#Ji-Soo Hwang

[stargazer-sims]

This is Hwang Ji-Soo. She's the boys' favourite security staff member, and the one who most often accompanies them around town when they need to go somewhere. Ji-Soo is also in charge of coordinating security for them when they travel.

She originally came to Japan to become a police officer, but was injured during her first year on the job. She could have returned to duty once she recovered, but decided that law enforcement wasn't the path for her after all. When she heard from a friend in the entertainment industry that Peak Entertainment was looking for security personnel, she jumped at the chance to apply. They were impressed with her law enforcement training, her physical conditioning and her ability to speak Japanese and English as well as her first language (Korean), and offered her a position.

Ji-Soo loves sports, especially snow sports and baseball. She also loves music, and singing is her "secret talent". She loves to eat and she's a great cook.

She adores the boys in the band, and thinks of most of them as her little brothers. Ryu is the exception; she has a secret crush on him. When it comes to protecting all of them, she's sure she would protect each and every one with her own life, but most especially Ryu and her favourite little brother Taiji. If anybody even looks at her boys the wrong way... let's say there'd be trouble.

Ji-Soo doesn't talk much about her past or her short time as a police officer. Generally, she's a private person. She does talk to Ryu when they can manage to have a private moment, though, and she has become quite close with Sarah, the band's manager.

Age: 28 Birthday: 9 March Gender: female Pronouns: she/her Sexuality: heterosexual From: South Korea Likes: ice cream, singing, snowboarding, playing video games, watching baseball, dancing in the rain. Dislikes: secretive and manipulative people, hot weather, shopping, travelling by bus Favourite Colours: black, purple, green Most Likely: to scare random strangers by accident Relationship Status: single

[roadtophantom]

Christine and her puppies (one more rabid than the other) - Cho Seung-woo, Song Eun-hye, and Song Won-geun

"After the war with House Phantom" - Son Ji-soo and Kim Ju-taek (aka House Phantom)

Son Ji-soo and Cho Seung-woo would master a photobooth.

Christine and a serial killer - Song Eun-hye and Choi Jae-rim

Giant Raoul things - Hwang Gun-ha and Son Ji-soo

Favorite candid shots from Phantom of the Opera Korea

[mangodelorean]

Favourite shots: Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 [2023]

[glindaupland]

The Phantom of the Opera | Seoul, South Korea | October 8-14th, 2023 [REVIEWS]

Wow it's about time I posted these reviews that I kept lying about (this week! tomorrow! in 10 years!) Better late than never?

In this post I'll drop a few general things about the production, but the performances are analyzed in my reviews linked here. I recommend reading those all in order since I revisit points about actors I've made previously along the way to avoid repeating myself. Also leaving a disclaimer that these performances are from October so there are some changes in what the actors are doing now (with the exception of Jeon Dong-seok since he left in November) Apologies in advance for my wordiness, but this is more of a "release my feelings for my sake and if anyone else likes it that's cool too" kind of thing? Listen - I wrote a lot of notes on my performances there. So just go in knowing this is the more coherent version of my insane looking notes app!

Before I start I want to thank a few lovely friends who helped me out with this trip because it wouldn't have gone as well as it did without them!

Thank you to @lucygold95 for helping me so much with planning over the past months and for giving me the best time in Busan. Thank you @capitanogiorgio for all the shenanigans we went through and the most special time going to the 1500th and meeting Yoon Young-seok. Thank you to @fadinglandtragedy for the fun talks and the good advice before my trip! The best part of things like this is making friends of course! : )

PERFORMANCE REVIEWS:

| October 8, 2023 | October 11, 2023 | October 12, 2023 | | October 13, 2023 (M) | October 13, 2023 (E) | October 14, 2023 |

STAGE & THEATER

This was as close to the original staging as possible. So I was able to take it in one more (or I guess 6 more?) times post-Broadway closing. The Charlotte Theater is a lot smaller than the Majestic so every view was pretty solid in my opinion, even the second to last row. I took a video of my view from 4th row under the chandelier during the exit music on October 11th so you can see! The angel and chandelier are shown halfway through. I'd say 5th row was almost the cut off for the chandelier drop (that was my spot next day) Broadway seats in this area were always too expensive for me so I'm glad I was able to grab these spots for this production

There were photo zones you can take pics at which you've probably seen. One was a large rose wall, the other was the cute statue of their mascot 오유령. People also take forever lining up for the cast boards for photos and yes I was one of those people. Here's a comparison of the cast boards from the second season (pictures I found when reading old reviews on Naver) and the cast boards now (I forgot to take a photo of one on the top floor though)

I found this review where someone took more detailed clean photos than I did if you're curious about the layout and decorations!

MERCH AND GIFTS

The tickets had these designs! If you booked on Yes24, you received a special envelope and a ticket holder with the face of the Phantom performing for that show

I only didn't receive a second Ju-taek because that was booked on another site - Interpark (bottom middle ticket). I also received paper masks with printed autographs every day I went to commemorate the 200th performance of the run/100th for Seoul and the 1500th overall Korean performance. We used them for the curtain call photos on those two dates (with Jeon Dong-seok then Kim Ju-taek). There are multiple versions of the program book and at the time of writing this I have all except the Daegu one. The first Busan program book was pretty bare and only had the teaser pictures - the same was the case for my Les Mis program book in Busan. -There are different photos in each one, so to me it was worth grabbing them all. My third version signed by Kim Ju-taek is currently on display as you can see below! (The writing says "내 노래를 날게 해 주오 - Make my song take flight") Once again thank you to Lucy for this! 🥹❤️

Here's some of my POTO merch (including a spare cupsleeve from the coffee shop next door, I also had a keyring, but I forgot to show it) RIP to the second program book I sacrificed for scans I still have the pages stored/displayed though! I'm not wasteful! I'll have more to post soon after sharing these reviews

TRANSLATION

Let me emphasize this: my Korean abilities are limited, so don't look to me as the expert on this at all. But I'll still share my notes and perspective as an outsider who's studying The lyrics have changed quite a bit since 2001-2. There are still lines kept or songs that are mostly similar. MOTN had a lot of similarity to 2009-11 even with its changes, STYDI was identical to 2009-11, but Angel of Music was pretty different from even the last season, etc etc. The Phantoms all have unique lines sprinkled here and there, mainly in MOTN (this happens sometimes in Korean musicals). You get some things like random single line changes in some parts depending on the actor or different order/wording of the same lines as well. Just tiny diversions from the script. This is the case for the Christines and Raoul to a lesser extent. Additionally, actors are often permitted to do some occasional improvisation/ad libs. Some unique lines are pretty normal parts of their interpretations now, some appear depending on the feeling of the performance, some are one time only events. I'll mention some of the actor-specific ones and such in their actual reviews, but I have been trying to mark down all of the differences like these for example

Of course, some things obviously have to be adjusted to make sense because of cultural / linguistic reasons. So one example would be the "Wrote...written" line in Notes I. Firmin speaks rudely and informally, but quickly tries adding a more respectful ending particle 요 after Raoul and André give him a shocked 'what did you just say?' kind of look. So "대체 뭘 썼다고 하는 건데...요!" is pretty much like "What the hell are you saying I wrote?" André would look so embarrassed by this each time 🫣

퇴근길 / STAGE DOOR

Stage door doesn't really work the same as it does in places like New York, London, etc. Most of the time if an actor comes out it's more like a quick greeting or chat with the fans. Some actors (not in this case) might sign or take photos in designated spots, but it really depends and it's not so common. It's gotten more restricted ever since COVID as well. 퇴근길 -> "way home from work" is literally what this is called. Dong-seok did wave at us a few times happily after the 200th performance, Gun-ha briefly came out to thank fans after the 1500th while Ceci and I waited to meet Young-seok who had agreed to meet us. I did not have the time (or strength) for the Seung-woo mob, but he usually greets fans after shows.

I literally asked Yoon Young-seok directly on Instagram if Ceci and I could meet him and give him gifts because I figured it didn't hurt to try! When he agreed, my anxiety was not necessarily about meeting an actor, but more about my ability to express my thoughts in another language. But he was truly the sweetest guy and incredibly patient. I think he got that I understood everything he said, but that replying was a whole other challenge. I'm glad I was making enough sense that he was able to get my points and helped me finish sentences if I looked stressed about it 😂 I basically told him I had been planning this trip since the cast announcement because it was too perfect to miss and that I came for 6 shows. I really like to listen to his Phantom on the cast recordings and I thought he made the shows I had seen so far so much fun.

We both said where we were from (the US and France) and he was amazed. He was also shocked when I pulled out my original Korean cast recording (I still laugh thinking about the way he said "와, 세상에!" like "Wow, oh my god!" and enthusiastically took it agreeing to sign when I was mid-way asking him haha) I also thought it was funny when he asked Ceci if she saw his Phantom last season. We wish! But she mentioned she had gone to Busan a few times and he looked very touched and appreciative that we went to multiple performances 🥹 This poor man was tired he signed our things with November (11.13) though and he also spelled Ceci's name wrong first time, but it was the 1500th show though okay. And if he says it's November...who are we to question him? Ceci should also legally change names so he isn't wrong. Anyway, ramble over you can find the art we made for him in this post

OTHER

Here's just bonus fun I had that I will manage to connect to POTO despite it not being POTO because I love doing that. I mean I went because I like these musicals as well (otherwise I would've been foolish enough to go see Ben-Hur but I have, uh, standards for my plots sorry to Park Eun-tae 😭), but it's fun to point out these things. I'm happy to share my show experiences in a different post if anyone's interested in my thoughts on those

Rebecca

I went to see Rebecca, mainly focused on seeing a scheduled date for 이지혜 Lee Ji-hye (Ich) and 장은아 Jang Eun-ah (Mrs Danvers). The whole cast was fantastic. Some Korean musicals have special encore bits they do where the leads sing a part of a song from the show during bows so that was really fun. Unfortunately, we don't get to have fun at POTO like that haha

Lee Ji-hye was in Y&K Phantom as Christine in the same cast as Jeon Dong-seok (Erik), Yoon Young-seok (Gérard Carrière), and Lee Sang-jun (Cholet). Two other cast members in Rebecca were in Y&K as well - 에녹 Enoch (Maxim) who was Philippe and 신영숙 Shin Young-sook (Mrs Danvers) who was Carlotta. Sadly, they had such few shows this season due to a busy schedule, so I couldn't see them (when will trot give Enoch back to musicals). Original Korean ALW Raoul and Y&K Erik 류정한 Ryu Jeong-han was also on rotation as Maxim, but I picked another day for my show so I didn't see him either

Les Misérables

I went to opening night of Les Mis in Busan! It was the Dream Theater, same place POTO played at before. As many of you already know, Choi Jae-rim is playing Jean Valjean at the same time as the Phantom.

I could recognize him easily as the Phantom, but honestly when he appeared at the very start of Les Mis it took me a minute to process that it was him! While I did enjoy his Phantom a lot, I think I enjoyed his Valjean performance a little more. It was only opening night, so curious to see how things develop!

The actor who played Javert that night, 카이 Kai (stage name), was a former Y&K Erik for two seasons too. So many Phantoms!

Frankenstein

On the last day I got to see Dong-seok and Ji-hye once more in a concert for the musical Frankenstein which they have been in together. So have some pics I took without a mask blocking his face!

Ending Note

Thinking back to December 2022 when I said: "Maybe I'll go to Seoul and see Dong-seok once or twice and that's it, I can have my first international POTO" That was funny. That was really very very funny and silly of me to say. 9 performances and 6 of those were POTO! But I'm so grateful and I have zero regrets about it. This is one of the best experiences I've had even if it might look ridiculous to some people to do something like this...I don't care! I hope my crazy essays can help paint a good picture for you!

[mourninglorystory]

Phantom of the Opera Korea: New 2023 Cast Photos

Photos from musicofthenightkr

[passionforfiction]

Queen of Tears

This series is not perfect, but it is still good. It has a solid storyline, and great characters. Hong Hae In and Baek Hyun Woo have been married for 3 years and the love that had united them at the beginning seems to have disappeared in their distance and silence after a miscarriage that broke their hearts. When Baek Hyun Woo finally has the courage to present the divorce papers to Hong Hae In, she tells him she has a tumor and doesn't have much time left. His decision to stay with her gives them an unexpected chance at finding that love that had united them once. Family interactions between their very different families questions dynamics and help characters grow.

I like the fact that they didn't take the easy way out with our main antagonist. The story in itself is really good and I loved it, however, production was a bit careless with details that were too big to miss: Hae In's operation - how can a person with a brain tumor have a surgery with her hair intact. Or Hyun Woo's neck injury suddenly disappearing in a second, ext. These kind of details show some careless oversight. But we can forgive them - we laugh it off and keep watching to see what happens next.

I liked it and recommend it.

[fadinglandtragedy]

August 12, 2023 Seoul

Cast : Kim ju-taek, Sohn ji-soo, Hwang gun-ha

[first review]

[second review]

KJT Phantom will be the Phantom's favorite Phantom…

Once you hear him sing *in the theatre*, it's the point of no return. I guarantee it. I've heard a lot of Phantoms sing over the years, but when you sit in a theater and are surrounded by KJT's voice, you realize that there really isn't a singer who can top him...

i mean, really! The first thing I thought of while listening to his MOTN was the story of Zeus and Semele, where Semele asked Zeus to show her his true colors, and Zeus showed up in his most humble attire, but she burned to death. I can't help but feel that...He has a voice that is beyond human, but he is singing at a level that we humans can handle...

The only thing I wish is that he would have connected the strength of his voice (absolute majesty) to his acting, giving it more weight and emotional control.

I feel like he was heavily influenced by JSW and JDS, and they are actors who fill their scenes with emotional outbursts and added details, which is not KJT's strength as he can fill the stage with his majestic voice… A singing is a singing, and it's true that his musical acting is inexperienced…lol Wouldn't it have been enough if he just stuck to the script without being... greedy?(sorry but i really want to see serious phantom...😂)

Choosing SJS christine as his partner was a great choice. She's thoughtful (she wants to comfort Phantom even in the STYDI), and the desire to reach the angels of music is desperate. but she's human after all… Like Semele, her Christine is not the right vessel to receive the KJT Phantom, so it seems that she will not be able to survive by his side. It's not that Christine isn't good enough, it's that the Phantom is more than humans can handle.

Her portrayal of Christine is very sweet, but at the same time, you can really feel her fear of the Phantom as an absolute. That's why I feel like KJT and her fit together like puzzle pieces...

And! This time I realized, when the managers praise her prima donna debut, she hears it from the room and smiles proudly! So cute omg

As for HGH Raoul, looking at him makes me think about how different he is compared to the SWG Raoul I saw just before.

HGH Raoul is young. He seems to have a lot of anger, but it can also be seen as passion. He finds it difficult to understand Christine, but at the same time, he doesn't always wrap his arms around her but helps her face the trials she has to face under his protection.

like, In TWISTED EVERY WAY, SJS Christine shrinks back in fear, but he doesn't let go of her hand and pulls her to face reality. It wasn't that he was cold, this seemed to be his way of loving.. Helping her do something she doesn't want to do but needs to do (face the Phantom as a man).

The biggest difference in SWG Raoul is that in the rooftop scene, He turns his head with Christine as if they heard the phantom's 'Christine...' together. HGH Raoul doesn't understand the confused Christine at all, but SWG Raoul definitely notices something is very wrong.

HGH raoul will be an eternal stranger in the world of the phantom and christine, but she will no longer be in that world.

The terzetto of these three was staggering. The final lair is…🤯 Andrew Lloyd Webber should see their show. I’m deadly serious. If he sees this, he'll stop the… some ridiculous non-replica productions and focus on finding good actors. This is what the original POTO was all about. To move the audience through song. To make them stop breathe and focus on the show…

I didn't think their acting was special. But with their singing alone, they made the scene suspenseful and compelling.

+ KJT grabbed Raoul's arm as he was putting the lasso on and started singing, teasing him (백마 탄 왕자님아!/Prince charming!), and it was a small funny scene where HGH Raoul got annoyed and brushed it off lol

I loved the rest of the cast, but as always, it was Piangi and Andre who stood out for me. I'm obsessed with PHR Piangi, and I'd feel like I hadn't seen a full show if he didn't hold that high notes🤣 (and he does that in every show I've ever seen!)

YYS Andre makes me laugh every time he's in the box seats. Not to mention the way he watches Christine nervously and then claps in ecstasy, or the way he freaks out when Carlotta throws Christine into bed in Il Muto, He is so Scene stealer.

In Il muto, everyone laughed when Carlotta tried to pull up Christine's skirt, but it didn't come off and SJS was dragged away. I didn't notice because I was looking elsewhere through my opera glasses...🥲 I'll admit that POTO has a very pretty stage to watch from the upper seats, but I think the first floor is the best for watching the actors.

[fewwordsmanyriddles]

[mugglebornstuff]

The best trios in kdrama✨

[anemoiawithatouchofobsession]

Ancestors of K-beauty - 8090s edition

The 5 beauty trend queens :

- of the 80s :

Oh Hyun-kyung - the fact that shes the most prolific Miss Korea winner - 1989 - says it all. Plus that lip commercial? Iconic. The MiKos were the beauty trendsetters of the 80s and the industry literally set the "Jin" as the standard of make up the next few years.

Hwang Shin-hye - homegirl ain't called Computer Beauty for nothing! The only person who actually embodied both the 80s and 90s at the same time. She had naturally arched eyebrows and those heart shaped lips that later became a thing.

Lee Ji-yeon - the originator of the innocent concept and image in the pop music industry, which is the entire k-beauty aesthetic now. Give her the credit. See through bangs, no makeup makeup, thick straight eyebrows, skincare, thin lips.

Kim Wan-sun - when people talk about a 80s diva, they mean her.

Jang Yoon-jeong - Miss Universe contestant in 1988 and a big part of the 80s look - plump lips and cheeks, an obnoxious curl in the forehead, big hair, red lipstick, purple eyeshadow...

Honourable mentions : Lee Mi-yeon for being the absolute innocent cutiepieeee

1990s :

Lee Young-ae : Her 1992 Mamonde Lip commercial literally turned the beauty world upside down. She was the embodiment of the strong, city, career woman that was the image women wanted to be , in those few seconds. Dark red lipstick, short shoulder length hair, pant suit, iconic. Literally influenced the industry for the next 7 years or so.

Kim Hye-soo : She embodied the "career woman" image since the beginning and always had a more mature persona, and especially her dark and matte eye looks as well as her super arched eyebrows were to die for.

Kim Hee-sun : Trendy hairstyle queen - she got the strand highlights, the low ponytail, the hairband and so many other big trends out there. Plus her lips were always dark and we love it.

Ha Soo-bin : the k-manhwa aesthetic in one human, was super popular despite the strong career unnie image being prevalent. It was her shocking popularity that the above trend faded and more natural, innocent makeup following Soobin's appearance became the aesthetic.

Lee Seung-yeon : Miss Korea second runner up, had a pretty illustrious career plus super iconic Smokey eye look. Alao popularised perma curls and headbands after her role in "Cinderella"

[ltslyn]

LOLL

[stargazer-sims]

Ji-Soo: Ryu, why didn’t you tell me that Ji-Hyun was sick?

Ryu: I didn’t know he was sick until just before you got here. He was with Taiji and Haru for most of the evening, and nobody said anything about him not feeling well.

Ji-Soo: You’re the oldest. It’s your responsibility to take care of everyone here.

Ryu: I would’ve done everything I could if I’d realized. You know that.

Ji-Soo: I’m sorry. I know. I’m just upset, and I’d like to know why my baby brother is passed out on your sofa and looks like he was dragged backwards down a flight of stairs.

Ryu: Maybe we should ask Haru.

Haru: Excuse me? What do you mean. ‘ask Haru’? What makes you think I know anything about it?

Ji-Soo: Do you?

Ryu: You and Taiji were with him all evening.

Haru: Maybe you should ask Taiji.

Ji-Soo: We’re asking you, Sakuharu.

Haru: All I know is, he said he was going to the bathroom, and he was gone for a while. I went to find him, and he wasn’t looking good all of a sudden.

Ji-Soo: And do you know why?

Haru: No idea. I don’t even know why you think I would.

Ji-Soo: Because you have a reputation for trouble.

Haru: Seriously? You must believe I have evil superpowers if you think I can somehow make people get sick.

Ryu: Maybe it’s something going around.

Ji-Soo: I don’t know…

Haru: Yeah, it probably is. I think Senjirō is sick. Keigo yelled at us earlier for allegedly disturbing him while he was resting.

Ji-Soo: I hope it isn’t something going around. I don’t want all of you to get sick.

Ryu: If Ji-Hyun and Senjirō already have something, we’ll probably all end up with it anyway.

Ji-Soo: What are we supposed to do?

Ryu: There’s not much anyone can do at this point.

Ji-Soo: No, I suppose we have no control over it if you’ve already caught it. I mean, obviously I should wake Ji-Hyun up and take him home and look after him, but if you guys need something and I’m not here… Maybe I should call Sarah.

Haru: Uh… I don’t think that’s really necessary. Like, we’re here without supervision every other night, and we’re okay.

Ryu: Haru’s right, actually. None of us are sick yet. Well… maybe Senjirō is, but I’m pretty sure Keigo can handle things with him. The rest of us can keep an eye on ourselves and each other.

Ji-Soo: All right, but I hate to think of you suddenly coming down with something and not having anyone around to help you.

Haru: Would you like, soothe his feverish brow, or whatever? Like in those stupid historical romance movies Senjirō always wants to watch?

Ryu: Don’t be an idiot, Haru.

Haru: What? You wouldn’t like Ji-Soo’s hands on your—

Ji-Soo: Haru! This isn’t the time or the place. We’re having a serious conversation here.

Ryu: Ji-Soo, if you’re really that concerned, you and Ji-Hyun could just stay here with us for the night. We wouldn’t have to tell Sarah. Ji-Hyun can sleep in the extra bed in my room, and we’ve got a couple of floor mattresses, so you could use one of those.

Ji-Soo: I’d have to go home and get some things, if I’m going to stay with you.

Ryu: I’ll stay up and wait for you to come back.

Ji-Soo: Okay. If this is the plan we’re going with, though, we’ll have to get up early so Ji-Hyun and I can leave before Sarah gets here to take you to your appointment. And you’ll have to text me if any of you aren’t feeling well enough to go out, even though I’ll know anyway.

Ryu: We can do that. I always get up early anyway. But, I thought you’d be coming with us for our physical exam, too.

Ji-Soo: Yes, but it’d look suspicious if I was all settled in here with my shoes off when Sarah arrived, wouldn’t it? Not to mention how we’d explain Ji-Hyun being here when he’s supposed to be at school.

Ryu: What if he can’t go to school tomorrow?

Ji-Soo: He can stay home. I can ask our next-door neighbour to stay with him while I’m out with you. She adores him, and she calls him her adopted grandson, so I don’t think it’ll take much convincing to get her to agree.

Haru: Wow… you two are really scheming over there. And you say I’m always up to no good.

Ji-Soo: It should go without saying that you aren’t to tell anyone about this, Haru.

Haru: Would i do that?

Ji-Soo: Pardon me if my personal experience warns me not to entirely trust you.

Haru: Listen, I’m not in the habit of telling on myself. I’m not trying to stop you, so technically that makes me complicit, doesn't it? If I said anything, I’d likely be in trouble too, right?

Ryu: Don’t worry. If he says anything, I’ve got enough on him that I could tell Sarah, that’d keep him in trouble till he’s in his thirties.

Haru: Hey! That’s like blackmail or something.

Ji-Soo: I believe it’s called ‘extortion’.

Haru: Whatever.

Ryu: It’ll be fine, Ji-Soo. While you’re gone to get your stuff, Haru and I can set up the mattress for you in my room, and we’ll get Ji-Hyun tucked into bed. If you're going to be complicit, you might as wall go all-in, right Haru?

Haru: Uh... sure?

Ji-Soo: Okay.

——

Haru: *thinking to himself* Holy crap… I can’t believe how easy it was to dodge that bullet.

[roadtophantom]

Phantom of the Opera Korea nominated at the 8th Korea Musical Awards

Rookie (Male) - Kim Ju-taek and Hwang Gun-ha

Rookie (Female) - Son Ji-soo and Song Eun-hye

Leading role (Male) - Cho Seung-woo and Choi Jae-rim

Ensemble

Producers

Excellence Award (Musicals)

[mangodelorean]

Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 production stills, tvN

[glindaupland]

오페라의 유령 / The Phantom of the Opera - South Korea (Third Season) | Pt 6

Program Books Ver 2-4 (Busan + Seoul)

Masquerade/Why So Silent?

1. 윤영석 Yoon Young-seok + 김아선 Kim Ah-seon + 조하린 Cho Ha-rin + 이상준 Lee Sang-jun

Madame Giry's Tale

1. 김아선 Kim Ah-seon + 송원근 Song Won-geun 2. 김아선 Kim Ah-seon + 황건하 Hwang Gun-ha

Notes II / Twisted Every Way

1. 김아선 Kim Ah-seon + 박회림 Park Hoe- rim + 이상준 Lee Sang-jun + 윤영석 Yoon Young-seok

1. 박회림 Park Hoe-rim + 이지영 Lee Ji-young 2. 윤영석 Yoon Young-seok + 송원근 Song Won-geun + 손지수 Sohn Ji-soo + 이상준 Lee Sang-jun 3. 박회림 Park Hoe-rim + 한보라 Han Bo-ra

Don Juan Rehearsal / Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again

1. 손지수 Sohn Ji-soo 2. 김아선 Kim Ah-seon + 조하린 Cho Ha-rin + 송은혜 Song Eun-hye 3-4. 송은혜 Song Eun-hye

Wandering Child / Bravo Monsieur

1. 전동석 Jeon Dong-seok 2. 조승우 Jo Seung-woo 3-4. 김주택 Kim Ju-taek

[namjhyun]

DRAMA REVIEW | Queen of Tears (2024)

Queen of Tears strongest point are the performances, directing and cinematography, there's no doubt about this. Scriptwriter Park Ji Eun has a talent for teaming up with great talents, particular actors, and that's in my opinion the main reason why her drama are usually so successful. She manages to write really interesting and endearing characters, and put them in entertaining situations that grasp the attention of the viewer.

The casting director did a particular excellent job on this one because every single character was cast to perfection, every actor and actress fitting into the role as if it was written for them.

I am fascinated by the way scriptwriter Park Ji Eun has managed to mix genres in one drama, because Queen of Tears is a dark comedy, makjang, comedy, romance and melodrama all in one. This screenwriter is not stranger to making a successful and entertaining kdrama, but if you are looking for something that will dwell into the deeper reasons as to why the leads' marriage crumble, logic and cohesive editing, this story might not be for you.

Queen of Tears strongest point is the way both families come together, learning to respect and love each other but apart from that the drama is developed at a surface level. The scripts lean hard on the other genres which is perfectly fine but there were times when I was frustrated at the desiciones being made, the complete waste of time when the families are running against the clock to save one of their own AND the family's business, etc. This is when I think Queen of Tears is a lot like other Park Si Eun's kdramas: they start strong but run out of material towards the second half of the episode, almost as if she introduce a bunch of plotlines with proper solutions to a few of them.

Overall, I found Queen of Tears to be a really entertaining watch to disconnect from reality.