Ironically, the more dramas I watch, the less time I have to write full reviews, so I thought I would try out this bite-sized review format for just a few of them. Note: the enjoyment factor is how much I enjoyed it, not how much I think someone else will enjoy it.
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Nonstop 4/논스톱 4 (Sept 2003 – Oct 2004) 249 eps, MBC
Oh man, did I get a kick out of this one! The Nonstop shows were known for the casting of rising young stars, and if you go back and take a peek at the names that popped up throughout the entire series, your eyes will bug out from all the collected famous. This fourth one had populars like HyunBin, Han YeSeul, Andy (H.O.T), Junjin (Shinhwa), and Jang GeunSuk, to name just a few. A beyond goofy campus sitcom, it was the kind of show that flew by as you immersed yourself in its nonsense. If ever there was a reason to amass a huddle of cute young stars to participate in scripted antics and pranks, this was a good one: for nonstop fangirl hilarity.
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Ojakgyo Brothers/오작교 형제들 (Aug 2011 – Feb 2012) 58 Eps, KBS2
Actually, there was more to invest in this family drama than merely the attractive combo of UEE and JooWon—which, don’t get me wrong, was probably the highlight. But the focus of the story was the entire Ojakgyo clan and their farm, and more specifically, the four brothers and their respective travel from being semi-men to actual men. Pretty standard weekend fare about the conflicts within a large K-family, but with less irritating characters than usual. Haha. For example, the coerced marriage between rival coworkers Ryu SooYoung and Choi JungYoon after an unexpected one night stand pregnancy was a rather modern style courtship between young professionals and a uniquely scratchy loveline. It was as fun to watch adults struggle through the more serious side of relationships as it was to watch the young love parts.
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Que Sera Sera/케세라, 세라 (Mar – May 2007) 17 eps, MBC
Oh, this was an edgy little monster. It was oozing with seduction and libido, and definitely one of the more provocative dramas to air (at the time), including a controversial scene with...let’s just say it was a very forceful example of sexual ardor. At its best, it felt a little dark and dangerous, at its worst, a little overcooked on the ferocity of character passion. The story followed Eric (of bad boy veteran idol group Shinhwa), a debonair gigolo who played with women for sex and money until one day he felt the uncomfortable sensation of real love for Jung YooMi, a woman who was an innocent when it came to the darker games played by sophisticated and emotionally hardened men and women. I personally thought it was engaging more for its unapologetic sensuality than for actual written quality, but undoubtedly, noteworthy because of its departure from kdrama convention to tiptoe around sex. Instead of fearing the animal side of love, this one couldn’t stop flaunting it. Also, it featured one the best soundtracks ever.
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Queen InHyun’s Man/인현왕후의 남자 (Apr – Jun 2012) 16 eps, tvN
This was a drama where the two main leads Yoo InNa and Ji HyunWoo had so much sizzling chemistry that it lead to their eventual real life romance. Besides actor spark, a significant component to drama success that this one had loads of, this ditty really earned its merit badge because of its resourceful script which featured a pretty clever time traveling premise. Yoo InNa played an actress filming a sageuk drama about Queen InHyun, which nicely paralleled Ji HyunWoo’s scholar who was actually from 300 years past and in the middle of trying to survive the dramatic events her show was depicting. The writers did a good job of milking the story for all kinds of chronological and historical tension while the actors did a good job of pushing through some real emotion into the clever plot.
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Scent of a Woman/여인의 향기 (Jul – Sept 2011) 16 eps, SBS
After being diagnosed with cancer, a woman who spent most of her life as a pushover realizes she has a choice to make, she could either continue to exist as always and waste what remained of her life, or use her last months to grab existence by the balls and really live. Kim SunAh and Lee DongWook reminded us just exactly why tango is considered pure sexy time on the dance floor as they delivered some of the steamiest dance scenes ever. For a show about one of the saddest human afflictions, it kept to its romcom vibe and focused on the new exciting journey that was starting for the heroine rather than dwelling on the sickness. This one was all about hope, and it was a wonderful story about risking it all for love, appreciating family and friends, and making the most of life because diagnosed with something or not, nobody really knows how much time the fates will allow us.
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Secret Garden/시크릿 가든 (Nov 2010 – Jan 2011) 20 eps, SBS
Big stars, body swapping, weirdness aplenty = big hit. Ha JiWon was a stuntwoman. HyunBin was a rich department store president. They fell in love. Also featured stars like Yoon SangHyun, Lee Philip, Yoo InNa, and then new face Lee JongSuk. The show made headlines with latte foam kissing, funny tracksuits, men on men action...it was a heavily parodied show at the time. Most everything it did was noteworthy for its wacky. HyunBin and Yoon SangHyun delivered some epic funny although Ha JiWon was less than I’d expected. Individual performances can be picked out for compliments or criticisms, but for me, the show as a final product felt like a bloated drama full of famous people, with the overflow of talent making it a scant better than it was written. Eh, it probably doesn’t deserve so much sighing or eye rolling from me, but honestly, it didn’t work for me.
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Shut Up Flower Boy Band/닥치고 꽃미남밴드
(Jan – Mar 2012) 16 eps, tvN
Who am I to deny it? One of the better teenage rebellion slash aspiring singer dramas to air on the small screen. It wasn’t my favorite in 2012 (but competition was tough, it was a uniquely good drama year), and certainly at times it had more personality and style than story development, but a win is a win, even when graded on a curve. When a shocking event befalls one of their bandmates, highschool rock band Eye Candy throws aside inhibition and dares to go after their dream, but will they survive the pitfalls of love and fame or end up cracking under pressure? Lots of pretty boys in leather falling in love while jamming out. If this smells even a little like the kind of youthful drama you might like, I almost guarantee you probably will.
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Soulmate/소울메이트 (Mar – Jun 2006) 22 eps, MBC
An exploration of the dating culture in South Korea, this one was unique in that between the joking and idealistic picture of romance, it also threw in real couple things, such as farting in bed. While chronicling the quirks of coupling, this one also wondered out loud if there was such a thing as a soulmate, and what if we kept missing our opportunity to meet him/her? Or do we just date until we find a partner that is satisfactory? The lack of actual interaction between the obvious ‘soulmates’ eventually strayed toward annoying, even when it was in service to the show’s main idea, still overall, a cute show with lots of great music to get us in the mood. By today’s standards, maybe it wasn’t all that progressive, but for 2006, it was pretty hip.
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Triple/트리플 (Jun – Jul 2009) 16 eps, MBC
A competitive figure skater, Min HyoRin, crashes uninvited into her estranged stepbrother’s tidy Seoul life. Despite his objections, she forcibly settles and interrupts a household of three bachelors. When Min’s youthful stirrings of young love clash and tear at the mature emotions playing between the adults around her, things become messy. Not a bad drama, though perhaps an unexciting one. And there were some bizarre story focuses, specifically the sister-bro love thing. While not actually incestuous (not blood related), still weird. But this one featured handsomes Lee SunGyun and Yoon KyeSang, as well as a very young Song JoongKi. My fave subplot ended up being the refreshing dynamic where the girl Kim Hee was a wild commitment-phobe, while her man Lee SunGyun just wanted to put a ring on it. A lot of the supporting was great, so if a fan of any in the cast, worth watching. Basically, acted well; likable characters trapped in a dislikable story.
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Vampire Idol/뱀파이어 아이돌 (Dec 2011 – Mar 2012) 79 eps, MBN
If you can look past the cheesy production values of this one, it’s pretty insanely enjoyable. It’s about an alien vampire prince and his royal retinue who travel to Earth only to become stranded, then turn into rookie idols. It was dorky, inane, and frequently downright stupid, but the kind of eye-rolling-gasping-in-disbelief-laughing sort of stupid done with the right glob of self-deprecation and mutual awareness between show and audience of its stupidity that makes it work. And perhaps the vampire + idol + self-mock recipe was a successful merge because it was timely for the kdrama landscape when it aired (era of supernatural idolmania obsession) and the actors starring in it were uncommonly fresh-faced rising stars (ex. Kim Woobin, Lee SooHyuk, Lee YooBi). Nothing that’ll change your life, but these types of shows should be enjoyed too, they bring the fun back into dramas. I can see it now, this short sitcom (short by sitcom standards bcuz it was cut short due to poor ratings) is destined for new life as a cult favorite.
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Warrior Baek Dong Soo/무사 백동수 (Jul – Oct 2011) 29 eps, SBS
Bromance, bromance, and more bromance, with hair, hair, and more hair, plus one manly guy-linered Choi MinSoo, which is always welcomed. Hard to believe it was only 29 episodes cus it felt so much longer, and not in the best way. This historical warrior tale followed two boyhood rivals turned friends turned enemies. One grew up to be a goody-goody hero with many loyal friends, the other a caricature villain with a bunch of minions, but despite it all, the two boys loved each other. The end. Watch it if you like pretty men with swords, but don’t expect Chuno or anything.
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What’s Up/왓츠업 (Dec 2011 – Feb 2012) 20 eps, MBN
Initially, the project benefited from the hype of having Big Bang’s sultriest vocalist starring in it, and then an unfortunate accident involving Daesung delayed it. I bring this sad thing up only to point out that the drama had some baggage (it was filmed in its entirety before broadcast) and when it finally found a network to air it, the show came and went with little fanfare. Too bad, really, because it was a pretty decent show about musical theater majors who found their voices through the trials of life and the friendships made at school. A little more gritty than expected, but also tied up a bit too cleanly for the type of story it told. For any bad acting in this one, it was balanced out with some excellent performances, and by the final episode, came out ahead. Although one thing: don’t care for the name of the drama, kinda lame.
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