Lee Seung Joon

Review: Love Next Door

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

The drama worked out to be a pretty mixed experience for me.

In short, I thought some of the arcs dealing with familial relationships were truly excellently written, with certain beats making me feel particularly seen and understood. 🥲

Unfortunately, I felt that some arcs, including the OTP arc, were unevenly handled, and I found certain portions quite underwhelming.

Overall, I do think that this could be a pretty enjoyable watch, with some lens adjustments – which I’ll talk about next.

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Review: Castaway Diva

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

With an interesting premise and a solid cast, Show starts strong out of the gate, at least in my experience.

I loved the younger days portion of our story, and the bonding of our key characters, which sucked me in right away.

Once we move to the present-day portion of our story, though, I feel like Show starts to lose focus, in terms of what it really wants to do, or be.

Show is still feel-good and warm, but because of its lack of focus (at least in my opinion), the watch experience feels kind of.. digressive, in a manner of speaking?

Some lens adjustments are likely to help, which I’ll talk about shortly.

Overall, not bad – but it could’ve been so much better, I feel.

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Dropped: Doom At Your Service

| kfangurl

My relationship with this show is ending on a note of “too little, too late,” my friends.

I’d really wanted to like this one, especially since I like both leads, and I did feel like Show had started well. To be honest, though, it’s been a slippery experience, trying to find something solid to hold onto, but still progressively losing what little grip I had, as I progressed through the episodes.

I kept trying to find a lens that would make this one work for me, but to be honest, even though some lenses did help somewhat, nothing actually worked all that well.

And so it is, that I’m choosing to say goodbye to Show, 10 episodes into Show’s 16.

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Review: Record Of Youth

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

The story feels kinda meandering, and Show’s tone vibes Scripted Hollywood Rom-com rather than earthy slice-of-life drama, which is a decidedly rather odd combination.

Overall, everything in this show comes together in a way that feels a touch uneven, but if you love Park Bo Gum, Show is a solid way to get a nice dose of Bogummy, because this is basically all a showcase for him and him alone.

Everything and everyone else just happens to be there as varying levels of set dressing.

With the right lens, Show is a pleasant enough watch, even though it never grabs me in the way that I want it to.

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Review: Find Me In Your Memory

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Find Me In Your Memory does a rather unusual thing, by tapping into one of Dramaland’s favorite sources of dramatic tension – the stalker arc – and then using it as a platform for our main characters to work through the healing that they need.

In this way, Show sets itself apart from other healing dramas, which tend to be more introspective in vibe, by being comparatively more action-heavy instead.

Despite a tendency to use tropes in its narrative, Show manages to serve up characters and relationships that feel real and relatable, where growth feels earned and true.

The OTP relationship is portrayed as sweet and restrained, and taps nicely into the chemistry between Kim Dong Wook and Moon Ga Young, which feels sweet and natural. As a bonus, the secondary loveline between Kim Seul Gi and Lee Jin Hyuk is super cute.

Not groundbreaking by any means, but a solid watch overall.

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Dear kfangurl: Who are your favorite supporting actors – and will they ever get to play lead??

| kfangurl

Beez writes:

Dear Kfangurl, Are supporting actors too funny to ever cast as leads?

I keep waiting for my favorites – Park Jin Joo, Kim Seul Gi and my all time favorite, Kim Sung Oh to be part of an OTP or at least a single lead in their own dramas. I’ve seen all of them give snippets of really moving scenes so their acting talent is not in question. What gives?

And phl1rxd writes:

I would love to see an article on your favorite supporting actors|actresses.

There are so many that pop up in our drama world all the time, and while they are not the leads, their work is great none-the-less.

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Review: The Tale Of Nokdu

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show starts off fresh and cute with an emphasis on hilarious cross-dressing hijinks, but changes gears abruptly in its second half with an amped up focus on birth secrets and political machinations. Viewers set on a fizzy rom-com might be turned off by this.

On the upside, Show manages to retain its emotional core and heartfelt tone through to the end, and it’s not too hard to stay engaged with our main characters, even in the heavier stretches. And as a silver lining, the feel-good cute makes a comeback by Show’s end.

Jang Dong Yoon shines extra in the midst of a solid cast, and is break-out fantastic in his role as the titular Nokdu. His cross-dressing turn as a timid widow is so memorable, that it’s worth tuning in for his performance alone.

Show has its flaws, but is pretty solid, overall.

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Review: Descendants of the Sun

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Even though Descendants of the Sun is not very well-written and far from subtle, there are things to enjoy in this show, if you’re willing to close your eyes to its shortcomings.

Things like appealing lead characters (most of them, anyway), character relationships, the romance and the bromance. And not forgetting Song Joong Ki in his most schmexy drama outing to date (ahem).

Flawed, but not without its charms.

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Review: Nine [Nine: Nine Time Travels]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A time travel tale that is engaging, absorbing and tightly written.

It took me a couple of episodes to get completely sucked in, but when I did get sucked in, boy did I get sucked in good.

Serving up twists and turns that literally keep you on the edge of your seat (and perhaps your sense of sanity too), Nine is thought-provoking, intense and really rather addictive. The dramatic tension flags in a few spots, but overall, I’d say this is a solid, worthy watch.

If you like your dramas to keep you on your toes and keep you thinking, and keep you guessing too, this would definitely be up your alley.

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