My understanding is the default is most recent but if you use the usual drop down menu and choose all comments it will do them in the oldest comments first which was the previous default setting. Initially, this option was not working for all the posts but i think it is now working across the site.
Just FYI, whether or not the drop down menu to show “All Comments” works appears to be platform-dependent so it’s not possible to say when it will and will not work–my hack works all the time, FWIW.
Also, sometimes, I note that the “replies” to our comments can sometimes be “backwards” and sometimes be “forwards” in time, also depending on the post.
Basically, it’s all still messed up and we’re waiting for…well, something. Perhaps more emails to come in.
Castaway changes tone later in day 1. If you can’t stand to get to that part at normal speed or by FFing, you can always just skip forward to about 1:08:30 or 1:14. If kdramas can always do time skips to us then we can do it to them too 🙂
Thanks for sharing the suggestions on how to avoid the parts that are difficult a few people were not expecting that exposure and I feel there should be a trigger warning for these kinds of scenes. I have a buddy who does that for me with Sageuks.
I am loving the comparison to K dramas’ love of time skips too😂
kNOCK KNOck who’s there, it’s Sic! here to talk about some things Not Relevant to this Post. (cc: @kiara)
are either of you on any thing other than Dramabeans for me to message you when I want Very Important Particular Chats… hahaha
Hi, uhm actually big news, I started Nokdu Flower last week… LOL
1. Where on EARTH did y’all hang out and talk about it on here tho? The recaps are so sparse, and stop half way through?
2. Specifically to Toki, I am sorry, because I’ve heard it has one of the few decent portrayals of early Catholicism in Korea in a kdrama, but I just couldn’t get into Rookie Historian when I tried it this year, and had to drop at episode 3.
(I’m mentioning this because in my Nokdu browsings I came across your “A Sageuk for Every Season” post in 2019 again haha.)
3. I was going to make a whole post about this, I might still, but I just can’t be bothered right now-
So actually, this time last year, a movie called A BIRTH came out, with Yoon Shi Yoon in it, about the life of St Andrew Kim Taegon (!!!!!), a 19th Century early Korean priest, saint and martyr. (Side note, this was funny timing for me personally because earlier in 2022 I was just saying that a sageuk about him would be very cool, but Korea would Never.) My older brother and I are both interested in watching it but we cannot find subs anywhere, and there’s basically no chatter about it, (although it premiered at the Vatican even) so I thought I would ask on DB and see. https://mydramalist.com/710967-birth
*me not even realizing MDL has private messaging LOL* I’ll send you a friend request. I am not logged in to MDL very often, so I’ll see how it goes, if not we can switch to email, or something else.
1. Ahhh a silent but loved watch haha, that makes sense.
Might have to wait till dvd release alas, but yeah if I hear any updates, I will do.
Well, isn’t that funny… I no longer have anything to do on DB so I only logged in to see if there were any Very Important Particular Chats from @sicarius. In answer to your comments:
1. YAY for staring NOKDU FLOWER. I hope you like it so far? You have to be patient as it unravels slowly. As to why we weren’t active…. *sigh* There were several reasons:
1) The drama started while HAECHI was in its final stretch, so most sageuk beanies were busy.
2) I jumped in late. I was burned out from THE CROWNED CLOWN (You will sympathise). Then Lent came and I gave up dramas for a while.
If you want to chat about it tag me in your posts and I will drop in more-or-less regularly, promise!
2. Who told you that Rookie Historian has a decent portrayal of Catholicism? Was it me? My mind is drawing a blank… I remember I liked the historians’ office, the maps, the smallpox and vaccination dilemma vs Confucianism. Anyway, I learned to enjoy it for what it was, taking in the little bits of history. But I totally see why you would not like it and will not encourage you to continue. I ended up calling it a “utopia” in my “A Sageuk for Every Season” post lol. Speaking of Catholicism, there is a subtle nod to it in NOKDU FLOWER, with one character…
3. I’m also waiting to watch this film, on the light or dark side of the internet I don’t care LOL.
Hahahaha and lo! there were kekeke.
Nice to hear from you! A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too~~
1. I am only on episode 4 but yes, I am liking it so far. It sometimes jumps from one scene to the next quite fast so retaining all the relevant information is uhm, a lot; I haven’t quite got all the places and players down yet 😅, and I’m only watching it slowly, an episode or so a week, which doesn’t always help, but I’ll manage, I hope.
I find it interesting, because I can’t really say that ideologically I really agree with any of the main “thinking sides”; that is, Yi Hyun’s [at least, his current understanding of an] idealised “civilisation and progress” nor Nokdu’s idealised abolition of class and revolution, but I feel for the characters because they were at that point in history stuck between a rock and a hard place, and there’s lots of juicy nuance in the individual motivations.
Re. activity about it-
Yeah, those all make sense, that is also unfortunate. I did see your pseudo recaps! I will have to read them when I get farther in. I definitely sympathise with you re. both drama Burn Out and in particular TCC Burn Out, of course 😂😂. I remember 2019 being a very dry recapping year, and also the year that I shitposted everything, so I was quite burntout and missed several good shows as well myself.
I will tag you (and @kiara) if I have posts or comments to make hehe.
2. It was not you! It was not actually a Beanie! haha tbh it was not even someone I directly interact with much, just something I read elsewhere, so perhaps it was merely their perception and not even accurate lmao, idk. I made some cynical comment about Christianity always being handled poorly in Kdramas in general and someone mentioned it in response. Does it mention the persecution of Catholics at the start of the 19th Century maybe? something like that. 🤷♀️ That combined with how many people seem to at least like it for what it is made me go, well I can try it at least… but no, it was not to be. 😂 As usual.
A Utopia … yes that sounds about right.
Hahaha yes I know! already! She may or may not be my favourite character so far 😛
3. 🙏 Praying for Good Subs, one day. I feel like it’s flown so under the radar. Alas, alack.
1. It’s the kind of (rare) drama that requires thinking, so a slow watch may be for the best! I always had the sense that even if I did not agree with the characters, I could understand why they were acting the way they did.
2. So many great characters, but yes, she was probably my favourite. 😀
Hi Toki, it’s good to see you stop by. Please do that from time to time. I’m here, but I’m not really here. I don’t even watch that many dramas. DB is like an old habit that is hard to kick. Lol
If you are going to be gone for a long time, leave your email so we can check in on you. We lost Paka, and I regret not asking for her contact.
1. I regret not taking any notes from Nokdu Flower.
2. I paused at episode 12 or 14, then came back to finish it. CC and Haechi wore me out. Lol
If you are not watching Liu Yuning in “A Journey To Love” do it ASAP. This is his best role IMO.
Hello @kiara! I will be dropping by ocassionally. I’m also on MDL (as wishfultoki) but only use it to keep track of “watched” and “plan to watch” dramas.
Liu Yuning? Ok, will check it out. I had zero luck with Chinese dramas last year. They started out promising and then turned into… a boring mess.
I’ve seen Liu Yuning improve, but I wasn’t a fan until AJtL came along. You won’t be surprised that he also sang 2 of the OST.
He sang one live in his costume for New Year. After you watch the show, you’ll understand why he cried. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQXp7TzL9U4&ab_channel=MD_%E6%AA%B8%E6%AA%AC%E6%B3%A1%E8%8A%99
I had zero luck with any drama this year until AJtL came along at the perfect time, and I’m still not over how enjoyable it was with the best ensemble characters in any show I’ve seen this year. It has flaws, especially rushing toward the end (35-40). Still, I’d watch re-watch it over and over.
Cdramas are usually found on YouTube, so I searched for “A Journey To Love”. Found a playlist in Chinese with Liu Yuning in the thumbnail. Clicked. Watched the whole of Ep. 1 without seeing him and wondered “hmmm, maybe he will show up in the next episode?” Watched 5 episodes before realising that I was watching the the wrong drama. I am currently on Episode 16 of THE LEGEND OF HAOLAN. 😂
Someone was thrown down a well head-first in the first 5 minutes and I was so horrified that I kept watching… then I realised it’s set in the last years of the Warring States period. So I’m still watching.
There has been A LOT of backstabbing, plotting, and near executions so far, which is to be expected about a drama that follows the demise of the Zhou dynasty. Not sure I can commit to 60 episodes though.
Oh, Castaway Diva was fun. And the female lead has a wonderful voice (she sings herself).
BTW, are you going to recap Missing Crown Prince on your blog?
I’m giving it one more episode. How many times are they going miss each other? It’s ridiculous. Oh, he didn’t notice the woman in bright green silk among the white-clad captives? Oh, the horse blocked her view? Oh yes, let’s have her HIDE so he doesn’t see her? (I have thoughts about this… I get where she is coming from but in her state and if she’s thinking of Jong Jong she should have asked for help).
I am sitting here waiting for them to work together at whatever it may be (ideally help the Crown Prince) but we only get the same old thing. Melodramatic suffering.
MY DEAREST EPISODE 11. Since DB is probably going to give us an Ep. 11-12 recap, I’ll post my Ep. 11 thoughts while they are still raw and wriggling. Beware plenty of *spoilers* below.
1) I’ve never felt the hand of the writer so strongly as now. Maybe I’m out of practice submitting to writers since I’ve been away from kdramas for months, but it feels like there is some powerful hand moving the players, guiding their sometimes-erratic decisions, throwing them into rather forced situations, all for the sake of making the characters and the viewers suffer. I am not sure if this is good storytelling to be honest.
2) To give an example: Gil Chae happens to catch the eye of the Qing enjoy in Joseon and somehow, he gets the brilliant idea of taking a married woman of noble status captive. Just her, mind you.
3) To give another example: THAT KISSS! I understood why she left him at the end of Part 1, but that is just so bitter to watch in hindsight and makes her decision seem cruel.
4) Her father, a convenient plot device to keep her in Joseon, has now disappeared. Must we infer that he has passed away? Why is her sister in this drama again?
5) The break between Part 1 and Part 2 somehow lost me regarding the timeline.
6) What exactly is this drama trying to do with my boy Crown Prince Sohyeon? I’ll give the drama a few episodes, but portraying him first as a sheltered peacock and now sheltered hostage isn’t working in his favor.
7) Injo’s increasingly cray cray behavior is interesting though. It’s like him and I are losing it together.
8) One good thing to be said is that I did not once think about Gone With The Wind during this episode. Truth be told I hated the constant comparisons and could not quite come to terms with the writer’s own admission that she was “inspired” by GWTW. I can’t fight the writer though, which is making this a rather stressful watch.
9) It seems Jang Hyun will risk his life and fortune for anyone he has ever met, however briefly, but he could not take responsibility for Gil Chae (i.e.: marry her) and thus lost her. He’s paying for it now but trying to move on. Gil Chae chose a loveless marriage and mainly thinks about becoming rich. She chose her fate and accepted its pros and cons. I dunno… I feel like the writer is just forcing them to be together at this point. Couldn’t they have met again through trade networks, or escaping refugees, or even the shoe industry?
10) Click on the GIF above to see my current opinion of writernim and my own resigned state.
I think the GWTW parallel universe should be over.
Rhett is a multi millionaire from war profiteering and he and Scarlett live as such. Scarlett still had Ashley Wilkes on the brain , which Rhett threatens to squeeze out her skull .
I really don’t think writer can or should try to portray a Joseon equivalent of the life style of the ultra rich and miserable.
I must say, I was a little disappointed watching the first episode of the second part. I particularly agree with the example of Gil-chae you referenced in your second point. Their reunion should have been written more organically. Hopefully, things will improve.
1. I had difficulty staying awake while watching this episode in the middle of the day. That never happens in the first part of the show. I’d watch the raw version and then subs from Kokoa and viki. I think I just lost that love and feeling for the romance. It’s messy and forced for the sake of more suffering. It’s like twisting that knife until it breaks.
2. Gil Chae is going to make an example of how married women suffered in captivity and like damaged goods for their husbands when returning home. That’s why the writer thinks it’s a good idea to copy-paste Scarlet’s marriage life into a Joseon show.
I’m glad not to be obsessed with this show anymore. Lol
BRB.
I struggled to get through it, especially the first half. The second half was a tad more entertaining just because the escaped slaves thing added a bit of stakes but ultimately that also was superfluous and poorly set up, so it was cheap entertainment:
I can handle angst and pining but not at the expense of dumb writing, which this is clearly has maintained over the break and is in a rut of.
So I’m just not really feeling the separation angst; his pining, RE crying, and found her staring at the Moon after her wedding night to be tasteless and hardly romantic.
The background of the boys stealing slaves from under the noses of the Qing previoualt should’ve been established in prior epsiodes and especially before they did what they did in 10 with Ryang Eum’s character. He can’t be truly sympathetic as a half Wing ex slave when you’ve constantly only focused on his petty ruinous jealousy and one sided crush instead of his and JH’s backstory.
Then the slavery sub plot is revelaed to only serve as background morbidity to get Gil Chae to Qing and foreshadow what is to come, rather than having a place in the story or history itself.
Additionally for which she didn’t need to be married to SL guy in the first place, or for him to even exist.
So that whole arc of episodes 9 and 10 still didn’t need to happen either, and only exists to drag out the angst to torture the characters and the characters [repeating you here but you echoed my already written notes word for word lol].
The only reason I can see her being married for is as @Kiara also points out [we’re all parrots lol] to drive home and capitalise on the spoiled women angle, and put Gil Chae through it even more, which is both really trashy, but also is contrived because there’s no *internal* story reason or historical background for this to happen, unlike the first half which made sure its stakes, plot and therefore its tension were based in something and paralleling something and so the heaviness of the subject matter was more enjoyable and also more justified.
Not saying this^ didn’t happen at all in history, it did, but the story now feels cut up and disjointed rather than everything flowing and being connected and making sense and the writing using all the parts and locking them altogether to tell the story.
They missed their opportunity for getting GC to Qing in a way that felt right, and did this instead.
And I found some of the actions of JH and GC to be a bit OOCm GC has proven that she’d do anything to survive herself in the past, but I felt her diatribe at her worker to be off. She went to desperate measures on the island to escape with her and the girls, and this was a terrible decision to make (one that, along with the dead Mongol I think should still be haunting her), but the way the slave conversation was handled didn’t feel as justified as that hard decision on the beach, and there was no set up for why she might be acting, that we might draw from the show itself. Like okay yeah she doesn’t want to be sent to Wing either. But this is GC. She’s savvy and cunning. I feel like her figuring out a way to defend the worker as well as his grandson and get them both out and her name clear, without just name dropping her husband, would’ve been more in character.
And, if she’s become complacent in her marriage and status, then SHOW that.
Additionally, it’s not completely untoward, and I’d like to think it’s just a moment of good character development, but JH of part 1 basically only ever did things because of GC, those associated to GC, and only very occasionally RE and other exceptions.
If his motivations have changed, we need to see how and why.
He can’t be wanting to die at the start of 11, and then we flashback to actually, he saved a bajilion slaves last half, you just didn’t see it, but all that time he was also neglecting GC and never sent her word of any kind, and was still anti commitment (whilst risking his life not just for himself in Qing but apparently 100s of slaves… cos that adds up…)
He can’t be wanting to die, lost all motivation and will, and justifiably so with how you set up his character (a bitter cynic btw, who has 1 joy in life…) and what we know before this, at the start of 11 and then being the benevolent Robin Hood and greeting all his friends equally and with equal grace.
Either put something in there that justifies this writing decision, and shows the many facets of Jang Hyun PROPERLY… Or I’m going to put your jumping jack character writing in time out also.
It’s not impossible! We know he cares more about the people than his king or politics.
We know he avenged the old couple. The exceptions and his cloaked backstory would be good start!
I don’t know WHY (this is rhetorical) she felt the need to rip or riff off GWTW in the first place. There’s plenty of material here. And 12 was boring so where does that leave us. This should be be boring! What are you doing.
This is not some inspiration; it’s an adaptation, but she won’t admit it. We may need to wait till Crown Prince Sohyeon returns home to Joseon for something interesting to happen. @wishfultoki: Our poor crown prince’s role in history is given to Jang Hyun cause he is the ML and needs to be the hero.
I agree with you. I have not watched Episode 12 yet, but Episode 11 felt more like a set up. I am still morbidly curious about how the characters will get out of the terrible situation they are in.
Oh wow I didn’t realise realise that some of those landscapes had been enhanced with CG when I was watching!! Same with the tents at the base camp too.
What a beautiful video though (and song 😭), major props to all the crew working on this show to make it the masterpiece it is.
I love the symbolism behind the yellow bird. It’s spring a new beginning, life-giving energy, warmth, vitality, growth, happiness, optimism, freedom, and liberation.
A drama that starts like that gives me hope, or false hope LOL
Yes, also because they filmed 4 seasons in 6 months! I watched behind the scenes where the actors are shown dressed for winter but it’s actually summer. For example, while filming at Ganghwa Island, it was so hot that Ahn Eun-jin was wearing a cooling vest under her costume. 😱
Leaving this here for later, since we have a month to process MY DEAREST. I know there is a connection between pansori and the drama but my brain is too numb to process it right now. Will our characters become the subject of a song?
5. Chunhyang Rides a Swing. Mongryong has a crush.
A beautiful girl comes out from among the white and red flowers.
She looks like the moon and the stars.
She comes out with another girl, as if they would ride a swing together.
They arrive in a green grove.
They fasten a long colorful rope on a divine peach branch that is hanging down.
Chunhyang raises her beautiful hands and grabs two ropes,
She moves up swiftly and stamps on the swing.
With the first stamp, she moves up front.
With the second stamp, she moves back.
Her legs touch the peach blossoms in bloom on the high branches.
Red petals fall down like snow due to the spring wind.
It looks as if a red blossom danced, with apricot blossoms covering her entire body.
If she went up, she might meet the goddess of the moon.
If she went down, she might meet Xiwangmu(西王母) of the pond.
She wears silky clothes, but her decorations remain unclear.
She appears to be both human and divine.
She looks like an ancient girl who played the flute on a pavilion and rode a phoenix.
She looks like a goddess who came down by riding a cloud from heaven.
She appears to be both close and distant.
It looks as if a swallow kicked a flower which falls down on a dancing place.
Mongryong feels disturbed.
Jeong Eungmin Version Chunhyangga(Seong Uhyang), page 25
I loved the pansori version with Cho Seung-woo. As soon as Gil-chae stepped up on the swing, I thought of Chunhyang. The obvious difference and similarity is around the theme of faithfulness. Chunhyang is faithful to the point of death, in an old fashioned way. Gil-chae seems, on the surface, to be more pragmatic, but who is she faithful to? There was more truth in what Yeon-joon said about her sense of responsibility than Jang-hyun gave him credit for. But she’s different from Chunhyang because she says in the letter to YJ that she doesn’t trust him enough to go with him, something that was not an issue for Chunhyang. Is Gil-chae as faithful as Chunhyang? Was she ever as much in love to YJ?
Thank you, now we are starting to get somewhere. I think it would be productive to analyse this story as part of the world of Korean folktales and traditional music. Chunhyang was mentioned in Ep. 1 or 2! I might have to rewatch the drama and compile all the references. We have a month so why not? Lol.
Thinking about Chunhyang and My Dearest further, at first, Gil-chae seems like an anti-Chunhyang. She has the reputation for being a fox. She strings along the young men. She attempts to manipulate situations so she can get another woman’s man. Also, her social status appears to be superior to Jang-hyun, who appears to be a trader who lives by his wits and is not a scholar, and unlike Chunhyang who is the daughter of a prostitute(?). So she has a degree of entitlement.
But with the war she finds depths within herself to look after her found family. In no way is she a passive victim, but sge becomes a respected resourceful woman with authority.
Her idea of love is still romantic and based on a dream lover. She marries the man she thinks has saved her. Her ability to gauge sincerity seems undeveloped because she constantly misconstrues JH’s intentions (or does she?)
His idea of her is off too. He likes her for being brazen, but she isn’t. She’s quite conventional in her aspirations for love and marriage. She wants a hero. At the same time, she’s grounded and real and pragmatic about surviving day to day.
So in all of those things, she’s unlike the whole hearted love and enduring faithfulness Chunhyang has for the young man she has already made love to.
And that’s also a difference. Chunhyang had already given herself to Lee Mong-ryong, and Gil-chae has not capitulated at all, except for a kiss.
So I’m wondering if the drama is deliberately flipping the story of Chunhyang to offer us another version of faithfulness based on agency and responsibility. Or is it just going to give us two people with lots of regret?
Totally agree. I was about to call her an “anti-Chunhyang” but wanted to think that through before saying something so scandalous, considering it’s such a beloved story. She is very faithful, to her dreams and her family. It breaks my heart that Gil Chae called him her husband again, showing she was ready to accept him as part of her family, and he laughed it off. She wanted to get married but Jang Hyun kept talking about her “bad reputation”. He really does not know her at all. And she does not know him.
Maybe Chunhyang is a story that was passed down while Gil Chae’s was silenced for not conforming perfectly to Confucian ideas.
As for giving us two people with lots of regret *sigh*. They say only those who have deep resentment can sing pansori.
Is that resentment called Han? I like the idea of her being a silenced or forgotten voice because she didn’t conform to the ideals. I’m looking forward to see what references you find in the early episodes.
#MyDearestEp.5
I’m dying to discuss this meeting with Crown Prince Sohyeon. Will wait patiently for recaps.
Note to writer: please keep the prince away from inkstones.
Haha yes since I’m ahead of the majority of the world, EPs usually drop around about my 1-2pm the day after their “airing” day. So if I’m free I have all of that day to chose when to watch. I just usually chose the evenings.n
ARTHDAL 2??? 😂😂😂
Will the PD allow some light on set?
Will Magic Horse reunite with Carrot Boy?
And will we find out why Yangcha wears a mask (cuz he’s not a time traveler to 2020 is he?)
New PD = lighting? Magical Horse too smart to return? Carrot Boy too smart to return? I do like the time traveling idea, but because I like it, it won’t come true.
It will have to continue without me, unless I see hundreds of positive reviews, and even then, I’d fast forward most of it.
I could watch it if Yangcha and Tanya are the end game. Otherwise, Carrot Boy being caught by every tribe in Korea and the politics in the city were boring.
Check this out @bbstl@marcusnyc20
I know beanies are upset that dramas will be postponed due to the Winter Olympics, but I’m excited to see performances like this one:
Thanks for the tips. I don’t follow figure skating but do enjoy it. I will keep an eye out for Cha Jung-hwan who is only 20! On the other hand I do remember watching Yuzuru Hanyu. Was it the Sochi Olympics? I was surprised see see that he is now 27!
Yeah, Yuzuru Hanyu won in 2014 and 2018. He is going for this 3rd Olympic medal this year. There are a few skaters who can challenge him. It will be dramatic.
I watched a lot of figure skating at the Sochi Olympics. It was my morning routine living in NYC (EST). What ever the time difference it seems to me around 10 am or so my time the evening program in Sochi would begin and NBC had as commentators Johnny Weir, Tara Lipinski and Terry Gannon. It was great fun.
I watched it twice and the second time made me realize even more of a talent he is. He made a mistake, but he came back and perform brilliantly with so much heart and poise. I’m so impressed. Thank you for sharing, Toki!
Exactly, he recovered from the mistake and went on to skate a superb program. The second part made me tear up because he really interpreted the music. I’m so glad you liked it. 😊
I don’t know much about music apart from that it sounds good and watching him perform made me emotional. It is a work of art. Perhaps because he and his coach really interpreted the music, that must be why his movements look so delicate and not “dry”. It was sublime. I think I love watching him skate even more than Queen Kim Yuna.
I think now I’ve become his fan. His skating is just so so good. They were all wonderful. He tends to fall sometimes, but his figure skating is so delicate. It is a truly masterpiece.
Yay! 😍
A lot of skaters focus on jumps nowadays because that’s how they get the most points, so I’m always impressed when they can manage the jumps and produce a work of art. You will probably enjoy watching Yuzuru Hanyu as well.
I saw one of Hanyu’s ice skating videos recommended to me on YT, so I clicked and watched him perform. I didn’t connect with his movements as much I stopped the video pretty fast and came back to search for more of Cha Junhwan’s videos. 🥰
Is this KWK in Hello? It’s me!? I think o remember that line! Lol! Oh, since I’m here. What are some good Joseon and Goryeo primers for beginning sageuk kdrama watchers ?
Well remembered! Yes, that’s him in Ep. 1 of “Hello, it’s me”
Well, my sageuk gateway was JUMONG (2006) but at the time I had no idea 81 episodes was considered long. 😀 Time-travel dramas are a good way to ease beginners into sageuks because both viewers and characters are fish out of drama. Recommendations: for Joseon (Splish Splash Love, Queen in Hyun’s Man, Live Up To Your Name; Goryeo (Faith, Scarlet Heart, with caution).
MR. SUNSHINE brought a lot of “Western” people to kdramas so it’s worth a try. But it’s pretty serious. If they want something classic, I’d go for JEWEL IN THE PALACE or CHUNO.
Fun options could be SUNGKYUNKWAN SCANDAL and THE TALE OF NOKDU. Even my father watched Nokdu. I still have to watch it myself.
I’m sure sageuk beanies have more recommendations!
I should clarify, where would one find accurate historical information about Goryeo and Joseon time periods (online and easy to access and read) after they’ve fallen into the rabbit hole of sageuks? I have a whole FB group of of doctors who are watching Red Sleeve who want more historical background. One is watching Goblin and Gong Yoo’s mane made her curious why they stopped wearing their hair down. 😂
I stopped watching LOVERS OF THE RED SKY after Ep. 6 I’m afraid (I’m just too busy and it isn’t particularly thrilling? Apologies for going AWOL at the sageuk club).
The only drama I’m watching is THE STORY OF MING LAN. I love love the opening instrumental track, and at episode 20 things finally got interesting.
Hi! I stopped Cha*3 at ep 6 and haven’t found any reason to make me want to go back yet. I am watching Darli at the moment and I’m enjoying this one a lot! 🤩
Have you watched the Tree with Deep Roots? What do you think about it compared to SFD?
Hi Toki! You have taken on the 73 episodes of MING LAN. Enjoy the journey.
I never started RED SKY and I am passing on THE KING’S AFFECTION. I hope you will be checking out the two other upcoming sageuks: RED SLEEVE CUFF and INSPECTOR JOY. I plan on watching both. I think I can handle one (maybe) ‘heavy’ and one ‘light’ sageuk at the same time. 2 heavies I don’t think so. Along with the two upcoming sageuks I plan on watching JIRISAN (all 3 on Viki US) and Park Hyung-sik’s return to kdrama land: HAPPINESS (availability permitting). So my viewing card will be filling up.
Recently my viewing: HOMETOWN (not CHA CHA CHA) dropped after 6 episodes, finished cdrama historical mystery CHONG MING WEI (2018), current with THE VEIL and D&G. I decided to work in the gritty cops/crime/mystery cdrama DOUBLE TAP (2021) which recently became available on Viki and it has really grabbed my attention. So that’s what’s going on.
I’m a huge fan! Ming Lan is one of the best period C-dramas made in the recent years. I’ve watched it non-skipped 3 times already and will probably rewatch it again whenever I have time. Such a solid plot with many endearing characters, I also pick up many valuable life lessons along the way. Thumbs up!
Hi @wishfultoki,
I hope you are doing well. I’m checking new dramas out, but I can’t seem to stick with anything besides a couple of JBTC shows that I’m watching in turtle speed.
I gave RED SKY 8 episodes, but now and then, I’d speed watch some episodes for the pretty. I don’t know why I even bother.
Thanks to the veteran actors, the KING’S AFFECTION pilot episode was engaging and a bit darker than I expected. I hope they’ll keep this show grounded. I can’t survive on fluff alone.LOL
I guess we are going to wait a long time for Jeong Hyun-min for a well-written sageuk.
I love MING LAN, and I hope you are going to enjoy the rest of it. Things will get more interesting after episode 20, but I did appreciate the time spent on Ming Lan’s earlier years and her family. I felt like I got to know her more.
It’s mid-September! Time to assess my bean count, which is looking puny again. Compared to my 2019 and 2020 watchlist, I’m watching mostly historical/costume dramas. I’ve also watched more Cdramas this year than in the past.
Kdramas
1. Secret Royal Inspector (KBS2)
2. River Where the Moon Rises (KBS2)
3. Vincenzo (TvN)
4. Bossam: Stealing Fate (MBN)
5. Imitation (KBS2)
Cdramas
1. The Long Ballad
2. The Rebel Princess
Older dramas
1. Kim Su Ro (2010)
2. A Piece of Your Mind (2020)
3. Falling for Innocence (2015)
4. The Romance of Tiger and Rose (2020)
5. Hannari Girori no Yoriko-san (2018).
Jdrama. 4 episodes. I think you’d like it @kudoran
Toki, as of now we only have BOSSAM in common. I know the origin of your image but perhaps in an ‘alternate’ BOSSAM universe Ba-woo and Dae-yeob could have been real friends.
(Both Jung Il-woo and Shin Hyun-Soo, particularly SHS, looked great in hanbok.)
thanks for the reco’ and the tag Toki 🙂
(might have missed your post otherwise, ’cause I haven’t checked the fanwall in ages 🙁 )
I’ve started A piece of your mind and finished When the weather is fine which was fine 🙂 .
I watched Falling for innocence a few years ago, it has some good laughs moments in it ^^ .
So, I think LOVERS OF THE RED SKY is improving … or I have learned to enjoy the obvious changes to historical names and places (I keep cracking up at “Gwanyang” instead of “Hanyang”).
Oh my @wishfultoki! Is that my boy Chan (30B17)? Chan what has life done to you?
Here is my situation. I just returned from two weeks of traveling with no kdramas watched and a few DB comments made after checking in now and then. I have a guest for the rest of this week. I currently have 2 dramas on my viewing plate: HP2 and POL U (preferred to PU) which I will catch up on.
Just before departing I discovered that LOVERS OF THE RED SKY would not be a traditional sageuk.
I am on the fence but leaning against trying to get caught up. I planned to pass on KBS’s AFFECTION.
At this stage of the game I think I may just wait for MBC’s THE RED SLEEVE CUFF (Junho, Lee Se-young) premiering on Nov. 5.
Toki, I will read your RED SKY reviews and make a decision.
I wouldn’t bother with RED SKY unless you like fantasy. I’m watching for Kim Yoo-jung. I’m also passing on AFFECTION so will join you on Nov. 5th for RED SLEEVE CUFF.
I had HP2 on my list but I saw spoilers on the fan wall and am no longer interested 😢 I will watch the band scenes on YouTube.
MDL has tvN’s TALE OF THE SECRET ROYAL INSPECTOR AND JO YI (Taecyon, Kim Hye-yoon) airing episode one on Nov. 1 so that would be a M/T sageuk comedic drama.
MDL has RED SLEEVE CUFF airing episode one on Nov. 5 so that would be a F/S sageuk drama.
I will probably juggle both of those dramas and as they wrap up KBS’s WHEN FLOWERS BLOOM, I THINK OF THE MOON (Yoo Seung-ho, Lee Hye-ri) according to MDL will air episode one on Dec. 20, 2021 running 16 episodes M/T until Feb. 15, 2022.
So there is more sageuk action running from the beginning of November well into February, 2022.
Real life keeps me busy nowadays, but that also means I have less time to reconsider my first impressions. So, here’s my honest review of LOVERS OF THE RED SKY Episode 2.
“His transformation into a CGI demon creature gave me nightmares, though on second watch it seems like he just had a bad hair day.” got me laughing. Watching it, I thought wow, that’s a cray mane of glory 🤣
Anyways, totally agree with your assessment: so far, so sageuk
But everything and everyone is extra pretty, and the gods are keeping it entertaining, so I’m having fun. Personally, I’m hoping for more Demonic Haram and less Evil Prince brooding in the bathtub
Demon Haram jumping over the trees did look a bit silly🤣 The vibe of this reminds me of Arang and the Magistrate, I kind of dig this kind of Fairytale camp
I’m not writing full recaps, just a quick overview followed by my thoughts. I was wary of writing reviews rather than recaps because others will have different opinions – and I hate it when a reviewer ruins a show for me with too much criticism. Hopefully, I won’t do that, though it is what DB trained me for these last few years. 😁
I don’t know if I can handle a lot of demonic characters so I’m hoping the drama focuses more on painting. Evil Prince brooding is boooring, even though Kwak Si Yang looks handsome.
I think I saw this, years ago, before I was aware of how much Korean drama was out there. From memory, it was lovely. I need to see it again though. I guess I’ll have to go to that other site to do so. I’ve been taking a Chinese drama detour and saw about 2/3 of Rebel Princess, The Imperial Coroner, YinYang Master, and now Lost in 1949. Except for TEC, every minute of which was enjoyable, they have just been fillers while I’ve been waiting for a better historical kdrama. The payoff has been that I’ve discovered Zhou Yiwei and Chen Kun 😍😍😍😍😍
@jorobertson Great minds think alike! I also took a Chinese detour while waiting for new sageuks. Did you finish Rebel Princess? It kind of drags in the middle but Episodes 60-68 were good. I actually gasped at a plot twist even though I knew it was coming 😂 Xiao Qi is amazing. 🤩
@hebang I have not seen Painter of the Wind yet. I am waiting for it to be a available on my regular Viki Pass. 😅
Reviews are good. Recaps involve so much work, so don’t… Speaking for myself, I can cope with an other opinion. I don’t have to agree, and it won’t spoil the pleasure of watching, and then we can discuss. 😁
I didn’t finish Rebel Princess. I must go back then for the plot twist, but instead I watched as much Zhou Yiwei as I could in other dramas (loved Great Shaolin). Xiao Qi is the quintessential actor. I wish I could understand Chinese because the “I, the Actor” performances with Zhou Yiwei ‘s performances and Xiao Qi as a judge looks very interesting. I also loved King’s War and The Three Kingdoms, which I watched some time ago. They both made me want to know about the history. They are very talky, strategic, intellectually agile, and rely on good subs. I’m sure I missed a heap because of those limitations. I can’t get enough of history told through drama.
Oh, you could watch Ep. 49-50, and Ep. 60-68, where stuff finally happens. Xiao Qi is even more amazing in the final episodes if you can believe that! You can skip the kidnapped Awu parts.
Will do. Currently on episode 27 of 40+ of Lost in 1949. Chen Kun. I love this period too. From between the wars until the beginning of the Republic. Lots of propaganda but it’s even interesting to see that spin.
Thanks, Toki. I posted a comment, but I’m not sure if it worked. Very good of you to do this in your “spare” time. I’ll keep watching because it’s pretty, but I’ll be on the watch for a more historical sageuk. I’d like to see something more like Six Flying Dragons and Tree with Deep Roots.
WishfulToki
October 30, 2023 at 10:36 AM
I lasted 5 minutes of Castaway Diva. I don’t need to see a father kicking his own child. Netflix subtitles don’t help. I’m not boarding this ship.
Also, am I the only one having trouble with discussion threads? I keep seeing comments in the “most recent” order and it’s messing with my brain.
Dorotka
October 30, 2023 at 10:53 AM
All credit goes to @attiton
If you add ?comments=all#
at the end of the page link after the slash, it should reshuffle the comments back.
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
October 30, 2023 at 11:18 AM
My understanding is the default is most recent but if you use the usual drop down menu and choose all comments it will do them in the oldest comments first which was the previous default setting. Initially, this option was not working for all the posts but i think it is now working across the site.
Seon-ha
October 30, 2023 at 11:48 AM
@reply1988 and @dorotka
Just FYI, whether or not the drop down menu to show “All Comments” works appears to be platform-dependent so it’s not possible to say when it will and will not work–my hack works all the time, FWIW.
Also, sometimes, I note that the “replies” to our comments can sometimes be “backwards” and sometimes be “forwards” in time, also depending on the post.
Basically, it’s all still messed up and we’re waiting for…well, something. Perhaps more emails to come in.
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
October 30, 2023 at 12:15 PM
Yes, I hope the beanies are emailing in so the faults can be picked up.
Dorotka
October 30, 2023 at 12:19 PM
….I sometimes even got negative numbering 😄
Ally
October 30, 2023 at 7:36 PM
This has worked for me every time so far.
Lord Cobol (Kdramas, like water, flow downhill)
October 30, 2023 at 12:13 PM
Castaway changes tone later in day 1. If you can’t stand to get to that part at normal speed or by FFing, you can always just skip forward to about 1:08:30 or 1:14. If kdramas can always do time skips to us then we can do it to them too 🙂
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
October 30, 2023 at 12:33 PM
Thanks for sharing the suggestions on how to avoid the parts that are difficult a few people were not expecting that exposure and I feel there should be a trigger warning for these kinds of scenes. I have a buddy who does that for me with Sageuks.
I am loving the comparison to K dramas’ love of time skips too😂
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
October 30, 2023 at 1:19 PM
They changed the comments default layout so no it’s not just you.
kiara
October 30, 2023 at 8:00 PM
I clicked for Woo Do-hwan.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 14, 2023 at 7:47 PM
kNOCK KNOck who’s there, it’s Sic! here to talk about some things Not Relevant to this Post. (cc: @kiara)
are either of you on any thing other than Dramabeans for me to message you when I want Very Important Particular Chats… hahaha
Hi, uhm actually big news, I started Nokdu Flower last week… LOL
1. Where on EARTH did y’all hang out and talk about it on here tho? The recaps are so sparse, and stop half way through?
2. Specifically to Toki, I am sorry, because I’ve heard it has one of the few decent portrayals of early Catholicism in Korea in a kdrama, but I just couldn’t get into Rookie Historian when I tried it this year, and had to drop at episode 3.
(I’m mentioning this because in my Nokdu browsings I came across your “A Sageuk for Every Season” post in 2019 again haha.)
3. I was going to make a whole post about this, I might still, but I just can’t be bothered right now-
So actually, this time last year, a movie called A BIRTH came out, with Yoon Shi Yoon in it, about the life of St Andrew Kim Taegon (!!!!!), a 19th Century early Korean priest, saint and martyr. (Side note, this was funny timing for me personally because earlier in 2022 I was just saying that a sageuk about him would be very cool, but Korea would Never.) My older brother and I are both interested in watching it but we cannot find subs anywhere, and there’s basically no chatter about it, (although it premiered at the Vatican even) so I thought I would ask on DB and see.
https://mydramalist.com/710967-birth
kiara
December 14, 2023 at 8:38 PM
@sicarius, I just created an account at MDL as kreia. Feel free to message me there. If you prefer email, let me know.
1. Yay! @wishfultoki attempted to weeecap it, but it was too long, so we just watched the rest quietly.
If you find A BIRTH with subs, please share.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 14, 2023 at 8:52 PM
*me not even realizing MDL has private messaging LOL* I’ll send you a friend request. I am not logged in to MDL very often, so I’ll see how it goes, if not we can switch to email, or something else.
1. Ahhh a silent but loved watch haha, that makes sense.
Might have to wait till dvd release alas, but yeah if I hear any updates, I will do.
kiara
December 14, 2023 at 9:29 PM
I go there for C-dramas only.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 14, 2023 at 10:37 PM
I use it for upcomings and scheduling but never update and rarely login haha
WishfulToki
December 30, 2023 at 1:17 PM
Hello Sic! Hello kiara @kiara!
Well, isn’t that funny… I no longer have anything to do on DB so I only logged in to see if there were any Very Important Particular Chats from @sicarius. In answer to your comments:
1. YAY for staring NOKDU FLOWER. I hope you like it so far? You have to be patient as it unravels slowly. As to why we weren’t active…. *sigh* There were several reasons:
1) The drama started while HAECHI was in its final stretch, so most sageuk beanies were busy.
2) I jumped in late. I was burned out from THE CROWNED CLOWN (You will sympathise). Then Lent came and I gave up dramas for a while.
3) Recaps just stopped halfway through with no warning. That was painful. 😢 If you scroll down on the last recap I actually pseudo-recapped it myself all the way to Episode 25 (Don’t read them now unless you want major spoilers): https://www.dramabeans.com/2019/05/nokdu-flower-episodes-11-12/#comment-3494210.
If you want to chat about it tag me in your posts and I will drop in more-or-less regularly, promise!
2. Who told you that Rookie Historian has a decent portrayal of Catholicism? Was it me? My mind is drawing a blank… I remember I liked the historians’ office, the maps, the smallpox and vaccination dilemma vs Confucianism. Anyway, I learned to enjoy it for what it was, taking in the little bits of history. But I totally see why you would not like it and will not encourage you to continue. I ended up calling it a “utopia” in my “A Sageuk for Every Season” post lol. Speaking of Catholicism, there is a subtle nod to it in NOKDU FLOWER, with one character…
3. I’m also waiting to watch this film, on the light or dark side of the internet I don’t care LOL.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 🎄
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 30, 2023 at 2:49 PM
Hahahaha and lo! there were kekeke.
Nice to hear from you! A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too~~
1. I am only on episode 4 but yes, I am liking it so far. It sometimes jumps from one scene to the next quite fast so retaining all the relevant information is uhm, a lot; I haven’t quite got all the places and players down yet 😅, and I’m only watching it slowly, an episode or so a week, which doesn’t always help, but I’ll manage, I hope.
I find it interesting, because I can’t really say that ideologically I really agree with any of the main “thinking sides”; that is, Yi Hyun’s [at least, his current understanding of an] idealised “civilisation and progress” nor Nokdu’s idealised abolition of class and revolution, but I feel for the characters because they were at that point in history stuck between a rock and a hard place, and there’s lots of juicy nuance in the individual motivations.
Re. activity about it-
Yeah, those all make sense, that is also unfortunate. I did see your pseudo recaps! I will have to read them when I get farther in. I definitely sympathise with you re. both drama Burn Out and in particular TCC Burn Out, of course 😂😂. I remember 2019 being a very dry recapping year, and also the year that I shitposted everything, so I was quite burntout and missed several good shows as well myself.
I will tag you (and @kiara) if I have posts or comments to make hehe.
2. It was not you! It was not actually a Beanie! haha tbh it was not even someone I directly interact with much, just something I read elsewhere, so perhaps it was merely their perception and not even accurate lmao, idk. I made some cynical comment about Christianity always being handled poorly in Kdramas in general and someone mentioned it in response. Does it mention the persecution of Catholics at the start of the 19th Century maybe? something like that. 🤷♀️ That combined with how many people seem to at least like it for what it is made me go, well I can try it at least… but no, it was not to be. 😂 As usual.
A Utopia … yes that sounds about right.
Hahaha yes I know! already! She may or may not be my favourite character so far 😛
3. 🙏 Praying for Good Subs, one day. I feel like it’s flown so under the radar. Alas, alack.
WishfulToki
January 2, 2024 at 8:08 AM
1. It’s the kind of (rare) drama that requires thinking, so a slow watch may be for the best! I always had the sense that even if I did not agree with the characters, I could understand why they were acting the way they did.
2. So many great characters, but yes, she was probably my favourite. 😀
kiara
December 30, 2023 at 6:38 PM
@wishfultoki and @sicarius
Hi Toki, it’s good to see you stop by. Please do that from time to time. I’m here, but I’m not really here. I don’t even watch that many dramas. DB is like an old habit that is hard to kick. Lol
If you are going to be gone for a long time, leave your email so we can check in on you. We lost Paka, and I regret not asking for her contact.
1. I regret not taking any notes from Nokdu Flower.
2. I paused at episode 12 or 14, then came back to finish it. CC and Haechi wore me out. Lol
If you are not watching Liu Yuning in “A Journey To Love” do it ASAP. This is his best role IMO.
Happy New Year to you both! ❤️❤️
WishfulToki
January 2, 2024 at 7:54 AM
Hello @kiara! I will be dropping by ocassionally. I’m also on MDL (as wishfultoki) but only use it to keep track of “watched” and “plan to watch” dramas.
Liu Yuning? Ok, will check it out. I had zero luck with Chinese dramas last year. They started out promising and then turned into… a boring mess.
kiara
January 2, 2024 at 8:25 AM
Wonderful! We are all on MDL, then.
I’ve seen Liu Yuning improve, but I wasn’t a fan until AJtL came along. You won’t be surprised that he also sang 2 of the OST.
He sang one live in his costume for New Year. After you watch the show, you’ll understand why he cried.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQXp7TzL9U4&ab_channel=MD_%E6%AA%B8%E6%AA%AC%E6%B3%A1%E8%8A%99
I had zero luck with any drama this year until AJtL came along at the perfect time, and I’m still not over how enjoyable it was with the best ensemble characters in any show I’ve seen this year. It has flaws, especially rushing toward the end (35-40). Still, I’d watch re-watch it over and over.
WishfulToki
January 8, 2024 at 10:17 AM
Fun story @kiara
Cdramas are usually found on YouTube, so I searched for “A Journey To Love”. Found a playlist in Chinese with Liu Yuning in the thumbnail. Clicked. Watched the whole of Ep. 1 without seeing him and wondered “hmmm, maybe he will show up in the next episode?” Watched 5 episodes before realising that I was watching the the wrong drama. I am currently on Episode 16 of THE LEGEND OF HAOLAN. 😂
kiara
January 8, 2024 at 1:50 PM
@wishfultoki,
That’s too funny, Toki. LOL
Yuning is in every episode of “A Journey to Love” :). Happy watching!!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 8, 2024 at 2:07 PM
Lmfaooooo Toki. I’ve never even heard of that one. Is it any good, considering you somehow got to ep 16 of it… 🤣🤣🤣
WishfulToki
January 8, 2024 at 5:59 PM
@sicarius
Someone was thrown down a well head-first in the first 5 minutes and I was so horrified that I kept watching… then I realised it’s set in the last years of the Warring States period. So I’m still watching.
There has been A LOT of backstabbing, plotting, and near executions so far, which is to be expected about a drama that follows the demise of the Zhou dynasty. Not sure I can commit to 60 episodes though.
kiara
January 8, 2024 at 9:49 PM
@wishfultoki,
iQIYI has the best subs, but their subbed OSTs could contain spoilers as they were written for the drama.
mugyuljoie is preciousss
February 7, 2024 at 7:05 AM
How did I miss half of the Stabby OTP?!
irmar
March 31, 2024 at 2:49 AM
Oh, Castaway Diva was fun. And the female lead has a wonderful voice (she sings herself).
BTW, are you going to recap Missing Crown Prince on your blog?
WishfulToki
October 20, 2023 at 7:30 PM
MY DEAREST WRITER:
Are we ever going to see the leads have more than 1 minute of screen time together?
kiara
October 20, 2023 at 8:27 PM
Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat… 🙄🙄🙄
WishfulToki
October 20, 2023 at 9:29 PM
I’m giving it one more episode. How many times are they going miss each other? It’s ridiculous. Oh, he didn’t notice the woman in bright green silk among the white-clad captives? Oh, the horse blocked her view? Oh yes, let’s have her HIDE so he doesn’t see her? (I have thoughts about this… I get where she is coming from but in her state and if she’s thinking of Jong Jong she should have asked for help).
I am sitting here waiting for them to work together at whatever it may be (ideally help the Crown Prince) but we only get the same old thing. Melodramatic suffering.
Rant over for now. I’m so disappointed.
kiara
October 20, 2023 at 10:18 PM
I’d call it soap opera makjang.
Kurama
October 20, 2023 at 11:56 PM
I wonder if they really needed 10 episodes in addition to the first part.
WishfulToki
October 14, 2023 at 6:48 AM
MY DEAREST EPISODE 11. Since DB is probably going to give us an Ep. 11-12 recap, I’ll post my Ep. 11 thoughts while they are still raw and wriggling. Beware plenty of *spoilers* below.
WishfulToki
October 14, 2023 at 6:53 AM
1) I’ve never felt the hand of the writer so strongly as now. Maybe I’m out of practice submitting to writers since I’ve been away from kdramas for months, but it feels like there is some powerful hand moving the players, guiding their sometimes-erratic decisions, throwing them into rather forced situations, all for the sake of making the characters and the viewers suffer. I am not sure if this is good storytelling to be honest.
2) To give an example: Gil Chae happens to catch the eye of the Qing enjoy in Joseon and somehow, he gets the brilliant idea of taking a married woman of noble status captive. Just her, mind you.
3) To give another example: THAT KISSS! I understood why she left him at the end of Part 1, but that is just so bitter to watch in hindsight and makes her decision seem cruel.
4) Her father, a convenient plot device to keep her in Joseon, has now disappeared. Must we infer that he has passed away? Why is her sister in this drama again?
5) The break between Part 1 and Part 2 somehow lost me regarding the timeline.
6) What exactly is this drama trying to do with my boy Crown Prince Sohyeon? I’ll give the drama a few episodes, but portraying him first as a sheltered peacock and now sheltered hostage isn’t working in his favor.
7) Injo’s increasingly cray cray behavior is interesting though. It’s like him and I are losing it together.
8) One good thing to be said is that I did not once think about Gone With The Wind during this episode. Truth be told I hated the constant comparisons and could not quite come to terms with the writer’s own admission that she was “inspired” by GWTW. I can’t fight the writer though, which is making this a rather stressful watch.
9) It seems Jang Hyun will risk his life and fortune for anyone he has ever met, however briefly, but he could not take responsibility for Gil Chae (i.e.: marry her) and thus lost her. He’s paying for it now but trying to move on. Gil Chae chose a loveless marriage and mainly thinks about becoming rich. She chose her fate and accepted its pros and cons. I dunno… I feel like the writer is just forcing them to be together at this point. Couldn’t they have met again through trade networks, or escaping refugees, or even the shoe industry?
10) Click on the GIF above to see my current opinion of writernim and my own resigned state.
john
October 14, 2023 at 7:40 AM
I think the GWTW parallel universe should be over.
Rhett is a multi millionaire from war profiteering and he and Scarlett live as such. Scarlett still had Ashley Wilkes on the brain , which Rhett threatens to squeeze out her skull .
I really don’t think writer can or should try to portray a Joseon equivalent of the life style of the ultra rich and miserable.
kiara
October 14, 2023 at 3:40 PM
I hope so, John.
Peridot
October 14, 2023 at 8:07 AM
I must say, I was a little disappointed watching the first episode of the second part. I particularly agree with the example of Gil-chae you referenced in your second point. Their reunion should have been written more organically. Hopefully, things will improve.
kiara
October 14, 2023 at 8:18 AM
1. I had difficulty staying awake while watching this episode in the middle of the day. That never happens in the first part of the show. I’d watch the raw version and then subs from Kokoa and viki. I think I just lost that love and feeling for the romance. It’s messy and forced for the sake of more suffering. It’s like twisting that knife until it breaks.
2. Gil Chae is going to make an example of how married women suffered in captivity and like damaged goods for their husbands when returning home. That’s why the writer thinks it’s a good idea to copy-paste Scarlet’s marriage life into a Joseon show.
I’m glad not to be obsessed with this show anymore. Lol
BRB.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
October 14, 2023 at 1:11 PM
💯💯💯
I struggled to get through it, especially the first half. The second half was a tad more entertaining just because the escaped slaves thing added a bit of stakes but ultimately that also was superfluous and poorly set up, so it was cheap entertainment:
I can handle angst and pining but not at the expense of dumb writing, which this is clearly has maintained over the break and is in a rut of.
So I’m just not really feeling the separation angst; his pining, RE crying, and found her staring at the Moon after her wedding night to be tasteless and hardly romantic.
The background of the boys stealing slaves from under the noses of the Qing previoualt should’ve been established in prior epsiodes and especially before they did what they did in 10 with Ryang Eum’s character. He can’t be truly sympathetic as a half Wing ex slave when you’ve constantly only focused on his petty ruinous jealousy and one sided crush instead of his and JH’s backstory.
Then the slavery sub plot is revelaed to only serve as background morbidity to get Gil Chae to Qing and foreshadow what is to come, rather than having a place in the story or history itself.
Additionally for which she didn’t need to be married to SL guy in the first place, or for him to even exist.
So that whole arc of episodes 9 and 10 still didn’t need to happen either, and only exists to drag out the angst to torture the characters and the characters [repeating you here but you echoed my already written notes word for word lol].
The only reason I can see her being married for is as @Kiara also points out [we’re all parrots lol] to drive home and capitalise on the spoiled women angle, and put Gil Chae through it even more, which is both really trashy, but also is contrived because there’s no *internal* story reason or historical background for this to happen, unlike the first half which made sure its stakes, plot and therefore its tension were based in something and paralleling something and so the heaviness of the subject matter was more enjoyable and also more justified.
Not saying this^ didn’t happen at all in history, it did, but the story now feels cut up and disjointed rather than everything flowing and being connected and making sense and the writing using all the parts and locking them altogether to tell the story.
They missed their opportunity for getting GC to Qing in a way that felt right, and did this instead.
Ofc now I’m even more mad about 9 and 10.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
October 14, 2023 at 1:27 PM
And I found some of the actions of JH and GC to be a bit OOCm GC has proven that she’d do anything to survive herself in the past, but I felt her diatribe at her worker to be off. She went to desperate measures on the island to escape with her and the girls, and this was a terrible decision to make (one that, along with the dead Mongol I think should still be haunting her), but the way the slave conversation was handled didn’t feel as justified as that hard decision on the beach, and there was no set up for why she might be acting, that we might draw from the show itself. Like okay yeah she doesn’t want to be sent to Wing either. But this is GC. She’s savvy and cunning. I feel like her figuring out a way to defend the worker as well as his grandson and get them both out and her name clear, without just name dropping her husband, would’ve been more in character.
And, if she’s become complacent in her marriage and status, then SHOW that.
Additionally, it’s not completely untoward, and I’d like to think it’s just a moment of good character development, but JH of part 1 basically only ever did things because of GC, those associated to GC, and only very occasionally RE and other exceptions.
If his motivations have changed, we need to see how and why.
He can’t be wanting to die at the start of 11, and then we flashback to actually, he saved a bajilion slaves last half, you just didn’t see it, but all that time he was also neglecting GC and never sent her word of any kind, and was still anti commitment (whilst risking his life not just for himself in Qing but apparently 100s of slaves… cos that adds up…)
He can’t be wanting to die, lost all motivation and will, and justifiably so with how you set up his character (a bitter cynic btw, who has 1 joy in life…) and what we know before this, at the start of 11 and then being the benevolent Robin Hood and greeting all his friends equally and with equal grace.
Either put something in there that justifies this writing decision, and shows the many facets of Jang Hyun PROPERLY… Or I’m going to put your jumping jack character writing in time out also.
It’s not impossible! We know he cares more about the people than his king or politics.
We know he avenged the old couple. The exceptions and his cloaked backstory would be good start!
But for crying out loud, make it make sense.
WishfulToki
October 14, 2023 at 2:04 PM
Here’s hoping Ep. 12 makes more sense. Off to watch.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
October 14, 2023 at 2:21 PM
Haha good timing cos same 😂
kiara
October 14, 2023 at 3:49 PM
I just got home, so I’ll join you girls.
kiara
October 14, 2023 at 6:08 PM
Well, I tried. I might finish it tomorrow.
♡Peach_Mochi♡
October 15, 2023 at 2:46 AM
Welp. That was a beautifully shot, well-acted orgy of suffering. Sigh.
kiara
October 14, 2023 at 4:33 PM
Comment was deleted
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
October 14, 2023 at 4:56 PM
I don’t know WHY (this is rhetorical) she felt the need to rip or riff off GWTW in the first place. There’s plenty of material here. And 12 was boring so where does that leave us. This should be be boring! What are you doing.
kiara
October 14, 2023 at 6:42 PM
Oops, sorry. I accidentally deleted it.
This is not some inspiration; it’s an adaptation, but she won’t admit it. We may need to wait till Crown Prince Sohyeon returns home to Joseon for something interesting to happen.
@wishfultoki: Our poor crown prince’s role in history is given to Jang Hyun cause he is the ML and needs to be the hero.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
October 14, 2023 at 7:29 PM
dflkahjfalklkad
kiara
October 15, 2023 at 7:35 AM
@sic
Can you post your comments again when the recap comes out?
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
October 15, 2023 at 12:10 PM
Asdfjgjl for you.
I was gonna try stay off the recaps more this time though.
Snow Flower
October 15, 2023 at 9:58 AM
I agree with you. I have not watched Episode 12 yet, but Episode 11 felt more like a set up. I am still morbidly curious about how the characters will get out of the terrible situation they are in.
WishfulToki
October 13, 2023 at 7:52 PM
WishfulToki
October 13, 2023 at 7:51 PM
WishfulToki
September 8, 2023 at 10:34 PM
I loved the use of CG to enhance the landscapes and seasons. ❤️
Not a fan of the CGI bird and baby but we can’t have everything 😆
#MyDearest
lapislazulii
September 8, 2023 at 11:25 PM
Oh wow I didn’t realise realise that some of those landscapes had been enhanced with CG when I was watching!! Same with the tents at the base camp too.
What a beautiful video though (and song 😭), major props to all the crew working on this show to make it the masterpiece it is.
lapislazulii
September 8, 2023 at 11:25 PM
*didn’t even realise
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
September 9, 2023 at 12:20 AM
Wow! Thanks! This is so cool. And the song is wonderful and this video reinforces how perfect it is for the show.
Also not a fan of the bird, though, and I’m still pretending I never saw that baby – or that it was Gil-chae’s hallucination.
kiara
September 9, 2023 at 8:14 AM
I love the symbolism behind the yellow bird. It’s spring a new beginning, life-giving energy, warmth, vitality, growth, happiness, optimism, freedom, and liberation.
A drama that starts like that gives me hope, or false hope LOL
korfan
September 9, 2023 at 11:54 PM
This is so interesting! It’s so neat how they are able to enhance scenes in a drama.
WishfulToki
September 10, 2023 at 7:24 PM
Yes, also because they filmed 4 seasons in 6 months! I watched behind the scenes where the actors are shown dressed for winter but it’s actually summer. For example, while filming at Ganghwa Island, it was so hot that Ahn Eun-jin was wearing a cooling vest under her costume. 😱
WishfulToki
September 3, 2023 at 8:53 PM
Leaving this here for later, since we have a month to process MY DEAREST. I know there is a connection between pansori and the drama but my brain is too numb to process it right now. Will our characters become the subject of a song?
5. Chunhyang Rides a Swing. Mongryong has a crush.
A beautiful girl comes out from among the white and red flowers.
She looks like the moon and the stars.
She comes out with another girl, as if they would ride a swing together.
They arrive in a green grove.
They fasten a long colorful rope on a divine peach branch that is hanging down.
Chunhyang raises her beautiful hands and grabs two ropes,
She moves up swiftly and stamps on the swing.
With the first stamp, she moves up front.
With the second stamp, she moves back.
Her legs touch the peach blossoms in bloom on the high branches.
Red petals fall down like snow due to the spring wind.
It looks as if a red blossom danced, with apricot blossoms covering her entire body.
If she went up, she might meet the goddess of the moon.
If she went down, she might meet Xiwangmu(西王母) of the pond.
She wears silky clothes, but her decorations remain unclear.
She appears to be both human and divine.
She looks like an ancient girl who played the flute on a pavilion and rode a phoenix.
She looks like a goddess who came down by riding a cloud from heaven.
She appears to be both close and distant.
It looks as if a swallow kicked a flower which falls down on a dancing place.
Mongryong feels disturbed.
Jeong Eungmin Version Chunhyangga(Seong Uhyang), page 25
dramalover4ever
September 4, 2023 at 2:57 AM
I loved the pansori version with Cho Seung-woo. As soon as Gil-chae stepped up on the swing, I thought of Chunhyang. The obvious difference and similarity is around the theme of faithfulness. Chunhyang is faithful to the point of death, in an old fashioned way. Gil-chae seems, on the surface, to be more pragmatic, but who is she faithful to? There was more truth in what Yeon-joon said about her sense of responsibility than Jang-hyun gave him credit for. But she’s different from Chunhyang because she says in the letter to YJ that she doesn’t trust him enough to go with him, something that was not an issue for Chunhyang. Is Gil-chae as faithful as Chunhyang? Was she ever as much in love to YJ?
WishfulToki
September 4, 2023 at 6:36 AM
Thank you, now we are starting to get somewhere. I think it would be productive to analyse this story as part of the world of Korean folktales and traditional music. Chunhyang was mentioned in Ep. 1 or 2! I might have to rewatch the drama and compile all the references. We have a month so why not? Lol.
dramalover4ever
September 4, 2023 at 10:18 AM
Comment was deleted
dramalover4ever
September 4, 2023 at 6:18 PM
Thinking about Chunhyang and My Dearest further, at first, Gil-chae seems like an anti-Chunhyang. She has the reputation for being a fox. She strings along the young men. She attempts to manipulate situations so she can get another woman’s man. Also, her social status appears to be superior to Jang-hyun, who appears to be a trader who lives by his wits and is not a scholar, and unlike Chunhyang who is the daughter of a prostitute(?). So she has a degree of entitlement.
But with the war she finds depths within herself to look after her found family. In no way is she a passive victim, but sge becomes a respected resourceful woman with authority.
Her idea of love is still romantic and based on a dream lover. She marries the man she thinks has saved her. Her ability to gauge sincerity seems undeveloped because she constantly misconstrues JH’s intentions (or does she?)
His idea of her is off too. He likes her for being brazen, but she isn’t. She’s quite conventional in her aspirations for love and marriage. She wants a hero. At the same time, she’s grounded and real and pragmatic about surviving day to day.
So in all of those things, she’s unlike the whole hearted love and enduring faithfulness Chunhyang has for the young man she has already made love to.
And that’s also a difference. Chunhyang had already given herself to Lee Mong-ryong, and Gil-chae has not capitulated at all, except for a kiss.
So I’m wondering if the drama is deliberately flipping the story of Chunhyang to offer us another version of faithfulness based on agency and responsibility. Or is it just going to give us two people with lots of regret?
(Drums fingers thoughtfully)
WishfulToki
September 4, 2023 at 7:31 PM
Totally agree. I was about to call her an “anti-Chunhyang” but wanted to think that through before saying something so scandalous, considering it’s such a beloved story. She is very faithful, to her dreams and her family. It breaks my heart that Gil Chae called him her husband again, showing she was ready to accept him as part of her family, and he laughed it off. She wanted to get married but Jang Hyun kept talking about her “bad reputation”. He really does not know her at all. And she does not know him.
Maybe Chunhyang is a story that was passed down while Gil Chae’s was silenced for not conforming perfectly to Confucian ideas.
As for giving us two people with lots of regret *sigh*. They say only those who have deep resentment can sing pansori.
dramalover4ever
September 4, 2023 at 11:03 PM
Is that resentment called Han? I like the idea of her being a silenced or forgotten voice because she didn’t conform to the ideals. I’m looking forward to see what references you find in the early episodes.
WishfulToki
September 1, 2023 at 11:11 PM
Pour me a glass of soju or something strong.
#MyDearestEp9
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
September 2, 2023 at 3:46 AM
Me three, please.
kiara
September 2, 2023 at 4:30 AM
Cheers
korfan
September 3, 2023 at 1:26 AM
Completely understandable.
WishfulToki
August 24, 2023 at 1:56 PM
I also need this Manchu (or Mongolian?) lullaby in the official OST
#MyDearest
kiara
August 24, 2023 at 3:37 PM
It’s like David playing his harp for King Saul.
Ally
August 24, 2023 at 8:15 PM
His voice is unique and soothing!
Isa is always time travelling
August 25, 2023 at 2:29 AM
I love his voice too.
Is Kim Yoon Woo (Ryang Eum) who sings?
WishfulToki
August 29, 2023 at 6:26 AM
You know, I usually pride myself on being able to tell when actors are singing for real or no, but in this case I can’t tell!
Snow Flower
August 25, 2023 at 5:53 AM
NGM’s s voice speaking Manchu!!!
And the song!!!
Snow Flower
August 25, 2023 at 9:47 AM
The song uses a pentatonic scale: D, E, G, A, B (and another D an octave higher).
Ally
August 29, 2023 at 8:30 AM
Oooh. Have you gotten any inspiration to write any songs from this yet?
WishfulToki
August 23, 2023 at 6:42 PM
I need this in the official OST
#MyDearest
kiara
August 23, 2023 at 11:47 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iay4SRfA-40&ab_channel=Pinkk
Isa is always time travelling
August 24, 2023 at 12:09 AM
Beautiful. Thank you!!
WishfulToki
August 24, 2023 at 1:52 PM
Thank you. The ballad version with piano is beautiful, but the version with traditional Korean instruments is more soulful I think.
kiara
August 24, 2023 at 3:34 PM
Yes, I prefer that one too.
WishfulToki
August 18, 2023 at 8:45 PM
#MyDearestEp.5
I’m dying to discuss this meeting with Crown Prince Sohyeon. Will wait patiently for recaps.
Note to writer: please keep the prince away from inkstones.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 18, 2023 at 9:21 PM
*meanwhile me painfully waiting for this evening to watch 5 instead of just bingeing it in the morning* *it’s only 4pm…* *The wait continues*
kiara
August 18, 2023 at 10:20 PM
We are pulling another 4 am party, eh? I need to do the timeline tomorrow after eps 6 is out. 🙏 for Viki’s sub to be done earlier.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 18, 2023 at 10:34 PM
Lmao no! My usual drama watch time is between 8 and 10, after dinner, but before I start my nighttime routine. 😅
kiara
August 18, 2023 at 10:40 PM
Comment was deleted
Snow Flower
August 19, 2023 at 9:59 AM
The new episodes are available at midnight in my area, so I should consider myself lucky…
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 19, 2023 at 2:22 PM
Haha yes since I’m ahead of the majority of the world, EPs usually drop around about my 1-2pm the day after their “airing” day. So if I’m free I have all of that day to chose when to watch. I just usually chose the evenings.n
kiara
August 18, 2023 at 10:27 PM
Inkstone – We all know where Writernim is going with this 😭.
john
August 21, 2023 at 5:04 AM
Crown Prince Sohyeon
Are there any other sageuks or films that cover his story ? It sounds vaguely familiar .
WishfulToki
August 18, 2023 at 8:40 PM
“Why are you going? You said you don’t care about the king.”
“I don’t want to see you crying.”
“Ha! So you’re saying you don’t want to see me?”
Me: 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
#MyDearest Ep. 5
WishfulToki
February 22, 2022 at 7:54 PM
ARTHDAL 2??? 😂😂😂
Will the PD allow some light on set?
Will Magic Horse reunite with Carrot Boy?
And will we find out why Yangcha wears a mask (cuz he’s not a time traveler to 2020 is he?)
Ally
February 22, 2022 at 8:41 PM
Hi! I’m looking forward to the reactions — I can just hear the heads exploding!
mugyuljoie is preciousss
February 22, 2022 at 8:54 PM
New PD = lighting? Magical Horse too smart to return? Carrot Boy too smart to return? I do like the time traveling idea, but because I like it, it won’t come true.
It will have to continue without me, unless I see hundreds of positive reviews, and even then, I’d fast forward most of it.
WishfulToki
February 28, 2022 at 10:40 AM
Same. I’m steering clear of this.
bbstl 🧹
February 22, 2022 at 9:24 PM
Nonono, no one would be crazy enough to throw more money at . . . 😵💫
mugyuljoie is preciousss
February 22, 2022 at 11:53 PM
How many episodes/seasons until the power trio decide to work together?
Kurama
February 23, 2022 at 12:23 AM
I could watch it if Yangcha and Tanya are the end game. Otherwise, Carrot Boy being caught by every tribe in Korea and the politics in the city were boring.
korfan
February 23, 2022 at 6:32 PM
All valid questions!
WishfulToki
January 24, 2022 at 6:28 PM
Check this out @bbstl @marcusnyc20
I know beanies are upset that dramas will be postponed due to the Winter Olympics, but I’m excited to see performances like this one:
bong-soo
January 24, 2022 at 9:15 PM
I think I am out of luck in running the video @wishfultoki. Message tells me it is not available.
WishfulToki
January 25, 2022 at 6:43 AM
Oh bother. Well, if you look up videos of Cha Jungwhan (Korean) or Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan) you’ll see what I mean.
bong-soo
January 25, 2022 at 7:56 AM
Thanks for the tips. I don’t follow figure skating but do enjoy it. I will keep an eye out for Cha Jung-hwan who is only 20! On the other hand I do remember watching Yuzuru Hanyu. Was it the Sochi Olympics? I was surprised see see that he is now 27!
WishfulToki
January 25, 2022 at 10:05 AM
Yeah, Yuzuru Hanyu won in 2014 and 2018. He is going for this 3rd Olympic medal this year. There are a few skaters who can challenge him. It will be dramatic.
bong-soo
January 25, 2022 at 10:33 AM
I watched a lot of figure skating at the Sochi Olympics. It was my morning routine living in NYC (EST). What ever the time difference it seems to me around 10 am or so my time the evening program in Sochi would begin and NBC had as commentators Johnny Weir, Tara Lipinski and Terry Gannon. It was great fun.
mmmmm
January 25, 2022 at 9:12 AM
Marvelous! Magnificent! I was tearing up watching his performance. My heart dropped when I saw him falling when he was doing the first spin.
mmmmm
January 25, 2022 at 9:19 AM
I watched it twice and the second time made me realize even more of a talent he is. He made a mistake, but he came back and perform brilliantly with so much heart and poise. I’m so impressed. Thank you for sharing, Toki!
WishfulToki
January 25, 2022 at 10:05 AM
Exactly, he recovered from the mistake and went on to skate a superb program. The second part made me tear up because he really interpreted the music. I’m so glad you liked it. 😊
mmmmm
January 25, 2022 at 11:24 AM
I don’t know much about music apart from that it sounds good and watching him perform made me emotional. It is a work of art. Perhaps because he and his coach really interpreted the music, that must be why his movements look so delicate and not “dry”. It was sublime. I think I love watching him skate even more than Queen Kim Yuna.
mmmmm
January 25, 2022 at 10:01 AM
I think now I’ve become his fan. His skating is just so so good. They were all wonderful. He tends to fall sometimes, but his figure skating is so delicate. It is a truly masterpiece.
WishfulToki
January 25, 2022 at 10:26 AM
Yay! 😍
A lot of skaters focus on jumps nowadays because that’s how they get the most points, so I’m always impressed when they can manage the jumps and produce a work of art. You will probably enjoy watching Yuzuru Hanyu as well.
mmmmm
January 25, 2022 at 11:26 AM
I saw one of Hanyu’s ice skating videos recommended to me on YT, so I clicked and watched him perform. I didn’t connect with his movements as much I stopped the video pretty fast and came back to search for more of Cha Junhwan’s videos. 🥰
bbstl 🧹
January 25, 2022 at 7:19 PM
Thank you, toki! I am all in for 🇰🇷
WishfulToki
January 6, 2022 at 6:32 PM
That would make a great kdrama 😉
Ally
January 6, 2022 at 6:53 PM
Is this KWK in Hello? It’s me!? I think o remember that line! Lol! Oh, since I’m here. What are some good Joseon and Goryeo primers for beginning sageuk kdrama watchers ?
WishfulToki
January 6, 2022 at 8:06 PM
Well remembered! Yes, that’s him in Ep. 1 of “Hello, it’s me”
Well, my sageuk gateway was JUMONG (2006) but at the time I had no idea 81 episodes was considered long. 😀 Time-travel dramas are a good way to ease beginners into sageuks because both viewers and characters are fish out of drama. Recommendations: for Joseon (Splish Splash Love, Queen in Hyun’s Man, Live Up To Your Name; Goryeo (Faith, Scarlet Heart, with caution).
MR. SUNSHINE brought a lot of “Western” people to kdramas so it’s worth a try. But it’s pretty serious. If they want something classic, I’d go for JEWEL IN THE PALACE or CHUNO.
Fun options could be SUNGKYUNKWAN SCANDAL and THE TALE OF NOKDU. Even my father watched Nokdu. I still have to watch it myself.
I’m sure sageuk beanies have more recommendations!
Ally
January 7, 2022 at 4:58 AM
I should clarify, where would one find accurate historical information about Goryeo and Joseon time periods (online and easy to access and read) after they’ve fallen into the rabbit hole of sageuks? I have a whole FB group of of doctors who are watching Red Sleeve who want more historical background. One is watching Goblin and Gong Yoo’s mane made her curious why they stopped wearing their hair down. 😂
WishfulToki
January 8, 2022 at 8:42 AM
Oh, I misunderstood the question! This is a great place to start: https://thetalkingcupboard.com/
Ally
January 8, 2022 at 6:01 PM
That’s the one I recommended as well. Glad it’s what you like too.
WishfulToki
January 6, 2022 at 8:14 PM
Also for Goryeo: THE KING LOVES. It was my kid sister’s first drama.
parkchuna is looking for an Emperor Penguin 🍉
January 6, 2022 at 11:34 PM
Aww i love him and the dad in this.. so funny and perfect love-pretend-hate r/ship.
kiara
January 7, 2022 at 4:34 PM
Good to see you Toki <3.
WishfulToki
October 15, 2021 at 3:13 PM
I stopped watching LOVERS OF THE RED SKY after Ep. 6 I’m afraid (I’m just too busy and it isn’t particularly thrilling? Apologies for going AWOL at the sageuk club).
The only drama I’m watching is THE STORY OF MING LAN. I love love the opening instrumental track, and at episode 20 things finally got interesting.
cc: @kiara @marcusnyc20nyc20 @ndlessjoie @mmmmm
WishfulToki
October 15, 2021 at 3:16 PM
Ack, that should be @marcusnyc20
Anyway, I hope all of you are well and watching some good dramas!
mugyuljoie is preciousss
October 15, 2021 at 8:03 PM
I’m waiting for Junho’s sageuk and watching Hometown Cha Cha Cha (just okay) and Dali and Cocky Prince.
PYC
October 15, 2021 at 11:16 PM
I watched Ming Lan on and off (not interested in the first lover arc)….until the divorce news of ZLY of FXF, it broke the magic right away.
Hope this didn’t spoil your watch.
mmmmm
October 16, 2021 at 5:04 AM
Hi! I stopped Cha*3 at ep 6 and haven’t found any reason to make me want to go back yet. I am watching Darli at the moment and I’m enjoying this one a lot! 🤩
Have you watched the Tree with Deep Roots? What do you think about it compared to SFD?
bong-soo
October 16, 2021 at 7:33 AM
Hi Toki! You have taken on the 73 episodes of MING LAN. Enjoy the journey.
I never started RED SKY and I am passing on THE KING’S AFFECTION. I hope you will be checking out the two other upcoming sageuks: RED SLEEVE CUFF and INSPECTOR JOY. I plan on watching both. I think I can handle one (maybe) ‘heavy’ and one ‘light’ sageuk at the same time. 2 heavies I don’t think so. Along with the two upcoming sageuks I plan on watching JIRISAN (all 3 on Viki US) and Park Hyung-sik’s return to kdrama land: HAPPINESS (availability permitting). So my viewing card will be filling up.
Recently my viewing: HOMETOWN (not CHA CHA CHA) dropped after 6 episodes, finished cdrama historical mystery CHONG MING WEI (2018), current with THE VEIL and D&G. I decided to work in the gritty cops/crime/mystery cdrama DOUBLE TAP (2021) which recently became available on Viki and it has really grabbed my attention. So that’s what’s going on.
purplefall
October 16, 2021 at 6:14 PM
I’m a huge fan! Ming Lan is one of the best period C-dramas made in the recent years. I’ve watched it non-skipped 3 times already and will probably rewatch it again whenever I have time. Such a solid plot with many endearing characters, I also pick up many valuable life lessons along the way. Thumbs up!
Kudo Ran
October 17, 2021 at 11:31 AM
I love that show <3 !!!!!!! enjoy the ride Toki 🙂
kiara
October 18, 2021 at 10:44 AM
Hi @wishfultoki,
I hope you are doing well. I’m checking new dramas out, but I can’t seem to stick with anything besides a couple of JBTC shows that I’m watching in turtle speed.
I gave RED SKY 8 episodes, but now and then, I’d speed watch some episodes for the pretty. I don’t know why I even bother.
Thanks to the veteran actors, the KING’S AFFECTION pilot episode was engaging and a bit darker than I expected. I hope they’ll keep this show grounded. I can’t survive on fluff alone.LOL
I guess we are going to wait a long time for Jeong Hyun-min for a well-written sageuk.
I love MING LAN, and I hope you are going to enjoy the rest of it. Things will get more interesting after episode 20, but I did appreciate the time spent on Ming Lan’s earlier years and her family. I felt like I got to know her more.
WishfulToki
September 18, 2021 at 7:14 AM
It’s mid-September! Time to assess my bean count, which is looking puny again. Compared to my 2019 and 2020 watchlist, I’m watching mostly historical/costume dramas. I’ve also watched more Cdramas this year than in the past.
Kdramas
1. Secret Royal Inspector (KBS2)
2. River Where the Moon Rises (KBS2)
3. Vincenzo (TvN)
4. Bossam: Stealing Fate (MBN)
5. Imitation (KBS2)
Cdramas
1. The Long Ballad
2. The Rebel Princess
Older dramas
1. Kim Su Ro (2010)
2. A Piece of Your Mind (2020)
3. Falling for Innocence (2015)
4. The Romance of Tiger and Rose (2020)
5. Hannari Girori no Yoriko-san (2018).
Jdrama. 4 episodes. I think you’d like it @kudoran
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
September 18, 2021 at 7:58 PM
Oh Toki, what did you think of A Piece of Your Mind?
bong-soo
September 18, 2021 at 8:20 PM
Toki, as of now we only have BOSSAM in common. I know the origin of your image but perhaps in an ‘alternate’ BOSSAM universe Ba-woo and Dae-yeob could have been real friends.
(Both Jung Il-woo and Shin Hyun-Soo, particularly SHS, looked great in hanbok.)
Kudo Ran
September 19, 2021 at 5:03 AM
thanks for the reco’ and the tag Toki 🙂
(might have missed your post otherwise, ’cause I haven’t checked the fanwall in ages 🙁 )
I’ve started A piece of your mind and finished When the weather is fine which was fine 🙂 .
I watched Falling for innocence a few years ago, it has some good laughs moments in it ^^ .
WishfulToki
September 17, 2021 at 5:15 PM
So, I think LOVERS OF THE RED SKY is improving … or I have learned to enjoy the obvious changes to historical names and places (I keep cracking up at “Gwanyang” instead of “Hanyang”).
I still have lots of questions but I enjoyed Ep. 4 so much that I wrote a recap. Oops. https://sageukclub.wordpress.com/2021/09/17/lovers-of-the-red-sky-episode-4-review/
Kurama
September 18, 2021 at 1:19 AM
I was wondering the author of the original novel wrote the story with real historic figures or created her own dynasty too?
WishfulToki
September 18, 2021 at 4:25 AM
I think she used real historic figures. In the early news articles and promos that talked about the drama adaptation, the princes were Anpyeong (Yangmyeong) and Suyang (Juhyang).
https://www.dramabeans.com/2016/12/sbs-to-adapt-moonsun-sungkyunkwan-authors-newest-novel/
Kurama
September 18, 2021 at 6:20 AM
Oh ok, thank you 🙂
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
September 18, 2021 at 8:06 PM
Ahhh! I missed a Butterfly Activation scene!
WishfulToki
September 14, 2021 at 8:01 AM
Review of Ep 3: in which I enlisted my sister to watch with me and tried to figure out some of the mythology.
#LoversOfTheRedSky
https://sageukclub.wordpress.com/2021/09/13/lovers-of-the-red-sky-episode-3-review/
WishfulToki
September 14, 2021 at 8:02 AM
Accurate portrayal of me trying to keep up with all the sageuks @sicarius
bong-soo
September 14, 2021 at 1:39 PM
Oh my @wishfultoki! Is that my boy Chan (30B17)? Chan what has life done to you?
Here is my situation. I just returned from two weeks of traveling with no kdramas watched and a few DB comments made after checking in now and then. I have a guest for the rest of this week. I currently have 2 dramas on my viewing plate: HP2 and POL U (preferred to PU) which I will catch up on.
Just before departing I discovered that LOVERS OF THE RED SKY would not be a traditional sageuk.
I am on the fence but leaning against trying to get caught up. I planned to pass on KBS’s AFFECTION.
At this stage of the game I think I may just wait for MBC’s THE RED SLEEVE CUFF (Junho, Lee Se-young) premiering on Nov. 5.
Toki, I will read your RED SKY reviews and make a decision.
WishfulToki
September 14, 2021 at 7:09 PM
Lockdown did this to Chan 😂
I wouldn’t bother with RED SKY unless you like fantasy. I’m watching for Kim Yoo-jung. I’m also passing on AFFECTION so will join you on Nov. 5th for RED SLEEVE CUFF.
I had HP2 on my list but I saw spoilers on the fan wall and am no longer interested 😢 I will watch the band scenes on YouTube.
bong-soo
September 14, 2021 at 7:50 PM
Comment was deleted
bong-soo
September 14, 2021 at 7:53 PM
MDL has tvN’s TALE OF THE SECRET ROYAL INSPECTOR AND JO YI (Taecyon, Kim Hye-yoon) airing episode one on Nov. 1 so that would be a M/T sageuk comedic drama.
MDL has RED SLEEVE CUFF airing episode one on Nov. 5 so that would be a F/S sageuk drama.
I will probably juggle both of those dramas and as they wrap up KBS’s WHEN FLOWERS BLOOM, I THINK OF THE MOON (Yoo Seung-ho, Lee Hye-ri) according to MDL will air episode one on Dec. 20, 2021 running 16 episodes M/T until Feb. 15, 2022.
So there is more sageuk action running from the beginning of November well into February, 2022.
WishfulToki
September 14, 2021 at 8:15 PM
Jeonha, kill me now! 🤣
Out of those 3, I’ll try RED CUFF SLEEVE. Not sure about the other two, though I love Yoo Seung-ho.
bong-soo
September 15, 2021 at 8:14 PM
I am also a YSH fan although I have only seen him in two dramas: the sageuk RULER: MASTER OF THE MASK, and INAR.
dramalover4ever
September 15, 2021 at 1:47 PM
Thanks Toki. Such a pity that dbs isn’t recapping. I wish I’d been around in the earlier days of javabeans.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
September 15, 2021 at 10:51 PM
Just posted my summary and breakdown of the lore on my wall. Sorry if you got like 10 tags whilst I was trying to figure out formatting : )
WishfulToki
September 16, 2021 at 6:48 AM
Wowo, thank you Sic! It looks great! I’ll watch Episodes 5-6 and then comment in more detail.
WishfulToki
September 9, 2021 at 8:18 PM
Real life keeps me busy nowadays, but that also means I have less time to reconsider my first impressions. So, here’s my honest review of LOVERS OF THE RED SKY Episode 2.
https://sageukclub.wordpress.com/2021/09/09/lovers-of-the-red-sky-episode-2-review/
mugyuljoie is preciousss
September 9, 2021 at 8:44 PM
I think I’m going to wait for a true sageuk. Two are coming up soon.
WishfulToki
September 9, 2021 at 8:45 PM
The Junho one and …?
mugyuljoie is preciousss
September 9, 2021 at 9:15 PM
Affection with Park Eun Bin as a crown prince.
mugyuljoie is preciousss
September 9, 2021 at 9:16 PM
So an almost true sageuk vibe?
WishfulToki
September 10, 2021 at 6:30 AM
Uh-huh… let me know what you think. I don’t have it on my list.
Kurama
September 9, 2021 at 11:50 PM
Taecyeon one?
Affection being not a historic one.
mugyuljoie is preciousss
September 9, 2021 at 11:59 PM
Probably not.
WishfulToki
September 10, 2021 at 6:30 AM
2PM sageuks LOL 😂
Kurama
September 10, 2021 at 7:16 AM
To be honest, for both dramas I will test them for the actresses :p
Fly Colours
September 9, 2021 at 8:59 PM
Omo, Toki, I didn’t know you were recapping this, so great! Our little Bossam fanclub was the highlight of my drama year so far🥳
Fly Colours
September 9, 2021 at 9:09 PM
“His transformation into a CGI demon creature gave me nightmares, though on second watch it seems like he just had a bad hair day.” got me laughing. Watching it, I thought wow, that’s a cray mane of glory 🤣
Anyways, totally agree with your assessment: so far, so sageuk
But everything and everyone is extra pretty, and the gods are keeping it entertaining, so I’m having fun. Personally, I’m hoping for more Demonic Haram and less Evil Prince brooding in the bathtub
Mani-chan
September 10, 2021 at 8:31 AM
That demon transformation was so bad I couldn’t even.
Fly Colours
September 10, 2021 at 1:47 PM
Demon Haram jumping over the trees did look a bit silly🤣 The vibe of this reminds me of Arang and the Magistrate, I kind of dig this kind of Fairytale camp
Possum
September 12, 2021 at 3:28 AM
So far I’m in, fairytale camp and all! (I thought demonic Ha Ram looked like Edward Scissorhands😉)
Fly Colours
September 12, 2021 at 5:39 AM
Now that you say it, he does have an air… I guess it’s the crazy hair/extreme paleness combo 😂
WishfulToki
September 10, 2021 at 6:37 AM
I’m not writing full recaps, just a quick overview followed by my thoughts. I was wary of writing reviews rather than recaps because others will have different opinions – and I hate it when a reviewer ruins a show for me with too much criticism. Hopefully, I won’t do that, though it is what DB trained me for these last few years. 😁
I don’t know if I can handle a lot of demonic characters so I’m hoping the drama focuses more on painting. Evil Prince brooding is boooring, even though Kwak Si Yang looks handsome.
FlyingTool
September 10, 2021 at 12:30 PM
Have you seen Painter of the Wind?
dramalover4ever
September 10, 2021 at 4:01 PM
I think I saw this, years ago, before I was aware of how much Korean drama was out there. From memory, it was lovely. I need to see it again though. I guess I’ll have to go to that other site to do so. I’ve been taking a Chinese drama detour and saw about 2/3 of Rebel Princess, The Imperial Coroner, YinYang Master, and now Lost in 1949. Except for TEC, every minute of which was enjoyable, they have just been fillers while I’ve been waiting for a better historical kdrama. The payoff has been that I’ve discovered Zhou Yiwei and Chen Kun 😍😍😍😍😍
WishfulToki
September 10, 2021 at 8:07 PM
@jorobertson Great minds think alike! I also took a Chinese detour while waiting for new sageuks. Did you finish Rebel Princess? It kind of drags in the middle but Episodes 60-68 were good. I actually gasped at a plot twist even though I knew it was coming 😂 Xiao Qi is amazing. 🤩
@hebang I have not seen Painter of the Wind yet. I am waiting for it to be a available on my regular Viki Pass. 😅
dramalover4ever
September 10, 2021 at 3:52 PM
Reviews are good. Recaps involve so much work, so don’t… Speaking for myself, I can cope with an other opinion. I don’t have to agree, and it won’t spoil the pleasure of watching, and then we can discuss. 😁
dramalover4ever
September 10, 2021 at 9:08 PM
I didn’t finish Rebel Princess. I must go back then for the plot twist, but instead I watched as much Zhou Yiwei as I could in other dramas (loved Great Shaolin). Xiao Qi is the quintessential actor. I wish I could understand Chinese because the “I, the Actor” performances with Zhou Yiwei ‘s performances and Xiao Qi as a judge looks very interesting. I also loved King’s War and The Three Kingdoms, which I watched some time ago. They both made me want to know about the history. They are very talky, strategic, intellectually agile, and rely on good subs. I’m sure I missed a heap because of those limitations. I can’t get enough of history told through drama.
WishfulToki
September 14, 2021 at 7:54 AM
Oh, you could watch Ep. 49-50, and Ep. 60-68, where stuff finally happens. Xiao Qi is even more amazing in the final episodes if you can believe that! You can skip the kidnapped Awu parts.
dramalover4ever
September 14, 2021 at 2:31 PM
Will do. Currently on episode 27 of 40+ of Lost in 1949. Chen Kun. I love this period too. From between the wars until the beginning of the Republic. Lots of propaganda but it’s even interesting to see that spin.
dramalover4ever
September 10, 2021 at 2:50 AM
Thanks, Toki. I posted a comment, but I’m not sure if it worked. Very good of you to do this in your “spare” time. I’ll keep watching because it’s pretty, but I’ll be on the watch for a more historical sageuk. I’d like to see something more like Six Flying Dragons and Tree with Deep Roots.
WishfulToki
September 10, 2021 at 6:38 AM
Sigh. You summed this up nicely. We were really spoiled with Bossam.