Review

Review: Captivating The King

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Overall, I’d say that Show had a lot more promise than it ultimately delivered.

I thought Show’s first half was very, very solid; it made me feel that Show had so much potential to be an all-around excellent drama.

Unfortunately, stuff gets wobbly in Show’s second half, and I struggled especially with the characterization of our female lead, which I thought was rather, er, inadequate, to put it nicely.

Still worth a whirl, if only to see Jo Jong Seok’s outstanding performance as our titular King. 🥲

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Review: Doctor Slump

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

I’d have to say that this worked out to be a pretty uneven watch for me.

On the upside, there are spots of genuine Cute that I found very endearing, and Show does take a gentle approach to the topic of mental health. Both good things.

On the downside, however, I felt that Show started to meander quite a bit in its second half, and along with that meandering came (in my view, anyway) quite a lot of filler, where it felt like Show was doing its best to distract me from the fact that it was cycling in place. 😅

Would have been much tighter and more coherent, as an 8-episode mini series.

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Review: Queen Of Tears

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show lands as a loving homage to all – ok, many of – the things that we love about kdramas, while still managing to not feel like a rehash of tired clichés and tropes.

This means that the watch experience feels fresh yet familiar at the same time, which, I’m coming to realize, is one of my favorite things. 🥰

I’d call this one a warm melodrama at heart, with a side penchant for humor – including black humor.

Some lens adjustments would be helpful, which I talk about in a bit, but overall, I’d say this one is a crowd-pleaser for a reason, and – in my books anyway – lives up to the hype.

Very much recommend. ❤️

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Guest post: The Impossible Heir – A Rant!

| kfangurl

Do y’all remember when I dropped The Impossible Heir?

Well, in an unexpected turn of events (which MC will fill you in on, in this post), my Dropped post (here!) actually somehow intrigued MC enough, that she ended up checking out – and then finishing! – the show.

Meanwhile, I found her ranting on the show so entertaining and inspired, that I asked her if she’d be willing to write a rant post on the show for us.

Y’know, to provide solidarity to others who’ve also trudged to the finish line – and also, to satisfy the morbidly curious among us (myself included 🤭)!

Thanks, MC, for taking one for the team – and then for making your suffering so entertaining. 😁

I had a whale of a time reading this, and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did!

KFG ❤️

PS: If you’d like to read more of MC’s writing, you could also check out her posts on: her trip to Korea, her drama origin story, &/or her 2023 year-end review.

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Year In Review: 2023

| kfangurl

If you’ve been waiting and wondering whether my year-in-review would ever come out, I apologize. 😅

Here it is, finally.

I know it’s almost April now, so mine is probably not only the last End Of Year review of 2023 on this site, it’s probably the last one in the entire drama blogosphere. 😂

In my defense, we’ve been having lots of guest posts from folks on Patreon, sharing their year-end reviews, so that we can have a more wholistic look at Dramaland’s offerings.

With the community chiming in, we get to see a bigger range of dramas mentioned – so this approach doesn’t give us a fast overview of Dramaland, but.. it offers a pretty good one?

This year, we’ve had 15 (!!) guest year-end wrap posts (they’re all listed here!), and now, I hope you’ve still got room in your heart for one more. 😉

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Review: Marry My Husband

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

When Show is at its best, the writing feels smart, thoughtful and inspired, and Show is cracky fun to watch. When Show isn’t at its best, however, the writing feels paint-by-numbers and pretty lazy, to be brutally honest.

The good news is that Show has more good moments than not-so-good ones, in my opinion, and overall, works out to be a solid ride.

Our leads are great, and this is absolutely a worthy comeback for Park Min Young, but it’s also true that it’s our second leads, Lee Yi Kyung and Song Ha Yoon, who end up stealing very large chunks of the show.

Worth a look, with the right lens adjustments – which I’ll talk about shortly.

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Review: Knight Flower

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show is a simple story based on a simple premise, and importantly, Show works out its simple story with thought, consistency and heart.

The politics never overwhelms the most important thing in this drama world, and that is its characters and their relationships.

Our cast is all-around capable, but the spotlight belongs most to our protagonist, played so, SO well, by Honey Lee. 🤩 Lee Jong Won also does very well, as our male lead, and I enjoyed him a great deal; much more than I’d originally expected to, honestly.

The central burgeoning connection between their two characters, was hands-down my favorite thing in this show.

Altogether very enjoyable, and I would recommend this.

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Review: A Journey To Love [China]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

On the upside, when Show is good, it is breathtakingly cracktastic, with a fantastic OTP anchoring our story, and that OTP relationship wonderfully teased out with excellently written conversations, that make it easy to understand why these two people belong together. 😍

On the downside, when Show isn’t at its best, it can be ungainly in its plotting and characterization, and even whiplashy, sometimes. Plus, there’s that infamous ending in the mix as well. 🙈

That said, I do think that Show’s strengths outweigh its missteps, and is a worthwhile watch.

Also, I have an alternative endpoint to suggest, if you’d like to watch this, but want to avoid the ending. 😉

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Review: I Know I Love You [China]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show is a really solid remake of kdrama One Spring Night. If you’re a fan of One Spring Night, that should tell you all you really need to know. 😉

It’s thoughtful, poignant, realistic, yet hopeful, with some excellent performances from its capable cast. In particular, I enjoyed Zhang Wan Yi as our male lead (which should come as no surprise to you, if you’ve been around the blog for a while. 🤭)

I personally really enjoyed the OST, and thought it added a nice amount of smokey flavor to our story world.

Definitely recommend, if your drama taste is like mine. ❤️

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Review: Perfect Marriage Revenge

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show’s a good example of a drama that is solidly entertaining – provided you keep its pedigree in mind.

What I mean is, Show is a solid B-grade makjang, and sits in the moderate range of makjang-ness (in my opinion, at least). It’s makjang enough to be classified as makjang, but it’s not in the range of the more extreme makjangs out there.

Reasonably consistent and well-paced, with an appealing contract marriage OTP in the center of it all, Show works out to be very watchable, despite being a little rough around the edges.

Works better binged, with your logic lens on a blurry setting.

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