New K-drama Alert: Angry Mom and Sensory Couple/Girl Who Sees Smells

Remember in my last post how I was like, "Blah blah I'm too fancy to care about Angry Mom or Sensory Couple"?

I take it back. Here's why:

Angry Mom

Premise: A mom with a feisty past (Kim Hee Sun) discovers that her daughter is being bullied. When the authorities refuse to help, she takes matters into her own hands, going undercover as a teenager at the school.

Episodes watched: 1-4

Thoughts so far: Four episodes in, and I'm in love. The whole thing could have been a silly mess, but it's a much smarter, more serious series than I initially gave it credit for. This premise won a screenwriting competition, and I can see why. Even after a few episodes, I feel like I've known some of these characters forever. 

Favorites? Obviously the magnificent Kim Hee Sun, who somehow manages to look far more like a grumpy teenager than she has any right to look. She even has the grumpy teenager slouch down perfectly.

Runner up is Bok Dong (Ji Soo), the resident bad boy. I have a feeling he's going to make me shed more than a few tears.

I am going to dock some points for the K-drama coincidence parade. It's fine if you have a couple of big reveals, but so far it's looking like everyone will have some amazing surprise connection to absolutely everyone else (I'm looking at you judge/teacher daddy). 

This series is much darker than it looks, but it's handling heavy subject matter like bullying and sexual assault with the weight it deserves. The lighthearted and comedic moments feel like a necessary breath of fresh air, and I don't fee jolted by shifts in tone like I do in other dramas.

Sensory Couple/Girl Who Sees Smells

Premise: After a tragic event, a woman (Shin Se Kyung) wakes up from a coma to discover that she can see smells. A police officer (Yoochun) who loses his sister in the same event finds that he has lost his ability to feel pain.

Episodes watched: 1

Thoughts so far: It's just the premiere, so it's not like I can say that much, but it's cute! 

I mean, with a title like Girl Who Sees Smells, it could have been way worse. Yeah, the cartoon smells floating around are as ridiculous as you would expect, but I'm happy to report that her visions weren't the focus of the first episode.

Granted, a bunch of people get murdered within the first eight minutes of the series (cue sad trombone), but after that, it's quirky, fast-paced, and fun. I expected to hate Shin Se Kyung, but she actually fits her role well so far. I pretty much always have zero feelings either way about Yoochun, and...I also have zero feelings about him in this series at this point.

Is it the next Citizen Kane? No. But will it make you feel like spring is here? Yes. Basically, if Angry Mom makes you too depressed, watch this as a chaser. Except for all of the murdered people (cue sad trombone again).

Stray observation (possibly spoiler-y): Was anyone else bothered by the cop just adopting her and changing her name and pretending he had been her dad for her whole life? I'm assuming it's a witness protection kind of thing, but still....

Anyone else watching? Tell me your thoughts so far!

My Newest K-drama Love: Healer Korean Drama Review

Sometimes I feel like becoming a K-drama reviewer has made me a jaded K-drama viewer. I have seen and critiqued so many shows that most dramas don't get past a "that was decently fun" or "meh, not the best I've seen." I sometimes wish I could capture that magical feeling when I first discovered dramas and everything was SO AWESOME, even if it had glaring plot holes or triple amnesia.

Well, I haven't built any time machines recently (YET!), but thanks to Healer, I was able to recapture that feeling of really, really loving a drama for the first time in way too long. I loved this show. 

There's a lot of hype over Healer, which definitely added to my personal enjoyment of the series. I don't always catch the biggest shows right at the height of their popularity, but this time, my personal fangirling happened to coincide with everyone else's fangirling, which only made me more excited.

No, seriously. I got waaaaaaay too excited. Like texting all of my non-K-drama-watching friends and family and telling them to watch Healer excited. I. can't. stop. gushing. over. this. show. 

So if you want an even-keeled review, I might not be able to help this time...

I guess mass obsession is great for the people caught up in the moment, but it does tend to put a damper on the viewing experience for people who come to the drama a bit later. It's easy to think "Wait, that's it? What was all the fuss about?"

So here's my disclaimer about Healer: It's an action romance. Nothing more. Nothing less. It isn't going to shatter your worldview or leave you thinking for months after the last episode. It's just an action romance.

Do you disapprove of people leaping off of buildings? Then this isn't the show for you.

But still. As an action romance, it's practically perfect in every way.

Healer knows exactly what kind of show it is, but it doesn't let a "fluff" genre like action romance get in the way of doing a good job. The writers, actors, and directors took a decently engaging plot and executed it with care, transforming it into an incredibly engaging viewer experience.

When I say that almost every element worked, I really mean it. The pacing was excellent, spacing out less-exciting scenes to avoid that dreaded "episode 15 slump." There was a nice balance of laugh-out-loud humor, heart-thumping romance, and nail-biting action throughout the series. The soundtrack was catchy and memorable. Perhaps best of all, no one caught amnesia!

Above all else, Healer had a well-rounded cast. Instead of focusing on the main leads with maybe one or two fun side characters surrounded by one-dimensional filler characters, the world of Healer was stuffed to the brim with people you couldn't help but love and care about. There really weren't any weak links. I can't even pinpoint who my favorite character is. It's clearly Min Ja—until Young Shin's dad makes me cry. Or mini Healer pops up to save the day. I mean, my favorite part of the entire show wasn't even a romantic moment—it was that stunning training sequence between Teacher and Healer in the abandoned building.

But seriously, Min Ja is obviously my real favorite.

Even the main villain was more nuanced than usual, and I caught myself feeling sorry for him from time to time. Aside from the Big Bad Elder and his sniveling sidekick, everyone had a story and some depth.

Okay, so I know I already just said "above all else" to explain the importance of the cast, but I'm going to "above all else" that "above all else" with this most most important factor in my Healer obsession:

Ji.

Chang.

Wook.

Wow. Just WOW. Look, if you want to see some handsome eye candy, you can head to pretty much any show out there, but if you want to see some actual acting, look no further. By virtue of their scripts, the vast majority of K-drama actors (including, I'm afraid, some favorite veterans) simply swing back and forth between stoic disdain and full-on shouting with very little in the middle. Ok, so some sob-crying usually makes the cut.

But Ji Chang Wook is one of those rare K-drama finds who doesn't over-act or under-act. Instead, everything he does feels incredibly natural, like I'm watching a real person living through these experiences, as out-of-the-ordinary as those experiences may be. 

As Healer/Jung Hoo/Bong Soo, he was able to convey more emotion with the slightest little twitch of a facial muscle than many actors and actresses do with a massive screaming fit. Not only that, but he acted with his entire body instead of just his face. Perhaps that's his theater background at work. Whatever it was, it worked, and now I'm completely mesmerized by him and may have to watch Bachelor's Vegetable Store to see more (words I never thought I would utter in a million years).

Of course, we can't talk about him without his leading lady. I haven't really had strong feelings either way about Park Min Young in the past, but I felt that she suited this role well, and the Jung Hoo/Young Shin couple was my favorite kind of OTP—one where I could see why they wanted to be together, and I believed the relationship development wholeheartedly.

Do I really need two screenshots to prove my point? Probably not, but are you gonna complain about it?

While we're at it, we should also mention the third member of our trio, Kim Moon Ho. Yoo Ji Tae could have disappeared next to our OTP pretty easily, but he held his own really well, keeping me absolutely invested in his side of the story.

Ok, so here's the part of the review where I talk about things I didn't like:

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Uh, I guess I didn't like it when Young Shin did obviously dangerous things like getting into the villain's car? I also didn't really like that "Eternal Love" song because it sounded like it came straight out of the 90s, but not in a good way.

Other than that, I really can't think of anything. I mean, the logical part of my brain knows there were probably problems with the show, but they don't come to mind at the moment, and I would really rather just bask in the glow of my enjoyment a little while longer. Don't rain on my Healer-obsessed parade, okay?

So thank you, Healer, for reminding me how thoroughly enjoyable a K-drama can be. My feelings for you are genuine.

Where to watch Healer:

DramaFever

Viki (2-week delay for North America)

Birth of a Beauty Korean Drama Review

Ohhhh, Birth of a Beauty, where do I even begin with you? Ugggggggggggggggggh. Even thinking about this review is making me feel bored and slightly grumpy.

And somehow giddy at the same time.

How is that even possible? Well, to answer that question, this drama is going to have to be reviewed in multiple parts.

The Obstacle of the Premise

Before we get into what happened with this drama, we need to talk about the elephant in the room, which isn't a thinly veiled fat joke about our heroine, but rather a reference to the questionable premise.

So here's the rundown: Sa Geum Ran (played by both Ha Jae Suk and Han Ye Seul) is an overweight married woman whose handsome husband cheats on her and then does other terrible things. In despair, Geum Ran turns to Han Tae Hee (Joo Sang Wook), a genius who helps transform her through drastic plastic surgery into Sara, the perfect woman. Then they try to get revenge and learn important life lessons or something.

By our powers combined....

I have heard a lot of people saying that they either didn't start the drama or quit early on because they found the premise distasteful and shallow. To be honest, I was right there with you. On paper, it sounds suspiciously similar to the movie 200 Pounds Beauty, which, to be honest, I hated. It was a jumbled mess of messages about body image that tried to preach a "be yourself" message while also saying that plastic surgery will cure all of your woes. I can see why people wouldn't want to watch that all over again for 21 episodes.

So, for all of my skepticism, how did Birth of a Beauty fare? 

I guess all I can really say is that I didn't feel like the premise became an obstacle to character development after the first handful of episodes. It's not like the series did anything unexpected with the premise (like Miss Korea did with beauty pageants), but it didn't totally fail, either. I really liked how they continuously included the initial Sa Geum Ran actress as a reminder that plastic surgery can't magically heal emotional wounds, and I'm sad that they forgot about her in the last stretch of the series.

It's funny that both 200 Pounds Beauty and Birth of a Beauty concluded with a friend wanting full-body plastic surgery. In the former, it was left as a funny (but not really) joke hanging at the end of the movie, and in the latter, it was used as a chance for Sara to pontificate (in a pretty heavy-handed and obvious way) about the importance of loving yourself. 

So no, I wouldn't say that people should automatically rule this drama out because of the premise.

Review 1: Episodes 1-14(ish)

On to the show itself!

It's no secret that I loved the pairing of Han Ye Seul and Joo Sang Wook, but it bears repeating just one more time. 

I. Love. This. Couple.

You had me at "couple's pajamas."

These two carried the show with a pleasant blend of chemistry and wit. Remember how I was talking about balanced K-drama relationships back in the day? Well, this is what I meant. With many K-dramas, I wonder why the lead couple wants to be together at all, and I especially wonder how they'll manage to stay together once the entire world isn't trying to keep them apart and making them fight for their "true love." Well, that wasn't the case here. The development of the relationship made it obvious that it was based in mutual respect, trust, and friendship. Instead of being noble idiots, they were open about their concerns and worked together. They fell in love because they enjoyed being around each other, and seeing how their offbeat personalities complimented each other made the series well worth watching in spite of some other glaring problems.

Now, let's talk about some of those glaring problems.

First of all, the entire plot was full of nonsense. I swear that my experience with this show constantly alternated between massive Liz Lemon eye rolls:

Via

...and giddiness at the hilarious/adorable stunts our leads pulled with each other:

For example, can we talk about that "psychological test" that Tae Hee took where they emailed him and said, "You're in love with Sara" and then he — THE SUPPOSED GENIUS OF THE OPERATION — re-reads that email with his computer facing said Sara?!?!?!?!?!?!!

No, let's not talk about it. It offends the logical part of my brain too much.

But thennnnnnn because of aforementioned love test, we get the fantastic seduction war pictured above, which was one of my favorite sequences. So do I forgive the love test or not?

Or, as another example, the absurd hypnotizing head contraption that helped prove that Han Tae Hee really loved Sa Geum Ran instead of Sara:

Can you forgive nonsense if it leads to cute things? Apparently I can!

Ok, so that then leads us to the villains. This is a classic case where the writers probably should have evaluated quality over quantity. I would much rather watch one interesting, well-developed villain than three boring, one-dimensional lead villains and a handful of minor villains. I think there was some potential for interesting emotional development with Han Min Hyuk and his traumatic childhood, but instead the writers were like "Bastard son? Murderer. Cheating husband? Murderer. Selfish mistress? Murderer. Other selfish mistress? Murderer! Welp, I think our work here is done for the day!"

50% of the scenes involved one or more characters making this exact face.

But, as I said before, the good outweighed the bad for me, until...

Review 2: Episodes 15-21

Sigh. I hate you, show. Allow me to quote myself from five minutes ago: "Instead of being noble idiots, they were open about their concerns and worked together. They fell in love because they enjoyed being around each other, and seeing how their offbeat personalities complimented each other made the series well worth watching."

All of that was true — until the writers realized that they were dealing with 20 episodes instead of 16, and then they got an episode extension on top of it, and they just threw in the towel. 

In the last 5-6 episodes, it's like the characters got amnesia, bu no one bothered to inform the audience. They forgot that they were really, really good about being open and honest with their concerns and decided to run from each other and trust murderers instead.

Han Tae Hee forgot that he was a "genius" and couldn't even notice very obvious clues about what was happening with Sara. Sara forgot that she used to be a judo champion who beat up a gang of men ten episodes earlier and suddenly couldn't even figure out how to break out of a wrist grab from Lee Kang Joon.

I know Lee Kang Joon is menacing and all, but come on. Just look at him. The man is clearly a sissy.

To be honest, I only made it through the last six episodes because I was determined to write this review, and I fast forwarded a lot of the villainous planning sessions just to get through it all. 

Conclusions

Birth of a Beauty and I are in a fight right now. I feel annoyed, but maybe that's because I semi-marathoned the last few episodes, and it was painfully boring and full of obnoxious cry faces. Then I look back at all of the good times we had, and I think that maybe we can overcome these obstacles and reconcile. But if anyone's going to undergo drastic cuts to make this relationship work, it's going to be the show, not me.

Where to watch Birth of a Beauty

DramaFever

Viki

SoompiTV

The Best K-dramas of 2014 (And the worst. And all the rest too.)

Another amazing year full of K-drama magic has flown by, so before we dive into 2015, let's take a look at our favorite (and least favorite) 2014 K-drama moments!


Favorite drama of the year


Vivi: Let’s be honest: The dramas that are the “best” aren’t always the ones that end up being our favorites, but this year, I really enjoyed some dramas that seemed to be pretty good overall. For favorite drama, I’m going with Marriage, Not Dating. It was like summery crack, and it was the first romantic comedy I’ve seen in a long time that remembered it was a comedy through the whole show. At the same time, though, the emotions felt real and earned. Most people don't actually face crazy heiress mothers-in-law who throw water on your face, but the passive-aggressive scene in the wedding dress just about had me in tears with how real it felt. Han Groo was an absolute revelation.

Coco: I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have impeccable taste and the ones I love are the best.

V: You are still watching Greatest Marriage. Everything you say is invalid.

C: True, and it is definitely of questionable quality, but I’m not picking it as my favorite! I’m making the claim that It’s Okay, That’s Love was not only my favorite drama of the year, but is also objectively the best drama of the year!





V: How are we judging "best" here? Does it mean that the most people said it was the best? OR does it mean that it was a drama that no one really wanted to watch, but they felt smart watching it, kind of like the Oscars?

C: It just means that I said it was the best.

V: Oh, well then, It’s Okay, That’s Love wins then! Actually, that’s one that’s on my list to watch for later. The whole mental illness plot hit really close to home when it aired, but I still want to see it.

C: You will love it. So stop pretending you are going to watch it and just do it! And I’m not the only one who says it was the best this year. It was very popular all around. And I think it’s saying a lot that the drama debuted without a lot of hype but steadily increased popularity as it aired.

V: I now know what my New Year’s resolution is! New Year’s is all about realistic goals, right? Forget going to the gym; I will feel accomplished as I sit on my couch eating bonbons and watching this show. Where does one find bonbons? Because they are an integral part of my resolution.

C: I don’t know. I just know that’s what housewives eat when they watch soap operas all day, and I want them too.


Biggest Guilty Pleasure

V: So let’s skip to the other end of the quality spectrum. What was your guilty pleasure of the year? The one you were embarrassed to admit you enjoyed? Mine is probably a toss-up between You’re All Surrounded and After School: Lucky or Not Season 2. I'm not saying that I really love After School or anything, but there are so many poop jokes per capita that I feel embarrassed watching at all. Why am I watching? Because it’s short? I don’t know. You Are All Surrounded was okay quality with silly villains and bad writing, but I was obsessed with it to an unreasonable degree. It was the explosions. I’m an easy girl to please, okay?

You had me at hello.

C: And it was also Lee Seung Gi. You LOVE him.

V: I met him! And by "met," I of course mean "snapped photos from far, far away at KCON." We're basically besties.

C: I’ll go ahead and admit here that I do really love The Greatest Marriage. And hate it. Because it makes me laugh at the absurdity of the plot and cry at the over-the-top melodramatic scenes. I’ve never watched a drama so close to what I would consider an outlandish soap opera, and I hated every character, but it redeemed itself by exploring interesting and relevant gender themes.

V: But did they reeeeeeally explore them? Because I watched a couple of episodes, and it just looked like the crazy train.

C: It was the crazy train! But it’s Korea’s culture of suppressing women that makes everyone so crazy.

V: So like Emergency Couple. But with a less cute child than Baby Gook.

C: And a less likable second male lead, or first male lead, or even first female lead. Really there aren’t that many redeeming qualities. That’s why it’s my guilty pleasure!

V: But fewer poop jokes than After School Lucky or Not, so that’s definitely classier than me!


Funniest K-drama

C: Speaking of funny moments (that aren’t poop jokes), what K-drama made you laugh the most this year?

V: There is only one show that literally made me laugh out loud, and that was Mr. Baek. Watching Shin Ha Kyun make old man faces was amazing. Also, for some reason, I feel like if my husband were a 70-year-old man who turned 30, he would make those same faces.

C: I laughed so hard at Fated to Love You. Lee Gun's maniacal laughter is so funny and gets me every time! He really nails comedy with his physical presence.


Also this was a new drama that returned to much of the same old K-drama tropes but managed to make them fresh and enjoyable all over again.

V: Interestingly enough, Jang Na Ra is the female lead in both dramas, but I don't find her particularly funny. Unless you find downtrodden sweetness funny.


Biggest WTF moment

V: The ending scene of Prime Minister and I. Uggggggggggggggggggggh. Do I complain about this drama every chance I get? Yes, yes I do. And I don't feel sorry.

C: I am so on board with the ending of Prime Minister and I! That was the worst.

V: Never before have I felt so cheated over a handshake. I feel personally offended by the writers. I thought we were friends!

C: Also, I’ll add pretty much everything that No Min Woo’s character does in The Greatest Marriage, including his WTF outfits. But they kind of make me love him even more because he can be so cute sometimes.





V: I personally have no idea what you’re talking about. I think that wearing a shirt emblazoned with the word “LONELY” is a perfectly reasonable fashion choice for a date.

C: And the crazy things the second female lead does! Kidnapping your husband’s secret half child so that you can raise it as your own and win your rich in-laws’ love is never a good idea.

V: Speaking of odd dating behaviors in second female leads, I want to add the second female lead from Marriage Not Dating to my WTF list. She might even be at the top. I mean, she tried to blackmail a guy for his sperm. (???!!?!) Please tell me that this is not a real thing that reasonable people do. No, seriously. I need reassurance.

C: One thing I will give the K-dramas this year is that they had the most punch-worthy female second leads ever.


Character you wish you could punch in the face the most

V: Ok, I need to think about this. I only get one punch for the ENTIRE year? I need to use it wisely, or I’ll regret it for all of 2015.

C: Ooo, I know who I pick! The evil mom from Pinocchio. What a *itch! I mean, the lady completely ignores her child for 12 years and then after finally seeing her and having her hug her and tell her that she misses and loves her, she says she hasn’t even thought about her once because she has been too busy and then walks away after tearing all her career dreams down. Not to mention the fact that she’s responsible for destroying the male lead's family with her crazy and dishonest ambition as a news reporter. She’s so evil!

V: Ok, that’s pretty deserving, but I think we should do this by Hammurabi’s code. An eye for an eye. Because I think the person who actually hit other people the most in a drama was the Birkin bag villain in You Are All Surrounded, so getting punched in return seems really fair. Punched with a fake designer bag. Smells like justice.

C: Only as long as you hand the designer bag back to me afterwards so I can fill it with bricks and hit the Pinocchio lady over the head!

V: We might have to invest in a real designer bag in that case. You know, so the handles don’t fall off while we’re delivering high-class justice.

C: I like the sound of that!

V: Let’s move on to the people we don’t want to hit over the head with a bag o’ bricks, shall we?


Favorite couple

C: We all know that this is usually the real reason we stick around for an entire K-drama. Who was your favorite couple of the year, Vivi?


V: Birth of a Beauty. Birth of a Beauty. BIRTH OF A BEAUTY!!!!!!! Best couple ever in the entire universe. Period. Times ten million.

C: Oh wow! Now I must go back to watching it!

V: The plot is absolute nonsense half of the time and the villains might as well be cardboard cutouts, but WOW, the leads make up for it. I just love how they do normal things together, like shopping or cooking or whatever, and it’s the best thing ever. And they’re really supportive of each other and have actual conversations about things and apologize when they fight like normal adults, and I luff them.

C: My favorite couple is It’s Okay, That’s Love all the way! Their chemistry was off the charts and they were just all-around a really believable couple.

It made me kind of obsessively wish they were together in real life and I got really excited when it came out that both of them had recently broken up with their real significant others.

V: Sooooo, what you’re saying is that you’re a homewrecker at heart.

C: Isn’t every K-drama fan? I mean, pretty much every K-drama female lead is a homewrecker. Or at least the male lead. I’m not at the part where he breaks up with the second female lead in Fated to Love You yet, but based on what I’ve seen so far, I think it’s going to be really sad. This doesn’t stop me from wanting him to end up with the female lead, though.

V: Nope, I’m still judging you. Even if you’re right.

C: Fine, then I judge you for liking poop jokes. Moving on!


Best and worst kiss

C: I would consider my pick to be the best and the worst kiss at the same time. The “toast kiss” in Pinocchio looked absolutely ridiculous and seemed like another excuse for Park Shin Hye to never have to actually kiss anyone, but the scene itself was so funny and oddly was kind of sexy.



V: Yeah, the Pinocchio toast kiss was just weird and awkward. SO MANY CORNERS! At least choose a food that isn’t so pointy. But actually the worst kiss for me was in Pride and Prejudice when he was like “Want proof I’m not a murderer?” *KISS* Not sexy. Just terrible.

 The best one was probably Miss Korea just because he was trying to do the whole noble idiocy thing and she was like, “Nice try, buddy!” and then they kissed. I cheered at my screen for that one. Actually, there were a lot of things about Miss Korea that were pleasantly surprising. If I had to nominate the most underrated drama of the year, it would be that one for sure.

My Love from Another Star also had some massively romantic kissing, obviously. That’s part of the reason everyone is so obsessed with it.


Favorite side character

C: My favorite side character has to be Kwang Soo’s character in It’s Okay That’s Love. Kwang Soo is always funny in everything he does, but he’s turned out to also be a really talented actor who brings depth to his characters. In It’s Okay, That’s Love he manages to play someone with turrets syndrome who isn’t just a trope, but is a charming person with realistic responses to life.

Also, I have to mention Baby Gook from Emergency Couple. Let’s be real; he’s actually my favorite character of all time!

V: Well, I was going to say Kim Seul Gi in both Surplus Princess and Discovery of Romance, especially since she made Discovery of Romance watchable, but now that you had to go and bring up Baby Gook, it’s a no-brainer. If I could meet one Korean celebrity, it would be Baby Gook. And I would squish his little cheeks. And I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine.

C: No, he’s mine! I challenge you to a hand bag duel!

V: I was gonna suggest joint custody, but if we’re jumping straight to duels, so be it!


Best Eye Candy

V: I always feel kind of creepy being like “Ooooh, look at this man all alone in his shower!”

C: I don’t! Sorry, not sorry.

V: That being said, I recognize eye candy as a major part of the drama-watching experience. (Can you hear me trying to make this category legit?) My most swoony moment wasn’t even chocolate abs-related. It was Lee Joon Ki’s sweet ninja outfit in Joseon Gunman. I just did a high school girl sigh just thinking about it.

C: Despite My Lovable Girl being the biggest disappointment of the year for me, Rain sure does look good in it!

Sigh…


V: While we’re sighing, can I nominate the best ear candy of the year? Because I could listen to Choi Jin Hyuk or Lee Sun Gyun talk alllllll day.

C: I second that emotion!


Worst Second Lead Syndrome of the year

V: Can you guess who I’m going to say for second lead syndrome?

C: YES! And I agree with you! Poor, poor Chief Gook in Emergency Couple.

V: SIGH. (But not Lee Joon Ki in a ninja outfit sigh. Clutching my heart because I’m sad sigh.)

C: DOUBLE SIGH. Oh the agony of his puppy dog eyes and wistful, heartbroken glances.

V: Let’s stop talking about it. My heart can’t take it! Second place goes to Lee Joon in Mr. Baek. Talk about the surprise of the year! I had no idea he could act like that, and his character ended up being way more nuanced than I thought. But does coming in second place in the second lead contest just make him the saddest loser of the year?

C: Not as sad as the one who gets third place: L’s character in My Lovable Girl. It made it so much worse because it was such an obviously better match. Krystal with Rain, who by the way plays her much older dead sister’s ex-boyfriend. Weird and wrong. And L is also a K-pop boy who is shaping up to be a decent actor.

V: We’re using the term “decent” kind of loosely here, right? But yes, L’s character seemed like a much, much better fit.

C: Yes, by decent I mean entertaining and surprisingly tolerable, but mostly just cute.

V: But what’s worse? Dating your dead sister’s ex, or dating a high school student who your little sister loves (King of High School)? Because if this year taught me anything, it’s that love conquers all kinds of slightly awkward obstacles!

C: Fighting!

Thanks for spending another great year with us! What were your favorite drama moments?

-Coco and Vivi

New Dramas: Pride and Prejudice, Birth of a Beauty, and Mr. Baek

New drama time! New drama time! New drama tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime! *Jazz hands*

Can you tell I'm a little bit excited about getting a new crop of shows? In case you can't tell from my incredibly sporadic (read: nonexistent) blogging of late, I didn't have time to pick up any of the dramas in the last round. Plus, none of them really grabbed my attention. But now life isn't quite as chaotic, just in time for a new set of shows! Thanks, universe!


I checked out Pride and Prejudice, Birth of a Beauty, and Mr. Baek. Realistically, I won't be able to keep up with all of them, but I haven't been able to make up my mind on which ones I'll watch yet. Here are my thoughts so far:

Pride and Prejudice

An ensemble cast! My favorite!
Image via

What it's about: A genius ace prosecutor (Choi Jin Hyuk) and a hardworking rookie prosecutor (Baek Jin Hee) end up on the same team years after they dated. Romance, mystery, corruption, and pretty much everything else you would expect from a legal drama ensues. And no, despite what the title implies, it has no relation to Jane Austen, though they do have a little nod to the book in the second episode.

Initial thoughts: As someone who has watched more than her fair share of Law and Order marathons on TNT, I feel qualified to say that the case-of-the-day format here isn't the most compelling I've ever seen. It's fine, but I'm hoping they move to the central mystery and drop the procedural style soon. 

But who even cares about plot when you have Choi Jin Hyuk? I wasn't enthralled with his character in Emergency Couple, but for some reason, I can't stop watching him here. It's not like his character is that interesting, so I don't get it. Is it the suits? Is it his melodious voice? Am I really that shallow? Quite possibly. His banter back and forth with Baek Jin Hee is delightful to watch.

This is my first time seeing Baek Jin Hee in anything. Is it just me, or does she look a lot like Yoon Eun Hye from certain angles?

You all see it, right? I'm not just making things up?

I like her character fine so far, but I really wish she would stop running around in high heels. Just stop and take them off. Please.

I want to pat the second male lead on the head and give him a cookie.

Birth of a Beauty

I know that this is completely hypocritical given my feelings about the premise,
but I have massive hair envy. Don't hate me.
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What it's about: An overweight woman (Han Ye Seul) finds out that her husband is cheating on her and goes to a genius (Joo Sang Wook) for help transforming herself. She undergoes massive plastic surgery and then vows to get her revenge.

Initial thoughts: When I first heard this premise, I wanted to smash my face into my keyboard. It sounds pretty similar to the premise of 200 Pounds Beauty, which I really didn't like. I know the movie is popular, but sorry, I can't get behind this one. The movie seemed pretty confused, and it kept sending mixed messages about body image. (Be true to yourself! But if you're sad, you should get pretty, and it really will fix all of your problems.) 

Still, I gave the show a chance, and while it's too early to say how it will handle body image issues, it has some promise. The first episode was a big hot logical mess, but once they got past that initial hurdle, it settled down into enjoyable romcom territory. 

This show wouldn't work at all with the wrong leads, but Joo Sang Wook and Han Ye Seul have some crazy chemistry together. That's pretty important because I hate pretty much ALL of the other characters right now. Like if I were in a room with all of the secondary characters and had the chance to give one and only one of them a terrible wedgie, I would be paralyzed with indecision. Ok, so that's a pretty specific scenario, but it encapsulates how I feel.

Mr. Baek

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What it's about: A 70-year-old hotel owner (Shin Ha Kyun) is a complete Scrooge (no, really, there's a hilarious sequence of him bathing in gold in his tub). Due to a meteor/fate (?), he suddenly ages backwards into his late 30s. There's also some corporate intrigue and stuff going on if you're into that sort of thing.

Initial thoughts: This show may be worth it just to watch Shin Ha Kyun make grumpy grandpa faces. I don't know how long they can play that card, but seriously, this casting is perfection. The show itself is a bit too slapstick for my usual tastes, but he's clearly having so much fun hamming it up that it works somehow.

I haven't seen any of Shin Ha Kyun's other stuff, and he isn't completely handsome in a traditional flower boy (flower man?) way, but he has some interesting charisma that makes me want to keep watching.

Although I'm loving his acting, I'm really glad that we're done with the old man makeup portion of the show (for now) because that makeup made him look 102, not 70.

Lee Joon actually looks like his son, so that casting was pretty great, as well. I feel completely ambivalent about Jang Nara's character so far. She's basically as Candy-like a character as you will ever see. I guess she has a mom so she isn't an orphan, but it's all pretty familiar territory for anyone who has seen more than a handful of dramas.

Conclusions

So far, it looks like Dramabeans won't be recapping any of these shows (aside from the first-episode recap they did for Birth of a Beauty), which means I need to find people to discuss the episodes with me. People of the internet! Please come talk with me! What are you watching? What should I keep watching? I think I'm in for Pride and Prejudice for sure, but I can't decide with the other two! Hellllllllp meeeeeeeeeeeee.

Where to watch

Pride and Prejudice: Viki, SoompiTV (formerly Kdrama.com), and DramaFever (premium users only)

Birth of a Beauty:  SoompiTV, DramaFever, Viki

Mr. Baek: DramaFever