Four episodes into watching K-drama The King: Eternal Monarch and it’s a steady stream of “buh” and “huh” and “snooze…..” The story may be disjointed but there have been way worse written K-dramas that have worked better thanks to the onscreen romantic chemistry of the leads – not talking about acting ability, just whether the two leads make the viewer believe they are mere seconds away from boning if the camera wasn’t there. The leads of The King don’t just have no chemistry, they might have negative chemistry like two same sided magnets pushing off each other. I thought to make my list of when there has been a stupid/far-fetched,/preposterous/fantasy K-dramas and whether chemistry made it work. This isn’t about a well-written or substantive K-dramas as that can allow the story and directing to keep the interest and carry the day. This is about when everything is actually quite stupid but viewers love it because the leads sell it. Here goes!
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With the conclusion of Descendants of the Sun it’s a perfect time to check in with the popularity of K-dramas in China and see where this newest ratings breaker resides. Polling website Vlinkage just released the Top 30 Most Popular … Continue reading
Not only did the C-movie version of Secret Garden the famous K-drama actually film this year, it’s going to be released in three weeks on December 28th. Either mark your calendars because you want to watch it, or if you’re … Continue reading
Who is coming back tomorrow? Can I have a “booyah” from y’all as we start chanting “Binnie! Binnie! Binnie!” After 22 months of military service, Hyun Bin returns on December 6th from being an active duty marine in the Korean … Continue reading
I need someone to hold me before I collapse from laughing too hard. The first teaser and stills have been released for the upcoming C-movie adaptation of the K-drama Secret Garden, and I swear this looks as bad as I … Continue reading
I may loathe Secret Garden despite it starring two of my all-time fave actors as the leads, but I acknowledge how wildly popular it was all around Asia. China has been planning to do a remake for the last year, … Continue reading
Going into this year end review, I wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic as I was last year. I can’t pinpoint why, other than perhaps I simply wrote so much I wore myself out. All my drama writing in the 365 days … Continue reading
K-dramas do the most awesome of episode ending moments. Not all episode-enders are created equal, of course, but the truly unforgettable ones imprint themselves in your brain. Sometimes your jaw drops, other times your heart threatens to jump right out … Continue reading
Most dramas tend to be middle-of-the-road fare – you watch and then you forget about it. But sometimes even those dramas yield things that are memorable in other ways, it stays with you for a good long while. Today’s recess … Continue reading
The best part of the finale episode of Secret Garden for me was Son Ye Jin’s totally random but utterly adorable cameo. If this means she’s next on the hit list for a Kim Eun Sook drama, so be it. … Continue reading
It’s Secret Garden finale weekend, and the production is pulling out all stops with a concert held tonight, with footage that will make it into tomorrow’s final episode. This production schedule makes me realize that what happened in episode 1 … Continue reading
It appears that Secret Garden will wrap up this weekend in a flurry of viewer interest and pop cultural supremacy in Korea. A big congrats to the SG team (cast and crew) for working so hard on this drama. It’s … Continue reading
I’ve been watching Secret Garden for the past 9 weeks. It’s been both the best of dramas, and now, the worst of dramas. It’s taken me this long to write about this drama again because it’s been that aggravating to … Continue reading