This #cdrama will forever have a place in my heart for all the beautiful growing pain themes that run through each of the character's lives.
This is the second modern #cdrama that I have watched.
Tan Song Yun, Song Wei Long, Zhang Xin Cheng, Tu Song Yan and Zhang Xi Lin are the brilliant stars of the show.
I loved it, the rhythm of life was good!
It's an emotional must watch, but definitely a must watch in my opinion.
Li Jian Jian and her father, a widower, Li Hai Chao live in an apartment building. Li Hai Cho owns a community-famous noodle restaurant, the best one in the neighborhood.
Ling He Ping and his family move into the same building and rent the apartment above. The family is tormented by the grief of their daughter's accidental death, his wife is emotional and unpredictable often taking out all her anger on her son, Ling Xiao and Dad Ling.
Li Jian Jian and her father are very welcoming of their new neighbors but that same energy is not returned. Eventually Ling Biao's mother (Yang Tong Shu) leaves and Dad Li and Dad Ling are left to raise the two children together.
Meanwhile Dad Li is always being set up by the neighbourhood match maker Aunt Qian. He always resists but eventually he takes a liking to Hi Mei.
Hi Mei (Yuan Ran) has a son called He Zi Qiu. During an emergency Hi Mei borrows some money from Dad Li and leaves her son with him promising to return soon but she never does....so He Zi Qiu joins the family!
Here are some of the things I enjoyed about the drama
The Lovable Chosen Family
This drama stands out for me because it is the mothers who leave their children. Instead, the fathers are left behind. They all become a real family looking out for each other and supporting each other, at times they are inseparable. Watching Dad Li cook for everyone, including his commitment to the happiness and wellbeing of each children is 💓💓💓.
Both fathers do their best but we can see that all three children are affected in different ways by the lack of a mother figure in their lives. This is what I like about the drama. The emotions and life experiences are different for each child and we get a chance to see and understand each one. For example, He Zi Qiu's wealthy father (Liu Jin Long) shows up in his late teens to convince Zi Qiu to become his heir but He Zi Qiu has been disappointed by his biological parents before so he's naturally resistant and loyal to Dad Li.
The child actors were exceptional. Sometimes I forgot that Cong Shang, Xu Wai Luo and Li Zhen Zhen were acting too, they were so believable!
Ba Li and Ba Ling
They are not a couple, but they really co-parent well. I enjoyed their dynamic and their understanding of each other's strengths which helped them run the family well. The sequences when Dad Li is busy preparing breakfast or lunch are nicely done . A man making the home rather than a women; their conversations about how to handle different dilemmas with children💓💓💓
Fantastic acting by both!
The Mother We All Hate ðŸ˜
We can all agree Chen Tong is the worst mother in the world. An emotionally manipulative and abusive self- centered woman who projects all her insecurities on her family. Even her children don't want to be around her. This drama does a good job of portraying and an abusive home and the short and long term effects on children.
First she abandons her family and then returns remarried and wealthy to create a relationship with her son. She is surprised that he doesn't want to be around her!?!? He is happy with his chosen family; this makes her even more infuriated. Poor Ling Xiao is traumatized from being forced to become the primary caregiver of his mother who abandoned him, then abuses him.
Honorable Mention Goes to Tan Song Yun fashion
I loved her casual fashion style, even her pyjamas were cool!
Friendships in your 20's
As always I love how they showcase the importance of Li Jian Jian' s friendships. They experience the growing pains together it was soooooo funny and nice to watch.
Crushes and Awkward Love
I wasn't so sure about the part where both brothers fall for Li Jian Jian. That was a bit much. right? Honestly, I am surprised she didn't need a little therapy to process everything.
However despite the love hiccups, the way the three of them love, support and stick up for each other throughout the drama is so endearing especially when they realize Ling Xiao is on medication for anxiety and depression or when He Zi Qiu's mother returns and his father continues trying to make him abandon his chosen family.
Also I want to know how to eat a watermelon with chop sticks too!
As I wrote at the beginning , it's an emotional must watch, but definitely a must watch in my opinion!
Watch Hello Mr Gu, Royal Feast, Song of Youth & Lovers of the Red Sky - Asian Dramas that Fizzled Out Towards the End.
Wednesday, 19 October 2022
These are dramas I started watching because of the online buzz around them. I was thrilled in the beginning but very disappointed in their endings...
Hello Mr Gu
"You are the one who make me falling in love"
This intro tune is stuck in my head for the rest of my life.
It made me smile at its cuteness, yet twitch at the grammar mistake at the same time.
My first modern #cdrama, staring Chen Jing ke and Yan Zhi Chao; there isn't much other than like the intro tune its a cute-lovey-dovey drama.
You can watch it on You tube
while carrying out your small tasks.
Song of youth
I enjoyed the family dynamics in this #cdrama. The different couples living in the family household was good for the drama . Lamu Yangzi's character is the gift that keeps on giving, she is the opposite of what she ought to be which is endearing.
The beginning episode was amazing, I was hooked! Our protagonist Sun Yi Lou(Wang Yi Zhe) is passionate, naïve and persistent as he pursues Lin Shao Chin (Bai Lu). The puppets in episode one and at the end of the drama and the element of the circus life is very 'novu' for me.
However towards the end, the series just lost itself.
I think the priority was put into stretching out the episodes and not into committing to the story or the lovely characters.
It's also available to watch on You tube
Lovers of the Red Sky
I watched this purely for the hype on social media!
This is another drama where the elements are intriguing. For example there are skilled ink painters with divine powers , a demon trapped in a royal painting, and then the same evil spirit gets trapped in a blind man with red eyes.
The guardian characters played by Yo Ye-rin and Mun Suk were epic!
When I got to episode 10, I realized that the drama should have ended right there because there was nowhere else for the characters to progress.
I should have realized there was no buzz around the ending...yet there was so much in the beginning!
You can watch this on Viki
Royal Feast
I am a HUGE fan of Story of Yanxi Palace (read my review here)
I agree with Avenuex this Chinese costume drama is really for the fans. It was an opportunity to finally see them together even if it took a whole 26 episodes to happen... 😶😶😶
I readily forgave 'flat' moments where the storytelling or the character development was lacking... and towards the end I found myself realizing I would miss watching ALL these characters together in this world. Special mention goes to He Ruixian. She is one to watch!
Loved the beginning motion graphics and song!
You can watch it on You Tube
That's all folks!
Have you also felt cheated by the online buzz around certain dramas?
Share in the comments...let's help each other lol.
This is the first #kdrama I watched in two days! Not two straight days. There were some breaks in between but I finished it quickly because all the episodes were available and they fitted my weekend flow.
Staring Lee Min Ho, Kim Go-eun, Woo Do Hwan, Jung Eun Chae and Kim Kyung Nam, this fantasy modern drama is set in a alternative universe which give us a dumbed down fictional depiction of what could have happened if South Korea remained a monarchy. Corea. The Kingdom of Corea.
It's cute and simple, in that it understands exactly what will keep us intrigued but didn't get too complicated with this time-travel-mystery-thriller-stuff.
I am late to this party, this was a popular drama back in 2020.
Truthfully this character is the only reason that kept me going through each 72 minute episode.....
Here are my other favourite elements.
The Friendships were more Powerful than the Love Story.
We had a leading good-looking couple and they played their role and gave us small small butterflies, but what stood out for me was the loyalty and commitment expressed in the friendships and colleagues working together.
In fact watching their relationships evolve was more interesting. Not a bad thing...just interesting that the couple was not an all consuming one. A criticism would be that the detectives needed to do more than just chasing down criminals and fighting in the streets....
Woo Do Hwan's Performance
Just the juxtaposition in the two characters ....wow...he really played his two roles with such serious talent and finesse.. They were complete opposites yet believable! Round of applause and standing ovation Mr Woo!
The Villain was Evil.
He was cold, frightening, calculative and elusive. He tried to kill a child just so that he could control time. He run a life-swapping-world-swapping business. He did his part, nothing new here in the #kdrama world.
And now for what I didn't like...
Madam Prime Minister's Weak Character Arc
I don't know... but this character had so much promise and unfortunately was such a waste...
I think she was meant to bring all the fashions, since our heroine was not interested but even in that area she never quite nailed it.
Her entrance in the beginning was great, but after a while it becomes clear there really wasn't enough depth to her on so many levels.
An ambitious and competitive woman controlling a country with the 4th largest GDP in the world and she let the Emperor Lee Gon slip out of her hands without even so much as a juicy piece of manipulation, extortion or scandal. I was disappointed...
You can watch it on Netflix
Watch the #kdrama Its Okay not to be Okay - Emotional Trauma through Fairy Tales
Tuesday, 4 October 2022
"Please get rid of all my bad memories,
so that I won't have a nightmare again.
Then I will do whatever you ask."
From the first episode,
it is evident why everyone is talking about this remarkable #kdrama.
It's Okay not to be Okay is great storytelling from the get go. I forgot the actors were acting. I still believe this is who they are. This drama doesn't drag, there is momentum in every episode. It's dark, sad and unapologetic right from the start.....
A children's author dressed in black eating an extremely-rare-blood-oozing steak in a restaurant,
A father and daughter admitted to a mental hospital because, the father
tried and failed to kill himself and his child with a drug overdose,
A hospital carer beginning his day shift with old and recent scratches and small wounds on his back.
The same carer prevents the author from killing a patient by holding a knife from the very very very very sharp end...
Definitely not what I was expecting when I saw the title; it cleverly includes some murder mystery with some thriller elements as well. Staring Seo Yea Ji, Kim Soo Hyun, Park Gyu Young, Kim Joo Hun and Oh Jung Se, this #kdrama speaks to the most misunderstood in in our society, the people who don't beat to the everyday drum. These people teach us the most in the drama. Cue tears.....its beautiful...jolting sometimes but beautiful!
"It's funny how people who should be wearing a patient gown aren't wearing one."
Here's what I liked ...
WARNING TINY SPOILERS AHEAD
Our Problematic Heroine
"Obsession is noble and beautiful"
Our heroine is weird, impulsive, and stunning with an insane great sense of fashion. (side note: I want to have this kind of fashion sense now. )
We don't like her. She is rude, manipulative, entitled the list goes one....if this was a western drama she would be the killer but it is not, it is a Korean drama.
Fortunately, she really triggers the whole motion of the story by returning to her childhood home(a haunted castle in the middle of nowhere). She is running from a scandal and chasing the male lead; of course she ends up being forced to deal with her past.
The Story of Family Caregivers
"But you are are more of a kid than I am
why am I like a kid?
Because you want to be loved."
Our hero has suffered. He has been neglected since the day he was born always swallowing or eating his feelings as demonstrated in episode 7. He must take care of his big brother. This is his sole purpose in life, making him forgo any other areas (friendships, romance etc....)
He is also a carer that works in specialized hospitals, so it really is a 24/7 commitment for him; taking care of others and his brother. No break unless his loyal best friend Jo Jae Soo( Kang Ki Doong) steps in. No wonder he begins to have angry outbursts
During their childhood, Ko Moon Young observes the worst in him and doesn't judge him maybe
that's why they belong together. Such an emotional moment watching Moon Gang Tae forgive himself for wanting his brother to die.
I love the depiction of Sang Tae's animated mind in Episode 2 . Very creative...showing without telling...
I appreciate how their relationship is not perfect. Sibling relationships are not perfect but they are the heart of who we are. There's a scene where Gang Tae finally expresses his frustration and feelings with his brother's selfishness, they fight and Gang Tae with his nose bleeding feels relieved that he was finally been honest about his emotions. In episode 11 when Sang Tae takes him out for lunch and does all the things a big brother should do....woosh...my heart....tears...just tears.
Chosen Family and Redemption
" You eat like a bird,
that's why you are so skinny."
Ko Moon Young is all the red flags. Her mother is a killer...a real one, and her Dad tried to kill her as a result. In my head this couple does not make sense for many reasons yet Moon Gang Tae gives Ko Moon Young , what she needs, a family. A real one with breakfast round the table in the morning and they care....they take care of her.
The fantastic thing is Ko Moon Young must also form her own relationship with Sang Tae. I like this element so much; watching them learn how to communicate with each other because they both love Gang Tae, made for heart warming and hilarious moments.
OK psychiatric hospital accepts Sang Tae and they tap into his gifts. He is his own person with his own character arc; starting as a misfit and a burden to finding his purpose and earning an income in the end. The hospital staff become family to Gang Tae and Sang Tae.... there are mother, sister, brother and father figures teaching them and us something every episode.
P.S: But why does Lee Sang In sit on a throne during the publishing house meeting?
Also let's talk about how 80% of the shots are just classic. How do they do this in Korean dramas? Does that mean every director or location scout is a perfectionist? Because like how?
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My first #kdrama crush.
I was in denial when I first watched this.
The second time around I realized this was my first #kdrama crush...
My oh my when he slicks that hair back and wears a suit....
Lastly a big round of applause to the child actors. They were exceptional!
Watch it! Watch it ! Watch it!
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