Drama Thoughts: 2016.09.28
Welcome to Drama Thoughts! As the title may suggest, these are my thoughts on dramas and movies I have recently finished or am currently watching. They are not thorough reviews and probably contain spoilers, so I don't recommend reading them if you haven't watched the show/film that's being covered. These posts are just a means for me to record my impressions, however brief, so that I can look back on them later and remember what I liked or disliked about a show/film.
First, an update: I'm lazy. Ok, that's nothing new. But due to inevitable laziness, these reviews will get even shorter than before and lose the formal formatting I've been using thus far. To make up for it, I'm going to occasionally write about shows I'm currently watching. Part of this is because I already have thoughts on them I'd like to write down, but due to slumps and other obstacles, finishing them may be a ways off, by which point I forget what I wanted to write or just can no longer be bothered. Like my reviews, these will be fairly casual.
Recently Completed:
You Who Came From the Stars (2013)
I came for an alien with cool superpowers; I stayed for the sassy, fast-talking actress.
I'm late to the party on this one, but not as late as I was with Secret Garden at least. I didn't doubt I would like this drama though, given the genre, so I kept saving it for when I "really needed it"...whenever that might be. But with the same writer coming out with another show this year, also starring Jeon Ji Hyeon, I figured I better get this one out of the way first.
Despite the number of episodes, I breezed through this show in about ten days. It was pretty much perfect from start to finish. It was my first time seeing Jeon Ji Hyeon and I *loved* her. Definitely a fan starting now. I'm already familiar with Kim Soo Hyun. I'm not a huge fan of his but I don't dislike him either. Maybe because I know him best from Dream High, he seemed too young for the role and he's never been the type to make me swoon, so the romance suffered a bit for me. It wasn't enough to ruin the show, though.
I liked that there was a rather large cast and that they all had roles that weren't just about interfering with the lead couple or something. There wasn't any wasted scenes with them either. Watching the leads never got boring either. I was surprised a show that often took place exclusively in their apartments could be so entertaining, lol.
Complaints? I didn't care for the soundtrack and some elements of the ending were so-so for me, but nothing catastrophic. Please, drama writers, give us more female leads like Cheon Song Yi. She's hilarious and and strong and flawed in all the right ways.
W - Two Worlds (2016)
Hmm. The best word to describe this show was "suspense". It was gripping and kept me on the edge of my seat during almost every episode. Another way to describe it would be "a writer's worst nightmare". I actually began to worry about the things I've done to my own characters, should they somehow magically find the ability to enter the real world, lol. I would be punished for sure.
The good points of this show was that it was never boring and that while the writing was pretty crazy, there was nothing really left unexplained. Towards the end, some of this felt a bit messy and people didn't like that they kept making things up, but you can't say they did anything that wasn't hinted at in an earlier episode. I guess the magic of it all just faded after a while. The show probably would have done better had it been a few episodes shorter.
Another weak point was the characters. Since Kang Chul was a manhwa character, he was perfect on purpose, so it was understandable, but it was hard to like him and root for him. It wasn't that he didn't struggle, but he just wasn't interesting. Oh Yeon Joo was funny at first, but lacked substance after the first few episodes. She also quite honestly lacked purpose. There were a lot of times she would just sit around doing nothing from shock and things would get resolved on their own, through someone else's efforts. I can't remember her really *doing* much after those first few episodes...
I think this show could have been better if they had stopped throwing in so many new elements in the later half and gone in a different direction with the characters. Besides obviously making a less passive heroine, I think it would have helped if Kang Chul were originally from our world and thus had a more realistic personality (though expecting something like that in any drama...lol). Maybe he had started to act like a perfect manhwa hero after being stuck in one for so long, but through exposure to Oh Yeon Joo and the real world, his old self, or human self, would have started to come back. I'm not even sure how that would work, but it's just an idea.
Despite the many flaws, I still rated this drama highly because it was very entertaining and I eagerly looked forward to each episode. I would rather see more shows like this than ones that drag and lack creativity. So this is the lesser of evils as far as dramas go.
Currently Watching:
Bad Guys (2014): Episode 4
I like the idea that the drama gods looked at Park Hae Jin in this role and thought "yes, he would be perfect to play Yoo Jung in Cheese in the Trap" lmao.
Scarlet Heart: Ryeo (2016): Episode 11
This show is so sad sometimes, but I love it. Still a mess, but a hot one? It's so hard to strike perfection in Drama Land, it seems. I wish Wang So had stayed a darker, more stoic character rather than this creep clinging to Hae Soo lately. This is unfortunately all too common in K-Dramas so I have to overlook it to some extent (or risk losing all enjoyment) but it just seems a more interesting and likable character was lost somewhere after the first few episodes. I realize this is an adaption, however, so perhaps there was nothing they could so (not that they would have improved on it if given the chance, probably).
For his good points, he stands by her and protects her when no one else will. Certainly, Wang Wook would have done the same as he could, but he's been entrapt by his ambitious sister now. So he had to turn his back on Hae Soo, quite literally. As awful as it is for the two doomed would-be lovers, I'm happy it's finally happened. Since they weren't exactly falling out of love with one another, something had to happen to tear them apart more forcefully. And it's bringing out hints of a darker side in Wang Wook that I knew were lurking in there. So at least a few things are going my way!
Ahh, if not for a few things here and there, this would be such a perfect show. I don't often like K-Drama historicals, but historicals in general are definitely my thing. So to see them doing one better like this, I'm happy for that at least. Please keep it up and improve!
First, an update: I'm lazy. Ok, that's nothing new. But due to inevitable laziness, these reviews will get even shorter than before and lose the formal formatting I've been using thus far. To make up for it, I'm going to occasionally write about shows I'm currently watching. Part of this is because I already have thoughts on them I'd like to write down, but due to slumps and other obstacles, finishing them may be a ways off, by which point I forget what I wanted to write or just can no longer be bothered. Like my reviews, these will be fairly casual.
Recently Completed:
You Who Came From the Stars (2013)
I came for an alien with cool superpowers; I stayed for the sassy, fast-talking actress.
I'm late to the party on this one, but not as late as I was with Secret Garden at least. I didn't doubt I would like this drama though, given the genre, so I kept saving it for when I "really needed it"...whenever that might be. But with the same writer coming out with another show this year, also starring Jeon Ji Hyeon, I figured I better get this one out of the way first.
Despite the number of episodes, I breezed through this show in about ten days. It was pretty much perfect from start to finish. It was my first time seeing Jeon Ji Hyeon and I *loved* her. Definitely a fan starting now. I'm already familiar with Kim Soo Hyun. I'm not a huge fan of his but I don't dislike him either. Maybe because I know him best from Dream High, he seemed too young for the role and he's never been the type to make me swoon, so the romance suffered a bit for me. It wasn't enough to ruin the show, though.
I liked that there was a rather large cast and that they all had roles that weren't just about interfering with the lead couple or something. There wasn't any wasted scenes with them either. Watching the leads never got boring either. I was surprised a show that often took place exclusively in their apartments could be so entertaining, lol.
Complaints? I didn't care for the soundtrack and some elements of the ending were so-so for me, but nothing catastrophic. Please, drama writers, give us more female leads like Cheon Song Yi. She's hilarious and and strong and flawed in all the right ways.
W - Two Worlds (2016)
Hmm. The best word to describe this show was "suspense". It was gripping and kept me on the edge of my seat during almost every episode. Another way to describe it would be "a writer's worst nightmare". I actually began to worry about the things I've done to my own characters, should they somehow magically find the ability to enter the real world, lol. I would be punished for sure.
The good points of this show was that it was never boring and that while the writing was pretty crazy, there was nothing really left unexplained. Towards the end, some of this felt a bit messy and people didn't like that they kept making things up, but you can't say they did anything that wasn't hinted at in an earlier episode. I guess the magic of it all just faded after a while. The show probably would have done better had it been a few episodes shorter.
Another weak point was the characters. Since Kang Chul was a manhwa character, he was perfect on purpose, so it was understandable, but it was hard to like him and root for him. It wasn't that he didn't struggle, but he just wasn't interesting. Oh Yeon Joo was funny at first, but lacked substance after the first few episodes. She also quite honestly lacked purpose. There were a lot of times she would just sit around doing nothing from shock and things would get resolved on their own, through someone else's efforts. I can't remember her really *doing* much after those first few episodes...
I think this show could have been better if they had stopped throwing in so many new elements in the later half and gone in a different direction with the characters. Besides obviously making a less passive heroine, I think it would have helped if Kang Chul were originally from our world and thus had a more realistic personality (though expecting something like that in any drama...lol). Maybe he had started to act like a perfect manhwa hero after being stuck in one for so long, but through exposure to Oh Yeon Joo and the real world, his old self, or human self, would have started to come back. I'm not even sure how that would work, but it's just an idea.
Despite the many flaws, I still rated this drama highly because it was very entertaining and I eagerly looked forward to each episode. I would rather see more shows like this than ones that drag and lack creativity. So this is the lesser of evils as far as dramas go.
Currently Watching:
Bad Guys (2014): Episode 4
I like the idea that the drama gods looked at Park Hae Jin in this role and thought "yes, he would be perfect to play Yoo Jung in Cheese in the Trap" lmao.
Scarlet Heart: Ryeo (2016): Episode 11
This show is so sad sometimes, but I love it. Still a mess, but a hot one? It's so hard to strike perfection in Drama Land, it seems. I wish Wang So had stayed a darker, more stoic character rather than this creep clinging to Hae Soo lately. This is unfortunately all too common in K-Dramas so I have to overlook it to some extent (or risk losing all enjoyment) but it just seems a more interesting and likable character was lost somewhere after the first few episodes. I realize this is an adaption, however, so perhaps there was nothing they could so (not that they would have improved on it if given the chance, probably).
For his good points, he stands by her and protects her when no one else will. Certainly, Wang Wook would have done the same as he could, but he's been entrapt by his ambitious sister now. So he had to turn his back on Hae Soo, quite literally. As awful as it is for the two doomed would-be lovers, I'm happy it's finally happened. Since they weren't exactly falling out of love with one another, something had to happen to tear them apart more forcefully. And it's bringing out hints of a darker side in Wang Wook that I knew were lurking in there. So at least a few things are going my way!
Ahh, if not for a few things here and there, this would be such a perfect show. I don't often like K-Drama historicals, but historicals in general are definitely my thing. So to see them doing one better like this, I'm happy for that at least. Please keep it up and improve!