High Kick

Dear kfangurl: Can you talk about single season vs. multi-season dramas?

| kfangurl

Entropyenator writes:

Hi KFangurl,

Absolutely LOVE your blog and best of luck in your journey to keep writing!

Two questions for you I hope you can help with, though they are sort of related:

1) Why is it so rare for kdramas to get more than 1 season?

2) What qualifies a kdrama to get a second season?

To explain a bit, I just finished Vincenzo (so amazing, SJK, JYB and the rest of the cast were brilliant, even if the logic got…stretched in some bits) but SJK’s interview right after the finale seems to indicate it won’t get a second season despite very very good ratings.

This seems to be the norm for kdramas–save very rare exceptions like Hospital Playlist and Age of Youth/Hello My Twenties. So what gives? Is it a different industry/culture thing? I do admit that I am based in the US, where, as long as a show doesn’t completely flop, getting at least 2-3 seasons is incredibly common.

Looking forward to your answer!

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Are kdramas getting worse / “dumbed down”?

| kfangurl

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?

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Dear kfangurl: Is it normal to have a heart attack when you learn Oppa is gay AND dating?

| kfangurl
Omo. WHAT did you say..?

So I’ve a confession to make, y’all..

I’ve basically been sitting on today’s Dear kfangurl post for almost.. 2 whole months now. Eek. Sorry about that!

I’ve got a reason, though! Ok, you may or may not consider it a good reason, but it’s my reason, all the same. Today’s question, which I’m fairly sure was asked half in teasing jest, is really quite the doozy.

Asotss asks:

Dear kfangurl,

Is it normal for fangirls to have a heart attack at their (supposed) young age (by the way, is there any age limit to fangirling, dear kfangurl?) when they learn Oppa/Dongsaeng is gay AND dating?

Woah. Right?

That’s a lot of delicate & difficult stuff built into the question! Still, as it’s my personal policy not to back away from tough questions on this blog, let’s dive in and see what we find, shall we?

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Review: Padam Padam

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

So good. It took me a couple of episodes to really fall in love, but when I did, I was mesmerized 🙂

This show is gorgeous to look at, with some truly excellent, artistically executed cinematography.

I felt like I was watching a long movie, yet each episode floated by and ended before I knew it. Very different from general kdrama fare, I found it interesting, romantic & thought provoking.

Jung Woo Sung is compelling and completely believable, and Kim Bum is so endearing. The bromance is really strong in this one, though our lead couple is fantastic as well 🙂