#soo-an's actress deserved SO many awards for this role

[sparklezfallsinlovewithbooks]

guess who rewatched train to busan after 5-6 years (when i was a child) and then proceeded to sob two times...

[sarangkstars]

Youth of May

Pros

Is a historical drama that takes place in the 1980s during the struggle for the democratization in Gwangju, South Korea. The plot is engaging and emotional but also brutal and painful. Excellent writing. Excellent cinematography. Excellent acting.

Lee Do-hyeon as Hwang Hee-tae. This actor continues to amaze me. Without a doubt, one of the best Korean actors today. He deserved the award for Best New Actor in television at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards.

Go Min-si did very well in the role of Kim Myung-hee. My first time with this actress.

The chemistry between them was top-notch. A loving, healthy and very romantic relationship.

Lee Sang-yi as Lee Soo-chan. I really liked Soo-chan, so honest, sincere and caring. And the actor is so cute. 😍

12 episode Kdrama. The story doesn't drag, it doesn't have annoying clichés and it's memorable.

Cons

So many things went wrong for our protagonists. It was quite frustrating and sad to watch, most of the time.

[kdramacollections]

COIN LOCKER GIRL/CHINATOWN

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “coin locker girl”? If you have similar thoughts as I do, then you’ll probably think about coin lockers, and totally disregard how a girl’s related to this method of storage.

Or, you could immediately think about those coin-operated lockers that are at the train stations you see in your own country, or in a movie you’ve watched. Coin lockers are actually popular in Japanese train stations, and come in different sizes.

Bear in mind, that the setting for this movie is Seoul, South Korea, and if it isn’t obvious by now coin lockers are indeed involved.

Before I go any further, I must emphasize that Coin Locker Girl is classified as a Korean Noir film. The term film noir describes movies with a dark style of film-making that consists of stark lighting effects, a few flashback scenes, and of course pessimism, fatalism, and menace.

Coin Locker Girl has its fair share of brutal and triggering scenes, so if you can’t stomach that much action, then do.not.watch.

The movie opens up with a scene that immediately opens the floodgates for many unanswered questions. However, that scene doesn’t last long, and so we’re introduced to one of the most important characters of this movie. The woman pictured above is known as Mother, and everything that goes down in Coin Locker Girl is centered around the decisions she makes.

When Il-Young came into this world, she was immediately abandoned, and get this, the poor, defenseless baby was left inside a coin locker. Unfortunately for her, the person who found Il-Young, decided to sell her to a loan shark in Chinatown seven years later.

Against her will, Il-Young is now a member of this shady ‘family’, and spends her days going around the city collecting debt from those who owe Mother. You can just imagine exactly what would happen if one were to miss a payment on their loan. 

Roughly a decade passes by and Il-Young is a master at collecting money for Mother. She’s so good at this, that her boss allows her to go out alone on runs. The plot then takes a different direction when she meets Seok Hyun, an optimistic young man who’s left to answer the calls of numerous debt collectors at his door.

Il-Young finds Seok Hyun a bit interesting as the young man remains happy, even when his life is in shambles. Seok Hyun’s father left the country to work so he can pay off the numerous loans he owes in South Korea. Il-Young has seen such a situation on numerous occasions, and she knows that Seok Hyun’s father isn’t coming back.

From the few dates that the two go on, it’s obvious that Il-Young has taken a liking to Seok Hyun. But then, she knows what will become of him if he doesn’t pay his debts, and so she lies to the family. 

It’s interesting to note that Il-Young seems to play an important role in this family, one sibling has an intellectual disability, the other is a drug addict, and the most dangerous sibling of all has left home to start his own business. 

Il-Young seems to love and trust her family, even though there are times when she questions exactly where she comes from, and questions her true identity. However, she knows where her loyalties lie.

But then, Seok Hyun’s debt hasn’t disappeared, and Il-Young can only stall for so long. The tempo increases as Il-Young knows what’s coming, but she knows in her heart, that Seok Hyun doesn’t deserve the end that’s he destined for.

She tries her best, but at the end of the day, Mother is powerful, and if a debt can’t be paid in full, then she’s going to need something else of value.

Seok Hyun’s character existed as a ray of sunshine for the plot. However, we’re then pulled into the world of gangs, human and organ trafficking when Il-Young’s crazy sibling Chi Do kidnaps her and orders shipping her off to God-knows-where.

Of course, Coin Locker Girl wouldn’t be that exciting if our female lead were to suddenly disappear. Il-Young digs deep and unleashes all the anger and pain she felt over the years. And so she goes after her family.

A battle ensues as she gets into fight after fight, and from these scenes it’s obvious that she’s fighting for a way out. Her last battle is between her and Mother, and the symbolism is great in this scene, as Il-Young challenges the hand that held her down her entire life.

After the truth comes to light, and Il-Young becomes free of the chains that once held her captive, she has the choice to be a new person. Much to my disappointment, Il-Young didn’t grasp the opportunity to a new life, and so she falls into the cycle that she’s accustomed to.

 If Film Noir movies are your thing, then you may be satisfied with how Coin Locker Girl turned out. But I have to ask:

Why introduce a character who manages to show Il-Young how beautiful life can be? 

Why allow her to empathize with another? 

Why would you allow her to once, in her life, make her own decisions on how she wants to live?

Kim Hye Soo plays the character of Mother, a loan shark who sets up shop in Chinatown. Mother is the head of the family, and so all decisions have to go through her. Even though she looks a bit tough, she does care for all her children. Kim Hye Soo is a veteran actress, and so she has many projects under her belt. You can find her in the dramas, Signal and Romantic Doctor, Teacher KIm.

Kim Go Eun plays the character of Il-Young, an obedient debt collector who goes about her life without engaging in much conflicts. Il-Young, for the first time in her life, has liked a boy, and it’s these feelings that leads to all the drama in Coin Locker Girl. Kim Go Eun is no doubt one of the most talented actresses of her generation, and so she was able to perform well in this movie. You can find her in the dramas, Cheese in the Trap, and Goblin.

Park Bo Gum plays the character of Seok Hyun, an optimistic individual who refuses to be burdened by his troubles. Park Bo Gum may not have had many scenes, but his character was influential nonetheless. In truth, and in fact, Park Bo Gum excels at whatever role he plays, and so he performed well in this movie. You can check him out in the dramas, Encounter, and Love in the Moonlight.

Coin Locker Girl was written and directed by Han Jun Hee, who also worked on The Gifted Hands and Hit-and-Run Squad.

This movie also received a few awards:

1. 2016 (52nd) BaekSang Arts Awards

Best New Director - Han Jun Hee

2. 2015 (35th) Korean Association of Film Critics Awards

Best Actress - Kim Hye Soo

Plot: 4/5

Cinematography: 5/5

Acting: 5/5

Total: 14/15

(Credits to the owners of the pictures, I took them from imdb, youtube, hollywoodreporter, giffonifilmfestival, Koreaherald, and hancinema)

[pashpops]

SWEE-T

nation's girl group, Swee-T! Well, nowadays... not so much. Oh, they still have a huge fandom, despite having as many lineup changes as hits (A Lot), but said fandom can't let go of their cutie image from their debut over a decade ago no matter how many new concepts they try…

Members: Soojin, Eve (leader), Mindeulle, Yesarang, Sunhee, Juliette (maknae)

Fandom name: Ices

Stage Name: Soojin Birth Name: Han Soo Jin Position: Rapper Birthday: 1989 Zodiac: Libra Height: 165cm Weight: kg Blood Type: O Favourite Colour: Purple Favourite Food: Roast sweet potato Least Favourite Food: Chewing gum Hobbies: Taking selfies, listening to music, shopping

 Facts: - One of the three remaining original members along with Eve and Yesarang. - Even though she doesn’t get many lines, she says she doesn’t mind because she gets a lot of screentime and that’s more important. - Started a youtube channel where she uploads skincare and makeup tips, though it’s mostly popular for the guest appearances of other idols. - Originally the most popular member, but she lost a lot of fans after she got into a dating scandal with LVLMAX’s Duyeon. She’s still mad about it because 1) they never dated 2) she thinks Duyeon is ugly and 3) if she was going to date someone from LVLMAX, it would be Jintaek, anyway. - Ideal type at debut: Someone tall and handsome with a pretty smile. Ideal type now: The same.

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - Updates her face every comeback, but her fans will rip you to shreds for mentioning it. - Really wants to be “the sexy one” but has virtually no charisma whatsoever. - Over the whole idol thing in general but has no ambition to do anything else, so she just puts in the minimum possible effort, and because she’s one of the original members, she gets away with it. - Spends most of her time taking selfies and spends the rest of her spamming the group chat with very mundane conversation topics which the members barely reply to. Really is quite a boring person.

Stage Name: Eve Birth Name: Min Cho Rong Position: Leader, Visual Birthday: 1989 Zodiac: Scorpio Height: 170cm Weight: kg Blood Type: AB Favourite Colour: Mint green, pastel pink Favourite Food: Peach sorbet Least Favourite Food: Milk coffee Hobbies: Being beautiful

 Facts: - Princess disease, vanity, overconfidence, conceit… whatever you want to call it, she’s very confident in her beauty, and so charismatic that she’s impossible to deny. - Nation’s first love, largely considered the prettiest idol ever, and if you don’t believe it, she’ll tell you. - Genius-level IQ, which she mentioned off-hand during a comedy talk show so everyone assumed she was joking, but she later revealed on Swee-T’s fancafe her perfect marks on her college exams, and later, actual IQ test results. Went back to the comedy talk show to prove herself, but ended up talking about the struggles of being so beautiful again, so the public still thinks it’s a joke. - Impenetrable wall of confidence, knows she gets a lot of hate comments but doesn’t care because she gets way more love from her fans and the general public. - Aspiring actress, though she’s only had guest and supporting roles so far. - Wonderful cook, likes making desserts most of all. - Ideal type at debut: someone wealthy, good-looking, tall, smart, and worshipful. Ideal type now: the same, but ideally they also have a holiday house overseas and know the stock market well.

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - Unlike CiCi, who kind of adopted the “princess disease” concept as a defence mechanism, Eve lives it. As in, yes, that is her real personality, and no, she doesn’t care if you don’t like it. - She really is a genius, she’s just vain foremost. - Only child of poor parents. Her paternal family used to be quite wealthy but fell into poverty after the war, so her father insisted on raising her to be an ideal wife so she would get married to someone rich and restore his family’s name. Her mother was aware of this, and didn’t mind until he started telling his coworkers, all in their 40s and 50s, about his beautiful teenage daughter who would be old enough to get married soon, and she started pushing for Eve to find work away from home. Eve was discovered while training to become a hairdresser, and when she told her parents that she had been cast in a girl group, her father immediately told her to quit because only whores become singers, and that was the final straw for her mother, who left him and came to support Eve in the city and taught her to be more confident so she’d never be a downtrodden woman like she was. - Very, very wealthy because she invests most of her earnings (her reasoning is that she already bought houses for her and her mother, and “I get paid to wear beautiful things, why would I pay for them?”), not to mention the fact she had her contract lawyer of a best friend go over her contract and tweak a few things to make it much more fair than most standard idol contracts.

Stage Name: Mindeulle Birth Name: Lee Min Ji Position: Rapper, Vocalist, Dancer Birthday: 1991 Zodiac: Aquarius Height: 167cm Weight: kg Blood Type: O Favourite Colour: Cobalt blue Favourite Food: Jjajangmyeon Least Favourite Food: Grapefruit Hobbies: Writing music, cycling, travelling

 Facts: - Joined the group with Juliette after three of the original members left. - Originally had a soft and pretty “cute little girl” image, but she cut her hair short for a comeback a few years ago, and has stuck with the “bifauxnen” look ever since. Her fanboys hate it. - Although she mostly raps in Swee-T songs, she has a sweet and mellow singing voice, and originally auditioned to be a vocalist. - Often can be seen cycling around the city and has participated in a few charity races, although she’s never won first place. - Ideal type: Someone with a lot of natural cuteness.

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - Super duper gay. The only thing stopping her talking about it is that she’s simply not one of the members who gets invited to talk shows and she’s too much of an outdoorsy type to really get on social media unless she’s been specifically directed to in order to promote a new single or something like that. - Of the members, probably the least popular with the public, no doubt because of her masculine image. - Despite this, she has a strong contingent of superfans who are always rallying for her to get more singing parts. - Has a really tight relationship with Juliette, who she joined the group alongside and who is also very into girls. However, their tastes are very different (Juliette likes strong girls who can care for her, Mindeulle likes… well, Mindeulle likes all kinds of girls, but especially gentle and cute ones who don’t have so much the idol look) so they don’t actually talk about girls together very much. Probably just as well, because neither of them have actually realised they’re each other’s ideal types...

Stage Name: Yesarang Birth Name: Lim Ye Sarang Position: Power Vocal Birthday: 1993 Zodiac: Pisces Height: 166cm Weight: kg Blood Type: A Favourite Colour: Black Favourite Food: Sashimi Least Favourite Food: Banana milk Hobbies: Playing piano, hairstyling

 Facts: - Was the maknae of the group at debut, but now Juliette is the maknae, she takes her role as unnie very seriously and treats her very well. - Has always had sharp features even as a young teenager. She’s not angry, that’s just her face! - A perfectionist. - Has been trying to write new songs for Swee-T, but she always gets stuck on the lyrics, as she’s not a very poetic person and all of her lyrics end up sounding stiff. She and Mindeulle collaborated for a special stage during a Japanese tour, but so far, that’s the only self-written track the fans have heard. - Ideal type at debut: none. Ideal type now: still none, too busy to think about romance.

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - Real leader of Swee-T, as Eve is generally uninterested in any leaderly activities other than leading group introductions or accepting awards, while Yesarang is very involved in all of the behind-the-scenes. - Really only cares about Swee-T and tries her absolute hardest to make sure the group is a success. - Still very bitter about the other members (1 before they got popular, 2 after their popularity started to wane… thus accelerating said wane) leaving, and has made some really quite petty comments about the latter two’s departures and how she felt like they used the group to get themselves famous then abandoned her-- the group-- once they felt they were famous enough. - Due to her strong loyalty to the group, she’s kind of bought into their own hype and thinks anything Swee-T deserves all the praise in the world, and whenever their singles flop (well, they always sell, some just not as much as she might be used to), it’s obvious, to her, that they’ve been set up/ripped off/there’s someone actively working against them. - Very standoffish towards rookies, especially ones with more creative control than Swee-T have. - Very standoffish in general, really, and doesn’t trust new people easily because she’s been burned too many times by people who she thought were her friends.

Stage Name: Sunhee Birth Name: Kim Sun Hee Position: Romantic Vocal Birthday: 1993 Zodiac: Taurus Height: 164cm Weight: kg Blood Type: O Favourite Colour: Pink Favourite Food: Chocolate (white, milk, or a little dark, but not too bitter) Least Favourite Food: Asparagus Hobbies: Watching dramas, writing love songs

 Facts: - The newest member, added recently. - Her voice was specifically chosen to contrast with Yesarang’s and Juliette’s. - Hopeless romantic, every day is Valentine’s Day for her. - She’s still very new to being an idol and performing on stage, but she’s trying her best, so she wishes that everyone can support her in Swee-T and that they can make love-love memories together! - Ideal type: a tall fairytale prince, with wavy hair and a pretty smile.

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - The story about her being chosen for her voice is only a half-truth. Her voice is good, but the company saw how naturally flirtatious (and busty) she is and decided she’d be a good addition to Swee-T’s stages. - So focused on her new dream job with a group she’s been a fan of for years that she hasn’t quite realised that she’s being used for sex appeal. - Would she mind once she realised? Probably not, but she wouldn’t be trying so hard to impress everyone with her hard work if she knew that all that was really required of her was to show up to record vocals and wear tight tops when in public. - Her bias when she was a fan was Yesarang, and she’s still a little starstruck despite the fact they’ve been working, sleeping and eating together for a while now. - The fandom LOATHES her for “replacing” the original main vocalist (even though really, Yesarang took that role), often posting hate that she only got in because of her boobs (not entirely wrong), that her boobs aren’t even that big (also not entirely wrong), that she must have slept her way to the top (if she did, she should have kept going, because she’s nowhere near “the top”), that she’s not even talented or pretty (obviously false, but butthurt fans are butthurt fans) etc. - The general public, however, have no interest in her whatsoever, as she blends right into the original member-line the way Mindeulle and Juliette certainly do not, and thus don’t realise she’s new.

Stage Name: Juliette Birth Name: Sang Juliette Position: Vocalist, Dancer Birthday: 1996 Zodiac: Scorpio Height: 172cm Weight: kg Blood Type: A Favourite Colour: Pink Favourite Food: Strawberries Least Favourite Food: Bitter food Hobbies: Customising clothes, makeup, swimming

 Facts: - Joined the group with Mindeulle after 3 of the original members left. - She’s fully Korean, her parents just named her after the Shakespeare character because they thought it’s a pretty name. She is very aware of how that story ends, and has heard every joke there is. - Her lips are real, though people doubt it no matter how many predebut photos she shares. - Debuted at only 15 years old and used to be quite small and a little chubby-cheeked, but had a huge growth spurt and lost weight while the group was on hiatus for a few months and quickly became a trending topic when Swee-T came back, as people couldn’t believe how much her looks changed and how long her legs now were in the tiny shorts the group wore for their comeback promotions. - Among all the members, she’s the one who takes the longest getting ready, as she won’t go anywhere unless she’s done her hair and makeup and has a cute outfit on, not even just to practice. - Ideal type: someone strong and cool who can look after her but is also cute and funny.

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - ADHD as hell, and quickly becomes overwhelmed by schedules and criticism. She has a bit of a reputation for being difficult to work with because of this, but she really does try extra hard to keep up with everyone. - A bit shy and introverted around people she doesn’t know, which, especially alongside the very focused Yesarang and the vain Soojin and Eve, can come off as similarly elitist and snobbish. However, she’s actually very nice, if a little innocent. - Not innocent as in unaware of her own sex appeal, though. She’s very aware of her own sex appeal, and while she’s repulsed by the more ribald comments she receives, she does like the attention a lot. - Constantly going back and forth between flirty and reclusive, constantly begging for attention and then not knowing what to do with it. - Not only did she become a trending topic, but she also became a bit of a meme, with people photoshopping her legs to look even longer, or to look shorter, or as elements in other memes, with the tagline “amongst trees, the redwood, amongst girl group’s legs, Juliette Sang” - Although her old social media has been wiped to the best of the company’s ability, it has already leaked that she used to date girls pretty much exclusively and was in a relationship with an older girl who was fairly well-known in goth circles at the time of her debut. The company quickly denied it, and Juliette was scolded heavily for it and was told to break it off immediately, but they still continued to date until eventually Juliette’s schedules caused them to break up naturally.

[thedramafilesblog-blog]

Welcome to our ‘End of Year Review/Awards’ post. Yes it’s in January because we’re doing it in line with Chinese New Year! So Happy New Year Everyone!

RedRosette J: Hey Everyone! we were really behind on the end of year reviews and awards posts that everyone was doing at the end of 2016, so we decided to do it in line with Chinese New Year because technically 2016 just ended (LOL)! We came up with random categories based on what we thought was deserving of a best/worst/whatever award. We also are basing this list off the dramas that we watched this year (we have not watched some of them so those aren’t included in this list). So….Enjoy!

Jubiemon J: We had this idea a while back but remembered it now! Yes, Chinese New Year ended recently. This is probably going to be a savage post, so let’s hope you’ll like this!

Best Couple

RR: So it’s really hard to say which couple is THE best, but there are a few strong contenders in the running for best couple. I wouldn’t award this title to one particular couple per se, but would award it to a few couples because I think that they were all ‘best’ in their own way. My picks for Best Couple are: Shopping King Louie, Descendants of the Sun, and Oh Hae Young Again. All of these couples had redeeming qualities. SKL was really all about their devotion to each other and the cuteness, DOTS was about two people who learned to be with each other while still remaining very much a part of their own established lives and OHYA was about two people overcoming their insecurities to be with each other (sort of). At least that’s what I got out of them. These are all qualities that a ‘best couple’ should have so, I’m choosing to award this title as a combo award!

Worst Couple

RR: I think the Worst Couple title should go to IU and Lee Jun Ki in Scarlet Heart Ryeo. If anyone is curious as to why we’re awarding this, please read our reviews on this drama. We go on ad nauseum about how badly these two are as a couple.

JM: Yes, the Worst Couple award goes to these two. I still think IU and Kang Haneul had more going on…. *face palm* Yes, we did extensive reviews about their relationship, so please check out those posts!

Other Contenders for the Title: Kim Woo Bin and Suzy in Uncontrollaby Fond and Hye Ri and Ji Sung in The Entertainer.

Cringiest Drama

RR: Scarlet Hear Ryeo. Ugh. Again for reasons see previous review posts.

JM: Agreed! Especially the awful editing and multiple versions floating around and . . . well, check our reviews.

Drama “that had shit going on and then shit hit the fan and everything died” Award

RR: This category was created specifically for W – Two Worlds because when it started out it was amazing and we were all glued to our screens and freaking out and yelling and gasping and it was awesome. Then episode 6 or 7 happened and everything just went south. All of a sudden, none of it made sense and it just became a hot mess so it gets its own special category.

JM: The title of that award came from me, just saying. ;) Sorry for the long-ass title, but I think it summed up W very well. We didn’t review this drama because we hadn’t started our blog yet. However, both of us watched it and like RR said we were literally SO into this drama INITIALLY. Then . . . he kept dying, reliving, the dad also kept dying, reliving, etc. Oh my god. No.

Worst Legal Drama

RR: If you’ve been following us, you will know how we feel about this drama….Woman With A Suitcase! It was so awful that we had to stop reviewing it halfway. If you decide to do a legal drama, make sure you have a legal consultant is all I have to say for this drama.

JM: I think what made Woman with a Suitcase awful was that the lawyers solved the legal problems in a very similar fashion for each case. More details can be found in our reviews.

Most Ridiculous Action Drama

RR: This is also a special category that we created for The K2 because it was just completely ridiculous. The plot was a big mess and consisted of ridiculously long action scenes, Yoona acting like an infantilized Bambi, and the evil Mother lady directing everyone from her secret supercomputer in an even more secret underground lair. Seriously? (We actually reviewed this whole drama too -_-)

JM: I have to be frank. I watched the first episode and saw that she was running for 90% of the ep. I knew that this action drama would be a mess. I don’t know how RR stuck with this drama. I fast-forwarded through the first episode and finished it in less than 10 minutes. All I got from it was this: she ran.

Most Pointless Adaptation from US TV Shows

RR: Entourage gets this award. Unlike the other adaptions which got better reviews (I didn’t watch those so I can’t comment on those), this was just an excuse to have penis jokes and watch dudes walking around in their underwear. The characters apart from Jo Jin Woong and Park Min Jung really fell flat and didn’t really do anything much. Most of the time the 60 minutes felt really long and pointless, hence it deserves this award.

JM: Ah, I tried to watch this drama too but then dropped it after the first few episodes. We were really looking forward to potentially reviewing this, but . . . no. The first few episodes were just the guys talking and talking and talking. Nothing really happened. *Yawns*

Most Underrated Drama

RR: When Age of Youth started out, I honestly didn’t see it going the way it did. I really liked the way it portrayed the girls’ friendships and individual struggles. They were all really relatable. Maybe it’s because I’m also a twenty-something struggling through trying to figure out life, but it really resonated with me. I liked how this drama also left the ending very broad and open, as if to say that the characters struggles continue on and it’s not something that can get wrapped up neatly in a bow at the end as how it is with life in reality. It was definitely the most underrated drama of 2016 in my opinion.

JM: Jesus, Age of Youth is SO underrated. I wished we had started this blog earlier so that we could review this drama. I have to say the ending was kind of rushed and could have had more, but overall I still really enjoyed watching this drama. There was just the right amount of suspense, gossip, mystery, friendship, love, and drama. This drama is perfect for those going into their late teens to mid twenties. So many of the problems that the characters face are realistic and interesting.

Best Remake

RR: Being a huge fan of the original drama, I was a little skeptical about the remake but 1% of Something really delivered and is totally deserving of this title. Ha Seok Jin and Jeon So Min were the perfect Lee Jae In and Kim Da Hyun. It was the perfect contract dating love story, and I think that’s where the perfection lies: in its predictability and normality. Plus Ha Seok Jin had much better hair than Kang Dong Won in the original. It was a really good remake. I’d recommend watching it if anyone hasn’t already.

Best Reverse Harem Drama

RR: I would award this title to Cinderella and the Four Knights. It was a bit all over the place and Ahn Jae Hyun spent most of it brooding over Son Na Eun‘s dull as ditch water character and Jung Il Woo was an ass for most it. But once you get over it and focus on the cutesies, it’s not awful. Its still a lot better than the reverse harem nightmare in Scarlet Heart Ryeo so I will give it that!

JM: Personally, I couldn’t get into this drama so much. Maybe in the end . . . where there were more cute fluffy scenes and I wanted to watch some cuteness. But yeah . . . this drama was kind of stereotypical? I did like the character who was the musician.

Worst Web Drama

RR: So I actually gave up watching Seven First Kisses after the Lee Jun Ki episode. NO ONE KISSED ANYONE!!! WTF?!?! How is this okay? You get all these hot guys and no one is kissing anyone? The title of this show is the epitome of misrepresentation! -_-

JM: This was the drama I watched when there was nothing else to do and I needed to pass around 10 mins of my time. I watched the whole thing because I wanted to know whether she would get kissed. I mean, the actors and the actress really got it easy for their roles. They didn’t even have to KISS each other. Even as an advertisement, this failed. I still have no idea what Lotte Duty Free is selling. A lifestyle? A romance? A fantasy that will never be fulfilled?

Contenders for Best Web Drama: High End Crush and The Miracle

Worst Character – The One You Most Want To Push Off A Cliff

RR: If I absolutely HAD to pick one character, I’d choose……IU’s character on Scarlet Heart Ryeo. I just couldn’t deal with the wishy washy-ness going between Kang Ha Neul and Lee Jun Ki  and just her attitude in general. Ugh. Off the cliff you go!

JM: Soo from SHR. Yup. She was super weak, flat, stupid, selfish and more. How could she not So even be with his daughter? Huh? That really boggles my mind. Guh.

Worst Mom

RR: Hands down the Mom in Scarlet Heart Ryeo is the worst drama Mom of 2016. I’m guessing that EVERYONE has seen this drama so it warrants no further explanation. If you don’t know what I’m talking about watch this train wreck and you’ll see.

JM: Oh dear. I forgot about her until RR mentioned her. LOL. I guess she was such a bad mom that I had to blank her out. I still don’t understand why she hated So. LOL.

a) Evilest Mother in Law

RR: As a sub-category under Worst Mom we’re doing the ‘Evilest Mother in Law’. This title goes to…….the Mother in Law in Happy Home who used emotional and psychological terrorism to subjugate the daughter in law. It was frankly quite terrifying to watch. Honourable mentions in this category should also be: Do Kyung’s mom (the money stealing mom) in Oh Hae Young Again, the whole in-law family (they killed the daughter-in-law’s mother and father) in My Daughter Geum Sa Wol and Gab Dol’s mom (abusive mother in law) in Our Gab Soon (this one is still airing though so it doesn’t technically count).

Second Leads:

a) Who Should Be First Leads

RR:  Hands down this title goes to Baek In Ho in Cheese in the Trap, although arguably this did happen for like half a second so…..But he gave us all the feels with the moping….

Other Contenders for the Title: Ryu Jun Yeol’s character in Reply 1988 and Lee Joon’s character in Woman With A Suitcase.

b) Best Male Second Lead

RR: The adorable Gong Myung’s puppy character with the crush on Park Ha Sun‘s character on Drinking Solo was by far the best second lead. And because you know that he can never be the equivalent of a first lead, it really was the one character that gave you a real case of Second Lead Syndrome.

Other Contenders for the Title:  Go Kyung Po’s character in Jealousy Incarnate, and Ohn Joo Wan’s character in Beautiful Gong Shim.

c) Best Female Second Lead

RR: I honestly can’t think of any second leads who are decent and not absolutely horrible people. Except maybe Shin Hye Sun’s character on Legend of the Blue Sea (but technically its not included as 2016 drama because it ended in 2017 so it doesn’t count)

d) Bitchiest Second Leads

RR: Most female second leads are by default absolute bitches so it’s really really hard to pick one particular character. For this reason, I’m going with a combo award again. I’m choosing Seo Hyo Rim (the sister) in Beautiful Gong Shim, Jeon Hye Bin (the sister) in Woman With A Suitcase, Park Se Young (the adopted sister) in My Daughter Geum Sa Wol, and Lee Sung Kyung (the twin sister) in Cheese in the Trap for the Bitchiest Second Lead title. Is anyone else sensing a trend with the evil sister thing in 2016?

JM: I concur. Bitchiest everywhere. Man.

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Worst Actor-Please Go Back to Acting Class Award

RR:  By far the Worst Actor title goes to Baekhyun on Scarlet Heart Ryeo. It was just terrible. Too much of everything. Please. Go back and get some acting lessons.

JM: I think they made him do aegyo WAY too much. I get that his character is supposed to be really innocent and cheerful, but . . . yeah. If he does pursue acting, I agree that he should take more acting lessons!

Candiest Candy

RR: I absolutely love Gong Hyo Jin, but her character on Jealousy Incarnate was the Candiest Candy character of 2016. Candy characters annoy me but oddly, I didn’t hate her version of Pyo Na Ri which I think is the point. She was dogged and clingy but not in a creepy or desperate way. Also, her fashion in this drama was absolutely on point so….Kudos girl!

Worst Kiss

RR: OMG. These were the absolute worst kisses in the 2016 dramaverse. The IU and Lee Jun Ki kiss on Scarlet Heart Ryeo (they were all horrible so you can choose which one you hate more) and the Park Shin Hye and Kim Rae Won in Doctors (also known as the ‘Dancing In The Rain Kiss’). These were all equally horrible in their own right. Mostly because a) the kissing was bad and because b) it was super awkwardly positioned. Ugh. How hard is it to mess up a kiss scene?

JM: SHR for me. RR actually showed the “better” kiss scene from SHR. I’m telling you, the worst kiss in that drama has to be the initial forced kiss from So. The director even filmed the kiss upside down so you couldn’t see much of the action at all. The kiss was reflected from a pond. LOL. (Yes I know LJK has said in an interview that he hasn’t been that good with kiss scenes in the past, so I was kind of looking forward to seeing some improvement on his hand for SHR. Unfortunately, those scenes didn’t show . . . much. I wished they had created better kiss scenes.)

Best Kiss

RR: Hands down, the best kiss of 2016 goes to……Seo Hyun Jin and Eric (also known as the ‘Wall Kiss’) in Oh Hae Young Again. This kiss is totally deserving of this title. It was very much what you would expect a real kiss to be; all the tongues and hands and feelings. So very realistic. An honourable mention should also go to Gong Hyo Jin and Jo Jung Seok (also known as the ‘Locker Room Kiss’) on Jealousy Incarnate. *fans face*

Best Makjang (Or worst depending on your approach to Makjangs)

RR: I would award this title to…..My Daughter Geum Sa Wol! It had a little bit of everything; fires, death, birth switches, birth secrets, love affairs, awful in-laws, noble idiocy, poverty, a Romeo-Juliet-esque love story etc etc. It was all super intense and very much in your face all the time and made you want to scream and/or pull your hair out. It was great.

a) Best Family Drama

RR: In line with the Makjang is the Best Family Drama title. I would award this to Five Children. It’s all about a blended family coming together and their extended family drama. If nothing else, the scene stealing Sung Hoon and Shin Hye Sun put this drama on the map with their super awkward ‘Supremely Obnoxious Jock Falls For Nerdy School Teacher’ love story!

Best Costumes

RR: The costumes in Moonlight Drawn by Clouds were absolutely beautiful!

JM: Yes. So pretty.

Worst Costumes

RR: The outfits and style choices in Lucky Romance were absolutely atrocious. They made Hwang Jung Eum look like some New York city bag lady. It was absolutely terrible! An honourable mention for worst costumes also goes to…..Hwarang: Poet Warrior Youth for its god awful drowned rat hair! (it’s technically still airing so it doesn’t count but I think it deserves to be included twice in this category for both 2016 and 17!)

Worst Script

RR: I mean there is no contest for this……Scarlet Heart Ryeo (If you want to know the reasons why please read our review posts on this)

JM: SHR!!!!! They had a NOVEL and a Chinese script to work with. Things shouldn’t have gone wrong.

Worst Editing

RR: Again, no contest….Scarlet Heart Ryeo

JM: SHR. Cutting off the actor/actress’s speech before the scene ended? Having multiple versions going on? What? No.

Worst Manhwa Adaptation

RR: When you basically make the Male Lead disappear and replace him with the Second Lead for half the show which is totally not what is in the Webtoon, you deserve this title. Cheese in the Trap, I’m talking to you!

JM: My God. The webtoon is SO MUCH BETTER. Guys just read the webtoon and ignore this drama. What a waste of Park Hae Jin. He’s a really good actor. (Watch him in Bad Guys).

Most Underused Talent Award

RR: Talk about a waste of talent. This title goes to Ji Sung in The Entertainer. This whole drama was pointless in the first place, but to cast Ji Sung and then have him do barely anything and give him have an awkward love line with Hye Ri? Really? That’s the best you could do? -_-

Actor Who Did A 180 Award

RR: Honestly, I didn’t see this coming. When UEE was cast in Marriage Contract, I must admit that I was less than excited. But, she totally proved me wrong by really killing it in the role. Oh My God. She gave me all the feelings. It was a job very well done. *applause*

Rising Star Award

RR: I didn’t really notice any newbies that really took my breath away in 2016 except maybe Kim Min Suk who was Private Kim Ki Bum and Jin Goo’s little ‘brother’ character on Descendants of the Sun. He also went on to play a cute doctor on Doctors later in the year as well. He’s doing quite well playing resident puppy roles. Keep it up!

Best Drama

RR: For me, this year’s Best Drama Award should go to Descendants of the Sun. In spite of some of its cheesiness, what I really liked best about this show was the characters’ dedication to their own lives and careers and choice to be with each other without giving these up. They remained very much their own person until the very end and were not willing to compromise things that made them, them. This is often not the case with most drama characters, so it was really refreshing to see a love story being portrayed in such a way. Its really the twenty-something struggle (love vs career) and these two really figured it out amidst the landmines and natural disasters.

JM: For me, the best drama goes to SIGNAL. If I could vote Signal for everything, I could try to squeeze it in for anything. ;) I’m sort of biased because I adore watching murder mysteries. I find the suspense to be fascinating. All of the actors were great. However, the younger male police lead (Lee Je Hoon) . . . he was decent but still not as skilled as the veteran actors. The cases were also very interesting and I heard they were based on real cases which makes the drama even more fascinating. I think the drama also brings on some social issues to light which is great. BRING ON A SEQUEL or another wonderful murder mystery drama for 2017. PLEASE.

RR: That’s it for our 2016 wrap up! Goodbye 2016! You will not be missed!

End of Year Drama Awards – 2016 Welcome to our 'End of Year Review/Awards' post. Yes it's in January because we're doing it in line with Chinese New Year!

[thealpacalypse-archive]

1-50 #notevensorry #ily

oh wow, so much for going to bed early today^^

1. what’s your favorite musical?

ALL OF THEM

but my top faves over the years have been Elisabeth, 3 Musketiers, Into The Woods, RENT, Jesus Christ Superstar, Book of Mormon, Hamilton, and most recently, Dear Evan Hansen

2. favorite character in your favorite musical?

Robert from Company, Elphaba, The Witch from Into The Woods, Angel from RENT

3. what’s your favorite play?

bruh, SO MANY. recently i’m really into chekhov again, I recently saw an amazing Ivanov. other than that, I’m absolutely into Shakespeare, and I have a weakness for Schillers Die Räuber. Oh, and Andorra by Max Frisch.4. favorite character in your favorite play?

Viola from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night maybe?? I love her.

5. what’s your dream role?

macbeth. andri in Andorra. Robert in Company. Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. Antigone.

6. what’s a role you’d like to play that you’d never be able to?

I’m probably never able to play any of the roles I just mentioned, so…

7. do you prefer being behind the scenes or in the spotlight?

i mean going into dramaturgy, I will have to be happy with staying behind the scenes, but my heart will always bleed because I’m not on stage

8. do you like hamilton?

IT’S MY JAM I LOVE IT SO MUCH I CRY

9. have you seen hamilton?

AND I CRY SOME MOREmaybe one day, now that it’s coming to London

10. how do you feel about hyped up shows like hamilton, les mis, and rent?

Honestly, I couldn’t care less about how hyped they are. I love all my faves equally, doesn’t matter if it’s Wicked or some obsure 40’s book musical no one has played for decades. the good thing about hyped shows is: better cast recordings, better bootlegs, movie versions, all that nice stuff.

11. did you like this year’s tony awards?

didn’t watch the last tonys tbh. i don’t even know why, there wasn’t any particular reason

12. what award should there be that isn’t?

huh, don’t know, maybe one that specifically honours female writers and composers?

13. what shows have you been in/helped with?

mostly plays: my first one was Andorra, then a Shakespeare mashup thingie, then an original play about a teen with Aids, then an awesome one that was called The Trojan War Will Not Take Place, then Pension Schöller, then I was singing Carmina Burana, then Andorra again, and then a revue kinda thingie where we did various songs from musicals, operetta, opera, some choreographies, some other stuff… I probably forgot a few things, but oh well.

14. have you ever been paid to act onstage or on camera?

haha nope

15. do you prefer broadway or west end shows?

well I’ve never been to broadway. I’ve seen a couple of shows on west end tho. but one day I will go to Broadway and watch all the shows. have to get awfully rich first though

16. favorite stage actress?

Pia Douwes was one of my first stage crushes. of the german speaking ones, I also really love Sabrina Weckerlin, Annemieke van Dam, Lucy Scherer, Isabel Dörfler and Kerstin Ibald. Internationally, i have a huge crush on Kelli O'Hara, Phillipa Soo, and Alexia Khadime.

17. favorite stage actor?

Carl van Wegberg was my first crush, 12 years ago in Elisabeth. Rasmus Borkowski tho. And Oliver Arno and Serkan Kaya and Ben Platt and Nic Rouleau and tbh I have a bit of a thing for Aaron Tveit. Neil Patrick Harris, I know, I know, but DAMN i’m still not over his “Being Alive” and never will be.

18. favorite show currently or recently running?

Might be Dear Evan Hansen. I don’t know it well enough yet to say for certain, but damn, I love it!!!!

19. what’s your dream #ham4ham (even if you don’t like hamilton)?

my favorite one? obviously the schuyler georges. and the one where they got various people to do guns and ships. or is the question, who would I want to be at a ham4ham? Then my answer is Dame Julie Andrews of course. damn, forgot to mention her at my fave actresses.

20. who should host the tony’s next year?

LMM? With Dwayne The Rock Johnson as a co-host.

21. do you watch broadwaycom backstage vlogs?

from time to time. though it’s been ages since i last did that.

22. what’s your opinion on movies turned into musicals?

well, everything is turned into musicals these days. I don’t care so much what the source material is, as long as the music is good and the characters are great and it works with the plot. i mean, generalizing doesn’t really work, because you got stuff like Heathers, and then something like the Spiderman musical, so…

23. do you prefer musical movies or live musicals?

i love both, for very different reasons. i mean live theatre though. i have yet to find anything in this world that compares to it.

24. do you have an opinion on american psycho?

haven’t seen it. don’t care about it.

25. what movie would you want to be turned into a musical?

hmm. something gay. Imagine Me And You maybe? Or, wait, hold on, holy shit. PRIDE THE MUSICAL.

26. what role would you like to see your favorite actor play?

umm…. Ben Platt should go places, and get the parts he wants to have, and get to create new parts, because he’s amazing and he deserves it and I would probably watch him play a banana peel for two hours straight because he’d be amazing at that as well.

27. do you prefer musicals, plays, or operas?

I LOVE ALL OF IT???? DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE THAT’S SO RUDE

28. dramatic plays or comedies?

again, cannot choose. both is good.

29. andrew lloyd webber or stephen sondheim?

Sondheim, always. I love JCS and I will fight anyone for the trash show that is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, but that’s about it with Webber. Sondheim hasn’t done anything wrong in his life, ever, and I know this, and I love him.

30. neil patrick harris or james corden?

i mean, I love James Corden, but I mentioned it before, NPH in Company. BRUH.

31. did james corden do a good job hosting the tony’s (in your opinion)?

don’t know, didn’t see it

32. create a show mash-up and explain the plot (ex: legally todd = sweeney todd + legally blonde)

umm???? okay I’m tired and not very clever anymore, so the only thing I can come up with is

hamilrent - a couple of angry twenty- and thirtysomethings trying to make a change in american politics while being broke af

33. what song always makes you cry?

“Being Alive”. Isn’t it boring that I keep on bringing this up over and over again? I know. I still cry. Also “Children Will Listen” from Into The Woods. And “Wo ist der Sommer” from 3 Musketiers. And so far, “You Will Be Found” from Dear Evan Hansen.

34. how do you feel about musicals using other artists’ music?

like in jukebox musicals? I’m mostly trash for it tbh. We Will Rock You is such a trash fest but I love it, and I will always fight anyone on Mamma Mia.

35. what celebrity would you like to see on broadway next?

idk amandla stenberg?

36. favorite show you’ve been in?

we did a huge medley of “Im Weißen Rössl” once and tbh i love this operetta. it’s cheesy af but who cares.

37. would you like to act professionally?

i would. i gave that up a while ago though, when I realized I was too disabled to be accepted into acting schools.

38. television or stage acting?

i would personally always choose the stage over television acting, but I don’t necessarily think one is better than the other

39. what disney movie should be a musical that isn’t?

not sure if moana could work on stage but damn i love that music

40. if you could see one show on broadway or west end, what would it be?

i really miss book of mormon and I want to see it again, but hamilton or dear evan hansen would be first i guess. or fun home.

41. what musical should be revived next?

i’m so glad miss saigon is coming back, i love it. how about we bring back Into The Woods?

42. are musical sequels okay?

i personally don’t care much for them, but i don’t condemn them. like, i dislike theatre that’s made solely for the purpose of making money, which is something sequels are usually about. but that doesn’t mean that sequels are always and will always be a bad thing.

43. what musical sequel would you like there to be that isn’t?

umm???? well it would make sense for there to be a wicked sequel, since the book has a sequel as well? or, maybe not exactly a sequel, but more history musicals in the style of hamilton? that’d be rad.

44. have you ever had a crush on a character from a show?

umm. … no? *sweats nervously* why would you ask that…….? … never

45. how do you feel about musicals being done live on tv now?

i think it’s a cool idea in general, making musicals more accessible to a wider audience, in a way that’s closer to live theatre. i just think the format is still too new and it needs a lot more practice until it’s going to work.

46. did you like grease live?

haven’t seen it

47. are you excited for hairspray live?

i was really excited beforehand, and then i was absolutely disappointed because it was more racist, more sexist, more ableist, and generally worse than the movie version, and while the cast was good, it wasn’t good enough to save bad directing.

48. what show do you desperately want your school/community to do?

well, I want RENT to be back in Germany, and not in the horrible German translation please. Maybe my current employer could get on that? they’re known for excellent stagings of musicals, and they also did Anything Goes in the english original.

49. are you a stronger singer or dancer?

i’m not great at either but I love doing both. since my body is a bit shit though, I suppose i have a slight advantage for my singing.

50. would you rather design the set, direct the show, or help with effects?

i already helped with video and audio effects once, that was fun. i’m no good at set design, and directing doesn’t sound too bad, but I’m not into the creative pressure that comes along with directing. i think I’ll just stick to my dramaturgy. :P

thanks love, for all the questions!