Choi Moo Sung

Review: Family By Choice

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

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. 🥰

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Review: Like Flowers In Sand

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Our drama world might appear really tough, rough and gruff a lot of the time, but underneath all that loud bluster, there’s a lot of sincerity and wholesomeness.

That sincerity and wholesomeness comes through many of our characters and relationships, but none more than Jang Dong Yoon’s character, Baek Du, whom I consider to be the heart of this story.

A drama journey that I consider to be warm and worthwhile, despite the side of murder mystery.

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Review: Hospital Playlist

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

Warm, wholesome goodness dressed in hospital garb, Hospital Playlist is the medical themed drama that even the medical drama-averse can easily love.

Hospital Playlist checks a lot of boxes, for me. The writing and directing is assured; the cast is outstanding individually and together.

The overall feel is balanced, with enough attention given to the cases of the day without losing focus on our key characters; the music is heartfelt and breezy, made even more special when performed by the cast.

The slice-of-life approach might feel meandering and slow to some, but in exchange, you really feel like a fly on these characters’ walls, in their professional and personal capacities.

The long episodes might feel intimidating at first, but once you grow to love the characters, the length of the episodes become more of a boon than a bane.

I legit didn’t want this one to end; highly recommend.

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Review: Prison Playbook [Wise Prison Life]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A show that takes the dark topic of prison and crime, and infuses it all with warmth and hope, Prison Playbook is the unlikely contender for your heart that will likely make you laugh, cry, wring your heart dry, and then fill it right up again.

Writer-nim weaves a story that makes primary and secondary character pop, while every actor in our ensemble cast breathes actual life into the characters, and PD-nim’s signature touch comes alive in both the palpable sense of community and the corny jokes.

As a shining bonus, the bromance at the center of our story feels emotionally deep despite its often gruff surface.

Poignant and homey, despite its grim premise.

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Review: Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

Cheerful, sweet and engaging, this show is easy to love.

The conflicts and character journeys all feel relatable and real, with poignant coming-of-age struggles taking centerstage.

The friendship-to-romance is treated with sensitivity and good humor, and the search for meaning and identity underscores everything with a lovely heartfelt poignance.

The excellent cast makes everything pop, and Nam Joo Hyuk is more melty – and more excellent – than I’ve seen him, ever.

Totally and absolutely marathon-worthy.

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Flash Review: Heartless City [Cruel City]

| kfangurl

You know how they say fine wine takes time?

Well, it actually took me a pretty long time to appreciate Heartless City. Truth be told, I was slow on the uptake with this one.

While many of my dramaland friends fell in instant love with this show (and others felt an instant disconnect), I fell somewhere in that vague no man’s land of not hating it, but not quite loving it either.

Show later fixed that by creeping up on me and laying firm hold on my heart in the later episodes, so much so that the moment I reached the end, I actually went right back to the beginning for a partial re-watch. Kinda crazy, but completely true.

So maybe my appreciation is sorta like fine wine? 😛

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Review: Answer Me, 1988 [Reply 1988]

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

Answer Me 1988 feels like a larger, bigger-hearted story than its predecessors, thanks to expanding its focus to its community of characters, rather than simply fixating on the leading lady’s husband and the lovelines that feed into it.

The adult characters get as much narrative care and attention as their kids, and that helps to make this drama world feel altogether pretty balanced and whole.

The entire cast is endearing and committed, and – despite a touch of green in spots with the delivery – exponentially add to Show’s generous earthy winsomeness.

It’s true that the handling of the ending is flawed, but overall, I still found this show to be charming, slice-of-life retro at its best.

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