My Lee Seung Gi has been freed! Like his character Song Oh Gong with the geumganggo magical bracelet binding him, the ending of Hwayugi feels like he’s taken off the shackles and can move on to better things but also knowing he’s tried his best. He arrived late at the drama wrap party so wasn’t snapped by the media but … Continue reading →
I’ve been girding myself for the concluding week of tvN fantasy drama Hwayugi (A Korean Odyssey) that I didn’t really process just how many new K-dramas were premiering this Saturday. Four new arrivals of different genres hit the small screen all with decent starts. On the prime time networks, KBS is finishing up long running drama My Golden Life with … Continue reading →
K-actor Lee Jun Ki is totally the football to my Charlie Brown. No matter how many times I know he’s likely not going to end up with a great drama project I still can’t help but get hopeful and have to watch it. I loved his Time Between Dog and Wolf but taking two of the success elements separately – … Continue reading →
I recently was reminded that Jang Geun Seok actually acted with IU before, in the very odd K-drama Pretty Boy (Bel Ami), which wasn’t as bad as it sounded but nevertheless goes down as a blip on the radar. I felt like that drama was the epitome and perhaps a self-aware parody of Jang Geun Seok as the ultimate K-drama … Continue reading →
I haven’t read Cheese in the Trap webtoon so I can’t say whether the lead characters are less interesting than the second leads the way things played out in the live-action K-drama version that aired in 2016 on tvN. I do have a feeling that the second leads for the upcoming movie version may steal the show, for the drama … Continue reading →
Leave it to PD Ahn Pan Seok to immediately remind me why I adore his directorial hand in dramas. The first teaser for jTBC romance drama Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food softly exudes a lovely mood, at times hesitant but still very palpable. It also brings back everything positive about the noona-dongsaeng romance sub-genre, when Jung Hae In calls … Continue reading →
I’m not sure how K-drama fans feel about this potential pairing but I’ll toss my first impression coin in the optimistic fountain. K-actress Hwang Jung Eum is considering an offer to be the leading lady in summer SBS romantic drama Hoo Nam and Jung Eum, which I hope is casting her not because she shares the same name as the … Continue reading →
I am sooooo excited about this drama, despite it awful beyond belief title. Upcoming SBS Mon-Tues drama Greasy Melo (or Oily Melo) is courting Jang Hyuk, Junho, and Jung Ryeo Won for the drama about a small restaurant in a neighborhood and the people who work there and live around the place. Jang Hyuk is being courted for the role … Continue reading →
Filming has started for SBS Wed-Thurs drama Switch: Change the World, which premieres at the end of March after Return. Starring Jang Geun Seok and Han Ye Ri, the drama has the male lead playing two roles, that of a top prosecutor and the swindler who impersonates him to get justice outside the law. Legal dramas have dominated the Wed-Thurs … Continue reading →
PD Ahn Pan Seok is such a master of setting the mood, every drama of his that I’ve watched has conveyed the central story line via a distinct mood so clearly. His last drama Heard it Through the Grapevine was gothic with a black humor infusion yet his upcoming work Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food is bright and airy … Continue reading →
For a high profile K-drama like Hwayugi with a big name cast including my faves Lee Seung Gi and Cha Seung Won, it’s dispiriting that the drama is limping towards the finale weekend with what feels like no buzz. It barely squeezed into the top 5 most buzzed about dramas for February and took an inverse journey of splashy premiere … Continue reading →
A full cast has been assembled this week for spring 2018 jTBC drama Life, not to be confused with the tvN police human interest drama Live that’s premiering earlier. Life stars already confirmed male leads Lee Dong Wook and Jo Seung Woo who will be joined by just announced female leads Won Jin Ah and Moon So Ri. It’s a … Continue reading →
Rom-coms continue to reside in the bottom rung of K-drama ratings to start of 2018, currently airing KBS Mon-Tues workplace romance Radio Romance (more contemplative rom and less com) is getting around 3-4% ratings. Cable network tvN got a solid rom-com win last year with This Life is Our First and now it’s scheduling a late spring rom-com adapted from … Continue reading →
