New K-drama Alert: Jealousy Incarnate Review

Jealousy Incarnate premiered a couple of weeks ago, and I went into it this weekend with a pretty clean slate. I hadn't watched any trailers or read any reviews beforehand, and I ended up watching the first four episodes in one sitting. And I fell in love. Then I started looking around at some of the early episode recaps to see everyone else gushing about it—and they didn't.

Here's why I'm totally in love with this show even if no one else is. I don't care what you think! I'll watch it ALL ALONE if I have to! (But please watch it with me anyway, okay?)

What it's about: Pyo Na Ri (Gong Hyo Jin) is a weather caster with dreams of becoming a news anchor. She nurses an unrequited crush on star reporter Lee Hwa Shin  (Jo Jung Suk) for three years, until he comes back from an assignment abroad to find that she's moved on to his best friend (Go Kyung Pyo). There are also a million side characters with very complicated side stories that it'll take some time to sort through.

Episodes watched: 4

Thoughts so far: I love it. I really, really love it. But I also get why others are skeptical. I went into this drama knowing that it came from the writer of Miss Korea, which, to me, is one of the most underrated female-focused K-dramas out there.

Many of the complaints I'm seeing so far revolve around a few main points: the unbelievably long and repetitive chest grabbing bit, the career women slapping each other, and Na Ri and Hwa Shin seeming like "typical" K-drama characters.

Honestly, none of those things bothered me all that much (okay, I maaaaybe shouted "Just TELL HIM" during those chest grabbing scenes) because Miss Korea did similar things at first. As longtime readers of this blog may recall, I actually had no idea what to think during the first few episodes of Miss Korea. Was it feminist? Anti-feminist? Thoughtful? Boring? Who knows? 

As it turned out, the writer knew exactly what she was doing, and she used that dissonance and confusion to flesh out characters who felt real instead of feeling like an after-school special meant to teach us all a clear lesson. I'm trusting the writer to do the same here. Even within the first four episodes of Jealousy Incarnate, what seemed like a weird slapstick gag (Na Ri awkwardly feeling up her colleague) led to several discussions on illness and masculinity in Korean culture. It also opened up some beautiful, quiet moments of emotional vulnerability between our leads, even though the show is only beginning.

Similarly, while I didn't love seeing professional women getting into a catfight at work, I trust this writer above most others to treat ambitious female characters with care and to give them satisfying arcs. It also doesn't hurt that Lee Mi Sook was an absolute boss in Miss Korea, and I almost squealed when I saw her reuniting with this writer.

Finally, while I can see critiques that Gong Hyo Jin's character is similar to her other dramas or that Hwa Shin is just a rude jerk, I also trust these actors. Say what you will, but Na Ri is no Master's Sun copycat. When she announced "Whether or not we kiss is up to me," I literally clapped my hands and squealed. She's downtrodden, but she's not a complete doormat. I also really, really like Jo Jung Suk's take on Hwa Shin so far. He always puts just enough conflict into his expression to show vulnerability, insecurity, and fear underneath his jerk-ish moves. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that he had feelings for Na Ri all this time. More flashbacks, please!

Dear Show: You sure know the way to a viewer's heart, don't you?

Yes, I was scratching my head for the first two episodes trying to figure out who all of the characters were and how they're related. No, I still don't really understand where hot chef ahjussi fits in. Yes, I might be giving this writer too much credit, and this drama might end up more like Pasta than Miss Korea. Only time will tell.

But for now, I'm happy to give these characters the benefit of the doubt. Tally ho, my lovely little love triangle!

Please tell me I'm not the only one loving it, right?

Where to watch Jealousy Incarnate:

DramaFever

New K-drama Alert: Jealousy Incarnate Review

New K-drama Alert: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo Review

First things first: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart: Ryeo is an absurdly long title. I can envision a boardroom full of guys in suits, unable to pick the best title, so they just went ahead and used all of them. I'm going with Scarlet Heart to keep myself from getting typing arthritis, okay?

So how's this massive fantasy sageuk packed with flower boys shaping up? Not quite how I expected.


What it's about: Scarlet Heart is a remake of the hit Chinese historical with the same name, which was, in turn, based on a novel. It follows a young woman (IU) who accidentally travels back in time to find herself in the body of Hae Soo, a lady living during the Goryeo dynasty. Lucky for her, that particular time period was full of incredibly handsome princes who like to bathe with their shirts off. (No? That wasn't the point of the series?) She particularly finds herself drawn to the wise and kind 8th Prince, Wook (Kang Ha Neul), and the volatile 4th Prince, So (Lee Joon Ki).

Episodes watched: 5

Thoughts so far: The first episode was bad. I mean bad. Cringe-worthy dialogue and wooden acting that felt completely unnatural coupled with insanely close close-ups and weird music choices. In fact, the only reason I made it past that first episode was Lee Joon Ki's hair. That mane is so magnificent that it deserves to win the Daesang at next year's SBS Drama Awards.

Still, Lee Joon Ki's hair got me past the first episode, and somewhere along the line, I got swept up in this series. It became epic and heartfelt and beautiful in a way I didn't expect. Lee Joon Ki's hair continued to pull its majestic weight, but beyond that, as the story settles in to focus on our three main leads, I'm finding myself increasingly intrigued. Yes, there are still tons and tons of close-ups, but when it's a close-up of Kang Ha Neul's emotion-filled eyes, I'm somehow more willing to let it slide.

Do I laugh? Do I cry? Why do you do this to my heart?

Each episode is surprising, and that's what's keeping me watching. I expected a cute, lighthearted fish-out-of-water romcom that focused on Hae Soo's experiences suddenly thrust into a new world. Instead, the series is shaping up to be much darker and more morally complicated than I anticipated.

While I do wish that Hae Soo had to take more time to adjust to the ins and outs of her new life (the same complaint I had with the time traveling hero of Queen In Hyun's Man), I appreciate that she has to adjust on a deeper level. She's suddenly faced with a violent world where gender and status determine your worth as a human, and it completely throws off her set worldview.

From that perspective, I'm glad that the writer didn't tone down the to male leads to make them more palatable to modern audiences. Am I having a hard time "shipping" Hae Soo with either the married guy or the killer who's legitimately on the wrong side of insane? Yeah. But for me, this show isn't really about the shipping. So and Wook are both heartbreaking, complex, intriguing characters, and Lee Joon Ki and Kang Ha Neul are making me care for those characters. (I also think IU is doing just fine, though Hae Soo isn't as complicated so far.) I don't have to "ship" Hae Soo with Wook in order to appreciate the beautiful melancholy in their mutual longing. I don't have to excuse Wang So's violence in order to appreciate that he's a brutal (albeit mesmerizingly beautiful) man trying to survive in a brutal world.

I guess that underlying conflict and tension are what kept me watching and really captured my interest, and now I'm completely invested in this messy, epic love triangle. And the fate of Lee Joon Ki's hair.

No, but seriously. BEHOLD THE GLORY.

What's your reaction so far?

Where to watch Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo:
DramaFever

New K-drama Alert: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo Review

Age of Youth K-Drama Review

Age of Youth is so near and dear to my heart right now, but it's such a unique drama that I've had a hard time figuring out what to say about it. It's realistic, unpredictable, heartfelt and one of the best female-centric dramas I've seen in a while.

Overview

Age of Youth follows five very different young women—responsible workaholic Yoon Jin Myung (Han Ye Ri), confident seductress Kang Yi Na (Ryu Hwa Young), cutesy girl Jung Ye Eun (Han Seung Yeon), shy freshman Yoo Eun Jae (Park Hye Soo), and outgoing life of the party Song Ji Won (Park Eun Bin). As the five women share a house, they grow together and share their heartbreaks and triumphs.

Review

Lovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelove. 

I almost missed this show because it aired without much fanfare and initial reports complained of a slow premiere, but fortunately Outside Seoul's rave reviews convinced me to pick it up, and I was immediately hooked.

This show is something special. At first glance, it's about all of the stereotypical people you meet at college, but then you peel back the layers to find that each and every character has more going on than meets the eye. I love characters who feel real, and when I watched these women, I felt like I was watching a (slightly more dramatic) version of my best friends and college roommates. (For the record, I was the Eun Jae of our group—insanely shy and awkward and needing more outgoing roommates to teach me how to not be a weirdo and go on dates. Coco was definitely our Ye Eun, but don't tell her I said that....)

Because I went into this series with so little info about it, I was more than halfway through before I discovered that it came from the same writer as White Christmas, but once I knew that, everything made so much sense. The series definitely isn't afraid to be grim, and the latter half turned much darker than I anticipated. Like White Christmas, the series pushes boundaries and assumptions about its characters, and yet somehow it doesn't erase the soft, sweet feeling of the first few episodes. I felt like the darker elements were handled well, and the narrative had enough cute or funny moments interwoven throughout the heavier parts to maintain a realistic sense of balance.

If I have one complaint, it's that this is the one series I wish could have been longer. There were little threads throughout the series that I wanted to follow in more depth, but I got the sense that 12 episodes just didn't give the writer enough time to follow up on all of them.

SPOILERVILLE: Ending discussion

Instead of going into too much depth about the show as a whole, I thought it would be easier to give thoughts on each character's story.

Jin Myung: Where did I even get this many tears to cry over this character? Is there a year-end award for making my heart hurt most? Because Jin Myung would win it in a heartbeat. Oh wait, maybe she did win, and her prize was Supportive Dreamboat Chef, my personal pick of the available male leads (yeah, big surprise that he beat out Vengeful Ahjussi and Aggressive Douchebag Extraordinaire). Can we have a sequel just about her and Supportive Dreamboat Chef visiting each other and smiling shyly in the rain? 

Fill the sequel with cute umbrella product placement, and the show pays for itself!

P.S. Thank you for not killing yourself/your brother. I would not have recovered.

Yi Na: The whole thing with stalker Vengeful Ahjussi resolved itself a little too cleanly for my tastes. (Also, what happened to that time he tried to run her over with a Truck of Doom? Did he miss? Does he have night blindness?) Otherwise, though, I was pleased with the way her character grew over the course of the series. I quite enjoyed Ryu Hwa Young in this role, though this is the third time in a row I've seen her as the resident sexpot, and I think this show proves she has a wider range to offer.

Ye Eun: I know her arc with Aggressive Douchebag Extraordinaire took a turn for the dramatic at the end, and from what I hear, some viewers weren't pleased at her ending. Do all abusive relationships escalate that quickly? Maybe not, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen, and I thought it was thoughtful to end the storyline without the obvious change of heart/romantic reconciliation that would have happened in a lesser show.

I'll also say that I thought Ye Eun's final scene was necessary in order to make the whole thing work. Trauma doesn't go away in one episode, and moving on would have made it feel like a throwaway plot gimmick. As much as I would have liked to see Ye Eun's happy ending, that last moment was much more realistic.

Eun Jae: Awwwwwwwwww. 

This couple just made me smile. It was a pretty accurate depiction of an adorable, goofy, and immature first love, and I couldn't help but root for their sweet little romance. Okay, so I wasn't crazy about all of the "your body belongs to me" comments, but Jong Yeol was always incredibly mindful of Eun Jae with his actions, recognizing her inexperience and respecting her comfort zone. I loved how he gave her a peck, and then waited until she turned to him before going in for a full kiss. 

Ji Won: For the glue holding the group together, she probably had the least satisfying storyline. We see her interacting with everyone, but I wanted a little more background into who she is and what makes her tick, even if it wasn't as dramatic as everyone else's story. I wish she had been given her own episode a little earlier so that we could spend a little more time inside her head.

Conclusions

Watch Age of Youth. Watch it right now—but not if you're not going to appreciate it because then I'll be offended and mad. I feel really possessive of shows I love, okay?

Whenever the writer wants to reunite these ladies for season 2, I'm all in!

Where to watch Age of Youth:

DramaFever

Age of Youth K-Drama Review

Cinderella and Four Knights: Why K-drama First Loves Aren't Always the Best Loves

If you've watched more than three K-dramas, you've probably run into the first love trope. Boy meets girl, boy crushes on girl, something tragic separates boy and girl, boy and girl meet years later and hate each other, boy and girl fall in love again because faaaaaaaaaaaate (cue ballad).

When it comes to K-dramas, first loves are more ubiquitous than amnesia or the Truck of Doom. Sometimes it serves the story well, but as time goes on, I find myself increasingly frustrated with the trope, and the last few episodes of Cinderella and Four Knights finally broke me with their insistence that Hye Ji has some huge, epic romance going on with Hyun Min, and therefore we, as viewers should be really, really invested every time she stops sewing to cry to herself. (How she gets any clothing made is beyond me; her sewing to crying ratio seems really skewed for a wannabe designer.)

Back when I started K-dramas, I remember being really perplexed by this idealized version of first love. One of my gateways to K-dramas was the movie Finding Mr. Destiny, and I genuinely did not get why all of these characters kept talking about their "first love" like it was some totally normal thing to bring up in casual small talk, like what you do or where you grew up.

Many K-dramas and first love stories later, I understand that the Korean concept of first love carries a cultural nostalgic weight that it doesn't really hold for me as a non-Korean viewer. Invoking the idea of first love is a quick way to build a sweet, innocent foundation for romance without having to lay a ton of groundwork beyond a few well-placed flashbacks. It's also a way to built a fast relationship between characters who otherwise hate each other.

When done right, first loves can add emotional weight to the story, especially when the first loves are separated by tragedy and finally find themselves reunited years later (old-school melodramas in particular hinge on us buying into the power of first love). Similarly, they help explain why some characters are drawn to each other long enough to get past that initial phase of dislike.

The catch here is that, while first love can create an initial bond, we really need reasons other than a childhood crush to make a romance work, and an increasing number of dramas seem to use first love as proof that a couple should be together rather than a catalyst to build a relationship.

I can name a handful of fairly recent dramas—One More Happy Ending, She Was Pretty, and now Cinderella and Four Knights, for starters—where the whole "first love lasts forever" trope really didn't make much sense. Why are these people together? Because a girl gave you a band-aid when you were six and that meant you were destined to be together for the rest of time?

Don't give me that look, Hye Ji.

Let's just look at all of the reasons why this doesn't work in the case of Hye Ji and Hyun Min in Cinderella:

• They were "in love" when they were like 10 years old. You know the only requirement for "first love" when I was 10? A blond mushroom haircut. That's it. You don't see me running around, sighing with nostalgia at my old mushroom-cutted crushes and wondering what might have been, do you? You also don't see me accosting them on dark park benches because we had a moment a decade ago.
• Based on Hye Ji's possessive behavior, I thought they broke up a year ago or something. Nope. Ten years. TEN YEARS. That's half their lifetime. Someone just needs to hand her a copy of He's Just Not That Into You and call it good.
• By all accounts, he has given her no indication that he's still interested—but our super-mopey close-ups accompanied by swelling music prove otherwise. This is like that time when a friend dragged me to see one of the Twilight movies and Edward literally abandoned Bella in the woods and she was convinced he still loved her and then surprise! He was. And I wanted to throw things. Why are we perpetuating this idea that if you hold onto someone who treats you badly long enough, you'll find out that they really did love you all along?
• You know what also made me want to throw things? Ha Won's speech about how much she admired Hye Ji for being like a tree. Nope. Nope nope nope. Hye Ji has absolutely no right to demand Hyun Min's affection at this point. Remember how she wandered into traffic because Hyun Min went on a date with someone else? Yeah, noble trees don't wander into traffic. They also don't try to date their ex's cousin out of spite disguised as neediness. 
• Leg cramps. Need I say more?

The unstoppable Hye Ji/Hyun Min train of first love is a particularly painful example, but that's not to say that the first love trope can't work. Take Twenty Again as a counter-example that worked particularly well. It gave us an adorable leading man who already knew our heroine beyond the surface level. First love was a launching pad for him to help her rediscover herself (as the most fantastic fairy god-oppa of all time), but first love wasn't the end of their relationship.

What Twenty Again also did well was that it showed both sides of the first love coin. Hyun Suk's first love sparks new feelings twenty years later, but we also see that No Ra's first love ends in heartbreak and divorce. There's a balance that helps us see that first love doesn't mean anything if there isn't a strong foundation in the present.

I don't expect that K-dramas will give up on the idea of first love any time soon, but Hye Ji and Hyun Min definitely made me reconsider my first love for the show. Sorry Hye Ji, but I actually mean it, and no amount of sew-crying will win me back.

What are your favorite first love stories? Which ones make you throw stuff?

Cinderella and Four Knights: Why K-drama First Loves Aren't Always the Best Loves

New K-drama Alert: Doctor Romantic/ Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim Review

Medical dramas are not my thing by a long shot, but if you put Yoo Yun Suk and Seo Hyun Jin in a room together, there's no way I'm not going to tune in for at least an episode or two to see the sparks fly. Enter Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim (shortened to the only slightly less ridiculous Doctor Romantic on the international version). How's it faring so far?

What it's about: There are two talented surgeons (Yoo Yun Suk and Seo Hyun Jin) who both have tragic pasts and both end up in a tiny hospital in the boondocks with another talented, but very weird surgeon (Han Suk Kyu), who, I assume, will mentor them all out of their emotional wounds. 

Episodes watched: 2

First impressions: 

Episode 1: "WHAT did I just watch?"

No, seriously. It's like they crammed the plot of an entire series into one episode. Within the premiere, we got to see all of the following things (Do you need a spoiler alert if it's all within the first hour?):

• A traumatic childhood
• Several people's lives saved in the most dramatic ways possible
• Approximately 273 gallons of spurting fake blood
• Spurting fake butt juice (ewwwwwww)
• A (very steamy, but also semi-problematic) kiss
• A love confession
• A proposition of sex
• A proposal of marriage (not all from the same person)
• A cheating lover
• A massive accident
• A dead main character
• Another dead main character!
• A disastrous jaunt in the woods
• A mysterious mountain man

Phew! Yeah, the first episode wasn't even messy; it was just plain insane. All of these dramatic things kept happening every 30 seconds, but there was no time for the emotional beats to land. If they had split it over at least 2 episodes like most shows do, it probably would have worked better.

Hoooo boy, they sure don't waste any time, do they?

The there's episode 2, where the pace makes a lot more sense and we finally get to meet all of the characters, but I'm still not really sure what to expect from the weird mishmash of tones.

That being said, I loveloveloveloveloved Seo Hyun Jin's character, Yoon Seo Jung, especially in episode 1. She's smart, fun, charming, confident, and a badass at her job. I was sad to see her so tame in episode 2, but I'm hoping it's just a matter of time before she gets back on her feet as her former fiery self. 

Even though I didn't like the forced beginning of the kiss, I also see a lot of potential for solid chemistry between our two leads. They both do romance very well, and Yoo Yun Suk, like Seo Hyun Jin, is immensely charming when given the chance. Toss in Han Suk Kyu, who you know will be interesting, and it's a pretty irresistible combo, regardless of the wacky writing. With lead actors like these who are all so charismatic, it's hard not to want to give the show the best shot possible.

Do I know what to expect? No. Will I keep watching just for the acting and the promise of better kisses down the line? You'd better believe it.

Where to watch Doctor Romantic:

DramaFever

Viki

New K-drama Alert: Doctor Romantic/ Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim Review

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo vs. Moonlight Drawn by Clouds Kdrama Review

It's no secret that Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo and Moonlight Drawn by Clouds were pitted against each other, even if indirectly. Two fusion sageuks with pretty, fresh-faced cast members airing in the same time slot were bound to draw some comparisons, even if the shows ended up being drastically different. So was a sweet cross-dressing romance enough to beat out a multitude of flower boys? Let's discuss!

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo Review

This drama. SO MANY FEELINGS. Where do I even begin? 

The Really, Really Good Stuff

Scarlet Heart (as I'm going to refer to it from here on out) captured me from the beginning. Even though there were weird production flaws, this show was more engaging than any simulcast I've seen in a long, long time. I found myself invested in the fate of the characters (at least the central triangle), and I really couldn't predict where the show was heading, something that doesn't happen often after this many years of drama watching.

What really captivated me was that the stakes felt real. Even though it was a fusion historical, the series never shied away from the bloody, dark aspects of life in Goryeo. There weren't easy answers to every conflict in the show, and characters had to make legitimately awful decisions without any K-drama magic to sweep away the consequences. Sometimes that meant that I absolutely couldn't root for the female lead to choose either male lead, but it also meant that the characters felt multilayered, interesting, and—most importantly—unpredictable.

Gahhhh everything about this episode was perfection.

I particularly love how the drama handled (Spoilers ahead!) Wook's transformation. I completely understand why Soo would fall for the sweet, gentle scholar who teaches her how to read instead of the hotheaded serial killer, and for many episodes, I had no idea how they could ever make her stop loving him. Then episode 11 happened, and I understood. Suddenly, you see how he's had a pattern of indecision throughout their entire relationship, even in the good times. You remember all those times he caved to the pressure of family loyalty, even back in the beginning. Maybe he turned totally evil a little too fast, but just as much as I understood why Soo loved him in the first place, I also understood why they eventually broke up.

The narrative conflict also set up my other favorite aspect of the show: the men couldn't save the damsel in distress. In pretty much every other K-drama in the history of K-dramas, the male leads will swoop in at the last minute to save the lady fair, but that didn't happen here. On not one, but two occasions, the male leads stood by helplessly as Hae Soo faced death, and in both cases, Hae Soo was saved by women willing to make sacrifices that the men wouldn't. For a majority of the series, the writing really respected its female characters and filled the palace with clever, powerful women who were both heroes and villains.

As a final plus to the show, we have Lee Joon Ki, who absolutely slayed in every scene, as did his early-episode hair. Yeah, let's just all remember his glorious mane before they decided to time jump and crimp his bangs...

The Really, Really Not-So-Good Stuff

Aside from Lee Joon Ki's run-in with the crimping iron, there were plenty of problems with this show, which even I'm willing to admit. The last handful of episodes were kind of a hot mess, so I'll just list some of the issues for you:

• The musical choices. It's like they just spun a wheel covered in song names to choose which one they assigned to each scene.

• As much as I really appreciated the individual characters, I never understood why the lead couple was together. When did she fall in love with him? Why did she fall in love with him? For a woman who cared about her freedom of choice so much that she would slit her wrists rather than be forced into marriage, it makes zero sense that she would fall for the guy who for years keeps talking about how he will never let her go. Aside from the amazing rainfall scene I screenshot above, it was hard to care much about their star-crossed love.

• Speaking of which, Soo literally has the worst taste in men. Really, you're going to waste your time painting that guy's face on a bunch of rocks when you have sweet, supportive, handsome Jung by your side? Really? 

I'm just gonna pretend she said "Oh yeah, I'll totally remember you and BTW I definitely love you and not my crazy ex!"
Make better life choices, Soo.

• Baek Ah and his girlfriend. What? Why? What?

• Did no one clean out the mercury-filled bathtub after the king died? Because that's the only reason I can think of why every single king started crazy laughing right after taking over the throne. Remember how I said that Wook's transformation made sense? Yeah, So's not so much. How did we go from "I want to be king so people don't have to die" to "Kill them ALLLLLL" so fast?

• Where did Wook go for the second half of the series? Did they blow their Kang Ha Neul budget in the first few episodes? I know some people complained that he got too much screen time at first, but I would watch Wook forever and always on my screen.

• Everything about Soo's time travel. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The show devolved into Nonsenseville, so it was really hard to care about anything anyone did at the end of the show. It's a pity because so much of the drama had so much potential.

Moonlight Drawn By Clouds Review

Let me just get this out of the way: You're not going to like my review.

The Good Stuff

On paper, Moonlight Drawn by Clouds is a far superior drama to Scarlet Heart. The writing is smooth. The production is clean. The music makes sense. The leads are both talented actors who also happen to be so adorable that you just smile when you see them on screen.

Because the leads (and particularly Park Bo Gum, who got the more entertaining role of the pair) are so likable, it's easy to root for the romance, and the writers knew it. There's no shortage of squee-worthy moments sprinkled throughout this very, very pretty series.

The Not-So-Good Stuff (Don't Hate Me for Being Honest!)

Given the general adoration this show got (especially in comparison to Scarlet Heart), I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but I couldn't actually finish this drama.

Maybe this is a case of "It's not you; it's me." I fully recognize that the production was good and the acting was wonderful, but I watched a full six episodes and just completely lost the will to keep going. At first, I felt like I must be the only one who felt this way, but then I saw that Amanda from Outside Seoul had written two posts articulating pretty much exactly what kept me from feeling engaged. (But seriously, is she a mind reader? Because I had been composing thoughts in my head and she basically said them word for word).

What it comes down to is that Moonlight Drawn by Clouds suffered by comparison to two other shows: Sungkyungkwan Scandal and Scarlet Heart. Sungkyungkwan Scandal is one of my all-time favorite dramas, so when I saw Moonlight Drawn by Clouds with the exact same group setup, it was hard not to see the second and third male leads as a poor man's Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In (though Park Bo Gum's character was leaps and bounds more charming than Yoochun's snooty scholar). 

I also found the female lead in Moonlight far less compelling. Kim Yoo Jin is a talented young actress, but I felt like her character had very little development (at least in the episodes I saw) in comparison to the lead in SKKS. She was just cheerful and ran around the palace. We knew so little of her dreams or ambitions that it was hard to connect. Maybe if I loved SKKS a little less. I wouldn't have cared, but every episode just made me wonder why I wasn't marathoning the best parts of SKKS instead.

When it comes to the Scarlet Heart comparison, I get that Moonlight, even in the early episodes, has better production value. That being said, it's so clean, cute, and sanitized that I found myself far more eager to immerse myself in the gritty, complicated world of Scarlet Heart. What made me drop Moonlight was watching a scene where the prince supposedly has to give up the female lead to protect the country, but then—SURPRISE!—we find out that he actually had a plan to save her all along! I made the mistake of watching that episode right after Court Lady Oh's magnificent episode on Scarlet Heart, where there was no such thing as getting out without losing something, and suddenly all of the neat little resolutions in Moonlight lost my interest.

Feel sad for me! JK no worries!

The Final Verdict

Moonlight was probably a better-executed show overall and Scarlet Heart ran off the rails at the end, but when Scarlet Heart was good, it was so very, very good. 

What did you think of these two? Did I get it totally wrong? Convince me!

I'm sad how it all turned out too, Lee Joon Ki.

Where to Watch Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo 

DramaFever

Where to Watch Moonlight Drawn by Clouds

Viki

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo vs. Moonlight Drawn by Clouds Kdrama Review

New Drama Alert: Cinderella and Four Knights Korean Drama Review

Image source

Cinderella and Four Knights premiered this week, and it's exactly what it promises to be: a completely cheesy throwback fairytale in the style of old-school K-dramas like Boys over Flowers or Goong. But does it work? Yes and no.

What it's about: Eun Ha Won (Park So Dam) is a hardworking young woman who lives with her selfish and unkind stepmother and stepsister. She ends up getting mixed up with three absurdly wealthy cousins (Jung Il Woo, Ahn Jae Hyun, and Lee Jung Shin) and their grandpas' stoic bodyguard (Choi Min) all of whom will most likely fall for her.

Episodes watched: 2

Thoughts so far: I know that I often complain about reusing old, cliche plots and characters over and over in dramas, but this show is just so unabashedly cliche that it kind of works. It's not trying to be new. It's not trying to be creative. I mean, even the music felt like it came straight out of Boys over Flowers!  

Honestly, the first episode was kind of a hot mess with abrupt edits and weird tone. (And the hair—if every cast member is going to have matching haircuts, why, WHY must they be messy mushroom cuts?!?!) By the second episode, though, it fell into a more comfortable rhythm and found its footing a bit more. Somehow, even though I cringed at the wooden characters and completely obvious plot, I found myself enjoying that second episode way more than I should. 

Is this going to be a good show? No. But it's so unashamed about what kind of story it is that it manages to feel nostalgic rather than stale. In some ways, this drama feels more reminiscent of a Disney Channel Original Movie than a modern K-drama. It's cotton candy fluff that embraces the fairytale setup in very literal terms (like her sleeping in a closet or dropping her fancy heel for one of the "knights" to find), and it plays up the feeling of familiarity at every turn. It's silly, but it's comfortable, and sometimes comfort cotton candy is exactly what you need.

It doesn't hurt that the cast is immensely likable. I can totally see why Park So Dam is everywhere in Korea these days, and even wooden Ahn Jae Hyun seems perfectly at home in this drama with just the right level of cheese to sell his lines.

One other thing I will say for the show is that, cliche as it is, the few tweaks it does make work particularly well. There have been a couple of instances where the male lead tried to intimidate or humiliate the female lead. Instead of showing her crushed spirits or deer-in-headlights timidity like you would in other dramas, the show waits just long enough for the moment to sink in before flipping it. I almost cheered when Jung Il Woo's character tried to embarrass Park So Dam's character, and she ended up smacking him in the head and calling him on his nonsense. It makes me think that maybe there's just enough self-awareness in the script to make it work.

Moral of the story? If you go into this wanting a lot of character development and depth, don't bother. But if you're looking for a fun throwaway watch that you might be slightly ashamed to admit that you enjoyed, we can shame watch it together!

Where to watch Cinderella and Four Knights:

DramaFever

New Drama Alert: Cinderella and Four Knights Korean Drama Review

Another Oh Hae Young and Lucky Romance Korean Drama Reviews

Sometimes, I just wish shows would be aggressively bad because when my feelings are split, the disappointment sucks out all of my reviewing energy. If everything is terrible, rage fuels my fingers!

There's no rage this time around—just sheer disappointment. As a result, these reviews will be short. There were things that I really, really liked about both Another Oh Hae Young (a.k.a Oh Hae Young Again) and Lucky Romance. There were also things that I really didn't like. 

Another Oh Hae Young/ Oh Hae Young Again review

Sigh. I honestly just stared dejectedly at my computer for 5 minutes, trying to will myself to review this show. Oh Hae Young was my spirit animal. Thanks to a stellar performance from Seo Hyun Jin, she felt more real than any other drama heroine I had seen in a long time, and even though she was incredibly flawed, I was so invested in her development as a character that I didn't even care that her counterpart, Eric, just stared at the camera blankly episode after episode.

In fact, I loved this show so fiercely and was so determined that it was going to be one of my all-time favorite shows no matter what that every episode, I kept defending it to myself. "Oh no," I said. "the drama extension isn't ruining things too much." That was a lie.

Because of my self-delusion and the fact that there were things I genuinely enjoyed about even the slowest episode, it took me a few days to really nail down what went wrong. Here it is: This show started out with Oh Hae Young defining all of her self worth in relation to other people: her fiance, "pretty" Hae Young, etc. It's a familiar and relatable struggle, and the show promised to show us how she grew to love herself for herself, regardless of what anyone else thought of her.

Unfortunately, when we get to the end of the show, we have no evidence that Hae Young knows how to love herself or be happy without validation from other people. Instead, she ends right where she began—happy, but happy because she's in the arms of a man who pays attention to her. I feel so cheated! Similarly, I loved the balance of their relationship at first, but by the end, I kind of forgot why they were even together in the first place. 

Other observations I'm too lazy to actually discuss in detail:

• Hae Young singing karaoke with her parents might be the best family scene in any K-drama, ever. Kim Mi Kyung is a goddess and I love her in everything.
• Hey, whaddya know? Women feel sexual attraction too! Thanks for the reminder, show!
• Can we all agree that Do Kyung's visions were a very random plot device? Yes? Good.
• Jeon Hye Bin's "pretty Hae Young" was one classy second female lead. I'm glad she didn't turn to murder.
• Han Tae Jin was a nonsense second male lead. Why was Hae Young engaged to him in the first place? It's a mystery.

Where to watch Another Oh Hae Young:

DramaFever

Viki

Lucky Romance review

Confession: I stopped at episode 10 of this show, so I guess you don't actually have to take my word on anything.

In my defense, though, I wanted to stop at episode 4, but I convinced myself to give it a shot for a while longer, so I think I deserve some effort points for that or something. I watched SIX MORE HOURS just so I could review this thing!

So here's the thing about this show: Starting around episode 5, when Ryu Joon Yul was given actual things to do with his character, he was absolutely slaying it. If this show had been nothing but Soo Ho doing his doofy awkward shuffle, I would have kept watching until the end of time.

At some point, though, I had to admit that only liking or connecting with one character wasn't enough incentive to keep watching. When an episode ended with a kiss scene and I felt absolutely no interest in starting the next episode, that's when I knew it was time to jump ship for good.

Honestly, I just never clicked with Bo Nui's character. She felt immensely flat, and in ten episodes, the character really only displayed one of two emotions in nearly every scene: blandly pleasant or heartbroken and crying.

Now, before anyone tries to chalk this up to a case of oppa favoritism (as I've seen some very defensive commenters doing around the general K-bloggosphere), let's be clear: I would definitely chalk it up to writing issues far more than acting issues. While Hwang Jung Eum has a tendency to overact in other shows, she was pretty restrained here—the writing just gave her very little to do. In contrast, it's not really that hard to see why viewers gravitated towards Ryu Joon Yul's character when the writer gave him all of the goofy, endearing character development. Granted, it was also pretty clear that Ryu Joon Yul not only acted the part as it was written, but went above and beyond to make the most of it, and for that he deserves credit.

Other observations I'm too lazy to actually discuss in detail:

• Why were Lee Chung Ah and Lee Soo Hyuk even in this show? Did they lose a bet?
• Did the fortune teller warn Bo Nui that there would be a terrible denim famine? That's literally the only reason I can think of for her attire. That, or the heir to Korea's biggest denim manufacturer funded this entire drama.
• Dal Nim! That's all.
• New Korean vocab word learned: tiger. It's like the time I learned how to say "Magistrate" thanks to all the times Arang yelled it.
• Yay for a female lead who's also a smart programmer! Too bad I would have fired her immediately if I saw her spending the entire first day asking her male coworkers personal questions. 

Where to watch Lucky Romance:

Viki

In other words...

There's some good stuff in both of these shows, but not quite enough to outweigh the disappointments. What did you think of these shows? Do you think they lived up to their potential?

Another Oh Hae Young and Lucky Romance Korean Drama Reviews

New K-Drama Alert: Lucky Romance

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Lucky Romance was the drama I was waiting for all spring. When drama after drama failed to catch my interest, I kept thinking "At least there will be Lucky Romance!" Quirky plot, Ryu Joon Yul soothing my broken post-Answer Me 1988 heart—what more could I possibly want?

As it turns out, a lot. Sigh.




What It's About: Shim Bo Nui (Hwang Jung Eum) is convinced that she leads an unlucky existence. In order to bring more luck to the life of a loved one, a shaman tells her she must sleep with a man born in the year of the tiger. Enter Je Soo Ho, a smartypants game designer who just so happens to be born in the year of the tiger.

Episodes watched: 4

First Impressions: I know I already said this, but sigh. I wanted to like this show so badly, and I just...don't. It's not that there's anything actively bad about it. There isn't anything particularly good about it, either.

It's an MBC romcom that feels like it copied and pasted the scripts of the last five MBC romcoms to make a dull, unimaginative Frankendrama. Every single scene and character feels like it was pulled from another series, making it difficult to connect with the characters and leaving me wondering if tvN might have been a better fit for the premise.

Take Bo Nui's storyline, for example. It's bad enough that the drama opens with her literally wearing a Cinderella-esque kerchief over her hair as she washes floors, just in case we didn't catch the message that this is yet another poor, hardworking heroine. (To be fair, it turns out that she's a genius computer programmer, which is cool, but she's still the epitome of the Candy character in more ways than I care to count.)

Juuuuuust whistle while you work...

Oh yeah, and she's also the most nurturing human on the planet, so when her super creepy new neighbor keeps trying to bust into her apartment, she immediately forgets how creepy he's being the second she spots a tiny cut on his hand. It's almost like I've seen Hwang Jung Eum being a poor hot mess exploding with mothering instincts somewhere before....(In case you don't catch the drift, it was She Was Pretty. Remember how she clipped her boyfriend's nails for him, just like his mommy used to do?)

Then, of course, we also have Mr. Richey McGrumpygenius, who is so rich that he can win a bunch of money and not even care, and so grumpy that he can't give more than mono-syllabic responses to anyone. And a math genius, of course, because falling in love with a regular billionaire is so passe in Korea these days.

Sure, the setup is a cliche, but it's not like I don't watch and enjoy other dramas that follow traditional drama setups. What makes this series so disappointing is that it never quite moves past the lazy premise to give us anything to set this series apart. Where Another Oh Hae Young, for example, excels in making its characters feel real with troubles that strike you in the heart with their familiarity, this drama (at least so far) relies on external plot devices to try to get us to care. Everyone—and I mean EVERYONE—has a sad backstory. It's like the one-upmanship of pain. Oh yeah, your dad may or may not have abandoned you as a child? Well, I apparently killed my parents and almost killed my sister with my terrible fate!

Don't forget to feel sad for me! I'm too talented at things, and I don't know how to swim!

That's a lot of words to say this show is boring. I'm just so disappointed in what could have been. They had a solid cast and source material that sounded funny and sexy—so why is it so unfunny and unsexy so far? It's a shame, but I think this might be a cautionary tale on what happens when the powers that be decide to play it safe.

Where to watch
Viki (Viki Pass only)

New K-Drama Alert: Lucky Romance

Is Age Just a Number? (Part 2): K-dramas and Oppa/Ahjussi Romances

A long, long time ago, I wrote this post about the noona romance trend and what makes the difference between a decent romance and one that makes you feel all icky inside.

While noona romances definitely haven't disappeared in the last couple of years, now the pendulum seems to be swinging the other way, with several high-profile dramas casting older actors against much-younger actresses. Here are just a few recent or upcoming dramas off the top of my head that fit this trend:

• Marriage Contract: Lee Seo Jin (45) and UEE (28)
• Entertainer: Ji Sung (39) and Hyeri (21)
• Mirror of the Witch: Yoon Si Yoon (29) and Kim Sae Ron (15)
• Beautiful Gong Shim: Namgoong Min (38) and Minah (23)
• Doctors: Kim Rae Won (35) and Park shin Hye (26)
• Beautiful Mind: Jang Hyuk (39) and Park So Dam (24)
• Moonlight Drawn By Clouds: Park Bo Gum (22) and Kim Yoo Jung (16)
• Let's Fight Ghost: Taecyeon (27) and Kim So Hyun (16)

Given that we're bound to see the great age debate popping up again and again over the next few months, let's give the topic another look, shall we?

Noona Romances vs. Ahjussi Romances: Is There a Difference?

Basically, everything I said before about noona romances still applies here. I don't like it when viewers apply a double standard to age gaps in dramas, saying one or the other is more acceptable because it happens to align with their personal fantasies. When it comes to age gap for any gender, the biggest determining factors for me are whether the characters are in similar life stages and whether there's some sort of inappropriate power dynamic at play (like teacher/student romances, for example).

That's why, despite boasting the biggest age gap on the list at 17 years, Marriage Contract's casting bothers me least. Lee Seo Jin and UEE are both adults in real life, and they were playing adults on the series. They also seemed like they were in similar stages of life—if anything, UEE's character was the more mature one by far. The romance didn't make a big deal about the age gap, so as a viewer, I didn't, either.

How can you worry about silly things like age when you're crying your face off?

In contrast, the early scenes between Ji Sung and Hyeri in Entertainer felt so awkward and so much like an adult interacting with a teen that I decided not to bother watching any further. (Oh, yeah, and the plot was so boring that I had to prop my eyes open, so there's always that....)

Even though Entertainer didn't work for me personally, I don't find the age gap inherently problematic like I do with some other recent ahjussi romances. While I don't agree with a double standard in comparison to noona romances, I do find a few differences in the way they're executed, and some of those differences make me particularly concerned about the latest trend.

For one thing, I can't think of a single noona romance where the actor is a minor. Even in High School King of Savvy, Seo In Guk was 27 years old playing a teen. In three of the current or upcoming dramas, however—Mirror of the Witch, Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, and Let's Fight Ghost—the lead actresses are actual teenagers.

I guess for two of the three, you could argue that the historical setting makes sense for the age gap because brides were often younger than their husbands. Many historicals tend to be fairly chaste, anyway, so there's a good chance you're not going to get massively steamy scenes between the leads. From what I hear about Mirror of the Witch so far, it's all staying on the appropriate side of things, though I haven't seen it myself, so I can't comment there.

It seems as though the mindset going into the casting was to take these wildly popular child actresses who have been acting for years and give them a shot at their own leading roles. The problem here is that when you cast a teenage actress in a romantic role opposite an adult actor, it feeds into the Lolita schoolgirl fantasy that is already so rampant in the Korean entertainment industry. Even if the kissing scenes are chaste, it casts the actresses in a light that makes them seem more "adult" than they really are. Given that casting choices are often made in behalf of these young actresses by their managers/parents, it also raises the concern that they may take roles they will later regret.

I remember hearing an interview with Natalie Portman once where she was talking about her role in Leon: The Professional at the age of 12. She described how the fan mail she received from adult men made her uncomfortable, and how she wished that she had never taken the role.

In this vein, Let's Fight Ghost's casting was the one that elicited the most nope-ing of the bunch. Not only does it not have the excuse of historical accuracy, but the series is also based on a webtoon where the ghost is older than the male lead. It's not like they had to cast Old Man Taec in the role to make the story work. 

And that, my friends, is how you end up with pictorials like this one,
where the theme appears to be "16 is ALMOST legal, isn't it?"
Image source

I love the idea of giving this role to Kim Soo Hyun, but by pairing her with Taecyeon, you end up in this weird no-man's land where it can't be a sweet high school romance, and it also can't be a sexy tvN romcom either. In other words, you've hedged up the plot, you've put a minor in an uncomfortable position, and you've fed into pervy old man fantasies. Way to go, casting director!

Putting Female Leads to Pasture

I don't know if this is a fair critique, but the casting of established actors with the latest flavor-of-the-month ingenue also raises concerns for me about what it might do to older actresses. Fortunately, actresses of the 35–50 set have been headlining their own dramas lately (Twenty Again, Dear My Friends, etc.), but I do worry if the ongoing trend of ahjussi romances might eventually send the message that women of a certain age no longer belong in romantic roles, even if their male counterparts are still landing dramas right and left.

Give me Kim Sun Ah,* or give me death!
*in something that isn't Masked Prosecutor
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I'm perfectly willing to be proven wrong—UEE certainly blew me away and carried the emotional weight of the drama in Marriage Contract—but I can't help but wonder what happens to the Ha Ji Wons and Kim Sun Ahs if rookies like Park So Dam are snatching up parts opposite veterans like Jang Hyuk. (Okay, bad example. For one thing, Beautiful Mind looks like a hot mess, so they probably couldn't convince any top actresses to take the part anyway, and for another, I kind of love Park So Dam, so I'm willing to give her a pass on a lot of things.)

What do you think of this latest trend? Are you concerned about casting teen actresses in romances with older men? Do you think this whole hullabaloo is still a big fuss over nothing and you wish I would shut up about age already? Let us know!

Is Age Just a Number? (Part 2): K-dramas and Oppa/Ahjussi Romances

New K-drama Alert: Another Oh Hae Young/ Oh Hae Young Again

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If you read our Marriage Contract review, you know that I haven't exactly been keeping up on the K-drama scene of late. From a brief look around the comments sections of various K-drama sites, it looks like I'm not the only one underwhelmed by Dramaland's current offerings, either.

Fortunately, summer is just around the corner (or so I kept telling myself when it rained for 3 weeks straight where I live), which means it's almost fluffy romcom season! Kicking off the summer season is a little drama that somehow took me completely by surprise. I remember being intrigued by the casting a few months ago, but I swear I heard absolutely nothing about Another Oh Hae Young (aka Oh Hae Young Again) until I suddenly saw that it premiered.

What it's about: Okay, so one of the reasons I forgot about this show might be because the plot description was so random. The series is about two women who share the name Oh Hae Young (Seo Hyun Jin and Jeon Hye Bin) who always interrupt each other's lives. Oh yeah, and there's a guy named Park Do Kyung (Eric Moon) who sees the future. *shrugs* That's Dramaland for you!

Episodes watched: 4

First impressions: I think it's probably a good thing that I forgot this drama premiered until after the second episode aired because if I had only watched the first one, I don't know if I would have been motivated to keep going. For one thing, the editing in the episode was kind of weird, so the characters didn't really gel for me right away. Second, (minor spoiler) I was actually pretty disappointed to learn that Oh Hae Young wasn't the one who broke off the marriage. Here I was, hoping that we had a completely new take on a female lead, and she just ended up being your typical heartbroken sad sack after all.

That being said, this drama is gradually worming its way into my heart. Once we learn a little more about Oh Hae Young, I quite like her. Sure, she's a typical drama lead in a lot of ways, but at the same time, she's not quite the happy-go-lucky sweetheart we're used to seeing. Sometimes she's lazy. Sometimes she's a gossip. Sometimes she says nasty things to and about other people. I don't know anything about Seo Hyun Jin, but she has a magnetic screen presence that makes me wish Oh Hae Young and I were friends in real life, flaws and all.

It doesn't hurt that they frame her in such pretty scenes.
Who cares if it's raining for 3 weeks if places like this exist?

...And then, of course, there's Eric, playing the anti-K-drama lead in Park Do Kyung. It took me three episodes before I finally realized how few lines Do Kyung actually speaks. I don't know if I've ever seen a male lead quite like him. Instead of the angry, entitled jerk or even the recent trend of sweet second lead types in first lead roles, Do Kyung is a creature all his own. He has a temper, but he's also thoughtful and incredibly gentle. Eric is the perfect pick for his role, with his soulful eyes speaking volumes in every scene.

Not gonna lie, I might still watch this show if it were just Eric staring silently for 16 hours straight. 

What's really making this series work for me is the combination of the two. Hae Young is always talking, but never revealing her true self, and Do Kyung is always listening, recognizing beauty under layers of noise. Their interactions are sweet and simple. Of course, it also doesn't hurt that I'm a huge sucker for any drama that uses the forced cohabitation trope....

That's not to say that the show isn't without its issues. The most glaring is the supporting cast. I love Hae Young's parents, but everyone in Do Kyung's immediate circle is a little too over-the-top and slapstick to really earn my interest. I keep wanting to care about his sister, but when she's forced to be the butt of so many jokes, how can I? Don't even get me started on his brother, her girlfriend, or their mom.

Also, I just need to say that the way the central conflict happened drove me nuts. Life lesson: If you're going to ruin someone's life, at least take 3 minutes to Facebook stalk him first and make sure he isn't engaged to someone else. BOOM. Problem solved.

All in all, Another Oh Hae Young is definitely the most promising drama airing right now (that's not saying much, though), and it has enough positives to keep me watching. I'm happy that I stumbled upon it. 

Who else is watching? What do you think so far?

Where to watch Another Oh Hae Young:

DramaFever

Viki

New K-drama Alert: Another Oh Hae Young/ Oh Hae Young Again