Drama grab-bag

Let’s start with Discovery of Romance… What a nice surprise it turned out to be. My track record with the writer-nim hasn’t been stellar but this one sort of came out of nowhere and got me good, LOL! Imho DoL is the most balanced work of the writer and even if it tackles many of the same aspects of love and relationships as her previous dramas, it managed to skirt around the pitfalls the others fell in. Jung Yoo Mi and Eric were pure awesome and the rest of the cast wasn’t too bad either. In many ways I think DoL is a little gem, albeit a misunderstood one. Too bad there were so many people who just didn’t ‘get’ it.

Just 4 more weeks of Yoo Na’s Street left, sniffle. This is one long drama that doesn’t feel like it’s dragging on and on. I don’t think it’s lost any steam like I’ve seen some saying, to me every episode is still as fresh as in the beginning. I care what happens to these people, get emotional when they are hurting and laugh out loud at the funnies. YNS has this clever way taking a tired trope and giving it a new twist. What other drama manages to make a ‘love triangle’ come out both rather hilarious and poignant? I still love, love, LOVE the characters!! Well, most of ’em. *g* There are a few I could do without but as YNS is a drama where every character counts, even the bad apples have a special place in the story. Another thing I love about YNS is that problems are never magnified up to wazoo just to add extra (makjangy) excitement. And they tend to get solved pretty darned fast too. People actually talk to each other, unless they make it clear they are miffed and won’t be talking, ha.

Picked up Bad Guys and so far so good. It has the Vampire Proz writer so we can expect a rather twisty story. The cast is grrrreat! I’m finding the characters pretty intriguing and waiting eagerly to know more about each of them. It’s OCN so bloody and violent is a given. This wasn’t instant love like VP but I am rooting for the bad guys. XD

Three Musketeers is still a silly little romp I rather enjoy watching. No brainpower needed so it’s my ‘winding down’ drama. Entertaining and easily digested.

I’m watching Wonderfull Season when I don’t feel like watching anything else, LOL! It’s a pretty traditional KBS weekend family drama. I think I need to find some time to watch more than one epi every once in a while to get back to the flow. It’s just that YNS is SO MUCH better in every way and compared to it the KBS brand of slice of life feels kinda dusty and dry. I like the characters well enough and the story per se isn’t bad at all but it lacks… something. It’ll probably be better to get back to it properly once YNS has ended to avoid any undue comparison.

Endless Love… sigh. Getting through it with a copius use of the FF-button. I did hope it would not succumb to the usual weekend melo malady but alas, that’s exactly what happened. Too much filler and not enough substance. The drama did start out pretty well but it didn’t take long befor it got overly weepy and started going around in circles. The pace picked up a bit around the mid point only to plunge back to treading water and re-using bits of plot from earlier episodes. Most of the characters lost any originality they may have had in the beginning, I was especially sad to see how the Lady Villain turn into a typical screechy hoyden. Jung Woong In’s Park Young Tae is the only truly interesting character left. He is always great as the Dastardy Adversary. 🙂 Endless Love is just too damned long. It’d probably been better as a mini with 20-24 epis, or even 30 epis at a pinch.

I was initially quite interested in Secret Door but the more I read about it, the less I wanted to watch it. My gut instinct was telling me ‘this ain’t it’ and as I’ve learned to trust my gut, I decided not to pick Secret Door up.^^ So, I’m still waiting for a more traditional sageuk to watch.

Next batch of dramas is just around the corner and the ones I’m most interested in are Misaeng, Modern Farmer, and Dr Frost.

Secret Door just got more interesting…

Oh my! Seo Joon Young in a new drama?! Can I squee? ;P

I’ve been brewing a post about Just You, which made me wonder what this guy has been up to lately. Nothing much since Unemployed Romance, it seemed. He is such an underrated young actor and I’m pretty chuffed that he is now part of a rather wonderful ensamble cast of Secret Door. And it’s a reunion with both Lee Je Hoon and Han Seok Kyu to boot.^^ Definitely checking the drama out. I truly hope it’ll win me over in a way Joseon Gunman couldn’t (forever sad about that).

When it rains, it pours…

Well, that’s what it’s actually been doing here in the ‘real life’ all day but what I mean is Joseon Gunman posters. Several more were released today and they are gorgeous! KBS really stepped up the plate with this promotion cycle. Now, if only the drama proves out to be just as gorgeous. One can hope….

This is now my computer background. 😉

There are also five individual posters but insted of putting them here (they can probably be found @ just about all drama blogs by now) I made a banner with them. Just click through the banners if you like to see it. 🙂

The second teaser…

Visual treats – Joseon Gunman posters

JoseonGunman1 JoseonGunman2

If there is one upcoming drama I’m actually looking forward to, it’s this. I rather love Lee Jun Ki and he usually shines in sageuks so I’m pretty excited about Joseon Gunman. It sounds totally up my alley but as so many kdramas end up stinking the place up, despite looking good on paper, I’m trying hard to keep my expectations at a manageable level. The posters are gorgeous and hopefully a sign of things to come. Please be good, drama!!