Park Bo Young

Review: Our Unwritten Seoul

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

Sensitively written, tenderly directed, and wonderfully delivered by a talented cast, Our Unwritten Seoul really is a gem of a drama, in my opinion.

It’s a story of healing, growth, and the journey towards self-acceptance and self-love, and it’s capably woven, made up of threads from characters both main and supporting, to make up a nuanced and diverse narrative fabric that I found as heartfelt as I found it engaging.

Our entire cast is extremely solid, but Park Bo Young absolutely stands out, playing dual roles of our twins.

As a bonus, the OST is breezy yet poignant, and pitch perfect, in amplifying the watch experience.

Absolutely, enthusiastically recommend. 🥲

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Review: Melo Movie

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Despite its billing, Show doesn’t land as much as a romance, as an exploration of our characters’ journeys, in the context of love, loss, isolation and solidarity.

I found myself not feeling as connected to our characters as I tend to be, and yet, the various thoughts and nuggets of wisdom that Show serves up, manage to linger with me, with an almost haunting sort of quality.

Overall, a worthwhile watch, provided you adjust your expectations and viewing lens, which I talk about in a little bit.

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Flash Review: Light Shop

| kfangurl

My friends, this is the review that almost never was, not because I almost didn’t watch this show, but because I wasn’t sure how to go about this review, and I almost gave myself permission to just.. not write it a review. 😅 Almost.

If you’ve seen the show, you might have an inkling of why I feel like this isn’t a straightforward review to write, heh.

In the end, though, I thought that there would still be value in adding my two cents to the collective wisdom of the drama community, so here I am.

I make no promises, but I’ll do my best. 😅

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Review: Daily Dose Of Sunshine

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

In a nutshell, I’d say that Show is two main things.

One, it works as an educational, illuminating PSA, aiming to help everyone who watches, to come to a better understanding of the struggles that many people face, with regard to mental health.

Two, Show is, at the same time, a tender, compassionate representation of all the patients who have mental health struggles, thereby showing them that they are seen, and they are not alone, and that there is hope.

Poignant, tender, and important.

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Stories from the community: Ella’s story!

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If you didn’t already know, we’ve got a special series to kick off the new year! Guests posts, by patrons on Patreon, sharing their personal drama stories, mostly around the topic of “How did you get into dramas?” and “What does your first drama mean to you?” – with flexibility to go off on personal tangents, of course. 😁 Feel free to share your stories too, in the comments!

This guest series is MC‘s brainchild (thanks MC! ❤️). You can check out the earlier posts in this series as follows: MC, Sean, Shahz, JJ, Martina, Beth & Uyen. After today’s post, there will be two more guest posts by mystery guest writers, whose identities will be revealed when their various posts go live. Woot! 🥳

Today’s post is brought to you by Ella, whom you may have seen around the blog, and on Patreon as well. I just love how effusive Ella is, in her drama love, and I’m so glad she’s taken this bold step, of introducing herself properly to us, through this guest post!

I hope you guys enjoy!

~ KFG ❤️

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Dear kfangurl: Can you talk about actors and their nicknames?

| kfangurl

So, full disclosure, this post isn’t inspired by an actual Dear kfangurl question, but because Dear kfangurl is where all the lists on the blog live, I figured this would be the best place to put it.

This post is inspired by Beez and Trent, who recently had a conversation on my Kill Me, Heal Me group watch announcement post, where they discussed the nicknames of various actors and actresses.

I thought that would make a fun post, where I could share what I know, and you guys can share what you know, and together, we can paint a fuller picture together!

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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: Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

This show’s upsides: a strong heroine; an appreciative, dreamy hero; an adorable OTP with unreal levels of Cute – and several very feel-good earwormy OST tracks.

This show’s downsides: uneven writing; random-feeling side characters; a disproportionately dark side; an extremely insensitive, crass idea of funny.

The upsides battle the downsides just about all the way through, so.. “Your mileage may vary” about sums it up. The 2 Parks are super-duper cute though.

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Flash Review: A Werewolf Boy [Movie]

| kfangurl

I think I may have trust issues with the English that comes out of Korea.

I mean, seriously, it’s right there in the title, but all this time that I knew this movie existed, I somehow had it in my head that this was a movie about a wolf boy, and not a werewolf boy.

For the record, I can now confirm that this movie is, indeed, about a werewolf boy, and, happily for me, it is far from being a scary movie (unlike most movies about werewolves).

Also for the record, Song Joong Ki is absolutely wonderful and amazing in this (although, when is he ever not, right?).

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Flash Review: Oh My Ghostess

| kfangurl

If you’ve been watching kdrama for a while, you’d probably know what I’m talking about when I say that there is a particular brand of drama that draws you in with a fun, light, completely innocent sort of premise, only to pull out the rug from under you without warning, by turning dark & weepy all of a sudden.

And then you’re left wondering, Waaaiit. Who are you, Show, and what have you done with my sparkly fun rom-com???

The good news is, Oh My Ghostess isn’t that brand of split-personality drama. But I must admit that there were distinct times when this show went a lot darker than the zippy, entertaining rom-com I’d signed up for.

The other bit of good news, I suppose, is that in spite of its darker streaks, there’s still a lot to enjoy in this show.

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