Finally, some new dramas!
So, it's been a good long while since any k-dramas have grabbed me, mostly because all there has been lately are melodramas, but finally, finally a new crop of dramas started, and I'm really enjoying them.
You're the Best, Lee Soon Shin - I have been following this one week to week since it started, and I love it so, so much. It's just so charming. There's nothing really stand-out about it, and it's a weekend drama so the story is taking forever to get started, but I love the characters so much that I don't seem to care. I mean, I do tend to fast forward to the main love story, but I get wrapped up in the family drama, too. But, yeah, my heart belongs to IU and Jo Jung Seok. They are just too damn adorable. Both of them. The hero is just the right amount of quirky and arrogant and total dork. JJS plays him so perfectly. And IU is just killing it as Soon Shin. I know she's an idol actor, but damn, she's just as good as all the other up and coming actresses right now. Anyway, this drama is just pure fun to watch and I can actually see myself sticking with this one till the end if it remains this entertaining (and that's 50 episodes. I've never followed a drama with that many eps, so, we'll see. But so far I don't want this drama to end).
Gu Family Book - SO FREAKING GOOD, OMG. So beautiful, so well-plotted, so well-acted, just... I LOVE IT. Granted, these first two eps were simply the origin story of the next generation, so from here on out it'll be a different drama, so who knows if I'll still love it as much. I think I will, though, especially if it goes in a romcom direction. But I can also see it going the way of Arang and the Magistrate, where I really loved it at first but then quickly lost interest. We'll see, we'll see, but so far, out of the new crop of dramas, this one has the most potential to be breathtakingly awesome.
All About my Romance - this is the one I was most looking forward to, because it has fairly big name actors and it comes from the writers of Protect the Boss, which was very nearly my favorite k-drama of all time (it went bad near the end, sadly, which kind of ruined it, but I seriously loved the rest of that drama). All I've watched is the first episode, and I was pretty meh about it. Nothing really grabbed me, and to be honest, I fell asleep halfway through. Went back to it the next day and finished the ep, and it did get good once the leads got to interact (which was in the last minute or so), so hopefully the show will get better as it progresses. The problem right now is that I have no motivation to watch more episodes. I think starting out with only one episode really hurt it. I just wasn't given enough to sustain my interest.
When a Man Loves - I had zero interest in this at first, and I think I only watched it because I am desperately hoping for a new k-drama to latch onto, and it looked super cheesy and totally the opposite of the kind of k-dramas that I usually like, but... I enjoyed it? It's not as melo or makjang as I assumed it would be, and actually it's kind of light-hearted at this point. I mean, the hero almost died in the first episode and the heroine's life was torn apart, but the hero was basically reborn and he stayed faithfully in love with the heroine for SEVEN YEARS without her ever knowing (or even thinking about him, really) and when they meet again he is so clumsy in the way he tries to woo her and it's adorable and she's all offended because he used to be the gangster that beat her father up and now all of a sudden he's in love with her and trying his darnedest to make her life better and she just doesn't understand how he can see their relationship so utterly different from how she sees it, and OMG, I LOVE THEM. I LOVE THEM, OKAY? But they are DOOMED and there are all kinds of outside forces coming between them (in addition to their own clashing of personalities) and... guh, I love them. I don't care that it's mostly because Song Seung Hun is so gorgeous. I can be shallow like that. But, I am even enjoying the side characters, like Jang Hee and his little brother (who becomes the "other" man, and the third ep does a good job of making me root for him, too), and the ex-girlfriend of the dead boss who is madly in love with Tae Sang (Song Seung Hun). Normally this kind of character bugs the crap out of me, especially in melodramas where they tend to be so utterly insane and evil that you just want to strangle them, but in this drama you actually kind of feel for her. Like, not enough to root for her, because she is still cruel, but she's cruel because she's hurting and she's lonely, and the only man that claims he loves her basically wants to kill her so that no one else can have her (seriously, this dude is beyond insane, and she keeps playing him like a fiddle, and it's hilarious and awesome but you know that it won't end well for her). I fear that the drama will make Tae Sang marry her just to save her from Evil Dude, and then Seo Mi will figure out that she loves him right at this point, and they will have this forbidden, angst-ridden love for each other that will probably end with one of them dying. Most likely Tae Sang. Or maybe the Ex-Girlfriend of Dead Boss ends up getting killed by Evil Dude, and it's really tragic and Tae Sang avenges her and then he and Seo Mi are free to have a happy ending. IDK. I'm just shocked that this is the drama that is like crack to me right now.
Did I ever mention that I've been following the Taiwanese drama Substitute Princess? IDK, but I've been following it pretty much since it started airing. I still don't know why I'm so addicted to it, because NOTHING EVER HAPPENS. Like, it's 13 episodes in and I still don't know which romance is supposed to be the OTP. I have never watched an Asian drama and not known who the intended couple is. Maybe that's why I'm still watching. Convention says that she'll end up with the rich dude, but her love for Guan Jun ga is so endearing and steadfast and I love Guan Jun ga with all my heart and I want so badly for him to get the girl, but he never appreciated her while he had her, and since he is a part of her family he can still be in her life without her ending up with him, so I feel like the odds are not in his favor. But I can't root for rich dude because I will always see his love for Da Hua as a substitute for his love for Liang Yan. You can't fall for the girl who looks exactly like your dead fiance and say it's totally because of her personality. Just, no. Never going to convince me with them. He just looks lonely and he's latching onto Da Hua because she's there and looks like the woman that he thought he'd be spending the rest of his life with. Guan Jun/Da Hua all the way for me. Sadly, it looks like most people are rooting for the rich guy, but like I said, I just can't with them. No sir. Liang Yan will always be between them.
You're the Best, Lee Soon Shin - I have been following this one week to week since it started, and I love it so, so much. It's just so charming. There's nothing really stand-out about it, and it's a weekend drama so the story is taking forever to get started, but I love the characters so much that I don't seem to care. I mean, I do tend to fast forward to the main love story, but I get wrapped up in the family drama, too. But, yeah, my heart belongs to IU and Jo Jung Seok. They are just too damn adorable. Both of them. The hero is just the right amount of quirky and arrogant and total dork. JJS plays him so perfectly. And IU is just killing it as Soon Shin. I know she's an idol actor, but damn, she's just as good as all the other up and coming actresses right now. Anyway, this drama is just pure fun to watch and I can actually see myself sticking with this one till the end if it remains this entertaining (and that's 50 episodes. I've never followed a drama with that many eps, so, we'll see. But so far I don't want this drama to end).
Gu Family Book - SO FREAKING GOOD, OMG. So beautiful, so well-plotted, so well-acted, just... I LOVE IT. Granted, these first two eps were simply the origin story of the next generation, so from here on out it'll be a different drama, so who knows if I'll still love it as much. I think I will, though, especially if it goes in a romcom direction. But I can also see it going the way of Arang and the Magistrate, where I really loved it at first but then quickly lost interest. We'll see, we'll see, but so far, out of the new crop of dramas, this one has the most potential to be breathtakingly awesome.
All About my Romance - this is the one I was most looking forward to, because it has fairly big name actors and it comes from the writers of Protect the Boss, which was very nearly my favorite k-drama of all time (it went bad near the end, sadly, which kind of ruined it, but I seriously loved the rest of that drama). All I've watched is the first episode, and I was pretty meh about it. Nothing really grabbed me, and to be honest, I fell asleep halfway through. Went back to it the next day and finished the ep, and it did get good once the leads got to interact (which was in the last minute or so), so hopefully the show will get better as it progresses. The problem right now is that I have no motivation to watch more episodes. I think starting out with only one episode really hurt it. I just wasn't given enough to sustain my interest.
When a Man Loves - I had zero interest in this at first, and I think I only watched it because I am desperately hoping for a new k-drama to latch onto, and it looked super cheesy and totally the opposite of the kind of k-dramas that I usually like, but... I enjoyed it? It's not as melo or makjang as I assumed it would be, and actually it's kind of light-hearted at this point. I mean, the hero almost died in the first episode and the heroine's life was torn apart, but the hero was basically reborn and he stayed faithfully in love with the heroine for SEVEN YEARS without her ever knowing (or even thinking about him, really) and when they meet again he is so clumsy in the way he tries to woo her and it's adorable and she's all offended because he used to be the gangster that beat her father up and now all of a sudden he's in love with her and trying his darnedest to make her life better and she just doesn't understand how he can see their relationship so utterly different from how she sees it, and OMG, I LOVE THEM. I LOVE THEM, OKAY? But they are DOOMED and there are all kinds of outside forces coming between them (in addition to their own clashing of personalities) and... guh, I love them. I don't care that it's mostly because Song Seung Hun is so gorgeous. I can be shallow like that. But, I am even enjoying the side characters, like Jang Hee and his little brother (who becomes the "other" man, and the third ep does a good job of making me root for him, too), and the ex-girlfriend of the dead boss who is madly in love with Tae Sang (Song Seung Hun). Normally this kind of character bugs the crap out of me, especially in melodramas where they tend to be so utterly insane and evil that you just want to strangle them, but in this drama you actually kind of feel for her. Like, not enough to root for her, because she is still cruel, but she's cruel because she's hurting and she's lonely, and the only man that claims he loves her basically wants to kill her so that no one else can have her (seriously, this dude is beyond insane, and she keeps playing him like a fiddle, and it's hilarious and awesome but you know that it won't end well for her). I fear that the drama will make Tae Sang marry her just to save her from Evil Dude, and then Seo Mi will figure out that she loves him right at this point, and they will have this forbidden, angst-ridden love for each other that will probably end with one of them dying. Most likely Tae Sang. Or maybe the Ex-Girlfriend of Dead Boss ends up getting killed by Evil Dude, and it's really tragic and Tae Sang avenges her and then he and Seo Mi are free to have a happy ending. IDK. I'm just shocked that this is the drama that is like crack to me right now.
Did I ever mention that I've been following the Taiwanese drama Substitute Princess? IDK, but I've been following it pretty much since it started airing. I still don't know why I'm so addicted to it, because NOTHING EVER HAPPENS. Like, it's 13 episodes in and I still don't know which romance is supposed to be the OTP. I have never watched an Asian drama and not known who the intended couple is. Maybe that's why I'm still watching. Convention says that she'll end up with the rich dude, but her love for Guan Jun ga is so endearing and steadfast and I love Guan Jun ga with all my heart and I want so badly for him to get the girl, but he never appreciated her while he had her, and since he is a part of her family he can still be in her life without her ending up with him, so I feel like the odds are not in his favor. But I can't root for rich dude because I will always see his love for Da Hua as a substitute for his love for Liang Yan. You can't fall for the girl who looks exactly like your dead fiance and say it's totally because of her personality. Just, no. Never going to convince me with them. He just looks lonely and he's latching onto Da Hua because she's there and looks like the woman that he thought he'd be spending the rest of his life with. Guan Jun/Da Hua all the way for me. Sadly, it looks like most people are rooting for the rich guy, but like I said, I just can't with them. No sir. Liang Yan will always be between them.