Hey everyone!

Like what we did for the past couple of years, we’re having guest posts from the lovely folks on Patreon, to help us take stock of our drama years, yay! 🥳

We’ll be seeing about 2 guest posts per week, and this will unfold into January 2023, and that’s perfectly ok.

My annual year-in-review, which usually comes out in December, will also come out in January (or thereabouts 😅), after all the guest posts have been published.

If you missed our earlier posts, you can check them out as follows: Ele, Natalia, JJ, Sean, j3ffc, Uyen.

Today, I’m pleased to announce that MC is sharing her drama year.

Once upon a time, some years ago, MC mentioned in one of our conversations here on the blog, that she was about to become a mom, and while I was super happy for her, I also (secretly! And wistfully 😩😅) wondered if this was the beginning of the end, of her drama time, and therefore, our conversations.

(I mean, it’s a fair and reasonable thing to wonder, I think, since my own sister stopped watching dramas altogether, when she became a mom and had to reprioritize things in her life. 😅)

I’m SO happy that MC never left us, and today, is still such a warm and positive presence here and on Patreon, even while juggling all the other priorities in her life. Thank YOU, MC, for making us one of your priorities. ❤️🥲😘

If you’d like to read more of MC’s writing, she recently went to Korea (fresh from recovering from a broken toe, no less! 😱) and wrote about her travels in a fun guest post for us, which you can check out here.

I hope you guys enjoy!

~ KFG ❤️

Hi everyone!

I’m MC, and I’ve been watching dramas for a while.

If you want to know my story of how I got involved in dramas, you can check it out (here).

Suffice to say I started in 2013 (wow a decade!) but only properly started watching in around 2017 with Descendants of the Sun and … here I am, still watching all of the dramas!

Well, life doesn’t give me a lot of drama watching time sadly, so there are TONS of shows on my to-watch list, but I still try.

And when I’m not so disciplined about my usual life, it becomes a “how is it 2am already it was just one more episode” kinda night.

If you know what I mean, you’re in good company! 😀

2023’s drama watching was a little topsy turvy for me, to be honest.

I tend to watch a mix of 2023 and earlier shows, depending on my mood and FOMO-ness (I suffer greatly from FOMO, as it turns out).

Out of the shows I watched this year, some were incredible and some were kinda meh. Some started out fantastic and ended with a whimper.

I must admit that I found myself getting a bit bored sometimes, towards the end of shows, so I either dropped shows or got bored but felt it was a bit of a chore, towards the end.

I don’t think it was really show’s fault – I think it was my attention span getting shorter or I wasn’t in the right mood or getting pickier, haha.

Anyway, enough of the pre-amble. Let’s get to it!

My Favourite Characters (or people I’d like to be – or wish I could be more like!)

1. Nam Hae Yi (played by Roh Yun Seo) in Crash Course In Romance

While I had some issues with Crash Course In Romance, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Nam Hae Yi.

I loved the whole Nam family but Hae Yi was really such a fantastic character.

She was so very relatable yet very aspirational – she worked hard to improve in her studies, she was a great friend and daughter, she responded with kindness when she had to deal with nasty remarks from classmates.

Best of all (to me – or the hardest to do, as I recall, when I was her age!) she was full of grace (she was very awkward, but not mean) when someone was interested in her.

Back in the past, I remember being a complete idiot and dork about it and just running away. I’m sorry to that guy! That was NOT cool of me at all! – so I respect her all the more for it now!

I know she’s just a fictional character but if I were younger, I would really look up to her and want to be like her.

If you want to see that confession scene, its here:

Also, the Nam family is the sweetest. In the show they were close and I think that also translated to real life.

Check out this video, where Roh Yoon Seo wins an award. She looks happy but look at her proud “parents,” Jeon Do Yeon and Jung Kyung Ho! (if you didn’t watch, they played her mom and her math tutor/ eventual mom’s boyfriend in the show).

I love it!

@j.doyeon

they were so proud of her 🥺 Congrats Roh Yoon Seo! my crash course in romance fam reuniting 🩶 #crashcourseinromance #fyp #kdrama #baeksangartsawards #jeondoyeon #jungkyungho #rohyoonseo #parents

♬ original sound – yeon – yeon

2. All of the parents in Moving

I am grouping them all together because while they all had different parenting styles and personalities, the thing that unites them is their devotion to their kids.

Whether that devotion translated into healthy actions is debatable, but you cannot deny their dedication to providing for and protecting their kid, and being willing to do anything for them.

They inspire me to be a better parent to my child!

Also, in a non-spoilery way, I know there were other parents but I’m just spotlighting a few, in these pictures!

Best OST

This one was a clear winner for me. Hidden Love’s OST was SO GOOD. So full of feels while being so upbeat, it was high up on my Spotify Wrapped (if you use that) for 2023.

My favourite songs were Be Your Light by Victor Ma (Sang Yan sang it!) and Forever Star. You can listen to the OST here:

Razzie Awards

Ok, I wouldn’t say these were downright terrible. It’s more of a sigh – if only – sort of reaction for me.

1. Bo Rah! Deborah!

I genuinely feel sad about this one. I really loved it so much when it was great and also cringed so hard when it was bad.

Ultimately, I felt it suffered from being mismarketing as a rom-com as well as being whiplashy in tone.

I thought it would be a typical rom com but it was more of a melancholic exploration of a breakup and then healing and eventually exploring how people come together.

So I know many people struggled with the pacing – but I was ok with that, once I knew what it was about. It had many great thoughtful moments.

When I loved this one, I really loved it – I loved how relatable Bo Rah was, I loved how realistic and raw it portrayed heartbreak as, even though at times you wanted to shake her out of it.

This show really sat with her in her pain and didn’t ask us to hurry along.

It also portrayed the struggles long-term couples have, in a secondary couple, which was hard to watch but very relevant.

BUT. The cringy moments WERE SO BAD. Episode 9, I’m looking at you.

And not a fan of how they handled some of the secondary plotlines. They tried so hard to make some parts funny but that didn’t work.

I wish they had either gone for a full rom com experience OR stuck to the lyrical, thoughtful, melo vibe. They tried to do both but it didn’t quite work for me.

Oh Bo Rah. I really tried. If you loved it, please love it extra for me…

2. Crash Course In Romance + My Lovely Liar

I’m REALLY SORRY to put both here. I loved both, in parts. And got so annoyed, in parts. I’m just not a fan of rom coms with a side of murder!

My issues with both:

• For CCIR: Too much going on! I didn’t think murder AND school pressures were necessary. I would have preferred to have just one side plot and then fleshing out more of our Nam family. I really love the Nam family and could keep watching them forever. Hahaha.

• For MLL: It started out so sparky but kinda ended with a whimper, for me. I was ok with the villain arc, I know many people didn’t like it, but it worked for me. I just felt kind of bored in the 2/3 part of the show. It wrapped everything up nicely, but – I wish it had kept the zippy pace and sparkly vibe it had at the start.

I really tried to love both. To be fair, maybe it was just my expectations!

Also, I can’t believe I, president of the Jung Kyung Ho fanclub, put his show (CCIR) as my Razzie show. I know, I’m a terrible fangirl.

But I’m a logical fangirl, I can’t turn my brain off and love everything just coz you’re in it! I’m sorry Oppa. I’m looking forward to your next show!

To prove my love, here is a clip of him looking all snazzy and dancing:

Best Supporting Actor/ Actress

Honestly, I still love Reborn Rich’s Lee Sung Min who stole the show for me, basically.

But since I crowned him best supporting actor in my 2022 post, I’m going to go with another veteran actor in a show I watched in 2023 (but is not a 2023 show, if you get me).

1. Lee Deok Hwa as King Yeongjo in The Red Sleeve

He was a towering titan in The Red Sleeve.

While everyone was fantastic in this show, he was positively Shakespearean in some scenes. Some scenes were so intense I could barely breathe and it was truly a pleasure to watch all these equally matched actors giving their best.

2. Joo Hyun-young as Sa Wol in The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract

She first caught my eye as Gu Rae Mi in Extraordinary Attorney Woo, but she is AMAZING as Sa Wol in Park’s Marriage Contract (I’m shortening it to this, bear with me!).

She is sassy and fun and she brings such energy to the screen – she has my heart and I can’t wait to watch more of her in future.

Best Actor/ Actress

(in no particular order!)

1. Lee Se Young in The Red Sleeve and Park’s Marriage Contract

What?! No Junho? I’m sorry Fangirl! Jokes aside, he was fantastic, obviously, but I wanted to give a special shoutout to Lee Se Young who broke my heart in The Red Sleeve and then made me laugh and feel in Park’s Marriage Contract.

There were so many scenes in The Red Sleeve where I felt so much for her but one that stands out is [SPOILER] where she waves goodbye to her friends and sees herself running with them [/SPOILER].

I won’t give more context in fear of spoiling it more, but those who’ve watched it will know what I mean and that was heartbreaking for me.

I have not watched her in any other show and was wondering if I could watch her in yet another sageuk within the same year? The answer is yes, it works. She plays Deok Im and Park Yeon Woo differently.

And can I say, she has so much chemistry with both Junho and Bae In Hyuk.

Most of all, she really grounds Park’s Marriage Contract. It’s basically her show, oops.

Please don’t cancel me, Bae In Hyuk fans – I love him too, but she truly is the emotional core of the Park’s Marriage Contract.

2. Ryu Seung Ryong in Moving

Don’t kill me but this is my first time watching Ryu Seung Ryong on screen. I know, where have I been all my life?

As I started the first few episodes of Moving (I did not live watch this, I just finished this in end Nov), I saw endless comments of “everyone is great but it’s Ryu Seung Ryong who’s the standout” “he deserves awards” “he broke my heart” and I was like who is he and why is he getting so much hype?

Then I got to his part of the show and was like AH YES OK I GET IT NOW.

It’s not that the rest weren’t good – they were fantastic! – but it’s Ryu Seung Ryong who had so much to portray and basically smashed it. Case closed.

Hey, it’s not just us who think he did a great job in Moving – he does, too! Found this nice quote in this article (some spoilers inside)

“I had been in a lot of dramatic films, like ‘Miracle in Cell No. 7’ [2013], and had played a lot of crying scenes. So I was skeptical at first about playing another character who has to cry and portray sadness,” Ryu said. “But as I kept reading the script, I felt that this character and these scenes did not feel like unnatural tear-jerkers and were actually very sincere. I now feel like Ju-won is one of my most important roles, and it was a challenge that I took on.”

Another quote from him from another article, cos it’s lovely to read:

“My favorite scene is when I met the love of my life for the first time,” he said. “It was when I was lost and then she kind of appears like a ray of light on a scooter. That was one of my favorite scenes. And she really has become that ray of light in my life and she became a milestone for me. So I enjoyed all the happy scenes I filmed together with her. And also, I would definitely have to say the times with my beloved daughter, Hui-soo, in which she becomes my heart and has my heart. I love the scenes that showed off the chemistry between us as a father and a loving daughter.”

Speaking of that father daughter relationship – I found a bunch of selfies that they took together. So cute!

Best  OTP / Best Underrated Shows I’d Recommend

Strangely. I’ve sat with this for a while and I’ve come to realise that I don’t really have a OTP for the year?

I mean I loved the couples I watched on screen but I can’t really pick one that stood out for me this year.

Also I can’t say that one parental couple in Moving was better than the other?

But I’ve also come to realise that my best OTP (from a show I’d like to recommend for more people to watch) might be the titular Ajoomma (Singaporean actress Hong Hui Fang) and Jungsu (Jung Dong Hwan) from Ajoomma, a Singapore-South Korea co-produced movie.

It’s the story about an ahjumma (or aunty, in our local language) who goes to Korea with a tour group, gets separated from them and goes on her own adventure of sorts.

I wouldn’t say too much about why I liked this pairing, for fear of spoiling it but I enjoyed their unlikely connection and friendship and very possibly more.

I also really enjoyed this movie – Kang Hyung Suk does an incredible job speaking Chinese in a local accent (respect!) and the show is ultimately a heartwarming 2 hours.

If you’re interested, the trailer can be found here:

Best Shows I Watched In 2023

I essentially conclude I should just watch shows based on Patreon folks’ recommendations and not my own tastes because my two favourite shows are absolutely not shows I would have watched on my own accord and I would have missed out on them – what a pity!

Also, given my short attention span/ pickiness this year, both show grabbed me and got better and better as the episodes went by and ended so very strongly. More plus points!

In no particular order, here goes:

1. The Red Sleeve

Yes, it’s not a 2023 show. Yes, I don’t typically watch sageuks, in fact this was my very first full saguek (I don’t count fusion sagueks like Splash Splash Love and Queen In Hyun’s Man, though I love both very much too).

I had never watched Junho or Lee Se Young before. I had just broken my toebone, was in pain, and wasn’t looking for a heavy show to watch during recovery.

BUT YOU GUYS. I decided to give it a try coz I knew all of you had been spazzing about it in 2022 and I’M SO GLAD I DID.

This show was everything.

Even though I wasn’t spazzy about the romance and kind of knew the tone of the ending (from the chatter on the internet) it was SO WORTH IT to go on this journey with San and Deok Im and the rest.

The acting was powerhouse, and the directing, sumptuous, but the thing that stands out the most for me is the WRITING – of the pain and the longing and the realities women faced in that time.

For the last episode I watched it till 2am? And I couldn’t sleep after that because it haunted me. This show and the characters lingered long after I finished it.

Utterly absorbing, heartaching, characters who were so alive and because of the assured writing and tender portrayals by actors at the top of their game.

Absolutely wonderful.

2 Moving

Guys, if The Red Sleeve wasn’t my typical show, Moving was even further out.

I’m not a big superhero sort, I definitely DO NOT like violence and gory shows. And yet I watched it because of all you Patreon folks AND I LOVED IT.

Like unreservedly loved it. Like watch it everywhere I go, read all of the comments and reviews, talked about it to death with EVERYBODY I knew in real life (including people who aren’t Kdrama watchers), even people I had just met who I found out watched dramas casually. EVERYBODY.

I even talked about it so much to my husband (who is not a Kdrama watcher) that whenever he saw me looking at a screen he’d ask, “Are you moving?”

This show grabbed ALL OF MY HEART and then some more.

The teenagers were cute and the first 7 eps were cute but I think I truly fell in love with the parents’ backstories and after that I was a goner forever.

Yes, I used a lot of fast forwards and muted the fights.

You guys know I loved Ryu Seung Ryong. I even managed to watch Ep 11 with limited fast forwarding. Guys, I’ve grown to deal with onscreen violence!

I also want to give a special shoutout to Gang Hoon and his dad Lee Jae-man – we all love Bong Seok and mom as well as Hui Soo and dad but sweet Jae-man who only has eyes and lives solely for Gang Hoon – oh, the depth of his love and devotion to Gang Hoon really touched me.

Even the backstories of the villans got to me.

I would absolutely watch season 2 and more. So so so good.

Runner Ups/ Worthy Mentions

Reborn Rich

I started this last year and finished it this year so am counting it here.

I feel that it was really popular in Korea, high ratings and suddenly…. Nobody talks about it anymore. In fact if people were to recommend shows Vincenzo is more recomemnded and talked about than Reborn Rich? I wonder why.

Caveats for this show – I like to pretend the love line didn’t exist (lol) and I wasn’t a big fan of the ending. BUT for the most part, this was a rollicking ride full of twists and turns.

I loved how Do Jun was so smart in incorporating his knowledge of the future and things at Soonyang to outwit the family.

I really loved Song Joong Ki and Lee Sung Min together (LSM is my best supporting actor from 2022 even though I had only watched 6 eps then – he got even better towards the end).

I think the best part of this show for me is how the writer incorporated real life events into the plotting and all of the hints, twists and turns were so assuredly planned and dropped.

I felt like there was a steady hand at the writing ship. Very nicely done.

Fun fact – I started going to the gym more seriously in end 2022 as I watched this one.

As a rather unfit person, time at the gym was torturous but Reborn Rich, with all of its twists and turns, helped to make time fly by. Sometimes I would forget how much time had elapsed coz I was so caught up in the show. Major props for that!

Hidden Love

Ah we finally come to a more typical show for this romcom and slice of life unicorn puppies rainbows watcher!

While the complaints about the front few epsidoes where Sang Zhi was played by a very young girl are valid, this one grabbed me from the get-go and brought me out of a drama slump (a pretty bad one!) so this already made it special.

The best part of this show was how relatable Sang Zhi was, as a girl with a crush – it was so nostalgic for me watching someone do the things I used to do as a teenager.

Dreamily writing his name, trying to find out more about your crush, being heartbroken when you think they like someone else. So very relatable.

I do admit that towards the end my attention wandered off a little as I had started on My Lovely Liar (pity on that one) so I enjoyed this one a little less towards the end.

But it’s not Hidden Love’s fault – its me!

I think it was quite consistent throughout, though at times the OTP’s love line was slightly cringy (because there was a fair bit of PDA which I would not do in real life – I don’t think I would kiss so passionately in public nor hug and cuddle around my older brother but that’s just me).

All in all this was a cute and fluffy show. Plus that fantastic OST!

Fanletter Please

This was a cute show and I’m so glad Fangirl picked it up or else I would have missed it completely.

For a short show, it packed so much in – parental love for a sick child and the tug between living for your child and living for yourself, toxic celebrity culture, and an adorable loveline (Sooyoung and Yoon Park were sweet but I really loved the little girl’s love for her idol!)

It was deeper than expected yet still a cute show. Totally recommend.

In conclusion

OMG guys this turned out to be a 7 page monster so THANK YOU for staying with me!!!

All the love to you guys and may 2024 be a wonderful year ahead!!!

~MC