There are two sources of strength getting me through this week’s dreaded Mon-Tues drama hump – the first is all those people counting on me to plow through the detritus of Marry Him If You Dare and provide a recap so they don’t have to watch it, and the second is the comfort that Prime Minister and I is just around the corner. I don’t think I’m wallowing in the disappointment of how much MHIYD sucks (I’ve made peace with it) hence anything and everything looks good in comparison, I genuinely think Prime Minister looks fantastic based on the stills and previews. The posters have just been released and I’m loving the OTP one with Lee Bum Soo and Kwon Yul and Yoona as Nam Da Jung in two different poses. In one they look slightly annoyed with each other but in the second they are definitely warming up to the contract marriage side of things, and in both I spot the rom and com I so desperately need. Yoona sports two different hairstyles in this drama, a curly one for when she’s just a tabloid photographer and the sleek look when she becomes Mrs. to the Prime Minister. Normally I’d roll my eyes at the sartorial stereotyping that free-spiriting photographers have wild crazy hair and politician’s wives must sport the ironed straight waterfall, but here the narrative requires that Da Jung play the part of the Prime Minister’s wife for the public so I figure the handlers around her will be going all out to turn her into the epitome of the high powered lady wife. I still think Lee Bum Soo and Yoona look fantastic together, with their chemistry and sparks going a long way to smoothing out the age difference and the fact that he’s on the short side of guys while she’s on the tall side of girls. I don’t care as long as I get lots of kissing and making out. I love second male lead Yoon Si Yoon and am thrilled he’s also in this drama, but for the romance I’m already camping out on the OTP ship. Check out the fantastic substantive first preview below and get wait for some genuine rom and com coming our way in exactly one week.
Preview for Prime Minister and I:
[youtube id=”fUxUT7RZSgw” w=”625″ h=”445″]
Kwon Yul: Miss! When are you planning to stop following me?
Nam Da Jung: I’ve been discovered.
Kwon Yool: This woman, you!
Da Jung: Prime….Prime…..Prime Minister!
Kwon Yul: Is your brain working? How can you appear just like that?
Da Jung: Something big happened!
Kwon Yul: Who did this absurd thing?
Kang In Ho: Love is something that is sometimes beyond our expectations.
Da Jung: Kwon Yul and I are dating!
Random politician: Do you think someone like him deserves to be Prime Minister?
Kwon Yul: I will resign.
Da Jung: YA!!!
Seo Hye Joo: What we worked so hard to achieve, I won’t give it up that easily!
Park Joon Ki: Minister Kwon is done.
Da Jung: Is there nothing we can do?
Kwon Yul: Miss Nam Da Jung, will you marry me?
I’m so excited for this….the only drama I’m watching right now is Heirs and gonna miss it too but this one looks really interesting….yes…it’s the next drama for me…
Can’t wait!!
LMAO his face when she’s passed out on the bench.
This is exactly what I need.
My favorite moment from this second preview. She is a mess and she is going to drive them all mad. Bring it!
On the other hand you could have chosen to recap the one actually good Mon-Tue drama, Empress Ki. Obviously, fan sites such as yours or Dramabeans are driven by interest so it feels a little ungrateful to criticize the great work you do, but I can’t help but feel the international kdrama community really has dropped the ball this fall. All attention has been lavished on Heirs and Marry, two absolutely mediocre shows. Meanwhile neither Secret nor Empress Ki, the two far and away best best dramas on air this Fall, have received much in terms of scrutiny. In any case, to people who haven’t heard of the latter two shows: if you are yearning for a little bit of quality in this drama year, which have so far been almost completely lacking hereof, I would recommend trying out either Secret or Empress Ki.
@gossipgirl
u forgot to mention another good drama this fall season is “the heirs”.
Heirs is not an amazing drama is just good be realistic Heirs is almost like BOF.
@true
Fir some reason, my comment went far down below. As I was sayin’…XXXX never said the heirs is “amazing” it’s just good. BOF is much better in many ways.
Empress Ki is too long for most people to bother with. I’m uninterested in it because of the length and not knowing if the quality will continue. I will check it out after it’s over though. But Secret not getting recapped is a bit strange. Though Nine wasn’t recapped last year and it was one of the best dramas of the year.
On topic, this show does look really good. I wasn’t going to check it out after suffering through MC, but I think I will.
Oh and another thing, people need to stop solely relying on DB and Koala for recaps and getting upset when they don’t do a show you like. There are smaller sites that do recaps or people should take up the job themselves if they feel a show is deserving.
I think it’s more the forum for lively and deep discussion that people miss when more popular sites don’t recap a drama. People improvised on DB by making the weekly off topic threads into Secret discussion posts which worked out ok. I was really surprised by Secret being ignored by bigger sites but I don’t think it was anyone’s radar when it started and by then DB & Miss Koala were invested in other dramas. It happens.
*by the time it blew up
They don’t owe you anything. They don’t run their blogs to gather to your likes. They recap what they want to recap and if you don’t like it then go somewhere else.
Empress Ki is too long of a drama to recap even if they like it. It’ll take half a year or more before its done.
I’m watching Empress Ki and dying for subs ( neither Viki or dramafever got the license to sub it) And yeah there are some people who gives brief recap ( soompi does that most of the time) So, I will not get mad becuase blogs aren’t recapping it.. they didn’t initiate to do it, so accept it as it is.
(Rant)
The international K-drama community is not “obliged” to do anything. Dramabeans, Ms.Koala, and other Drama Bloggers recap what they want, when they want–and I’m talking from first hand experience. I loved Empire of Gold, and so I recapped what I could even though few other people did. When I didn’t have time, I stopped.
Objective quality of the drama doesn’t matter as long as the blogger desires to recap it, and on the flip side, a “quality drama” need not have to be recapped. There are other sites (like the Talking Cupboard) that have recaps for Empress Ki, Secret, and a plethora of other dramas. Take the time to seek them out, instead of bashing the “key bloggers” for not recapping what you demand. (Rant Done)
The K-drama international community tends to stick rom-coms and fluffy dramas, so of course noirs, sageuks, and melos tend to be ignored; especially flamboyant melos like Secret (which I find to be obnoxious). That’s just the kind of fans they (we) are.
And of course Ms. Koala and others would recap dramas which will allow them to maintain their sites/earn money. That’s called common sense.
Yes, I used the same word like five times. Sorry for the convoluted paragraphs/sentences.
@gossipgirl
You took the words right out of my mouth (although KP did mention watching the show and liking it, just not recapping). Here -> https://koalasplayground.com/2013/11/19/mad-about-the-otp-of-ha-ji-won-and-joo-jin-mo-in-the-surprisingly-entertaining-empress-ki/
You don’t need to rely on these blogs for recaps. I only use them to find out what’s new, the decision is ultimately up to YOU whether to watch a show or not. Secret and Empress Ki are the two that interest me, currently watching the latter, and finished the former. Could care less about Heirs and Marry, did not even bother to check out the first episodes for neither.
Sorry, but i’ll have to disagree with you in several areas.
First, secret was interesting to watch, but i really wish people would stop calling it one of the best shows of this fall. It’s cringe-inducing, because i’ve watched secret and understand why people feel like it didn’t get enough love, but it was nowhere near a great show. It’s a train wreck no doubt even if it was more fun to watch than heirs. I think JB can attest to that, since she’s watched it too.
Second.. you’d have to be crazy dedicated to start recapping a show that is 50(!) episodes long.. Would you dedicate 6-7 months of your time recapping a show that may or may not stay solid throughout? That’s a big risk imo. This is coming from someone who is currently loving empress ki. Koala’s written some great posts about empress ki herself, so it’s not like she’s not following the shows too.
You read mainly about recapped shows because those are the shows she chose — it’s not like she could predict the future as to see which shows ended up being the dark horse. That’s where i have mad respect for these recappers. They stick with the shows they chose to recap to the bitter end.
Also, i’d just like to point out koala is ONE person — she can only recap so many shows.
Dramabeans is currently recapping basketball and answer me 1994 in addition to heirs and MHIYD simply because they’re a team of 4. So it’s not like all the attention is on heirs and MHIYD.
I personally think the two best shows of the fall right now are empress ki and AM1994, with AM1994 having the edge. But secret, i’ll have to disagree with.
I’m not going to say more since others have explained that this is koala’s blog and she can do whatever she wants with it.
JB rated Secret 7 out of 10, that’s not too bad. Just to give some sort of indication on how viewers outside South Korea think of Secret – anyone who’s got the time (like I have :)) to check out the comments section on viki.com for Secret will find that most of the people who watched Secret love the show and usually say that it’s one of the best dramas of 2013. As for Soompi, the 600-page thread dedicated to Secret is full of people praising the show (myself being one of them).
Having said that, bloggers can recap whatever drama they wish to recap – and I am so grateful for the blogs that did recap Secret.
I do understand your frustration that there are no recaps (and thus no space for discussion) on the big international kdrama blogs for your favourite shows, but that’s what’s soompi is for, right? If you want to give more spotlight to some of the shows you deem to be the best of the fall, you recap it and promote it. It takes alot of time and effort to recap shows, especially long shows like Empress Ki. Bloggers are people too and have their own preferences. They want to recap shows that they enjoy or even just have something to say about. I have heard of both EK and Secret; I couldn’t get into the former and thought the latter was awful. If you try other blogs aside from the main ones, you will find people talking about these shows. It’s all relative: I loved The End of the World and thought it was an absolutely brilliant show, but hardly anyone even watched it, let alone talked about it. The international kdrama community ‘drops the ball’ all the time on what some think are great shows. *shrugs* Perhaps some dramas don’t get the attention they deserve. But there’s no use criticizing bloggers for not talking about shows you love. If you love them, you can create a blog and wax lyrical about how amazing they are yourself; some people may check it out after reading what you have to say :’).
Empress Ki is boring ass drama like every other sageuk out there. Only sageuk ever i liked was Rooftop Prince and that was because it was half here half there lol. And believe me i gave it a chance-I watched Moon that Embraces the Sun,Princess Man, Gu Family Book and they all fell short in my eyes. Maybe in the future there will be a sageuk drama that i like but it sure is not Empress Ki.
And personally i think any drama longer than 30 episodes should not have recap.
Empress Ki is boring?! well, that’s your say and I’m not gonna argue with you. But if you wanna watch a real quality sageuk try Damo or Dong Yi. Though I’m really curious what was boring about TPM. I can understand GFB becuase writing wasn’t as best. I don’t know, maybe you’re not into sageuk beacuse Rooftop prince isn’t actually a historical drama that I would try to find the sageuk taste..
Sorry for the OT
@true
Xcuse me for jumping in, XXXX did not say the heirs is “amazing”. Its just good. BOF is definitely better.
Well.. I wasn’t into this show until I read it’s marriage contract. This drama might seem a good healing for what is supposed to be rom-com MHIYD.
OOT, but have you heard Ms K? The forever-second-lead KJW (sob!) gets casted in Age of Feeling playing rival to KHJ for JSY’s affections. I can hear hearts breaking all over again…
*cast
Sigh, why can’t we all be friends? There’s been way too much shipping BS and general drama infighting lately.
I would love the kissing and making out, but the age gap, the fact that she is an idol, that her company is producing this and that it’s advertised as “warm and for the whole family” pretty much tells me we’ll be left with longing stares and maybe a passionate hug. How cool and taboo-shattering would be it though? *sigh*
Too much rants… as for me im excited for this series. Already excited Lee Beum Soo and Yoona pairing.
Can`t wait PMAI to start and the mess of MHIYD to end.
i wonder who is the writer..just like at the heirs thread..kim eun sook this and that..you probably don’t
Looking forward to this!
I gave up on MHIYD, sadly. Currently watching Heirs and Answer Me 1994 (have you checked it out??), watched the first episode of Pretty Man but I’m not sure if I like it, it was weird.
I’m in the mood for a period chinese drama, but Damoyao, Yun Zhong Ge and Chang Ge Xing won’t be released any time soon. :/
I’m so exited!! ONE MORE WEEK! Lets hope the drama is as good as the trailers. Lee Bum Soo so handsome and Yoona so pretty! I loved their interactions in the teasers and trailer. This week will be the press conference?? I want a long preview!!
It’s on Wednesday, the 4th. Then the cast will also be on Happy Together 3 on Thursday. A lot of things this week. 🙂
Thanks so much for the info!! 🙂
I am so looking forward to watching PMAI! Much needed after the MHIYD messed up with me.
Siiiiigh. If Lee Bum Soo asked to marry me, I would say yes in a heartbeat.
Aww yoon si yoon as second male lead ONLY?! I’m sad especially when he pulled off that mouth dropping moment look. Awww, i hope he’ll get his own otp although that looks really far-fetched but still… 🙂