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

Flash Review: The Final Match [Last Match]

I put The Final Match on my watch list mainly because it’s one of the classic grandaddies of Hallyu.

Not only did it take audiences – fangirls, in particular – by storm when it aired in 1994, its presence can still be felt in dramaland nowadays, when, every so often, it gets referenced in dramas.

Case in point: Answer Me, 1994, which not only played the famous rousing riff from The Final Match’s OST, but also mentioned characters from the drama by name.

I knew I had to watch this show, if only to acquaint myself with the drama that created the waves that it did, way back in the day.

Continue reading