Falling For Innocence

Stories from the community: Sean’s story!

| kfangurl

If you didn’t already know, we’ve got an unexpected special series to kick off the new year! Guests posts, by patrons on Patreon, sharing their personal drama stories, mostly around the topic of “How did you get into dramas?” and “What does your first drama mean to you?” – with flexibility to go off on personal tangents, of course. 😁 Feel free to share your stories too, in the comments!

This guest series is MC‘s brainchild (thanks MC! 😘), and you can read more details, and check out her inaugural post, here.

After today’s post, there will be seven more guest posts by mystery guest writers, whose identities will be revealed when their various posts go live. Woot! 🥳

Today’s post is brought to you by Sean, whom, as you might remember from his year-end post, manages to watch an absolutely incredible number of dramas – particularly for someone who manages to live as full a life, outside of drama-watching, as he does. Sean is a true time-bending marvel. 🤩

You might also like to check out Sean’s blog, where he writes about management and leadership!

I hope you guys enjoy!

~ KFG ❤️

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Dear kfangurl: What is up with the forced separation trope near the end of a drama?

| kfangurl

Molu16 writes:

Dear Kfangurl,

You are my go-to source for K-dramas to watch. I’ve watched many dramas based on your reviews, and they never disappoint. There was one drama that I watched even though you dropped it, and it was all because V of BTS was in that drama. Being a middle-aged ARMY, I cannot pass up on anything related to BTS! 🙂

My question is, why do K-drama writers love to have either the male lead or the female lead disappear for a year or more at the end and come back unannounced? Some of the reasons for their disappearance kind of make sense, such as going abroad for medical treatment or some kind of business training.

However, the ridiculous thing is during the time the OTP is apart, there is no communication at all. While one is pining for the other, not knowing when the beloved will return, all of a sudden they show up to surprise them.

Another ridiculous plot is, the lead disappears without a trace and is presumed dead, but a few years pass, they show up alive and healthy, to be reunited with their loved one.

I don’t understand why the writers make viewer suffer for the majority of the series wondering if the two leads will be together, and when they finally are, one has to go away or seemingly is killed, only to show up out of the blue later.

Thank you for all the reviews and the commentaries you’ve posted. You’re a great writer. Keep up the good work!

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Dear kfangurl: Do you have difficulty seeing an actor in a different role?

| kfangurl

Elaine writes:

I have a Dear kfangurl question to ask! My question is whether you’ve ever had a problem watching the same actor in a different role, because you have such a strong impression of him/her in the first show you saw the actor in?

Asking because I just started watching K dramas last year, and i started with highly rated ones like Crash Landing on You and Healer, where the OTPs are so smashing that I was reluctant to see the actors in other shows as it would feel to me almost like they were cheating on their original OTP! Lol.

So far I haven’t “repeated” any actors besides Lee Jun Ki – I first saw him in Arang and the Magistrate and a few months later in Flower of Evil. But to me that felt ok as his performance made the two characters feel completely different. It probably helped that his Flower of Evil character was supposed to have antisocial personality disorder so has flattened emotions.

But now almost a year after watching Healer, I’m watching Park Min Young in Her Private Life and I keep getting flashbacks to her Healer performance, especially when the two characters overlap on certain traits like optimism, pluckiness and sunny smiles.

It’s probably a personal quirk but I do wonder if anyone faces this issue too! For now there are so many dramas out there that I can avoid repeats of actors but soon it won’t be an option! Ha ha.

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Year In Review: 2015

| kfangurl

I can hardly believe that 2015 is coming to a close and 2016’s almost upon us. I know I said this last year too, but seriously guys, time is flying.

Even more so when you count the year in drama milestones, or so it seems, since there are more dramas in dramaland than ever before, vying for our limited drama hours.

Everything feels like it’s flying by in a blur, and even though I’m dedicated to my dramas, it’s just not humanly possible to stay on top of everything – and that’s before taking Real Life responsibilities into account! XD

Still, I’m pleased to report that I managed to watch at least as much drama as I did last year, if not a little bit more. I’m sorta behind on the reviewing front, but I promise to catch up on that, pinky swear!

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Review: My Love Eun Dong

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

An updated, refreshed, and much more polished take on the classic Retro Hallyu favorite themes of Fate and First Love.

Show is filled to the brim with classic tropes, but manages to be engaging for the most part, thanks largely to solid performances by its cast, as well as careful touches by PD-nim’s clearly loving hand.

There are draggy, frustrating stretches, but if you love classic retro dramas, there’s a good chance you’ll like this too.

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Review: Falling For Innocence

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

While never terribly strong on the logic front, nor on managing its corporate machinations, Falling For Innocence manages to be a warm, engaging and uplifting watch.

Despite being quite fantastical in its premise as well as its execution, the narrative stays grounded via the emotional resonance and heft imparted by its committed cast.

Amid the many solid performances delivered by the cast, Jung Kyung Ho stands out as THE shining star of this drama world. His fabulous, faceted performance resonates with so much heart that it actually helps to overcome Show’s flawed logic. That’s skillz.

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