Remember how we voted for our group watches 2 months ago, you guys?
Well, time has flown by, and while our Nirvana in Fire group watch is still on-going (so rich, and so meaty! Do join us, if you can!), we have now completed our group watch of the very breezy and very fun My Girlfriend is a Gumiho.
..Which means it’s time to announce the start of our Kill Me, Heal Me group watch, which was the second Editor’s Choice pick that I made. Here are all the details you might need!
EDITOR’S CHOICE: Kill Me, Heal Me
Schedule: Saturdays, starting 24 July 2021. Posts will go live at 8:00am, my time (GMT+8)
Commitment: 20 episodes. 2 eps per week = 10 weeks.
In other words: We will discuss E1&2 on Saturday, 24 July 2021.
Availability: Available for free on Viu (here). Also available on Kocowa (here) if you’re on a paid subscription, and on Viki (here), if you have Viki Pass Plus. If you know of other platforms &/or regions where Show is available, please share that information with us in the comments!
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Why you should watch:
Ji Sung is flippin’ FANTASTIC in this, managing to make his multiple personalities actually feel like easily distinct characters, sometimes just by changing his gaze.
It’s quite remarkable to witness. Add on robust performances by the rest of the cast, and several thought-provoking themes around pain, healing and identity, and you’ve got yourself quite the gripping watch.
I mentally rated this one an A- when I watched it; I just never got around to writing it the review it deserves. I figure the group watch will give me a chance to get all of those thoughts out, while sharing the experience with you guys. ❤️
Trailer:
Kill Me, Heal Me Open Threads:
I’ll be linking the Open Threads here, for easy reference. You’ll also be able to find the Open Thread links on my Full List page.
E1&2 | E3&4 | E5&6 | E7&8 | E9&10 | E11&12 | E13&14 | E15&16 | E17&18 | E19&20
In closing
..That’s about it, really! Please go forth and enjoy your first couple of episodes – and remember to tune in for the Open Thread posts, going live next week! ❤️
Also, don’t worry if you can’t make it to join the discussion on Saturday itself; these aren’t live watch parties. Often the discussions go on all week, and sometimes beyond!
And her decibel level seems a bit lower than in the past. 😆
@j3ffc – It does sound fun.
@Trent – check out Song Seung heon in the movie A Better Tomorrow. It’s a remake of a Chinese film by John Woo and John Woo directed the Korean remake. It also has another of my biases – Joo Jin mo – as the main character but upon my first watch, I didn’t even notice JJM because I only had eyes for SSH. Check out this clip from the movie (ffwd to 3:50 & watch through 5:20) https://youtu.be/7UneNx2MV2A
So as far as SSH being good looking – I was mesmerized! 😆
@Trent – If I can get the real names right: Cutie Soo is Ji soo. Mr. Dish Towel is Song Seung heon who earned the nickname for two reasons 1) his poor acting back in the day; and 2) see the attached image. Personally, I’m pretty sure it’s because of the image which is a scene from the drama My Princess.
And you’re absolutely spot on about The Voice.
When I first heard about Shin Min ah and Donald Duck, it was accompanied by a really cute image of Donald Duck that made him seem to have dimples and an image of a certain expression Shin Min ah gets. So it seemed to fit perfectly. I’m searching trying to find that particular image to show you, or any one similar to it but no success so far.
@beez Ahahaha, I didn’t realize other people would find Lee Sun-kyun’s voice so mesmerizing. Glad to see I’m not alone. And that SSH is a handsome, handsome man, isn’t he?
This is such a fun topic! Let me see if I can rustle up a list for a Dear kfangurl post! 😃
Ooh, yes please! That would be super fun! And the very essence of fangirl-ing (and boy-ing), needless to say…
@Trent – I admit I call her that, but I didn’t coin the moniker. There are some nicknames for certain stars that just follow them throughout the blogs. You may not know their real names but just say “Screechy, Cutie Soo, Mr. Dish Towel, The Voice”, etc., and instant recognition!😆
@Trent – And I forgot to include Shin Min ah is known as Donald Duck and she’s aware of and accepts that nickname!
@beez Oh wow, I did not know the deep lore of the nicknames…. Now I’ve gotta ask, who is Cutie Soo, Mr. Dish Towel, and The Voice? (I just started My Mister, finally, and after Coffee Prince and now My Mister, my nomination is Lee Sun-kyun for The Voice, because I can listen to that deep baritone all day long…).
And why is Shin Min-ah Donald Duck?! (She’ll always be Dimples from Heaven to me…).
@j3ffc – Well, we did say that the actress is not as screechy as she used to be. And possibly your Newfoundland initiation has made your eardrums less prone to the irritation. 😆
I enjoyed reading this:
“…eat a piece of bologna (also known as a Newfoundland steak), kiss a cod and then take a shot of Screech rum to wash it all down.”
Although none of that is something I want to experience first hand. 😆
I really enjoyed this though:
“…as legend goes, when Newfoundland hosted American military members during the Second World War, Newfoundlanders would get entertainment from watching the Americans’ reactions to how harsh screech was.”
It is pretty wild, no? Those Newfoundlanders!!
I think I got the tourist-lite version of being screeched in, though. An alternative to the cod-kissing is to kiss a puffin, of which there are gazillions up there, and in my case it was a cute little plushie puffin that I smooched. There was also some language that had to be repeated (make a mistake and a swear word comes out!), stepping on Newfoundland soil or water (in a bucket), and then finally the downing of screech. Screech is a Jamaican rum that isn’t as bad as the quote you mentioned made it sound, although I’m generally averse to drinking anything by the shot.
All in all, St. John’s, which is where all of this took place, is a beautiful and fun town to visit.
Okay, I know I’m jumping the gun just a bit since our first open thread isn’t up yet, but…
Whoever named the FL “Screechy”–@beez?–definitely knew whereof they spoke. Hate to pile on the bandwagon, but homegirl needs to tone it down just a wee bit. Maybe. You know?
Ji Sung, on the other hand, looks like he’s going to be all sorts of entertaining…
@BE -Sorry 😆 not sorry. I had to get in there first. It’s a tradition around the blogs whenever somebody mentions Chuno one of us must cry out “Chuno!” (usually followed by a chain of single comments of “Chuno!”)
Ah, Chuno.
I’d rather a chain of lots of screengrabs from Chuno 😊
@BE – you may not remember but around the time when you first joined this blog, I mentioned how when I first started watching Kdramas, my son said “I can hear all that screeching from the backyard”. It was my very first Kdrama and Hwang Jung-Eum was the actress. 😆
But to be clear, I don’t recall that she does that much in this show, at least after the first couple episodes.
Spoiler
I dunno I have gotten thru five, and she’s still screeching. And oh that Se Gi. ah the squeebies and screech–“my baby whispers in my ears, ohhhhh, sweet nothings”–and this really is a spoiler, why does every time he drops one of his lines on Ri Jin do I think this guy sounds a lot like Director Ban?
@j3ffc @kfangurl – I don’t think you guys mean Oh My Ghost because the female leads there were Park Bo young and Kim Seul gi.
Oh, beez! I was just riffing on OMG, which came out “oh my ghost” b/c (1) I love that drama and (2) b/c Hwang Jung-eum, whom I really liked in “Mystic Pop-up Bar”, sorta played a ghost in that drama. (I will also, very discreetly, mention my admiration of Kim Seul-gi…)
Now, I’ve watched Eps 1 and 2 of KMHM, and I will come out and say, no spoiler alert required, I did not mind Hwang Jung-eum’s screeching at all. I would have totally screeched in similar situations!
Fun fact: when one visits Newfoundland, Canada, it is traditional to be “screeched in” to the province, a fun/goofy ritual, the details of which can be found here, among other places: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/screech-in-nl-1.5161280.
And yes, I have been screeched in myself!
See you all in the Open Thread.
PS, almost forgot. Chuno!
@j3ffc – Chuno! 🥂
@merij1 – first things first: CHUNO!!!!
Ahem, interesting that you would compare Screechy to Ha Ji min seeing as how Ha Ji min was starring in a show with the exact same premise at the same time that Kill Me Heal Me aired.
@beez: First things first…when you exclaimed CHUNO!!! with all this talk about screetch, my scalp began to itch, thinking wtf, Lee Da Hae?
Okay, maybe the two jumos going at it about the repulsiveness of some of their clientele.
As to whether Hwang Jung-eum (occasionally) resembles Han Je-min, you be the judge. This is one of them:
This is the other.
So…which is which?
Btw, sorry Ji-min for for the typo in your name! You know I adore you!
They look nothing alike to me other than their hairstyles in those two pictures. 😊
I have only seen Han Je Min in Radiant, but my take is she has a much lower decibel range than Hwang Jung Eum.
I’m so excited! I watched this show when it aired which, unfortunately, was at the same time as Hyun bin’s show on the same subject. I must admit, I didn’t get into Ji Sung’s show very much until Hyun bin’s show was already failing and flailing. It’s as if the two shows were like when you’re first learning to drive a stick shift – while one was descending, the other was ascending.
So I’m excited it to give it my full attention this time without being distracted and distressed over my bias’ similar show kerplunking… hard.
Excited about this one Fangurl. Ji Sung is brilliant in this drama and I think everyone will be sufficiently mesmerized by his ability to play multiple characters. And then there is …Shin Se Gi 🧨💥🔥. It is sure to keep everyone on their toes and you will finally get your review done – hooray!
Thank you, kfangurl, I’ll be there! I have no idea who any of the cast are – I don’t think – or what this show is about so that’ll either make it a nice surprise or a horrible shock 😉 I have to say, I’m already missing our gumiho…
The only drama I have seen Ji Sung in was Swallow the Sun, and I did not finish it. It was one of the first dramas I watched and I was not aware that he was a big star. I am definitely interested in Kill Me, Heal Me.
I thought I would give this rewatch a miss as I have watched this relatively recently but I am oh so tempted! Watching Ji Sung in DJ has reminded how brilliant he is in this.
He IS so brilliant in this! 🤩 Join us, if you can! ❤️
I really wanna watch this and participate in the group watch, but man I watched episodes 1 and 2 a few years ago and I could not deal with Hwang Jung-eum’s screeching. I ended up giving up on the drama because of it. Does her screeching lessen as the drama progresses?
Yes it does!! The screeching is only in the beginning, it gets much better after a couple of episodes!
Oh my ghost, is this the role that made you suspicious about Hwang jung-eum’s being the lead in Mystic Pop-Up Bar?
Lol. Actually, it’s only one of the roles that made me wary of Hwang Jung Eum headlining Mystic. For some reason, she’s been directed to be screechy in quite a few of her roles! Most of the time, the screechiness tones down after the initial few episodes – which is what happens in KMHM. 😆
This is a really good show. I think you’ll be very happy with it.
The pacing is steady, the romance vs. action is well-balanced and it doesn’t poop out at the end.
The FL was not annoying to me or my wife, although I do recall having some doubts very early on, when she struck me as a histrionic version of Han Ji-min. lol
Mostly she is a foil, however, to the tour de force performance by the ML. He is simply adorable in this role.
Watch it with us! This will be my first group watch, since I wasn’t able to keep up with Chuno.
It will be interesting for me to watch this simultaneously with Devil Judge, if DJ continues to hold my attention.
Yes, I think it’d be interesting to see Ji Sung in action side by side like this, too! I’m duly fascinated by Devil Judge, so far!
I’m three eps into my first Ji Sung exposure (with Devil Judge), and I expect to experience at least a little bit of whiplash…
I am four eps in DJ and watched the first one and a half of this, and at this early point, while I do not know which show I will prefer as both seem to turn on how well their inventiveness delivers against their obvious possible pitfalls, and DJ has a supporting cast to beat the band, I think Ji Sung will have more to play with in his role[s] in KMHM.
The multiple personality disorder gimmick gives him sooo much to play with.
I must say FL is pretty screechy, however.