#jona's 2017 kdrama round up

[overthinkingkdrama]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[overthinkingkdrama]

Jona’s Year End Drama Round Up #1: Go Back Couple

Story: Ma Jin Joo and Choi Ban Do are a 38-year-old married couple . When they married as college sweethearts they were madly in love with each other, but the intervening years have beaten them down. Now Jin Joo is a harried stay-at-home mother who has lost all her former confidence and sense of self. Ban Do, trapped in the breadwinner role, works long hours at an unfulfilling job, grovelling for a boss who abuses him. When he gets home they feel like they barely know each other. Deeply unhappy, they decide to divorce. After throwing away their wedding rings, they wake up the following morning to discover they have time slipped into their 20-year-old bodies, before they even met. Knowing what they know now, will they be able to avoid their future regrets?

First Female Lead: Through some unholy pact with an ancient god Jang Na Ra manages to convincingly pull of an over-tired housewife on the edge of 40, and a fresh faced college freshman. I loved her portrayal of Jin Joo a lot. It’s more a testament to how much I like Jang Na Ra in general that I can’t confidently say that this is my favorite role of hers. But I do think she is as good here as she’s ever been. If it wasn’t for her participation I probably wouldn’t have cried as many times watching this as I did. The highlight of the drama, for me, was Jin Joo’s relationship with her mother played by Kim Mi Kyung. These two are absolutely phenomenal together, and it can’t be overstated how much their scenes brought to this.

First Male Lead: I don’t think Son Ho Jun actually looks quite as convincing as a college student as his leading lady. He is not someone I was familiar with before this drama, and in the early episodes I worried I wouldn’t be able to warm up to him. The thing that saved Ban Do in the early episodes was the unwavering certainty I felt that he had always loved his ex-wife. That he still loved her. And that more than anything it was a severe breakdown in communication that had driven them into that miserable situation. He was flawed, certainly, and his bitterness often colored his behavior. But I never doubted that his intentions were good or stopped hoping he would turn the corner. And when he does, it’s so satisfying. By the end of the drama, warming up to Ban Do wasn’t a problem at all. Chemistry was outstanding. Acting was outstanding. Ban Do was downright swoony.

Second Female Lead: In the traditional Kdrama love polygon, the second female lead should be Ban Do’s first love and alternate romantic option, aspiring ballerina So Young. However, I think by screen time and importance to the story Bo Reum is actually the second female lead. I liked seeing her relationship with Jae Woo unfold. It was a fun gender role reversal, with a touch of suspense due to the time travel element. While I thought it was developed well enough, it did feel like the 12 episode drama did not have adequate time to explore it to full resolution. The reason for their future break up, when it was finally revealed, felt underwhelming and over simplified.

Second Male Lead: I know that there were a lot of people feeling serious Second Lead Syndrome for Nam Gil, and I feel you on this one friends. I think Jang Ki Yong can take a lot of the credit for that, for being really nice to look at and playing his part of tortured puppy dog confused by new and unfamiliar feelings. At the heart of it Nam Gil is a pretty textbook tsundere who slowly opens up to the main female lead. They have several of the cutest encounters you could hope for in a Kdrama, but he’s still just a kid and she is a mature adult woman who knows more of life stuck in a college freshman’s body. And I like the handling of this relationship, for character development purposes. Jin Joo is mature and nurturing--even motherly--toward Nam Gil and he finds that disarming. And at the same time she is getting to live out her fantasy of having a first love where someone so popular with great prospects was head over heels for her. That’s all great, but I like that you never lose the sense that they are separated by their life experiences. It’s very well done. 

Feels: I think I'm just as surprised to have ended up here as anyone else. When this drama was announced I had no expectations. In a year where time travel dramas were already thick on the ground I didn't have much faith that one about bickering exes reliving their glory days would be able to distinguish itself, but I thought, "Hey, I'll give it a shot for Jang Na Ra." I don't know if I've ever watched a drama that made me cry like this one did. On the one hand, Go Back Couple seems like it's pure wish fulfillment fantasy, but under that veneer there is something so raw and real about this drama. Perhaps this drama just found me where I live and tapped into something deeply personal to me. My own disappointment in love, my divorce, my friendship with my mother, and the regret I felt in the loss of my grandfather earlier this year. 

I've said before that there are reviews of the head and reviews of heart, and maybe this is a case of the later. But then again, I don't have children and I can't related to the loss of or separation from a son, but that didn't keep me from empathizing with our main couple’s grief. I sobbed again and again with these characters. And then I laughed. And then I sobbed again. It was a wholly satisfying emotional experience that I can only hope to share with other people.  Even at this point in the review, I don’t feel like I’ve actually done the show justice. Go Back Couple isn't a perfect drama. Far from it. I can't help but wish it was a couple episodes longer or that it had explored a few plot lines more deeply, but ultimately that didn't matter. Because this drama drew me into its world and immersed me in its characters until they became real to me.  And that’s why it’s my favorite drama of 2017.

And that’s a wrap on this list and this year of dramas...thank you to all my followers who read my work this year and offered me understanding and support when I needed it. I know we have great things to look forward together in 2018.  Have a joyful and safe new year.

[overthinkingkdrama]

Jona’s Year End Drama Round Up #3: Save Me

Story: Im Sang Mi moves from Seoul to a backwater town with her parents and her twin brother. They’re all hoping to find a peaceful life away from the metropolis, but what they find is more of the suffering they were trying to escape from. And all is not well in this sleepy, agricultural town beneath the surface. When they find they have been defrauded by a supposed friend and left homeless, the Im family gains the attention a mysterious, fringe religious group that offers them help. What follows is a 3 year nightmare Sang Mi can’t wake from. Sang Hwan--privileged son of the provincial governor--and his 3 delinquent friends become involved in an attempt to rescue Sang Mi, but this dangerous cult and their powerful connections might be way more than these young people can handle on their own.

First Female Lead: Sang Mi is everything you want in a heroine. She isn’t an underdeveloped emotional husk of a human being. She gets scared and hurt; she can be vulnerable when you need her to be. But she’s still fierce, defiant and resourceful. She’s the kind of lead that you cheer for, even though an unimaginable string of horrible things happen to her through the course of this drama. Since the title of the drama is “save me” or “rescue me” and the central plot revolves around a group of trouble makers helping Sang Mi escape the clutches of a creepy cult, it would have been so easy to write her as a teary eyed suitcase. But the word “helping” is so key here. The boys are offering her aide, but despite the set up, this never ceased to be Sang Mi’s drama. Also Seo Ye Ji is an ethereal fey being, too beautiful to exist on this unworthy earth with us mere mortals.

First Male Lead: Ah...Sang Hwan. It can’t be overstated how much this kid annoyed the snot out of me for very nearly the entire run. Perhaps it can be overstated, but he really frustrated me no end. His good decisions were made notable by their startling infrequency. By the time he finally started turning the corner, I was thoroughly done with his shit. Maybe the problems can be blamed on Taecyeon not being a charismatic enough actor to generate affection for his character, despite his flaws. But in this particular case, the lead’s unlikability might have been an intentional writing choice, and I actually do see that as a good thing. Sang Hwan’s sense of entitlement and view of the world is both thematically significant and plot relevant. And by the end of the drama I felt like he’d learned something and grown as a person. An honest to goodness dynamic arc. That’s something at least.

Second Male Lead: If Sang Hwan suffers from charisma-deficiency, then Dong Cheol makes up for this problem in abundance. His story of loss and defiance mirrors our heroine’s, and he proves to be highly resourceful in his own way. It was impossible for me not to root for him. Woo Do Hwan is honestly such a treat in this. He’s got incredible magnetism whenever he’s on screen, and the visuals to match. It’s really a shame that Mad Dog didn’t prove to be worth my time, because I can very much see myself stalking his career intently in the coming years. And I would readily fight a medium sized badger to see him play opposite Seo Ye Ji again.

Supporting Cast: You’ll notice the notable lack of a “second female lead” section on this review. That’s because there isn’t one, not in the traditional sense. This drama is such a sausage fest, guys. I mean just look at that poster. That’s exactly what watching this drama feels like, one immaculate heroine surrounded by dicks. In addition, this drama hates mothers. No mom will make it out of this unscathed, and the fathers (big or little F) are all monsters. You’ve been warned. That being said there are some really good supporting performances. Our villains are some of the creepiest and most iconic I’ve seen in anything. And there are a lot of villains in this. Credit where credit is due, these performances are frequently nothing short of chilling. Props.

Feels: Teetering on the border between psychological thriller and horror story, Save Me offers one of the most unique and riveting drama experiences out there. I’ve never watched anything quite like it, and the subject matter intrigued me as much as the execution. It’s really suspenseful and creepy in places. Not a jumpy kind of scary, but if you’re sensitive to that kind of thing you may not to want to watch this one alone or at night. The pacing is pretty terrific, it kept me guessing until the very last episode. You mileage may very, especially if you’re the sort whose looking for an out and out love line, but I found the ending very satisfying. If you’re like me and you like your dramas dark and edgy with losts of mystery and you thought Achiara’s Secret was trash, give this a shot. OCN really brought it this time. Highly recommended.

[overthinkingkdrama]

Jona’s Year End Drama Round Up #5: Because This Is My First Life

Story: Ji Ho is an assistant drama writer who has been single all her life. She dreams of having love, but romance isn’t what she needs right now. She needs a place to live. Se Hee is a socially odd programmer has has the energy to deal with his job, his cat, his house payment and literally nothing else. Unfortunately, he’s buried under a mortgage he can barely afford and none of his previous roommates have been up to his high standards. When Ji Ho and Se Hee end up inadvertent roommates, they realize quickly that they’re personalities click and they fulfill each others immediate practical needs. They decide to live together, the only problem will be getting their friends and family, on board with this new arrangement.

First Female Lead: Ji Ho started out this drama, easily the most effervesent, interesting and beautiful drama heroine of my Kdrama year. This was my first time watching anything with Jung So Min, and I can sincerely say this was a case of love at first sight. She’s precisely my style, y’all. But somewhere in the process of watching the show I think her character lost her way. I wish she had been given a little more to do than moon over Se Hee and provide us with colorful narration. I would have liked to see her pursuing her writing dreams for a greater part of the drama. As it was, her dreams wound up playing second fiddle to her emotional turmoil and I can’t help feeling that was a missed opportunity. Additionally, the standard issue forced separation in the last two episodes just rubbed me the wrong way. Sorry. I understood Ji Ho’s motivations and reasoning--as it was explained in the endless narration--but I didn’t connect with her actions and characterization toward the end.

First Male Lead: Se Hee is such a unique romantic lead for this kind of drama. He consistently surprised me and warmed my soul. You would expect a set up like this, with a robotic male lead who doesn’t want any emotional connections, to be a prick who neither respects your feelings nor cares to understand them. The brilliant asshole. You would expect him to be a more typical tsundere. But Se Hee really ducks most of those tired tropes. He is emotionally closed off, but he isn’t disrespectful of other peoples feelings, even when he doesn’t understand them he tries to. Despite his traumas, he’s incredibly perceptive, emotionally intelligent and tender with others, especially our female lead. My greatest complaint about the character is that we didn’t get to explore his past and his internal life with more depth. Most of what you ever learn about Se Hee is learned second hand from the people around him. This is very much Ji Ho’s story from her perspective, but it’s a shame to feel like at the end she didn’t really understand Se Hee that well, and therefore neither did the audience.

Second Female Leads: Instead of the typical two lead and two second leads set up, BTIMFL is more of a ensemble drama with a heavy emphasis on one pairing. Our two second female leads are Ho Rang and Soo Ji, friends of our female lead since high school and each engulfed in their own complicated and contrasting love line. Ho Rang is cohabitating with her long term boyfriend and is ready for marriage, babies and a picket fence. She maybe hasn’t thought through exactly why she wants those things. She’s not good at expressing her desires directly, however, choosing instead a passive aggressive route. Ho Rang frustrated me, but I found her to be a very real and believable character. I would say out of the three heroines, she was the hardest for me to love. But I really liked the actress who played her and was satisfied with her arc by the end.

Soo Ji is basically the opposite of Ho Rang with the opposite ambitions and pitfalls. She’s a career woman who is continually the target misogyny and harassment from her male colleagues. She doesn’t want marriage or a serious relationship. She expresses her desires directly. She wants casual sex on her terms and she wants to run her own corporation. Falling for one of her meaningless hookups would really throw a wrench in her plans. Hey, Soo Ji is a through and through queen and I thoroughly loved her from beginning to end. You don’t often get sexually liberated and powerful women in dramas without the story telling them their wrong and punishing for it. I’m happy to report that doesn’t happen here.

Second Male Leads: Won Soek forms the other half of our dysfunctional on-again-off-again couple with Ho Rang, and damn does he accentuate everything wrong with their relationship. His flaws butterfly so perfectly with her. He responds to her lack of communication and tantrums with obliviousness and appeasement. But as you watch the two of them together you also get a lot of glimpses of the sweet core their love was originally built on, as well as genuine affection. It’s one of the reasons the relationship is so hard to watch, because you can see why it’s gone on so long and why it’s so hard for them to address their issues. I was overall really satisfied with his arc as well.

If you had told me that I would love CEO Ma as much as I do after the first couple of episodes I would have laughed in your face. Honestly, he came off like a bit of a creep or pushy and entitled like Soo Ji’s coworkers. But as he began to understand and appreciate her situation, be indignant at the way she was treated, and learned how to express himself to her better, I completely understood why she fell for him. He and Soo Ji formed one of the best secondary couples I’ve ever seen in a drama, and I can say that of all the couples in this drama they were my favorite.

Supporting Cast: It would be a crime, I think, not to add an extra category just to praise the supporting cast in this drama. Bom Mi and the fantastic Go Jung Min who broke all my expectations for an ex-girlfriend and really elevated the last episodes of the drama for me. Then of course the parents, specifically Kim Sun Young as Ji Ho’s mama. She made me cry so much and she had some of the best speeches in any drama this year.

Feels: I think everyone probably expected this drama to be one of my top dramas of the year. For the portion of the fandom that was willing to start this one despite understandable reservations regarding the male lead and his scandal, it was the break away favorite of the winter and with good reason. I’m as surprised as any of you that it’s as low as #5. There were a couple things that held it back from topping this list. First of all, as much as I want to review and appreciate a drama and a performance in a vacuum, that’s not possible. Lee Min Ki’s scandal somewhat tarnished the experience for me, that’s just true. And the fact that many of my favorite bloggers couldn’t watch the drama because of him pains me. Additionally, the ending left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed. This is the drawback of having such a strong beginning and, perhaps, not knowing how to conclude things with punch and moment. You open yourself up to a higher scale of criticism. But in the end, I’m really glad I watched it. And for me the pros far outweigh the cons.

Would I recommend Because This is My First Life? Absolutely. I think there’s a lot to be appreciated here. I think what you’re in for is something in slow, contemplative slice-of-life category (some have said Jdrama-esque). Beautifully scripted and acted, I may not see myself coming back to it immediately. But I can imagine coming back a few years from now, on some rainy day to see all these characters again.

[overthinkingkdrama]

Jona’s Year End Drama Round Up #6: Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

Story: Bok Joo is a weightlifting student at an athletics college. She has a promising future, high ambitions, and a supportive father and uncle. However, her self image, social pressure and her recent discovery of boys conflict with her dreams of excelling in a decidedly unfeminine sport. Joon Hyung is a talented swimmer with competition anxiety who attends the same school. After some interpersonal friction, he realizes Bok Joo is his life savior and sets about teasing his childhood friend relentlessly until a reluctant bond forms between them. A budding romance soon follows as both begin to learn more about themselves and following their dreams.

First Female Lead: If Bok Joo did anything for me as a character, it was to give me a much greater appreciation for Lee Sung Kyung as an actress. While I quite liked her performance in Cheese In the Trap, her role in WLFKBJ is really transformative, from her posture to her line delivery. Bok Joo herself threw me for a loop. I frequently found her frustratingly immature, but that might just mean that I've aged out of the demographic here. She is often unlikable, but not all female character need to be likable. Her growth arc was believable and largely satisfying, and that really is the most crucial thing here.

First Male Lead: Joon Hyung is the reason to watch this drama. I don't really think that's a controversial statement. He is one of the more respectful, fully twitterpated male leads in recent memory. At least post the first couple of episodes. And it's probably Nam Joo Hyun's best role to date. Hopefully he'll get more like this in the future, because he pulls off cuddly puppy dog way better than prickly water god.

Second Female Lead: I don't really have anything to back this up, just a suspicion of mine, but I suspect that the original audience for WLFKBJ was not particularly kind to Shi Ho when the drama aired. She just seems like one of those female characters people love to hate. And for the first part of the drama she was indeed frustrating, as she fell into a lot of the expected SFL tropes. She broke the male lead’s heart but now she wants him back. She's jealous and hard to get along with. But honest to goodness, at a certain point in the drama (after most of the important plot threads resolved a little too early) finding out how Shi Ho's arc would be handled was the only thing that kept me watching until the end.

Second Male Lead: Jae Yi is probably my biggest sticking point in this drama. The entire "weight loss clinic" arc actually put my teeth on edge. I just found it really uncomfortable. Even within the context of the drama the age difference was visibly uncomfortable. Bok Joo lying and losing weight as an athlete was uncomfortable. Crushing on and pursuing and relationship with her doctor was uncomfortable, and the fact that Jae Yi didn't do a better job setting boundaries made it all worse for me. I don't know. I just couldn't with his plot line. I was really relieved when it was over, and it went on way to long for me.

Feels: I feel like I've been trying to finish this review forever, honestly. I started writing it so long ago and just didn't feel the initiative post it. Now we're at the end of the year and it still barely exists. I enjoyed this drama. I thought it was overall very sweet, especially the male lead. I think that was the consensus for most of the fandom. But I don't feel as passionately about it as other people. Do I think it's overrated? Yeah, a little bit. But it's not trying to be a groundbreaking piece of media. It's supposed to be fluffy, lighthearted and uplifting. Which it is.

Would I recommend Weightlifting Fairy? Sure. If you like this kind of tone and this kind of setting, I think this is a really tight, well executed college/sports romance with a very charming cast. Not a whole lot of strife and pretty well paced. This isn't really my bag, tbh, but I understand the appeal and I can appreciate it for what it is. I think I just need a little more darkness and melodrama in my media. But you'll probably enjoy yourself.