When Show is at its best, it is cracktastically good.
A tight narrative; sparky, smoldering OTP tension; cliffhangers that kept me on the edge of my seat; it felt like Show had it all. 🥲
Unfortunately, when Show is not at its best, it’s quite disappointing indeed.
Show makes some perplexing narrative decisions in its finale stretch, which I found disappointing not because of their makjang flavor, but because of how these decisions missed the mark of what had made Show so compelling to begin with.
However, Show’s still worth a look for its fantastic first half, in my opinion. 🔥
It’s officially EOY season, which is when we look back on our drama years, and decide which dramas were worthy of our love, and which dramas we maybe shouldn’t have spent as much time on, as we did. 😁
As before, we’ll be seeing up to 2 guest posts per week, and this will unfold into January 2025, and my annual year-in-review will come out in early 2025, after all the guest posts have been published.
This way, by putting all our experiences together, we get a more wholistic view of Dramaland in 2024. Pretty great, yes? 🤩
Today, I’m pleased to announce that Elaine’s sharing her drama year!
I’ve told you guys about what a hardworking, full life Elaine tends to lead, but this year, I wanted to add on that the thing that really stands out to me, as I get to know her better, is that through it all, Elaine manages to maintain a warmth and generosity that I find truly impressive.
Even when she’s juggling a schedule that would make most people’s eyes glaze over, she manages to still prioritize being sensitive, considerate and empathetic, while retaining a sense of humor too, and that’s no small deal, as far as I’m concerned. 🥲
Thank you Elaine, for making time to write, and also, for making time to hang out with us!
If you’d like to read more of Elaine’s writing, you might like to check out her EOY post from last year here, &/or her insightful reflections on doppelgängers and the question of identity, which you can check out here.
Tell Me That You Love Me is an unhurried, thoughtful, very reflective sort of drama, that’s sensitively written, tenderly directed, and very gentle, in its overall touch.
Jung Woo Sung and Shin Hyun Bin are well-cast, and deliver their characters well; a task that’s no small deal, considering that they both have to use sign language, as a matter of course.
The music is melodious, unhurried and poignant, and very enjoyable – and, I think, perfectly aligns with the general mood of the show.
I personally would have liked a slightly different treatment of the ending, but that’s a small gripe in the overall scheme of things, and this still works out to be a very solid watch.
It’s officially EOY season, which is when we look back on our drama years, and decide which dramas were worthy of our love, and which dramas we maybe shouldn’t have spent as much time on, as we did. 😁
As before, we’ll be seeing up to 2 guest posts per week, and this will unfold into January 2025, and my annual year-in-review will come out in early 2025, after all the guest posts have been published.
This way, by putting all our experiences together, we get a more wholistic view of Dramaland in 2024. Pretty great, yes? 🤩
Today, I’m pleased to announce that MC’s sharing her drama year!
MC’s a busy lady, what with working full time, and being a mom, so I’m always grateful that she consistently makes time, not just for dramas, but for all of us friends over on Patreon.
MC doesn’t manage to hang out with us all the time, but when she does, she always brings a great note of cheer and positivity with her, and we all love her for it. 🥰
If you’d like to read more of MC’s writing, you might like to check out her EOY post from last year here, &/or her fun fangirl account of her trip to Korea (fresh from recovering from a broken toe, as I recall! 😱), which you can check out here.
It’s officially EOY season, which is when we look back on our drama years, and decide which dramas were worthy of our love, and which dramas we maybe shouldn’t have spent as much time on, as we did. 😁
As before, we’ll be seeing up to 2 guest posts per week, and this will unfold into January 2025, and my annual year-in-review will come out in early 2025, after all the guest posts have been published.
This way, by putting all our experiences together, we get a more wholistic view of Dramaland in 2024. Pretty great, yes? 🤩
If you missed our earlier posts, you can check it out here: Sean, Deni+JJ, Natalia, Ele.
Today, I’m pleased to announce that j3ffc’s sharing his drama year!
If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you might be coming to the same conclusion that I’ve arrived at; that j3ffc’s much more talented than his self-deprecating humor might suggest. 😉
This past year, he truly outdid himself, collaborating with Ele to come up with the most epic dream drama, Dark, which we all loved. 🤩
If you’re a fan of Dark, then you’d also be pleased to know that j3ffc’s snuck in an extra scene, in this EOY post!
This is not your usual kdrama – is, essentially, what you need to know. 😁
There’s a murder mystery that doesn’t function like most murder mysteries in dramas, and there’s a contract marriage that absolutely doesn’t function like most contract marriages in Dramaland.
I personally felt that Show could be a little pretentious sometimes, but I found the psychological exploration of our characters fascinating enough, to make my drama investment worthwhile.
Gong Yoo and Seo Hyun Jin are very good, as can be expected, and there are spots of sweetness between their characters to be had, for the patient.
Not a must-watch by any means, but could be interesting and worthwhile, given the right viewing lens (more on that in a bit).
It’s officially EOY season, which is when we look back on our drama years, and decide which dramas were worthy of our love, and which dramas we maybe shouldn’t have spent as much time on, as we did. 😁
As before, we’ll be seeing up to 2 guest posts per week, and this will unfold into January 2025, and my annual year-in-review will come out in early 2025, after all the guest posts have been published.
This way, by putting all our experiences together, we get a more wholistic view of Dramaland in 2024. Pretty great, yes? 🤩
If you missed our earlier posts, you can check it out here: Sean, Deni+JJ, Natalia.
Today, I’m pleased to announce that Ele’s sharing her drama year!
The more I get to know Ele, the more I’m convinced that she has a very creative mind as well as a very passionate heart, and is very talented in expressing it all.
If you enjoyed our recent Dream Drama Dark, on which Ele and j3ffc worked together, I think you’d get an extra kick out of Ele’s post this year. 😁
If you like Ele’s style and want to know what she thought about dramas last year, you can check out her post here!
You might also like to visit Ele’s website, where she talks about art and writing.
It’s officially EOY season, which is when we look back on our drama years, and decide which dramas were worthy of our love, and which dramas we maybe shouldn’t have spent as much time on, as we did. 😁
As before, we’ll be seeing up to 2 guest posts per week, and this will unfold into January 2025, and my annual year-in-review will come out in early 2025, after all the guest posts have been published.
This way, by putting all our experiences together, we get a more wholistic view of Dramaland in 2024. Pretty great, yes? 🤩
If you missed our earlier posts, you can check it out here: Sean, Deni+JJ.
Today, I’m pleased to announce that Natalia’s sharing her drama year!
Last year, I told you guys about Natalia’s forthright honesty, and this year, I’ll add to that by saying that Natalia’s therefore also quick to let a show know if it’s not working for her – by dropping it. 😁
Yes, Natalia has a bit of a reputation over on Patreon, as a serial dropper (pun kind of unintended, but turns out to be quite perfect, yes? 🤭), and I had so much run reading about her 2024 drama adventures, while prepping this post. 😁
If you like Natalia’s style and want to know what she thought about dramas last year, you can check out her post here!
This little show kind of defies easy definition; it’s everything it says it is – but it’s also more than the sum of its parts.
It’s a dark comedy; it’s a story of personal journey; a story of relationships; a story of hope; a story of regrets; a story of contentment.
It’s a wild ride of a rollercoaster for both the heart and mind, managing to balance all the chaos with a deep sense of pathos, and it’s surprisingly, profoundly affecting.
Family By Choice is a lovely, compact little family drama that manages to deliver pretty big on the feels, considering its relatively short length of just 16 episodes.
Show serves up a whole lot of feels in the found family realm, with a nice little bonus of romance, on the side.
Yes, it’s a remake of c-drama Go Ahead (review here!), but you don’t have to have seen Go Ahead, to love this one. Conversely, just because you’ve seen Go Ahead, doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy this one too.
Show does feel a little truncated in spots because of its shorter length, but the feels are strong and authentic enough, that it doesn’t really matter, in the bigger scheme of things.
Absolutely recommend, if you enjoy family dramas &/or found family stories. 🥰
