So this might be the mother of all throwback posts on this blog. (Wait, this might be the only throwback post on the blog, actually!)

Basically, this post had first appeared on Stephanie’s blog Crazy for Kdrama, when she’d invited me to guest on her 2012-in-review series.

I’d been super excited, and Stephanie’s invitation basically was the catalyst that inspired me to even start this blog (you can find the blog’s origin story here).

Long story short, Crazy for Kdrama suffered from a takedown a while ago, thanks to DMCA bots, which sucked. 🙁 But, Steph’s since dusted herself off and has started over at Kchat Jjigae.

This post, though, was lost with the original blog. That’s been niggling me for a while, since this post has a special place in this blog’s history.

That, and the more OCD parts of my brain felt uncomfortable that the link to my 2012 year-in-review on the Full List page basically led to nowhere.

Happily, those same OCD parts of my brain had thought to save my original draft somewhere, so it wasn’t all that hard to reproduce the post here.

So now, for old times’ sake, and for the sake of having my 2012-in-review post available somewhere, I present to you one of the earliest blog posts I ever wrote, in its pure, original state.

I’ve simply added links to reviews where available. Hope you guys enjoy the walk down memory lane with me! 🙂

kfangurl’s 2012 Drama Awards

When Stephanie first invited me to guest on her Year-In-Review series, I was honored, intrigued and excited. Why? Coz at the time, I’d never even blogged before. I was a closet k-fan who had only very recently come out of the lurking shadows just to comment on this blog.

Uh-huh. This is really where one of the key seeds of The Fangirl Verdict was planted, so I am hugely grateful to Stephanie for being a major catalyst that contributed to my actually jumping in and creating my own blog.

In terms of my Year-In-Review post, I was a little confounded in terms of how to go about it, since, really, this is the first one I’ve ever written. It felt like I had too many dramas on my list, and I had no idea what to do with them all.

Then recently, awards season happened in the Kdrama-verse, and I decided to take a leaf out of the books of the experts. The networks have been doing this for ages, and they know what works: If you don’t know what to do with the dramas on your list, make up categories that fit!

And that’s exactly what I’ve done.

Without further ado, let me roll out the red carpet for all the dramas that I’ve loved, hated, cried with, or plain endured in 2012!

Best Drama: Queen In-hyun’s Man

This was truly my favorite drama of the year.

There were several strong contenders for this award, all with excellent cinematography, story and pacing.

Queen In-hyun’s Man is right up there with (and in some cases, ahead of) the rest of them, with excellent camera work, slick editing, a polished movie-like finish, a great soundtrack, a compelling story, great actors and a brisk pace that never left me bored.

But really, the reason this show won was because it had me completely by the heart. This was a love story of the most epic proportions, of loving – or rather, choosing to love – each other across a time-space divide that seemed impossible on all counts.

I was completely bowled over by Ji Hyun Woo’s Kim Boong Do, who was heroic in so many ways. Yoo In Na was adorable and I loved her Choi Hee Jin too, almost as much as I loved Kim Boong Do.

Of course, the fact that he really did fall for her made all the googly lovey-dovey gazes all the more squee-inducing, coz they were, y’know, for real. Swoon.

It’s no coincidence that it was my love for this drama that motivated me to stop lurking for what I thought was “just a second,” to vote for Stephanie’s marathon drama for Thanksgiving.

Queen In-hyun’s Man, I hereby crown thee Best Drama of 2012. Thanks for blowing me away and exceeding my already high expectations.

Edit: Review is here!

Runner Up: Arang and the Magistrate

A really strong contender for the Best Drama award.

This show had an amazingly well-thought-out mythological world complete with intricately-woven little details, a great story, an interesting collection of characters, and a fantastic OTP with palpable chemistry.

Better yet, these were all handled with a sure, confident, caring touch, and I never felt like the story didn’t know where it was going.

I loved both Lee Jun Ki and Shin Min Ah equally in their roles as our OTP, and their fantastic chemistry showed from start to finish.

Their interactions over the course of the show covered an entire spectrum, being by turns funny, heartwarming, sweet, bickering, thoughtful, pensive, poignant, and heartbreaking.

I didn’t flat-out love the ending but I found it acceptable because it worked within the framework of the mythology, and there was enough happy for our OTP to make me happy.

This drama would have won the Best Drama award if they’d let our OTP have a little more overtly romantic moments in the midst of piecing together mysteries and fighting baddies. I do like a badass couple.

What I’d love even more is a badass couple that has time for some lovin’, s’all I’m sayin’.

Edit: Review is here!

Tied for Runner-Up: The King 2 Hearts

Another really strong contender for Best Drama, with a compelling conflict, a good story, great character arcs for a good collection of characters, great chemistry between the OTP, a strong romantic plot-line, and a brisk pace that lent itself to back-to-back episodes.

I loved this rollercoaster of a ride, and enjoyed almost everything about it.

Lee Seung Gi and Ha Ji Won turned in very strong performances, and I enjoyed their OTP very much. Still, it was Jo Jung Suk’s Eun Shi Kyung who lingered with me, long after the drama ended.

Jo Jung Suk was just flat-out AMAZING. He made Eun Shi Kyung so whole as a character.

I loved every facet that he gave his character; every bashful, awkward tick, every conflicted stutter, every look of brave resolve. He was heartwarmingly lovable and heartbreakingly awkward in any single moment, and I loved him.

I loved how Jo Jung Suk handled Eun Shi Kyung’s character, but I didn’t love how the writers handled Eun Shi Kyung’s character, which is what held this show back from claiming the Best Drama award.

Edit: Review is here!

Best Melodrama: Padam Padam.. The Sound of His and Her Heartbeats

Excellent cinematography, high production values, slick editing, and great camera-work made Padam Padam a feast for the eyes. I loved watching this show coz it was just so darn beautiful. Every hour-long episode floated by as if it were mere minutes.

A strong fantasy element that was handled confidently, a life-and-death conflict, a fabulous bromance, a fantastic supporting cast, and an extremely relatable quest – simply, for dignity – by our main character make this a spell-binding watch.

I was completely blown away by Jung Woo Sung in this. He was completely committed to the role, and blithely abandoned vanity for realism.

His Kang Chil was angry, bug-eyed, rough, tortured, desperate, yet hopeful, bashful, vulnerable and awkward. He sucked me in to feel his conflict in a deep, visceral way, and I rooted for him from the bottom of my heart.

Yet, even though he took centerstage, every other character shone as well. Kim Bum was very good, and so was Han Ji Min, but I especially loved Na Moon Hee as Mi Ja, Kang Chil’s mother, and Choi Tae Joon as Im Jung, Kang Chil’s son.

They turned in such heartfelt performances that my heart ached with theirs in the hard moments and smiled with theirs in the brighter beats. They felt like real people with real burdens, real pain, and real hopes. I loved them.

Padam Padam, I hereby crown thee Best Melodrama of 2012. Thank you for an intense ride, and for treating such melancholic content with such a strong, distinct sense of warmth. I would watch you again – in a heartbeat.

Edit: Review is here!

Runner-Up: Operation Proposal

Despite all the frustration in the drama-verse over this drama, I really liked this one.

I couldn’t classify this as a rom-com, coz it really isn’t one. It’s a show that focuses more on character development than romantic development, and since there are some melodramatic elements in it, I’m pronouncing this the (fairly distant) runner-up in the melodrama category.

I found the young cast earnest and easy to like, and the show is by turn sweet, funny, endearing, heartwarming, sad, moving and thought-provoking.

Yes there were some plot-holes, but I managed to overlook them.

At the same time, I found the question thought-provoking: If you could go back in time to relive key moments in your life all over again, would you really behave that differently, or is your nature harder to change than you think?

More introspective and thoughtful than I’d expected.

Edit: Review is here!

Contender: The Equator Man

I found this more engaging in the first half than the second half. It had my full attention for most of the first half, with a plot that moved at an assured, reasonably fast pace and that kept me guessing in terms of what was going to happen next.

Unfortunately, the writing got haphazard in the second half and I checked out emotionally. I couldn’t figure out the motivations behind sudden character turnarounds, which was a big fail on the part of the writers.

Strong performances were delivered by Uhm Tae Woong, Lee Joon Hyuk and Lee Hyun Woo. Too bad the story couldn’t hold up.

Edit: Review is here!

Best Teen Drama: Shut Up Flower Boy Band

This was hands-down the most fantastic teen drama of 2012. It was grounded, relatable, true to life, and it literally throbbed with raw, intense, unabashed energy.

More about friendships, bonds and finding your dreams than about the OTP, this drama found the perfect balance between giving us just enough sweetness with our OTP and exploring the character arcs of each member of the ensemble cast.

I never wanted this drama to end. I loved walking with the characters as individuals and as a group. I loved their friendships and their strong sense of loyalty to one another. I loved their passion, their verve and their zest.

They were larger-than-life and made me feel alive in a magnified sense. When it ended, I felt like lingering with them for as long as possible, coz I felt like I hadn’t just been a fly on their walls, but an actual part of their world.

Shut Up, I hereby crown thee Best Teen Drama of 2012. Thank you for being so real. You rawk.

Edit: Review is here!

Runner-Up: What’s Up?

An unassuming little show where the characters managed to sneak up on me, grow on me and eventually get me to care about them. 

There were some obvious imperfections and some plot lines weren’t fleshed out &/or tied up in a satisfying manner. This felt off-kilter to me and made the show feel unbalanced as a whole.

Still, this was a pretty engaging ride, and ultimately, it was a show that I didn’t regret checking out.

Edit: Review is here!

Most Refreshing Drama: Fermentation Family

Refreshing in the best ways, this drama treated everything a little differently.

The cinematography was gorgeous, and the framing of each scene is beautiful, yet makes us see how small our humans are in the lush magnificence of the nature that surrounds them.

The search for the truth of Ho Tae’s past, the disappearance of Kang San’s father, and even the relationship of the OTP could have all been treated with melodramatic angst, but the show chose instead to treat each of these with a matter-of-fact sort of warmth, opting not to give any of these the spotlight.

Instead, it chose greater, more noble things to take centerstage through its use of food as a metaphor for life. The numerous scenes of food preparation aren’t just gratuitous food p0rn, though the food really looks jaw-droppingly amazing.

Rather, each scene is an acknowledgement and extension of that metaphor, and through these scenes we learn about love, loyalty and life.

Fermentation Family, I hereby crown thee Most Refreshing Drama of 2012. You were unhurried, gentle, sweet and thought-provoking, and you tasted even better than the kimchi you featured.

Edit: Review is here!

Runner-Up: History of the Salaryman

Zany, irreverent, funny, outlandish and even a little manic, Salaryman was definitely different. The plot was interesting and unpredictable and often made me laugh out loud.

I loved how ridiculous the writers dared to get with the show, with one of my favorite bits being the 112-year-old chicken in a hanbok. I also found it hysterical how much of Yeo Chi’s dialogue had to be bleeped out.

This was a refreshing and enjoyable rollercoaster, though the corporate wars got a little less engaging towards the end.

The ending was also a little predictable when stacked against the rest of the show, which had been blithely unpredictable in taking sharp left turns when I’d least expected it.

A strong runner-up for being so completely different from general drama fare.

Edit: Review is here!

Most Universally Appealing Drama: Answer Me 1997

A drama that pulsed with stuff that is universal and relatable to us all: friendships, relationships, crushes, growing up, life, death and love.

Every single one of the ensemble of characters was likable and carefully drawn. The friendships were organic and real, and every character related to another in a unique way that was specific to their friendship.

Jung Eun Ji was excellent as the brash H.O.T. fangirl and Seo In Guk was fantastic as the hotheaded, just-a-smidge badass, roguish man-boy struggling to deal with his newfound romantic feelings for his childhood friend.

It got a little meander-y in the last 2 episodes, but it was so full of nostalgic goodness that I forgive the writers.

Answer Me, 1997, I hereby crown thee Most Universally Appealing Drama of 2012. Thanks for reminding me of what it was like to be growing up among friends as a teen, even though I didn’t grow up in the 90s in Korea.

Edit: Review is here!

Most Addictive Ignore-The-Weak-Writing Romance: The Moon that Embraces the Sun

Yes, I know the show’s premise was ultimately simplistic and the writing flawed, but boy, was I hooked.

Everything was beautifully shot, with gorgeous colors and luxurious textures making the world of Moon/Sun a lush, grand context for a romance between a king and his one true love.

The child actors brought all the goodness in the earlier portion of the story, and then when they grew up, Kim Soo Hyun basically took over and just blew me away for the rest of the drama. He was magnetic, nuanced, natural, regal, and so badass sexy.

The cliffhangers were of the sexual-tension-laced romantic kind rather than the political kind, and I reached for episode after episode.

I didn’t love how the ending was handled, but I was so mesmerized by Kim Soo Hyun that I was riveted to my screen anyway.

Edit: Review is here!

Runner-Up: Rooftop Prince

I went into Rooftop Prince for the clever comedy gags, but came away completely taken with the sweet, epic romance that it served up. 

The corporate scheming and related plot mechanisms were flimsy and boring, and yes, there were logic fails along the way. The ending, particularly, was too open-ended and left too much to the viewers’ interpretation.

But I was touched by the sweetness and poignancy of the OTP, and some of the scenes between them really moved me.

Yes, I had to suspend a whole lot of disbelief in order to interpret the ending in a way that made me happy, but this show lingered with me even after it was over, and that’s really quite something in my books.

Edit: Review is here!

Best Chuck-Your-Brain-At-The-Door Drama: To The Beautiful You

Once I put aside the gaping logic fails, huge plot holes and the mostly very average acting, I was really rather hooked on this one. It helped a lot that I could fill in the gaps based on my knowledge of the J-version.

Lots and lots of couple moments, all laced with “will-he-or-won’t-he-let-on-that-he-likes-her” made this a pleasant, addictive watch.

Minho’s dorky brand of cuteness was what made this work for me. His shirtless scene didn’t hurt either; the boy’s all lean muscle and it’s put to extensive use in the show.

Edit: Review is here!

Runner-Up: A Gentleman’s Dignity

There’s not a lot of plot here, and from the start, I found the F44 too childish and hormonal, and the heroine too annoying. Once I got past that, though, this turned into a fairly pleasant watch.

The color palette was nice, the OTP’s individual fits of fantasy were cute, Jang Dong Gun’s smoldering stares were sexy, and the younger cast and characters brought a breath of fresh energy to the show.

There’s a mix of some nice OTP moments with some frustrating plot developments, but at least it ends on a happy note.

The show’s mostly atmosphere-driven, but all in all, that atmosphere is a pretty nice one.

Edit: Review is here!

Contender: Wild Romance

There was cute bickering romance between the OTP, and Lee Dong Wook was sensuously appealing while Lee Si Young managed to imbue her rough-and-tough bodyguard with a shy vulnerability that endeared her to me.

The Robot Couple was also adorable and hilarious, sealing my love for Im Joo Eun.

BUT. The writing was very weak and got worse and worse as the show went on. This was a huge damper on the show, and we spent way too much time on boring and ridiculous plot points, all the way to the very end.

If they’d just served up more cute from the 2 couples, I would’ve been more able to let my brain check out and enjoy the ride. Instead, I wanted to throttle the writers for an unbelievable and tiresome storyline.

Edit: Review is here!

Contender: Panda and Hedgehog

Cutesy with a strong Disney vibe. Everything is Disney-like here. The makjang plot points are solved with Disney-like convenience, the characters are drawn to cartoonish extremes, and almost everyone behaves like a Disney cartoon come to life. 

I found Yoon Seung Ah very annoying, but Donghae was likable and cute to look at. The pretty cakes and bright color palette also helped to get me through the show.

Even after switching off my brain, I found this just alright.

Edit: Review is here!

Best You-Weren’t-Great-But-I-Forgive-You Drama: Big

I know, I know. Big was a drama that didn’t live up to its potential, and everyone and their mother is hugely disappointed with this show.

I can’t stay mad with this show though. It gave me awesome, awesome, awesome Gong Yoo.

He was all kinds of amazing no matter what the role called for, and he shone so brightly that I could barely see anything else. Plus, he’s so, so hot.

Between the liberal shirtless scenes in the earlier episodes, the smart dashing suits in the later episodes, and the swoony kisses, I was swimming in a sea of awesome.

I couldn’t not forgive this show. Thank you, Big, for letting Gong Yoo be awesome on my screen.

Edit: Review is here!

Worst All-Around Drama: Dream High 2

To date, I have watched something like 140 kdramas, and this is possibly the worst drama of them all.

I can only begin to describe the bad that was DH2: a bad script with gaping logic fails, an ensemble cast of 2-dimensional characters, bad acting pretty much all around, plus random musical numbers that would not die.

Since it’s a music drama, one might think that perhaps it at least had a decent OST, but no. It had a really disappointing OST too.

Jung Jin Woon was the only bright spot for me, and it was solely for him that I finished this turkey.

Edit: Review is here!

Runner-Up: Love Rain

Pretty cinematography, a nice color palette and decent music was pretty much all that this show had going for it. It was slow and boring, and brought back memories of classic Seasons dramas, but not in a good way.

The Evil Mother plot-device was tiresome, hateful and unbelievable, and everyone looked dumb for indulging her tantrums.

Edit: Review is here!

Special Mention: Hooray for Love (Dropped after 22 eps)

I never finished this show, but I disliked it enough that I think it’s worth warning other drama lovers about it.

It was slow and boring, but I hung in there thinking that once the OTP got going, that I would at least have some romance to look forward to. That so didn’t happen.

The worst thing about this show is that the OTP looks awkward and stiff together. I cringed watching them trying to look lovey-dovey and romantic while basically enduring hugs and kisses together.

I could almost imagine them gritting their teeth to get it over with. It made me feel awkward just watching them. I couldn’t take it anymore and checked out.

* Bullets dodged: Fashion King & Dr. Jin

I-Don’t-Know-How-to-Classify-This-Drama: I Do, I Do

This show is slow and it’s not that funny, so I can’t quite call it a rom-com. But it’s not a melodrama either, so it gets its very own unclassified category.

Most people either love or hate this show. I’m probably one of the few in-betweeners. I started off bored and unconvinced of the chemistry between the OTP, but somewhere along the way I came around and I rather enjoyed it, in a low-key sort of way.

Kim Sun Ah came off a little too cold, but towards the end, her character showed a little more vulnerability and that helped. Lee Jang Woo initially felt too young and baby-faced for the role, but I eventually came to root for his character.

Not great, but not bad either.

Edit: Review is here!

Other 2012 dramas that I’m currently watching:

I Need Romance 2012:

So far, nice and light. I enjoy this more than I did the first season. I love-hate the heroine, but I find Kim Ji Suk charming and quite dreamy.

Edit: Review is here!

I Live in Cheongdamdong:

I’m halfway through this, and I love, love, love it! It’s very cute and has lovable, believable characters. My favorite plot-line is the squee-worthy love triangle. I’m going slow so that I can savor this 🙂

Edit: I never did finish this show. Not for lack of love.. It’s just really long, and I was watching with Chinese subs (which I don’t prefer), and I eventually just petered off with watching it. I have vague plans to go back to it. Someday. 😛

Bridal Mask:

Really good right away. Joo Won is so intense! I can tell this is going to be a potent, exhilarating ride.

Edit: Review is here!

In Closing:

Well there you have it: kfangurl’s 2012 Drama Awards. Almost everyone gets a prize. Sort of.

Here’s wishing us all a great 2013, with more great dramas to laugh, cry or just plain obsess over.

Cheers, everyone! *clinks virtual champagne glass*

~kfangurl