Beanie level: Entertainer-in-training

My first Fan Wall entry from May 1, 2021. Sayonara Fan Wall from the boys in the ‘alternate’ NAVILLERA (2021) universe where Coach Lee Moo-young and his athletes all got along.



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    Click on for a better resolution.

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    Mine was on 21/12/2021, with several pics of Junho. I was so confused because to attach photos, you’re supposed to keep clicking “Upload”, and to post these photos, you have to click “Add photos”. To me then, these two buttons sounded exactly the same, and after much confusion, I managed to put up those photos on my fanwall without knowing how it worked 😅 My second post was months after the first.

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      Lol, tell me about it. It is still a total gamble for me. I never figured out how folks added more than one pic.

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My second Fan Wall entry from June 12, 2021. My favorite all time cast party pic is from HELLO MONSTER (2015). Sayonara Fan Wall from the Mins: Park Bo-gum/Hong Eun-taek.
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One suggestion re the Fan Wall’s demise. Approach it like the musicians on the Titanic who are believed to have kept playing until the ship sank. Keep fan walling until the plug is pulled.

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    My first Fan Wall entries are from May and June of 2021 and I am kind of partial to both images. Everything else can go. I think I will give those two images a Fan Wall swan song.
    According to Wikipedia:
    “The swan song (Ancient Greek: κύκνειον ᾆσμα; Latin: carmen cygni) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement.”

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      The Silver Swan, a Madrigal by Orlando Gibbons c.1600

      The silver swan, who living had no note,
      When death approached, unlocked her silent throat;
      Leaning her breast against the reedy shore,
      Thus sung her first and last, and sung no more:
      “Farewell, all joys; Oh death, come close mine eyes;
      More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise.”

      This is a performed version:
      https://youtu.be/l8kUlKE10-E

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Congratulations Kim Myung-soo (L) (DARE TO LOVE ME) for your award at the 2024 KBS Drama Awards. Please agree to appear in Coupang’s upcoming sageuk THE GARDEN OF HARMONY.



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From iQIYI’s LOST IN THE SHADOWS. “Fly Away” sung by leads Zhang Song Wen (adult) and Rong Zi Shan (both shown). Tough 16 episode crime drama about child abduction set in the 1990s.

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    Zhang Song Wen plays a police detective whose son had been abducted when he was five. Rong Zi Shan plays an 18 year old who arrives on the scene during a murder investigation with no ID except the name Seven. The story brings the two leads together. I am sure both actors have no musical training but performed a wonderful duet here. I was shocked when I heard this song over the ending credits and realized it was the leads who were singing. LOST IN THE SHADOWS is an excellent addition to iQIYI’s ‘Light On’ crime drama series.

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      I just finished watching Zhang Song Wen in Riverside Code at Qingming Festival

      He is good in family /father type roles , even though both dramas I have seen him in are crime dramas.

      I’ll give it a shot .

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    Both Wong Zi Shan and Jackson Lee are young actors (the latter a singer-actor) but have acting chops and gravitas beyond their years 🤌🏻

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@seeker, Thanks o/b/o Kim Myung-soo (L) for joining me in awarding a bean to his DARE TO LOVE ME. We 2 beans are it! Btw, I felt like a rookie detective tracking down your bean count lol.

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    Two lonely beans finding each other 🤣 I’m happy for you two L 😂.

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      Thanks @claire2009 and @kmromrell for your incredible spreadsheet. I fired up my 17” laptop this morning to look over the bean count spreadsheet just to confirm that DARE still had my bean when I discovered it had a second bean from @seeker which was not surprising since we both appreciated Kim Myun-soo’s performance.

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    I watched the first two episodes and it was very good, but it was too much like a real sageuk with sentences and scenes moving too slowly and I wasn’t in the mood for 16 hours of that at all. Maybe some day.

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    Yay!! I’m so happy Kim Myung-soo got two beans. 😊❤😍 It was a good watch. Qhile initially one may have wondered why he accepted this role but the overall journey of Yoon-bok and his sweet nature were very calming and soothing. Perhaps even healing to watch. A sweet angst free watch (granted it came with a side of murder 😅🙈) is all I ask for. Also I liked the OTP although I would have appreciated if he had stopped called the FL seonsaengnim after they started dating but whatever. 😅 I believe even in the Dark Hagwon the ML called the FL seonsaengnim for quite a while.

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DAY 24. BEST OLDIES: 1. OUR BASEBALL (2019) (Youtube); 2. ROYAL SECRET AGENT (2020/21) (Prime Video); 3. ONE MORE TIME (2016) (Netflix).

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CHECK IN HANYANG (after 2 episodes)=SON OF HWARANG PLUS ONE (Hong Deok-su) (Kim Ji-eun). I loved it. Is it good for 16 episodes? TBD.

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    I just started this last evening and it’s a winner in my book!

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      Nice! Welcome aboard. For some reason it looks like HANYANG maybe be one of those dramas with a faithful few beanies watching. I watched a couple this year and enjoyed both: DARE TO LOVE ME (a true fusion sageuk) and CINDERELLA AT 2AM.

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Look at Jung Kyung-ho’s sweet little brother Kim Kyung-nam from PRISON PLAYBOOK looking all dashing as a winner (CONNECTION) at the 2024 SBS Drama Awards.
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Roundup 18. Mom from hell: FAMILY BY CHOICE. San-ha’s mom Kwon Jeong-hui portrayed by Kim Hye-eun. Admitted to the Mom’s Division of the Kdrama Hall of Fame of Villains by acclamation.



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Day 7: OST. FAMILY BY CHOICE. Artist: Kim Feel. Tune: All Our Days. I call this tune San-ha’s (Hwang In-youp) theme. 22 seconds in catch the look San-ha throws his mother. Enough said.

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    Great choice! I also really liked the Vincent Blue song from the OST – Wondering about Love.

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      Vincent Blue’s “Wondering About Love” is a lovely song.
      FAMILY BY CHOICE’s entire playlist of songs is excellent.

      CINDERELLA AT 2AM was the other 2024 drama where the entire playlist of tunes was great. Since Seon-ha covered CA2AM below I felt I should plug my favorite FBC song.
      However bonus OST, since Seon-ha failed to list my personal sappy/snappy favorite from CA2AM, here is Yeonjun’s “Boyfriend”:
      https://youtu.be/eD8NC174Jik?si=GYp6RKw5RyuSAtxg

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        Love the Yeonjun song! I think @IsaGC mentioned the same one in their roundup!

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          Yes, I did 🙂
          I also added the video but I don’t know why this time it showed just the link.

          I also don’t understand why Spotify hasn’t included Boyfriend on my 2024 Wrapped, because I have listened to it several times 😅

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            I believe Spotify has a specific date by which they cap the data – probably in order to have time to make the Wrapped reports. Maybe it just missed the cut in terms of number of listens 😅

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    I both love, and hate, this song. It was used very well in the drama…

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2024 KBS DRAMA SPECIAL (5 eps) is now on Viki US’s “Coming Soon” list with episode 1 (Nam Da-reum/Tang Joon-sang) available in 11 days. (Dec 2 or 3 depending on how you count.)

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    I already watched episode 1 “THE HISTORY OF US” on Kocowa’s free option and both Nam Da-reum and Tang Joon-sang gave 5 star performances. It would have been great as a 4 episode mini-series but alas.

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Arthur Frommer (1929-2024). RIP. When I first traveled to Europe in 1983 I had his “Europe on $20 a Day” with me and yes it was possible then. I always was a fan of his travel guides.

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    Ahhh. Nostalgic. Carrying those fat books everyday everywhere when traveling!! With lot of highlights and bookmarks.

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      I still bring printed travel guide books with me when I travel. I don’t know if you used them but I don’t miss having to buy, cash/exchange American Express Travelers Cheques. They served a purpose for a good long while.
      (Correction: 1984 was my first trip to Europe. 1983 was my first trip to the UK and Ireland.)

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        I used travelers Cheque in 2000, my first international trip. After that, they became extinct since I moved to the US and could carry USD for exchange. Then we got credit cards and international ATM’s.
        Yes! I got a book and carried with me to the recent trip to Japan. I enjoy reading them on long haul flights. But it’s rare these days.

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Tencent’s Hong Kong cops/crime/mystery SEE HER AGAIN (18 episodes) with ML William Chan began airing today. TUNNEL like time slip from (I believe) 1993 to 2018.

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    @bebeswtz, the language spoken in the trailer is Cantonese right? I hope the original language is Cantonese with decent English subs. Available on Tencent and Netflix (in some countries). Unfortunately SEE HER AGAIN is not available on Netflix US. I do have a subscription to Tencent VIP.

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      It is also available on YouTube.

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      Yes!! It’s the Cantonese dialect 😊 But to no surprise, since this seems to be a Hong Kong production drama in collaboration with Tencent (the ML actor, William Chan, is a Hong Kong actor/singer/dancer). Since the Hong Kong protests and combing of things from Hong Kong and Mainland China, it seems things have also been changing and combing in showbiz, too. I’ve seen many Hong Kong produced dramas being available on many Mainland China platforms (Tencent, Youku), especially this year.
      William Chan, himself, has made a career for himself in Mainland China in recent years (rumours say he made the shift because he’s got a big mouth and ticked off many people in Hong Kong’s showbiz, which is kinda sorta connected to the Hong Kong triads in an “unwritten and unofficial” way 🤷🏻‍♀️). William Chan can most notably be seen as the ML in The Mystic Nine (alongside EXO’s Lay) and Novoland: Pearl Eclipse for Mainland China dramas. I can’t name any Hong Kong dramas of his on the top of my head XD

      What caught me off guard from this ^ trailer is seeing Mainland actress, Cya Liu Ya Se, as the FL (the female cop). Maybe she will be dubbed in Cantonese 🤔

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        *combining of things

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        Thanks for the background info.

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        Follow up. I have watched the first 3 episodes and really enjoyed them on Tencent VIP on my laptop. Unfortunately I am sure I am watching the mandarin dubbed version.

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          I have the WeTV app (the international version of the Tencent app), and I just checked— yep, it’s dubbed in Mandarin dialect 😐 At the same time, I’m not surprised. I wonder if there’s a Cantonese dialect version somewhere on the internet 🤔

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            Just answered my own question 😂

            The drama with the original Cantonese dialect audio (unless it’s a Mainland actress/actor, then they will be dubbed in Cantonese), and with English subs— though, I’m not sure of the quality of the subs:
            https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkMtr4Yvj1xLGmeK3do3mjm24qO7MG6r6&si=Q2Jw0YMB2TOUncpw

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            Wow! I had discovered Kukan Drama Channel and knew it had episode one available in Cantonese but I figured there would be a delay in availability. I am kind of shocked the first five episodes are available. I will pick up with episode 4. If Kukan eventually has all the episodes that will make it an easier watching experience. I can just watch it on my Roku TV via Youtube rather than running a cable from my laptop to the TV.
            Thank you!!
            (I am getting big (kdrama) TUNNEL vibes. William Chan’s character and Choi Jin-hyuk’s character would make great detective partners. They think alike.) Lol. I just checked their ages/height. William Chan: 39/6’. Choi Jin-hyuk: 38/6’2”.

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            Yea, that’s the link to the playlist, so definitely check back daily to get a feel of the release schedule for the Cantonese version 😊
            I can sort of see and feel where the similarities to Tunnel come from, but I’d definitely say that the Kdrama is superior, even though I know the specialty topic of HK dramas and cinema is gangs (the triads), crime investigations, and the drug cartel 😅

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    Yep, it definitely feels like HK’s entertainment industry (definitely in cinema and more and more in dramaland) is amalgamating with Mainland China’s industry:
    Promos at the Tencent office with the cast— for the group photo with the 4 of them, I grew up watching the guy on the far left in HK dramas as supporting characters

    https://x.com/dramapotatoe/status/1859777351862845732?s=46

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      Stephen Fung, right? (lol on the left). I sucked it up and subscribed to KUKAN DRAMA ENGLISH channel on Youtube for $2.99/month so I can watch SEE HER AGAIN in Cantonese. It is a much better viewing experience and episodes 6 and 7 became available 5 hours ago.

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        LOL Sometimes, dramas are just that worth it 🙂

        Stephen Feng is the one in the 3rd solo photo, outstretching his hand on one side and holding a pen in the other

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“All Our Days” by Kim Feel (FAMILY BY CHOICE OST Pt 4) really is San-ha’s (Hwang In-yeop) tune. A favorite kdrama ost of 2024. The burdens this young man had to carry.

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    Thanks for sharing. I have resorted to turning the volume off every time his mum is on the screen as her consistent cruelty is too much. The ten years of his life wasted on that woman while studying medicine and making sure his half sister wasn’t contaminated is a sacrifice no adult should have asked of a child especially one who had been blamed for his parents’ neglect that led to his sister’s death.

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Go Soo’s M/T tvN drama PAROLE OFFICER LEE (12 eps) is now on Viki US’s “Coming Soon” list. Episode one airs Nov. 18.

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BREWING LOVE (Viki US). Episode one. I really enjoyed episode one but I am a bit confused. Do folks in SK ever drink beer straight up or do they always have to have a soju chaser to go along?

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Besides BREWING LOVE, Yoon Park (CA2AM) has a ‘brewery’ drama (a weekender) coming after IRON FAMILY: KBS’s PLEASE TAKE CARE OF THE FIVE EAGLE BROTHERS.

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    Will this be my first ever weekender? Yoon Park was a joy (in a good guy role) in the recent CINDERELLA AT 2 AM (Viki US). That is now my favorite Yoon Park drama.

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Na Da-reum’s return to kdramaland is this Tuesday, Nov. 5 in the first episode of the 2024 KBS DRAMA SPECIAL. Please Kocowa, license this to Viki!

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    Kocowa usually allows everyone to watch shows for free during the first 24 hours of being posted…so head over there on the date to see if it’s true for this too!!!

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      Thanks for the tip. I am an ex Kocowa subscriber. I am cautiously optimistic that the 2024 KBS DRAMA SPECIAL will eventually become available on Viki. The 2022 and 2023 editions are available on Viki US now.

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Those watching the 2024 meteorological jdrama BLUE MOMENT (Viki US) will understand my effort to record tonight’s ‘blue moment’ from my current digs.



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    Lovely view!

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    Beautiful. 💙
    Thanks for sharing! ^^

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    Beautiful sky ☺️

    I’m in the search for non-weird j-dramas (not very lucky so far). Maybe I should add Blue moment.

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      Fwiw I am enjoying BLUE MOMENT (through eps 3 of 10). I almost want to say it’s a sort of FORECASTING LOVE AND WEATHER without the love but that would not be doing it justice. More disaster of the week that this Special Disaster Management team consisting of meteorological, fire rescue, medical folks respond to with the head of the meteorological agency the leader. A love line may develop. More action oriented at the beginning anyway.

      I am glad to see Viki (which is Japanese owned under Rakuten) licensing relatively current (like 2024) non romantic Japanese dramas. I hope to see more in the cops/crime/mystery genre. I really enjoyed the mystery jdrama DON’T CALL IT MYSTERY (2022) (12 eps) (Viki US). Masaki Suda gave an amazing performance in that drama. Highly recommended.

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        I’ll add Don’t call it mystery to my list 😊
        Noir/Thrillers are not my genre of preference but maybe they are the way for me into J-dramas, because rom-coms are too weird (for me some things work in animes but not so much in real action).

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    Great pic!

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    Thank you for your hard work!

    A picture indeed conveys a thousand words.

    What an absolutely awesome view to live with.

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