Yay or Nay: Recent K-drama Trend of Older Established Actors Supporting Younger Male Leads

I was a little hesitant around the casting of Healer when it was first announced with Ji Chang Wook as the titular character. I wondered what the drama was going to do having Yoo Ji Tae around as well. Thankfully the drama turned out eminently watchable and Ji Chang Wook is fantastic as Jung Hoo/Healer, the first time I genuinely like his role, but the flip side is my reservation has also come true which is Yoo Ji Tae is totally wasted in this particular outing. Moon Ho is important to the story but not worth casting a movie star leading man like Yoo Ji Tae, which gets me to the crux of a trend that’s been ongoing for two years now and shows no sign of stopping.

K-dramas have basically been doubling down on casting leading men by pairing an older establish actor with a younger star from the next generation, which has almost always resulted in wasting the older actor’s talent in a role that ends up being shunted to the side. The idiom that “one mountain cannot have two tigers” has never been more true, and it’s a trend I want stopped only because there should be ways of spreading the love without wasting the all that older leading man charisma on a thankless babysitting role. Healer is actually one of the least annoying examples of this trend, a look back reveals some dramas in the last two years which nearly gave me an apoplexy with the way the older lead’s story line inevitably got crapped all over. Continue reading

2013 Drama Reviews: A Year of Unexpected Dramas Both Real and Reel

I can’t say 2013 has been a great year for me on the personal front, and that sentiment extends to the drama offerings I’ve sampled this year. On the upside is a general feeling of acceptance and I don’t mean … Continue reading

Wrap Party Pictures from Marry Him If You Dare and All Signs Point to Shin-Mi Rae Ending Upon Re-watch

Yes, I must be micheoseo to re-watch any part of the last episode again. I confess that by the end of episode 16 of Marry Him If You Dare (Mirae’s Choice), I was literally holding onto my sanity by a thin … Continue reading