What a wonderful idea a group watch is..would love to participate…I can’t help but also offer. My Mister as a possible choice but I wouldn’t mind Nirvana..add me to the list of those who started it and dropped it but regretted it since everyone is constantly raving about it.

Mother is a masterpiece that I don’t think you have reviewed.

Other suggestion: Once Again and Devilish Joy

I’ll join the NIF crowd even though I just finished watching it while the current Group Watches were going on. I’m pretty sure I’ve missed a fair amount of NIF since it has so many layers so I’m ready to re-watch. I also saw My Girlfriend is A Gumiho during this time and enjoyed it thoroughly, it’s a real treat for Shin Min-a fans. My Drama viewing time has been restricted recently and will probably continue to be so in the near future but I think I can handle a NIF group watch.

NIF can be intimidating in the first few episodes because it’s not easy to follow the many characters and all the plot strands thrown at the viewer which I think makes it ideal for a Group Watch. When I viewed it for the first time, I was so taken by the look of the show, the overall production and the main plotline that I persisted even though I didn’t grasp all the subtleties and I was ultimately rewarded. NIF truly is a remarkable experience.

So NIF for me as well. And I wouldn’t mind You are beautiful as it is hilarious. And someone suggested My Mister I would love to watch that again as there so much to unpick in a group watch.Would love to get all those internal thoughts out.

Well, everyone’s picks are really great. I’ve seen all these dramas with the exception of My GF Is A Gumiho and would welcome watching any one of these again. Perhaps with the exception of Moon Embracing The Sun. It was my gateway drama so I’ve watched it three times, but perhaps having someone else’s viewpoint would be good. So let me throw my hat in the ring with my choices. I would love a group watch with any one of these….My Mister (so much there to explore!), Nirvana In Fire (for another opportunity to see Hu Gi and for the excellent story), My Dear Friends (cause I can relate), and Secret Love Affair (cause y’all know how I love this drama). Ah, Forest of Secrets cause it’s so well acted.. good story! Looking forward to the choice!

I suggested in the After the Rain thread (really good, and especially for time challenged folks, an easy temporal in and out) to K that another idea for these group watches might be a short drama/film festival she would organize for us. There is the issue of availability, especially with films, and I think it would be a bit much to ask of her for this upcoming group watch, but I have now seen three of her recent choices, and liked every one. And the lack of sixteen to thirty two hour commitment might entice a wide swath of site followers. A thought for some future set up.

Lots to choose from! Of course, my vote still goes to My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and also Kill Me Heal Me. Two of my all time favorite dramas. You have some great meaty ones to choose from to like While You Were Sleeping and A Beautiful Mind. So many great dramas 🙂

I would love to see Nirvana In Fire in a group watch! I started it a couple of years ago and only watched one episode. There was too much to process and I was confused about who was who and what their agenda was. I think a group watch will be very helpful, since so many people have already seen it and want to see it again while enlightening newbies like me.

Of the other choices, I would not mind trying dramas I have not seen before, like Kill Me Heal Me and The Moon Embracing The Sun.

But if Tree With Deep Roots wins, I am not going to say no to a rewatch!

I hate that I’ve missed out on all the discussion on these shows for the group watches. I’d seen both shows a while back and was so busy with my personal and family life this last couple of months that I let them drop en lieu of the new and shiny in the little bit of time I had. I have to say that I adored Navillera! So shiny! (In spite of and because of its sad moments–it would be a great show to discuss.) I love the idea of two shows to group watch, but the reality overwhelms me. Watching isn’t the problem so much as reading all the comments and writing mine. That takes a lot of time too, but is a huge part of the fun of the group watch. I would only choose one to watch. I wonder if we couldn’t alternate one chosen by us and one chosen by you. Of course, I could always just watch one of the ones chosen each time. And that may very well be what I do depending on what I have time for.

I would love to do a couple movies here and there. This might be a good way to involve some of us who don’t have as much time to commit to a series group watch but would still love to periodically partake of the group fun. There are so many wonderful ones to discuss. One of my favorites is Miss Granny. We could do one chosen by us and one chosen by you. Maybe watching a film or two between bouts of series could be a fun palette cleanser. What do you think?

Of the shows you’ve suggested, I’ve seen most of them, but I haven’t seen Stranger or Tree with Deep Roots and would like to see them both. Plus, I would probably never watch NIF except in a group watch (since I’m focusing on the Korean shows to help learn the language), and I’ve heard so many good things about it.

I’m in if it’s A Beautiful Mind and Kill Me Heal Me! Wouldn’t it be great to watch 2 dramas where the leads are struggling with some mental illness? 🙂

Ack, I wasn’t able to edit my first post on time.

When I say free in Viki Netherlands (because that’s the VPN country I’m using), it probably means Viki Europe.

I think Signal, Kingdom, and Life are nice additional choices for our group watch (shows that I’m guessing @kfg wouldn’t normally watch).

Signal isn’t as gory or violent as other crime dramas and the cases are based on actual cold cases. I remember it being heartfelt too.

Kingdom is beautifully-produced, well-acted and has meaty themes perfect for group discussions. (Although non-zombie fans might find it a bit too scary and zombie fans might find it not scary enough.) Best of all, it’s quite short (even if we watch both seasons).

Life is the lesser-mentioned work by the writer of Stranger / Forest of Secrets (same lead actor too) but I find that I like Life more. The setting is in a hospital but it doesn’t have as much medical operations as Dr. Romantic.

Hooray for group watches! I have loved – and I mean LOVED – watching Chuno and then Money Flower with you all and revelling in the minutiae. Everyone kind of has different views and notices different things and it makes it that much more enjoyable. And it’s always so good being able to garble out somewhere how brilliant certain scenes and actors are. Hehem, Jang Hyuk…
But, while there are two Jang Hyuk dramas on the list I could flail over, I really really want to see Nirvana in Fire. And I definitely think ‘Editor’s Choice’ is an excellent idea as we’re here for you as much as the drama, kfangurl, and your brilliant insights and thoughts 😘 I didn’t ‘get’ Dr Romantic but that’s OK. I’m happy to try whichever show wins the vote / you choose.

I checked just now. A Beautiful Mind and Tree With Deep Roots are available for free on Viki Netherlands. For geo-restricted shows, I use the free version of Proton’s VPN and it has three countries to choose from: US, Netherlands and Japan. Good enough for my drama watching needs.

If NIF wins, since it’s 40mins per episode, it’ll be 3 episodes weekly?

I remember @KFG hasn’t watched Signal yet, would you like to consider it too?

Eek, please don’t watch the English dubbed version! Watch in original Mandarin with English subtitled. Available on Viki if you set VPN to Europe or America.

Ack I can’t edit comment when using my handphone! Anyway “Love and” is a typo. And The Bad Kids and Long Night were highly recommended by Avenue X in her 2020 year end review video. She also highly rated Min Ning Town, authentic slice of life in a rural village, something unusual and different from the usual K drama lot! https://youtu.be/oIFs-0Z0FqA

https://youtu.be/Gy8nm0nxgF8

My suggestions/seconds, I’ve not watched these but keen to: Kill Me Heal Me, Girlfriend is a Gumiho, Be Melodramatic, Sungkyungkwan Scandal, Let’s Eat 2, Reply 1988, My Mister, Secret Affair

C Dramas – Love and Legend of Condor Heroes 2008 starring Hu Ge, NIF, The Bad Kids and The Long Night (2020)

Too many to choose! At first I thought “yeah, buddy! Beautiful Mind” and there’s so much meat to flesh out there. (@DramaFan and I never did settle our argument about it. Thank goodness for Hyuky love that still brings us together 😉) But then Nirvana In Fire… but then TREE WITH DEEP ROOTS!

And I’ve always wanted to watch in a group I Heard It Through the Grapevine (aka in my mind “What Happens After Candy Marries Her Chaebeoul”).

Seconding NIF. Complex dramas are great for group watches!

NIF – I’m so glad NIF made it on this list ( and seems to be a popular choice based on comments so far). That would absolutely be my #1 choice, and I would gladly watch it for the (6th? 7th?) time. I think this drama could really benefit from a group watch for many viewers – for those who are intimidated/confused it will be nice to have people explaining it as we go, and for those that have watched it before, being such a rich story I bet other people will pick up on even more details that I’ve missed even on my first 5 watches!

Stranger – this could be good! I am starting this and tbh I’m really bored and just can’t get into it. I feel like I’m missing something since the hype is unreal, hoping a group watch will help me “get” this drama.

this group watch is becoming one of the highlights of my week so thank you kfan gurl! i will be voting for while you were sleeping for the second time because i am really curious about your opinion. I am sure you will find it highly enjoyable

Giving special nudges for 7 Day Queen, Stranger, and Dear My Friends! The last round I wanted 7 Day Queen (but didn’t make it to the final list) and voted for Dear My Friends (but didn’t get picked) so trying my luck again hehe. 2 episodes per week is a good pace methinks.

I will not vote but I will watch whatever the People and our Editor decide, partly because I learn so much this way but mostly because I enjoy the company. This is the best water cooler in the world.

My one request: whatever you choose, even if one choice is a 54-episode Chinese historical drama, that we do not exceed 4 hours-ish a week in total. This schedule allows me only to watch one other drama at a time (about 2 hours additional a week), and during the latest group watch I have only managed Secret Garden and half of Mr. Queen, and a couple of mini-bites that kfangurl recommended (Shanai Marriage Honey and Let’s Eat Something, Anna). Oh and two episodes of Delightful Girl Choon Hyang, which I’ve been working through over a year now. Maybe that sounds like a lot, but I’ve been jealous over all of you checking out Vincenzo and Navirella and Sell Your Haunted House, and even your complaining about Sisyphus. And my to-see list is very long, indeed, especially now that I apparently need to see Pinocchio.

Thank you, all, for watching together and especially kfangurl, for providing this nourishing forum.

Oo lovely idea! I do really like the Group Watch!

My picks are
– NIF because it’s so good according to everyone who’s watched it but it was too intimidating for me to watch it alone. I tried and dropped out coz I was confused. But if it’s 3-4 eps I miiiiight not be able to keep up. Between a full time job and a baby I don’t have much tv watching time. But if everyone’s game please go ahead without me!
– Forest of Secrets cos Ive not watched it and it sounds great. Same for Signal.
– My Mister: I will never say no, I love this show too much.
– While You Were Sleeping might be a nice switch up!
– Someone suggested Let’s Eat 2. Why not Let’s Eat 1? Ive not watched it and heard good things about the series!

As a wild card, if anyone is interested in more Seo Hyun Jin, I quite like “Let’s Eat 2”. It’s a light romantic comedy, includes a good ML too, some good older actors, some Korean food porn. It’s not an A show but a solid B with a decent supply of heart.

I’ve never watched Chinese drama before, so I’m thinking that Nirvana In Fire would be a great opportunity for me to expand perspective. While Dr. Romantic was a lot of fun, I kinda want to take a break from hospital/medical drama, so maybe more comedy shows like My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and You’re Beautiful are good too.

If I had had my druthers last time I would have gone with Dear My Family, which I would whole heartedly recommend to anyone who has not seen it. To put it another way, Youn Yuh Jung is the fourth or fifth or maybe even sixth lead in this, and as good as she is in it, there are reasons why that is so. Oh and yes, I had a big crush on her before all this Minari business went down. That said, it is an awfully emotional show, mostly about old folks, mostly old women, and their discontents. If that does not appeal, or seem broad enough…well…I can understand that.

My second choice would have been Nirvana In Fire, mostly cause there is so much to chew on in it, and as with Chuno, we have someone in our community who is super well versed in the show, which would give us some beyond the drama itself food for thought and gabfesting. During the Chuno watch, I somehow managed to binge both NIF and Queen Seondeok, which would be a worthwhile group watch too if we all had the patience for sixty two episodes–it is seriously great folks, and who knows how much longer it will be available before it goes the way of other long sageuk classics. But I suspect being trapped into 2022 would not be a popular choice, yuk.

I thought, however, Money Flower and Dr. Romantic would be fine. I was shocked at my reaction to the initial episodes of Money Flower, as I hadn’t remembered finding the characters so completely distasteful, and surprised how much I enjoyed rewatching Dr. Romantic. As much as I had enjoyed my initial watch I would not have predicted enjoying a rewatch all that much, because it struck me even then that it was a kind of predictable show with predictable beats, albeit a very good iteration of such, and a bit limited by its melodramatic made for tv format. What I found was that show had more going on in it–the structuring and composition of the episodes and whole show a cut above the typical, and that included the acting performances of the otp, which were much better done than I had remembered. If it still was not a great classic like Chuno, it was at least as KFG expressed it a B++.

Personally, I would rather see a great classic together, Secret Love Affair–Kim Hee Ae and Yoo Ah In, as good as anything they have ever been in, or even My Mister–need I say more?, or Reply 1988 if we are hankering for pure comfort food. Ditto almost anything out of K’s extensive A+ library, or her significant interest. But I know after my reaction to Money Flower, not everyone is going to consider shows I think are classics as great and vice versa on my account.

In the end, whatever sparks the greatest group interest, I will give it a go, and hope for the best.

I started Gumiho so my vote goes to that. Picked it based on a previous post about shows that you haven’t reviewed yet. I started it after finishing and really enjoying It’s Okay To Not Be Okay.Really liked the fairy tale aspect of it.

I personally have found the group watches, starting with Chuno and then with both of the current ones, to be really enriching, and I would not underestimate the value of what you point out as far as the “live watch” experience. So often when you get caught up in a show, you want to vent or talk about it, and this gives the opportunity to do that, which otherwise can be hard to find. The only occasional frustration is getting really caught up in a show and having to be disciplined about staying on the schedule, but that’s manageable.

So I am on board with continuing, and I think the Editor’s Pick is a great idea. After all, if you hadn’t made a command decision about Money Flower, I might have never gotten around to it, and if you’ve peeked at the recent commentary on the open threads for that one, you’ll know where I stand on MF 🙂 ….

Anyway, you’ve picked a really promising opening bid for potential selections. I’m especially lucky because I’ve only seen one of them (Dr. Romantic 2–which I’d totally be willing to see again, because it’s just more Doldam Hospital and Master Kim goodness. If I had a preference, I don’t think I’d go with it, just because I feel a need for a bit of a hospital procedural break, and I’m resting up for Hospital Playlist 2 in June, which I am super looking forward to).

Of the others, half of them I already had written down on my “future watch list,” and most of the others look pretty good.

I think my first pick would be Nirvana in Fire, just because no one will shut up about how great it is, and also it looks very much like the sort of epic production that will really benefit from a group watch production. Since it is long, and also the eps appear to be standard Mainland length of 45 minutes, would we want to discuss bumping up the weekly count to 3 or even 4 episodes, so the whole watch doesn’t stretch over six months’ time?

After Nirvana, Stranger; Tree With Deep Roots; Moon Embracing the Sun; My GF is a Gumiho; 7-day Queen; and Dear My Friends are all on my list, and I’d be happy with any of the others.

I don’t know that we need additions, but some others I’ve really been considering starting soon that look good:
Secret Love Affair; Be Melodramatic; Stove League.

Can’t wait to see what the hive mind decides on…

Wow, what a list, kfangurl! For me, it would be the three I haven’t watched: Gumiho, Seven Days and Tree With Deep Roots 😉

This was my first time being part of a group watch. I enjoyed the experience tremendously. I was not really sure about Money Flower, but omg, it’s become one of my all time favorite shows! I’m a Jang Hyuk fan for life now! ( so voting for Beautiful Mind). I think the group watch is in that way like a book club- makes you look at shows that wouldn’t normally be your first pick!
I love all the shows you’ve chosen, except may be a couple that have terribly sad endings. I won’t say which ones- in case people are not aware!
Watching two shows kinda took up a lot of time! Some weeks it was like doing homework before the deadline 😁 Also, it didn’t leave much time for the other shows on my list. Having said that, it was still fun to watch two very different shows, side by side… This is a big change for me, I tend to finish one before I start another!
Thanks for the fun experience, Fangirl!

My vote goes for Nirvana in Fire (it would be my first watch) and Beautiful Mind (a rewatch but I love this drama. People may want a break from JH at this point but Im still going to vote for this one) There are a couple other dramas on the list that I would very likely join as well. Also, I LOVE the idea of the Editor’s Choice ❤️👍

These are all good choices Fangurl. KMHE is on my Top 3 KDrama list and NIF is quite literally in the upper stratosphere of dramaworld and the best thing I have ever watched (and will probably ever watch) in this lifetime. Then there is Stranger which is in a class by itself – a very, very fine contender. You would even get to see it Fangurl! Hooray!

Those are my personal three. I will take the NIF plunge for the 11th time for perfection FG. 💖💖 The rest of these dramas are very good choices.