#Let free the curse of taekwondo

[bl-bracket]

*IMPORTANT NOTE: due to winning twice in succession, Kurosawa from Cherry Magic is in a cool down period and won't be able to be submitted to the next bracket, in case that affects your voting

[hotasfahrenheit]

my top 10 ql shows of 2024

we're a week into the new year already so i guess i should finally get this list posted 👀👀👀

to make this list, i kept an ongoing note in my phone all year of all the ql shows i watched, and then i sat down a couple days ago (*cough*a week ago*cough) and rearranged them to figure out which ones were my favourites. i didn't have any kind of ranking system going through the year (besides being very sure by the beginning of february what was going to be my absolute favourite of the year- and i was right) so this was all based on the vibes i was feeling about all these shows as i made the list, thinking back on them over the year.

i had JUST finished one of these shows so that's part of why i wanted to let it sit for a few days- make sure my ranking wasn't skewed by the feeling of having finished a show then immediately making the list right after while it was fresher than anything else. a week on, i'm still solid on these. i think. i keep looking at this list and being like "wait, did i really love that show more than this other one? did i? how is that one not in the top 10? wait but the ones above it are also just so good" and if i don't just post a list then i'll never stop fidgeting with it, so here we go!

10 - 4Minutes

was 4Minutes perfect? no, but i enjoyed the twisting layers of narrative and the speculation and discussion around this show so much. there were multiple times i thought i had things about the story figured out, and i kept being close to correct, but it kept finding ways to surprise me anyway.

9 - Love Is A Poison

this show was an unexpected delight in so many ways. it was funny, it was smart, it was wild, it was bonkers, i hope they get to make more of it.

8 - Jack & Joker

the longing, the heists, the shenanigans, the friendships, the everything about this show. it got a lil shaky towards the end but on the whole it was such a fun time, and it's still so incredible and such a triumph that they even got this show made, and i love it forever.

7 - Meet You At The Blossom

ANOTHER TRIUMPH OF A SHOW. so pretty. so splendid. so many long sleeves being waved around. so much nonsense and adventure. a fantastic pairing of characters, a fun side couple, just all around perfection.

6 - Love Sea

does this show get a biased boost in the ranking because i love Fort and Peat so much and even an imperfect show with them in it was going to be something i loved? maybe. possibly. probably. Peat spent the whole time looking expensive and pretty, and Fort spent the whole time looking like he was going to devour him, and they're just so good together. sorry not sorry.

5 - 1000 Years Old

this show gets two gifs, because they're my gifs, and i loved it SO MUCH. definitely a weird little show, but it had so much heart, and the way the story built was incredible, and it was just such a warm, beautiful show about found family and embracing your weirdness and being yourself and also love. all about love. the deepest love, and patience, and being willing to try again no matter how many times it takes. also soup, and so many umbrellas.

4 - My Stand-In

(this gif is from this set i made)

this show. THIS SHOW. the acting, the story, everything about it was absolutely insane and was all-consuming especially towards the ending of it. i love stories with complex, nuanced characters, and i love actors who can make you angry with how good they are at playing terrible people. this show had me shouting in the group chat all the time and it was just such a wild ride. an EXPERIENCE from start to finish.

3 - Love In The Big City

an absolutely stunning work of art. i watched the first two episodes with @poetry-protest-pornography when it first released then we both got busy with life for a bit; i listened to the audiobook at work the last week of December and immediately slammed through the rest of the episodes compulsively. i couldn't stay away. i had to inject it into my being. i'm aware that i interacted with and experienced this story differently than a lot of people i've seen talk about it on here because it didn't resonate with me in all the exact same ways as i am a straight person, and i saw a lot of people talking about how deeply it spoke to them about the queer experience, but the themes of loss and loneliness and searching for purpose and meaning and love were universal enough that this show did a number on my heart and soul and still is echoing in me now.

2 - Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo

another stunning, emotional show. this story had me in its GRIP from the first episode and has still not let me go. it was a rollercoaster and was such a deep tale about forgiveness and finding ways to just live life and how it's never too late for a new beginning. about how sometimes you can't let go of people, and you shouldn't. about being able to find and keep love and joy even through the darkest times and places.

1 - Love For Love's Sake

aslkdfjhalsfkdjhafd obviously. obviously this was my number one. an absolute powerhouse of a story about love and acceptance and being willing to not only help other people take second chances on life, but allowing yourself to as well. about being willing and open to loving and caring for others, and loving and caring for yourself. about taking control of your situation and writing your own future. about love, for love's sake.

THAT'S THE LIST.

everything here is obviously my opinion, if there's a show you're curious about that you loved that you don't see here, comment and i'll tell you where it ended up in my longer list (unless it's something i didn't get to this year!) and let me know how my list compares to your faves!

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Bonus round: honorouble mention - Knock, Knock, Boys!

listen, as much as i loved all the other shows here, i considered making this a top 15 list instead of 10 because i loved this show so much and it didn't feel fair that it wasn't included. it was goofy, it was heartfelt, it was fun the whole way through and i really loved it a whole lot. 15 would have been too many tho, so this just gets an honourable mention at the end instead.

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any gifs in this post that don't have credit under them are ones i made! i don't have the time or energy to make new gifs for every show so i just pulled from things i'd already made and had on my hard drive, or used ones made by others where needed. thanks to the other gif makers whose stuff i used!

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Then | Now

[jimmysea]

Let's just talk about the present.

LET FREE THE CURSE OF TAEKWONDO (2024) - Episode 6

[khaopybara]

it's funny because it's the same director, hwang daseul.

KIM NURIM as LEE DOHOE and LEE SEON as SIN JUYEONG episode 2 of LET FREE THE CURSE OF TAEKWONDO

SON WOOHYUN as KANG SEOJOON and KIM KANGMIN as HAN JIWOO episode 4 of TO MY STAR SEASON 2

[dingyuxi]

LET FREE THE CURSE OF TAEKWONDO 태권도의 저주를 풀어줘 (2024) dir. Hwang Da Seul

[divineandmajesticinone]

LET FREE THE CURSE OF TAEKWONDO (2024) I EP. 2 "That winter... was filled with enigmas."

[aousboom]

If things had gotten better, if things had gotten easier, if I'd gotten into my dream university... I'd have looked for you with a smile on my face. But you came to me first in the end. But... I think I unconsciously knew. If I go to where Shin Juyeong is, I can go back to the moment I stopped living. I think that's why I had to go there... to meet you.

LET FREE THE CURSE OF TAEKWONDO (2024)

[itsza]

LET FREE THE CURSE OF TAEKWONDO 1.07

[tortibomb]

Ju Yeong & Do Hoe | Episode 8 | Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo

[heretherebedork]

The kiss! The sweetness and then Dohoe pulling away when Juyeong tried again and isn't that just heartbreaking and a sign of everything else that keeps happening and how they relate to each other and the pain and the fear and the love that keeps hurting because neither of them really knows how to love.

[namtan]

LET FREE THE CURSE OF TAEKWONDO | EP 8

[chicademartinica]

The Hwang Da Seul megaverse

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

This first perfect, awkward kiss

[jimmysea]

To create a romantic mood, I lit candles and made pasta, but you're still so dense.

LET FREE THE CURSE OF TAEKWONDO (2024) - Episode 8

[dingyuxi]

LET FREE THE CURSE OF TAEKWONDO 태권도의 저주를 풀어줘 (2024) dir. Hwang Da Seul