#Welcome To Samdalri

[kateknowsdramas]

Sleepy babies

[wolha]

WELCOME TO SAMDAL-RI 웰컴투 삼달리 2023—2024, dir. Cha Young-Hoon

[kdramaxoxo]

I waited eight long years for you. But we are just going to cuddle? I really had my hopes up.

[aousboom]

Ha-yul is... last time, she was crying by the shore. I'd never seen such a thoughtful 9-year-old. What... she was crying? Why? Isn't your mother the leader of the haenyeos? I ran into Ha-yul when your mother's accident happened. She was crying, saying who would protect her mother if her grandma died. What? She's so thoughtful.

WELCOME TO SAMDAL-RI (2023-2024)

[deokmis]

Why won't anyone ask me if I'm ok?

[king-wilhelm]

Welcome to samdalri and Doctor slump are very very special because both represent the genre of people who basically sacrificed their youth trying to achieve the next big thing and then they DID smash every milestone they ever set for themselves but instead of being able to ride that high, all that effort, all the running, the one track pathway only lead to burnout and exhaustion and the idea that all good things only come to those who wait is fucking absurd because you have to, have to find the good in everything, everyday and every single experience life gives you.

It’s perfectly okay to have big dreams but there is nothing in this world that will ever be worth a damn if you don’t take care of yourself along the way and sometimes, sometimes, when you’re going too fast and you know you’re headed for a crash, it’s better to slow down and reassess your priorities because if you, your happiness and your mental and physical health aren’t at the tippy top of that list of priorities then you have no business driving that fast. The steeper the climb, the harder the fall; and you can only stand at the top of the Everest if you don’t die in the process

[clubfluffer]

Kdramas deciding to throw all the good stuff at us right at the end of the year and at the same time, and me trying to keep up with them all:

[outlook-hater]

Ji Chang Wook in The Worst of Evil and Welcome to Samdalri

[haeyeongs]

You confessed. You said you liked me. And I said I liked you too. WELCOME TO SAMDALRI (2023 - 2024) dir. Cha Young Hoon

[dangermousie]

2023 Kdramas I am excited for

We have only a bit over two months in the year left, but it looks like kdramas saved the best for last. Here is the list of kdramas I am excited for...

Boyhood/Once Upon a Boyhood (November 24) - Siwan hasn't done a bad drama and I am in the mood for a nostalgic 80s piece. I am a little amused that a 35 year old is gonna be playing a high schooler, but in a fond way.

Castaway Diva (October 28) - I am very fond of Park Eun Bin and if anyone can sell the whimsy of a tale about a woman who was a castaway and then becomes a pop star, she will. Not fond of the new trend for 12 eps but it is what it is.

Goryeo-Khitan War (November 11) - my most anticipated for the rest of the year. Every casting and crew choice, every promo makes it look like an old school politics and war heavy sageuk that does not cater in the least to youth or even fusion sageuk subgenres and I am here for it so so so MUCH!

Gyeongseong Creature (December) - not a big fan of netflix originals but I am there for the cast and the setting.

The Matchmakers (October 30) - looks like a wacky period romp with Rowoon and Cho Yi Hyun. I don't have high hopes for it because I like my period stuff angsty, but whatever else, it's gonna be pretty pretty pretty!

Moon In the Day (November 1) - except for GK War, my most anticipated for the rest of the year. Reincarnation/time travel story that flashes back between modern day and Silla - GOD YES!

My Demon (November 24) - sounds like shoujo crack about a demon who loses his powers and enters into a contract marriage (of course) with a human. Done many many times before but I am always a sucker for the trope.

Perfect Marriage Revenge (October 28) - first of all, I have a huge weak spot for Sung Hoon. He's a limited actor but between New Tales of the Gisaeng and his role in Faith, he won my heart forever. But also, this plot is so old school melo the way they don't make it nowadays. Our FL is betrayed by her sister and her husband and dies. But she wakes up before her marriage and decides to do things differently and get revenge. She gets married in a contract marriage to our ML, a chaebol (of course) played by sexy Sung Hoon and...doesn't it all sound like those delicious transmigration novels made flesh?

The Story of Park's Marriage Contract (November 24) - I love time travel/time slip stories and the fact that this is a woman who ends up in the modern day where she comes across the dead ringer of her deceased husband makes it high class Durian, plus Lee Se Young is a wonderful actress who rarely picks wrong.

Tell Me That You Love Me (November) - a remake of my favorite jdrama of all time, Aishteiru to Ittekure, this story about the relationship between a deaf painter and an aspiring younger actress is going to give me the adult love story I crave. The fact that the legend that is Jung Woo Sung is back in dramas, and is playing the ML, is just the perfect thing. (His last proper drama was Padam Padam in 2011!!! He is mainly a movie star.)

Vigilante (November 8) - I am just here to see Nam Joo Hyuk kick people in the face.

Welcome to Samdalri (December 2) - Shin Hye Sun and Ji Chang Wook in a romcom mmmmm. I don't have any pics so have:

[kateknowsdramas]

You can't kiss me! The neighbors might see us.

[kdramaladies]

What will you do if they suddenly return home to live with us? Are you crazy? Do you expect me to cook for them at this age? Enough with that nonsense! WELCOME TO SAMDALRI (2023) dir. Cha Young Hoon

[kdramaxoxo]

It's your fault for startling me. And what about you?... Why were you climbing my wall and peeking into my room?

[aousboom]

You remember it all, right?

JI CHANG-WOOK as CHO YONG-PIL WELCOME TO SAMDAL-RI (2023-2024)

[deokmis]

Welcome to Samdal-ri (dir. Cha Young-Hoon)

[king-wilhelm]

There's something about shows like Love next door, doctor slump, welcome to samdalri that simply tug at my heartstrings.

These are shows that, at their very core, explore the trope of the high achieving gifted kid to burnout pipeline. The dreamers and the hustlers. The ones who work hard but never play, leading to a downward spiral that they didn't realize they were on. Sacrificing youth, giving up on life, and staying away from loved ones only to never be able to enjoy the fruits of their labour, to be beaten down into exhaustion and left with a strange uncertainty about major life decisions.

And when you finally, finally force yourself to sit down, the guilt and the emptiness sets in because for years now, you've been running on fumes. And because you've crashed to a halt, the world around you seems to be spinning faster than ever, like everyone's creating miracles and you've depleted your magic. But that's never an excuse to continue running on broken legs. I said this in a another, very similar post before -

It’s perfectly okay to have big dreams but there is nothing in this world that will ever be worth a damn if you don’t take care of yourself along the way. The steeper the climb, the harder the fall; and you can only stand at the top of the Everest if you don’t die in the process