#Han Seung Woo imagines

[theadusa]

Everything I watch in Jan 2024

I was going to post my annual everything I watched in 2023 post but I feel like I missed my opportunity, so here is my everything I watched in January 2024... (Be Warned there are some spoilers, I do try to mark them throughout the review)

My Lovely Boxer (2023, Kim Min-joo)

Main leads: Lee Sang-yeob, Kim So-hye, Park Ji-hwan, Kim Hyung-mook, Kim Jin-woo, Ha Seung-ri, Chae Won-bin

Country: S. Korea

Run: August 21 to Oct 2, 2023 (KBS2, Monday and Tuesday @21:45 (KST))

Episodes: 12, 70 min

Thoughts: Lee Kwon-sook (Kim So-hye) is a boxer who is forcibly thrown back into the world boxing that she has retired from by a sports agent Kim Tae-young (Lee Sang-yeob). I really liked how they balanced the characters. Lee Kwon-sook is a cheerful girl who is constantly haunted by her past. And she is allowed agency to do what she can do, despite the efforts of others. And the relationship between Lee Kwon-sook and Kim Tae-young, though slightly toxic, works in an odd way. I did have problems with how they reconnected her with her father.I personally wouldn’t have forgiven him. However, I loved the relationship with Han Ah-reum, and just how that story ends. I thought it was done very well. Overall I have really enjoyed this drama. Rating: 

Unlock My Boss (2022-2023, Kim Hyung-min)

Main leads: Chae Jong-hyeop, Seo Eun-soo, Park Sung-woong

Country: S. Korea

Run: Dec 7, 2022 to Jan 12, 2023 (ENA, Wednesday and Thursday @21:00 (KST))

Episodes: 12, 60 min

Thoughts: Oh wow, this is more enjoyable than I imagined. Chase Jong-hyeop as Park In-seong is so fun. He is adorable, down to earth but capable. Jun Se-yeon (Seo Eun-soo) was amazing and I loved her complexities as a character. And the trio of Kim Seon-joo (Park Sung-woong), Park In-seong, and Jun Se-yeon, was so fun and I loved the little family they formed. I literally cried so much during this show for no reason. Like the zoom into the phone literally made me sob each time for no reason. Rating: Who knew electronics can have that much range?

Night Has Come (2023, Kang Min-Ji)

Main leads: Lee Jae-In, Kim Woo-Seok, Choi Ye-Bin, Cha Woo-Min, Ahn Ji-Ho, Jung So-Ri

Country: S. Korea

Run: Dec 4,, 2023 ( U+mobiletv)

Episodes: 12, 35 to 40 min

Thoughts: This started off really good. A class gets thrust into a mafia game to the death. You along with the characters are wondering who is the mafia among the students and who is forcing this game. It is really interesting, but the episodes follow the same pattern. The end you find everything out, and it's kind of stupied. They had a classmate who committed sucide due to a badly edited image of herself on a skimply clad woman’s body. Which is yeah bad. Then her parents take revenge on the whole class. They are placed in this mafia simulator to repeat the game over and over again. It ends with Lee Yoon-seo able to remember everything, but still trapped in the simulator. Like where their parents are. People must be concerned right. Rating: Sisphyus boulder, I guess…

The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract (2023-2024, Go Nam-jeong)

Main leads: Lee Se-young, Bae In-hyuk, Joo Hyun-young, Yoo Seon-ho, Jo Bok-rae

Country: S. Korea

Run: Nov 24, 2023 to Jan 6, 2024 (MBC TV Friday and Saturday @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 12, 70 min

Thoughts: This was a cute drama. It starts off with a cute romance between a progressive woman in Joseon and a sick scholar. However, it quickly becomes a tragedy and she is sent to the year 2023 with her hand maid Sa-wol (Joo Hyun-young). It quickly becomes a fish out of water for Park Yeon-woo (Lee Se-young), but luckly she meets the recacrante of her late husband Kang Tae-ha (Bae In-hyuk) and they make a deal. It is a cute drama and I loved the cast of characters. Yeon-woo is easy to root for. Sa-wol is adorable, and adapts quickly. Kang Tae-ha is prickly but has a heart of gold. It's dramatic and fun. It's nothing special, but oh is it so good. My favorite part is Yeon-woo and Sa-wol’s relationship. Literally there is a scene with those two that reflects a romantic scene in Perfect Marriage Revenage (2023) which I can’t stop thinking about. Overall I just really enjoyed my time. Rating: butterflies everytime I think about you…

Joseon Attorney: A Morality (2023,Choi Jin-young)

Main leads: Woo Do-hwan, Bona, Cha Hak-yeon

Country: S. Korea

Run: March 31 to May 5, 2023 (MBC TV Friday and Saturday @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts:  This was a lot like Taxi Driver. In the way you have an episodic feel with a charismatic male lead seeking revenge and helping people. I had a lot of fun with this show, and I don’t use the comparison lightly either. I really had fun with it. The romance was okay, but I liked the different stories, and the main revenge plot was easy to follow along with. Woo Do-hwan is a great actor and meant to be a leading man. It's definitely  not my favorite and there are a few things that needed changing but it was fun overall! Rating: Who do you call?... Joseon Attorney!!!

KBS Drama Special 14 (2023, Choi Ja-won, Yun Tae-woo, Cho Il-yeon, Choi Yi-kyung, Wi Jae-hwa, Kwon Oh-joo,Park Eun-seo, Jo Soo-yeong, Kim Ik-hyun)

Main leads: Lee Jae-won, Choi Seong-won, and Kim Kang-hyeon,  Kim Won-hae, Min Ji-ah, Ahn Se-bin and Park Ji-ah, Lee Min-jae, Kim Hyun-soo, and Kang Na-eon,  Moon Woo-jin, Park Seo-kyung, Park Ha-sun, Kim Joo-heon, Kim Do-hoon, Chae Won-bin, Kim Dong-hwi, Jo A-ram, Shim Yi-young, Joo Seok-tae,  Ren, Park Sang-nam, Hong Seung-hee, Hahm Eun-jung,  Kim Kang-min, Yoon San-ha, Baek Sung-hyun

Country: S. Korea

Run: OCT 14 to Dec 16, 2023 (KBS, Saturday 21:50 to 22:50 (KST))

Episodes: 10, 60 to 80 min

Thoughts: This is a yearly anthogolgy series that follows various characters in various time periods with various goals. I thought a lot of them were really cool and interesting. “Love Attack” was by far one of my favorites, but I also really liked “The True Love of Madam” which was shocking for me.  It was also hard to find any subs for “Overlap, Knife, Knife” so I had to rely on visual cues and the small amount of Korean I know. But I thought this was a fun anthrologie series, and the stories are fun and fresh. Rating: I love getting short and quick stories like this, its the reason I love short films so much.

A Good Day to Be a Dog (2023-2024, Baek In-ah)

Main leads: Park Gyu-young, Cha Eun-woo, Lee Hyun-woo

Country: S. Korea

Run: Oct 11, 2023 to Jan 10, 2024 (MBC, Wednesday 21:00 (KST))

Episodes: 14, 70 min

Thoughts: Apparently it is very different from the webtoon ( which I have never read), but I found it entertaining. It is cute and lighthearted. I always like when its past lives, I think it adds a fun element to romances. Though I do think the schedule of the show hindered my enjoyment, because it would be so long between episodes. They also lost me at the end, I can not lie. Rating/Spoiler: Also I would be so angery if I found out my family curse passed down for generations was over a misunderstanding. I would want an apology, reparations, and revenge. On another note, I would also be so pissed if I killed myself to save my servant's baby; then my boyfriend finished off the dying father, then cursed the child and its offspring. I would be pissed, like my scarfice was for not. Go off mountain spirit I guess…

My 20th Twenty (2023, N/A)

Main leads: Choi Yu Ju , Jung Su Bin

Country: S. Korea

Run: April 21 to may 27, 2023 (Wavve, Friday and Saturday)

Episodes: 12, 15 min

Thoughts: This show was good for what it was. It has the vibe of a college student film with a mix of those youtube series made by middle schoolers back in 2009. And I mean that with the highest praise. The sound mixing was off, they had limited cast (background actors is what you are looking for), no interesting lighting (but very well light- i.e the student film vibes), and the actors new to the scene. I loved every motherfucking moment. It was so cheesy, the script was bad, and nothing made sense. But I knew that it was made with passion. Rating: It would be horrifying being 20 forever

Taxi Driver Season 2 (2023, Oh Sang-ho)

Main leads: Lee Je-hoon, Kim Eui-sung, Pyo Ye-jin, Jang Hyuk-jin, Bae Yoo-ram, Shin Jae-ha

Country: S. Korea

Run: Feb 17 to April 15, 2023 (SBS, TV Friday and Saturday @22:00 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: Back in action the second season is so much fun and entertaining. I actually like it better than the first. And I said this once and I’ll say it again Lee Je-hoon is made to be an action star. He’s as great as Kim Do-gi. I also liked that Ahn Go-eun (Pyo Ye-jin)  had a larger role this season. I also just love the friendship in the Rainbow Taxi service. Just so fun. Rating: imagine being taken down by a taxi service…

Taxi Driver Special (2023, SBS)

Main leads:  Lee Je-hoon, Kim Eui-sung, Pyo Ye-jin, Jang Hyuk-jin, Bae Yoo-ram, Shin Jae-ha

Country: S. Korea

Run: Feb 16 to March 4, 2023 ( KBS)

Episodes: 2, 60 -120 min

Thoughts: This was fun seeing the cast reflect on the episodes and their characters. Its also cool just seeing a reply of everything that happened. You could tell how much Lee Je-hoon loves playing Kim Do-gi. Rating: I am excited for the 3rd season…

Brain Works (2023, Park Kyung-seon)

Main leads: Jung Yong-hwa, Cha Tae-hyun, Kwak Sun-young, Ye Ji-won

Country: S. Korea

Run: Jan 2 to Fe 28, 2023 (KBS2 Monday and Tuesday @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 75 min

Thoughts:This show is weird. I think most cop shows are weird but this one especially. I did like the bromance in this, between Shin Ha-ru (Jung Yong-hwa) and Geum Myung-se (Ch Tae-hyun). I did think neuroscience was weird and defies logic. The only good thing about it was when they didn’t completely vilify Pyschopaths, because it tends to be more complicated than the mainstream likes to show. It still left a lot to be desired but it was there. Also when he lowkey kidnapped and torture that kid, oh my god, like he was a little punk and deserved to go to trail but my god. Rating: This is lowkey giving Minority Report tbh…

My Cuteness is about to expire!? (2022,  Tanabe Shigenori)

Main leads: Yamada Ryosuke, Yoshine Kyoko 

Country: Japan 

Run: April 16 to June 11, 2022 (TV Asahi, Saturday 23:30)

Episodes: 9, 23 to 47 min

Thoughts: Maruya is your typical male narcissist who works in sales. He uses his cuteness to stake by in life, to make up for his average skills. One day he is visited by his future self, whom he deems ugly, tells him that his cuteness is going to expire. He decides, after relizing his crush, the only way to prevent this is to date Sanada, a robotic newbie to the sales team. It is cute and Maruya and Sanada are fun as a couple, plus if you have the time you could watch this in a day. Rating: I’m Ichinose calling every single person every 10 seconds sobbing…

My Dearest Pt 1 (2023, Hwang Jin-young)

Main leads: Namkoong Min, Ahn Eun-jin, Lee Hak-joo, Lee Da-in, Kim Yoon-woo, Lee Chung-ah

Country: S. Korea

Run: August 4 to Sept 2, 2023 (MBC TV, Friday and Saturday 21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 10, 60 to 90 min

Thoughts:  I was not expecting to like this more than I did. The angst in every episode is so insane. Episode 10 was actually unbearable. I also want to take a moment and appreciate Yoo Gil-chae (Ahn Eun-jin), she is such a complicated  character. She would do anything for her friends, she is willing to do the things that no other women (noble) are willing to do even during times of war. She will stab the man assualting her friend and cover it up. She would cut the amicable cord, she would stab the mother’s hand. She isn’t pure of heart, she neveer claimed to be. I love her so much. And her relationship with Lee Jang-hyun. The ending of episode 10. I was sobbing. Rating: I am trying to hype myself up to watch the next 11 episodes, people had to wait inbetween…

The Escape of the Seven (2023, Kim Soon-ok)

Main leads: Um Ki-joon, Hwang Jung-eum, Lee Joon, Lee Yu-bi, Shin Eun-kyung, Yoon Jong-hoon, Jo Yoon-hee, Jo Jae-yoon

Country: S. Korea

Run: Sept 15 to Nov 17, 2023 (SBS TV Friday and Saturday 22:00 (KST))

Episodes: 17, 70 to 80 min

Thoughts: This was an insane ride. Literally no one in this likeable except for a few, like I didn’t think Min Do-hyuk (Lee Joon) was as bad as the others but oh lordy. It is so melodramatic, which took me off graud for some reason. Going into it I thought it was going to be a serious thriller, but oh boy was I wrong. It was Makjang. Which is fine, and also coming back in style apparently. I’m sat for season 2, but not with much hope. Rating: I actually don’t know the timeline of any of these events, does it expand years months, idk…

My Demon (2023-2024, Choi Ah-il)

Main leads: Kim Yoo-jung, Song Kang, Lee Sang-yi, Kim Hae-sook

Country: S. Korea

Run: Nov 24, 2023 to Jan 20, 2024 (SBS TV,  Friday and Saturday @22:00 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: I was excited for this drama. I really liked Doom at Your Service which promised to have a similar vibe. Which it did to an extent. I actually hate Song Kang in romances and only really like him in nonromance shows. However I think he did really well as Jeong Gu-won. I liked the overall Romance in the show. But I did think the revenge plot got uninteresting and confusing after a while. I do like the ending, I was pretty satisfied with where everyone ended up, which has been a long time since I’ve been this satisfied. 

Welcome to Samdal-ri (2023-2024, Kwon Hye-joo)

Main leads: Ji Chang-wook, Shin Hye-sun

Country: S. Korea

Run: Dec 2, 2023 ti Jan 21, 2024 (JTBC, Saturday and Sunday 22:30 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: This was cute and was far above my expectations. I am always uneasy with Ji Chang Wook, I can’t forgive him for the Melting My Heart drama a few years back, but I would do anything for Shin Hye-sun. So I gave this drama a go, and I liked it. I loved the vibes, and I didn’t mind that revenge wasn’t the main plot. It's like the one line “my enemies will take themselves out before you get a chance to swing.” It was heartwarming and I’m glad that Cho Sam-dal was able to find peace in her hometown. I loved the feel of community. I loved all the Friendships. It was very lovely. And I’m happy at the ending. I will also give my entire heart to Cho Hae-dal and Cha Ha-yul. I loved their mother-daughter relationship. I wanted more screen time for both. Rating: I’m glad there is a little piece of heaven…

 Game of Witches ( 2022-2023, Lee Do-Hyun)

Main leads: Jang Seo-Hee, Kim Kyu-Seon, Lee Hyun-Seok, Oh Chang-Suk. Han Ji-Wan, Ban Hyo-Jung

Country: S. Korea

Run: Oct 11, 2022 to April 14, 2023 (MBC, Monday to Friday 19:15 (KST))

Episodes: 119, 25 to 28 min

Thoughts: *Major Spoilers+ Rant ahead.* This show makes me unneccsarly angery. It is a daily drama and a Makjang to boot, so literally put any and all expectations in the gutter. Everything is nonsensical, and drawn out to reach the 119 mark. Storylines get dropped or move way too fast. It has a strange family tree and for a moment every single person was supposbly related. They have so much evidence agsaint the scheming Kang Ji-ho (Oh Chang-suk) and Joo Se-young (Han Ji-wan) but it goes nowhere. Speaking of Kang Ji-ho, he was just straight up dispicable. I would say more than Se-ypung of Ma Hyun-Deok (Ban Hyo-Jung). He was a terrible partner and father from the start. He literally tossed his entire family out the door for Se-young and eventual power. He only paid attention to his daughter Kang Han-Byeol (Kwon Dan-A) when she was able to benefit him. He was at best neglectful and at worst abusive towards her. Han-byeol was the true victim. Hye-soo (Kim Kyu-Seon) actually had a motive in the beginning. She was just pathetic and weak but once she returned they weirdly sidelined her. Also I don’t know why Kang Ji-ho never got prosecuted for trying to kill Hye-soo. Like I find that to be one of his more egregious crimes. Like that is the mother of your child. You gave your child so much trauma, for what? Power? Like when they tried to redeem him at the end I was just fed up. You can’t make hime out to be the big bad guy for 118 episodes, and then have him do one good thing. He is a bad father, and when Han Byeol grows up she will resent him. Rating: Fuck this show, like actually.

 My Dearest Part 2(2023, Hwang Jin-young)

Main leads: Namkoong Min, Ahn Eun-jin, Lee Hak-joo, Lee Da-in, Kim Yoon-woo, Lee Chung-ah

Country: S. Korea

Run: Oct 13 to Nov 18, 2023 (MBC TV, Friday and Saturday 21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 11, 60 to 90 min

Thoughts: More devastating than the first part. Gil-chae is probably my favorite character I have watched. Her journey in this part is absolutely devastating but she survives. I enjoyed the refutement from blame, that people who experienced the worst horrors known are somehow blamed. Gil Chae pushes back on this sentiment herself. This entire time I just wanted Jang-hyun and Gil Chea together. Which took the entire part for them to finally be happy. I do think the ending was kind of wobbly, and they only really needed 10  episodes not the 11. But who am I to say? Anyways I enjoyed the show overall. Rating: My Dear Husband… 

Kokdu: Season of Diety (2023, Kang Yi-heon, Heo Jun-woo)

Main leads: Kim Jung-hyun, Im Soo-hyang, Kim Da-som, Ahn Woo-yeon, Kim In-kwon, Cha Chung-hwa

Country: S. Korea

Run: Jan 27 to March 24, 2023 (MBC TV Fridays and Saturdays @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: You must be wondering why did you watch this? It only has bad reviews- which is a lie, it is actually a polarizing show. And I can understand. If you go into this show with the lowest expectations imaginable and it might be fun. The scenery is pretty and they make decent use of it. Main Romance is actually not good, I felt no chemistry between Kim Jung-Hyun and Im Soo-hyang. I did like the romance between Tae Jeong-won (Kim Da-som) and Han Cheol (Ahn Woo-yeon) other than that The show overall fell flat. I did like the scenery and the setting. I thought it was fun. Also episode 16 was the most enjoyable episode, which is good for an ending. Rating: I would skip…

I am currently watching:

Marry My Husband

Doctor Slump

Because of Love

Do You Like Brahms?

The Real Has Come!

If you have any kdrama recommendations, please let me know!

[livinglifeonpause]

BP WIBT?

K - HAN SEO BIN (18, 5'8")

K - JANG JI HO (20, 5'8")

K - PARK GWAN YOUNG (23, 5'7")

K - OH SUNG MIN (23, 5'11") - his physical makes up for his babygirl

K - KIM MIN HYUK (25, 5'11")

K - JANG MIN SEO (18, 5'8")

K - HONG KEON HEE (19, 6'2")

K - LEE HOE TAEK (31, 5'7")

K - CHOI WOO JIN (19, 5'7")

K - SUNG HAN BIN (23, 5'10")

K - PARK GUN WOOK (19, 6'0") - omfg.

K - LEE SEUNG HWAN (24, 5'10")

K - JEONG I CHAN (23, 5'10")

K - KIM MIN SEOUNG (20, 5'8")

K - KIM JI WOONG (25, 5'10)

G - CHEN YU GENG (26, 6'0")

G - CHEN JIAN YU (26, 5'10")

G - ZHANG SHUAI BO (22, 6'0")

G - CONG (23, 5'8")

G - KRYSTIAN (24, 5'10") - sure! why not!

G - YUKI (22, 5'8")

G - JAY CHANG (23, 5'9") - 1000%

G - SEOK MATTHEW (22 5'7") - I mean no, but also, i see his muscles

G - MIN (24, 5'9")

G - FENG JUN LAN (25, 5'10")

G - WUMUTI (25, 5'9")

K - LIM JUN SEO (19, 5'10")

K - JUNG MIN GYU (24, 6'1")

K - CHOI JI HO (20, 6'0")

K - JUNG SE YUN (16, 5'8")

K - KIM TAE RAE (22, 5'8")

K - BAK DO HA (21, 5'11") - he'd only care about himself

K - LEE DONG GUN (19, 5'10")

K - JEON HO YOUNG (19, 5'10")

K - KUM JUN HYEON (22, 5'11") - chaotic & messy & wild

K - JANG YEO JUN (19, 5'10")

K - JUNG HWAN ROK (22, 5'9")

K - LEE JEONG HYEON (22, 6'1")

K - CHOI SEUNG HUN (16, 5'7")

K - CHA WOONG KI (22, 5'8") - kekeke

K - SEO WON (23 5'7")

K - JUNG HO JIN (21, 6'0")

K - PARK HYUN BEEN (19, 5'10")

K - PARK HAN BIN (22, 5'9") - we all seen him take control on that choreo practice

K - JEON WOO SEOK (21, 5'8")

K - LEE DONG YEOL (25, 5'9")

K - HAN YU JIN (17, 5'10")

K - KIM GYU VIN (20, 6'0") - not for me bro

K - HAN YU SEOP (20, 5'8")

K - PARK MIN SEOK (22, 6'0")

K - LEE YE DAM (21, 5'5") - sure! why not?

K - PARK JI HOO (18, 5'9")

K - YOON JONG WOO (24, 5'9")

K - MUN JUNG HYUN (19, 6'0")

K - JI YUN SEO (19, 6'0")

K - YOO SEUNG EON (20, 5'10")

K - LEE DA EUL (20 5'7")

K - LEE HWAN HEE (26, 5'9")

G - OSUKE (21, 5'4")

G - CHEN REN YOU (20, 6'0")

G - TOUI (21, 5'11")

G - RICKY (20, 6'0")

G - CHEN KUAN JUI (23, 5'9")

G - WANG ZI HAO (23, 5'10) - yup. babys got moves.

G - NA KAMDEN (23, 6'0") - omfg, could you imagine his face?

G - WEN YE CHEN (24, 6'0")

G - NICE (24, 5'11")

G - KEI (18 5'7")

G - WINNIE (25 5'7")

G - ANTHONNY (20, 5'8")

G - DONG DONG (23, 5'9")

G - YUTO (19 5'7")

G - OUJU (20, 5'7")

G - YUTAKA (25 5'7")

G - HIROTO (22, 5'9")

G - QIU SHENG YANG (23, 5'10")

G - HYO (22, 5'8")

G - TAKUTO (16, 5'5")

G - WANG YAN HONG (25, 5'10")

G - OLLIE (18, 6'0") - no no no no no

G - ICHIKA (31, 6'0")

G - LIN SHI YUAN (25, 6'0")

G - ZHANG HAO (24, 5'11")

G - CHEN LIANG (24, 6'1")

G - RIKU (19, 5'11")

G - ITSUKI (18 5'7")

G - HARUTO (19, 5'7")

G - DANG HONG HAI (20, 5'11")

G - CAI JIN XIN (20, 6'2")

G - YANG JUN (25, 5'9")

G - XUAN HAO (28, 5'11")

G - KEITA (23, 5'5") - he's got lots of energy

G - BRIAN (22, 6'1")

G - HARU (18, 5'6")

G - MA JING XIANG (20, 6'2")

[badwithten]

「2:46 am」Another late night practice took place at the Victon dance room. Although almost everyone else had left hours before Seungwoo was still there practicing. Something about this new choreo for him didn’t feel right. He was assured by the other members that he was doing it correctly but it still didn’t sit right with him. And he wouldn’t be able to rest until he got it right. He was supposed to be home hours ago but he sent you a text saying he was going to be staying behind and not to wait up for him. That’s why it surprised him to see you still awake in the lounge when he showed up to your apartment so late.

“Hey” You got off from the couch and trudged over to him where he stood with a dumbfounded look on his face “You're finally home” 

“Why are you still awake? I told you not to wait up” He sounded disappointed but none of that mattered as he pulled you into a hug, your face buried into his chest and his head on your shoulder. Even though you were the smaller one in this hug you could tell he needed the support the most. 

“I couldn't sleep knowing you're working yourself to death” You look up from his chest and meet his eyes, you can tell he's exhausted although he’d never let it show.

“Let's go to bed” He bent down and place a quick kiss on your lips before sweeping you off of your feet, carrying you to the bedroom with you giggling in his arms. He threw you onto the bed and left for the bathroom to presumably clean himself up a little before going to sleep. In the meantime you got yourself comfortable in bed, waiting for him to return. 

You were already half asleep by the time he came back, but he still pulled you into his arms, not caring if he woke you up. Your back pressed against his chest, with his face pressed into your neck. His steady breath making the small hair of your neck stand on edge. His arms were wrapped tightly around your body as if you were going to run away. It was perfect for a while, you were almost asleep again but you felt him begin to shake behind you, eventually, something wet dribbled down you back. He was crying?

“Seungwoo what's wrong?” You turned in his arms to see his face scrunched up, trying to hold back the tears that were escaping his eyes. “Hey it's ok” 

You let his arms fall away from your body as you swapped positions, this time his head buried in your chest while you held onto him. You could feel his tears soak into your shirt but you couldn't care less, you just wanted him to be ok. You both lay there for a while as he cried, you kept rubbing circles on his back and stroking his hair, trying to calm him down. You could feel that his muscles were tense and shaking under your touch. He needed to let his feelings out, so you let him just be for a while until he was ready to talk. Once he stopped shaking you pulled away to look at his face. His eyes looked so tired and pain, tears stained his cheeks and his eyes were red and puffy. Snot covered his lower lip as he hiccuped for air.

“Please talk to me baby” He opened his mouth to talk but only sobs came out. Your hand came to wipe some of his tears before letting him fall back into his chest. 

“I’m sorry” A small whimper came from him.

“For what? You're allowed to cry, you don’t always have to be strong. Not around me anyway.” As much as he loved the boys, you knew it was hard for him to always be there for him, sometimes he needed a break. But he wouldn't let himself, he was their leader after all.

“But if I’m not there for you or the boys then what?” He wouldn't know what to do with himself if he wasn't the one in charge, the one doing the ‘babysitting’.

“Let me look after you love” 

[binniesoob]

I swear, my mind is a living radio at this point, when I'm not listening to music she plays it...

[leerang]

🐤🐤🐤

[mclarensangel]

Chapter Five- Royal Residences Part One

warnings: mentions of weight, AFAB character, mentions of female body parts, references to the weight of M/C, loosely based on my own research of the ancient Korean royalty system, bullying, loneliness, anxiety, money problems, mentions of how other people view characters body

message me if you feel I need more warnings

3.4k words

You made your way to the front, the sound of your name, leaving nearly everyone shocked but your best friend, who had the biggest grin on her beautiful face. No one had expected you to get through, not even yourself. A blush blankets your face as you make your way to the line at the front. A moment passes as everyone waits for the ladies who did not get through to leave the smaller courtyard.

"Congratulations ladies" you hear Hoseok speak, breaking the silence, whilst looking over each and every one of you. You don't know if you were just imagining it, but the tall and handsome man had sent an almost imperceptible smile your way, making your eyes go wide. "Now, myself and Jungkook will tell you your residences, and we will also assign you 2 maids and a manservant for you to use at your convenience"

"Let's start with the furthest away from this little courtyard shall we?" Jungkook questioned, though the question was rhetorical.

"Bae Suzy, You are in the Sapphire Apartment. Along with the manservants, you brought along with you, you are also being assigned Shin Won-ho as your manservant and Kim Tae-Yeon and Chou Tzu-yu as your maids. Please proceed to your apartment"

"Next we have the Chariote Apartment, the person who will be staying there is Han Sun-Hwa. You are being assigned Lee Jong-Hyun, Jeon So-Yeon and Kwon Yu-Ri. Please proceed."

The process carried on.

"Ruby Apartment is for Hwang Yeji, You are assigned Kang Dong-Ho, Ahn Sol-Bin and An Yu-Jin. Please proceed.

"Opal Apartment. Kim Seol-Hyun. Woo Ji-Ho, Son Chae-Young, Cho Seung-Hee"

"Carnelian Apartment. Kwon Eun-Bi. Yoo Ki-Hyun, Lee Hae-in and Lee Young-Yoo"

"Amber Apartment. Choi Mi-Young. Doh Kyung-Soo, Bae Woo-He, Baek A-Yeon"

"Azurite Apartment. Kim Si-Jeong. Lee Byung-Hun, Go Woo-Ri and Park Hye-Won"

At this point, everyone had left apart from you. "Miss Seo, as you were an unexpected candidate, your apartment is still getting ready and the maids needed a few more moments, so we were trying to prolong this for as long as possible. You have been assigned Moon Jong-Up, Ahn Hye-Jin who goes by Maria or Hwa-Sa and Jun Hyo-Seong. I hope that they treat you well. To prolong this even longer as we have not received the signal that they are ready, we are going to give you a tour, are you okay with that?" The pair asked.

"Perfectly." You responded. "It would be my honour" You carried on with a smile. "Please, Lead the way". The two young men smiled at you, before moving down the stairs towards you. Suddenly, you felt incredibly nervous, these incredibly attractive young men were looking directly at you, with no signs of distate anywhere on their faces or bodies. The men took a space on either side on your, Hoseok moving his arms to point the way out of the courtyard. "Do you have a flower that you appreciate the most?" Jungkook asked "Good question Kookie" Hoseok said, the nickname making your eyes widen again, almost not expecting the men to be so close that they were using nicknames. "We might have your favourite here in one of the gardens"

"Cherry blossoms, Chief State Councillor and High Councillor. My most appreciated flower of all is Cherry Blossom." The two men share a look between each other. "That is our Gracious King's favourite, so much that he has a garden dedicated to it, coincidentally, the garden is right next to your apartment" A small gasp left your lips, the excitement evident not just on your face but on your whole body as you turned to both of them, your hands clasping together joyfully. "Really!?! Can we go there?" You asked hopefully. Both men smiled at your excited state before telling you that you could, and led the way, right to the entrance of the garden. There was a small bridge to cross before you would actually be in the park, and you ran quickly across it, accidentally forgetting about the two men behind you. You span round quickly, a giant smile on your face, trying to look everywhere at everything.

"I take it that you like the garden," a voice behind you, which you quickly identified as Hoseok, spoke. "Almost more than anything in the world," You said without thinking. Both men let out a laugh, which made you look at them with a questioning gaze. "You have almost the same reaction as the Good King". This very sentence made you stop in your spot, your face dropping, looking almost horrified to be compared to the King. "Omo, I am not worthy of being compared to our gracious King" You spoke, anxiously wringing your hands together. "My apologies Lady Seo, we didn't mean to make you anxious," Jungkook said. You noticed a young woman run up to the two men and yourself. She spoke quietly to the men, before bowing and turning away. The two men turned to you, smiling slightly "Your apartment is ready Lady Seo, let us lead you there" Hoseok said. Nodding, you spoke gently "Please do lead the way". You bow gently, allowing the men to turn around and lead the way out of the garden that you had fallen in love with, and almost didn't want to leave.

It took barely two minutes before you arrived in front of the apartment. "This is the Emerald apartment. Next to you, there is the Queen Dowager's Garden, you are not allowed to enter that space without her explicit permission" Jungkook stated sternly. "And on your other side is Lady Hwang" Hoseok finished. This made you smile, your apartments here, being closer to each other than the houses in your town were. "Lady Hwang Yeji is my best friend," You spoke gently, a small but warm smile on your face at the mention of your best friend. "We have known each other since we were born, my eomma likes to say that I have two sets of parents, both our parents raised both of us..." you paused, your smile turning into a frown "well my eomma and Yeji's parents, my appa..." you spoke again, your frown becoming bigger. "You don't need to tell us, Lady Seo" Hoseok said calmly, laying a gentle hand on your shoulder. You look up, and into the handsome man's eyes, your eyes slightly blurry with tears, making something flash in Hoseok's eyes. "I feel like I almost need to" you spoke "My appa, he used to be a good man, until he fell from grace, he lost a lot of his respect, and therefore money, and the money he did keep, he used to drink. He would blame me for his drinking, he would tell me it was my fault, that he wished it was I who died and not my sister. Before I left, he attacked me for the first time, he dragged me by my hair to the floor and yelled at me. My eomma, she's a wonderful woman, she grabbed him by the ear and dragged him out of the house once she realised he was in my room and harming me. Appa had a bruise on his ear still, when I left for the procession. My bruises still remain intact too, but when I remember what my eomma did, the fire in her eyes, I feel proud to be her descendant" You finally finished your story.

You could see anger clearly on both men's faces. "I know I need not worry about my eomma whilst I'm here, she is as fierce as the summer in the sky in the summer sky." The warm smile lay on your lips, remembering your eomma. "She sounds like a wonderful woman" Jungkook spoke, a smile that could be perceived as genuine if there were someone looking on from the outside in.

"Anyway's my Chief Councillor and High Councillor, I must leave your warm presence and settle myself into my apartments. I hope to see you soon Your Honours. May the sun warm your cheeks, and the food fills your bellies" You speak eloquently, bowing low before the two handsome men, before turning and leaving their presence to enter your apartments.

The apartment that you entered was spacious and homely. In the room stood your friends Chan and Changbin with large grins on their faces, along with your assigned manservant and maids.

"My Lady, Your room is this way, would you like me to help you redress" Hyo-Seong spoke, her hand pointing to an area separate from the room you all stood in. The room was separated from the room you were in by a wall of sliding doors. The entire apartment was decorated in green and brown, the sliding doors were made of oak, and the cloth was painted with the seal of the kingdom in the colours your apartment was named after. It was a beautiful sight to behold, and you knew that if you had any spare time, you would ask your maids to retrieve any painting items they could get a hold of so that you could show this image to your eomma when you got home again. You knew that she would take great delight in your painting, and knowing how an apartment within the royal castle looked and would love the painting even more so, knowing it came from her daughter.

"That would be lovely Miss Jun" you spoke to the woman. She nodded her head as a slight bow, walking to the room you now identified as your bedroom. In the room, there was a large box placed near the window, on top of it was a new hanbok ready for you to wear. "Would you like a bath Lady Seo?" Hyo-Seong asked. You shook your head, a feeling of exhaustion coming over you in a quick wave. "Do you think it would be possible to sleep for a short period Miss Jun?" You asked hopefully. "Unfortunately not, My Lady, there is much to do. As you have reached the second stage, you must prepare for a meeting with Queen Dowager. You will soon also be accepting gifts from the royal family, of which I am unsure, but you must prepare to receive them. We must also start preparing you for your interview, and the luncheon that is happening tomorrow. There is also a Royal Banquet that we must prepare you for. I assume you have attended a banquet before, but a royal banquet is much more different to the ones of the high class" The maid in front of you explained your schedule for the coming potential one to two weeks that you would be residing in a royal apartment.

"Very well, then we must begin," You say a small polite smile on your face. "What's first?" you ask. "First My Lady, we must dress you," she says, returning your attention back to the box that had caught your attention when you first walked into the room. You didn't recognise the hanbok, remembering all the ones that you owned. "I apologise, but this is not my hanbok," you tell your maid "No My Lady, the Queen Dowager sent this. It's the first gift from the royal family." Excitement fills your body, knowing that this was something that the Queen Dowager herself had someone make and be sent. "But only 6-7 were predicted, and I'm not the average size", you questioned slightly, the anxiety that you had felt earlier in the day returning in full force. "The Queen Dowager had this one sent specifically, it was a hanbok she had in her storage, she wore it when she was pregnant with the King. She sent a letter along with it" you were told before being handed the letter

Dear Lady Seo,

The Royal Family apologises for not having anything prepared for you. I did not have a gift prepared for you, however, your crest is a crest that has a long line, and the crest on your hanbok is a phoenix. This was my family crest before I married King Sejong, the King's late father. It was a hanbok I wore when I was pregnant with the King. I hope that it does you well, as it is now yours. Please meet me in my gardens at 3.

Sincerely,

Her Royal Highness, The Queen Dowager Kim Eun-Ji

"What time is it?" You ask loudly, waiting for anyone in the household to respond. "2:30" you hear someone yell, unsure of who it was due to the closed doors between you. You feel your face pale. Turning to your maid you speak again "We must hurry, please call Miss Ahn in, time is not on our side". The maid nods, before running the door and calling in the other woman.

Within 20 minutes, your hair had been brushed and moved into a restyled updo, behind held back with a purple dwikkoji, your under clothes being changed for cleaner ones, and then the gifted hanbok was placed onto your body. It fit almost like a glove like it was made for you. The jeogori was a gorgeous dark purple colour, decorated with golden detailing featuring a phoenix, the goreum was also in an off-gold colour. The chima was a black colour with the same golden detail. Your beoseons were black as well as your shoes which were decorated in the same gold detailing. With a few minutes to spare, your maids applied some basic makeup consisting of plant ash to apply a dark brown colour to your eyebrows, safflower was used to apply a light rouge to your lips and cheeks and cherry blossom petals took right from the very cherry blossom garden you had just been in (it was a perfume that was on the dressing table when you got here, you had just assumed it was a gift everyone received) mixed with water was used to make a delicious spelling perfume.

With exactly 10 minutes left before the Queen Dowager wanted to see you, you left your apartment, your manservant Moon Jong-Up directing you, almost acting as your guard as well as your guide. When you arrived outside the Queen Dowagers garden, which only took moments as you quickly found out was right next to your apartment, Mr Moon stepped aside to let you enter first, before following you slightly behind, allowing you to look like you had found the garden yourself.

It doesn't take long to notice the Queen Dowager, it shocked you slightly when you saw that she was wearing the same colours just the other way around. The lady in front of you turns towards you, hearing your footsteps. She waits at the top of the stairs of the Pavilion she was standing in. Once you reach the bottom of the stairs, you bow as low as possible to the elegant woman before you. "You're early Lady Seo" the woman speaks. "My apologies Your Majesty, I was excited to meet you once again." You speak, not allowing your nerves to take over your anxiety.

“Don’t be, it is a good thing for a woman to have, to have time management perfected, especially for a woman. Especially for a woman who may be the future mother of the kingdom, the future queen.” She says, her very words making you blush.

“You speak of me too highly My Queen,” you say. “I am eternally grateful for your gracious gift. The fabric is the softest thing I have ever had touch my skin. If there is anything I can do to show my thankfulness, please allow me to do it. Would you like some tea, Your Royal Highness?” you ask, noticing the teapot and teacups whilst you were looking around in nervousness. 

“You need not worry Lady Seo, this is no longer a test, you do not need to pour my tea for me,” she says, her voice full of authority, before nodding slightly to a man that you almost hadn’t seen when you entered the pavilion. “You intrigue me, Lady Seo, you are so unlike the other candidates, both in looks and mentality. Most of your candidates, when I had asked them why they were doing this, responded with generic answers” she speaks “For his Royal Highness the King’s happiness, to get to know you Your Highness” she carries on, her voice changing to mimic the people she was speaking about, at the sound of her change in voice you let out a giggle, covering your mouth. “But your answer, it was different, you wanted to make your family proud. This was something I wanted when I was a candidate to marry the King's late father” she finishes, the words turning the mood serious once more. A lady, small and almost meek approached the table, taking the teapot and pouring tea into both the cups on the table, before retreating to her spot against the wall of the garden. “You have a beautiful garden My Queen,” you tell her trying to achieve the once jovial mood the pavilion had a matter of minutes ago. “I spent a few brief minutes in the cherry blossom garden, and I truly believe that it was the happiest moment of my life,” you tell her, allowing the smile to fill your face as your mind retrieves the memory you were talking of. 

“The King’s favourite spot is also in the cherry blossom garden, he begged his father to plant the trees when he was still King, persuading him by telling him that he would propose to his future queen in that very garden,” the Queen Dowager tells you, allowing you a little into the past of the King, who you were yet to set eyes upon. 

Before thinking, you blurt out “Were you scared when you made the application to become the late King Se-Jeong’s wife?” A few moments pass, and just as you go to open your mouth to apologise, the dowager stops you. “I was, in fact, I was terrified, to tell you the truth, I never wanted it, but I needed to do it for the pride of my family. I was lucky that I fell in love with the King eventually, and we had a good, long and happy life,” she answers with a small smile on her face, reminiscing on the memories of her past. “I actually have a few questions for you myself if you don't mind”

“It would be my honour to answer your questions My Queen” you respond, nervousness filling your body even more. 

“The king is very… uh… close with his closest men. Would that be a problem with you?” she starts. “Of course not, if our Great King is happy, then I myself shall be happy,” you respond, hoping your answer satisfies her. She nods, with a small hum of approval. 

“And concubines? What are your opinions on the concubines?” she continues her questioning. 

You pause, this was something you had thought about. “Well My Queen, I have a feeling that if I was ever to become Queen, the other two candidates that would have gotten through, would be my school bullies-” the queen cuts you off after hearing of your bullies “Your bullies are in the palace?” She questions with an eyebrow raised. 

“Yes Your Highness, Kim Seol-Hyun and Kwon Eun-Bi, their apartments are Carnelian and Opal if I remember correctly”, the Queen Dowager nods again. “So what would you do if you became Queen and them the concubines?” She asks, her interest even more peaked. 

“Part of me would want to through them into the dungeons like they had threatened they would do with me earlier today. Another part of me would want all of the king's concubines gone but the biggest part of me wants the King to be happy, and if the concubines make My Great King happy, then I shall live with the concubines.” The Queen Dowager looks almost shocked. “The Kings happiness, at the end of the day, will always be my source of happiness, whether I get through to the final round, or I don’t. The King, from what I have heard in rumours spread across cities and towns, near and far, is that when the King is happy, the land thrives, and the people are well. My family are part of his people, and as well as making them proud, I desperately want them to be happy… even my father.” you tell her.

“Your father?"

[oraclekleo]

List of Idols and Actors I know or follow

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Disclaimer

I strongly urge you to take all the tarot readings on this account lightly. All the posts are intended to have an entertaining nature, they are pure speculations and completely made up by me. I can never ever guarantee any of it and you should never take any of the tarot readings for granted. I would like to stress that I know no idol nor actor personally, I never met any of them and all those readings are fictional, imagins, make believe and hypothetical scenarios. Do not base any of your life decisions on a tarot reading only, always use your common sense. If you have issues with tarot cards for religious or other reasons, do not engage in reading my posts.

When you make a request take my life into consideration and be patient. I’m a responsible adult with a full time job, dog, family, friends, duties, house chores and requests from other sources. All these take my time. Also reading tarot cards requires a certain mood, vibe and concentration, it can’t be done just anytime. Count on the time delays, please. I will do my best to complete your requests.

I’m always willing to help out if you yourself consider taking on tarot cards as a hobby. Feel free to ask if you have any inquiries about it, no question is dumb. I don’t know everything but will try to help the best I can.

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Tip me for my readings on ko-fi! Purely optional! All readings are for free now!

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LINK: https://ko-fi.com/oraclekleo

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Requests status:

K-Pop Readings - CLOSED

List of Idols and Actors I included into my ultimate chart and into the Compatibility Calculator:

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Groups:

(G)I-DLE

2PM

3YE

A.C.E

AB6IX

ARGON

ASTRO

ATEEZ

B.A.P

BAE173

BigBang

BIGFLO

Black Pink

BLACK6IX

Block B

BtoB

BTS

BZ BOYS

CIX

CNBlue

CRAVITY

DAY6

DKB

Dreamcatcher

E’LAST

EXO

f(x)

GHOST9

Golden Child

GOT7

GreatGuys

Highlight

History

iKON

IMFACT

IN2IT

INFINITE

JUST B

KARD

KINGDOM

KNK

LUCENTE

LUCY

LUMINOUS

Mamamoo

MAP6

MONSTA X

MY_st

N.Flying

NCT

NIK

NOIR

NU'EST

OMEGA X

ONEUS

ONEWE

ONF

OnlyOneOf

Pentagon

Red Velvet

Seventeen

SF9

SHINee

Shinhwa

Stray Kids

Super Junior

TAN

TARGET

Teen Top

TEMPEST

The Boyz

The King

The Rose

TVXQ

TXT

U-KISS

UNIQ

UNVS

UP10TION

VANNER

VAV

VICTON

VIXX

VOISPER

Vromance

WEi

Winner

WOW

Xdinary Heroes

ZE:A

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Actors + Soloists

Ahn Hyo-seop

Ahn Jae Hyun

BoA

Byeon Woo Seok

Demian

Do Ji Han

Earth

Eric Nam

Gao Hanyu

God

Gong Yoo

Gun

Ha Sungwoon

Hirose Tomoki

Hong Jong-hyun

Hyeok Geun Choe

Cha Hyunseung

Ishikawa Plowden Luke

Jaejoong

Jasper Liu

Jay Park

Ji Chang Wook

Ji Soo

Ji Sung

Johnny Huang

Jongkook

Jung Il Woo

Jung Won Chang

JUNNY

Kang Daniel

Kang Haneul

Kim Jaewook

Kim Soo Hyun

Kim Woobin

Kinchiku Yuuki

Kwak Dong Yeon

Lai Leon Yi

Lee Dong Wook

Lee Jae-wook

Lee Jehoon

Lee Jong Suk

Lee Joon Gi

Lee Min-Ho

Lee Min-ki

Lee Soo Hyuk

Luo Yunxi

Max

Mew

Mike

Nam Joo-hyuk

Off

Park Bo-gum

Park Hae Jin

Park Hyung Sik

Park Seo-joon

Sakaguchi Kentaro

Satoh Takeru

Seo In Guk

Simon Dominic

Simon Gong

Song Kang

Song Weilong

Sota Fukushi

Sung Hoon

Takhon Paing

Timmy Xu

Tsao Yu Ning

Tul

Vardy Wang

Vincent

Wang Rui Chang

Wi Ha Joon

Woo Do Hwan

Xiao Zhan

Xu Kaicheng

Yokohama Ryusei

Yoo Seung Ho

Young-Kwang

Yu Christian

Zee

Zhang Zhe Han

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Members of the listed groups who went solo

+ You are allowed to request any idol or actor or celebrity you like as long as they are 18 years old or older. Including non-asian ones.

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The K-Pop Chart and Compatibility Calculator can be found

HERE - LINK DISABBLED DUE TO MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENTS

(PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!)

(NOT PHONE FRIENDLY, IT'S RECOMMENDED TO ACCESS VIA PC OR LAPTOP)

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[musicjunkie71315]

Song Rating

Song Name: Sacrifice

Artist: Han Seung-woo

Genre: K-pop

Song Rating: 10/10

Today I will be doing a song rating on one of my favorite songs in the whole Kpop genre, Sacrifice, by Han Seung-woo. This song has been in my playlist for a year now and I still listen to it everyday. The beat of the song is so amazing especially when listening to it with headphones as I like to do often. When I listen to this song it makes me imagine someone doing a really dramatic, inspirational dance to it. If a song makes me imagine this then it’s most likely a top tier song in my book. I often find myself around the house trying to do re-enact this and I’m pretty sure I would look quite crazy to someone who was watching me from afar lol. But anyways point aside, I can listen to this song for hours and hours. The lyrics are also very deep. He’s describing someone he’s seems to be deeply attracted to. I’m all for deep romance songs. But anyways this song is top tier and it will always be.

If you want to listen to the song I attached it to this post. Beware that the song is in Korean so don’t be caught off guard by that. But anyways, feel free to tell me what you think of the song in the comments!

10/9/2022

[dramapic]

MASTERLIST

I update this list everytime I watch and review a show. 

Disclaimer: These reviews are subjective and only reflect my opinions. There are no drama on that list that I’ve turned off and all are worthy of a watch. 

Recs welcome!

#1 Crash landing on you 

(사랑의 불시착)

Grade: A++

Genre: Modern, Star-Crossed lovers

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Son Ye-jin (who plays Yoon Se-ri) and Hyun Bin (Ri Jeong-hyeok) have amazing chemistry and every episode plays out like the chapters of an excellent fanfiction. Classic romantic tropes, humour, angst, action, CLOY has it all. Moreover, if you’ve never watched a Kdrama in your life, CLOY is a great starting point—not only will it introduce you to Korean culture but also to popular tropes and codes of the genre.

#2 Rookie historian Goo Hae-ryung 

(신입사관 구해령)

Grade: A++

Genre: Historical, Age gap

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Delightful from end to end, with lots of humour and an engaging story. The romance between Goo Hae-ryung and himbo-prince Dowon will make your heart go soft, especially if you’re into reverse gender dynamics (she’s older and kisses him first *le gasp*)

#3 Memories of the Alhambra 

(알함브라 궁전의 추억)

Grade: B+

Genre: Modern; Sci-fi; Fantasy

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Intriguing premise, great cast and tons of special effects but the romance between Jin-woo (Hyun Bin) and Hee-joo (Park Shin-hye) won't go down in history. On top of that, the ending is a bit wishy-washy in that annoying “maybe there’s more to come” kind of way. Give us a clear cut ending, damnit!

#4 Good doctor 

(굿 닥터)

Grade: B- 

Genre: Modern, Medical drama

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Good heart but the writing is really clumsy at times and the hospital politics don’t make an awful lot of sense. On the bright side, Joo Won is great in the role of Park Si-on.

Note: I haven’t watched the American remake so can’t compare. 

#5 My love from the star/ You from the stars

(별에서 온 그대)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Sci-fi, fantasy, Star-Crossed lovers

Episodes: 21

Happy Ending: Yes-ish

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Jun Ji-hyun is absolutely stellar in the role of Cheon Seong-yi, a ditzy Hallyu* star whose career is going south while Kim Soo-hyun plays the emotionally closed-off alien to perfection. Lots of pinning, a dose of angst mixed with a pinch of wacky humor. 

*Hallyu means “Korean wave” in Chinese and refers to the popularity and spreading of Korean pop-culture outside of Korea. 

#6 Hwarang The Poet Warrior Youth 

(화랑)

Grade: B

Genre: Historical, Coming of age, fake siblings who catch feels

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Cute boys and interesting lore rooted in true facts (the bone rank system and the real Hwarang, the “Flowering Knights” of the Silla kingdom) but the story drags. I guess I expected more bromance and frolicking and less angst. Lastly, the main girl starts off quirky and fun but they quickly transform her into a sobbing mess which becomes real annoying real fast. 

#7 Love in the Moonlight / Moonlight Drawn by Clouds (구르미 그린 달빛)

Grade: A 

Genre: Historical, Romance, Coming of age, Posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 18

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

A classic tale of a girl raised as a boy who ends up in a situation where she needs to do her best to not blow her cover while catching feels (As someone raised on Versailles no bara and Ribbon no Kishi, it remains one of my favourite tropes)

Sweet romance and good characters. The fact that Crown prince Lee Yeong doesn't turn emo when he starts developing feelings for Eunuch Ra-on before discovering she's a girl is the cherry on top of the cake. 

#8 Something in the rain

(밥 잘 사주는 예쁜 누나)

Grade: C 

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes, but it still doesn't make you happy

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Wasted potential! 

Great start but the characterization falls apart quickly and you end up wondering why the main characters keep sabotaging their lives. By the end, despite their reunion, you're left with the impression they've learned nothing and that their relationship is doomed to fall apart. 

On top of it all, watching Jin-ah fight sexism in the workplace and gaining nothing is depressing af (I don’t need realism in my escapism, thank you very much).

Too bad because Son Ye-jin and Jung Hae-in look really good together and the acting is top-notch. My advice is to watch the first 8 episodes then make up your own ending in your head.

#9 Moon embracing the sun 

(해를 품은 달)

Grade: B+

Genre: Historical,Star-Crossed lovers

Episodes: 22

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

A traditional historical drama with all the tropes that go with the genre + a hint of esoterism.

If you love ill-fated relationships, tragic love triangle, evil queens, and amnesia, this is the show for you. Beware, the interrogation/torture scenes are rather brutal. 

#10 My sassy girl 

(엽기적인 그녀)

Grade: B- 

Genre: Historical, Rom-Com

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Cute and lighthearted but easily forgettable. Still worth a watch thanks to Joo Won & Oh Yeon-seo's chemistry. 

#11 Coffee Prince 

(커피프린스 1호점)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern, Posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Solid story, great cast but be ready for a lot of bickering. 

Yoon Eun-hye is a precious bean who manages to sell the story of Eun-chan, a struggling androgynous working-class girl who mistakenly gets hired by a rich guy to play his boyfriend, then becomes his employee, then falls for him while not correcting his assumptions about her gender. Opposite her, Gong Yoo (from Train to Busan fame) is 🥰🥰🥰

Sidenote: Despite Han-kyul's struggle to accept his feelings for Eun-chan, homosexuality isn't treated as a joke or a shameful thing. The one time he goes seek “medical help”, the doctor is depicted as an old, clueless idiot. And honestly, the story would work too if Eun-chan was a guy. 

#12 My girlfriend is a Gumiho/My girlfriend is a Nine-tailed fox 

(내 여자친구는 구미호)

Grade: B+

Genre: Modern; Fantasy

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki - Available on Netflix (FR) too

Campy and goofy. It does look a bit dated (it’s from 2010) and the story is a little predictable but Lee Seung-gi as Cha Dae-woong, an aspiring action film actor and Shin Min-ah as “Gu Mi-ho” the nine-tailed fox looking for a mate are super cute. The show is also a good introduction to Korean folklore.

#13 Goblin / Guardian: The Lonely and Great God / The Lonely and Great God – Goblin 

(쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 – 도깨비)

Grade: A+ 

Genre:  Modern, Historical, Fantasy, bromance

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes-ish

Watched on: Viki 

Unpopular opinion but since I’m not into older guys, I wasn’t invested in the romance between Bride and Goblin until late in the series. I loved everything else though. The show has such a unique tone and atmosphere. It goes from super serious to goofy in no time. The cinematography is gorgeous (especially the historical sets) and you'll cry your eyes out.

#14 Healer 

(힐러)

Grade: A 

Genre:  Modern

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

If you're into toll broody guys and fearless smoll girls, you’ll love Healer. The story is great, the characters are great and the way Jung-hu (played by Ji Chang-wook) and Ji-an (Park Min-young) are horny for each other is peak drama! *chef kiss*

#15 Kangchi the beginning/Gu family book 

(구가의 서)

Grade: B- 

Genre: Historical, Fantasy

Episodes:

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Engaging coming of age story of a half-human half-gumiho looking for his place in this world. If it wasn't for the wishy-washy ending it could have been the perfect mix of action fantasy and romance. 

Special mention for Dam Yeo-wool (played by Suzie Bae) who is a female character who's allowed to be a bit of everything at the same time (strong, kick-ass, funny, cute, romantic) 

#16 Queen for seven days 

(7일의 왕비)

Grade: A 

Genre:  Historical, Romance, Villainous crush

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

With that title don’t expect a HEA but there are plenty of sweet moments along the way to make you appreciate the journey. 

Chae-kyung loves the Prince and the Prince loves Chae-kyung but the King wants to kill the Prince and Chae-kyung is loyal to the King but the King is a tyrant and everyone wants the Prince to take his throne. On top of that the King wants Chae-kyung. Big mess. Lots of feels.

The story is (very) loosely based on real-life Queen Dangyeong, which makes it even more poignant. I cried my eyes out at the end because I’m a big softy.   

#17 Korean Odyssey

(화유기)

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern, Fantasy

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Kinda

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

The show (very loosely based on Journey to the West) has its faults including the wishy-washy ending and the fact that Jin Seon-mi/Sam-jang starts off as a doormat but I ended up liking the relationship developing between the assholish Monkey god and the naive human girl more than I expected.

The side characters are compelling, and the banter and bickering between the deities work really well. If you grew up with Dragon ball, you’ll have a blast trying to match-up the Japanese and Korean names of everyone without looking up Wikipedia.

Lastly, not something I imagined saying after seeing him in Gumiho and Gu family book but Lee Seung-gi as Son Oh-gong = BDE *fans herself* 🥵

#18 Strong Girl Bong-soon 

(힘쎈여자 도봉순)

Grade: A- 

Genre:  Modern, Super-Heroine

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning: Graphic depiction of violence against women

A++ super-heroine story, bad side characters 

First, every girl should aspire to find a Min-hyuk in their life. Someone who'll love them because of their strength, and support them unconditionally. Someone who won't ask them to change or pretend to be somebody else.

Second, western media should learn that a super-heroine can HAVE IT ALL—the superpowers AND the love AND the family. 

My only complaint with the show (and that's why I gave A- instead of A++) is the inclusion of many cringy side characters/situations that spoiled my overall enjoyment (see the caricatural flamboyant gay co-worker, Bong-soon’s mom hitting her dad, the mobsters...)

#19 The K2 

(더 케이투)

Grade: B- 

Genre: Modern, Political

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

The romance is bad and the political story far-fetched but Ji Chang-wook is 🔥🔥PEAK HOTTIE🔥🔥

That being said, I didn’t completely dislike the political intrigue and it was interesting to see the good guy working for the villains (sort of). 

#20 Weightlifting fairy Kim Bok-joo 

(역도요정 김복주)

Grade: A+ 

Genre:  Modern, Coming of age

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Uplifting coming of age story and super sweet romance. Bok-joo (Lee Sung-kyung) & Joon-hyung (Nam Joo-hyuk) are precious children on top of being cutie-patooties. Bok-joo’s insecurities hit hard, especially if you’ve ever been outside the norm of beauty standards.

I liked how the show normalizes therapy and taking care of your mental health.

In one word…

SWAG! 

#21 The scholar who walks the night 

(밤을 걷는 선비)

Grade: B 

Genre:  Historical, Fantasy, Vampire, posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Guilty pleasure. 

Don’t ask me about the details of the main storyline, I’ve already forgotten most of it. Sometimes all you need is a show where a hundred-something years old good vampire with a sad backstory and the main girl who is thirsty for the good vampire are fighting a sexy evil vampire. 

PS: Did I mention the sexy evil vampire?

#22 Romance is a bonus book 

(로맨스는 별책부록)

Grade: A+ 

Genre: Modern, Friends to lovers

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Imagine reading a relaxing book under a cozy blanket while sipping hot cocoa. That’s how that series made me feel. 

Everything is sweet and soft from the characters' fluffy jumpers to the soft palette of color used for the sets. People make books and love books. There’s a mystery but no unnecessary angst. If you need a break from everything, jump in that ship. 

#23 Hotel Del Luna 

(호텔 델루나)

Grade: A- 

Genre: Modern  

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Sorta

Watched on: Viki - Available on Netflix (FR) too

Interesting world-building and a good cast of side characters but the romance lacks a bit of oomph. 

On the + side, the hotel sets are gorgeous and Man-wol's wardrobe is to kill for.

#24 Suspicious Partner 

(수상한 파트너)

Grade: A- 

Genre: Modern, Star-crossed lovers in an office

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Toll serious who hates criminal falls for smoll weirdo falsely accused of murder. A must watch for anyone in search of a quirky romance.

#25 Touch your heart 

(진심이 닿다)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern  

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Tooth rotting sweetness. The series is just a pretext to watch two good looking people (Lee Dong-wook and Yoo In-na) being nice and awkward around each other. What do you need more? 0

Note: If you watched Goblin you can also pretend it's a spin-off series about the reincarnations of Grim Reaper and Sunny. 💡

#26 Because this is my first life 

(이번 생은 처음이라)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern, Fake marriage

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

The Fake Marriage AU you’re looking for, mixed with slices of modern, messy, complicated life. 

The main storyline revolves around Ji-ho an assistant drama screenwriter who struggles to find her place within the patriarchal structure of Korean society, and Se-hee, a socially incompetent computer designer who only cares for his cat and his mortgage. The way they end up in a fake marriage as well as the development of their relationship feels organic and doesn’t rely too heavily on comedy like it’s often the case with that trope.

The show also follows the stories of Ji-ho’s friends, Su-ji and Ho-rang who have different aspirations in life—Su-ji’s goal is to become CEO while Ho-rang only cares about becoming a housewife. I loved that the show makes a point to not pit women against each other and advocate living your life the way YOU want rather than trying to follow societal expectations of what love, work and marriage should look like. 

Also they have the cutest cat.

#27 What's wrong with Secretary Kim? 

(김비서가 왜 그럴까 )

Grade: A- 

Genre: Modern  

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

I wish Secretary Kim had more agency in certain situations but the romance develops well and the horny moments are caliente 🥵🔥 

#28 Where your eyes linger 

(너의 시선이 머무는 곳에)

Grade: A++ 

Genre: Modern, BL, Coming of age, Friends to lovers

Episodes: 8

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Bite-size BL gem to devour in one sitting. 

Stellar acting from the two leads and the balance between fluff and angst is just right. There's no graphic violence that sometimes plagues yaoi and BL and the story is believable. I got emo remembering my first love. 

#29 Live up to your name 

(명불허전)

Grade: A- 

Genre: Modern, Historical, Time travel, Star-crossed lovers

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning for graphic depiction of violence

Big surprise. I was looking for a cheesy comedy but it was actually a thoughtful story about humanism. I even teared up a little. 

Trigger warning for needles. They do some pretty impressive procedures with those acupuncture needles. 

#30 W - Two Worlds Apart 

(더블유)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern  

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Imaginary men > Real men, especially when they're played by Lee Jong-suk. Nuf’ said.

Imaginary men > Real men, especially when they're played by Lee Jong-suk.

The silly premise hides a solid story that keeps you on your toes and I was suprised by the rollercoaster of emotions I went through.

“Option 3″

“That’s 4 fingers”

#31 Life 

(라이프)

Grade: C 

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Kinda

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Unless you want to learn how fucked up the private health sector is becoming in Korea, there's not much to gain watching this show. 

The story starts off well though. The problem is that by the middle of the series the writers have dropped the main mystery (the circumstances surrounding the death of the director) to deliver an exposé on the political machinations of big corporations, and then shoehorn an explanation at the last minute (“it was all but a misunderstanding”). Very underwhelming.

The relationship between the two brothers played by Lee Dong-wook and Lee Kyu-hyung is the only bright spot.

#32 Pinocchio 

(피노키오)

Grade: A- 

Genre: Modern, Fake family members who catch feels

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

On paper, the story sounds a little crazy but it all comes together nicely.

Lee Jong-suk and Park Shin-hye have great chemistry and deliver a stellar performance as “uncle” and “niece” (not related by blood) who can’t fight the romantic feelings they harbor for one another. The main storyline has enough twists to keep you entertained and surprised. 

My only complaint is that it drags a little. 16 episodes would have been enough. 

#33 My Holo Love 

(나 홀로 그대)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern, Sci-fi

Episodes: 12

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Fake men > Real men 

Imagine a Black Mirror episode about a love triangle between a woman suffering from face blindness, an emotionally supportive AI boyfriend and the disenchanted creator of said AI, minus the nihilism. *chef kiss*

#34 Legend of the blue sea 

(푸른 바다의 전설)

Grade: B++ 

Genre: Modern, Fantasy, Fairy tale, Star-crossed lovers

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Park Ji-eu (the writer) read the little mermaid and decided to give her a happy ending. Great chemistry between Lee Min-ho and Jun Ji-hyun but the spark is missing for me. 

The antics of modern-day mermaid Shim Cheong are a little predictable and Joon-jae needs to be less of a control freak at times but the story remains enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised to see Shim Cheong’s character grow, making the power imbalance between the clueless mermaid and the con-artist less pronounced by the end of the series. 

The side characters are interesting but underused, and I wish Tae-oh was more developed. On the other hand, the Joseon area sets and costumes are absolutely gorgeous (Don’t tell anyone but Joseon!Lee Min-ho is hotter than Modern!Lee Min-ho 🥵)

#35 Tale of Arang / Arang and the Magistrate 

(아랑사또전)

Grade: B 

Genre: Historical, Fantasy,

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

One word: Campy.

Interesting lore but the pacing is a little off—there’s a lot of back and forth between the characters and the locations and the love triangle doesn't add much. 

#36 My ID is Gangnam Beauty / Gangnam Beauty  

(내 아이디는 강남미인)

Grade: A+ 

Genre: Modern, Coming of age

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

If you’ve ever been bullied for your looks, you’re gonna bawl your eyes out. 

The show does a great job of calling out the unhealthy beauty standards imposed on Korean women but the topic is universal enough for the story to resonate with everyone. I love that you never see Mi-rae’s old face because it’s not our perception of her lack of beauty that matters but the fact she suffers greatly. Don’t you hate in western shows when they take a beautiful actress, give her a pair of glasses or a fat suit and call her ugly, making sure the audience feels shittier about themselves? Here, the writers concentrate on Mi-rae’s transformation and her coping with the consequences of her decision to do plastic surgery. 

It’s also not a revenge fantasy where the ugly duckling suddenly becomes the most popular girl at school. Being a “Gangnam beauty” leads to a new form of suffering. 

Romance-wise, it’s the slowest burn of slow burns because Mi-rae and Do Kyung-seok are the most socially awkward beans on the planet. I love them, Your Honor. 

#37 Tale of Nokdu 

(조선로코-녹두전)

Grade: A

Genre: Historical, Posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 32 x 30mns

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki - Now available on Netflix (FR)

Fun and lighthearted all the way through.

The story of a guy who puts on a dress to investigate a village of widows could have gone very wrong but it was well handled. It’s refreshing to see the classic trope of posing as the opposite sex reversed and Jang Dong-yoon is never cringy when he’s pretending to be Lady Kim Nok-soon.

#38 Bride of Habaek / Bride of the Water God

(하백의 신부 2017)

Grade: B

Genre: Modern, Fantasy

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Content warning: Crime against fashion

Promising premise and lore (I'm interested in reading the original comics now) but the writing fails to deliver an epic romance and a cathartic ending. Moreover, the sets lack imagination (or money?) and in the end I failed to ever feel immersed in a fantasy world.

The unfortunate consequence of the clumsy writing is that the male characters who are meant to be arrogant/confident Gods (Habaek and By-ryeom) sound like they're negging their love interests more than wooing them, and the relationship between Mu-ra and By-ryeom particularly irked me.

#39 Strangers from Hell / Hell is other people 

(타인은 지옥이다) 

Grade: A+

Genre: Modern, Psychological Thriller

Episodes: 10

Happy Ending: Spoiler

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Content warning: Violence 

What a departure from everything else in that list! Absolutely worth a watch if you enjoy thrillers and shows like Hannibal. If psychological horror isn’t your cup of tea though, you might give it a pass. 

The storyline and the characters are a little cliché (it goes with the genre) but the cinematography and photography are fantastic. You can notice how the pension becomes more and more sinister throughout the series via the use of dark greens and browns and pale yellows, as opposed to the mundanity and coldness of the city (greys, and cold blues).

Last but not least, the acting is top-tiers. Im Siwan does a great job at portraying Jong-woo, an aspiring crime novelist who slowly loses his marbles but the true revelation for me is Lee Dong-wook. After seeing him so many times in roles where he plays awkward yet charming men who can barely express emotions, I was intrigued to see him take on the role of a serial killer, and holy cow, he's the perfect mix of sinister and alluring. Towards the end of the series, his character Moon-jo acts like a black-hole whenever he appears in a scene—a towering, dark presence who sucks the light out of the room (If he carries any of that darkness in the upcoming Tale of Gumiho, it’s gonna be *chef kiss*).

#40 Empress Ki 

(기황후)

Grade: A

Genre: Historical, posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 51

Happy Ending: From a certain point of view

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning for violence against women (not graphic but implied)

51 episodes.

Fifty.One.Episodes.

That's a lot of episodes considering the story starts with the ending. 

Did I enjoy this show? Yes, very much so. Do I think it's for everyone? Nope. 

You'll enjoy Empress Ki if you're into old-school historical sagas or you wished Game of thrones had no gratuitous nudity and violence. If you’re looking for an historically accurate biography of the real empress Ki though, then look away because Empress Ki is basically a lengthy fanfiction trying to justify how the Goryeo native Seung-nyang married the wimpy Emperor of the Yuan dynasty whilst trying to portray her as loyal to her motherland and to her first love, the Crown Prince of Goryeo. 

Personally, I didn’t care for the love triangle formed by Seung-nyang (Ha Ji-won), Wang-yoo (Joo Jin-mo) and Toghon Temür (Ji Chang-wook) but I liked the politics and the backstabbing. Also, contrary to GoT, the bad guys get their comeuppance at the end so it makes watching the side characters die less painful.

#41 Meow, the secret boy / Welcome 

(어서와)

Grade: B-

Genre: Modern, Modern fantasy

Episodes: 24 x 35mns 

Happy Ending: I guess

Watched on: Viki

How do I put it? It's not *terribad* but it's not *good* either. 

I was super on board with the concept—if Lee Seung-gi can bang a nine-tailed fox in My girlfriend is a gumiho, I have zero issues with Sol ah, our heroine, falling in love with Hong-jo the cat-person after being dumped for no reason by Jae-sun her boyfriend—but it didn’t exactly develop that way, and as soon as they explained why Jae-sun had broken up with Sol-ah, the writers lost me because I like when things happen for a reason. 

#42 Clean with a passion for now 

(일단 뜨겁게 청소하라!!)

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern, Rom-Com

Episodes: 16 

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Super zany and tropey but that’s why it works so well. The only reason I’m giving it a minus is because it’s trying to be woke but in the end there’s still a lot of unsolicited grabbing and some iffy remarks/pick-up lines said by every male characters (IRL that’s the kind of story that ends up with a restraining order and a lawsuit for sexual harassment).

#43 Mystic pop-up bar 

(쌍갑포차)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Fantasy

Episodes: 12

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning: Heavy themes (miscarriage, pregnancy, loss of a child, death of loved ones)

You know how the meme goes... Sometimes a family is a hot-tempered bar owner, a cursed kid and an ex-Afterlife-Police officer with a secret past. 

It took me a few episodes to get into it, but once the characters were established it became really enjoyable. 

The tone of the series leans toward wacky but the core of the story is actually pretty dark if you look into it. Every grudge they solve for their “clients” gives a clue about Wol-joo’s personal story and by the last episode I was crying my eyes out.

Last but not least, Wol-joo’s collection of modernized hanboks is *chef kiss*

#44 My secret Terrius 

(내 뒤에 테리우스)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Action, Comedy, Bromance

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

An enjoyable action drama to watch with your family or your significant other.

Koreans prove that you can write a story about a black ops agent on the run who becomes a childminder without reeking of toxic masculinity. Contrary to American comedies where the manly-man-hero working undercover is incompetent and believes that working with children is a woman’s job and a waste of his manly-man talents until he has an epiphany of some sorts, Kim Bon (played by So Ji-sub) never once expresses discomfort to the idea of looking after two kids. In spite of his sober demeanor, he’s a caring and attentive person from the start and watching him gradually becoming a part of this spunky family while investigating a national security threat made my heart go awww.

Opposite him, fearless and resourceful mom Go Ae-rin (played Jung In-sun) brings a lot of energy, and the twins are absolutely adorable.

#45 Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo

(달의 연인 - 보보경심 려)

Grade: A--

Genre: Historical  

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Random streaming site

Don’t get attached—Moon Lovers is the missing link between Empress Ki and Boys over flowers, but with a sad ending.

I did binge watch the series but there are some frustrating aspects to it that prevented me from giving a perfect score, notably the fact that Wang So remains possessive and demanding with Hae Soo throughout the years—for instance “You’re my person” is a romantic statement until it evolves into “You can never leave me.”

The other problem of the series is that Lee Ji-eun (UI) does cute and goofy really well, but she doesn’t have the emotional range needed to portray a character who goes through many heartbreaks and betrayals. As a result, Hae Soo appears a little fickle in her infatuations with the princes.  

That being said if you’re a sucker for tragic romance and you believe that power corrupts even the purest of love, you’ll have a blast.

#46 Forest 

(포레스트)

Grade: B++

Genre: Modern, Romance

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

UST in the woods (Dat first kiss 🥵🥵🥵)

The characters and the story are a little cliché but who doesn’t love a story where the protagonists are clearly attracted to each other but can’t act on their desires because their moral values are opposite?

*slams fist*

San Hyeok is your typical heartless businessman who refuses to confront his childhood trauma, and Yeong Jae is a surgeon who suffers from panic attacks and cares too much about other people. They’re both good looking and fate brings them to a remote village in the middle of the forest where they have to share a house. Really, I wonder what’s gonna happen?

#47 100 Days My Prince / Hundred days husband

(백일의 낭군님)

Grade: B+

Genre: Historical

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki 

Trigger warning: Important character death.

Cute and charming but also very annoying at times. Obviously, the story is tropey af (fake marriage doubled with amnesia, you can’t really beat that) but it also includes elements I’ve never seen in any other dramas like the fact that the Crown Princess is pregnant with another man’s child (le gasp!). The things that annoy me the most were the unnecessary flip-flopping of the heroine towards the end of the show for the sake of creating artificial drama (just let them be together FFS!) and the fact that the male characters take a lot of decisions for Yeon Hong-shim.

Romance wise, Do Kyung-soo and Nam Ji-hyun are really cute together but in the end I found myself more interested in the political intrigue and the side characters than the main romance because slow burn has its limit. In essence, it’s the perfect drama to watch with your conservative family because whilst the main couple is living under the same roof and is technically married they don’t get frisky. 

#48 I Am Not A Robot (로봇이 아니야)

Grade: A++

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Angsty with a good pay-off.

With a premise like that, things could have gone wrong really quickly but the writers managed to write a story that isn’t a man wanting to fuck a robot because real women are scary so big kudos for them. Seeing Min-kyu celebrating his Roomba’s birthday because he has no other friends will instantly melt your heart and from that point on you’ll cheer for his recovery. The show has the right amount of angst without becoming a mess and they handle the big reveal very well, making sure to show how hurt both Min-kyu and Ji-ah are by the situation, without making you doubt that they can find each other again. The other strong point of the show is that it’s not just about romance, it’s also about friendship and learning to let other people in your life. 

The acting is incredible to the point that by the end I wondered if Yoo Seung-ho and Chae Soo-bin were making out in front of my salad or if I was still watching the characters Min-kyu and Ji-ah being lovey dovey. 

#49 Sungkyunkwan Scandal (성균관 스캔들)

Grade: A

Genre: Historical, Posing as the opposite gender

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Hana zakari no kimi tachi he with gats.

This show checks so many boxes when it comes to my favourite tropes story-wise and character-wise that I instantly fell in love with it. It might feel a little dated for a younger audience and it definitely suffers from the second male lead syndrome (who wants unseasoned boiled chicken when there are not just one but two juicy rotisserie chickens on the table next to you?!) but it’s still very much enjoyable. Also, they don’t shy away from using the word “homosexuality” and having one of the second lead confessing to having romantic feelings for his friend (I’ll take any scrap of bi-representation, okay?)

#50 It’s Okay to not be okay  (사이코지만 괜찮아)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Found family. 

In spite of one ridiculous plot twist (that I was aware of when I started the show) this show has made me feel all the feelz. The three main actors all did a phenomenal job portraying their characters in all their complexity and fragility and I ended up crying so many cathartic tears in the second to last & the last episodes.The relationship between Sang-tae and Gang-tae is one of the best sibling relationships I’ve seen on-screen in a long time while the romance between Moon-yeong and Gang-tae blends perfectly elements of comedy and melodrama. Mental illness isn’t treated as something to be ashamed of, whilst showing that you can grow and recover from trauma and finding your own happiness.

PSA from my boyfriend, who dropped the show before the end: 

The plot twist is so stupid that it takes away from the rest of the series. In my opinion it negated the positive portrayal of mental illness built up until then. They completely lost me.

^ We discussed a lot about it which is why I wanted to share his POV to balance my own review.

#51 coming soon

[perfectirishgifts]

The 13 Best Korean Dramas Of 2020

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/the-13-best-korean-dramas-of-2020/

The 13 Best Korean Dramas Of 2020

Bae Suzy and Nam Joo-hyuk partner up in ‘Start-Up.’

Although 2020 will make the history books for all the wrong reasons, it was a great year for Korean dramas. With a slew of big budget hits and small quirky stories, k-dramas offered plenty of innovative entertainment to help viewers happily pass pandemic time.

Every drama viewer may have a different list of favorites, but here are a few 2020 dramas that stood out in terms of originality, subject matter and execution.

Park Seo-joon created one of the year’s most memorable k-drama characters in ‘Itaewon Class.’

Itaewon Class

The year started off with the quirky hit Itaewon Class, in which Park Seo-joon’s character overcomes so many odds that he naturally sympathizes with those who society may shun. When opening a cafe he hires employees that others might not and those choices contribute to his success. Park’s generous character is one of the year’s most likable and the drama also features top-notch performances by Kim Da-mi, Kwon Nara, Yoo Jae-Myung and Ahn Bo-hyun.

Why see it? If you’ve never been to Seoul’s international neighborhood of Itaewon, this drama takes you there. The drama provides plenty of feel-good moments and a great soundtrack, including a contribution by BTS member V.

Kim Hee-ae and Park Hae-joon star in ‘The World of The Married.’

World of the Married

Although this drama has not yet made it to all international audiences, it was a huge hit in Korea, enjoying both critical success and nationwide ratings of 28.37%. World of the Married, an adaptation of the BBC series Dr. Foster, stars Kim Hae-ae. Kim plays a doctor who thinks her life is perfect until she learns that her husband, played by Park Hae-joon, has been cheating on her. Even worse, all their friends know. 

Why see it? Kim won Best Actress at the Baeksang Awards for playing the drama’s protagonist Ji Sun-woo and the drama was a breakout hit for supporting actress Han Seo-hee. There’s also the guilty pleasure of watching a woman scorned exact revenge on those who betrayed her.

The legal drama ‘Hyena’ starred Kim Hye-soo and Ju Ji-hoon.

Hyena

The drama’s leading characters, played by Kim Hye-soo and Ju Ji-hoon, each have their own approach to practicing law. She’s a scrappy small-time lawyer with questionable ethics and he’s a self-satisfied high-profile lawyer at a top firm. Despite their differences—and getting off to a bad start when she scams him—they turn out to be good for each other.

Why see it? Ju delivers a pitch-perfect performance, with his every twitch and grimace creating an unforgettable character.  Ju and Kim have undeniable chemistry that sizzles through episodes of fast-paced high-stakes legal entanglements.

Bae Doona played a zombie-fighting nurse in the second season of ‘Kingom.’

Kingdom 2

The second season of this historical zombie drama was even better than the first. Kingdom 2 also stars Ju Ji-hoon as the prince trying to save his country from a zombie invasion as well as inner court corruption. What makes the second season better than the first is a larger role for actress Bae Doona, whose character takes time out from nursing the sick to battle the undead.

Why see it: It’s a zombie story with a historical and moral twist.

Start Up

Nam Joo-Hyuk and Bae Suzy star in this story of a small tech start-up that gets a chance to compete on a bigger stage. When Bae’s character Seo Dal-mi was young she received encouraging letters from a man named Nam Do-san, but the letters were really written by Kim Seon-ho’s character Han Ji-pyeong. When a grown-up Dal-mi decides to find the real Do-san, played by Nam, Ji-pyeong asks Do-san to pretend he really wrote the letters. Do-san and Dal-mi are perfect for each other but their budding relationship is based on a lie. 

Why see it? The story of how the start-up gets started is interesting. Each of the actors—from the leads to the supporting cast— is imperfectly endearing and Kim wins this year’s unofficial prize for being the most appealing second lead.

Lee jun-ki is a potential serial killer married to the detective played by Moon Chae-won in ‘Flower … [] of Evil.’

Flower of Evil

What would you do if you found out you were married to a serial killer? It might be happening to Moon Chae-won’s police detective character in Flower of Evil. Her devoted husband, played by Lee Jun-ki, has a mysterious past that ties him to a serial killer. Did he also commit murders? If he is a serial killer, does his wife love him enough to look past the incriminating clues?

Why see it? Although some of the drama’s plot occasionally veers into the illogical, the relationship between the leads is so charismatic that the drama acquired a loyal and enthusiastic following. The mystery is sufficiently complex and Lee’s tortured performance as the suspected serial killer is mesmerizing.

Park So-dam played Park Bo-gum’s makeup artist in ‘Record of Youth.’

Record of Youth

Record of Youth features ambitious likable protagonists trying to find their place in a highly competitive world. Park Bo-gum plays a model so charming it’s hard to imagine why he’s not already a success at the story’s start. Park So-dam plays a talented make-up artist with dreams. She’s also a devoted fan of his modeling career.

Why see it? Park Bo-gum’s character is as bright as a shiny penny, ever optimistic and upbeat, despite not having much support for his dreams. Watching Park So-dam act is always a pleasure and the real star of the drama might be Han Jin-hee, who plays Park Bo-gum’s supportive grandfather.

Seo Ye-ji aggressively pursues Kim Soo-hyun in ‘It’s Okay Not To Be Okay.’

It’s Okay Not To Be Okay

Easily the most visually appealing drama of 2020, It’s Okay Not To Be Okay stars two of k-drama’s most photogenic actors Seo Ye-ji and Kim Soo-hyun as a twisted children’s book author and the psychiatric nurse she needs to calm her nightmares. Not only are the actors beautiful, but the drama’s graphics, cinematography and costumes are also gorgeous. 

Why see it? The drama explores the topics of autism and the mental scars created by early trauma. Oh Jung-se’s performance as Kim’s autistic brother was one of the best of the year.

‘The Good Detective’ is a fast-paced crime thriller starring Son Hyun-joo and Jang Seung-jo.

The Good Detective 

The Good Detective delivers a Scandi-noir vibe with its insightful character development plus some over-the-top, superhero police action scenes. The drama stars Son Hyun-joo, who might have the most expressive face of any k-drama actor, and Jang Seung-jo as a detective whose super-power is having a fortune. 

Why see it? The Good Detective is an involving police procedural with top-rate performances. Oh Jung-se plays a hard-hearted villain, a dramatically different role than his vulnerable character in It’s Okay Not To Be Okay.

Nana plays a woman who pursues politics for a paycheck despite Park Sung-hoon’s objections.

Into The Ring 

The wry comedy stars Nana, formerly a member of k-pop group After School, and Park Sung-hoon, who recently played a convincing but comical killer in Psychopath Diary. Nana plays a plucky unemployed woman who runs for office, motivated largely by the paycheck, but also from a sense of justice. Although Park initially finds her irritating, he eventually helps her fight local corruption.

Why see it? Nana is so charismatic in this role, viewers may want to see everything she’s ever done. She and Park develop a low-key lovable comic rapport that keeps a story about local politics happily enjoyable.  

‘My Dangerous Wife’ is a cat-and-mouse mystery within the story of a marriage.

My Dangerous Wife

In this dark comedy Choi Won-young plays a chef who plans to murder his wealthy wife, so he can inherit her money, but when he arrives home with a poisoned bottle of wine he finds she has been kidnapped. The note the kidnappers left behind warns him not to contact the police or they will kill his wife. Should he? It sounds like an opportunity.

Why see it: Interesting plot twists and turns make this drama fascinating to the very last episode. The complex storyline involves a mistress, a mysterious old friend, a detective with a suspicious wife, and a set of curious next door neighbors with secrets of their own.  

Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin experience an impossible love in ‘Crash Landing On You.’

Crash Landing On You

Crash Landing On You, which first aired in Dec. 2019, successfully introduced a wider international audience to the joys of k-drama viewing. The mega-hit, starring Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin, follows the story of a South Korean heiress who accidentally lands in North Korea and is helped by a North Korean officer at the risk of his own life.

Why see it? Everything about the drama is top-notch—the cinematography, the romantic storyline and the excellent performances from the lead and supporting actors. The drama also offers some interesting insight into North Korean daily life.

Shin Sung-rok stars in the paranormal thriller ‘Kairos.’

Kairos

Kairos is a tense paranormal thriller about karmic debt. In this drama two people who live in different times stumble on a supernatural way to talk and thus untangle their preventable personal tragedies. Shin Sung-rok plays a callous businessman whose daughter is kidnapped. Lee Se-young plays a woman whose mother disappears. Together they must change fate but they can’t connect in their own time. This plot device was used in the film The Call and the k-drama Signal, but it feels fresh in Kairos, given the carefully crafted moments of suspense and some intriguing performances.

Why see it? Both Shin and supporting actor Ahn Bo Hyun do an excellent job of portraying men who question what they once held sacred. 

Which dramas made your list?

From Hollywood & Entertainment in Perfectirishgifts

[sarangkstars]

Stranger/Secret Forest

Pros

Cho Seung-woo is a brilliant actor and his character was honorable, calm, intelligent, tenacious and discovered all secrets. He couldn't feel it, but he was so hurt by those who were wronged and lost. Hwang Shi Mok, the most trusted prosecutor in the entire country. 😍

Bae Doo Na as Han Yeo Jin is completely incredible.

The choice of lead actors is fantastic, I couldn't imagine another actor or actress portraying these characters as remarkably as these guys. It was so easy for me to get attached to the characters.

A true masterpiece thriller series. The plot captivated me throughout the show. An excellently written crime story. With no plotholes, so intelligent and witty.

I loved the kitchen knives.

Cons

The existence of so many characters involved in this plot made it difficult to know their names without an infographic.

[kangjooniee]

Park Min Young, Seo Kang Joon, And Lee Jae Wook Talk About How Well They Match Their Characters In New Drama

On February 17, JTBC’s upcoming Monday-Tuesday drama “I’ll Go to You When the Weather Is Nice” held a press conference through an online broadcast. Producing director (PD) Han Ji Seung and cast members Park Min Young, Seo Kang Joon, Moon Jung Hee, Lee Jae Wook, and Kim Hwan Hee were in attendance.

“I’ll Go to You When the Weather Is Nice” tells the story of Hae Won (Park Min Young), who gets tired of city life and returns to her hometown of Buk Hyeon. There, she runs into her former high school classmate Eun Seop (Seo Kang Joon), who now runs an independent book store.

PD Han Ji Seung said, “We made the drama with the goal of giving comfort and warmth to people who are struggling under the weight of harsh reality. The actors’ acting, the cinematography, music, and sound editing is made to be as serene and natural as possible.”

Park Min Young, who has played bright and energetic characters until now, talked about how Hae Won is different. “Recently I did two romantic comedies in a row, but through this drama, I think you might forget what kind of characters I played before,” she said. “All the teasers have shown the bright side of Hae Won’s character, but in the drama itself, there are many scenes where Hae Won is closed off from the world because she has been hurt. She will slowly heal with the help of Eun Seop and everyone around her, but at first it will be quite dark. With my other characters, they were either bright to begin with or I knew what kind of characters they were just by looking. I had to look carefully at Hae Won before I could understand her.”

The drama is based on a book of the same name. Seo Kang Joon said, “I fell in love completely with the original novel. I read the script and it has been tweaked a little to fit the drama format, but the basis is very similar to the novel. That’s why I wanted to do it. I was drawn to the story of Eun Seop, who develops the courage to love someone even though he might be hurt. Eun Seop has a lot of fears because he’s too independent from society. I was drawn to that.”

Park Min Young added, “I was looking over various scripts and this was one of them. I wasn’t drawn to it at first. Compared to the other projects, this was a bit bland. But after I finished reading it, my thoughts kept returning to it. Something about it lingered in my imagination. Rather than being like spicy Hamheung naengmyeon [cold buckwheat noodles], I think that it’s similar to Pyongyang naengmyeon, which doesn’t have any strong flavors but is somehow addictive.”

The actress was also asked about putting on a high school uniform to play the younger version of herself. She replied, “There are a lot of flashback scenes and I thought it would be hard to capture the right emotions if they cast someone else. I tried it, even though I had my doubts. Please look on those scenes with a generous mind.”

Lee Jae Wook plays Eun Seop’s best friend, Lee Jang Woo, and is known as the “angel” of Buk Hyeon. He is also Hae Won’s former high school classmate. He said, “I think that I matched well with my character this time.” Seo Kang Joon added, “Jae Wook has a really good personality. He is the moodmaker on set. Jang Woo is like that too, and he’s really lovable.” Lee Jae Wook said, “I film a lot with Kang Joon and we’re always smiling. That’s how well we work together. I’m having a lot of fun filming.”

Seo Kang Joon shared his thoughts when he heard Park Min Young had been cast. “I was curious to see how she’d express the character, and I thought she was similar to the way I’d imagined Hae Won,” he said. “The way she looks is similar to the way I imagined Hae Won to look, and the emotions she expressed were similar. When we started filming, I could really see her as Hae Won and immerse myself into the story.”

Park Min Young said, “To be honest, I thought that Seo Kang Joon didn’t fit the role of Eun Seop. Because he’s too good-looking. If you look at a photograph of someone who looks like Seo Kang Joon, you might find it hard to believe that that person has had a hard life. I thought that they should cast someone less good-looking. But when we started filming, he didn’t have any ambition to look good. He wore casual corduroys and knitted sweaters and sensible parkas. I thought, ‘He is an actor. He purposely dressed to be like his character.’ After that, I started thinking of him as a particularly handsome Eun Seop. I had too much prejudice at the beginning. I thought he didn’t look like someone who was from the countryside, or someone that would match well with me, but when we actually started working together, we naturally fell into the roles of Eun Seop and Hae Won.”

“I’ll Go to You When the Weather Is Nice” premieres on February 24 at 9:30 p.m. KST

[babysoo-meu]

My Produce x 101 top 11 line up

1.) Lee MUTHA FUCKIN’ Jin Hyuk

• Like honesty, he deserves the world

• Group Dad and even though he’s technically has never been official leader, he has such strong leadership qualities

• Will hype you up

• Always smiling

• Always doing the most he can

• Can carry rap line

2.) Seungwoo

• Jesus take the fuckin wheel

• Too hot/sexy for words

• That voice, that face, those collarbones, I’m dead

• Is a cute shy boy until he gets on stage and becomes a sex god incubus

• Will die for him

3.) Seung Yeon

• This goofy ass son of a bitch has my heart

• His smile makes flowers bloom 🌺

• Just a complete all-arounder

• Name one thing he can’t do? Please, I’ll wait

• A sweet squishy boy

• Will throw hands in his honor

4.) Yu Vin

• Vocals, vocals, vocals

• #roodboy

• Will work for main vocal

• His lullaby vocals were top class

• Got a sassy attitude and I’m here for it

• One of the manlier contestants

• VOCALS

5.) Han Gyul

• #realman

• That deep husky voice does things to me

• I will always dry up into a raisin anytime he’s made to do aegyo. Stop him

• Chocolate abs 🍫

• Honestly deserves this, his comeback from the unit (which he should have won)

• Is actually a dork, don’t let the sexy fool you

6.) Tony

• Sweet cinnamon bun

• Is actually hella tall

• Has a sweet voice and good dancing

• Probably has had 10 mins tops of screen time this whole season

• I may or may not have cried when he made in the top twenty

• Too pure

• Beauty guru confirmed 💄

7.) Min Hee

• Solid vocals

• Eyebrows

• Held his own in a cutesy concept

• Eyebrows say disgruntled, face says cuddle me

8.) Woo Seok

• I mean imagine this comeback story

• Was falsely accused for sexual harassment, goes on hiatus for depression and comes back a King 👑

• Has a sweet voice

• Is a sweet little devil

• Love the banter between him and Jin Hyuk #brosforlife

• Center material without a doubt

9.) Eun Sang

• My sweet summer child

• I love this baby

• Will give my life for him

• When he smiles I instantly see Jungwoo from nct

• Adorable and silly and defo a fake maknae

• Please protect

10.) Yo Han

• He’s obviously Mnets wet dream this season

• Is quite talented so I can’t complain

• Is sexy until he moves/opens his mouth, then he’s just a dork

• Will high kick you to heaven

• A pretty good all arounder though I can do without his rap

• Has a great energy, never a dull moment with him around

11.) Yunseong (I hit my limit, rip)

• A handsome boy

• Can do it all

• Understated

• Another of Mnets forgotten children

• Is a precious doll

[ssportsnews]

More than 20 female students sexually assaulted at an inn

It has been revealed that teacher Joo Hyung-young, a suspect in the kidnapping of Woo-jin's military, committed a sexual offense against female middle school students.

On the night of the 20th, in 'The Tale of Biting the Tail', the story of 'The Tongue in the Mouth - Kidnappers and Puppets' was revealed. Ailee, Kim Tae-gyun, and Han Seung-yeon appeared as guests on this day.

The two detectives asked the PE teacher why they wanted to meet Woo Jin-i outside of school. The teacher said, "My grades were dropping and my expression was depressed, so I tried to buy some delicious things to cheer you up." It was also confirmed that he went to take a graduate class while waiting for Woojin, and he actually attended the class. However, new evidence emerged. It was testimony that the teacher came to class that day, but only checked attendance and left immediately. A gap of at least 2 hours was created in the alibi. Two hours is enough time to commit a crime.

The two detectives asked what they did that evening, and Master Joo confessed, "Actually, I lied. I was with a woman in Sinchon that day." He lied to fear that the fact that he was with a woman in Sinchon would be revealed. The police went straight to the woman, but she also matched her statement with Master Zhou. But she felt strange. If you look closely, you can see that he was quite young.

The woman who was with Master Joo was 17 and was a minor. How did Master Joo and Hyang Hong meet? Surprisingly, the two met for the first time as a teacher and a disciple. At the girls' middle school that Joo attended a year ago, she met Ms. Hong and developed into a lover.

Detectives launched an investigation into the girls' middle school. Two years ago, when Master Joo was working at a girls' middle school, a girl's diary found nearby was a source of trouble. The diary contained contents beyond her imagination. The contents of the diary were the contents of the female student's fear and sorrow about 'what happened at the inn with the teacher'. The owner of the diary was a female student in the class headed by Teacher Joo at the time, and she was a sophomore in middle school. Kim Tae-gyun was furious, saying, "This is a complete madman." Ailee said she was "a very young schoolgirl, she didn't even know she was a victim and she was worried that she thought she had done something wrong. She's so upset."

토토사이트,먹튀검증,먹튀검증소,먹튀,먹튀사이트,토토 사이트,먹튀 검증,먹튀 사이트,먹튀신고,토토 사이트 검증,먹튀 검증 사이트,먹튀검증업체,먹튀 검증 커뮤니티

[overthinkingkdrama]

Jona’s Year End Drama Round Up #4: Secret Forest (aka Stranger)

Story: Hwang Shi Mok has a reputation as an incorruptible prosecutor with startling insight and clarity of thought. He also has severely diminished affect due to a surgery when he was young, and appears virtually emotionless. He teams up with an upright and kind-hearted detective to solve a murder with ties to corruption at the highest levels of government. They slowly become the only people each other can trust in a game of cat and mouse where everyone has a motive, and nobody is innocent.

First Female Lead: I’ll own up to being a hopeless Bae Doo Na fangirl. I would probably give anything she deigned to appear in a chance. And I’m not ashamed to say I added Secret Forest to my list purely as a result of her participation. I was ready to ignore yet another prosecutor drama in a cycle already lousy with legal dramas right up until she was cast. I’m familiar with her work with the Wachowskis and I was super excited to see her back in dramaland after a long time focused on movies and Western productions. Needless to say, she doesn’t disappoint. If anything, I feel that her character was underutilized. Every moment she’s on screen is excellent. I think Detective Han is exactly what I’m looking for in female protagonists, and I hope to see a lot more of her if rumors of a second season with a returning main cast prove to be true.

First Male Lead: I was unfamiliar with Jo Seung Woo before this drama and had no notion what to expect from him acting-wise. Wow, did he ever win me over almost from the first episode. I mean, his performance is just exceptional. I had previously watched Beautiful Mind which, despite its rough production and notable flaws I put on my top 5 list for last year, whose male lead played by Jang Hyuk sounds pretty similar to Hwang Shi Mok on paper. I like Jang Hyuk and that performance in Beautiful Mind, and I was worried that this wouldn’t measure up. Now, I don’t think it’s even on the same playing field of Secret Forest. JSW has a command of presence and a subtlety in his performance that blew away all my expectations. If there wasn’t anything else going for this drama, I think he would probably make it worth the watch.

Second Female Lead: Eun Soo is one of those supporting roles that comes along every once in a while and adds depth and texture to a story. I can’t imagine this drama without her. She also represents one of those break out performances that makes you look twice at an actress, one that marked Shin Hye Sun out to me as one to watch. It’s hard for me to go into details on any of these characters without the risk of spoilers, but for me Eun Soo was one of those heart-wrenching characters who consistently surprised me. In a drama about an emotionless prosecutor she provides a crucial emotional counterpoint.

Supporting Cast: There isn’t really a traditional second male lead in this drama, so I just wanted to say a word about the supporting cast in general. There are cases where large ensemble casts like this feel overwhelming or certain members feel unnecessary and cumbersome. That’s not something I can say about this drama. It has some of the best antagonist roles of the year. It’s one of those dramas that colors the way you look at certain actors in the future. In particular I would call out the unpredictable Prosecutor Seo Dong Jae, who become one of my favorite side characters, the pitch perfect Lee Chang Joon as the gray villain/mentor to Shi Mok, and Yoon Se Ah as his cunning, ambitious wife with ice in her veins.

Feels: Secret Forest is undoubtedly one of the best written, best produced Kdramas I’ve seen. Period. And easily one of the best dramas of the year. I suspect it will top a lot of other peoples lists. However, for all the substance and style it has I think it lacks a bit in accessibility. This drama was slept on not just because the first part of the year was saturated in dramas about corrupt prosecutors, but because as some people have complained, it can be somewhat hard to follow in places if you’re not used to the genre or if you’re used to lighter fare. I don’t see it having a ton of rewatch value for me in the immediate future, and I would probably only recommend it to certain people. I think if you’re looking for something similar to Signal this might be the gem you were waiting for, but if you haven’t seen Signal yet...you should probably just watch that one instead. Maybe it falls a little bit outside of my preferred genres. For all that, I’m still very happy that I decided to give this one my time, and I’ll be keeping an eager eye out for season 2. Pray the drama gods are kind and our leads return without a hitch.

[malaysiankpopfans]

6 REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO WATCH SISYPHUS

So much to look forward to!

Sisyphus, one of the most highly anticipated dramas of 2021, is finally here! Incorporating fantasy and mystery elements, the story centers on genius engineer Han Tae-sul (Cho Seung-woo) uncovering dangerous secrets and Gang Seo-hae (Park Shin-hye) who comes from the future to save him. Check out some major reasons why you need to watch Sisyphus below.

1. Top-Notch Cast

Main leads Cho Seung-woo and Park Shin-hye are famous for having many successful shows and movies under their belts. Being highly sought after, their casting was much talked about and eagerly awaited. Director Jin Hyuk shared, “While discussing the casting with the writers, we decided that if we couldn’t get either Cho Seung-woo or Park Shin-hye, we would just work on a different drama.” Thankfully, casting worked out perfectly and there are many other actors to look forward to including Sung Dong-il, Tae In-ho, Chae Jong-hyeop, and more.

2. Star Director

Director Jin Hyuk is known for having worked on many popular titles including The Legend of the Blue Sea, Doctor Stranger, and The Master's Sun. Just as the director was excited about working with Cho Seung-woo and Park Shin-hye, the feeling was very mutual. Park Shin-hye said, “I’ve always been curious about and wanted to work with director Jin Hyuk. I actually met him when I was younger and I’m so happy to have been able to work with him this time.” Cho Seung-woo further complimented Jin Hyuk and divulged, “The director is very considerate of actors. He will consider any ideas that actors propose.” 

3. Unique Story

Sisyphus shows a world where the present and the future coexist. The future Korea is in ruins in 2035. Viewers can see the difference between the present that Han Tae-sul lives in and the devastating future that Gang Seo-hae comes from. In their midst, there are individuals who hide their identities and have ulterior motives. The director and writing duo Lee Jane and Jeon Chan-ho actually began planning for Sisyphus 4 years ago. With much research and imagination blended into a tight plot, Sisyphus will be unlike any drama you have watched thus far.

4. Kickass Action

Park Shin-hye’s character Gang Seo-hae is a bold survivor who is able to adapt quickly and think on her feet. She risks her life to save Han Tae-sul from danger as they try to save the world. You’ll be able to see a lot of satisfying action scenes featuring Park Shin-hye as she fights off their opponents. The actress started working with the action team about a month and a half before filming started and actually filmed for two more months than Cho Seung-woo. Furthermore, Cho Seung-woo complimented Park Shin-hye’s powerful kicks and punches describing her as “incredible.”

5. Amazing Set

Having to simultaneously portray a present Korea and a future Korea that resembles a wasteland, a lot of fine details can be found in the sets featuring the future Korea. Director Jin Hyuk explained, “We show the future, but the future isn’t glamorous. We put in a lot of effort to make the future look realistic and consulted many different experts and researched a lot of different things.” Park Shin-hye further shared, “A set that resembles Myeongdong was created, and it felt so realistic and like I was walking through the real Myeongdong. Viewers will be able to recognize some familiar shops in Myeongdong.” 

6. Fun Easter Eggs + Mystery

Previously, a teaser featuring Park Shin-hye’s character coming across a BTS poster and listening to BTS’s “Spring Day” gained a lot of buzz. The director explained, “Seo-hae lives in a future that is in ruins with people killing each other and struggling to survive. So I thought about what would be a source of comfort for her, and I thought that music would be a good fit.” He also shared that “Spring Day” is his personal favorite and there will be more instances where you can see BTS items since Seo-hae is a fan. In addition to BTS related Easter eggs, there is the mystery behind the villain named Sigma. The actor’s identity has been kept under wraps, so you’ll have to tune in to find out who the actor is.

There are so many more reasons to look forward to Sisyphus and its action and mystery packed story. Watch Sisyphus when it premieres tonight on February 17 at 9:30PM MYT with new episodes every Wednesday and Thursday available an hour and thirty minutes after the Korean broadcast, only on Netflix!