Category Archives: K-dramas

Joynews Poll of Over 200 K-ent Insiders Selects Hospital Playlist 2 as Best Drama of 2021 Followed by Hometown Cha Cha Cha and then Vincenzo

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

Korean newspaper Joynews is celebrating its 17th anniversary this year and during the week of October 12th-19th it commissioned a poll of over 200 Korean industry insiders to vote for what drama they think was the best in 2021. The voters consisted of production honchos, producers, PDs, screenwriters, agency management heads, and entertainment news reporters. Hospital Playlist 2 received the … Continue reading →

Snack Cart Support Pictures Show First Look at Son Ye Jin Filming Upcoming Female-centric jTBC Drama Thirty Nine

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

The mega hit that was Crash Landing on You is now almost two years ago, and since then neither leads Hyun Bin or Son Ye Jin tried to capitalize on that surge of popularity with another drama or movie in quick succession. Not surprising since both are A-list established stars but now its Son Ye Jin who will be the … Continue reading →

Woo Do Hwan Readies for January 2022 Discharge From Military Service and in Talks for Netflix Drama Hounds

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

The news is starting to shift to the K-actors coming back from military service soon, and there are a bunch who are male leads already or slated to slot into being one. Seeing aside Park Bo Gum and Yang Se Jong who are coming back in early 2022, the first will be Woo Do Hwan in January 2022, he’s currently … Continue reading →

Even Lee Young Ae Can’t Revive jTBC’s 2021 Year Long Flagging Ratings as Weekend Drama Inspector Koo Premieres to 2.640%

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

I haven’t written about recently premiered jTBC weekend drama Inspector Koo (Koo Kyung Yi) because the cast and premise didn’t interest me, it’s one of those dramas that I will watch if I hear it’s good. But it’s still Lee Young Ae in the lead and she’s retained a near mythical image in South Korea even with her ten year … Continue reading →

2021 Year of the Youth Sageuks with Grown Up Child Actresses Kim So Hyun, Park Eun Bin, and Kim Yoo Jung Fails So Much Talent with Lee Se Young on Deck for the Final at Bat

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

It hurts my drama loving heart to have seen so much talented wasted so far and I wish these young actresses came of age a decade ago when there was actually good female lead sageuk roles and amazing scripts. The year of 2021 was supposed to the arrival of the grown up child actress talents and their headlining role in … Continue reading →

K-netizens Have Positive First Impression of the Complementary Visuals of Song Hye Kyo and Jang Ki Yong in New Stills for Now, We Are Breaking Up

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

This drama is hard to predict the Korean domestic viewer reaction to it before it airs. I don’t think it’s a given that upcoming romance drama Now, We are Breaking Up is guaranteed any type of ratings just because the female lead is Song Hye Kyo, so it’s really going to come down to story and directing, and then the … Continue reading →

Jirisan Episode 4 Jumps Back to 9.384% Rating and Better Yet Audience Reviews are Positive and Say This Should Have Been Episode 1 as the Directing Problems are Gone and the Script is Tight

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

This has been a see-saw weekend for tvN weekend drama Jirisan (Mount Jiri) so it’s once again hard to see where this drama is headed for the long run in terms of ratings and audience reception. This Sunday’s episode 4 brought in an increase to 9.384% ratings which isn’t as high as the breaking 10% episode 2 but the better … Continue reading →

Lovers of the Red Sky Memorable Bodyguard Song Won Seok Rejoins with Ahn Hyo Seob in Upcoming Rom-com Office Blind Date

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

The “mysterious and reticent warrior bodyguard” is such a K-drama sageuk trope especially for this younger lead romance centric sageuks. There have been countless rising K-actor that got their a memorable step up playing this role – Song Jae Rim in The Moon Embraces the Sun, Kwak Dong Yeon in Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, Hwang In Yeop in Tale of … Continue reading →

tvN Mountain Action Drama Jirisan Has Surprising Steep 3% Ratings Drop in Episode 3 to 7.850%

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

Well this isn’t good news for the cast and crew of tvN high profile big budget action thriller Jirisan (Mount Jiri). Yesterday was the third episode airing for the drama and coming off a big premiere weekend prior where both episodes set new cable ratings record, the first for being the highest premiere rating and the second for being the … Continue reading →

Lee Joon Hyuk and Lee Kyu Hyung to Cameo in Inspector Joy and Happiness, Respectively, Adding More Mature Sexy to the Upcoming Dramas

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

I was already planning to watch these two upcoming dramas but this just raises the interest level like exponentially. I love me some super underrated gems in K-ent and these two dudes fit the bill exactly. Lee Joon Hyuk will be doing a guest starring turn in upcoming comedic sageuk Inspector Joy with Taecyeon and Kim Hye Yoon, while over … Continue reading →

Shin Sung Rok Joins MBC Drama Doctor Lawyer with So Ji Sub and Im Soo Hyang

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

Looks like MBC is bringing in the big guns for this drama and it definitely has the scope for doubling down on leading men. Shin Sung Rok will be returning to the network next year with Doctor Lawyer, starring So Ji Sub as a doctor who gets his medical license revoked and becomes a lawyer specializing in medical malpractice litigation. … Continue reading →

Kim Soo Hyun Teams Up with Cha Seung Won for His Last Chance in Tense Legal Thriller One Ordinary Day

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

Online streaming platform Coupang Play hasn’t been a player yet but it’s clear it’s investing in the streaming K-drama market and the biggest offer to date will be next month’s legal drama One Ordinary Day (original title That Night). This drama looks and conceptually sounds high brow, based on the BBC series Criminal Justice and of course going from intense … Continue reading →

Shin Mina Arrives in Jeju to Join Lee Byung Hun to Start Filming Their Segment of the Omnibus Noh Hee Kyung Penned Drama Our Blues

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

It’s not much rest for K-actress Shin Mina as K-ent is reporting that this week she’s headed to Jeju Island to start filming her section of the upcoming K-drama Our Blues. She sure has an affinity with beach locales this year in her dramas but there are way worse places to be. It’s written by award winning writer Noh Hee … Continue reading →