Korean Dramas

[Deleted]

Hey,I'm here, but I haven't been able to start and finish a drama since I watched Hospital Playlist last year. Oh, wait! I fell down the daily drama rabbit hole and I think they broke something in me to make me no longer enjoy good acting and writing. I also think I'm still resentful of Dramafever going away because they made it much easier than Viki to keep track of new shows.

[cabbagekid]

Feb 10, 2021 0:10:13 GMT -4 @livingfortheweeken said:

Hey,I'm here, but I haven't been able to start and finish a drama since I watched Hospital Playlist last year.

I LOVED hospital playlist so much. I think it was because I missed my friends and the show made me feel like I was a part of their group of friends. I also sing like the female lead, so you already know I'm amazing.

I think we're supposed to have a Season 2 of Hospital Playlist, Love Alarm, and Uncanny Counter. I'm on the fence about Season 2 for K-dramas because my main reason for loving them is I'm only invested for 16-25 episodes and then I'm done. But since these shows were done with Netflix, Season 2 for dramas are now starting to be a thing for Korean shows and I don't know how I feel about that.

Feb 9, 2021 17:52:31 GMT -4 americanchai said:

I've got Viki Plus. It's cheap enough and I'm catching up on lots of old stuff. I'm curious about some things that have less than 9.0 stars though because I've watched some 9.2's that were not good lol. I have to wonder how bad the stuff that only has like 4.0 stars is.

I feel like Viki's pay structure changed or they at least changed the shows I had access to with my subscription. I keep getting locked out of shows I want to watch. Now I have to check to make sure all episodes are available to me before I start watching the drama.

Also, mystic pop up bar wa so fun. I cried when it ended, but I had so much fun watching the show.

[Deleted]

Viki's airing rights structure is weird too. There are some dramas that I can only view on a mobile device but not the Roku app, and others that are the reverse.

I want Viki to make the weekend (50+ eps) dramas easier to find too.

I miss watching dramas. I want a hilarious rom-com with a wonderful ending and I can't seem to find any right now.

Apparently I want a lot of shit right now.

[americanchai]

Hi Weekender. Yeah I agree that Viki is weird. It used to be available on Kindle Fire which made it easy for me to watch while I was eating but then that disappeared. It's different watching on a computer or on your TV via Roku, etc. I also miss Drama Fever.

I also agree that I'm only invested in the first half of most rom-coms because the sticky middle bit after the first (only?!) kiss always gets annoying and I HATE time jumps, like forever and ever amen.

I am enjoying True Beauty though the female lead's shenanigans at hiding her make-up-less face are totally ridiculous but it does sort of have a message about how traumatizing bullying is.

Question: are all Korean high schools as full of horrible bullies as K-dramas would have us believe? I mean I kind of have an impression that lots of Korea's general culture is sort of bullying in a way so for Koreans to consider you a bully would have to be super-extra horrible. This is purely from my observation via Korean pop culture (I'm Chinese so have some experience as the child of Asian parenting lol).

[cabbagekid]

Feb 10, 2021 22:00:04 GMT -4 @livingfortheweeken said:

Viki's airing rights structure is weird too. There are some dramas that I can only view on a mobile device but not the Roku app, and others that are the reverse.

What?! I didn't even know this. I watch Viki 95% of the time on my Roku. The rest is on my ipad, but I usually only use my ipad to finish watching shows I've already started. I've used my phone a few times too, but again, it's just to finish shows I'm watching. Now in curious what's available on my phone versus Roku.

RomComs I've liked are:
- The Familiar Wife (Netflix)
- Her Private Life (Viki)
- Oh My Ghosted (Viki)
- Because this is my first life (Netflix)
- Crash Landing On you (Netflix)

[Deleted]

I think I started watching the first episode of Her Private Life, and The Familiar Wife is also one that I planned to watch. I've seen the others, and I liked them except I didn't love Crash Landing On You the way everyone else did. I liked it, but it was a lot of work for a not so great emotional pay off. The same with Goblin and Hi/Bye Mama - I feel like I cried through those dramas only to have them end like that.

I used to follow Dramabeans to keep up with the new dramas that are coming out, but it's so full of popup ads that I can barely access the site on my phone. They do have a weekly TV schedule that is very handy but I can never remember how to find it; I think it's located at the bottom of the recaps page.

I like Im Si-Wan so I may give Run On a chance.

[cabbagekid]

Feb 15, 2021 0:53:41 GMT -4 @livingfortheweeken said:

and I liked them except I didn't love Crash Landing On You the way everyone else did. I liked it, but it was a lot of work for a not so great emotional pay off.

I agree with you on CLOY. I really enjoyed the early episodes, but I feel like the entire series carried on 3-4 episodes too long. I'm probably also in a very small minority group that thinks the two characters shouldn't have ended up together. It's fine that they meet up every year or so in Switzerland, but realistically, what type of relationship is that? Are they even able to talk or communicate with each other on other days? For the record, I am a fan of the two and they're REAL love story.

Finally finishing My ID is Gangnam Beauty. This was a difficult show for me to watch because of the bullying. It's also taken a looooong time for the female character to finally gain confidence in herself. She was such a pushover for most of the series. Hopefully she maintains this character growth through the end of the series.

[americanchai]

Yeah the bullying aspect of a lot of the high school and college-related dramas are tough to watch. I can't remember one I've watched that didn't involve bullies.

I'm currently really enjoying The Uncanny Counter, Mystic Pop-Up Bar and Sweet Home. I'm also annoyed by Netflix splitting Korean series into 2 seasons - Love Alarm, I'm looking at you.

I didn't love Crash Landing On You. I hated the second couple. I hated the portrayal of North Korea as some weird folk fairytale land. I don't love Hyun Bin or whatserface.

I may re-watch Itaewon Class because there were aspects of that I didn't like. I didn't find the main lead's chemistry with either of his love interests convincing. I was actually hoping it would be truly revolutionary and have him fall in love with the transgender character who I liked better than both the female leads. I like Ahn Bo Hyun and he was so good at being evil that I genuinely hated him. But there were parts of the drama I really liked. I skipped through a good chunk of the middle TBH. Might go back and watch if I'm super bored.

I do want to re-watch Sky Castle which I honestly think is the best Korean drama I've ever seen - the acting, the writing, the directing, the story. It was all good, I thought.

[cabbagekid]

americanchai I started Sky Castle last year. This was the show I would watch while I was on the treadmill, but then my treadmill broke and here I am 15 pounds later with a still unfinished Sky Castle. Lol If you decide to watch Sky Castle, let me know and I'll restart it too so we can discuss the show.

I haven't watched Itaewon Class. I think I got 1-2 episodes in and lost interest. I also still have Sweet Home on my list of series to watch. I also need to finish Healer. I didn't realize that the main actress in that was Park Min Young. I didn't recognize her at all. I think it was her wig. Speaking of wigs, I noticed a lot of Korean shows tend to make lead actors/actresses wear wigs and it makes me laugh when I see it. Like wearing a wig automatically makes you look ugly. Or even glasses.

[Deleted]

Healer was good enough that I watched it a second time. I enjoyed the drama and twisty turns, and it also took me that long to figure out who was who in the past. It was so good that Smart Bitches reviewed it and the comment section turned into a rec list.

I put myself on the holds list for a manga The Way of the Househusband about a yakuza member who qutis it all to become a househusband. I was hoping Viki had the live action version, but they don't and Netflix is doing a version.

Viki did have a jdrama about an orphaned spy who fakes her own death to get married and become a housewife but 6 months later she finds it dull and her husband isn't as 'attentive' as he used to be, and her neighborhood friends have problems she can solve. The first episode was more serious than I was expecting, but I might keep watching. It's called Caution, Hazardous Wife.