Beanie level: Errand boy

#2021Roundup
Day 5 – The drama that will always live in your memory.

Move to Heaven
A deeply moving and wonderfully acted drama. It came at a time when I was grieving the death of a loved one, and I appreciated the drama’s emphasis on how the dead can communicate with the living with the things they’ve left behind.

On the Verge of Insanity
The drama was brilliantly written, funny and realistic. I will remember it every time I see a dishwasher.

Special mentions to Vincenzo and Run On, both of which had characters and scenes that I will never forget.

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#2021RoundUp

Day 4 – That mess you watched and you still wonder why

Sisyphus: The Myth

I watched more than a few trainwrecks this year (I sat through two full seasons of Love Ft. Marriage & Divorce, for goodness sake) but they had some entertainment value or made me feel something. Sisyphus was boring from beginning to end, and I felt nothing watching it. If it had come out later in the year, I would have dropped it.

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#2021 Drama Round-up
Day 3. The drama with the best costumes/ wardrobe

I’m going to give this one to Vincenzo because I’m a sucker for suits.

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#2021Roundup

Male lead you will never forget

Choi Ban-seok from On the Verge of Insanity

How could I not fall in love with the quiet competence and straightforwardness of this hero in checked shirts. He had a wry sense of humor I loved and a strong sense of integrity that I admired.

Ki Seon-gyeom from Run On

If I was asked for one word to describe Seon-gyeom, I would choose pure. He was like a baby learning to walk for the first time, and I loved watching his journey to discover what he loved and how to love himself.

Runner Up:
Han Geu-ru from Move to Heaven
Noh Hwi-oh from Mad for Each Other
Vincenzo

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    My choice would be Ki seon gyeom. Such a unique character

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      He was so unique and warm. As yesterday I chose MiJoo as my FL, I rewatched lots of scenes and went back to the recaps… I just need a rewatch!! They are absolutely adorable.

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    Han Geu-ru from Move to Heaven was outstanding and then Tang Joon-sang followed up in Racket Boys brilliantly

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#2021roundup Challenge

Female lead you will never forget

Dang Ja-young (Moon So-ri) from On the Verge of Insanity

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    I haven’t finished the drama yet, but Moon SoRi is always fantastic and she I love how dedicated is JaYoung. She just really wants the job to be done.

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    Yes! She was great! And awful a lot of the time, but that’s part of what made the character so interesting.

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      Yes! I loved that she was a greyish character, motivated by her self interest a lot of the time. It made her feel more human.

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    Dang Ja-young was my second choice (after Run On’s Mijoo)! Wonderfully written and acted, with a great wardrobe to boot. <3

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Wow! Squid Game is #1 in the U.S. today. I never thought I’d see a k-drama in that position.

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    It’s #2 in Canada too. Very surprising.

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      I’m surprised it is that high but not surprised it’s doing so well, even with non-kdrama fans since the game of survival genre is popular. It gives me some Money Heist vibes too, the original non-English worldwide hit for Netflix.

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        Haven’t seen it yet but I did get Money Heist vibes from it too. Must move it up my list now!

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    It’s #2 in the UK. Wow

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    Just finished it – the hype is deserved. I would welcome a S2 because it will be contextualised as opposed our going into S1 blank.

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#2020Roundup

Day 20 – The cameo that blew your mind.

Kwon Yul in My Unfamiliar Family. I still want my Min-woo and Eun-joo spin-off.

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#2020Roundup

Day 18 – The drama you want to rant about.

I don’t really have anything to rant about. There were certainly dramas that went off the rails – DDSSLLS, I’m looking at you, but the dramas I was invested in were all satisfying.

Day 19 – Most memorable scene.

Too many scenes to count in My Unfamiliar Family, but I’ll go with Eun-joo and Tae-hyung’s confrontation in Episode 6.

After Ji-won tells him to run away and never come back in Episode 11 of Flower of Evil, Hyun-soo breaks down on the side of the road, telling Ji-won he wants to go home.

After poisoning the dishes each prepared in Episode 12 of My Dangerous Wife, Shim Jae-kyung and Kim Yoon-chul engage in a battle of wills, trying not to poison themselves while taking turns sampling the food.

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    I really really really agree re the scene in episode 11 of Flower of Evil. That was an awesome, emotionally-charged scene and an amazing performance by LJG and MCW.

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Day 17 – Drama that made you emotional.

This year had several dramas that made me emotional: My Unfamiliar Family, Flower of Evil, Black Dog. Two moments in I’ll Go To You When the Weather is Nice gave it the top spot, however:

The new bike seat scene where an upset Hwi told Eun-seob he was her brother and she had liked him since she was born.

The scene where Eun-seob gave his mother a birthday gift: A scarf with “To the mom I love” embroidered on it by Eun-seob.

My sister and brother-in-law fostered and then adopted my niece and nephew so anything dealing with adoptive families gives my tear ducts a workout, but these were also just really great, emotional scenes.

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#2020RoundUp.

Day 16 – Best quote / one-liner.

“I think it’s better to be weird than to be ordinary.”
(In Pyo from The School Nurse Files).

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#2020Roundup

Day 13 – Most fashionable / elegant character in a drama.

Ko Moon-young, for sure.

Day 14 – The drama that could have been but wasn’t… (if only they listened beanies!)

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

Day 15 – Those secondary characters you will never forget: SL, villain, kids…(for better or worse).

Shim Myung-yeo and Im Hwi from I’ll Go To You When the Weather is Nice

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    Both Shim Myung-yeo and Im Hwi are very refreshingly interesting characters. I love them too myself.

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#2020Roundup

Day 12: The “oldie” (not 2020) you loved the most.

Dear My Friends, such a beautiful, heartwarming and heartbreaking story of old friends.

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    So beautiful – I hope I’m still hitting the beach and doing sleepovers with my friends late in life, too!

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#2020Roundup

Day 11- The crush you discovered in 2020.

Technically, I have been crushing on Kim Seon-ho since 1N2D S4 premiered a year ago so he doesn’t count.

So my crush is Lee Jun-ki, someone that I was neutral about before but went “I get it now” in 2020.

Runner Up: Shin-Sung-Rok, not my type at all but currently really working for me in Kairos.

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#2020Roundup

Day 9 – The drama you watched just because and ended up loving.

Birthcare Center: An underrated gem about the struggles new moms face.

Runner Up: United Effort to Accomplish One Thing

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    I think I should give another chance to Birthcare Center. I dropped in the middle of episode 3… nothing made much sense, but I’ve read more beanies saying it was worth it.

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      It’s not for everyone, but I thought it was very smart and funny.

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#2020Roundup

Day 8 – The OTP you didn’t think you’ll adore.

Goo Se-ra and Gong Myung from Into the Ring/Memorials. This drama wasn’t even on my radar, and what I had seen of Nana in other projects hadn’t impressed me. She had great chemistry with Park Sung-hoon, however, and the couple was adorable, weird, honest and supportive.

Runner up is Do Hyun-soo/Baek Hee-sung and Cha Ji-won from Flower of Evil. Lee Joon-ki and Moon Chae-won also had great chemistry and while Flower of Evil sputtered, they always made me believe that this couple had a connection that could overcome anything.

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#2020Roundup

Day 6 – The drama you know you will rewatch.

Memorials/Into the Ring

Checks all the boxes for a rewatch: Adorably weird OTP, lots of kisses, fun side characters, engaging storyline, and interesting direction.

The School Nurse Files

There was so much symbolism and details I missed the first time around plus six episodes makes it easily bingeable.

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#2020RoundUp

DAY-5– Drama you finished for the bean.

The King: Eternal Monarch. Beanies’ discussions and Kim Kyung-nam helped get me to the end.

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Day 4 – The drama you couldn’t finish.

I don’t drop very many dramas, and I almost never drop them with only a few episodes to go, but I dropped both “Hi Bye, Mama!” and “Itaewon Class” at Episode 14. There was a lot about “Hi Bye, Mama!” I liked but the drama draaaaged and focused more on the grieving process than the healing. I read the recaps for the final two episodes but was too exhausted to ever press play.

There were things I liked in “Itaewon Class” but they were long gone by the time jump.

I dropped “Record of Youth” at Episode 2. I just didn’t care about anyone or anything.

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#2020Roundup

Day 2 – Female lead you will never forget

Goo Se-ra from Memorials/Into the Ring. The Garden Tiger Moth threw her hat in the ring for a paycheck but ended up fighting for the people. While she may not have racked up many wins, she left her mark, inspiring the people around her.

Kim Eun-joo from My Unfamiliar Family. Big Noona was a polarizing character, but I loved her for her complexity. She could have been no more than the typical Ice Queen – distant, harsh, lacking sympathy – but a loving, resentful, sometimes irrational, deeply human heart beat inside. I still want a spin-off with Min-woo and a happier but no less sharp-tongued, Eun-joo.

Honorable Mentions:
Kim Eun-hee from My Unfamiliar Family
Jung Geum-ja from Hyena
Go Ha-Neul from Black Dog

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    I think one of my only regrets with MUF is that we didn’t get more Min-woo time, though it made sense because EJ’s arc was not about him. But that spin-off would be wonderful.

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    I love your two choices. I loved far more Big Noona than Small Noona, even if the latter was supposed to be the kinder character.

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      I loved Eunjoo’s and Eunhee’s interactions 💚 Like at the beginning, when Eunhee sticks by Eunjoo when she sees her going through a hard time, and then when they’re in bed and Eunhee keeps on nagging for intel and cuddling unnie. And the moments they gang up against maknae are pure family gold 🤣

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    Big Noona was my favourite female character in MUF – so much more layered and interesting than the others!

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#2020RoundUp

DAY 1 – Male lead you will never forget

Im Eun-seob from When the Weather is Fine. A gentle, quiet booklover who looks GOOD in sweaters is my ideal man.

Oh Ji-soo from Extracurricular. I empathized with Ji-soo’s dream of going to college and living an ordinary life and raged and despaired as he made one bad choice after another until he was completely lost.

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    EunSeob is probably one of the warmest and nicest ML ever. And it has nothing to do with the fact I adore SKJ, hehe.

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    Oh, the sweaters! So much pretty and cozy knittwear in this drama 💚

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