Korean dramas

Filipinos LOVE Korean dramas. Or in fact, Asian dramas in general. There is something about these that no Filipino Soap Opera can ever replicate no matter how hard our writers try.

Well, the Asian drama boom here started with Meteor Garden, anyways. Then the Endless Love series, Full House, Three Dads and One Mom, Sassy Girl Chun Hyang, among all others. But the real big thing was Jewel In The Palace, what with its Rags to Riches story and the incredibly good introduction to ancient (and probably modern too) Korean culture. The subsequent historical dramas released here such as Jumong, Hwang Jini, and Dong Yi gave me a crash course on Korean history.

Added Dae Jang Geum to the Korean Series index.

The only sagueks/fusion sageuks I've seen so far are Joseon X-Files and Conspiracy in the Court, the latter of which lost me halfway because I couldn't keep up with all the political plots.

Question: which is rarer, a romantic comedy without any chaebols (super rich guy) or a historical drama without any political conspiracies?

Watching Wild Romance. I really like the way the characters and the story is developing. Really liked Once Upon A Time In Saengchori and Vampire Prosecutor.

@ Whimsey

LOL on your question. That's why they are tropes!!

By the way, I found out there is a trope for guyliner. I added a tab under the Live Action TV for Korean Series.

Enjoy!

Get sick in the rain

piggyback rides

actually there are so many

Those are mainly for romantic comedies though. You usually don't see a lot of piggyback rides or getting sick in the rain in sagueks, say, or thriller.

After some thought, I have decided that the Universal Kdrama Constant is Angst. I have yet to see a show not have it, no matter what genre it is: sagueks, action, romantic comedy, family dramas. Can be pretty jarring when a romcom suddenly takes a dive into Angst Valley 2/3rds of the way through.

edited 16th Mar '12 3:05:44 PM by whimsyful

Anyone keeping up with the new wave of premiering dramas? My thoughts on what I've seen so far:

The King 2 Hearts — They need a better title. The plot is a crazy mashup of Goong (AU with a monarchy and romantic comedy) and IRIS (action/political thriller, North Korea and terrorists), but somehow manages to work.

Rooftop Prince — I've never seen a romantic comedy with so many dead bodies in the opening episode before...really hope the story can sustain it's momentum for the entire run.

The Equator Man — Plot, acting and cinematography are all very good so far, though it is very very dramatic. The music director needs to be fired, he's singlehandedly ruining the drama.

edited 28th Mar '12 8:51:26 PM by whimsyful

@ Whimsyful -

I'm really liking Rooftop so far. Jury is still out on K 2 H, and I haven't done more than make a passing glance at Equator. Why did they all come out at the same time?!

I went ahead and started the page for Rooftop Prince. I'm also in the process of adding the Taiwanese Series Summers Desire. FYI.

edited 4th Apr '12 1:32:32 PM by Shukmeister

Watching Rooftop Prince and it's been fun but I'm not sure I can go through 8 more weeks of the heroine getting kicked in the teeth by her wicked stepsister.

I've noticed that middle aged women are often downright hostile to the heroine in the shows I've see. And many times the mature/older/adult types seem to become increasingly obstinate and dictatorial over something despite the fact that previous efforts have failed miserably. I'm looking at you Mary Stayed Out All Night.

edited 4th Apr '12 8:44:40 PM by blackcat

Yeah, I highly dislike it when the main (and sometimes only) conflict comes from the disapproval of an older adult figure. In Rooftop's case though, the main girl's stepmom is actually pretty nice to her. And the second male lead is currently in the lead as far as dastardly deeds are concerned.

@Shukmeister Lol, I don't think it's them coming out all at the same time as much them all being somewhat interesting. None of the last crop of airing dramas really caught my interest and now there's too many!

After watching episode 6 of Rooftop Prince I want Park Ha to keep right on walking get on an airplane and go to New York and work happily together with Amy and let everybody sort this out without her. Fourteen more episodes? God only knows what is going to happen to her next.

edited 8th Apr '12 8:29:46 PM by blackcat

Ah, Rooftop Prince. It's REALLY popular here in Korea.

edited 20th Apr '12 1:04:42 AM by dRoy

The ratings are around 10%, which is decent but not spectacular.

Yes, but goodness gracious, you can't have any non-serious dialogues with SOMEONE quoting a line from that show. It really grates on my nerves. Maybe I am hanging out with a wrong crowd...

LOL dRoy, that happens to a lot of shows. My sister can't ever stop talking about Dancing With The Stars, which I have seen maybe 1/2 hour total across all seasons.

I think if a show is talked about a lot, that usually means it's at least caught the interest of people and so is worth watching.

Other than that, its either ear plugs, or pieces of raw dough stuffed in your ears like Flower Boy Ramyun Shop.

@Whimsy - feast or famine, that's what it is. Luckily, I have backed up King 2 Hearts as well as Equator Man for later viewing. I just hope nothing new comes out like this one and takes over my world.

edited 25th Apr '12 10:06:17 PM by Shukmeister

I keep going back and forth about Rooftop Prince. I like the supernatural and mystery elements. I just saw episode 12 and if the business world intrigue stuff continues I'll give it a pass.

I would like to see the sunflower wall episode from Auction House for the first time again. I liked that show a lot and especially the ending of that episode.

edited 26th Apr '12 8:24:57 PM by blackcat

So far, the only one I've tried watching is Boys Before Flowers (thank you Netflix!) and I like it. I'd love having it on DVD for myself though.

@blackcat I was watching Rooftop Prince mainly for the fish-out-of-water antics, which are pretty much gone now. If you like supernatural/mystery stuff, may I recommend Joseon X-Files / Secret Investigation Record ? If you've never seen a historical drama before the setting (and the Mind Screw) might take some getting use to but it has this great moody, creepy ambiance.

@Shukmeister For the Wed/Thurs shows I read the recaps first and watch the eps only if the recaps interest me, which saves a lot of time. But now that Queen In-hyun's Man and OCN's Hero are both out...eep.

edited 30th Apr '12 6:18:03 PM by whimsyful

I think I looked at Secret Investigation Record, is that the one that had UFO's flying over Korea?

I'm at the point now where I watch the last couple of minutes of the new episodes of Rooftop Prince. Maybe after the series completes I'll go back and pick up the rest of the episode.

edited 9th May '12 10:10:56 PM by blackcat

Yup, that's the one. I dropped Rooptop Prince too and switched over to Queen In Hyun's Man instead. SO many time travel dramas coming out right now.

I started watching Unriddle. It looks interesting.

What's it about and how is it?

It's about a detective and an informant who work together to solve crimes both of them are women. Action-y.

Rooftop Prince's last episode is airing as I type this post.

Just watched the last episode. It wasn't the ending I had hoped for, but it was pretty good. Someday I'll go back and watch episodes 13-19.