Hey everyone!
We have a special surprise treat today: a mini dream drama, thanks to (drrrrumroll please..).. j3ffc! 🥳
This is what happens when serendipity meets inspiration meets a burgeoning drama education.
Let me explain. 😁
Gong Hyo Jin
Dear kfangurl: Do you have difficulty seeing an actor in a different role?
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.
Flash Review: When The Camellia Blooms
Y’know, I’d gotten to the point where I was so tired of serial killers and murders being mixed with romance (what is up with that, Dramaland?), that I was ready to give this show a hard, blind pass, just for having the audacity to mix murder with romance, again.
But, the overwhelming positive buzz around this show piqued my interest, as did the high ratings, and the glowing, persuasive comments that a number of you left me, which is how I ended up checking out this show, in spite of myself.
With 20/20 hindsight, now that I’ve emerged on the other side, do I still think Show didn’t need a serial killer murder arc? BIG YES. Did I manage to enjoy this one, despite my by-now-very-firm serial killer drama allergy? Also, yes. I guess that means Show wins, overall?
Flash Review: Producer
I’m very pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed Producer:
- Despite not being so keen on its initial mockumentary style;
- Despite its notoriously long episodes that run for at least 80 minutes each; and
- Despite not being all that interested in Show’s premise to begin with.
I suppose I could call that a triple-whammy happy bonus?
Are kdramas getting worse / “dumbed down”?
So recently, a couple of comments on the blog have combined to give me pause for thought.
And instead of just answering the latest question in the comments section, I thought it was interesting enough, and thought-provoking enough, to put it all in a new post, and see what you guys think.
Well ok, that, and the fact that as I chewed on my answer to the latest comment, I realized that there were just too many facets to the answer than I felt could fit reasonably into a simple comment.
Basically, the question is, have kdramas gotten worse / more “dumbed down” in recent years?
Let’s dive in together to take a look, shall we?
Dear kfangurl: My ship has sunk. How does a fangirl cope?
Today’s question is brought to us by Jo (the very same Jo who helped to spark off the Dear kfangurl series, no less!), who asks:
Dear kfangurl,
My ship has sunk (will not name which though I think it’s fairly obvious which one it is since all of k-drama news mentions it at least daily).
I was able to get out of it in time – not abandoning ship per se (yes, pun very much intended), but rather, RL took over and I had little time to squee on the forums.
It was my very first ship and I would daresay, my very last. When I was at the height of shipping I was swept up in the highs and lows of it, analyzing outfits and accessories, stalking social media, hanging on to every word said in interviews, the works.
I fiercely believed in the possibility of them. Even wrote a fanfic (yes, that bad). But thank goodness work picked up and other real life duties kicked in that, by the time one of them was confirmed to be dating, I had about 2-3 days to accept it.
Year In Review: 2014
If there’s one thing that everyone seems to be able to agree on, it’s that time is flying. Like, seriously. Where has 2014 gone?
I can hardly believe that 2015 is almost here, promising/threatening gifts of dramas chock-full of vampires, multiple personalities, and other psychological disorders goodies.
Before 2014 makes her exit, though, I wanted to come out and give credit where it’s due. Coz as much as so many of my friends in dramaland have been talking about a meh drama year, I feel like I had a pretty good drama year, actually.
I know. How did that happen, right?
Review: It’s Okay It’s Love
THE SHORT VERDICT:
A quirky confection that is as sweet as it is strange, It’s Okay serves up an oddball-flavored 3-in-1 love package exploring romance, friendship and family, with a big dose of dysfunction and dramaland psychiatry on the side.
Show is not always big on the logic nor on the medical accuracy, but its characters and relationships are consistently delivered with heart and nuance, helping us to buy into and believe in its world, no matter how surreal things sometimes get.
Excellent performances by our leads as well as many of the secondary characters, together with some very sparky OTP chemistry, help to sweeten the deal.
At its heart, It’s Okay’s charm is that it’s an imperfect show peopled by imperfect characters, to appeal to an imperfect audience.
Dear kfangurl: Is shipping kdrama co-stars normal?
You know, one of the things that I really enjoy about this blog, is how you guys inspire new types of posts, often when I least expect it. With your suggestions, this blog has taken on more breadth than I ever intended, and I think that’s cool.
First, it was the Dream Dramas post inspired by Lady G, and then it was the Pure Pretty series inspired by asotss.
Today, I’m kicking off yet another type of post on the blog, and it’s the Dear kfangurl.. post? Series? I don’t really know yet whether this will turn into an actual series, since that really depends on whether people have questions that they’d like to ask.
Basically, it’s sorta like an agony aunt sort of thing, except it’s more specific to dramas and fangirling (it’s my screen-name, isn’t it? It makes me seem like a fangirling expert, eh?).
I do have a nephew, so I’m technically an aunt, but I prefer to think of this as an agony unni column instead of an agony aunt one, heh.
I may not have all the answers that you’re looking for, but I can promise a listening ear and sharing of my thoughts and experiences, much like how a friend might listen and chat with you over tea.
Review: Master’s Sun
THE SHORT VERDICT:
Not one of the best outings by the Hong sisters, but not one of the worst either, Master’s Sun delivers what it promises: rom-com hijinks of the somewhat ghostly variety.
Driven mostly by sparky OTP chemistry and a lovely OST, which together made up for lapses in the storytelling, this drama is more mood than substance. And it’s a slow burn too, at that.
Essentially, a pretty fun, easy, unchallenging watch if you don’t think about it too hard. And I’ve just found a way to level that up in a serious fashion, which I’ll tell you more about in the review.
And no, the ghosts aren’t that scary.