MC writes:
What shows have female leads that are relatable? Lately I get tired of watching candy girls with sad life stories yet are so cheery (I mean who would be so cheery if they had such a hard life!?).
I would love to watch shows with relatable female leads who have their good and bad days and grow through the bad days! I’m asking about female leads coz you did something similar for male leads.
Many moons ago, when I was in college, I picked as many film courses as I was allowed, coz they were the coolest, and also, the funnest, and therefore, I got to watch a whole lot of movies as part of my curriculum.
(See? Film really was the coolest and the funnest, heh. Especially when we got to the part on animation and sat around watching cartoons together.)
To tell you the honest truth, though, I never was a great film student, and I often didn’t see the genius in certain films, unless it was pointed out to me.
I mean, while most of my classmates were blown away by the brilliance of Prospero’s Books, a strongly avant-garde adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, I was sitting in my seat, trying to digest – what was to me, anyway – a very, very weird film. I didn’t naturally geddit, y’know?
Kinda the same thing with this show, for me, methinks. I know there are folks who love this one, and some who even revel in its reportedly clever use of metaphors and imagery, but I think it’s time for me to admit that I just don’t geddit, with this one.
So this might be the mother of all throwback posts on this blog. (Wait, this might be the only throwback post on the blog, actually!)
Basically, this post had first appeared on Stephanie’s blog Crazy for Kdrama, when she’d invited me to guest on her 2012-in-review series.
I’d been super excited, and Stephanie’s invitation basically was the catalyst that inspired me to even start this blog (you can find the blog’s origin story here).
Long story short, Crazy for Kdrama suffered from a takedown a while ago, thanks to DMCA bots, which sucked. 🙁 But, Steph’s since dusted herself off and has started over at Kchat Jjigae.
This post, though, was lost with the original blog. That’s been niggling me for a while, since this post has a special place in this blog’s history.
That, and the more OCD parts of my brain felt uncomfortable that the link to my 2012 year-in-review on the Full List page basically led to nowhere.
Happily, those same OCD parts of my brain had thought to save my original draft somewhere, so it wasn’t all that hard to reproduce the post here.
So now, for old times’ sake, and for the sake of having my 2012-in-review post available somewhere, I present to you one of the earliest blog posts I ever wrote, in its pure, original state.
I’ve simply added links to reviews where available. Hope you guys enjoy the walk down memory lane with me! 🙂
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.
THE SHORT VERDICT:
Quiet, low-key and unassuming, Miss Korea is the modest little drama that could.
What Miss Korea lacks in big plot movement, it makes up for with attentive character establishment and development, which gives this series its almost-but-not-quite slice-of-life, almost-family-drama feel.
Populated by earnest characters who feel ordinary, real and likable, Miss Korea is the kind of show that one develops a slow but enduring affection for.
Another helpful thing to know: Despite its title and premise, Miss Korea isn’t really about beauty pageants per se.
It’s more about how ordinary people muster up their inner mettle, to face seemingly insurmountable challenges; not only to survive, but to pursue meaning and happiness in their lives.
An underrated, heartwarming little gem.
THE SHORT VERDICT:
A noona romance that reminds me all over again why I love kdrama.
There are a good number of reasons to love this drama: a good story, robust themes, a brisk pace that’s well-kept for the most part, engaging characters that are well-written and well-acted, heartwarming relationships all-around (well, almost all-around), a very enjoyable OST, and a fantasy, superpower bent that gives rise to related hijinks, many of the romantic variety. Yes, Omo!
My top reason for loving this show, though, can be summed in this character still right here. Everything about this boy-man, from how he’s written to how he’s portrayed, floats my boat. Melt, melt and melt.
THE SHORT VERDICT:
A tongue-in-cheek, satirical unveiling of what really happens behind the scenes of our beloved kdramas.
Populated by a large ensemble cast of likable characters, King of Dramas paints a dramatic yet believable picture that is in line with all the BTS drama news that we get off the grapevine.
PPL wars? Check. Scripts delivered to the set in a piecemeal fashion? Check. Madly rushing the final tape to the editing room minutes before the episode is due to broadcast? Check. Such a fascinating peek into the world that doles out to us the dramas on which we subsist.
The show starts out meaty and strong, and even manages to be insanely hysterical at points, buoyed by strong performances and often-cheeky writing. A huge pity, that the ending was more whimper than bang.
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!)
Celebrate with me! This is a double first for me: my first Year-In-Review, AND, my first guest post too! 😀
This guest post is especially close to my heart because how it came about is actually the origin story of this blog.
THE ORIGIN STORY
Up to about 2 months ago, I had been a persistent lurker in the kdrama-verse.
For most of my six kdrama-watching years, I visited lots of blogs regularly and kept up with the k-entertainment news and lapped up other people’s views and reviews, but I almost never commented on anything.
Once in a long while, I would leave a comment somewhere, but mostly only if I had something that I was just burning to say.
I’m an introvert at heart, though most people who know me in real life wouldn’t guess it, and this was my inner introvert acting out.
THE SHORT VERDICT:
This drama is really different. It’s zany, irreverent and funny, with a sense of humor that’s often outlandish and a bit manic. It’s not actually slapstick, though it can sometimes veer (just a little) that way.
It often took me by surprise, and I already went in expecting it to be different.
The style and humor can take a while to get into, but it’s well worth checking out. Even my mother was amused.