State of 2010 kdrama halfway through the year...

[dangermousie]

...well, not quite. We are less than 5 months in. But I wanted to do this. Here is dangermousie break-down of the ones which had aired and which will air.

IN THE PAST

Adoration:

Chuno - I had sky-high expectations of this drama and usually that sort of thing leads to disaster - no reality can live up to the dream drama in your head. But Chuno? Chuno did, every last bit of it. Intelligent, heart-breaking, and fiercely gorgeous, this went on my all-time Top 10. This also has the distinction of being one of the only two kdramas Mr. Mousie ever wanted to watch (the other being Hong Gil Dong).

Love/Like:

Prosecutor Princess - the promos did no justice to this funny, sharp, chemistry-filled and twisty kdrama which looked at the typical revenge story through a romcom prism. And if I didn't adore Park Shi Hoo and Kim So Yeon before this, I would have after.

Pick the Stars - a total surprise to me, I had no expectations going in but this drama about the plucky heroine having to grow up and raise her 5 adopted siblings, and her relationship with the icy lawyer whose housekeeper she becomes, became one of my biggest delights. It was funny and shippy and adorable and...guuuuh.

Personal Taste - it started out slowly but became one of my biggest spring joys - the leads' sexy and real relationship drew me in like there was no tomorrow. There is not much angst and not much plot, but the characters and their change and their love story owned me.

Will It Snow At Christmas - Romantic melodramas are some of my ultimate kdrama pleasures and Xmas delivered in spades, balancing angst and optimism. Go Soo was wonderful as the lead and Han Ye Seul showed a different, vulnerable side to her. It functions on melodrama logic but the emotions ring true. It's a minor Lee Kyung Hee (not as amazing as A Love to Kill or Thank You) but that is still a darn sight better than most other stuff out there.

Dong Yi - A traditional lengthy period drama done well. It's not done yet, but that's my tentative verdict.

Birth of the Rich, Jejoongwon, The Reputable Family - I need to see more of these three to render a final verdict but what I saw I liked.

Meh

Cinderella Unni - proved one thing. Much as I love romantic melodramas, family dramas of any sort, even the melodrama one, mostly bore me to death (Family Honor excepted). I liked the first 4 eps when it looked as if it was going to give me a dysfunctional romance but after that it shifted largely into family dynamics and I lost all interest.

Oh My Lady - this year's 'such a good premise, such poor execution.' It wasn't bad by any means but there was no plot or character or romance progression for 14 out of 16 eps. Yawn.

A Man Called God - I believe I love an action/revenge drama more than anyone else on my rather large friendslist. When an action/revenge drama bores me, there is something seriously wrong. I watched 3 eps and it would have been more fun to floss my teeth.


IN THE FUTURE (I only picked the ones I am really excited for otherwise I'd be here all night)

Call of the Country - airing now
About: Crooked Lady Policeman and Uptight Secret Agent catch crooks
Best Case Scenario Romcom take on Dog/Wolf - secret agents ftw.
Worst Case Scenario Will turn into Powerful Opponents and give me WTF ending
What I want For it to continue to be as good as it is now

Coffee House - airing now
About: Kang Ji Hwan is a writer, romantic fun ensues. Who cares, it's freaking Kang Ji Hwan!
Best Case Scenario Another Coffee Prince - fun and smart and fast
Worst Case Scenario Triple - promising cast but the story was about nothing
What I want KANG JI HWAN

Bad Guy - May 26
About: Kim Nam Gil decides to get revenge.
Best Case Scenario A sharper La Dolce Vita - that drama's darkness and sexiness but with a more cynical edge.
Worst Case Scenario Cain and Abel - revenge story with excellent cast which fell apart in the middle and never got together again
What I want To be a hormonal weepy wreck

Road N. 1 - June 23
About: Not even the Korean War can separate lovers So Ji Sub and Kim Ha Neul. Not before they have a scorching sex scene, anyway.
Best Case Scenario A mix of Brotherhood of War and Fashion 70s - epic and swoonworthy
Worst Case Scenario Lakshya (Bollywood movie where I couldn't tell one soldier from another)
What I want Make me swoon and make me bawl, drama!

My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox - August
About: Lee Seung Gi discovers his girlfriend might like to snack on his liver in a new Hong Sisters' drama
Best Case Scenario Mix of Forbidden Love and My Girl (Supernatural angsty foxes as romcom)
Worst Case Scenario You'are Beautiful - cool premise but no plot or anything happening
What I want the Hong Sisters of Hong Gil Dong back

Fugitive - September
About: Chuno writer and director get Rain as angsty spy.
Best Case Scenario Modern Chuno
Worst Case Scenario Modern Chuno
What I want As you can tell, I fail to see any possibility of badness. Do not disappoint!

Daemul - October 6
About: Lady Mishil gets laid. Gigolo is hired to seduce first female president. Nobody gets eye cancer.
Best Case Scenario Will remind me of Good Morning, Mr President, one of the most awesome Korean movies ever - smart and funny and romantic and tongue-in-cheek
Worst Case Scenario Will be another Take Care of the Lady - another drama with great concept and cast but which ended up being an utter waste of time
What I want Witty, sexy, and a little dark.

Athena: Goddess of War - Fall
About: Sexy angsty spies and sexy sneaky bad guys fight, fall in love, and engage in more hurt/comfort than the entirety of ff.net stories
Best Case Scenario Another IRIS, which made me cry and swoon and fall in love
Worst Case Scenario Another Air City, spy drama that made no sense and was boring
What I want Jung Woo Sung tortured shirtless To feel the same way I felt with IRIS.

What's Up - 2010
About: Young kdrama stars sing for their supper.
Best Case Scenario ???
Worst Case Scenario ????
What I want I have no idea. The idea of a kdrama musical is just plain weird. OK, for Im Ju Hwan to take off his shirt.

Sungkyunkwan Scandal - 2010
About: Scholars being scholarly in fusion drama. Or something
Best Case Scenario Will be like Tamra the Island, another pre-shot fusion tongue-in-cheek drama. Which was amazing.
Worst Case Scenario Will be like the disaster that was Heading to the Ground, an attempt of another DBSK member to act.
What I want Funny and fun things involving hats and swords and a little romance.

ETA: In this early summer season I intend to follow: Coffee House (k), My Country Calls (k), Road N. 1 (k), Calling for Love (tw), Tsuki No Koibito (j), and Yankee-kun to Megane-chan (j).

Comments

[popaddict.livejournal.com]

Hell no:
What's Up
Road No. a
Sungkyunkwan Scandal

Hell yes:
Bad Guy
Daemul
Fugitive
My GF is a Nine-Tailed Fox

Maybe:
Athena

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am so excited for Daemul, it's ridiculous. I've been waiting for it since 2008 :)

[sodahands.livejournal.com]

To be a hormonal weepy wreck
Doesn't look like that'll be a problem. Oh man next week!

What's Up's premise seems very jdrama to me and I would stay far away from it if it wasn't for the writer. She's my favourite kdrama writer and I think it'll be fun.

Sungkyunkwan Scandal scared me off with the Joseon F4 comment and having yet another popstar who can't act as the lead (this trend needs to die please).

I'm with you on everything else though except for Road No. 1 (SJS's dead eyes + Korean war = major DNW for me)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

They say F4 to everything now though :)

EEEE Bad Guy!

[weissman.livejournal.com]

I have the most hope for

My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox - August

the main female lead in Lotus Lantern (Main Land China)was a fox spirt and I basically though she was a chinese version of Sharon Agathon, so I am kind of rooting for the nine -tail fox series

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Have you heard of Forbidden Love (also known as Nine Tailed Fox). It's a Korean drama about the fox spirits and is pretty good.

[weissman.livejournal.com]

It looks interesting, as long as its not to violent. I am not into the overly violent ones. Plus there at least has to be the hope of a happy ending

I am watching City Hall right now (I am up to Ep 3). I finished Why Why Love yesterday

[ambergold.livejournal.com]

YES INDEEDY.

I'm going to start both My Country Calls and Coffee Prince in about 2 weeks when the first few eps have been subbed(and when I've hopefully finished some of my insane backlog of dramas). I am HIGHLY excited. Is this shaping up to be a good drama year or what??

Bad Guy is not usually my thing but I'm intrigued by it - there are a few select brands of dark angsty dramas that appeal to me and sharp film noir/psychologically complex revenge drama (esp. starring Kim Nam Gil) is one of them.

My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox, Fugitive and What's Up YES. Everything else a possibility.

[weissman.livejournal.com]

Coffee Prince was totally AMAZING

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It was.

[singing-tree.livejournal.com]

I really hope Hong Sisters go back to their 'old' writing again. Ahh, the good old days with Delightful girl Choon-Hyang, My Girl, Hong Gil Dong and their wonderful balance of fun and angst. Or at least that involve people that have enough braincells not to glue their fingers together.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh God yes. Still am disappointed over YAB. Fox is supposed to have melodrama vibes apparently, which - yay.

[timescout.livejournal.com]

A good list.... will check out most, if not all of the future ones, I'm sure.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I know, such a great year.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I like that "Chuno" is the only drama in the "adoration" column. :D

Apart from "Bad Guy", I am not sure what I am going to be watching this summer and the autumn is too far ahead. :D. For one thing, The World Cup is coming, for another - I need to finish some dramas I am watching now first. I will read everyone's posts and decide.:D

Definite no: out of the summer ones: Road N1 (no thank you to any war movies) and "Coffee House" (unless someone proves it to me otherwise, sounds like this is a remake of Coffee Prince". I will watch original if I feel so inclined. Plus, I am not a huge fan of Kang Ji Hwan).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Chuno made me go a little insane :)

I love war stuff so RN1 is right up my alley. Re: Coffee House. I haven't seen it so may be wrong but as far as I know the plot has nothing to do with Coffee Prince despite the similar title. But they are remaking Coffee Prince in Taiwan with Jerry Yan in Gong Yoo's role :)+

[cleobulle.livejournal.com]

Squee about My Country Calls. This is a drama I would never have watched if I hadn't seen one of your posts about it.

Most of my big K-drama loves turned out to be dramas I thought I would never check out in a million years (Chuno, You're Beautiful, My Girl, Tamra etc...). Funny. My Country Calls, won't go into the Big Love category but it's so enjoyable to watch! The Other Woman seems like a real bitch though and I'm tired of evil bitches. It doesn't reflect well on a hero to have been in love with a woman like that. But she might improve upon further acquaintance. And Ha-Na is so awesome that I'd watch the drama just for her.


What's Up is a musical???????? NNNoooeeesss . I hate musicals with a passion you wouldn't believe. I absolutely will not watch this if that's the case. No, not even for my precious Im Ju Hwan. I'll just re-watch him in Tamra and wait for his next project.

About dramas currently airing, I'm actually enjoying Dong Yi as well. I toyed with the idea of dropping it a few episodes back because I was really bored (I skipped a lot of scenes) and the tone of the drama felt odd: it wasn't a "serious" as Chuno but didn't enter into the awesome "odd-ball humor" category (ie: Hong Gil Dong, Capital Scandal) either. The character of the King was the one who bothered me the most. I don't know if I'll ever be able to take him seriously and I don't much like his goofball persona either. But I'm watching for the Hot Angsty Ninja anyway so the King can stay as he is or improve, it doesn't much matter.

But now I'm firmly committed to finishing it. The tone is still odd but since Dong Yi found her Hot Ninja again, things are shaping up nicely. I'll be heartbroken when she chooses the king instead but I hope that he at least doesn't die!

WithS2 just released subs for eps 17 and 18 so I'm going to watch them right away!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

MCC is adorable, isn't it?

My favorite dramas are a mix of utter surprises (Worlds Within) and dramas I've beene excited for (Chuno). But Tamra is the only 'love' drama where I was dreading it before :)

What's Up is supposed to be about students in a musical faculty but I don't think it will be a musical, if it makes sense.

[cleobulle.livejournal.com]

It does make sense about What's Up. Hopefully it will be as "musical" as You're Beautiful or Nodame Cantabile. That it to say, not *too* musical and with plenty of room for characters development.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I have faith in the writer (she is AMAZING) so I have hope.