#character : hwang ji-hoon

[yousxyloveisblind]

Baby, come be my starlight ;

“You’re bound to meet unexpected situations in life. Even if you use an umbrella, you’ll end up getting drenched. Just put your hands up and welcome the rain.” – Hong Du Sik (Hometown Cha Cha Cha) 

HWANG JI-HOON ||  FC: LEE DONG WOOK || OCCUPATION: CEO OF HWANG INDUSTRIES CONNECTIONS: Best Friend, Business Partner, Romantic Partner, Sibling, etc.

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ALESSANDRO BECKER || FC: NOAH CENTINEO  || OCCUPATION: DUMB & A COLLEGE STUDENT] CONNECTIONS: Best Friend, Roommate, Romantic Partner, Sibling, etc.

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LEE SOO-MIN “SUZY” || FC: LEE JOO BIN] || AGE: 30 || OCCUPATION: PARALEGAL CONNECTIONS: Best Friends, Roommate, Romantic Partner, Sibling, Ex- best friend, etc.

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PARK AHNJONG || FC: LEE SOOK-HYUK  ] || AGE: 37 || OCCUPATION: ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY CONNECTIONS: Best Friend/Roommate, Romantic Partner, Sibling, Ex Girlfriend,  etc.

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SEO MIN-HO || FC: KANG TAE OH  || AGE: 28 || OCCUPATION: ACCOUNTANT CONNECTIONS: Best Friend/Roommate, Romantic Partner, Sibling, Boss, etc.

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HEO TAE ||  FC: SEO IN-GUK ] || AGE: 34 || OCCUPATION: ACTOR CONNECTIONS: Best Friend/Roommate, Romantic Partner, Sibling, Ex Girlfriend,  etc.

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YOO MA-RIN || FC: KIM SEJEONG ] || AGE: 30 || OCCUPATION: SCHOOL TEACHER CONNECTIONS: Best Friend/Roommate, Romantic Partner, Sibling, Ex Girlfriend,  etc

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CHOI YURI || FC: HAN JIHYUN ] || AGE: 23 || OCCUPATION: COLLEGE STUDENT & PART TIME WAITRESS CONNECTIONS: Best Friend/Roommate, Romantic Partner, Sibling, Manager,  etc. 

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NAM ARA || FC: MOON GA YOUNG] || AGE: 26 || OCCUPATION: ACTRESS/MODEL CONNECTIONS: Best Friend/Roommate, Romantic Partner, Sibling, Manager,  etc. 

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KANG MIN-A || FC: KANG HAN NA] || AGE: 26 || OCCUPATION: CORPORATE LAWYER || CONNECTIONS: Best Friend/Roommate, Romantic Partner, Sibling, Manager,  etc

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NAMGUNG HYEON || FC: PARK JINYOUNG|| AGE: 30 || OCCUPATION: PR DIVISION MANAGER CONNECTIONS: Best Friend/Roommate, Romantic Partner, Sibling, Manager,  etc

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KANG SEUNG-AH || FC: YANG HYE JI] || AGE: 21 || OCCUPATION: WEBTOON ARTIST || CONNECTIONS: Best Friend/Roommate, Romantic Partner, Sibling, Manager,  etc

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[mizldrizl]

How common is each character's family name in Korea? - Beyond Evil

#01: 김 (金, Kim) - Kim Young Hui (apprx. 21.50%)

#02: 이 (李, Lee) - Lee Dong Sik, Lee Yu Yeon, Lee Chang Jin (apprx. 14.70%)

#03: 박 (朴, Park) - Park Jung Je (apprx. 8.43%)

#06: 강 (姜, Kang) - Kang Jin Mook, Kang Min Jung (apprx. 2.37%)

#07: 조 (趙, Cho) - Cho Gil Gu (apprx. 2.12%)

#11: 한 (韓, Han) - Han Joo Won, Han Ki Hwan, Han Jung Im (apprx. 1.56%)

#12: 오 (吳, Oh) - Oh Ji Hwa, Oh Ji Hoon (apprx. 1.54%)

#15: 권 (權, Kwon) - Kwon Hyuk (apprx. 1.42%)

#16: 황 (黃, Hwang) - Hwang Gwang Young (apprx. 1.40%)

#21: 유 (柳, Yoo) - Yoo Jae Yi (apprx. 0.96%)

#31: 남 (南, Nam) - Nam Sang Bae (apprx. 0.55%)

#68: 도 (都, Do) - Do Hae Won (apprx. 0.11%)

Source: KOSIS statistics (2015)

[peculiarbob]

Here’s a list of all the Kdramas/Korean movies that I watched in 2023 + some of my thoughts (spoiler free)

The Glory

-Gonna be honest, I only started watching because Kim Hieora and Jung Sung Il are in this show.

-But I ended up really liking it. The bullying scenes were horrifying, the characters were memorable, and overall it was very well made.

Stranger

-HWANG SIMOK! I love him so much! BAE DOONA! I love her so much!

-I loved all the characters and all the twists

Stranger 2

-This season was good too. Seeing the dynamics and relationships between all the characters change was so interesting

Unlocked

-IM SIWAN! The reason why I watched this movie <3

-Is it the best and most unique movie? No. Was it pretty good and entertaining? Yeah!

All Of Us Are Dead

-Even in the zombie apocalypse they’re not free of bullying.

-My heart broke many times. Those poor kids didn’t deserve to go through all of that! (Except Na Yeon. I still don’t like her.)

The Glory Part 2

-Not the typical type of revenge. But I think it’s a very fitting ending.

Physical 100

-This show inspired me to start taking better care of myself.

-Watching everyone hype up this show so much then watching all the controversies come out in real time was crazy. Looking forward to season 2

Kingdom

-This show was on my radar because that zombie dude from Physical 100 said he did the choreography

-I love all of the characters and the zombies were so freaky

Kingdom 2

-The Queen might’ve been the scariest part of this show

-I love this show, season 3? Maybe?

Kingdom: Ashin of the North

-Han Ho Yeol from DP?!?!

-It was really interesting seeing another side to this story

Silent Sea

-BAE DOONA! GONG YOO!

-I don’t understand why this flopped. I really liked this show!

Siren: Survive The Island

-I was team athlete til the end! (I thought Kim Seong Yeon was hot)

-If there isn’t a season 2 I’m going to fight Netflix

Misaeng

-Im Siwan <3

-I really like this show. It really gave me hope and it honestly inspired me to work harder. I’m also trying to learn to play baduk

D.P. 2

-So many emotions. The ending left me feeling a bit empty. I’ve grown so attached to these characters and now it’s just over.

The Wailing

-I think I need to watch this a second time to really analyze it.

-I really like the sfx makeup

Monster

-Accurate representation of neurodivergent people/mentally disabled people? No.

-Interesting villain and fight scenes? Yes

Hide and Seek

-I really liked the twist and how eerie the vibes were

Memoir of a Murder

-I love unreliable narrators. Not knowing what’s real and what isn’t really puts you on the end he of your seat

-Also I didn’t even realize that was Kim Nam Gil

The Policeman’s Lineage

-I only watched this for Kwon Yul

-Decent story but I feel like it fell short of its potential

Hansel and Gretel

-Solid start but I didn’t realize that it was going in the direction that it did

-Not the ending that I expected but I’m satisfied with it

Ballerina

-Honestly, they were so over dramatic when it came to the bdsm stuff. Like okay, he’s kinky. That’s the least concerning thing about him.

-My mom got me to watch this because she likes Kim Ji Hoon

The Mimic

-Interesting concept with interesting characters

-The ending was so fitting, I’m very satisfied with it

Champion

-Another movie I watched for Kwon Yul

-I really like this movie, it’s very comforting and funny

Mother

-This is a cautionary tale, you cannot tell me otherwise!

-I was SHOCKED! It was just so sudden. I don’t know how to explain it without spoiling what happened.

Sweet Home 2

-Interesting. I’m not sure what I expected from this season but this wasn’t it.

-I found it entertaining but I’m not quite sure if I like how they’re approaching this new thing that they’re doing.

[elderflowergin]

SBS Hyena, episode 1 rewatch (part 3)

Today we will look at cute watch ads, the storm before the actual storm and bonus Yoon Hee-jae being expensive.

Hwang Bo-ra is so wonderful in everything she does. Sim Yu-mi has a great sense of style and an equally loud personality, but she feels quite personable. This means she’s quick to make friends and pull them in, which is what puts Jung Geum-ja in Yoon Hee-jae’s circle.

Kindly note her single earring, the contrast of her aqua blazer, her neon pink nails and her lip. Let's put a pin in that comment by her.

(I live for Hee-jae saying he's expensive. I'm sure you are, babe.)

On any other show, their age difference would have been played for hijinks, laughs or a plot point. Ga Gi-hyeok as the bestie might have told his friend he could do much better (untrue). Boo Hyeon-a might have had an entire jealousy arc with her (you know they would have done that.)

Not on this show. This is the first and the last time a named character says anything on the topic. It’s a sometimes grating comic character who makes the comment, which would have been a sneaky way to slide in something mean or judgmental. But there's none of that here. It’s super refreshing. 

And then, total obliteration: 

Kim Hee-sun is luminous, sexy as hell and completely in control. Yoon Hee-jae may have upped the stakes here by turning up and dropping that outrageous line about leaving with him, but Kim Hee-sun does the metaphorical equivalent of cuffing his chin, smirking and saying "Let me show you how it's done, dear boy." Of course he leaves like he's been lassoed.

Ju Ji-hoon is never going to look like this in a show, ever again. I feel like the costuming team sat down with the PD and went, listen, we have an actor-model in the house. Let us at him. Let us put him in gorgeous suits and saturated colours and lots of great lighting.

This is presumably the Gran Bleu, which is where they met twice more, and...the lighting is not like this on those occasions. Here it's cosy, with lots of warmth on their faces, but there are also plenty of shadows. Almost as if to say that romantic lighting also tends to conceal a lot. 

The last time they do meet here, the lights are up, because the show's over, and the things they say and do are so achingly loving that you won't need any romantic pap. Substance over form. 

This entire sequence plays out like a generic, if extremely posh, romance. Form, rather than substance: two beautiful people listening to the same record, cooking in the kitchen, looking at art dressed like they should be in fashion magazines - culminating in this gorgeous windswept kiss with the sun setting and the mountains behind them. HIGH ROMANCE, or rather, what we think high romance should look like.

I say “generic”, because this could be any couple. There is nothing here that is specifically them. It’s stock architecture over the heart of things that Hee-jae loves, but there is nothing else of him, and absolutely nothing of her. Even that kiss on the rooftop is made to look exactly like those ubiquitous East Asian watch commercials with the blurry slow-motion - and it is, because it’s very smart PPL, I’m certain - but it enhances, rather than detracts from the generic quality of this sequence. 

Anyway, the ad film’s coming to an end because…it’s courtroom time. DUN DUN DUN.

[consumeronionbulletin]

Queen of Tears (2024)

On the surface this seems like just an ordinary romantic drama with an interesting premise. It turned out to be a master class in acting, editing, cinematography and (even) writing. I loved these characters and was genuinely sad to see it end.

What Worked

The two leads were amazing. Kim Soo-Hyun put in his best performance so far, and Kim Ji-Won did an excellent job making you like a character that was written to be cold and unlikeable. I'd say it was her best role, but you know My Liberation Notes was still better.

The rest of the cast was great too. Park Sung-hoon was great at playing the villain and making him both sympathetic and contemptible. Kwak Dong-yeon did an excellent job at turning the biggest idiot kid brother into someone you were cheering for at the end.

This drama, more than most, also did a standout job of using editing and film work to help set the mood for the story.

What Didn't Work

This show is as close to flawless as you can get. There are things that I wish they'd done differently, but those are more about taste than quality, because the show was excellent.

The Performances

The cast was excellent across the board. I've already mentioned the two leads. I could probably go through and say something nice about each actor, but that would be way too long. There were a few actors that were new to me that especially liked watching.

Yoon Bo-mi as "Secretary Bestie" Na Chae-yeo. This actor did an excellent job of grounding the scene and making Kim Ji-won's character more human and likable. She was also very funny on her own.

Lee Mi-sook as "Worst Mother Ever" Moh Seul-hee. The show didn't do much to explain the whys of her character, but Lee Mi-sook was so interesting to watch, that I mostly didn't care. Really good performance overall.

Kim Jung-nan as "Fighter Auntie" Hong Beom-ja. I had a hard time taking this character seriously at first, but the actor did a great job of showing you how much Beom-ja cared about her family, which made me start to care about the character. Alot of fun to watch (even if they should have given her a proper loveline at the end).

Jeon Bae-soo and Hwang Young-hee as "World's Best Parents (2024)." It would be hard to make Hyun-woo's parents unlikeable, since they get to be the moral center of the show in some ways, but it was also important to make them interesting in a cast of over the top characters. The actors did a good job with that, and I really enjoyed watching them play off the rest of the cast.

TL; DR:

If you like K-dramas you've probably already seen this. That being said, I like K-dramas and I still haven't watched this writer's other big hit Crash Landing on You, so it YMMV. Bottom line: it's your precious little life, choose wisely.

[katierosefun]

Do you ever think how incredibly Young Juwon is when the series starts? He was 27?? I just turned 26 and I do Not think I'm capable of handling whatever mess he was in by the time I'm 27 like, he's just a big stupid teenager

happy belated birthday, mineh!! i hope your 26th year is a good one!

but also, yes, to address the rest of your ask . . . maybe since i'm only 23, 27 years old still feels so distant to me/feels a little more grown up to me, but at the same time. i do think that 27 is still a remarkably young age to have the kind of career that joo won has had at that point. like, working in foreign affairs + already an inspector at 27, whereas when you look at the manyang substation, hwang gwang young is the only inspector . . . and i would guess that he's anywhere between his late thirties to early forties, but he's also rather ambitious in his own right. and then you look at cho gil gu, who's def. older than hwang gwang young (or at least, he seems at least a few years older) but isn't at inspector status yet. ji hoon is the youngest in the group, although i think according to the script book, he's only a year younger than joo won . . . and he's only a patrol officer. (then again, ji hoon also started his police career later, i think.)

and then if you look at all the people working in the violent crimes unit, too, i think that puts everything else in perspective. like, ji hwa had been working in violent crimes for eleven years, i think, and she's probably forty years old. that means she would have started violent crimes when she was twenty nine, which is still rather young, but she at least had a few years on joo won before she started to get into the really nitty gritty parts of work. kang do su is relatively young too (i would say that he's probably in his early or mid thirties??), but still: older than joo won.

so that said: yeah. han joo won is def . . . i think incredibly young given the work that he has to handle. that said, i feel like that just. speaks so much to who he is as a character, because i don't think he ever really had a chance at being young? like, an actual child? (which is probably why he simultaneously seems grown up and. like. childish. something something people who grow up way too fast are constantly swinging between "eerily familiar with disturbing concepts that most people only have to reckon with when they're fully grown" and "astoundingly immature").

[themthistles]

Have you ever wondered: which Beyond Evil characters are more powerful than others? No?.. Well, if you did, wonder no more because we’re about to answer that question. Democratically. With polls.

That’s right, YOU get to vote and decide who would win in a fight!

Each round will test something different.

ROUND ONE&TWO (RESOURCEFULNESS): characters are armed with whatever they can get their hands on + given time to devise a strategy for how to take opponent down. traps and trickery encouraged, scheming mandatory

ROUND THREE (STRENGTH AND SKILL): characters are armed with one object or weapon of choice. how and what to use is up to them  

SEMI-FINALS (WIT): characters must force their opponent to admit defeat using only words. lying, pleading, insulting, reasoning, blackmail, anything goes

FINALS (WILL): characters are armed with nothing but pure resolve, determination and perhaps some bloodlust 

Here are our WHO WOULD WIN? match-ups:

Notes:

· I’m not including characters who are no longer alive or capable of fighting at the start of the story. So no Yuyeon or Dongsik's mom, sorry.

· The Brawl starts roughly when Juwon arrives in town, so no character development has happened yet and no truths and secrets have been revealed.

· Before voting consider all: strength, intelligence, proficiency with weapons and tools, determination to win at all cost, moral code, what are character's personal feelings towards their opponent, do they have the element of surprise, etc. Are they allowed to kill without consequences, you might ask? Yes. Yes, they are. So consider that too.

REMEMBER! Vote for whoever is likely to win under circumstances, not for your favorite character or against a character you hate

Under cut you will find links to each fight of ROUND ONE once it begins in a bit. I will make separate posts for ROUND TWO, THREE, etc. when it's time and update this post with links to them. I’ll also tag every related post with #bebrawl

ROUND ONE:

KWON HYUK VS DETECTIVE KWAK

IM SEON NYEO VS SECRETARY JANG

HWANG GWANG YOUNG VS KANG JIN MOOK

KANG DO SOO VS OH JI HOON

HAN JU WON VS HAN KI HWAN

ROUND TWO

ROUND THREE

SEMI-FINALS

[sageglobalresponse]

5 popular Korean TV series stealing the hearts of Nigerians in 2024

Korean dramas capture Nigerians' hearts with their captivating stories, talented actors, and unique blend of genres.

K-dramas, the creative expression of Korean culture with a unique blend of drama, romance and humour, have captivated Nigerian viewers.

With their intriguing stories and distinctive mash-ups of genres, Korean TV shows have emerged as a prominent force.

It's not just the stories that captivate Nigerians. Korean shows boast a powerhouse of talented actors who bring these characters to life with remarkable authenticity.

Best Korean TV series in 2024

Here’s a list of Korean series that are particularly popular among Nigerians in 2024:

1. Queen of Tears (2024)

Synopsis: The series depicts the crisis and rekindling of love between Hong Hae-in, played by Kim Ji-won, a third-generation chaebol heiress of Queens Group, and Baek Hyun-woo, played by Kim Soo-hyun, the son of farmers from Yongdu-ri, and their three years of marriage.

Director: Jang Young-woo and Kim Hee-won

Cast: Park Sung-hoon, Kwak Dong-yeon, and Lee Joo-bin

Where to watch: Netflix

https://youtu.be/Gg2D8zrzlOA

2. Marry My Husband (2024)

Synopsis: The series begins in 2023 when Kang Ji-won played by Park Min-young, is terminally ill with gastric cancer. After catching her husband, Park Min-hwan played by Lee Yi-kyung, in bed with her best friend, Jeong Su-min, a scuffle ensues in which Ji-won is accidentally killed by Min-hwan.

Ji-won then awakens in the year 2013, having been sent back in time following the intervention of her late father's spirit. As she relives her life with the same knowledge and information as in the previous timeline, she discovers that to live a better life, she must transfer her misfortune to others. She then resolves to have Su-min marry Min-hwan to exact revenge and escape her miserable fate.

Cast: Na In-woo, Song Ha-yoon, and Lee Gi-kwang

Where to watch: Prime Video

https://youtu.be/lfJGSxXf9Xg

Director: Park Won-guk and Han Jin-seon

3. Doctor Slump (2024)

Synopsis: It is a romantic comedy series about the hate-turned-love relationship of Nam Ha-neul played by Park Shin-hye and Yeo Jeong-woo played by Park Hyung-sik, who had promising prospects in their careers, but fell into a slump due to different circumstances.

Ha-neul and Jeong-woo were high school rivals who despised each other and parted ways after high school. But when they are forced to quit their jobs as doctors, they end up living together at Ha-neul's house.

Cast: Yoon Park, Gong Seong-ha, and Oh Dong-min

Where to watch: Netflix

https://youtu.be/xCwAwwm4-sY

Director: Hyun Jong Oh

4. Love Song For Illusion (2024)

Synopsis: The story follows Yeon Wol played by Hong Ye-ji, who hides her identity and becomes an assassin to avenge her family. Her mission is to assassinate the king but she falls into a trap set by an unknown person. She wakes up the next day with no memory of her past and is appointed as the crown prince's concubine.

Director: Lee Jung-seob

Cast: Park Ji-hoon, Lee Joo-won, Hwang Hee, and Ji Woo

Where to watch: Viki

https://youtu.be/3vkGu5R1IKo

5. A Killer’s Paradox (2024)

Synopsis: The series follows the story of Lee Tang played by Choi Woo-shik, who was discharged from the army six months ago, struggles with his life and dreams of visiting Canada. He works at a convenience store and relies heavily on his parents for support.

One night, he is assaulted by a customer, leading to a violent confrontation and the subsequent murder of the customer. Tang is guilt-ridden and prepares to turn himself in, but discovers his victim was a serial killer.

Dutiful detective Jang Nan-gam, remains uncooperative and keeps investigating. It is unclear if Nan-gam is onto him, but Tang continues to kill, revealing his hidden talent for accidentally offending evildoers.

The story explores the question of whether Tang is serving justice or evading it.

Director: Lee Chang-hee

Cast: Son Suk-ku, Lee Hee-Joon, Kim Yo-han, and Jung Yi-seo

Where to watch: Netflix

https://youtu.be/X2rXQ0rEfPI

[enterenews]

Talents picked by Park Seon-joo

Producer Park Seon-joo picked Ahn Seong-hoon, Choi Su-ho, and Gil Byung-min as the participants of ‘Mr.

Park Seon-joo will join TV Chosun's 'Mr. Trot 2' as a master, which will be broadcast on the 26th.

Regarding being reprimanded for being an abusive character, Park Seon-joo said, “Even if it is more cruel and more cold-hearted, that is the most important thing if it is the way for the participants to do well. It's a pity that there are friends who just spend time giving only compliments and eventually hit their limits and throw away their talents, and there are still many friends like that. Even if I get cursed at, I want to be their first gateway so that they can make up for their strengths and weaknesses through accurate judgment.”

Next, he picked singing ability, song interpretation ability, and even star quality as the most important parts of the screening of ‘Mr. That's why I think the most important thing is to have all abilities harmoniously balanced."

Then, who is the participant of ‘Mr. Trot 2’ that Park Seon-joo is most interested in? Park Seon-joo said, “Ahn Seong-hoon’s technique is perfect. Choi Soo-ho is also only 21 years old, and I was surprised to the point of wondering how he could express himself that way. Gil Byeong-min is a perfect gemstone. In addition, Park Ji-hyeon, Song Min-joon, Hwang Min-ho, and Park Seong-on are always surprised by the star quality.”

[dear-indies]

Best Korean face claims to use? any age and gender.

I'm going to preface this with a very important message to please be mindful of playing Korean characters because the roleplay community tends to fetishize and use racist stereotypes - a Google search will explain things to be careful of and writingwithcolor is also a great resource. 

Here are some Korean faceclaims (mostly actors) with resources at the time of posting.

Non-binary:

Nicky Endres (1982) Korean - she/they - non-binary transfeminine, genderqueer, and genderfluid.

Women:

Youn Yuh Jung (1947) Korean.

Go Doo Shim (1951) Korean.

Sandra Oh (1971) Korean.

Kim Seo Hyung (1973) Korean.

Merle Dandridge (1975) African-American / Korean.

Moon Bloodgood (1975) Korean / Dutch, English, Welsh, Irish.

Kim Joo Ryoung (1976) Korean.

Bae Doo Na (1979) Korean.

Ha Jae Sook (1979) Korean.

Gong Hyo Jin (1980) Korean.

Cho Yeo Jung (1981) Korean.

Kim Min Hee (1982) Korean.

Lee Si Young (1982) Korean.

Son Ye Jin (1982) Korean.

Lee Ha Na (1982) Korean.

Jo Yoon Hee (1982) Korean.

Lee Ha Nee (1983) Korean.

Shin Min Ah (1984) Korean.

Mia Sable (1984) Korean, Choctaw and German.

Claudia Kim (1985) Korean.

Genevieve Kang (1986) Korean, Scottish Irish, Lebanese, Apache, Spanish.

Soo Joo Park (1986) Korean.

Jung Eun Chae (1986) Korean.

Park So Jin (1986) Korean.

Oh Yeon Seo (1987) Korean.

Shin Bo Ra (1987) Korean.

Hwang Seung Eon (1988) Korean.

Go Bo Gyeol (1988) Korean.

Shin Hye Sun (1989) Korean.

Lee Joo Bin (1989) Korean.

Andrea Bang (1989) Korean.

Jeon Yeo Been (1989) Korean.

Alice Lee (1989) Korean.

Kang Han Na (1989) Korean.

Song Ji Eun (1990) Korean.

Lee Sung Kyung (1990) Korean.

Kim Tae Ri (1990) Korean.

Park Shin Hye (1990) Korean.

Kwon Na Ra (1991) Korean.

Kim Go Eun (1991) Korean.

Kim Yong Ji (1991) Korean.

Im Jin Ah / Nana (1991) Korean.

Ashley Park (1991) Korean.

Lee Se Young (1992) Korean.

Kim Ji Won (1992) Korean.

Ha Yoon Kyung (1992) Korean.

Yoon So Hee (1993) Korean.

Park Gyu Young (1993) Korean.

Bae Suzy (1994) Korean.

Park Ji Hyun (1994) Korean.

Lee Yoo Mi (1994) Korean.

Kim Min Kyu (1994) Korean.

Lee Hye Ri (1994) Korean.

Seo Eun Soo (1994) Korean.

Chae Soo Bin (1994) Korean.

Jin Se Yeon (1994) Korean.

Jeon Jong Seo (1994) Korean.

Han So Hee (1994) Korean.

Jung Da Eun (1994) Korean.

Yeri (1994) Korean.

Adeline Rudolph (1995) Korean / German.

Go Min Si (1995) Korean.

Shin Do Hyun (1995) Korean.

Nam Ji Hyun (1995) Korean.

Park Soo Young / Joy (1996) Korean.

Oh Ha-young / Hayoung (1996) Korean.

Moon Ga Young (1996) Korean.

Lee Yeol Eum (1996) Korean.

Yang Hye Ji (1996) Korean.

Han Ji Hyun (1996) Korean.

Seol In Ah (1996) Korean.

Go Yoon Jung (1996) Korean.

Tati Gabrielle (1996) Korean / African-American.

Sydney Park (1997) Korean / African-American.

Choi Yu Ju (1997) Korean.

Lee Ho Jung (1997) Korean.

Shin Ye Eun (1998) Korean.

Lee Su Ji (1998) Korean.

Kang Mina (1999) Korean.

Jo Soo Min (1999) Korean.

Kim Do Yeon (1999) Korean.

Jo Yi Hyun (1999) Korean.

Yoon Seo Ah (2000) Korean.

Taylor T (?) Korean.

Jennifer Cheon Garcia (?) Korean / Mexican.

Men:

Song Kang Ho (1967) Korean.

Lee Byung Hun (1970) Korean.

Kenneth Choi (1971) Korean. 

Rick Yune (1971) Korean.

Will Yun Lee (1971) Korean.

David Lee McInnis (1973) Korean / German and Irish. 

Lee Jung Jae (1972) Korean.

Randall Park (1974) Korean.

Johnny Yong Bosch (1976) Korean / Irish German.

Heo Sung Tae (1977) Korean.

Ji Sung (1977) Korean.

Gong Yoo (1979) Korean.

Daniel Henney (1979) Korean / Irish, English.

Miyavi (1981) Korean / Japanese.

Lee Dong Wook (1981) Korean.

Park Hae Soo (1981) Korean.

Hyun Bin (1982) Korean.

Joo Ji Hoon (1982) Korean.

Sung Hoon (1983) Korean.

Uhm Tae Goo (1983) Korean.

Steven Yeun (1983) Korean.

Lee Je Hoon (1984) Korean. 

Song Joong Ki (1985) Korean.

Lee Da Hee (1985) Korean.

Yoo Ah In (1986) Korean.

Choi Daniel (1986) Korean.

Noh Min Woo (1986) Korean. 

Seo In Guk (1987) Korean.

Kim Ki Bum (1987) Korean.

Christopher Larkin (1987) Korean.

Jay Hayden (1987) Korean / Irish.

Yoon Park (1987) Korean.

Ahn Bo Hyun (1988) Korean.

Park Seo Joon (1988) Korean.

Jung Hae In (1988) Korean.

Kim Soo Hyun (1988) Korean.

Lee Hyun Jae (1988) Korean / Unspecified American.

Lee Soo Hyuk (1988) Korean.

Ok Taec Yeon (1988) Korean.

Im Shi Wan (1988) Korean.

Kim Woo Bin (1989) Korean.

Kim Kyung Nam (1989) Korean.

Lee Jong Suk (1989) Korean.

Kang Ha Neul (1990) Korean.

Justin H. Min (1990) Korean.

Lee Min Hyuk (1990) Korean.

Wi Ha Jun (1991) Korean.

Hwang In Yeop (1991) Korean.

Lee Seung Hyub (1992) Korean.

Jake Choi (1992) Korean - sexually fluid.

Woo Do Hwan (1992) Korean.

Jang Ki Yong (1992) Korean.

Chae Jong Hyeop (1993) Korean.

Yoo Seung Ho (1993) Korean.

Seo Kang Joon (1993) Korean.

Do Kyung Soo (1993) Korean.

Lee Hyun Woo (1993) Korean.

Kim Sung Joo (1994) Korean.

Nam Joo Hyuk (1994) Korean.

Kang Tae Oh (1994) Korean.

One / Jung Jae Won (1994) Korean.

Song Kang (1994) Korean.

Park Jin Young (1994) Korean.

Lee Do Hyun (1995) Korean.

Go Tae Seob / Holland (1996) Korean - gay.

Cha Eun Woo (1997) Korean.

Kwak Dong Yeon (1997) Korean.

Han Gi Chan (1998) Korean.

Kim Moo Joon (1998) Korean.

Hur Hyun Jun (2000) Korean.

Hyun Min Han (2001) Korean / Nigerian.

Peter Thurnwald (?) Korean.

Here ya go!

[yousxyloveisblind]

Hwang Industries experienced a major production issue in the wake of the external money laundering scandal that wracked their American counterparts..

The headlines illuminated every major paper in troves. He barely left his office commanding his teams to do damage control. There was always some risk working with foreign companies but growth was important. He listened to Attorney Kang lay out her plans on slamming the media outlets reporting on the story on defamation. Ji-hoon felt the pressure keeping between his shoulder blades as he spread the year’s timeline out across his desk with a labored sigh. 

“Thank you for your hard word, Attorney Kang. I’ll be in touch,” he mumbled into the receiver before tossing his phone onto the desk. 

@oranythingdamn​

[mizldrizl]

How old is each character in Beyond Evil?

According to the official Beyond Evil web page:

Lee Dong Sik: 40

Han Joo Won: 27

Park Jung Je: 40

Yoo Jae Yi: 28

Oh Ji Hwa: 40

Nam Sang Bae: 59

Hwang Gwang Young: 34

Cho Gil Gu: 52

Oh Ji Hoon: 26

Do Hae Won: 65

Kang Jin Mook: 45

Kang Min Jung: 21

Lee Chang Jin: 49

Han Ki Hwan: 58

Kwon Hyuk: 34

I read the character information on the web page for the first time just now, and there was some interesting stuff there, such as:

Jung Je became a police officer after seeing Dong Sik and Ji Hwa trying to be one.

Ji Hwa was a Korean national Taekwondo athlete in middle school and high school. She became a police officer because she wanted to beat up bad guys "legally."

Nam Sang Bae was never married. His first love was Han Jeong Im, Jae Yi's mother. His original plan was to ask her out after successfully becoming a police officer, but it was too late; she was marrying Jae Yi's father.

The Oh siblings' father died when Ji Hoon was 12, and their mother remarried and left them. Since then, he and Ji Hwa have lived together.

Han Ki Hwan's father and grandfather were also police officers.

[drivingsideways]

Hey talk to me about your top three favourite kdrama women. What makes them special? What's a fic you would like to write about any one of them?

Mystery anon! :D What a lovely ask. 

I’m going to cheat a bit and divide my answer into characters I loved a lot, but do not want to write fic about, because I think the canon gives me what I need; and characters that I loved a lot but NEED TO BE RESCUED ZOMG.  (My fic writing impulses are 50% spite and 50% fix-it )

Caveat being that I’ve still watched only maybe a dozen kdramas, so I’m pretty limited in my knowledge!

Characters that I love a lot, but have very zero fic impulses toward:

Han Yeo-jin from Stranger/Secret Forest: What a delight! What an iconique character! Is there anyone like her? NO. LSY-nim gives us a delightfully complex character, and Bae Doona knocks it out of the park in every single scene, so I’m just happy to be along for the ride. I think what makes Yeo-jin special for me is the intrinsic place of empathy that she operates from.  I think “righteous” is a word that often comes with negative connotations (self-righteous, for eg), but I do think she’s one of the most righteous-in-the-good-way characters I’ve watched in kdrama or any drama. I’m tired of stories that portray goodness as “boring” , as unworthy of narrative breadth or depth, and I love that Han Yeo-jin comes to us like a breath of fresh air in our particular dystopian narratives hellscape. She’s good, but never naive. She’s righteous but never cruel in her moral certainties.  I think that LSY nim, in the second season especially, gave Yeo-jin the kind of arc that character deserved when she’s forced to really dig deep into herself to figure out how she’s going to live in the world in the face of a deeply cutting, deeply personal disillusionment, and I’m really hoping for an S3 to see how that plays out further. 

Goo Hae-ryung from Rookie Historian: Ok, I will admit this may be rose tinted glasses view due to this show being my gateway drug into kdrama, but c’mon! She’s a reader! and a Thinker! And loves her wine! She’s plucky! She’s cute! She’s got a wry sense of humour! She’s got principles! She’s got a solid common sense to her that somehow doesn’t get in the way of her dreaming BIG! Oh dear, doesn’t she sound like the Mary-est of Mary Sues? Good for her.gif,  I say! Anyways, Shin Se-kyung is unutterably charming in this (AS IN EVERY SHOW OMG GIRL) and I just have a huge fondness for free-spirited heroines who get to tramp through the narrative changing the world as they do! 

Lee Ji-an from My Ahjussi: I’ve never had my heart broken more OR restored by any single character. IU is *phenomenal * in this, I think she really stepped up to what the script demanded from her. Ji-an’s weariness, her fear and vulnerability, her prickliness, her anger and her bitterness, and how, despite everything, she fights : GOD. Just. Again, what I love about the writing in this show is that it’s deeply empathetic without being cloyingly sentimental. I think a less, hmm, imaginative writer/PD might have focused on the Lee Ji-an the victim, and while the show definitely tells you in no uncertain terms that she is one,  of both circumstances and a cruel society, I think it refuses to take away her agency over her own life.(Lee Ji-an when we meet her is too busy hanging onto life by tooth and claw to indulge in self-pity, but we also see the toll it takes on her not to be able to say “this is too heavy a burden for me to carry myself and it isn’t my fault”; the show I think approaches Dong-hoon from the opposite side- his emotional isolation is partly a result of his own choices, but he doesn’t see it yet, and so his journey is also about letting people in and sharing the burden, but also recovering his own agency over his life. It’s an interestingly gender-bent arc, which is one of the things I love about this show. )

Ok, can I please add one more?

Hwang Han-joo from Melo is my Nature: She just felt SO real to me. She’s someone who doesn’t have the spectacular brilliance of either Jin-joo or Eun-jung, and struggles with accepting her limitations but not allowing herself to be defeated by them? I love her struggles as a mother, as a working woman in a sexist industry, a woman who’s perhaps having to rethink and reimagine what she wants from romance. I love that she’s a little silly, a lot kind, and an optimist, and just. I just think she’s the bravest of the three, tbh, and I LOVE HER AND I WOULD WATCH A SPIN OFF ABOUT JUST HER (i shouldn’t have faves among the three i know, BUT I DO, IT’S HER, IT’S HER.)

Ok! On to the next section! And I’m going to cheat again because I can’t stop at three. SORRY. NOT SORRY. 

Characters I love and SHOULD write fic for if I weren’t such a tired and lazy bunny:  

Song Sa-hui from Rookie Historian: Oh, girl, girl, GIRL. I love how she fights to snatch her freedom from the jaws of the patriarchy. I love that she unapologetically centers herself while doing that, because she knows that nobody else will.  I love that she’s prickly and calculating. I love that she’s smart and knowledgeable. I am SO HAPPY that she got to carve out a little bit of freedom for herself, even if it also is exile to some degree. She *should * be Emperor Jin’s Prime Minister and steering the ship of state, while also carrying on a tumultous affair with Queen Min Woo-hee, while ALSO commiserating with Emperor Jin about his boyfriend Historian Min Woo-won’s regrettable tendency towards Principles (TM) and masochism-but-not-in-the-fun-way. (This takes up much of his time which is why Song Sa-hui is running the country, of course. It works out well for all concerned, well, except her dad, of course.)

Song Ga-gyeong from Search:WWW: What’s NOT to love about our brilliant, beautiful, emotionally tortured gay icon? Nothing, absolutely nothing. I loved how the show allowed her to be flawed and make bad decisions, and then allowed her to make better decisions and regain control of her life. What I do need to do, of course, is see the CANON LOVE STORY between her and Cha Hyeon through to the end. It must, of course, include at least one baseball game, a lot of tequila and messy beach kisses. 

Oh Ji-hwa from Beyond Evil: Oh boy, this year’s runaway hit cleared the extremely low bar for standard crime/ thriller shows by leaving more than one of its female characters breathing and with all limbs intact, and got called feminist for it BUT it didn’t do justice to any of them in any meaningful way and that never hurt more than in the way they sidelined Kim Shin-rok’s talent by not giving Oh Ji-hwa anything much to do. She’s a tough as nails cop, a loving sister, a devoted but unsentimental friend-and by rights SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE HEROINE OF THIS SHOW. My secret fic fantasy is to rewrite the show entirely by making her , and the two other female characters in non-antagonist roles- Yoo Jae-yi and Im Sun-nyeo- as the central characters, as they investigate a serial killer who targets women.  It’s the only acceptable version of this done-to-death (ha!) genre, I have no idea what the Baeksang jury and tumblr fandom is smoking when they hype the show so much, I want none of it. 

Jung Sun-ah from The Devil Judge: I love her rage, her spite, her passionate defense of women, her style, her sexiness, her rage, her rage, her brilliance, her tenaciousness, her smartness, her clothes, her refusal to hate herself for everything she is and chooses to be, her ambition, her comfort wielding power, her EVERYTHING. Dead, her? NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT. Here’s what *really * happened at the end of canon- she gets out of the building by planting that lady-like but still deadly gun against Kang Yo-han’s temple and making him lead her through his own “secret escape route” or whatever the fuck it was the show wanted us to believe. From there on out, it’s all sunshine and beaches, and scheming and waiting for the right moment to strike again-though of course, this time around, she also has to reckon with vigilant, tenacious cop Soo-hyun -another character who REALLY didn’t die for manpain reasons and had the good sense to leave her gay best friend to follow his psychopath boyfriend to Switzerland or wherever it is that star crossed lovers in kdrama land meet up on the regs these days- anyways, Soo-hyun and her are in this catch-me-if-you-can epic transnational honest and cute cop-and-beautiful sexy villain chase and yes, they WILL kiss (and more) AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS. 

*whew *

Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk.

[consumeronionbulletin]

My Lovely Liar (2023)

This drama was soo good, right up until it wasn't...

Sometimes a great drama runs out of energy right at the finish line. And it's more disappointing than a drama that just plods along the whole way.

What Worked

The premise is simple and amazing: Sol-Hui has a gift / curse that she can always tell when someone lies. It's made her lots of money and no friends. Suddenly, this reclusive neighbor with a mysterious past moves in and everything changes.

At its best, the show was funny and thrilling and cute and romantic, and I loved the first 11-12 episodes.

What Didn't Work

Then they took us on a small town murder mystery, and dragged the story around without advancing the plot, and the big reveal was (*spoilers**spoilers**spoilers*) the closeted gay producer accidentally (?) did the murder and got away with it while accidentally (??) framing his best friend / secret love interest (*end spoilers*). At least the made him feel sorry for what he did, but really it should have been (*spoiler*) the father (*spoiler*) in my opinion. That man deserved to go to jail in any case.

The Performances

Kim So-hyun as ("Liar Hunter") Mok Sol-hui. Amazing to watch. She knew when to lean into the campy parts, and when to be serious, but mostly she knew how to make the premise (which could be ridiculous at times) completely believable.

Hwang Min-hyun as ("Naive Composer") Kim Do-ha. I got frustrated with the choices they had him make. He was too naive and probably should have been killed multiple times, and yet they just let him go on being oblivious. That was mostly on the writers, but still it made me want to throw things. You can't trust crazy guys with knives who want to murder you! You can't trust cops! You really can't trust cops that used to date your current girlfriend! Not even once!! On the other hand, his chemistry with Kim So-hyun was very good.

Seo Ji-hoon as ("Mr. Policeman") Lee Kang-min. On a different kind of show, this guy would have been a secondary villain. Instead he was the second male lead with a sad backstory. He had a few good moments, but the writing made him very vanilla, and Seo Ji-hoon didn't really add anything to him.

Lee Si-woo as ("Crazy Ex-pop star") Syaon. I loved to hate her through most of this, which shows that Lee Si-woo did a good job with the material. It was like a Makjang pop-princess wandered in from another show and started messing with the plot and I enjoyed that. Then they had to clean up her act for the obligatory happy ending, and she was less interesting.

Yoon Ji-on as ("Mr. CEO") Cho Deuk-chan. This was the worst case of character assassination in favor of a lame mystery that I've seen in awhile. The actor made it kind of work, but this was just a poor writing decision. It may have been okay, if they'd let us know the character better and peeled back the layers the way they did with Choi Eom-ji, but it would definitely have changed the tone of the show. They could have had a light hearted show, or they could have had a good mystery, but these writers at least weren't able to do both.

Nam Hyun-woo as ("The worst little bro") Cho Jae-chan. I really despised this guy throughout most of the show (so a good acting job, really), then they turned him into a patsy in service of the stupid mystery and toned the character down a bit, and it just made him less interesting. Decent performance with what he was given.

Park Kyung-hye as Cassandra. It's always great seeing Park Kyung-hye at work, and I loved the dynamic between her character and the rest of the Liar Hunter gang. They could have ditched some of the other b-plots and given us more with her and I would have been happy, but I still liked what I got.

Jin Kyung as ("The Worst Mother") Cha Hyang-suk. Again, another Makjang character let loose on an unsuspecting population, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Well until they decided to try and fix her messy relationship with Sol-hui's father, but that was still kind of okay.

Seo Jeong-yeon as ("Bad Politician Mother") Jung Yeon-mi. I liked how terrible this character was. I just wish they'd had the courage to let her be terrible. I feel like there was this need to undercut her ambitious nature that they wouldn't have bothered to do with a similar male character, and that was frustrating, but the performance was still pretty good overall.

Song Ji-hyun as ("Crazy Dead Girlfriend") Choi Eom-ji. I liked how complex they made her. One of the strong points for the show was how this young woman (and her death) touched different characters lives both good and bad. There was something about her arc at the end of the show that left a bad taste, but the performance overall was good.

Kwon Dong-ho as ("Walking Assault Case") Choi Eom-ho. This was another example of a Makjang character let loose, but I think they needed to reign him in just a little bit. Just did way too much assault, fraud, and general criminal behavior without any consequences and it frustrated me.

Seo Hyun-chul as ("Real Folk Blues") Jang Joong-gyu. Honorable mention to the guy that ran the jazz club, just because he was fun to watch and I really liked his interactions with the other characters.

The Other Village People. I kind of didn't care about the other business owners in Yonso-dong. Sometimes it was amusing, but mostly it was just okay. It was kind of fun watching the bakery owner dump flour all over the shifty real-estate people's office.

Everyone else. The bodyguard was fun at times, but overall not that interesting. The subplot with the up and coming wanna-be pop stars was lame. The stuff with the terrible dance coach who went after Syaon was frustrating and a little lame. Also, the cop stuff was kind of cute, but I still don't like cops. At least the crooked cop that got paid off by Bad Politician Mom was somewhat realistic. Mostly with the apathy, low pay, and general lack of accountability.

TL; DR:

Overall a good show that kind of limped into the finish line. The cute romantic stuff was very cute, the lie detector hijinks were very amusing, and the trauma bonding over terrible parents was also fun to watch. Just wish they'd made a few different choices.

[letsbeoutoftouch]

Back in December 2016, during a sleepover, my friends and I decided to watch EXO's Chanyeol's most recent movie, "So I Married an Anti-Fan". It effortlessly became one of my favourite movies, so much so that I rewatch it —at least— once a year.

Therefore, when it was first announced that South Korea was going to produce a drama based on the same story, I was thrilled. The feeling only increased when I found out that the male lead was Choi Tae-Joon, whom I loved because of Suspicious Partner. Later (to be more precise, this year), I discovered that the other lead was the one and only Sooyoung from SNSD!

The drama was filmed back in 2018, and it was supposed to air a loooot sooner, but it had a few problems and it finally came out this year. Since I don't like waiting for episodes to come out each week, I waited until it finished airing to watch it... And, today, I finished it!

So, here's my review, fresh out the oven!

· · ·

So I Married an Anti-Fan is a 2021 South Korean drama, featuring Choi Tae-Joon, Choi Sooyoung, Hwang Chansung and Han Ji-Ahn. It's based on the novel "그래서 나는 안티팬과 결혼했다" (So I Married an Anti-Fan), written by Kim Eun Jun and published in 2010.

· · ·

♡ PLOT:

The story revolves around Hoo Joon (Tae-Joon), a well-known idol, and Geun Young (Sooyoung), a magazine reporter. They meet during an event, where a series of misunderstandings leads them to have a bad impression of each other.

For this reason, when Geun Young loses her job, she's under the impression that it was Hoo Joon's doing and is therefore keen on "reveal" Joon's real character. However, her retaliation backfires, and she attracts a lot of attention as his "anti-fan".

Later, a TV producer approaches them both to star in a reality show. Geun Young and Hoo Joon accept and think to give each other a hard time on set. But, as time goes by, they get to know each other better and better.

· · ·

♡ EPISODES:

It's made up of 16 episodes, running for an hour each (i.e., your typical k-drama).

· · ·

♡ CHARACTERS:

-Geun Young (FL): She's the best character, hands down (I swear I'm not being biased because I love Sooyoung).

For some reason, I've seen a lot of bad comments about this character. I don't truly understand why some people said that she didn't stand up for herself or that she was so-so, when she dealt really well with everything that had happened to her. I'd like to see all those people in her shoes—I bet they'd have cracked up quickly.

Also, she's like the least toxic character I've ever come across in a drama. She waits patiently for Joon to deal with his problems and doesn't jump to conclusions regarding his relationship with In Hyeong and Jae Joon. She lets him do his thing, is an independent woman, and tries to be as little of a burden as she can to the people she cares about. So, props to her!

▫ ▫ ▫

-Hoo Joon (ML): Although I overall liked his character, I admit that if I hadn't previously watched the movie, I'd probably be wary of him at the beginning. But, don't worry: as the story progresses, you get to know him better. He's patient and thinks of other people's feelings and well-being a lot (sometimes, a little too much for his own good, but he's a good boy).

I felt the need to include that there was this one scene where he acts... In a way that I didn't find appealing. Fortunately, he isn't like that all throughout the drama. Also, he isn't toxic like a lot of the male leads in drama-land. If you're wondering which scene I'm referring to, here's a spoiler: *SPOILER ALERT* When he and Geun Young start dating, they are requested to film an advertisement together. In the filming, he acts all "jealous" because the dress she was wearing was too short for his liking. I'm sorry, but she's the only one who has a say on how short a dress she's wearing is—not you, not even if you're her partner *END OF SPOILER ALERT*.

▫ ▫ ▫

-JJ/Jae Joon (SML): Jae Joon is the second male lead, and he was portrayed by 2PM's Chansung.

I'm sorry, but I never could come to terms with this character, not even during the last episodes. If the writers' intention was for me to hate him, they (and Chansung's acting) totally achieved that purpose.

He is incredibly selfish and keeps this attitude up to episode 13/14. Towards the ending, the story tries that the audience feels some sympathy towards him—it is shown why he acted the way he did. Nevertheless, in my opinion, while his past may explain his actions, it doesn't justify any of them. That's why I couldn't bring myself to feel sympathetic or empathetic towards him. *SPOILER ALERT* In fact, I think Hoo Joon was too nice to be there for him in the last two or three episodes. *END OF SPOILER ALERT*

He's also outright abusive. *SPOILER ALERT* I mean, he slapped In Hyeong and broke her laptop ¿?... Even though I didn't like her that much, nothing justifies that kind of violent behaviour. *END OF SPOILER ALERT*

▫ ▫ ▫

-In Hyeong (SFL): She's the second female lead, portrayed by actress Han Ji-Ahn.

Oh, man. I had a hard time trying to wrap my head around this character. I was just going to say that I couldn't stand her because she was always purposely putting a spanner in the works, making everyone's life difficult.

However, as I was drafting this review, I began reflecting on the character and felt sympathy for her. She was in a vulnerable place—leaving aside that she felt abandoned by her first love, she had trouble trying to make her career take off, and she was in a really abusive relationship. It could be argued that JJ and In Hyeon were both toxic to each other, but it was clear that he was the one with the upper hand (he was the CEO of her new agency, which brings a real disbalance of power).

Moreover, it was hinted several times that all she went through took a toll on her mental health (*SPOILER ALERT* she was always taking pills to calm down, and she freaking tried to kill herself!!!!!!! *END OF SPOILER ALERT*). I believe she needed professional help to put herself back together, so she could let go of her past and finally leave that abusive relationship.

· · ·

♡ COUPLES:

Since this drama mostly gravitates towards romantic relationships, I'm including this section.

▫ ▫ ▫

-Geun Young x Hoo Joon: They are your typical enemies to lovers.

In the beginning, their relationship was tainted by a lot of misunderstandings, which led them to hate each other's guts (but, where's the charm in a k-drama that isn't filled with misunderstandings, am I right?). Once they started to spend more time together, they began understanding each other better. In time, they were able to leave their pride aside and got rid of their prejudices (yes, the story gives Jane Austen-ish vibes, so much so that "Pride and Prejudice" is mentioned a few times).

Their chemistry was alright. I would have changed some parts of the script that made a lot of scenes to be super cringey—especially, before some of their kisses (like, what a way to ruin such an awaited moment!).

The thing I liked the most about them was that neither of them was toxic, and they knew how and when to give the other person space. They were sweet, but not unbearable sweet—just the exact amount.

▫ ▫ ▫

-In Hyeong x Jae Joon: I don't know if they can be considered a true couple, but I'm adding them here just to repeat that I HATED THEM TOGETHER.

· · ·

♡ SOME PERSONAL INTERPRETATIONS AND THOUGHTS:

For me, the story tries to show the two sides of the same coin: things that may seem completely different, but are essentially the same. You can see it with Hoo Joon/Geun Young, their friends, and even with Hoo Joon/Jae Joon. Of course, this could be argued—it is just my personal impression.

Also, while the drama condemns some of the toxic fan behaviour, it sometimes romanticises it. *SPOILER ALERT* one fan freaking kidnapped him, and everything was suddenly alright ¿¿ Nuh-uh *END OF SPOILER ALERT*

· · ·

♡ DRAMA VS. MOVIE:

As I mentioned above, there's a prior Chinese movie from 2016 that was based on this novel. It features EXO's Chanyeol, Yuan Shan Shan, SNSD's Seohyun, and Jian Chao.

For obvious reasons, the story is shrunk down in the movie. There are a lot of things that weren't included in the movie, other things were overly simplified, and some stuff was missing and/or changed.

If you want to have a good laugh, then I recommend you to watch the movie. It's filled with non-sensical comedy that, in my opinion, China excels at. However, if you are more inclined towards drama, then the South Korean version is the one for you (you'll laugh, too, don't worry).

· · ·

♡ SUMMARY:

This is, basically, a sweet enemies-to-lovers, famous-person-and-normal-person story. If you like any of those troupes, then you're in for a treat.

It's a really lighthearted story that will make you laugh. Don't expect a complicated plot because there won't be one. It's ideal to have a break from all those dramas where you can't miss a single detail because you'll get lost, or from those dramas which plots are so heavy they end up tiring your mind out.

I loved the cast, and their acting was great (especially Chansung's, because he made me hate his character with a passion, lmao).

ALSO, if you like Sung Hoon (My Secret Romance, Oh My Venus) like me, then WATCH THIS DRAMA, lol. He has a guest role in some episodes!

· · ·

So I Married an Anti-Fan is available on VIKI!

· · ·

If you read the whole review, thank you very much! I hope you liked it.

[kateknowsdramas]

Worst KDramas of 2020

We can all agree that 2020 has been a dumpster fire, but we’ve been given several super amazing dramas (Hospital Playlist FTW) that have made my all time favorites list. However, we’ve also been given some colossally bad dramas this year. The list below are shows I watched that range from “Eh, I didn’t want to gouge my eyes out while watching” to “The people who green list this trash deserve to rot.”

Without further ado...my worst dramas of 2020:

7. The King: The Eternal Monarch

TKEM definitely wasn’t the worst drama of the year but, man, it was the most disappointing. For a show with such a stellar cast and writer, it turned out to be one of the most boring and nonsensical dramas I’ve watched in a long time. I wrote a few posts on why the show didn’t work for me - here and here and here. The only reason I stuck it out was for Woo Do Hwan because his poor back must have hurt carrying this drama. Oh, and I had to support Kim Kyung Nam too. So, really, the reason to watch this drama? See below.

6. When I Was the Most Beautiful

I don’t mind a melo and I don’t mind a makjang melo either. But it needs to be done well. This was not done well. I wanted to watch because Ji Soo in a lead romantic role - the universe smiled upon me! Or so I thought. The show saddles the poor guy with being a high school student falling in love with his teacher and he never gets over it. He pines over her for years even when she marries his brother (who then disappears for years of course). It’s depressing, none of the characters are likeable and there’s no actual romantic payoff. Just everyone being upset, angry and jealous most of the time. No thank you.

[pretend there’s a gif of this show here cause I didn’t bother to gif it and it seems like no one else did either]

5. Was is Love?

This show started out pretty well and then turned into a mess. I started it because I really like Song Ji Hyo but, unfortunately, she does have the acting strength to pull off the complexities of this drama. The misunderstandings, lies and messy plot just made it into a frustrating watch.

4. To All the Guys Who Loved Me/Men are Men

I’m a sucker for past life stories and I was actually pretty excited to see Yoon Hyun Min and Seo Ji Hoon reunite after Mama Fairy and the Woodcutter. I generally not a Hwang Jung Eum fan because she so often goes over the top but she actually impressed me here. It started out well - especially having the female lead be independent. Then it just got weird and messy. The show continued to have Yoon Hyun Min’s character be a creepy stalker who’s lying to her. Seo Ji Hoon’s character is a whiny man-baby. I can’t understand why she would want either of them and, after a point, it was just a slog to watch. 

This was my favorite thing to gif in the show.

3. Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol

You can send me angry asks all you want, gang. This one is bad. And it didn’t start out that way. It started pretty okay (I’m still not a Go Ara fan - she can’t seem to stop looking constipated when she’s trying to convey deep emotion) and I was enjoying the silly fluffiness of the show and supporting my baby Lee Jae Wook. A leading man role, yay! 

And then...the big reveal came. Our hero is a high school senior - a 19 year old high school senior who met our female lead around two years prior when he was probably 16/17. A high school senior who pursued a relationship with an adult woman who he lied to about his age. And it really didn’t get any better from what I saw. Yeah, I dropped it after the reveal. I watched 14-16 just to see what happened. You can read my recap of the last episodes here. The show just didn’t make sense, the writing was all over the place and what could have been a fun and fluffy drama just floundered in nonsense.

But there is an adorable dog who wears cute lil’ doggy clothes.

2. Backstreet Rookie

This show is the one that ripped Ji Chang Wook from my ultimate bias spot. How my dude could choose Melting Me Softly and then this is a crime against humanity. Full disclosure, I only watched the first four episodes and that was enough. I wrote a post about the age gap issue because people were losing their minds about how someone could watch and appreciate Goblin and find fault with it in this show. But that’s only one of the problematic aspects of this drama. A racist character who draws erotic webtoons? No thank you. It’s just not a good show, fam. Not at all. There’s so many things wrong with it. I skimmed through later episodes to see if it got better and - shocker - it didn’t. Even the writer must have figured out it was bad because the OTP didn’t even kiss in the final episode. 

1. Born Again

Look, if you want an insanely bad show that is equal parts infuriating and hilarious, look no further. I wrote a review here and if you want details as to why this show takes the prize for the worst and most BoNKerS drama of the year check out some posts  here ,  here , here, here. Search my blog for it and you’ll find a treasure trove of insanity. 

Let’s have our female lead fall for a dude who stalks her and tries to kill the guy she was engaged to in her past life. Who was also set up as the male lead for the first ten episodes before the writing staff changed. That might explain why it completely veered off course so badly in the second half of the show. I mean, to be honest, it wasn’t exactly a masterpiece to begin with but at least there was an interesting premise if not a heavy handed homage to Wuthering Heights. One of the very, very few shows I rage watched and ended up just shaking my head by the end. It’s a disaster. The worst of 2020 and, possibly, one of the worst Kdramas ever. 

Yep - you read that right. He wants to be the heart in her chest. Oh, how I wish that had happened.

As always, thanks for reading my opinionated discourse.