Nam Goong Min

Flash Review: You Are Closer Than I Think [Drama Special]

| kfangurl

There are so many occasions when I feel a drama starts out strong, but then loses its footing and becomes underwhelming; it isn’t too often, that I feel the opposite way about a show.

Granted, that’s often because if a drama isn’t working for me, I’ve learned that I don’t need to suffer through it, and that it’s perfectly ok to drop it.

However, because this little drama special is just 1 hour 7 minutes long, it wasn’t all that hard to persevere to the end, even though I wasn’t too taken with Show’s first half. And whaddya know, Show actually ends much stronger than it starts.

Yay for this little show managing to exceed my expectations, and buck the trend, at the same time. 😉

Continue reading →

Dear kfangurl: Do you have difficulty seeing an actor in a different role?

| kfangurl

Elaine writes:

I have a Dear kfangurl question to ask! My question is whether you’ve ever had a problem watching the same actor in a different role, because you have such a strong impression of him/her in the first show you saw the actor in?

Asking because I just started watching K dramas last year, and i started with highly rated ones like Crash Landing on You and Healer, where the OTPs are so smashing that I was reluctant to see the actors in other shows as it would feel to me almost like they were cheating on their original OTP! Lol.

So far I haven’t “repeated” any actors besides Lee Jun Ki – I first saw him in Arang and the Magistrate and a few months later in Flower of Evil. But to me that felt ok as his performance made the two characters feel completely different. It probably helped that his Flower of Evil character was supposed to have antisocial personality disorder so has flattened emotions.

But now almost a year after watching Healer, I’m watching Park Min Young in Her Private Life and I keep getting flashbacks to her Healer performance, especially when the two characters overlap on certain traits like optimism, pluckiness and sunny smiles.

It’s probably a personal quirk but I do wonder if anyone faces this issue too! For now there are so many dramas out there that I can avoid repeats of actors but soon it won’t be an option! Ha ha.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

Flash Review: Stove League

| kfangurl

Let me get what I think are the two biggest questions out of the way: No, you don’t need to know a thing about baseball, in order to enjoy this show. And no, you don’t even have to like baseball, in order to like this show.

Would you get more enjoyment out of this show if you actually already love baseball? I’m not sure, to be honest.

Sometimes knowing too much can be a bad thing (if you’re a doctor you probably roll your eyes at the details in medical kdramas, and so on), but I’m guessing that understanding how baseball works would probably help you appreciate the nuances that I missed.

I went into this show without much knowledge or interest in baseball, and I’m coming away with only marginally more knowledge about and interest in the sport.

And yet, I found myself enjoying this show very well, and wholeheartedly rooting for our characters, often without actually truly understanding the full details of what was happening on my screen. That’s quite an accomplishment on Show’s part, I’d say.

Also, for the record, I’ve felt rather neutral about Nam Goong Min for a while, even as everyone else has grown hearts in their eyes for him, and here, I finally actually really like him.

Lots of happy surprises overall, yes?

Continue reading →

Flash Review: Doctors

| kfangurl

If there’s one thing that Doctors has taught me, it’s that medical dramas are really not my thing.

I mean, I already knew, going in, that I’m generally not one to get at all excited about medical emergencies and the like.

Still, the positive buzz and high ratings got me curious enough to dive in (sometimes I am too curious for my own good, I think!) – and when I eventually became bored with Show at large, Kim Rae Won’s strong, leap-off-my-screen warmth persuaded me to stay.

His deep velvety voice and crinkly, cozy-toasty smile didn’t hurt either.

Continue reading →

Dropped: Beautiful Gong Shim

| kfangurl

Sometimes being a curious cat and following the buzz of a show pays off, and you end up finding – and loving – a gem of a show that you might not have bothered to check out otherwise.

And sometimes, being a curious cat.. well, doesn’t pay off.

I know lots of folks loved this show right from the start, and I even saw enthusiastic endorsements of it from some of my most trusted drama friends.

Sadly, try as I might, I never managed to really love this one.

Continue reading →

Flash Review: Sensory Couple [The Girl Who Sees Smells]

| kfangurl

Let’s just say that if you’re looking for a crime procedural, or a thriller-mystery, or well, any kind of logical narrative, really, then this show probably isn’t for you.

I think it’s safe to say that if you were to approach this show with a lens that is at all serious, then it’s highly likely that disappointment would be in your future.

If you’re on the market for lots of OTP Cute, though, never mind the (sometimes gaping) flaws in the areas I just mentioned, then the show affectionately known as Smelly Girl just might work for you.

Continue reading →

Dropped: My Secret Hotel

| kfangurl

Thanks to everyone who voted when I asked if you guys would be interested in new sections for Flash Reviews and Dropped Dramas.

Even though you guys have been the sweetest readers, it still blew me away a little, at just how many of you are in favor of these short little blurb types of posts (more than 90% of the votes, y’all. Thank you!).

It’s a new lesson I’m learning, that even though wordiness is one of my hard-to-shake-off traits, that I don’t have to be wordy for you guys to be interested in what I have to say. Thanks y’all, for makin’ me feel all important and stuff. 😉

And now, here’s the first drama to grace the Dropped Dramas section: My Secret Hotel.

Continue reading →

Newly Charmed By: Hong Jong Hyun

| kfangurl

YOU GUYS.

You know how sometimes the most unexpected things happen? Like how you think, Y’know what, I just don’t get the appeal of this actor, and I probably am unlikely to ever get it? And then, one day, something happens when you least expect it, and then you go, “OHHH.”

Heh. The last time something like that happened to me, I found myself falling – so, so hard – for Woob (full story here).

Ok, before you get too excited, let me just say that Woob is still very much holding court in my fangirl heart, so no takeovers or upsets of any kind there.

But I hafta confess that I am so, SO blown away by just how much I’m suddenly charmed by Hong Jong Hyun. Seriously. He’s been giving me a serious case of the goofy grins over the last two days, and I just have to tell y’all all about it.

Continue reading →

Review: I Need Romance 3

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

I Need Romance 3 is like the milder, sweeter, slightly ditzy younger cousin of the older, more worldly-wise I Need Romance dramas.

While INR3 may look like its cousins on the surface – glossy & modern, complete with real kisses & sexytimes – at its heart, it holds dear many classic dramaland rom-com values about Romance and True Love.

Oh, and the ditziness? It’s coz logic isn’t this drama’s strength, and there’s a fair chunk of stuff in INR3 that doesn’t actually make sense.

If you loved I Need Romance &/or I Need Romance 2012, you’d probably be disappointed in this one. Conversely, if you didn’t like the first two installments, then this one just might sit better than you’d think.

Oh, and there’s Sung Joon. Mmmm.

Continue reading →