On the upside, Show is very pretty to look at, has a great-looking OTP that shares excellent chemistry, and it isn’t shy about serving up lots of OTP squee moments.
On top of that, Show’s got a very enjoyable OST scoring it all, so that it all feels like a worry-free, very pretty escape from Real Life.
On the downside, Show is so low-angst that the narrative tension it serves up is very low-stakes and therefore not very gripping. While this is in keeping with Show wanting to be a happy place, unfortunately, this also means that for some viewers, this could become pretty boring, pretty fast. 😅
Ultimately, your mileage will vary, depending on just how much of an appetite you have, for light, cotton-candy, pretty fluff.
(This is a long intro, so skip it if you wish) Hello! I’ve been a silent reader of your blog for a really long time, since I was thirteen and I just made this account to comment!
I’m sixteen now, and I feel like I’ve grown up with your blog- you introduced me to dramas and k-pop, and I still read your older articles when I feel down, it’s like comfort food for me. So thank you for that!
The question I have is: What do you think of idol actors? I don’t know if it’s just me, but it feels like a lot more idols are starring in dramas nowadays, and they may not always be good at acting. The general consensus among some of my other drama-watching friends is that idol actors take away jobs from better-trained rookie actors, and some think it’s unfair that they get to use a drama as an acting class.
Personally, I think it’s a bit of a gray area, since there’s plenty of perfectly well-trained and decently popular actors who can’t reeeallly act that well, but also it kind of ruins the drama for me if the lead cannot act well (fourteen year old me wasn’t that bothered about acting skills so much as ~swoon~ factor and watched The Great Seducer on repeat, but I watched it last week and had to skip a big big chunk of the scenes because the acting was…not the greatest) What do you think?
(But I think we all know idols are going to keep getting casted anyways, lol. They’re far too popular to miss out on for profit-related purposes, and some of them are really really good!)
Annie writes:
Would be interesting to read your thoughts on idols turned actors/actresses.
A show that doesn’t always manage to maintain the fine balance between the story of its characters and the political backdrop against which said story takes place, but which – in spite of its flaws – manages to kinda get under your skin anyway.
Im Si Wan is excellent as our titular king, while Hong Jong Hyun and Yoona are literally the best I’ve ever seen them. Importantly, the three of them share a solid three-way chemistry, and are enjoyable to watch.
The watch itself proves to be rather uneven, and the ending left me sort of wanting, but, I’d say this one was worthwhile, all the same.
After the epic awesomeness of Healer, and the oodles and oodles of Ji Chang Wook melty in it, I had high hopes for his next project, especially if said next project had any kind of action slant.
I mean, literally Every. Single. Time. Healer parkoured off a building, I swooned. (I guess I kinda have a thing for a hero who also happens to be an action superhero, heh.)
Sadly, even though The K2 diligently delivered on the action front (perhaps too diligently, even), this show just didn’t work out for me.
I couldn’t make it to the end of this one, even if Ji Chang Wook got to kick butt quite regularly, and looked pretty sharp in his suit – or out of his suit. Ahem.
I really liked this, guys. Like, in a I’m-sorry-to-see-it-end, I’d-love-to-catch-up-with-these-characters-again sort of way.
In a drama landscape where a lot of the lighter fare can feel tropey and sort of tired (from overuse of all the predictable tropes), Because It’s The First Time manages to achieve a lovely balance between showcasing a more realistic take on the growing up experience, while maintaining a sense of lightness and fun, through it all.
At just 8 episodes, this turned out to be quite the charming little drama snack. Yum.
A pretty standard rom-com that doesn’t re-invent the wheel, Prime Minister and I is a pleasant, frothy watch for the most part, marred only by an ending that, while happy, most viewers would find too muted.
Lee Bum Soo is dashing and Yoona is bubbly, and together they make an unexpectedly cute couple.
The sparky chemistry between our leads overcomes their large age gap surprisingly well, and the writers serve up contract marriage, forced co-habitation hijinks that are often entertaining and squee-worthy.
Despite weaknesses in the writing and execution, Prime Minister and I makes for a relaxed leisurely watch for days when you just want to sit back and zone out, and don’t want to think too hard.
This drama has a gorgeous color palette and the cinematography is excellent.
I thought Winter Sonata (done by the same PD) was pretty when I first watched it, but fast forward 8 years – that’s like a whole century in technology years – and everything is way, way prettier.
That’s the main – perhaps only – change, really. The PD maintains the rest of the style that he used in the Seasons dramas. The slow pace hasn’t changed. The bent towards classic melo and its associated tropes hasn’t changed.
Only go here if you’re feeling nostalgic for the Seasons dramas of yore.
