Sung Dong Il

Review: Typhoon Family

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

To my eyes, Show’s fatal flaw is that it worked hard — just not on the things that would’ve really made its story pop.

What we got: Show spending most of its time throwing obstacle after obstacle at our core underdogs (and those obstacles mostly coming from one single source — another fatal mistake, in my opinion), shoehorning in romantic beats so that the loveline often felt like some kind of non sequitur, and randomly showcasing Junho’s idol abilities.

What I would’ve liked: Show spending that time creating more meaningful character journeys, a deeper sense of found family, and giving the Typhoon team the chance to actually work together and grow together in the face of obstacles that felt organic to the times.

In the end, this was not the worst show ever — but it sure could’ve been better. SO, so much better. 😅

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Review: The Tale of Lady Ok

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

I found this to be an interesting and engaging story of personal journey, with a pretty heartfelt love story to go with.

Our entire cast is strong and puts in solid performances, but the standout, to me, is Im Ji Yeon as our titular Lady Ok. Male lead Choo Young Woo is very good as well, displaying a nice range of acting chops.

Briskly paced to the point that this non-fluffy sageuk almost feels breezy sometimes, this show is way more approachable, and way more watchable than most people might expect, given its billing.

Quite underrated, in my opinion.

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Review: If You Wish Upon Me

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show is warm and well-intentioned at its core, and does deliver a good amount of poignance and feels, when it leans into this aspect of its personality.

At the same time, Show also has a melodramatic side, and while it is relevant to the story, and therefore necessary for Show to give it time in the spotlight, I do feel like Show goes a bit ham with it, especially in its late stretch.

That said, Show manages to end on a poignant, feel-good, thought-provoking note, despite some treacly tendencies, which is a solid accomplishment on its own.

Your mileage is likely to vary, given Show’s mixed reputation. (Hopefully, this review will help you figure out whether this one’s for you.)

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Review: Hospital Playlist 2

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show isn’t perfect by any means, but what it does right, it does so well, that I can’t help wanting to serve my heart up to Show on a plate.

It’s true that Show gets rather indulgent of itself from time to time, and it’s also true that some of the handling feels almost patronizing, in spots.

However, our characters continue to be lovable and wonderful, and Show continues to do an excellent job of teasing out their growth and relationships in a way that feels organic; it just has a way of grabbing my heart.

An absolutely worthy follow up to Season 1.

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Open Thread: My Girlfriend is a Gumiho Episodes 9 & 10

| kfangurl

Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! Doesn’t our Mi Ho look adorable with her new hairdo, and aren’t those just the most wonderful dimples, ever?? 😍

Here are our usual ground rules, before we begin:

1. Please don’t post spoilers in the Open Thread, except for events that have happened in the show, up to this point. If you really need to talk about a spoiler, it is possible to use the new spoiler tags, but please know that spoilers are still visible (ie, not hidden) in the email notification that you receive, of the comment in question.

We have quite a few first-time viewers among us, and we don’t want to spoil anything for anyone.

2. Discussions on this thread don’t have to close when newer threads open, just so you know! But as we progress through our group watch, please keep the discussions clear of spoilers from future episodes, so that future readers coming to this thread won’t be accidentally spoiled. Does that make sense?

Without further ado, here are my reactions to this set of episodes; have fun in the Open Thread, everyone! ❤️

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Review: Sisyphus: The Myth

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show starts out pretty strong, with an interesting premise, a big budget and a promising cast. Production values are suitably high, and I found the scenes of a dystopian Seoul particularly impressive.

Jo Seung Woo and Park Shin Hye are both solid in this, and they are supported by an excellent secondary cast. When viewed through a comic book, space opera sort of lens, and without too hard of a grip on logic, Show manages to be reasonably enjoyable and entertaining for most of its run.

Unfortunately, the ending was not my favorite thing about Show. Admittedly, your mileage may vary on this point, because what bugs me about the ending might not be an issue for you in the least. If you like the ending more than I did, you’d like Show a lot more overall, as well.

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Review: Hospital Playlist

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Warm, wholesome goodness dressed in hospital garb, Hospital Playlist is the medical themed drama that even the medical drama-averse can easily love.

Hospital Playlist checks a lot of boxes, for me. The writing and directing is assured; the cast is outstanding individually and together.

The overall feel is balanced, with enough attention given to the cases of the day without losing focus on our key characters; the music is heartfelt and breezy, made even more special when performed by the cast.

The slice-of-life approach might feel meandering and slow to some, but in exchange, you really feel like a fly on these characters’ walls, in their professional and personal capacities.

The long episodes might feel intimidating at first, but once you grow to love the characters, the length of the episodes become more of a boon than a bane.

I legit didn’t want this one to end; highly recommend.

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Dropped: Hwarang

| kfangurl

Ordinarily, I’d be the first to agree with the age-old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” – or, as the case may be, “Don’t judge a drama by its promos.”

After all, sometimes, the watch experience of a show really doesn’t jive with its promo material.

Some shows have uninteresting promo material but turn out to be excellent watches (I mean, just think about the old-fashioned, ugly poster that belongs to the fantastic Healer), while other shows have amazing promos but turn out to be duds in the watching (Joseon Gunman comes to mind, among many others).

In this instance, though, I really should’ve paid (much more) heed to this show’s low-rent bad wigs and cheesy posters.

On hindsight, I think they were trying to warn me that this show wouldn’t be worth spending hours of my life on, and – silly, foolish me – I didn’t listen.

Which is how I ended up wasting 13 hours of my life trying to make the best of this show, before I realized that Show’s best really, really wasn’t doing it for me.

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Review: Answer Me, 1988 [Reply 1988]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Answer Me 1988 feels like a larger, bigger-hearted story than its predecessors, thanks to expanding its focus to its community of characters, rather than simply fixating on the leading lady’s husband and the lovelines that feed into it.

The adult characters get as much narrative care and attention as their kids, and that helps to make this drama world feel altogether pretty balanced and whole.

The entire cast is endearing and committed, and – despite a touch of green in spots with the delivery – exponentially add to Show’s generous earthy winsomeness.

It’s true that the handling of the ending is flawed, but overall, I still found this show to be charming, slice-of-life retro at its best.

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Review: Answer Me, 1994 [Reply 1994]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Despite its flaws and indulgent streaks, Answer Me 1994 is a lovely little show that’s peopled by likable, bubbly characters that not only feel real, but also feel like they’re real friends with one another.

The characters and their relationships are the shining jewels crowning this show, and together, they shine so brightly that it’s not hard to overlook the occasional uneven writing, the consistently bloated episodes and the dreaded Who’s The Hubs game that Show inherited from its predecessor Answer Me 1997.

Far from perfect, but still So Lovable.

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