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.

Continue reading

Pure Pretty: So Ji Sub

Wow, time flies, doesn’t it? I can hardly believe it’s already been a whole month since my last Pure Pretty post!

Not that this Pure Pretty poster boy was hard to research – not at all.

Thanks to quick and eager suggesters, seconders and voters over on the blog’s Facebook page after Daniel Henney made his Pure Pretty appearance, So Ji Sub was very quickly assured of his spot in the Pure Pretty line-up.

And when I dipped my toes into Google for some So Ji Sub research, I was extremely pleased with my findings too.

So the reason that this Pure Pretty post has been cookin’ for a whole month now, is only because I sternly told myself that I had to post something other than Pure Pretty on the blog.

Now, 3 reviews later, I figure it’s safe to fangirl for a little bit. And so, folks, I bring you So Ji Sub, by popular demand. 🙂

Continue reading

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. 

Continue reading

Review: That Far Gone [Master’s Sun Fanfic]

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Classy, funny and sexy, That Far Gone is a smartly-written, tenderly-conceived labor of love.

A writer who clearly knows her subject and her audience, mywebfoot paints a convincing, believable fantasy world in which drama fans can indulge their imaginations and even their shipper hearts as they see the unfolding of a ‘real-life’ romance between So Ji Sub and Gong Hyo Jin come to life in the pages of this fanfic.

A tantalizingly addictive ride not only for So Ji Sub and Gong Hyo Jin shippers, but for anyone who took notice of their chemistry in Master’s Sun.

Continue reading