You guys. You know I don’t often repost anything, right?

In fact, this is only my second repost in more than 11 years of blogging, the first being 3 whole years ago, which was when my friends Saya, Anisa and Paroma, who are the the voices, hearts and brains behind the Dramas Over Flowers podcast, did a deep-dive into the issue of bullying in Korea (you can check that out here!).

This time, Saya, Anisa and Paroma, whom you may recognize from their work on Dramabeans, did a fantastic deep-dive podcast episode on the the history of Korean dramas (this is part 1, with part 2 in the works as I type this!).

To give you more context around how special I think this episode is, I knew, at just the 11-minute mark, that this would be a fantastic episode, that would be illuminating and interesting, not only to the kdrama newbie, but to more seasoned watchers as well.

I texted Paroma right away, she gave me the go-ahead, and here we are! 🤩 Put it on while you’re in the car, on the train, on the treadmill, or walking your dog – you won’t be sorry, I promise! 😉

You can find the podcast show notes here, with timestamps, as well as relevant links mentioned during the podcast.

Specific to this episode:

The ladies talk about Winter Sonata in this episode, and I just wanted to add a tiny bit of my own experience here.

But first, here are the opening credits of Winter Sonata, just to set the stage with the appropriately nostalgic feels. 🥰

I basically wanted to say: I absolutely bear witness to the power and influence of Winter Sonata!

I got all sucked in, despite being convinced that melodramas were not my thing, and ended up watching this show at least 3 if not 4 times (the latest time being when Trent led us in our commemorative group watch, with his hilariously snarky and wonderfully entertaining notes).

My mom, who wasn’t even a huge kdrama fan at the time, got all sucked in too, and ended up becoming a total Bae Yong Joon fangirl (she is not a squealer, but she squealed out loud, when we gave her a DVD box set of Bae Yong Joon’s latest drama at the time, The Legend (2007) – which, incidentally, the ladies also mention, later in this episode.

I also watched Autumn In My Heart at least twice, despite not even liking it all that much, the first time around. (Oddly, I liked it better the second time around, which was many years later. 😅)

Overall, I loved this deep dive into the history of kdramas, and the exploration of how the industry has evolved over time – particularly because I was on the sidelines, watching dramas, for a good chunk of that time!

It feels so surreal and thrilling, to have my drama watching experience now put into proper context, with all the inside scoops of what was really going on in the industry, at the time.

I hope you guys enjoy the episode as much as I did! ❤️ I know I’m looking forward to Part 2, with bated breath! 😉

Feel free to use the comment section here, to share your own thoughts and experiences, and if/when you reach out to the ladies at Dramas Over Flowers, feel free to let them know that I sent ya. 😉

PS: If you missed it, I’ve had the honor of being a guest on the Dramas Over Flowers podcast a few times, and you can check out those episodes as follows:

1. Talking about me, me, me! 🥰

2. Talking about the ending of Squid Game

3. Gushing about Someday Or One Day

Smooches.

~kfangurl