January Kdrama Roll Coll

[dangermousie]

By now, every kdrama that was going to air in January has come out, barring The Woman Who Wants to Marry.

Here are my quick thoughts.

DEFINITE MUST-WATCH:

Slave Hunters/Chuno



Mmmm, I love period intrigue.

Joking aside, the first 2 eps of the period drama of slaves, slave hunters, intrigue, doomed love, and rebellion are out and I have not fallen for a drama this hard and this fast in forever. I might end up even *gasp* loving it more than IRIS. It's shot like a movie, has complex and tortured characters, amazing fight scenes, a really complicated plot. Oh, and yeah, plenty of nekkid manflesh for the shallow among us of whom I am one.

The Reputable Family



This saga about a merchant family features adversity, conspiracy, and an awesome OTP. Plus, it's 16 eps - perfect but rare length. The first 2 eps were intelligent and fast and made me love them.

ALMOST CERTAINLY WILL CHECK OUT

Pick the Stars



I am less interested in Stars than I am in Pasta, and parodoxically, that is why I am checking it out. I want to have space and mood to fully appreciate Pasta but not so with Stars - I just want to use it as a bit of relief in a sea of January angst.

Jejoongwon



I am thiiiiiis close to watching this story of 19th-century doctors beginning to practice Western medicine. I think it will make a nice relaxing break from Chuno killer intensity and Family's emotional involvement. Plus, JIN gave me a yen for period medical stuff. The only thing that gives me pause is - I love period dramas, but watching three in a season? That's kinda insane.

SAVED FOR ONE GLORIOUS MARATHON

Will It Snow On Christmas



This glorious romantic melodrama stole my heart back in December but I think I will stop it and wait until it is all done. That way I can binge, but that way I will also be prepared if it has a rocks-falls-everyone-dies ending. And that also gives me a breather - there are some dramas where I cannot exercise self-restraint (Chuno) and there are some I intend to check out but am OK with checking it out without getting invested (Stars) but, luckily for me, Xmas is neither, so future marathon it is. Plus, let's face it, there is only so much angst I can take at a time.

MAY CHECK OUT WHEN SLATE CLEARS

Pasta



I am sure Pasta's story about chefs in love is cute and I am sure I will like it - I like romcoms and I adore the cast. But I am staying away from it for now because, bizarrely, I don't want Chuno to ruin it. Let me explain - in the fall I tried watching IRIS and You're Beautiful simultaneously and IRIS basically ruined it for me - no fluffy trifle, even if a competently done one, could compete with the emotional and plot heft of IRIS. I would like to avoid repetition of that. I am sure Pasta is a cute romcom on its own merits and that's what I'd like to do - appreciate it on its own merits. So I will check it out. Just not any time soon.

Hero



Poor Hero, first killed in the ratings by IRIS, now killed in ratings by Chuno. It's hard to compete when you are a story of a scrappy journalist. I confess the subject matter did not catch my attention but once it finishes (and once all the subs are out), I will probably check it out due to my undying love for Lee Junki and the fact that some of my flisters really like it.

DEFINITE NO

God of Study

I have discovered uncontrovertibly last year that a drama about high-schoolers is not for me. My opinion on Study was cemented by reading dramabeans' write-up. She liked it, but the kind of drama she described certainly did not sound like my thing. The delinquents in Study will have to get into the university of their dreams without my help.

The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry

Woman might turn out to be an excellent drama but it falls victim to January being such an amazing drama month. By the time it starts in a couple of weeks, there is no room on my slate. Plus, to be honest, most dramas about sigle 30-somethings trying to find lurve give me hives.

Pink Lipstick

I have never watched a daily drama and in a crazy-busy drama month is not the time to start.

Comments

[darkeyedwolf.livejournal.com]

For some reason I was under the impression The Reputable Family was a longer drama. 16 eps is much more manageable!

Every time you post about Chuno my curiosity almost kills me -- I confess part of the reason I want to watch it is because you are, we have such fun communal watches -- but I honestly don't know if I can take Chuno and WHIB at the same time. Especially with the host of other dramas I want to try this season. Augh, indecision!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I thought it was longer too, but nope, only 16. It's on viikii with subs.

Chuno isn't out with subs yet, so your dilemma is postponed (I am obsessed enough to watch raw). :)

Ahh, Bali. I am watching that, Chuno and Goodbye My Love (so freaking good - it's like the perfect angsty romance but the credits feature hero and heroine clutching each other and weeping so we know how well that will end) at the same time and I think at some point I'll need a fluffy bunny to hug!

[itshelene.livejournal.com]

My list is a bit like yours, except I will watch Pasta now - watched the first episode last night and it was very light and enjoyable. It gave me a comfy feel, a bit like Coffee Prince. It's always a good thing for me when I look at the time and 20 minutes have passed of the episode and I have not noticed.

I am not and will not be watching WISFC. Chuno will be dramatic enough for me, I think. LOL. From dramabeans recaps, it looks like the characters are crying in every single screen cap she posts - is it really that tragic?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

They aren't crying every second but there is plenty of angst. I don't think it's as tragic as some other dramas but I am worried about an unhappy end and would like to be warned (e.g. I am sure Chuno will end in rocks-fall-everyone-dies so I don't have to be uncertain and worried).

[mishane.livejournal.com]

I thought The Reputable Family was longer, if it's only 16 episodes, that's nothing! That's like a long weekend, lol. I mean I watched Damo in one day so. . .

I agree with everything else. My drama slate is soooo full right now that I've stopped watching a lot of stuff and will just wait until it's finished and subbed. I can't even count on both hands the amount of dramas I'm watching now. I really want to watch Hero, WISOC and Pasta but I'm thinking that those will be something I marathon much later on. If you watch Pick the Stars, let me know if it's good. I loved the male lead in Love & Marriage, but I don't know, it's not tempting me.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, 16 is fine. I can do it in 3-4 days, baby permitting.

I am going to start Stars this week if I can - basically I want something fluffy to cleanse my palate and it looks like one that will be undemanding.

[mishane.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I just found out Kim Bum is gonna be in The Woman Who Wants To Marry, as maybe the OTP with the female lead? That just upped the watching potential. I've never seen him in anything that I liked (in a horror movie, but only for like 30 minutes) and he's too cute not to fangirl over.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yup, he's in it. That the biggest reason for interest in it that I have :) (If he has a lot of scenes, I might even put Woman back into the maybe pile).

[mishane.livejournal.com]

Apparently he's her main love interest! I think I'll watch just to see him try to woo her.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I just saw the javabeans bost (http://www.dramabeans.com/2010/01/jin-bum-couple-in-the-woman-who-still-wants-to-marry/) and darnit, my interest in this just shot through the roof.

[oudon-chan.livejournal.com]

Mmm! Since I'm a high school student with really strict parents, I don't think I'll be watching more than ONE Kdrama this 'season' ... but Chuno seems extremely interesting! :D And I see you highly recommended it to all of us... :D Will check it out!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

:):):)

[cranberrysheep.livejournal.com]

The only one I was going to follow was Chuno. But the chatter surrounding Pasta makes it sound pretty cute. I think I'll still table it in favor of watching older stuff until it is complete. Besides, I'm already behind on my Bali watch. I haven't even started!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'll see how Pasta goes - when the season is quieter, I'll go back to it.

[sodahands.livejournal.com]

The last two seasons, barely any of the kdramas interested me and this season, I want to try almost all of the ones on your list (even God of Study but mostly for Yoo Seung Ho).

I think I'm definitely going to be following Chuno. It seems too great to just wait around for the subs to be completed. And def. Pasta because of the cast and I love shows about food.

And I'm so glad The Reputable Family is only 16 eps because now I can watch it. Yay for Cha Song Joo being back on my screen!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yay, Chuno! It's totally amazing.

TRF is awesome - it has Courtesan Assassin as the lead and it's also a genuinely good drama.

[ambergold.livejournal.com]

I am so looking forward to Pasta but I am also not planning on watching it until fully subbed(the 2-3 week wait for each ep to be subbed would kill me) so shall we plan on watching it together?

I don't think I'm going to be watching any currently-airing dramas this season(unless I like Pick the Stars, as that appears to be still up on viikii). Now that viikii's gone I have no patience with waiting for subs so I'm gonna go back to watching only previously-aired. That goes for Chuno too:(

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Pasta would be fun to watch together.

I am so obsessed with Chuno I am watching it raw (with the help of soompi thread) - perversely, I am glad it's not on viikii because I'd be tempted to watch it subbed and the visuals are amazing and I don't want to miss them due to crappy vid quality.

[sundae-sweet.livejournal.com]

For some reason I really want to watch Jejoongwon. Since Tamra, I'm starting the develop a yen for saeguk dramas and the hat reminds me fondly of Park Kyu.

As for Chuno...oh God, I really do not want to watch this drama. Yummy, half naked men aside I do not function well when it comes to angst. I get traumatized easily. Maybe I can just duck out early on for the sake of self preservation?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Did you hear that Park Kyu might get to be a lead in another drama (by the writer of Legend)? EEEE.

Maybe I can just duck out early on for the sake of self preservation?


Bwaaa. There is plenty of angst in ep 1.

[timescout.livejournal.com]

Chuno, Chuno, Chuno... XD

I'm already waching my poor undrdog Hero (subs for the first 3 episodes are now out) and I may end up doing Jejoongwon and The Reputable Family as well. Time permitting. Hmmm.... as I'm about to begin Conspiracy in the Court and trying to finish off GSD (finally) as well it seems I'm in a sageuk kick right now.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I want to watch Hero but I'll wait until it's done.

I am one of those weird people who didn't care for Conspiracy - I can appreciate it as well-made but too much politics loses me as I don't have the background in Korean history sufficient to understand it and I can't tell who is who half the time. Plus, heroine is a poisoner which automatically puts me off in a major way. It's a well-made drama, just not my thing.

Did you watch Chuno ep 2? It's so amazing!

[timescout.livejournal.com]

I like political stuff when it's historical so CitC probably is my thing.

Watched ep 2 of Chuno yesterday.... Yummy x 100!!! If it stays this awesome till the end it'll end up in my all time favourite list for sure.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yummy x 100!!! If it stays this awesome till the end it'll end up in my all time favourite list for sure.

Yes, agreed. I have never have been this impressed with a drama this early on, and seeing that I am watching it raw, it's doubly impressive.

[madame-parker.livejournal.com]

The Reputable Family sounds really good. Where are you getting it from? I can't find it on the two comms I went looking.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It was on viikii some time ago. Not sure if it still is.