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Showing posts with the label series

It's Okay Not To Be Okay is worth the wait: Here's why I got hooked

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Finally, the long wait is over! Here's to the Kdrama I've been waiting for since Kim Soo Hyun was discharged from the military. Normally I would refuse to watch an ongoing drama, and prefer to binge-watch to keep myself from the agonizing week of waiting for the next episode. This time though, the tables are turned. I established my own Monday Nights with Kim Soo Hyun, and endured the agony of waiting because It's Okay Not To Be Okay is worth all of it. When I first saw the trailers, it got me curious on how this could pull-off an element of comedy when it appeared to be dealing with the serious issue on mental health. There weren't any hints of fun and laughter, as the shots looked dark and gloomy. Kim Soo Hyun's character looked like a tired babysitter and Seo Ye Ji's character looked like she's up to no good. I had no doubts though, Kim Soo Hyun has always signed up for excellent dramas and so I knew this would be great. True enough, It's Okay Not To

The Package brought me to France and I'm in love

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I've finished watching this drama for a couple of weeks now and I know this review is super late but so what. :D The Package premiered in 2017, and is said to be a long-awaited gift from Jung Yong Hwa to his fans. This is the second drama I've seen of him (I've been watching all his variety show guestings and live performances when I signed up to be his fangirl just early this month). In all honesty, I didn't expect much from this drama as I never heard of it and I've never heard of the characters either. It was worth the shot though - The Package is a picturesque drama that teaches about love and healing. 10 nights in France The entire drama was shot in France, maybe except for some of the indoor shots. It is a multi-character-based story which doesn't happen in lot of Kdramas unless we count the second lead syndrome (oh right fine, this happens all the time). I watched all of the 12 episodes in 2 nights, all of which have effectively brought me to one of the m

Heartstrings made a fangirl in me

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I didn't plan on watching this drama. Heck, I didn't even know it existed. It's the first Park Shin Hye and Jung Yong Hwa drama I've seen, and it was aired 9 years ago. I accidentally discovered it when Spotify played Jung Yong Hwa's Because I Miss You based on my Kdrama music playlist, and upon hearing it, I just knew I had to see this or I'll be missing probably half of my life. I was never wrong though. Heartstrings is one of the best! Young love is always the sweetest It's the story of two university students who both live in the world of music. Though the similarities end there, for Lee Kyu Won specializes in traditional music as she comes from a family whose prominence is found in this area. She lives with her grandfather, a world renowned pansori master who wants his granddaughter to follow his footsteps. Lee Shin, on the other hand, is into modern music. He is the popular campus crush who also happens to be the lead vocals and guitar of a local band

Itaewon Class breaks the norm of the usual Kdramas I've seen

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I finished watching Itaewon Class for almost a week now but I am still groping for words to say about this drama. This is just the second time I've seen Park Seo-joon in the small screen and I should say he's really one hell of an actor! Park Seo-ro-yi is far too different from Lee Young-joon (What's Wrong With Secretary Kim) that I felt they were portrayed by two different actors. Bringing me back an old classic This kdrama just hits differently. It's far from the usual ones that make us swoon over the lead stars and want to fall in love again (but of course who wouldn't fall in love with Park Seo-joon no matter what he does?). Maybe this is just me, but this webtoon-based series makes me think of Park Seo-ro-yi as our modern-day Edmond Dantes. He wasn't exactly wronged when he went to jail after his father was killed in a road accident, and his determination to get even to those who made him feel powerless and his come back felt reminiscent to that good ol'

I can't get over Crash Landing On You

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Right on to my fourth kdrama of the month. Crash Landing On You is the first Hyun Bin drama I've seen and the second Son Ye Jin, the first being Something In The Rain which made me love the rain and Korean barbecue even more. It took me a little bit longer to write this review - I still find myself going through the episodes over and over as I finally understood what the fuss was all about. A day in a life in North Korea North Korean life and culture never peaked my interest before, unless you count the blog I stumbled upon a few years ago showcasing smuggled snapshots of the everyday life in North Korea. I've always thought of it as a scary place, with uniformed men everywhere ready to shoot you in just one wrong move. Until I saw the village women in their colorful clothes and simple country life, and I am reminded that all places must have been created equal when it came to rich culture and beautiful people. The kimchi cellar and the meat in the salt rock, the lack of electr

My heart melted after watching Melting Me Softly

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This drama has been sitting in my drive since its finale November. I planned to watch it after Hotel Del Luna but I'm the procrastination queen which, for the first time I am happy about otherwise I wouldn't be in for a new treat in this sanity-chasing quarantine period. This is Ji Chang Wook's first drama right after his military service and man! He showed us what it feels like to be melting. image source The cryonics experiment While I must say that cryonics experiment doesn't sound foreign to me anymore (I did a low-key pseudo-research if it was possible for Jack Dawson to be revived after decades of being frozen in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean in the hopes of seeing Titanic version two-point-oh), Melting Me Softly offered a strong discourse about the subject. It talked about its effects in all aspects, as well as its probable ethical controversy of defying death. Imagine if the cryonics experiment became a success in real life and all of us are finally given the

Romance Is A Bonus Book, on writing and falling in love

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Here's to another kdrama I finished watching this week. Romance Is A Bonus book was aired in 2019, the last drama Lee Jong Suk filmed right before his military enlistment. Since I'm sold with anything that's got to do with books, authors, publishers, and of course romance, I gave this a shot. Glad I wasn't disappointed. image source Kang Dan-i was a different level of miserable. Divorced, practically homeless, and without a job, how could she survive and raise her daughter who I've only seen and heard twice in the entire 16 episodes? To be fair, she tried so hard to find and claim her own space in the world of advertising. However, coming off of a 7-year career break, who'd want to believe that she could still survive the fast-changing, ever innovative industry? If this drama was aired three years ago and I've seen it, I might have had stayed as a freelancer. I wouldn't even think of updating my resumè and I'd choose to keep my pride what ever happen

Chicago Typewriter rekindled my Kdrama addiction

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If there's one more silver lining in this lonely ECQ life, it's the time I get to spend swooning over Kdrama oppas in my bed rather than while waiting for the ride home. This drama was aired three years ago, which means I'm a little bit late but so what? I got bored the first time I tried watching it. It was in 2018 when Kim told me over and over to watch this and I kept saying I will. Oh yes, I did. Finished it in less than 24 hours 2 years later. Source Se Joo couldn't have been experiencing writer's block. He must have been traumatized and stressed over the inciting incident involving him, his stalker, and his first-ever fan, Jeon Seol. Coming from a writer's perspective, it's really difficult to come up with a story when you're too stressed, anxious, and worried. A lot of things come to your mind and they can get tangled inside your brain to the point that you don't know what to write anymore. I should say that this drama successfully competed Ho