Open Thread: Chuno Episodes 3 & 4

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone! After a week of pre-emption, it’s time for us to dive into our discussions for episodes 3 & 4!

As before, here are the ground rules:

1. Please don’t post spoilers in the Open Thread, except for events that have happened in the show, up to this point. I repeat: no spoilers for future episodes please! We have quite a few first-time viewers among us, and we don’t want to spoil anything for anyone.

2. Discussions on this thread don’t have to close when newer threads open, just so you know! But as we progress through our group watch, please keep the discussions clear of spoilers from future episodes, so that future readers coming to this thread won’t be accidentally spoiled. Does that make sense?

Without further ado, here are my reactions to this pair of episodes; have fun in the Open Thread, everyone! ❤️

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Announcement: Chuno group watch!

Y’know, I just love it when the blog evolves because of you guys. ❤️

I started this blog mostly for reviews, and then added the k-love section, and the occasional Musings post.

But mostly everything else is a result of suggestions and requests from you guys. Pure Pretty, Dream Dramas, and Dear kfangurl posts, would’ve never been born on this blog if you guys hadn’t asked for and contributed to them.

And now, here’s another new thing that we’ve not had on the blog before: a group watch, with open thread discussions to go with! Exciting! 😃 Lemme tell you guys all about it, so that you can decide whether you’d like to join in the fun!

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Flash Review: She is WOW

To be perfectly honest, She is WOW is pretty different from your typical kdrama.

Irreverent and saucy much of the time, and dark, bittersweet and even a little bit mysterious the rest of the time, this show is not for everyone.

I picked up this drama coz of the modest measure of positive buzz that followed it while it aired, and the bottom line, for me, is that while I don’t think this drama is quite my cup of tea, in its own irreverent way, it manages to still be a thought-provoking show that asks some hard questions.

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Dear kfangurl: What is it about bromances that make a kdrama great?

Today’s question is brought to us by Bakazen, who asks:

Dear kfangurl,

What is it about bromances that make a kdrama great? I just recently finished watching Doctor Stranger and realized 2 things: LJS is a good actor and I really didn’t like this drama. So why did I finish it? Because I was hooked by the bromance tease between LJS and PHJ.

My personal theory is they work well as substitutes for the sometimes overwhelming lack of affection we see between couples. Guys in bromances show affection, love, solidarity, joy, connection & (dare I say it) skinship!

Nothing warms my heart like one of the F4s coming to a bros rescue, the F44s teasing each other or the leads in School 2013 (LJS & Woobie) saying how much they missed each other’s friendship.

Besides, I rarely get that hooked into the female friendships (major exception, Noh Eun-seol & Lee Myung Ran from Protect the Boss). What do you think?

Bakazen

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A Soft Spot For: Lee Jong Suk

With all the reviews and Pure Pretty that’s been flooding the blog lately, I realize it’s been a while (gasp! More than 3 months!) since my last k-love confession post (Mmmm.. Kim Soo Hyun!).

And since I did promise that this year I’d be introducing y’all to more of my, uh.. smaller? lesser? medium-sized? milder? (argh. I can’t decide which word works best. You guys know what I mean, right?) k-loves, I thought it fitting that I introduce you guys to Lee Jong Suk, whom I’ve got a big soft spot for.

My affection for Lee Jong Suk is slightly more dongsaeng-esque than all of my other featured k-loves so far, but I do sincerely think he’s pretty special, and special deserves a little bit of the loving spotlight, dontcha think?

Come appreciate this boy-man with me, y’all.

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Best Kickass Imaginary Dream Dramas, Ever!

Do you have a Dream Drama?

Y’know, like in your head, you have the Perfect scenario, the Perfect male lead, the Perfect female lead, the Perfect second leads, and the Most Perfect story arcs, Ever? The kind of idea that makes you go, “OMGGGG I WOULD WATCH THAT DRAMA!!!!”???

Where if you could have it your way, this drama would be filmed and produced, stat, and immediately given a time slot on a Korean network, so that the entire dramaverse would be able to inhale the awesome, in unison?

Well, I and the ladies on this blog certainly have a few of those, and not only am I gonna share those awesome scenarios with you today, we wanna hear about your Perfect Dream Drama too!

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Review: Chuno [Slave Hunter]

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Grand. Sweeping. Lush. And jaw-droppingly magnificent.

In every way, from every aspect, Chuno is a literal feast for the senses, and a sumptuous one at that.

From the glorious cinematography, to the pulsing, evocative OST, to the (mostly) well-drawn, (mostly) well-acted characters and their stories, Chuno is a complete experience; one that engulfs you and takes over your very faculties.

Yes, it’s not perfect by any means. But boy, does it have a lot to offer.

Best consumed in large, generous, HD servings. Sink in and let this sexy beast blow you away. I mean the show, of course. Mostly. *cough*

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A Liebster Award. Kinda. [Liebster the Ninth!]

So this morning I woke up to a comment on the blog, from fellow blogger Indigo that read, “Hi! I nominated you for Liebster Award” and I hafta confess, my first thought was, “Uh. This is spam, right?”

Coz up till today, I’d never even heard of the Liebster Award, but had made acquaintance with enough spam to make me immediately suspicious.

I mean, sure, I follow Indigo’s (very nice) blog Between Wor(L)ds & she’s definitely legit. But I thought spiders had impersonated her by hijacking her identity or something, and posted something spammy on my blog. For serious, yo.

I’m usually a pretty trusting person. Unless it has to do with suspicious spammy spiders on the world wide web. (Ooh, did’ja see what I did there? That’s technically triple – ok, fine, double – alliteration, twice in a row!)

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Review: Arang and the Magistrate

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Very, very good.

What we get is an interesting fantasy world that has a well thought-out mythology and that is well fleshed-out in all its little details.

Add the fact that this world is populated with interesting characters, each with their own backstory and motivations, and we get a very believable, intricately-woven drama.

Both Lee Jun Ki and Shin Min Ah are fantastic in this.

And no, it’s not a scary show 🙂

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