great! The kids are gone. Now I can really live!!” He literally said the opposite to her in words she could hear. What does she actually want out of our man, anyway? Just anyone who isn’t in it for the money? Does she want a house-husband she thinks is sort of slooow so she can control him? She certainly hasn’t gotten to know the guy.
Cheol-hee’s way smarter than he plays, I agree, and I appreciate every scene he’s in–when he’s not just staring, confused, at CCTV cameras 😂
He cooks for her, for real, and it’s adorable. She didn’t do the cooking, but I’m reminded of how Ju-won kept bringing San-ha breakfast at school when he was flouncing off, pouting about his fate. I think he knows what he’s doing and he’s playing the waiting game. I don’t think she knows how she’s fallen for him, though. Who just accepts braised quail eggs for lunch like, “Oh, for me? Great!” Silly girl.
He literally said the opposite to her in words she could hear. What does she actually want out of our man, anyway? Just anyone who isn’t in it for the money? Does she want a house-husband she thinks is sort of slooow so she can control him?
Um, I think the answer to all of the above is yes, this delulu woman does think all that 😅 I think she and he are being used to exemplify the difference between people who romanticize the fantasy of dating and relationships, and those who take a more realistic view. I absolutely love Cheol-hee as a character – he’s got common sense and emotional intelligence, which is a winning combo in my books 👍 I agree with you about the ML playing the waiting game… he’s been going along with what she asks of him, but he’s also been taking every opportunity to court her, essentially, and I love it. I can’t wait for her to figure it out!!! They’ve been developing a really nice rapport, understanding, and appreciation of each other. Silly girl indeed!
I agree!! I feel like most of the time they’re not “in your face” about it, so I forget it after it happens… one of the more obvious (and FUNNY) ones was when he knocked his phone out of her hand, leaned over to catch it, and missed… his reaction to it cracking on the ground was very true-to-life 😂👍 And I love each time the twins made a meta-comment about the plot in the latest episodes with the background *makjang music* that Seon-ha pointed out!
I do catch myself thinking “Who’s watching the 10-year-olds” sometimes tho :). Long nighttime stretches of them just amusing themselves. I probably would have started to set fire to things if I were them 😆
I watched the latest two episodes last night, and while the scene that you clipped, @attiton is funny, where he’s tossed around like a rag doll, I still can’t help feel the show (or Lee Yi Kung) erred in exaggerating the physical weaknesses of country bumpkinism. It fits with the general kdrama inability to show sensitive men as being physically competent. (this is not a problem in BL dramas, for some reason.). I can count on one hand the number of shower scenes with sensitive MLs. In this one, the shirtless scene just highlighted his scar.
I find this unfortunate particularly in this show, making an argument for a companionate marriage. I’m not going to exaggerate how seriously I’m taking this show, but there were a couple of meaningful moments in these episodes, where characters were trying to define what makes a good marriage. That topic is what, in my opinion, makes this show worthwhile, more than the physical comedy of Lee Yi Kung or the cute niece and nephew. The one thing about the shortening of the show (which I actually wasn’t aware of until you mentioned it) is that it makes it unlikely that they actually will ever show a successful marriage. Oh well–at least we have the loving couple in When the Phone Rings.
I think we still have a shot with this lead couple. They’re so clearly just coming to care for one another at more levels than, “Gosh, s/he’s hot!” I’m not expecting my world to be shattered by this drama, either, but I quite like how that seems to be progressing.
As for your side note about sensitive men in BL…which BL dramas do you mean? Taekwondo is a possibility, but if you want to see a BL that would make you so angry you could spit fire on the country bumpkin front, check out Love Tractor. Actually, don’t. Just take my word for it.
2024 Roundup, Day 4: This Year\’s Crush
Kim Nam-hee. Three times over for me this year. It\’s the authenticity of his glasses. I swear. He really means those things.
1. Kim Nam-hee, a.k.a. \”Third Dude\” from Chicken Nugget. Just outstanding. Just my type.
2. Kim Nam-hee, a.k.a. Choi Jae-jin from Bitter Sweet Hell. The most immature little man-child. Look at his joy in both betraying his wife and defying his mother! Can I share?
3. And, where my crush really began, Kim Nam-hee, a.k.a. Shin Han-soo, or \”the guy in the green spandex,\” from On the Verge of Insanity. I mean, I didn\’t have a chance.
Runner-Up
Joo Min-kyung. It\’s her voice and her energy.
Omg, Joo Min-kyung! I was only able to finish this show because of her! I LOVE LOVE LOVE her voice! And she sounds, moves, and feels sooooo much like Julia Stiles!
I don’t know to feel sorry for the writer if they have based him on a person they personally know, or to feel amazed at their genius if they have created him completely from imagination!
For me, it is Nam Yoon-su as Go Yeong in Love in the Big City. I’ve never cared for a character so much while simultaneously resenting, almost detesting, his self-centered callousness. Nam Yoon-su was utterly transcendent in this role.
For much of the drama Yeong is a devil-may-care sprite, always (only) there for a laugh and a good time. He starts the drama this way, and more-or-less ends there, and it’s heartbreaking to see how very, little he chooses to learn along the way.
I say chooses to learn, as it becomes eminently clear over the eight hours we spend with him that Yeong has plenty, PLENTY of opportunities to see how his actions are a form of self-sabotage. As above, sometimes he even feels it too, even as he destroys the evidence of his despicable decision. You aren’t already dead, young man. I promise. What you write and who that you love does indeed matter. You can be loved in turn.
My final scene selection (below) is actually the earliest clip I’ve chosen from the drama, but it needed to be shown for a full 30 seconds, hence the sound clip (also available here). This moment is simply priceless in terms of understanding the needle that Nam Yoon-su was threading with this character. He encourages the audence to both absolutely hate the way that Go Yeong is behaving, but also…we sort of weirdly get it? This man is pouring his heart out to you, Yeong! Be more sympathetic!! But also…uh, dude? What are you saying right now in this casual restaurant to a boy you don’t really know all that well? Amazing work.
And now, for something completely different. Nam Yoon-su in Dog Knows Everything. I figure we all need a little brightness as well.
And, finally, if you’ve also not seen NYS in Beyond Evil he does a great job there as maknae cop (and it was the place he first caught my attention)! Truly endearing.
While it suffered from the 2024 habit of not ending as strong as it began, Love in the Big City is an amazing drama filled with characters you are not likely to soon forget. Like Mr. Plankton, it is gut-wrenching and joy-filled in equal measure. In fact, I put those two dramas in their own category of (potentially) “new school” romance-forward K-dramas that move away from the traditional focus on “fantasy” to instead offer more nuanced takes on what it means to live and love in the mid(!!) twenty-first century.
Today, I offer a clear leader in my books: Lee Hye-young as as Hong Sa-gang in Bitter Sweet Hell. Her mellifluous voice alone wins this prize from me (Listen below!).
Hong Sa-gang was a complex character, even if her strait-lacedness was often played for comedic effect. Her endgame, while admittedly somewhat pat, still held an edge of completed satisfaction that, for me, stemmed from a sense that, “Well, I didn’t see that coming, but I truly don’t know why I did not.” I could see it fine…in retrospect.
Furthermore, cheers to a mom who authentically seems to see the errors of her past ways, apologizes, and gains forgiveness from her son and the respect of her daughter-in-law.
Just beautiful, all around. I do very much recommend Bitter Sweet Hell to any and everyone who likes a little makjang+black comedy, family drama. Because that’s exactly what it is.
I’m not usually a makjang fan, and black comedy often feels forced to me, but Bittersweet Hell was so so good! So beautiful! So calm, but at the same time so gripping! I kept asking myself Who is this director!? It must be noted that it’s also a crime thriller which is very much my jam!
Also @javabeans and @girlfriday were sorely missed to pinooint every single one of the puns and jokes and meta references that I’m sure were in every other sentence!
2024 Roundup, Day 1: Your Favorite Drama
First of all, some definitional work needs to preface my choice, as is always the case with the (no-rules) Year-End Roundup. For me, \”favorite\” means the drama that I anticipated happily every week, proactively arranged a weekly, two-hour time block to watch, and not only experienced deep feelings arising during the time I spent watching, but also couldn\’t help but make gifs when it was over, because I was, frankly, inspired to do so. As an additional but crucial factor, I needed the drama to start as it meant to go on, and to finish strong by its own metrics.
Only one drama fits that bill this year. Only ONE.
It\’s Bad Memory Eraser.
I thought about many, many other options, but exactly NONE of the other candidates fit my definition. Before you click away (I know you already have), let me assure anyone still reading that I know, I KNOW, that Bad Memory Eraser may be one of the sloppiest, most poorly edited, most frankly amateurish dramas that\’s aired recently. But it brought me the absolute most joy this year.
Between Lee Jong-won\’s (one allowable) sad (eminently watchable) face, Kim Jae-joong\’s omnipresent sourpuss, the FL being an absolute waste of light and sound waves, plus the 2FLs (Sae-yan and Si-on) being shining rockstars whose light was hidden under any number of bushels…this show was not written or directed so that our stars could succeed. The only way it was ever clear what was happening plot-wise was via inference or by checking to see which poop joke we were currently ensconced within.
I didn’t think I was in the camp of “2024 kinda sucked,” and I may still not be. I don\’t actually think the dramas this year were \”bad.\” But here\’s what they did tend to do…they tended to fizzle out in the last two hours so spectacularly that one\’s entire experience of the previous 10-14 hours ended up damaged in retrospect. Some dramas (that I\’ll mention in future days) almost escaped this pattern, but frankly the vast majority did not.
Bad Memory Eraser will be a drama I\’ll honestly remember fondly for the rest of my life, I bet. And, if you\’ve not heard its soundtrack, you absolutely must run, do not walk, over to your streaming service of choice, not least to listen to Kim Jae-joong\’s \”It\’s OK/ 괜찮아\” where his voice resonates like the older singer he is now, and reminds me a bit of Freddie Mercury. There\’s also some excellent Vincent Blue and any number of instrumental tracks that will perk up your day (\”Crazy Bright Comic\” might just be this stupid show utterly encapsulated in 1m44 of stupider sound and voice effects, while \”So High\” is, uh, a good description of the writers and editors, but is also a song you\’ll remember instantly if you\’ve watched even an hour of the drama).
I\’ll probably add some extra gifs in the comments (some, perhaps, of KJJ getting naked for Cola), but I\’ve already scattered a few favorites here. I really, really loved watching this show. I\’m sorry that you sort of had to be there.
OHHHH so that’s why Brewing Love screenshots are giving me trauma flashbacks! I kept thinking I don’t know him that much why do I feel like whiplash every time I see his face! So it was your trauma I was experiencing! Proof of how effective your writings and gifs are!!👌👌👌👌
I had really hoped Brewing Love would be a break-out success for LJW so he could move beyond BME, but, alas, it was not to be. Knight Flower probably should be what folks remember him for this year, but not me. For me, it’s the trifecta of The Spies Who Loved Me, BME and the Beer Show.
I find him to be a very sympathetic actor, frankly–even though I poke a little fun at Shin Face.
This family photo sums up so much both in their faces and in the stupid sweatshirts they’re wearing…and, of course, the omnipresence of Cola.
Thank you BME for being there for me when I needed you the most this year. And, if you, dear reader, have made it this far, go right now and listen to “Past Pride” or “Grey” on the BME soundtrack. You’re welcome!
I LOVE the Kimmuseum track – I hadn’t realized he was in the OST! And LUCY always has good tracks. You’re right about the Kim Jae-joong track – his voice is lovely.
I enjoyed reading all your comments and seeing the GIFs 🙂
I don’t know if I’ll watch this drama or not, but what I’ll do for sure is listening to its OST.
Thanks, Isa! I loved making the gifs for this show. Truly one of the highlights of my year. And, as a true bright spot, I am betting that at least one of the FIFTY-SEVEN songs on the BME OST will surely be for you!
I love how clearly you defined the process by which you chose your favorite drama. Especially because it resulted in an unusual choice, which you then supported so thoroughly with vids, pics, and commentary. I read every word. Also: Your Lee Jong Won gifs are awesome and much appreciated 🤩
I feel like I should be allowed to post a permanent tag in front of this entry, to naive Dramabeans passers by. “WARNING: Professional Kdrama Commentator Writing on a Closed Page. Viewers At Home Should Not Attempt This Show.”
You might feel, based on @attiton ‘s comments that this show is comically bad, so its kind of fun. Or you might think “the actors are all good looking, even Cola, the dog is tolerable, so I can at least put up with a nonsensical narrative and crazy cinematography for that.” Or, you might get say, “well, at least it tells a story, with a beginning, middle and end.” Well, you’d be WRONG. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY SEON-HA’S INTERPRETATIVE ABILITIES AND GIF MAKING SKILL! She has constructed something significant working with an excrement-filled canvas. In fact, her work here is reminiscent of artist Chris Orfili’s Holy Virgin Mary, a mixed media portrait constructed of resin, glitter, and varnished elephant dung. Not that this subject, Bad Memory Eraser is holy, except in the sense of being filled with plot holes– though it was definitely a virgin, in that the sexiest scenes were with Cola the dog.
No, the reason this is the worst kdrama ever made is that it is genuinely bad. Not funny bad. Its just bad IN EVERY RESPECT. Please, I beg you, don’t make the same mistake I did. Do yourself a favor, and restrict your acquaintance with this show to what you find on this fan page!
Ah, @hacja‘s flattery. I can’t tell if it’s actually praise or criticism.
I truly loved watching this show, everyone. It says more about me than the show, I know. No one I’ve ever talked to about this show could really stand it–even with/despite by my gifs–but I giggled like a schoolchild through the last hour, with my little fists at my cheeks, disbelieving every second of what I saw. HOW COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE HAPPENING!??! I watched it twice and it made LESS sense the second time.
It was my favorite drama experience of the year. Even better than Chicken Nugget because that drama tried to have a point. Whatever.
Really, Gong Yoo? Really??? That\’s an emotion? Oh, who knows. It\’s the holiday season. Maybe it is.
One thing is for sure, though, after hours and hours of viewing, I\’ve never been less interested in finding out what was inside a ~~mysterious trunk~~ before, and when they showed me what was inside anyway, I wanted to crawl into a hole.
I\’m 99% sure this was an absolute mess of trite and (even) repetitive dialogue. Anyone else say at one point, \”She already told you the answer to that question about kayaking, THREE episodes ago?? And her answer is the goddamn same!!\”
My 1% of doubt is almost certainly because I\’m such a sucker for beautiful art and sound design (like the little \”ha!\” sounds that punctuate serious scenes like sonic exclamation points). At one point, though, when the lightning and thunder started to (ugh) mirror internal feelings, I did get Grand Shining Hotel flashbacks…but you can thank your lucky stars, unless you\’re @jenzy, you probably never suffered through that one.
It’s not as bad as all that. In this case, I honestly think the production team just got out over their skis. I truly kept thinking they’d pull it off…but in the end, I don’t think they delivered on their setup. YMMV.
Oh, I didn’t drop it. I was glued to my computer screen for ~8 hours, waiting, like an eedjut, for the writers to do justice to their actors–all of whom, I hope, were very well paid.
On the bright side, a single drop dud isn’t as big a let down as the shows that air weekly. Gettin’ all that disappointment out over a day or so. The trailer for this was intriguing, but I’m still stuck on episode 1
I’m late to the game on Family By Choice, but I’m up to ep. 6, am loving everyone (except for the dumpster fire moms), and am ready for all the romance!
I’m thinking ahead to the December Roundup, and depending on how today’s episodes go…Family by Choice has a chance of being my favorite drama of the year despite some mid-run misgivings. SO MANY SHOWS saw the writers simply abandon us in the final hours of a drama, that I’m willing to overlook shakiness in the middle so long as the stupid show delivers on the finale!!!
Oh wow, that is high praise indeed! I’ve watched through ep. 5, and I’m so impressed with the ensemble (the dads and our core trio) – their rapport, chemistry, and messy, complicated, and unconditional love for each other is lovely and solid. This definitely was one I needed to be in the right mood to enjoy, and I’m glad I waited ’til now to watch. Fingers crossed for today’s finale!!!
I went through a rom-com slump, but I pulled through thanks to a steady diet of mysteries, thrillers, and comedies, so I have Brewing Love on my list for an easy watch this winter.
FWIW, Brewing Love has my number, but it’s nowhere near as good overall as Family. It also has a much greater chance of utterly crashing and burning in the final four hours–I actually can’t yet imagine what they’re going to do to fill the time except for add unnecessary makjang or business intrigue–actually, now that I type this, I worry that it’s gonna be like a sageuk that resolves the romance “early” so that the Left State Minister can really take center stage. *rolls eyes in Joseon*
@attiton thanks for the Brewing Love heads-up! I trust your drama advice!! I bet I’ll like it when I watch it, too, but that’s also contingent on a nice ending 😂 This sounds similar to how I’m watching Marry You… I know and recognize that it’s not a “great” drama, but it’s so much more sweet and sensitive than I thought it would be that it has become my current obsession. The episode count has been lowered to 10 (not the previously advertised 12) and we haven’t covered NEARLY enough narrative ground yet to make me feel optimistic about the last few weeks 😬 Here’s hoping for only the smallest amount of manufactured angst in the last eps of these dramas!!
You bring big news on Marry YOU! I, too, have been watching it for what it is–a cute little thing that allows Lee Yi-kyung to shine as a cutie-patootie. I started thinking that I needed to try it to dismiss it, but here I am, still watching with a smirk on my face. I hope that the edits make it stronger, but that’s not a good sign, it must be said.
@attiton I’ve been (pleasantly) surprised at how much I TRULY am enjoying Marry You, but I’m quite concerned about where it goes from here in the last six episodes… the cut does not seem like a good sign. Everyone else can have that heel in When The Phone Rings; I’ll just be over in my corner swooning over Lee Yi-kyung oppa 😂 I’m also quietly enjoying the utopian fantasy vision of an online dating system that has humans vetting and matching 🙈 Ah well; I’ll enjoy Lee Yi-kyung, the sweetness, and the humor while it lasts! (the whole dragging the drunk ex home and then being given grave medical news by the twins when he wakes up hungover and disoriented the next morning made me laugh hysterically). I’ll be ready to laugh at Kim Se-jeong and swoon over Lee Jong-won soon!!
I’m still watching Marry You, but I admit it’s mainly for Lee Yi Kyung. I think he should have more screentime. After all, he is the ML. I miss him when the show focus on secondary characters. But the matching of the introverteds was cute.
Some days ago I noticed it was 10 episodes instead of 12 but I don’t know if it has been cut or if the first number was a mistake.
@isagc I wouldn’t mind if the show had doubled-down on the “marriage match of the episode” angle (like our now-intern and then the introverts). That would have been fun! But I fear we are now focusing on secrets and lies and the tragedy that left our dear Samchon in charge of his (now often absent…who’s looking after them!!) niece and nephew…
Ugh I loved that! *looks after her already running into the rain* „Obviously, you didn’t watch many dramas.“ 😂😂😂
Very smooth move to still catch up with her. He didn’t have a choice really. If there’s no umbrellas in sight, the ML‘s shirt it must be. It’s the law.
It was indeed a nice, extended cameo–I loved the thought of Min-ju dating in high school–even as awkward as I actually think that it would have been for him, considering his temperament–and it was an adorably cute shot of him with the coffee can, waiting for her after ballet.
Seriously though, can you imagine him breaking up with anyone? Now I want to know how that youthful relationship ended! Surely not with his tragedy, right? Let’s just assume that it was like Run On and “sensitive” men actually end up being really boring to date 😅
Oh yes, watching the flashback unfold I was also wondering why they’d break up… 🤔 They looked adorable!
I call … the tried-and-trusted „one of them goes abroad to study at university after finishing Highschool“. I wonder wether they will revisit this in the drama, but I guess they might not with only *gasps* four episodes left. I hope it’s not connected to his incident. I feel that’s rather steering in the direction of his relationship with his parents; especially his father. 🫣
My episode 8 non-romantic moment (excluding the bedroom scene lol) would have been a spit take if I was drinking a glass of beer. At 32.23 the writer has Yong-joo announce: “The era of drinking large quantities of alcohol is over.” (It makes me wonder if the writer is a teetotaler.). Earlier Yong-joo sat down and consumed almost 10 liters of beer in one sitting. The night before this announcement the boys Min-joo and Chan-hwi knocked back at least 30 tall cans of beer. (I freeze framed the scene and counted the cans on the table.)
Writer-nim,please be advised, in kdramaland (anyway) the era if drinking large quantities of alcohol is NOT over”.
Drinking is – spoiler alert – also an important point in Love in Contract. Though the ML usually only ever takes alcohol when it comes in chocolate bottles – and only in a fairly normal amount of chocolate bottles consumerism.
The tipping point…leading to his confrontation with the deep reality of the universe. At the end of the day, there will always be a cat there, wondering what the fuck is wrong with you.
Love Your Enemy, which is so far a fantastic comedy offered by amazing actors, episode 2.
Feline actor of the year, hands down. The guy in the trashcan ain’t half bad, too.
This is a ~*double-barreled*~ comedy – both leads (the young and the merely immature versions) are hysterical in distinct ways, as are the fine supporting actors, and I hope none of them remember what the word “dignity” means any time soon.
[Remembers cameo fight, laughs inappropriately in public again]
Those cameos were life. Absolute life. The show runners here are both able to garner the A-list for the main roles, but also for all other roles. The faith behind this show is real. I hope it can live up to the payroll (I really do!!).
I think you have to give Poto, the cat in Brewing Love, some serious consideration. Poto has the best wide eyed look in response to foolish comments, that’s for sure.
When your tyranny and incompetence are so clearly on display, there will always be cause for the “rabble” to rise against you. Be smarter and wilier fictional Joseon king!!! 😂
This has the potential to be a coherent and more pleasant drama of the quality of Bad Memory Eraser, with no poop jokes! I was laughing throughout, though maybe not with the show but at it. You must have loved the cat hammock, though. Does your cat have a hammock? If not, why not? Doesn’t every cat deserve a cat hammock?
I’m really looking forward to the next episode. The only problem is the election tomorrow might end the nation as we know it, which would kind of put a damper on joke kdrama watching.
I was also reminded quite some bit of BME–but I honestly liked a lot of that show. Not the plot or the direction or the acting or anything, but the characters. Well, almost all the characters.
Here, the cat was playing Cola to perfection. Brown, and when lying down…distinctly poop-shaped.
In truth, I both hope and don’t hope the show settles down a little bit. I hope it will because this amount of “frenetic” will get old, fast. But I also hope it won’t because I don’t want all of this hullabaloo just to be the “first episode expensive CGI” syndrome and then the rest to become “typical rom-com.” I get that these two are “Better Together” as the outrageously obvious last scene quite literally put on my screen for me–but him helping her feel what she needs to feel and her accepting his sensitivity and becoming his shield against the overwhelming world…the success of that is going to be in the details, I think.
One non-alcohol technical glitch.
Not that it is against the law (so to speak) but having lived almost 8 years in NYC (2013-2021) and love my bagel and lox as much as the next guy I have never seen a bagel eaten the way our boy Min-ju (LJW) prepared it for breakfast. Presumably that was cream cheese he put on both sides, so far so good, but then to put both halves together like a sandwich and munch? Nope! One half at a time please.
No way that boy eats two bagels for breakfast either. No one eats two bagels for breakfast, especially those who are trained not to feel full unless there was rice involved. We all learned quickly from NGNL that having pastry (ugh!) for breakfast is a sad, sad thing.
I presumed his breakfast was one toasted (or maybe not) bagel cut in half. He put cream cheese on both sides and then put both sides together like a sandwich. Bad form!
(LOL do I have to go back and rewind episode one to that scene to see if I got it right?)
Having not watched NGNL I had no idea it contained a polemic against pastries for breakfast. There goes the Danish (and not the people).
The minute after 39m50s. Two entire bagels on the plate 😉
It dawned on me after I hit send that maybe this is the show referencing his time in Germany. LOL. Like the Germans eat straight-up carbs for breakfast. Where’s the cold meats??? Where are the cheeses? Where’s the muesli?????
TWO really? Oh, my. Thanks for the time stamp. I will check it out.
(On the other hand, our Min-ju is so thin (is skinny considered not an appropriate description theses days?) he has got to get some meat on those bones of his so he should probably eat whatever he wants.)
Sadly, I’ve been known to eat two bagels for breakfast, especially when there is cream cheese and lox available. No pastry, though. Unless you call the Pop Tarts our Mom used to get us as a “special treat” pastry. (Are they still making Pop Tarts?)
@marcusnyc20. I noticed how skinny Min-ju was as well. That’s a problem with verisimilitude right there. I’ve met a lot of brewers, and I can’t recall ever meeting one that’s truly slim. I think a little extra around the middle is an occupational hazard.
I’m now stuck meandering through old gifs. This is Sung Hoon’s version of “patient.” My stars but PMR was a treat. I think you may have had to have been there, but it sure was a romp–a bit like “Dynasty” mixed with a very-low-key “Airplane.”
It really was a treat! Such a FUN take on a makjang, with all the cast along for the ride. I’ve recently realized that what I thought was a drama slump was actually a genre slump, and I have rom-com fatigue after live watching SO MANY of them this year. So I’m all in on mystery, comedy, action, and thriller… whittling away at Designated Survivor: 60 Days (so good), Cafe Minamdang (such fun), Dog Knows Everything (so pleasant), Seoul Busters (Su funny), and some non-romance C-dramas. I’ll be skipping Drunken Romance and saving it for the future – hope you find it to be favorable/fun/good!
And these gifs are so good and fun… “patient face” is such a Mood 😂
So far Bitter Sweet Hell was that for me, for sure. But as you noted elsewhere today, November is sure gonna come in like a lion!! PMR started airing on October 28th last year and Matchmakers started on October 30th…so I’m hoping that some of these new ones coming up will be our holiday season standouts. I’m trying not to get my hopes too far up, though.
i have never seen pretty, beautiful, cute, sexy, charismatic all in one .. and here we are.. Song Kang! .. plus he is so funny and confident and doesn’t shy away from being dumb.. he is fun!!!
Below, the Joseon night owl, a.k.a. the nature sound heard in the background of practically every nighttime scene portrayed in a sageuk…and even in some contemporary shows (Miss Night and Day being a prominent example).
This second link here shows how tiny-tiny these little scops owls are and gives the smallest little bit of background of these birds in Korea: https://youtu.be/_mtNZ-sIEwM
I remember when you asked about this call early in the year, and I thought maybe a whippoorwill or cuckoo, but I should have thought of an owl. The northern saw whet owl has a similar of “whe, whe, whe” call, it just does not have that nice triplet pattern of the Korean one, which is obviously a kpop idol owl. How did you find out what it was? Through extensive bird call research? Impressive!
I’ve heard a lot owls at dusk when I’ve been camping, and every night we hear the hoo, hoo, hoo, of the Great Horned Owl who lives in our neighborhood, a great sound. Owls are my favorite birds, and not just because the owl of Minerva spreads its wings only at dusk, or so I’ve heard.
The thought of a K-pop idol owl has me in stitches!!!
As for how I located it, a better-bird-finding friend found it for me, and I’m greatly appreciative. I, too, didn’t consider owls, despite my own recognition that the sound was heard only at night….
Ah yes, but this show isn’t interested in saving its characters from Hell, but rather sending them there. We Young-okians wish she had been cast as one of those multitude of good demons in this one!
I’d love to see a drama – perhaps a mini-webseries – with dialogue consisting of nothing but bad advice and easily disproven pop-psychology aphorisms. “You can’t love others until you love yourself.” “If you want him to like you, you need to play hard to get!” “Men and women can’t be friends.” Etc.
“MOthers always knows when their child is in danger” even when it should be in school.
There’s a whole range of things mothers do according to K-drama. It’s sweet of them to say it, but … It’s pretty high expectations.
I don’t mean the “would die for their child”. I would. But a lot of the other stuff … hmmm.
@sonai and/or @ceciliedk Side question…do you pay for Disney+ where you are? If so, is the Korean Life on Mars really available to you in Europe through Disney+?
Ah, I’m afraid this is the one streaming subscription I’m still denying myself. 😅 Unfortunately, if you have no subscription, searching through their offering seems next to impossible… but I’m sure @ceciliedk would know, because I noticed she was able to watch Flex x Cop, which is a D+ exclusive – right?
Fun fact: there can still be differences to the offering depending on what country you reside in. I’ve watched Age of Youth ages ago on a trip to Spain, and realized only when I returned home that it was no longer available to me on Netflix (the horror was real!). It was released some months later in my country, so…
There was an inappropriate word in my answer, that may have been me saying where I watched Flex Cop?
Well. According to the just watch site “Life on Mars” is not available for streaming in my area.
It is on that other website, though. Where TV can be seen that is made in Asia.
@CecilieDK
Can I sneak in a technical question here?
Why do some shows have no resolution selecting? They want to play on full quality and my internet Does. Not. Like. It!
I have no idea, Midnight. I am not a knower of those things. 👩🏻🚀🤷🏻♀️
But maybe Seon-ha knows – she is a better person than me. 🦸🏻♀️🧑🏻🔧🎥👩🏻💻🧙🏻♀️🧚🏻♀️
I can’t resist:
1. Knight Flower?
2. Sh**ting Stars
3. The Atypical Family
4. no idea, but he’s very gleeful and has very stiff hair
5. LJW goofing off BTS of Extraordinary You
I have that one as a gif too…he’s got on lipstick that’s just so fetching. But I won’t be tedious and post it–we can just replay it in our minds 😅
How about the repeated excitement over “Yu-seong’s PANTIES!!!” The manager (not the actor)’s embarrassment cracks me up. And the actual underwear ad was pretty great too…
🤣😂🤣 Oh yes! But before (or after he got the deal?) doom: panties/ex-chef model getting involuntarily drunk, being all endearing first and helping everyone he meets, then ending up almost naked on that playground. Ahahahaha! Oh this show has some comedy gold. 😂 And good coffee. Win win!
☕️🤝
I just rewatched this (duh!) and was actually super-excited to see that Starforce’s Illy coffee machine–IS THE SAME ONE I HAVE IN MY HOUSE. Usually, like in Stealer they show the fancy one that looks like a real espresso machine–but not my Starforcers!! I felt the reflected glow of Gong Tae-song in my own home.
Haha, „the reflected glow of Gong Taesung“! 😂☕️👏 And here I am in my hotel room, wondering who was responsible for the Nespresso PPL on the sideboard. Must check if this is a King Group Hotel later.
Such a well-acted moment. Her character’s backstory here is both heartrending and infuriating. I’ve never forgiven a harsh drama mom so quickly as I have this time.
I’m very much appreciating the inter-generational conversations this drama offers. You don’t have to be older to be super-conservative and closed-minded, and you don’t have to be younger to change your mind and be open to new experiences. I hope it continues to offer the chance to see that “it doesn’t always have to be one way” in your life…all the way through.
I know this is not what it is about, but that actress is so pretty. In her role as the ML’s mother in Frankly Speaking, the simple joy under the threat of death by TOD reminded me of the tragic protagonist of “A Hora da Estrela”, but in less tragic circumstances there is some Audrey Hepburn or a kinder version of Eartha Kitt about her.
But that IS what this gif is about!! Her daughter gave her this dress out of her “first paycheck” instead of long johns….specifically so that she can feel beautiful!!!
And actually, in “A Hora da Estrela” in the picture above, Makabea has just bought a dress that is impractical and expensive above her means, but she is so happy … for a few seconds more.
Seon-ha
December 7, 2024 at 7:17 AM
2024 Roundup, Day 7: OSTs of Note
First Prize goes to @unit for her work on Brewing Love. Min-ju is overwhelmed with pride! This ear-worm-of-a-ditty goes a little something like this:
Second Prize goes to the entire Cinderella at 2am soundtrack for being simply amazing homages to the mid-1980s, with special shout-outs going first and foremost to “Sweet Drama” (which will always delightfully be/sound like “Sweet Trauma” to me), but “Sailing, “IF,” and “Shining You” are also absolutely worth your time.
Third Prize goes to the Serendipity’s Embrace soundtrack, and it’s only third because the drama itself wasn’t as good as Cinderella at 2am…I love almost this entire OST album too. While C2am is more rock-forward, this is all bubble-gum-pop and it’s been on repeat in my favorites list for months now. Listen especially for “Stars,” “Wonder,” “Is This Love,” and “Fire Gazing.”
miso
December 7, 2024 at 7:34 AM
In the grand tradition of kpop fans, I submit that @Unit should have won a daesang for their work! #JusticeforUnit
Unit
December 7, 2024 at 11:08 AM
😅
Isa is always time travelling
December 7, 2024 at 7:39 AM
Cinderella at 2am had a great OST. I had mentioned the earworm Boyfriend, but the full ost has no waste.
Unit
December 7, 2024 at 11:07 AM
Wow! I’m so touched. I will be celebrating this win with a glass of Likey + Naro + Together beers. 🍺
*Hangover until 2025*
Seon-ha
December 7, 2024 at 12:27 PM
Thanks for the song and I hope you enjoy yourself!! Don’t forget the soju!!! 😉
hacja
December 7, 2024 at 2:05 PM
All credit to @unit for her skills as a lyricist, but any mention of Brewing Love’s OST as a potential award winner must take into account the melodically simpleminded, overly bouncy “Daisy” by a duo from Dreamcatcher, a girl group that I had previously associated with goth kpop, whose every song seems like the background to an overblown DC Comic movie featuring some superhero that no one has ever heard of.
I can’t really translate “Daisy’s” Korean lines myself, but it includes these stirring, emotional lines in English:
“Hello, How are you/
I’m fine don’t worry”
and
“Can you be my daisy /My twizzin, Biggie, Bestie Daisy Girl
Daisy love, daisy love ”
So at first I thought maybe “daisy girl” might refer to the “she loves me–loves me not” petal picking game; or daisy girl meaning something really exceptional; but I don’t see any indication in the song that that is what the lyrics are talking about. I had to look up “twizzin” and apparently its been used both to mean “twin” (which would fit, I guess with “bestie” but, “biggie?”) OR twizzin can also mean intoxicated, which would fit with the beer theme. However, either way, its the kind of annoying song that, despite Unit’s best efforts, puts the Brewing Love OST near the bottom of this year’s OSTs for me.
Seon-ha
December 7, 2024 at 2:17 PM
I truly, and honestly, have this song in my playlist so that when I’m driving from point a to point b, feeling like my life has no meaning, I can wonder, “What the HELL is this song??”
It’s a modern classic, written to help us cope with a dystopia.
Seon-ha
December 5, 2024 at 5:15 AM
2024 Roundup, Day 5: Drama Stealer
Go Yoon as Gong Jin-dan in Beauty and Mr. Romantic. As this weekender wore on–and wore us down–more and more light came forth always, and only, when Jin-dan was there. Above, this is Jin-dan, I kid you not, trying to feel a feeling. Look at how it does not work. 🤣
The drama started out so well too. Jin-dan just was a good looking ne’er-do-well. The son of a now-dead chaebol’s concubine. What could go wrong with inventive plot points like that? There were, all told, about 24 episodes of pure fun…followed by 26 episodes made up of watching a slowly-dissolving pile of carefully stacked sugar cubes.
Take, for example, this scene. Just…what? This is supposed to be lover’s jealousy, but really it’s a tantrum. I laugh so hard at the line, “Was that [plushie] your stunt partner?” Who wrote this crap, Yoon? You’re doing such a good job selling it, tho. You throw that thing and watch it bounce while you spit out your next line.
By about episode 40, Go Yoon really started to vamp it up in such a glorious fashion that Gong Jin-dan became–without a doubt–the reason I finished this godforsaken drama.
Go Yoon can also…pronounce English from the back of his throat (also here). Unbelievable!! He stole the whole show.
Seon-ha
December 5, 2024 at 5:17 AM
If I could, I’d offer a ceremony like this for Go Yoon to be rid of this drama’s shadow. Go forth!! Find better vehicles for your talent. I’m not sure Red Swan was it either. 🥺
bbstl 🧹
December 5, 2024 at 8:11 AM
Not knowing anything about this drama or actor, that plushie scene is too funny, the epitome of petty!
Seon-ha
December 5, 2024 at 9:03 AM
It is, it really is…all around, including the look of “DON’T STEP ON MY GIRL’S PLUSHIE, YOU JERK!!” as you grab another adult man’s collar 🙄
seyhan
December 5, 2024 at 1:08 PM
The actor was clearly having so much fun with this role wholly embracing the crazy. The plushie smashing will go down as one of the peak unhinged kdrama moments for me.
Seon-ha
December 4, 2024 at 9:26 AM
If anyone of the, like, five us watching wants to discuss Marry YOU up to episode 6, here\’s a place we can do that…the Marry YOU hangout didn\’t even make it to the homepage (kicked out by Face Me I guess?). I think Lee Yi-kyung and Lee Min-ki should fence for the spot on some neutral ground like in Love Your Enemy? 😁
Aaaanyway, I really keep wanting to dislike this show, but every week they find a way for me to care about what happens…this week, the adorable twins (\”What is this now? It\’s probably revenge for the affair\” *makjang music*). Aaand the above pratfall. Anyone else have a favorite moment? Or a least favorite?
I suppose my least favorite is the moralizing about marriage, but only because it\’s so clear they\’re pitching it as the best option despite all odds and it feels more like a policy statement than something heartfelt.
Oh! One other thing…this guy (Total rookie?! The kid playing the nephew has a resume 20 dramas longer than this man.) could be Choo Young-woo\’s brother could he not? I kept thinking they could have gotten him to play the \”twin brother\” in Lady Ok to make things even more confusing for the audience. 😉
Isa is always time travelling
December 4, 2024 at 9:45 AM
I keep watching Marry You too! 🙋♀️
Objectively it’s not very good but it is nice and I look forward to the episodes each week.
The script is deeper and more intelligent than it seemed when the drama started.
Now I need the next four episodes focus on the main couple because there is long way to go and I still don’t know what the FL wants or if she likes the ML (not only as a friend).
Seon-ha
December 4, 2024 at 10:03 AM
Yes, I want to see some more nice, mutual relationship-building!!! What do you think about the fact that they shortened the run? I can’t help but think it might be a good thing?
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
December 4, 2024 at 10:27 AM
I’m still watching this drama too, and absolutely, un-cynically, loving it (much to my surprise). It’s been such a warm and surprisingly thoughtful drama, and I’ve really enjoyed all the conversations about relationships. I’m trying not to worry about the 10-episode length… I feel that it’s very clear that the relationship trajectory of the leads is meant for a 16-episode run… But I LOVE Lee Yi-kyung in this role. He’s making this character (and this drama) so much better than it deserves to be. And I’ve warmed up to the FL… I originally called her “bland,” and she kind of is, but I appreciate SO MUCH that she’s not shrill, shouty, or otherwise someone who overreacts. She balances with the ML’s character really nicely. I’ve loved all the cameo/side characters who are featured each week (my favorite was the sweet nerdy IT guy and the lovely lovely introvert date).
Isa is always time travelling
December 4, 2024 at 11:50 AM
“I appreciate SO MUCH that she’s not shrill, shouty, or otherwise someone who overreacts”.
_____________________
Totally agree. I appreciate that the FL is a very nice and polite person.
Isa is always time travelling
December 4, 2024 at 11:45 AM
It might be a good thing.
I like seeing other couples first dates, but I thought the SML was getting too much screen time in the first episodes. I wish I knew which scenes have been left out.
Seon-ha
December 4, 2024 at 3:20 PM
I sure didn’t know who “the brother” was when our 2FL clearly did–I bet some of that got cut? Come to think of it the FL also knew exactly who he was on sight…
Isa is always time travelling
December 4, 2024 at 3:25 PM
You are probably right. I also felt something was missing in that sub-plot. That character appeared so suddenly, without previous explanation.
In fact, I had thought the children were orphans.
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
December 4, 2024 at 10:38 AM
Ok, I’m gonna keep adding to this post, because I’ve been quietly squeeing in my corner about this drama for the past two weeks while everyone else is going on about When the Phone Rings and I don’t have anywhere to let it all out!!😂 I LOVE the twins!!! Yes, they’re preternaturally worldly-wise, but they’re charming and they’re the adorable Greek Chorus that is keeping everything on track. “She’s our uncle’s real girlfriend!” <- Yes INDEED you tell everyone that, kids!!! I agree that that was an impressively good pratfall from Lee Yi-Kyung – I can only imagine the practice that goes into flopping so limply and realistically on the ground MULTIPLE times! I was also thrilled by the tiny little meta moment of Lee Yi-Kyung struggling to use the seatbelt in the FL's old car (*callback to his broken car Rebecca in Welcome to Waikiki!*). But most of all, I love love love how genuine, honest, and kind the ML is. He's not a slapstick caricature or a dumb bumpkin – he's just a genuine guy. And I also love how low-key this drama has been, and that most things have had such "mundane" explanations or solutions. The SFL has treated the ML like a hot new accessory since the beginning, so ngl, I'm pleased that she's the real villain here. I would like for the FL and ML to acknowledge their mutual regard and enjoyment of each other and GET THEIR BUTTS IN GEAR to start something before we have to end this drama 🥲 Every time he learns something the FL likes and then does it for her or cooks it for her, I'm just like GET IT TOGETHER YOU TWO! 🫠 I'm typing on my computer rather than my phone (my usual), so you're getting even more words than usual 🙈
Seon-ha
December 4, 2024 at 10:53 AM
Happy to offer a venue for essays about K-dramas!! Always. The more words, the better.
That was indeed some real villainy on the 2FL’s part. I was honestly shocked that she would think that Cheol-hee would be all, “Oh, great! The kids are gone. Now I can really live!!” He literally said the opposite to her in words she could hear. What does she actually want out of our man, anyway? Just anyone who isn’t in it for the money? Does she want a house-husband she thinks is sort of slooow so she can control him? She certainly hasn’t gotten to know the guy.
Cheol-hee’s way smarter than he plays, I agree, and I appreciate every scene he’s in–when he’s not just staring, confused, at CCTV cameras 😂
He cooks for her, for real, and it’s adorable. She didn’t do the cooking, but I’m reminded of how Ju-won kept bringing San-ha breakfast at school when he was flouncing off, pouting about his fate. I think he knows what he’s doing and he’s playing the waiting game. I don’t think she knows how she’s fallen for him, though. Who just accepts braised quail eggs for lunch like, “Oh, for me? Great!” Silly girl.
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
December 4, 2024 at 11:05 AM
Um, I think the answer to all of the above is yes, this delulu woman does think all that 😅 I think she and he are being used to exemplify the difference between people who romanticize the fantasy of dating and relationships, and those who take a more realistic view. I absolutely love Cheol-hee as a character – he’s got common sense and emotional intelligence, which is a winning combo in my books 👍 I agree with you about the ML playing the waiting game… he’s been going along with what she asks of him, but he’s also been taking every opportunity to court her, essentially, and I love it. I can’t wait for her to figure it out!!! They’ve been developing a really nice rapport, understanding, and appreciation of each other. Silly girl indeed!
Seon-ha
December 4, 2024 at 3:18 PM
Yes, he’s courting her…for sure. Great old-fashioned term for what’s going on!! So sweet and attentive.
Isa is always time travelling
December 4, 2024 at 12:02 PM
Something this show is doing well (and very often, since the beginning) is reversing tropes.
I should have noted down each time it happened.
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
December 4, 2024 at 12:07 PM
I agree!! I feel like most of the time they’re not “in your face” about it, so I forget it after it happens… one of the more obvious (and FUNNY) ones was when he knocked his phone out of her hand, leaned over to catch it, and missed… his reaction to it cracking on the ground was very true-to-life 😂👍 And I love each time the twins made a meta-comment about the plot in the latest episodes with the background *makjang music* that Seon-ha pointed out!
Seon-ha
December 4, 2024 at 3:21 PM
I do catch myself thinking “Who’s watching the 10-year-olds” sometimes tho :). Long nighttime stretches of them just amusing themselves. I probably would have started to set fire to things if I were them 😆
FormAnOrderlyQueue
December 4, 2024 at 4:08 PM
Same! Keep thinking, “These kids are home alone again. Surely they’ll go all Kevin on him soon?”
hacja
December 6, 2024 at 10:03 AM
I watched the latest two episodes last night, and while the scene that you clipped, @attiton is funny, where he’s tossed around like a rag doll, I still can’t help feel the show (or Lee Yi Kung) erred in exaggerating the physical weaknesses of country bumpkinism. It fits with the general kdrama inability to show sensitive men as being physically competent. (this is not a problem in BL dramas, for some reason.). I can count on one hand the number of shower scenes with sensitive MLs. In this one, the shirtless scene just highlighted his scar.
I find this unfortunate particularly in this show, making an argument for a companionate marriage. I’m not going to exaggerate how seriously I’m taking this show, but there were a couple of meaningful moments in these episodes, where characters were trying to define what makes a good marriage. That topic is what, in my opinion, makes this show worthwhile, more than the physical comedy of Lee Yi Kung or the cute niece and nephew. The one thing about the shortening of the show (which I actually wasn’t aware of until you mentioned it) is that it makes it unlikely that they actually will ever show a successful marriage. Oh well–at least we have the loving couple in When the Phone Rings.
Seon-ha
December 6, 2024 at 2:35 PM
I think we still have a shot with this lead couple. They’re so clearly just coming to care for one another at more levels than, “Gosh, s/he’s hot!” I’m not expecting my world to be shattered by this drama, either, but I quite like how that seems to be progressing.
As for your side note about sensitive men in BL…which BL dramas do you mean? Taekwondo is a possibility, but if you want to see a BL that would make you so angry you could spit fire on the country bumpkin front, check out Love Tractor. Actually, don’t. Just take my word for it.
Seon-ha
December 4, 2024 at 5:06 AM
2024 Roundup, Day 4: This Year\’s Crush
Kim Nam-hee. Three times over for me this year. It\’s the authenticity of his glasses. I swear. He really means those things.
1. Kim Nam-hee, a.k.a. \”Third Dude\” from Chicken Nugget. Just outstanding. Just my type.
2. Kim Nam-hee, a.k.a. Choi Jae-jin from Bitter Sweet Hell. The most immature little man-child. Look at his joy in both betraying his wife and defying his mother! Can I share?
3. And, where my crush really began, Kim Nam-hee, a.k.a. Shin Han-soo, or \”the guy in the green spandex,\” from On the Verge of Insanity. I mean, I didn\’t have a chance.
Runner-Up
Joo Min-kyung. It\’s her voice and her energy.
Seon-ha
December 4, 2024 at 5:07 AM
Moar Third Dude.
Seon-ha
December 4, 2024 at 5:08 AM
Moar BSH Manchild.
Seon-ha
December 4, 2024 at 5:08 AM
Oh, be still my beating heart.
I know which of these two women I want to befriend…
Midnight
December 4, 2024 at 5:25 AM
Omg, Joo Min-kyung! I was only able to finish this show because of her! I LOVE LOVE LOVE her voice! And she sounds, moves, and feels sooooo much like Julia Stiles!
Midnight
December 4, 2024 at 5:16 AM
Kim Nam Hee in Bitter Sweet Hell was… fascinating…! I simply can’t put in words how it felt watching him! Just fascinating.
Seon-ha
December 4, 2024 at 5:31 AM
What a guy!
Midnight
December 4, 2024 at 5:43 AM
Just… fascinating!
I don’t know to feel sorry for the writer if they have based him on a person they personally know, or to feel amazed at their genius if they have created him completely from imagination!
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
December 4, 2024 at 6:09 AM
That’s the same guy??? That’s range!! 👏👏👏
PYC
December 4, 2024 at 6:23 AM
Kim Nam-hee – enough said!! His name is always enough for me to start a drama.
Seon-ha
December 3, 2024 at 4:35 AM
2024 Roundup, Day 3: Favorite Male Lead
For me, it is Nam Yoon-su as Go Yeong in Love in the Big City. I’ve never cared for a character so much while simultaneously resenting, almost detesting, his self-centered callousness. Nam Yoon-su was utterly transcendent in this role.
For much of the drama Yeong is a devil-may-care sprite, always (only) there for a laugh and a good time. He starts the drama this way, and more-or-less ends there, and it’s heartbreaking to see how very, little he chooses to learn along the way.
I say chooses to learn, as it becomes eminently clear over the eight hours we spend with him that Yeong has plenty, PLENTY of opportunities to see how his actions are a form of self-sabotage. As above, sometimes he even feels it too, even as he destroys the evidence of his despicable decision. You aren’t already dead, young man. I promise. What you write and
whothat you love does indeed matter. You can be loved in turn.My final scene selection (below) is actually the earliest clip I’ve chosen from the drama, but it needed to be shown for a full 30 seconds, hence the sound clip (also available here). This moment is simply priceless in terms of understanding the needle that Nam Yoon-su was threading with this character. He encourages the audence to both absolutely hate the way that Go Yeong is behaving, but also…we sort of weirdly get it? This man is pouring his heart out to you, Yeong! Be more sympathetic!! But also…uh, dude? What are you saying right now in this casual restaurant to a boy you don’t really know all that well? Amazing work.
Seon-ha
December 3, 2024 at 4:36 AM
And now, for something completely different. Nam Yoon-su in Dog Knows Everything. I figure we all need a little brightness as well.
And, finally, if you’ve also not seen NYS in Beyond Evil he does a great job there as maknae cop (and it was the place he first caught my attention)! Truly endearing.
wonhwa
December 3, 2024 at 5:44 AM
I’m so grumpy Viki made this show Plus-only because I’ve heard such good things about it and would really like to watch it.
Seon-ha
December 3, 2024 at 6:17 AM
While it suffered from the 2024 habit of not ending as strong as it began, Love in the Big City is an amazing drama filled with characters you are not likely to soon forget. Like Mr. Plankton, it is gut-wrenching and joy-filled in equal measure. In fact, I put those two dramas in their own category of (potentially) “new school” romance-forward K-dramas that move away from the traditional focus on “fantasy” to instead offer more nuanced takes on what it means to live and love in the mid(!!) twenty-first century.
Seon-ha
December 2, 2024 at 9:39 AM
2024 Roundup, Day 2: Favorite Female Lead
Today, I offer a clear leader in my books: Lee Hye-young as as Hong Sa-gang in Bitter Sweet Hell. Her mellifluous voice alone wins this prize from me (Listen below!).
Hong Sa-gang was a complex character, even if her strait-lacedness was often played for comedic effect. Her endgame, while admittedly somewhat pat, still held an edge of completed satisfaction that, for me, stemmed from a sense that, “Well, I didn’t see that coming, but I truly don’t know why I did not.” I could see it fine…in retrospect.
Furthermore, cheers to a mom who authentically seems to see the errors of her past ways, apologizes, and gains forgiveness from her son and the respect of her daughter-in-law.
Now, @midnight (and everyone else!!), please do say it with me, “여러분? 안녕하세요…구, 구, 구, 구.”
Seon-ha
December 2, 2024 at 9:42 AM
Kim Hee-sun’s face. “It’s not, son-of-a-bitch stew, moooom. WhatEVer!”
Seon-ha
December 2, 2024 at 9:43 AM
Just beautiful, all around. I do very much recommend Bitter Sweet Hell to any and everyone who likes a little makjang+black comedy, family drama. Because that’s exactly what it is.
Midnight
December 2, 2024 at 9:54 AM
I’m not usually a makjang fan, and black comedy often feels forced to me, but Bittersweet Hell was so so good! So beautiful! So calm, but at the same time so gripping! I kept asking myself Who is this director!? It must be noted that it’s also a crime thriller which is very much my jam!
Also @javabeans and @girlfriday were sorely missed to pinooint every single one of the puns and jokes and meta references that I’m sure were in every other sentence!
Eazal
December 2, 2024 at 10:08 AM
I loved this drama sooooo much, had so much fun watching!! I’m so happy to see this post 🙂
bbstl 🧹
December 2, 2024 at 7:33 PM
Thanks for carrying on about this show, I never would have thought to watch it otherwise. It was so beautifully done.
Midnight
December 3, 2024 at 2:15 AM
Exactly me.
Margo of the Resilient Lip Gloss
December 2, 2024 at 2:23 PM
I concur.
No one else was even close.
Seon-ha
December 1, 2024 at 6:11 AM
2024 Roundup, Day 1: Your Favorite Drama
First of all, some definitional work needs to preface my choice, as is always the case with the (no-rules) Year-End Roundup. For me, \”favorite\” means the drama that I anticipated happily every week, proactively arranged a weekly, two-hour time block to watch, and not only experienced deep feelings arising during the time I spent watching, but also couldn\’t help but make gifs when it was over, because I was, frankly, inspired to do so. As an additional but crucial factor, I needed the drama to start as it meant to go on, and to finish strong by its own metrics.
Only one drama fits that bill this year. Only ONE.
It\’s Bad Memory Eraser.
I thought about many, many other options, but exactly NONE of the other candidates fit my definition. Before you click away (I know you already have), let me assure anyone still reading that I know, I KNOW, that Bad Memory Eraser may be one of the sloppiest, most poorly edited, most frankly amateurish dramas that\’s aired recently. But it brought me the absolute most joy this year.
Between Lee Jong-won\’s (one allowable) sad (eminently watchable) face, Kim Jae-joong\’s omnipresent sourpuss, the FL being an absolute waste of light and sound waves, plus the 2FLs (Sae-yan and Si-on) being shining rockstars whose light was hidden under any number of bushels…this show was not written or directed so that our stars could succeed. The only way it was ever clear what was happening plot-wise was via inference or by checking to see which poop joke we were currently ensconced within.
I didn’t think I was in the camp of “2024 kinda sucked,” and I may still not be. I don\’t actually think the dramas this year were \”bad.\” But here\’s what they did tend to do…they tended to fizzle out in the last two hours so spectacularly that one\’s entire experience of the previous 10-14 hours ended up damaged in retrospect. Some dramas (that I\’ll mention in future days) almost escaped this pattern, but frankly the vast majority did not.
Bad Memory Eraser will be a drama I\’ll honestly remember fondly for the rest of my life, I bet. And, if you\’ve not heard its soundtrack, you absolutely must run, do not walk, over to your streaming service of choice, not least to listen to Kim Jae-joong\’s \”It\’s OK/ 괜찮아\” where his voice resonates like the older singer he is now, and reminds me a bit of Freddie Mercury. There\’s also some excellent Vincent Blue and any number of instrumental tracks that will perk up your day (\”Crazy Bright Comic\” might just be this stupid show utterly encapsulated in 1m44 of stupider sound and voice effects, while \”So High\” is, uh, a good description of the writers and editors, but is also a song you\’ll remember instantly if you\’ve watched even an hour of the drama).
I\’ll probably add some extra gifs in the comments (some, perhaps, of KJJ getting naked for Cola), but I\’ve already scattered a few favorites here. I really, really loved watching this show. I\’m sorry that you sort of had to be there.
Seon-ha
December 1, 2024 at 6:12 AM
Hotter than ANYONE else. **smh** I still can’t believe they did this/I was able to take these screenshots.
Seon-ha
December 1, 2024 at 6:13 AM
It begins.
The desperate need for his love.
The LONGING.
Seon-ha
December 1, 2024 at 6:14 AM
The unforgettable “Shin Face.” I have about 8 of these…Lee Jong-won can do it well and, apparently, often and on cue.
Midnight
December 1, 2024 at 9:26 AM
OHHHH so that’s why Brewing Love screenshots are giving me trauma flashbacks! I kept thinking I don’t know him that much why do I feel like whiplash every time I see his face! So it was your trauma I was experiencing! Proof of how effective your writings and gifs are!!👌👌👌👌
Seon-ha
December 1, 2024 at 9:31 AM
I had really hoped Brewing Love would be a break-out success for LJW so he could move beyond BME, but, alas, it was not to be. Knight Flower probably should be what folks remember him for this year, but not me. For me, it’s the trifecta of The Spies Who Loved Me, BME and the Beer Show.
I find him to be a very sympathetic actor, frankly–even though I poke a little fun at Shin Face.
Seon-ha
December 1, 2024 at 6:15 AM
This family photo sums up so much both in their faces and in the stupid sweatshirts they’re wearing…and, of course, the omnipresence of Cola.
Thank you BME for being there for me when I needed you the most this year. And, if you, dear reader, have made it this far, go right now and listen to “Past Pride” or “Grey” on the BME soundtrack. You’re welcome!
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
December 1, 2024 at 6:40 AM
Going to Spotify for the soundtrack now!! 🎧
Seon-ha
December 1, 2024 at 6:59 AM
I’ve offered two very different songs there at the end–one of them is perhaps your speed! I am confident the Vincent Blue one is 🙂
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
December 1, 2024 at 7:17 AM
I LOVE the Kimmuseum track – I hadn’t realized he was in the OST! And LUCY always has good tracks. You’re right about the Kim Jae-joong track – his voice is lovely.
Seon-ha
December 1, 2024 at 7:19 AM
Yay!
Isa is always time travelling
December 1, 2024 at 6:39 AM
I enjoyed reading all your comments and seeing the GIFs 🙂
I don’t know if I’ll watch this drama or not, but what I’ll do for sure is listening to its OST.
Seon-ha
December 1, 2024 at 7:01 AM
Thanks, Isa! I loved making the gifs for this show. Truly one of the highlights of my year. And, as a true bright spot, I am betting that at least one of the FIFTY-SEVEN songs on the BME OST will surely be for you!
Isa is always time travelling
December 1, 2024 at 7:26 AM
Fifty-seven! 😱
Songs + background music, I guess. It’s great when full osts are released.
Eazal
December 1, 2024 at 9:10 AM
Thanks, for this essay!!! It didn’t convince me to try and resume the drama, but I just love every word your wrote!!
zindigo
December 1, 2024 at 12:36 PM
I love how clearly you defined the process by which you chose your favorite drama. Especially because it resulted in an unusual choice, which you then supported so thoroughly with vids, pics, and commentary. I read every word. Also: Your Lee Jong Won gifs are awesome and much appreciated 🤩
Seon-ha
December 1, 2024 at 1:23 PM
Thanks for reading! LJW makes it easy.
hacja
December 2, 2024 at 12:56 PM
I feel like I should be allowed to post a permanent tag in front of this entry, to naive Dramabeans passers by. “WARNING: Professional Kdrama Commentator Writing on a Closed Page. Viewers At Home Should Not Attempt This Show.”
You might feel, based on @attiton ‘s comments that this show is comically bad, so its kind of fun. Or you might think “the actors are all good looking, even Cola, the dog is tolerable, so I can at least put up with a nonsensical narrative and crazy cinematography for that.” Or, you might get say, “well, at least it tells a story, with a beginning, middle and end.” Well, you’d be WRONG. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY SEON-HA’S INTERPRETATIVE ABILITIES AND GIF MAKING SKILL! She has constructed something significant working with an excrement-filled canvas. In fact, her work here is reminiscent of artist Chris Orfili’s Holy Virgin Mary, a mixed media portrait constructed of resin, glitter, and varnished elephant dung. Not that this subject, Bad Memory Eraser is holy, except in the sense of being filled with plot holes– though it was definitely a virgin, in that the sexiest scenes were with Cola the dog.
No, the reason this is the worst kdrama ever made is that it is genuinely bad. Not funny bad. Its just bad IN EVERY RESPECT. Please, I beg you, don’t make the same mistake I did. Do yourself a favor, and restrict your acquaintance with this show to what you find on this fan page!
Seon-ha
December 2, 2024 at 2:16 PM
Ah, @hacja‘s flattery. I can’t tell if it’s actually praise or criticism.
I truly loved watching this show, everyone. It says more about me than the show, I know. No one I’ve ever talked to about this show could really stand it–even with/despite by my gifs–but I giggled like a schoolchild through the last hour, with my little fists at my cheeks, disbelieving every second of what I saw. HOW COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE HAPPENING!??! I watched it twice and it made LESS sense the second time.
It was my favorite drama experience of the year. Even better than Chicken Nugget because that drama tried to have a point. Whatever.
hacja
December 2, 2024 at 6:48 PM
Oh, @attiton, you know my flattery is always sincere, and even my joking comes from a place of respect!
Not for this show, though!
Seon-ha
November 30, 2024 at 11:40 AM
Really, Gong Yoo? Really??? That\’s an emotion? Oh, who knows. It\’s the holiday season. Maybe it is.
One thing is for sure, though, after hours and hours of viewing, I\’ve never been less interested in finding out what was inside a ~~mysterious trunk~~ before, and when they showed me what was inside anyway, I wanted to crawl into a hole.
I\’m 99% sure this was an absolute mess of trite and (even) repetitive dialogue. Anyone else say at one point, \”She already told you the answer to that question about kayaking, THREE episodes ago?? And her answer is the goddamn same!!\”
My 1% of doubt is almost certainly because I\’m such a sucker for beautiful art and sound design (like the little \”ha!\” sounds that punctuate serious scenes like sonic exclamation points). At one point, though, when the lightning and thunder started to (ugh) mirror internal feelings, I did get Grand Shining Hotel flashbacks…but you can thank your lucky stars, unless you\’re @jenzy, you probably never suffered through that one.
But, there were bright sides.
And turtlenecks.
And ships passing in the night.
The
KrunkTrunk, episodes 5, 6 and 8.zindigo
November 30, 2024 at 12:19 PM
So you didn’t like it. Say it ain’t so. I’m only on episode 1.
Seon-ha
November 30, 2024 at 12:26 PM
…but I did watch every single minute, if that helps at all.
zindigo
November 30, 2024 at 4:40 PM
Lolz. But it’s artsy so your time wasn’t wasted. Doesn’t artsy equal great drama?! 🙃
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
November 30, 2024 at 6:12 PM
☝️ Netflix sure thinks so! 😂
Seon-ha
November 30, 2024 at 6:26 PM
It’s not as bad as all that. In this case, I honestly think the production team just got out over their skis. I truly kept thinking they’d pull it off…but in the end, I don’t think they delivered on their setup. YMMV.
RenOIshi
November 30, 2024 at 12:34 PM
Yeah it is a drop for me too unfortunately 🙁
Seon-ha
November 30, 2024 at 12:39 PM
Oh, I didn’t drop it. I was glued to my computer screen for ~8 hours, waiting, like an eedjut, for the writers to do justice to their actors–all of whom, I hope, were very well paid.
parkchuna 🍉
November 30, 2024 at 4:07 PM
It looks depressing. Is it worth it to watch just for Gong yoo?
Seon-ha
November 30, 2024 at 5:44 PM
I think I can say without fear of spoiling it: The Trunk is not depressing.
I could have done with more Gong Yoo. But Seo Hyun-jin is fantastic too.
Cori
November 30, 2024 at 10:44 PM
On the bright side, a single drop dud isn’t as big a let down as the shows that air weekly. Gettin’ all that disappointment out over a day or so. The trailer for this was intriguing, but I’m still stuck on episode 1
Seon-ha
November 27, 2024 at 10:15 AM
Oh, when I saw these facial expressions go by, my dearest Kim Se-jeong, I thought, \”Thank you!! These will surely come in handy!\”
I could watch this all day.
Me, if we don\’t see some proper, heart-dropping, show-stopping romance between Hae-joon and Dal today in the final two episodes of Family by Choice.
Brewing Love, episode 8.
Seon-ha
November 27, 2024 at 10:15 AM
OK, swoon. Brewing Love, episode 7.
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
November 27, 2024 at 10:28 AM
Ooooo 😍🫠
I’m late to the game on Family By Choice, but I’m up to ep. 6, am loving everyone (except for the dumpster fire moms), and am ready for all the romance!
Seon-ha
November 27, 2024 at 12:16 PM
I’m thinking ahead to the December Roundup, and depending on how today’s episodes go…Family by Choice has a chance of being my favorite drama of the year despite some mid-run misgivings. SO MANY SHOWS saw the writers simply abandon us in the final hours of a drama, that I’m willing to overlook shakiness in the middle so long as the stupid show delivers on the finale!!!
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
November 27, 2024 at 12:36 PM
Oh wow, that is high praise indeed! I’ve watched through ep. 5, and I’m so impressed with the ensemble (the dads and our core trio) – their rapport, chemistry, and messy, complicated, and unconditional love for each other is lovely and solid. This definitely was one I needed to be in the right mood to enjoy, and I’m glad I waited ’til now to watch. Fingers crossed for today’s finale!!!
I went through a rom-com slump, but I pulled through thanks to a steady diet of mysteries, thrillers, and comedies, so I have Brewing Love on my list for an easy watch this winter.
Seon-ha
November 27, 2024 at 12:39 PM
FWIW, Brewing Love has my number, but it’s nowhere near as good overall as Family. It also has a much greater chance of utterly crashing and burning in the final four hours–I actually can’t yet imagine what they’re going to do to fill the time except for add unnecessary makjang or business intrigue–actually, now that I type this, I worry that it’s gonna be like a sageuk that resolves the romance “early” so that the Left State Minister can really take center stage. *rolls eyes in Joseon*
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
November 27, 2024 at 12:46 PM
@attiton thanks for the Brewing Love heads-up! I trust your drama advice!! I bet I’ll like it when I watch it, too, but that’s also contingent on a nice ending 😂 This sounds similar to how I’m watching Marry You… I know and recognize that it’s not a “great” drama, but it’s so much more sweet and sensitive than I thought it would be that it has become my current obsession. The episode count has been lowered to 10 (not the previously advertised 12) and we haven’t covered NEARLY enough narrative ground yet to make me feel optimistic about the last few weeks 😬 Here’s hoping for only the smallest amount of manufactured angst in the last eps of these dramas!!
Seon-ha
November 27, 2024 at 12:51 PM
You bring big news on Marry YOU! I, too, have been watching it for what it is–a cute little thing that allows Lee Yi-kyung to shine as a cutie-patootie. I started thinking that I needed to try it to dismiss it, but here I am, still watching with a smirk on my face. I hope that the edits make it stronger, but that’s not a good sign, it must be said.
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
November 27, 2024 at 1:03 PM
@attiton I’ve been (pleasantly) surprised at how much I TRULY am enjoying Marry You, but I’m quite concerned about where it goes from here in the last six episodes… the cut does not seem like a good sign. Everyone else can have that heel in When The Phone Rings; I’ll just be over in my corner swooning over Lee Yi-kyung oppa 😂 I’m also quietly enjoying the utopian fantasy vision of an online dating system that has humans vetting and matching 🙈 Ah well; I’ll enjoy Lee Yi-kyung, the sweetness, and the humor while it lasts! (the whole dragging the drunk ex home and then being given grave medical news by the twins when he wakes up hungover and disoriented the next morning made me laugh hysterically). I’ll be ready to laugh at Kim Se-jeong and swoon over Lee Jong-won soon!!
Isa is always time travelling
November 27, 2024 at 2:31 PM
I’m still watching Marry You, but I admit it’s mainly for Lee Yi Kyung. I think he should have more screentime. After all, he is the ML. I miss him when the show focus on secondary characters. But the matching of the introverteds was cute.
Some days ago I noticed it was 10 episodes instead of 12 but I don’t know if it has been cut or if the first number was a mistake.
Seon-ha
November 27, 2024 at 2:51 PM
@isagc I wouldn’t mind if the show had doubled-down on the “marriage match of the episode” angle (like our now-intern and then the introverts). That would have been fun! But I fear we are now focusing on secrets and lies and the tragedy that left our dear Samchon in charge of his (now often absent…who’s looking after them!!) niece and nephew…
sonai
November 27, 2024 at 12:10 PM
Ugh I loved that! *looks after her already running into the rain* „Obviously, you didn’t watch many dramas.“ 😂😂😂
Very smooth move to still catch up with her. He didn’t have a choice really. If there’s no umbrellas in sight, the ML‘s shirt it must be. It’s the law.
sonai
November 27, 2024 at 12:14 PM
Hahaha, I loved all of her expressions there, too, and was hoping someone would make GIFs! 😂🫰👏🍻 Thank you!
(Also that was a nice cameo!)
Seon-ha
November 27, 2024 at 12:24 PM
It was indeed a nice, extended cameo–I loved the thought of Min-ju dating in high school–even as awkward as I actually think that it would have been for him, considering his temperament–and it was an adorably cute shot of him with the coffee can, waiting for her after ballet.
Seriously though, can you imagine him breaking up with anyone? Now I want to know how that youthful relationship ended! Surely not with his tragedy, right? Let’s just assume that it was like Run On and “sensitive” men actually end up being really boring to date 😅
sonai
November 27, 2024 at 12:42 PM
Oh yes, watching the flashback unfold I was also wondering why they’d break up… 🤔 They looked adorable!
I call … the tried-and-trusted „one of them goes abroad to study at university after finishing Highschool“. I wonder wether they will revisit this in the drama, but I guess they might not with only *gasps* four episodes left. I hope it’s not connected to his incident. I feel that’s rather steering in the direction of his relationship with his parents; especially his father. 🫣
Pffff, „boring“! 🤣 Okay, maybe predictable.
Margo of the Resilient Lip Gloss
November 27, 2024 at 1:27 PM
I let out a little squeak when Pyo Ye Jin stepped out of the car. She was perfect, so much fun.
bong-soo
November 27, 2024 at 4:14 PM
My episode 8 non-romantic moment (excluding the bedroom scene lol) would have been a spit take if I was drinking a glass of beer. At 32.23 the writer has Yong-joo announce: “The era of drinking large quantities of alcohol is over.” (It makes me wonder if the writer is a teetotaler.). Earlier Yong-joo sat down and consumed almost 10 liters of beer in one sitting. The night before this announcement the boys Min-joo and Chan-hwi knocked back at least 30 tall cans of beer. (I freeze framed the scene and counted the cans on the table.)
Writer-nim,please be advised, in kdramaland (anyway) the era if drinking large quantities of alcohol is NOT over”.
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
November 29, 2024 at 12:49 AM
Drinking is – spoiler alert – also an important point in Love in Contract. Though the ML usually only ever takes alcohol when it comes in chocolate bottles – and only in a fairly normal amount of chocolate bottles consumerism.
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
November 29, 2024 at 12:53 AM
Hihi, the middle one. Goes in “Reactions” along with
***
***
and
***
Seon-ha
November 26, 2024 at 2:16 PM
It begins…
The struggle…
The tipping point…leading to his confrontation with the deep reality of the universe. At the end of the day, there will always be a cat there, wondering what the fuck is wrong with you.
Love Your Enemy, which is so far a fantastic comedy offered by amazing actors, episode 2.
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
November 26, 2024 at 2:41 PM
Feline actor of the year, hands down. The guy in the trashcan ain’t half bad, too.
This is a ~*double-barreled*~ comedy – both leads (the young and the merely immature versions) are hysterical in distinct ways, as are the fine supporting actors, and I hope none of them remember what the word “dignity” means any time soon.
[Remembers cameo fight, laughs inappropriately in public again]
Seon-ha
November 26, 2024 at 3:01 PM
Those cameos were life. Absolute life. The show runners here are both able to garner the A-list for the main roles, but also for all other roles. The faith behind this show is real. I hope it can live up to the payroll (I really do!!).
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
November 26, 2024 at 3:38 PM
The fact that both of you loved the opening week makes me even more excited for this!! 🤩
hacja
November 27, 2024 at 1:36 PM
I think you have to give Poto, the cat in Brewing Love, some serious consideration. Poto has the best wide eyed look in response to foolish comments, that’s for sure.
bbstl 🧹
November 27, 2024 at 8:24 AM
Oh, thank you for these gifs !👏🏽
Seon-ha
November 14, 2024 at 9:53 AM
Seon-ha
November 14, 2024 at 9:53 AM
Margo of the Resilient Lip Gloss
November 14, 2024 at 4:18 PM
He was marvelous ! By the end I think he was my favourite in that drama. I mean Kang Hoon got The Role but that actor had the fun.
Seon-ha
November 14, 2024 at 4:49 PM
He was an honest favorite. An actor that knew his role and committed…truly loved him.
Seon-ha
November 14, 2024 at 9:53 AM
Seon-ha
November 14, 2024 at 9:54 AM
In conclusion, show runners, if I wanted to watch “Love in the Big (Joseon) City,” I would have asked for it. 😏
Secret Romantic Guesthouse. I recommend it highly. Such a good new-old (or is it old-new) sageuk.
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
November 14, 2024 at 10:10 AM
If you are drawn in and wants to indulge in the drama, Seonha’s super sharp gifs and pictures can be complemented with my, admittedly increasingly biased, take on the drama.
The Secret ROmantic Guesthouse
Spoiler post https://www.dramabeans.com/members/CecilieDK/activity/1521241/
Not so spoiler https://www.dramabeans.com/members/CecilieDK/activity/1520318/
Isa is always time travelling
November 14, 2024 at 2:07 PM
One of my favorite couples in 2023 (and ever?).
At least for the most part of the show.
Isa is always time travelling
November 14, 2024 at 1:04 PM
That king was crazy. Despicable and hilarious at the same time.
Seon-ha
November 14, 2024 at 1:30 PM
When your tyranny and incompetence are so clearly on display, there will always be cause for the “rabble” to rise against you. Be smarter and wilier fictional Joseon king!!! 😂
Margo of the Resilient Lip Gloss
November 14, 2024 at 4:22 PM
tyranny and incompetence…sigh…hoping real world starts mimicing fictional world sooner rarher than later
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
November 15, 2024 at 4:22 AM
It’s always fun to watch an actor who ascribes to the “crazy eyes” school of acting 😂👏 I had forgotten about him! Thanks for the gif reminders!
Seon-ha
November 15, 2024 at 5:01 AM
Apparently he’s spending time currently on the stage. I hope he’s having a blast.
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
November 15, 2024 at 5:43 AM
Ooooh!!!! Some actors have big stage energy, and he definitely does – yes, I bet he’s a blast to watch! And hopefully he’s having fun with theater!!
Seon-ha
November 4, 2024 at 5:44 PM
Same-same, dude. Brewing Love, episode 1.
hacja
November 4, 2024 at 10:53 PM
This has the potential to be a coherent and more pleasant drama of the quality of Bad Memory Eraser, with no poop jokes! I was laughing throughout, though maybe not with the show but at it. You must have loved the cat hammock, though. Does your cat have a hammock? If not, why not? Doesn’t every cat deserve a cat hammock?
I’m really looking forward to the next episode. The only problem is the election tomorrow might end the nation as we know it, which would kind of put a damper on joke kdrama watching.
hacja
November 4, 2024 at 10:57 PM
I forgot to mention my favorite line of the night: “Welcome to the World of Alcohol!”
Seon-ha
November 5, 2024 at 4:50 AM
I was also reminded quite some bit of BME–but I honestly liked a lot of that show. Not the plot or the direction or the acting or anything, but the characters. Well, almost all the characters.
Here, the cat was playing Cola to perfection. Brown, and when lying down…distinctly poop-shaped.
In truth, I both hope and don’t hope the show settles down a little bit. I hope it will because this amount of “frenetic” will get old, fast. But I also hope it won’t because I don’t want all of this hullabaloo just to be the “first episode expensive CGI” syndrome and then the rest to become “typical rom-com.” I get that these two are “Better Together” as the outrageously obvious last scene quite literally put on my screen for me–but him helping her feel what she needs to feel and her accepting his sensitivity and becoming his shield against the overwhelming world…the success of that is going to be in the details, I think.
bong-soo
November 5, 2024 at 4:53 AM
One non-alcohol technical glitch.
Not that it is against the law (so to speak) but having lived almost 8 years in NYC (2013-2021) and love my bagel and lox as much as the next guy I have never seen a bagel eaten the way our boy Min-ju (LJW) prepared it for breakfast. Presumably that was cream cheese he put on both sides, so far so good, but then to put both halves together like a sandwich and munch? Nope! One half at a time please.
Seon-ha
November 5, 2024 at 4:59 AM
No way that boy eats two bagels for breakfast either. No one eats two bagels for breakfast, especially those who are trained not to feel full unless there was rice involved. We all learned quickly from NGNL that having pastry (ugh!) for breakfast is a sad, sad thing.
bong-soo
November 5, 2024 at 5:06 AM
I presumed his breakfast was one toasted (or maybe not) bagel cut in half. He put cream cheese on both sides and then put both sides together like a sandwich. Bad form!
(LOL do I have to go back and rewind episode one to that scene to see if I got it right?)
Having not watched NGNL I had no idea it contained a polemic against pastries for breakfast. There goes the Danish (and not the people).
Seon-ha
November 5, 2024 at 5:09 AM
The minute after 39m50s. Two entire bagels on the plate 😉
It dawned on me after I hit send that maybe this is the show referencing his time in Germany. LOL. Like the Germans eat straight-up carbs for breakfast. Where’s the cold meats??? Where are the cheeses? Where’s the muesli?????
bong-soo
November 5, 2024 at 5:15 AM
TWO really? Oh, my. Thanks for the time stamp. I will check it out.
(On the other hand, our Min-ju is so thin (is skinny considered not an appropriate description theses days?) he has got to get some meat on those bones of his so he should probably eat whatever he wants.)
hacja
November 5, 2024 at 7:46 AM
Sadly, I’ve been known to eat two bagels for breakfast, especially when there is cream cheese and lox available. No pastry, though. Unless you call the Pop Tarts our Mom used to get us as a “special treat” pastry. (Are they still making Pop Tarts?)
hacja
November 5, 2024 at 7:52 AM
@marcusnyc20. I noticed how skinny Min-ju was as well. That’s a problem with verisimilitude right there. I’ve met a lot of brewers, and I can’t recall ever meeting one that’s truly slim. I think a little extra around the middle is an occupational hazard.
Seon-ha
November 5, 2024 at 8:09 AM
Of course there are still Pop Tarts. 🙄 Next you’ll wonder if they make apple pie anymore.
Seon-ha
November 2, 2024 at 7:24 AM
Before.
After.
The more demonic you become, the more hairspray you get, I guess.
Case in point.
My Demoness, episodes 11 and 12 (flashback). My Demon, sometime pretty early on.
PS: Song Kang\’s \”patient\” face here cracks me the hell up and is likely to be a useful meme during Drunken Romance…
Seon-ha
November 2, 2024 at 7:36 AM
I’m now stuck meandering through old gifs. This is Sung Hoon’s version of “patient.” My stars but PMR was a treat. I think you may have had to have been there, but it sure was a romp–a bit like “Dynasty” mixed with a very-low-key “Airplane.”
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
November 2, 2024 at 7:55 AM
It really was a treat! Such a FUN take on a makjang, with all the cast along for the ride. I’ve recently realized that what I thought was a drama slump was actually a genre slump, and I have rom-com fatigue after live watching SO MANY of them this year. So I’m all in on mystery, comedy, action, and thriller… whittling away at Designated Survivor: 60 Days (so good), Cafe Minamdang (such fun), Dog Knows Everything (so pleasant), Seoul Busters (Su funny), and some non-romance C-dramas. I’ll be skipping Drunken Romance and saving it for the future – hope you find it to be favorable/fun/good!
And these gifs are so good and fun… “patient face” is such a Mood 😂
Seon-ha
November 2, 2024 at 10:35 AM
Not quite what was really going on, but if we consider this CJH’s “patient face,” it makes the scene WAY funnier.
zindigo
November 2, 2024 at 10:51 AM
😍
Also, kind of me watching that whole drama tbh…
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
November 2, 2024 at 11:43 AM
Aww CJH 🥰🫠
zindigo
November 2, 2024 at 10:53 AM
I’m really hoping Drunken Romance/Brewing Love is giffable. I’m missing giffing. 🙃
Seon-ha
November 2, 2024 at 11:11 AM
Preview of some of the coming attractions, in “patient face” form.
zindigo
November 2, 2024 at 10:54 AM
Definitely a 2023 standout! I’m finding this year that I’m vastly preferring this kind of surprise/dark horse/hidden gem type drama.
Seon-ha
November 2, 2024 at 11:02 AM
So far Bitter Sweet Hell was that for me, for sure. But as you noted elsewhere today, November is sure gonna come in like a lion!! PMR started airing on October 28th last year and Matchmakers started on October 30th…so I’m hoping that some of these new ones coming up will be our holiday season standouts. I’m trying not to get my hopes too far up, though.
alasecond
November 2, 2024 at 9:46 AM
i have never seen pretty, beautiful, cute, sexy, charismatic all in one .. and here we are.. Song Kang! .. plus he is so funny and confident and doesn’t shy away from being dumb.. he is fun!!!
#michauri .. him and dambi were gold nuggets
Seon-ha
October 29, 2024 at 5:54 PM
Below, the Joseon night owl, a.k.a. the nature sound heard in the background of practically every nighttime scene portrayed in a sageuk…and even in some contemporary shows (Miss Night and Day being a prominent example).
This second link here shows how tiny-tiny these little scops owls are and gives the smallest little bit of background of these birds in Korea: https://youtu.be/_mtNZ-sIEwM
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 29, 2024 at 6:15 PM
They’re so small! And the baby bird on the roof! [melts]
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
October 29, 2024 at 8:05 PM
Whenever someone mentions owls, I can’t help it but be reminded of how they sleep 🥹😅
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBbXrgBtdV0/?igsh=MWFjMXUxa3BweWlmdw==
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
October 30, 2024 at 4:11 AM
Ack they’re so cute!!!
hacja
October 30, 2024 at 10:50 PM
I remember when you asked about this call early in the year, and I thought maybe a whippoorwill or cuckoo, but I should have thought of an owl. The northern saw whet owl has a similar of “whe, whe, whe” call, it just does not have that nice triplet pattern of the Korean one, which is obviously a kpop idol owl. How did you find out what it was? Through extensive bird call research? Impressive!
I’ve heard a lot owls at dusk when I’ve been camping, and every night we hear the hoo, hoo, hoo, of the Great Horned Owl who lives in our neighborhood, a great sound. Owls are my favorite birds, and not just because the owl of Minerva spreads its wings only at dusk, or so I’ve heard.
Seon-ha
October 31, 2024 at 4:58 AM
The thought of a K-pop idol owl has me in stitches!!!
As for how I located it, a better-bird-finding friend found it for me, and I’m greatly appreciative. I, too, didn’t consider owls, despite my own recognition that the sound was heard only at night….
Seon-ha
October 29, 2024 at 6:08 AM
I offer more of the Angel Gabriel. Look at how beautiful Kim Young-ok is here.
With this sort of power, imagine the number of souls that could be saved from the weapons of Hell! Is that not so, @hacja?
Judge from Hell, episodes 7 and 9 (I think).
Cecee is done DramaQueening
October 30, 2024 at 5:16 AM
Kim Young-ok is always beautifully graceful, even when they put her in halmeoni clothes.
hacja
October 30, 2024 at 7:30 AM
Ah yes, but this show isn’t interested in saving its characters from Hell, but rather sending them there. We Young-okians wish she had been cast as one of those multitude of good demons in this one!
Seon-ha
October 26, 2024 at 7:02 AM
I always thought the Angel Gabriel would come down from heaven as a club kid.
What is this Judgement from Hell?, episode 10.
Seon-ha
October 25, 2024 at 4:54 AM
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 25, 2024 at 8:47 AM
I’d love to see a drama – perhaps a mini-webseries – with dialogue consisting of nothing but bad advice and easily disproven pop-psychology aphorisms. “You can’t love others until you love yourself.” “If you want him to like you, you need to play hard to get!” “Men and women can’t be friends.” Etc.
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 25, 2024 at 3:44 PM
“MOthers always knows when their child is in danger” even when it should be in school.
There’s a whole range of things mothers do according to K-drama. It’s sweet of them to say it, but … It’s pretty high expectations.
I don’t mean the “would die for their child”. I would. But a lot of the other stuff … hmmm.
Seon-ha
October 25, 2024 at 9:46 AM
@sonai and/or @ceciliedk Side question…do you pay for Disney+ where you are? If so, is the Korean Life on Mars really available to you in Europe through Disney+?
sonai
October 25, 2024 at 10:43 AM
Ah, I’m afraid this is the one streaming subscription I’m still denying myself. 😅 Unfortunately, if you have no subscription, searching through their offering seems next to impossible… but I’m sure @ceciliedk would know, because I noticed she was able to watch Flex x Cop, which is a D+ exclusive – right?
Fun fact: there can still be differences to the offering depending on what country you reside in. I’ve watched Age of Youth ages ago on a trip to Spain, and realized only when I returned home that it was no longer available to me on Netflix (the horror was real!). It was released some months later in my country, so…
Seon-ha
October 25, 2024 at 10:52 AM
Thank you!! And, Oh, Mr. Darcy smh.
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 25, 2024 at 3:39 PM
There was an inappropriate word in my answer, that may have been me saying where I watched Flex Cop?
Well. According to the just watch site “Life on Mars” is not available for streaming in my area.
It is on that other website, though. Where TV can be seen that is made in Asia.
Seon-ha
October 25, 2024 at 5:27 PM
Yeah. I can’t stretch to that. I’m sad.
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 25, 2024 at 6:19 PM
Why can’t you?
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 25, 2024 at 6:20 PM
Morals? Money? Or is it not available where you live?
Seon-ha
October 25, 2024 at 6:22 PM
Morals. Laziness. Lack of desire to confront the sleaziness of the real world.
Midnight
October 26, 2024 at 2:38 PM
@CecilieDK
Can I sneak in a technical question here?
Why do some shows have no resolution selecting? They want to play on full quality and my internet Does. Not. Like. It!
(I sincerely beg your pardon @attiton)
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 26, 2024 at 2:51 PM
I have no idea, Midnight. I am not a knower of those things. 👩🏻🚀🤷🏻♀️
But maybe Seon-ha knows – she is a better person than me. 🦸🏻♀️🧑🏻🔧🎥👩🏻💻🧙🏻♀️🧚🏻♀️
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 26, 2024 at 2:55 PM
Actually, it’s far too long since @attiton got a Beanies award, that I know of.
So here, Seon-ha, a well-earned:
🫘🌱🎥👩🏻💻Beanies Better Person Award🦸🏻♀️🧑🏻🔧🧙🏻♀️🧚🏻♀️👩🏻🎨
Seon-ha
October 26, 2024 at 6:18 PM
Thanks, Cecilie. I appreciate your, um, appreciation.
Seon-ha
October 24, 2024 at 7:13 AM
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 24, 2024 at 9:02 AM
Me realizing it’s Wednesday and there are two episodes of Family By Choice lined up.
Me seeing a gif geyser from @attiton or @CecilieDK.
Me realizing Ha Do-kwan is in any drama I’m watching.
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 24, 2024 at 9:55 AM
Uhm, mine wasn’t as much a geyser as a cascade 😉 (You know: 🤢 ).
Seon-ha
October 24, 2024 at 12:19 PM
Sometimes we just need a little glee.
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 24, 2024 at 4:15 PM
Glee!
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 24, 2024 at 4:15 PM
Mee Glee Too!
hm
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 24, 2024 at 4:41 PM
LOOK at all that glee!
I can’t resist:
1. Knight Flower?
2. Sh**ting Stars
3. The Atypical Family
4. no idea, but he’s very gleeful and has very stiff hair
5. LJW goofing off BTS of Extraordinary You
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 24, 2024 at 4:51 PM
1. Inspector and Joy (The servants)
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Dylan Wang in Meteor Garden, cheering on the FL in a cooking show.
5. Cinda-f*cking-rella
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 24, 2024 at 4:53 PM
Uhm, nonsense, of course you are right about 5 too. It’s LJW backstage.
sonai
October 24, 2024 at 9:22 AM
Haha, he was awesome. Also this scene: „Oh, I guess you’ve never seen me in a hanbok?“ 😂
🫰👏
Seon-ha
October 24, 2024 at 12:22 PM
I have that one as a gif too…he’s got on lipstick that’s just so fetching. But I won’t be tedious and post it–we can just replay it in our minds 😅
How about the repeated excitement over “Yu-seong’s PANTIES!!!” The manager (not the actor)’s embarrassment cracks me up. And the actual underwear ad was pretty great too…
sonai
October 24, 2024 at 1:32 PM
🤣😂🤣 Oh yes! But before (or after he got the deal?) doom: panties/ex-chef model getting involuntarily drunk, being all endearing first and helping everyone he meets, then ending up almost naked on that playground. Ahahahaha! Oh this show has some comedy gold. 😂 And good coffee. Win win!
☕️🤝
Seon-ha
October 24, 2024 at 1:49 PM
I just rewatched this (duh!) and was actually super-excited to see that Starforce’s Illy coffee machine–IS THE SAME ONE I HAVE IN MY HOUSE. Usually, like in Stealer they show the fancy one that looks like a real espresso machine–but not my Starforcers!! I felt the reflected glow of Gong Tae-song in my own home.
No, PPL doesn’t work. Really, it doesn’t.
sonai
October 24, 2024 at 11:45 PM
Haha, „the reflected glow of Gong Taesung“! 😂☕️👏 And here I am in my hotel room, wondering who was responsible for the Nespresso PPL on the sideboard. Must check if this is a King Group Hotel later.
PPL never works 😂
Seon-ha
October 25, 2024 at 4:24 AM
Margo of the Resilient Lip Gloss
October 24, 2024 at 2:24 PM
Seon-ha
October 24, 2024 at 2:26 PM
“He’s a Greek God!!” (Or so said the netizens)
“He’s a one-drink drunk!” (Worst insult to a Korean evar.)
Margo of the Resilient Lip Gloss
October 24, 2024 at 2:33 PM
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 24, 2024 at 4:37 PM
He’s talented enough to be both. In his sleep. Such … talent.
Seon-ha
October 20, 2024 at 9:04 AM
Brava, Kang Ae-shim. Brava.
A Virtuous Business, episode 3.
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 20, 2024 at 1:50 PM
Such a well-acted moment. Her character’s backstory here is both heartrending and infuriating. I’ve never forgiven a harsh drama mom so quickly as I have this time.
Seon-ha
October 20, 2024 at 3:09 PM
I’m very much appreciating the inter-generational conversations this drama offers. You don’t have to be older to be super-conservative and closed-minded, and you don’t have to be younger to change your mind and be open to new experiences. I hope it continues to offer the chance to see that “it doesn’t always have to be one way” in your life…all the way through.
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 24, 2024 at 8:24 AM
I know this is not what it is about, but that actress is so pretty. In her role as the ML’s mother in Frankly Speaking, the simple joy under the threat of death by TOD reminded me of the tragic protagonist of “A Hora da Estrela”, but in less tragic circumstances there is some Audrey Hepburn or a kinder version of Eartha Kitt about her.
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 24, 2024 at 8:29 AM
Macabea, played by Marcélia Cartaxo, in ‘A Hora Da Estrela’.
Seon-ha
October 24, 2024 at 12:31 PM
But that IS what this gif is about!! Her daughter gave her this dress out of her “first paycheck” instead of long johns….specifically so that she can feel beautiful!!!
DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟
October 24, 2024 at 3:51 PM
And actually, in “A Hora da Estrela” in the picture above, Makabea has just bought a dress that is impractical and expensive above her means, but she is so happy … for a few seconds more.
Seon-ha
October 17, 2024 at 5:22 PM
Choi Won-young\’s one eyebrow deserves its own hall of fame. Just putting that out into the universe.
Family by Choice, episode 3.
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 18, 2024 at 8:54 AM
I disagree. BOTH eyebrows are doing fabulous work.