Dear kfangurl: What are some iconic kdramas over the years?

Today’s Dear kfangurl post is inspired by j3ffc‘s and Trent‘s comments on my recent VOGUE India collab post, where I talk about the male gaze vs. the female gaze in kdramas over the years.

In response, j3ffc basically wanted to know which classic dramas I think drama fans should check out (which would demonstrate the shift in gaze over the years), and Trent heartily seconded the idea and expanded on it:

“The question I’ve been thinking about is along the lines of how do you think kdramas have evolved over the last couple decades? Do you see discernible or important trends in that time?

(Broadly considered: thematically, in treatment of tropes, genre or sub-genre expansion (or contraction), production values, stylistic changes, acting and\or casting type trends: it’s all fair game).

You touched on a bit of this in this Vogue interview, but I’d be very interested in a broader look, and I just don’t have the range of experience to even attempt a synthesis. You do, though. 😁”

So today I thought I’d talk about kdramas which I would consider iconic, over the years, and how kdramas have been evolving, in broad strokes.

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Dear kfangurl: Can you talk about the shows that you didn’t review? [Part 2]

Since you guys seemed to really like my last Dear kfangurl post, where I talked about shows that I haven’t reviewed on the site, I thought I’d do a Part 2! Surprise..? 😃

I picked 50 more (!!) shows to touch on in this post, with a quick “status update.” Mostly, these are dramas that people tend to ask me about, and also, shows that I’d like to give shout-outs to, but which I’m unlikely to write reviews for.

There are still more shows that I’ve either sampled or watched to completion, which I am not including in this list, but maybe (just maybe?) another post, another time? 😅

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Loving: Gong Yoo

GY1

Come squee with me! 😀 This post kicks off a new series on the blog. I hereby bring you: K-Love Confessions!

As you can see from the tagline up top, this blog is for reviews and fangirling, and while I’ve been busily posting reviews, the fangirling’s been limited to the context of the reviews.

I will admit, though, that in spite of that, there have been times that I’ve managed to fangirl very successfully anyway (see Big and The Moon that Embraces the Sun) Coz, y’know, a persistent fangirl lets nothing stand in her way! Heh.

Still. Here’s where the serious fangirling begins.

In each K-Love Confession, I will focus on one of my K-loves – I have several big ones, and quite a few medium-sized ones – and there will be extended fangirling and spazzing. And photos. Lots of photos 😉

Ahem. So where shall we begin?

Just from looking around my blog, you’d probably have guessed my biggest K-love of them all: Gong Yoo ♥ Swoon.

So of course, he had to be my first featured K-love.

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