dangermousie | Fashion King - initial impressions

Out of all March dramas, I confess I was least excited by FK (well, if we don't count K-POP Survival because that one sounds like a trainwreck).

To me, it didn't have the revenge-thriller premise of The Equator Man with its possible echoes of Mawang, wacky time-travel appeal of Rooftop Prince, delicate melodrama poetry promise of Love Rain or intensity, cast, and chemistry of King2Hearts. Nor is there anyone in the cast I consider must-see. I adored Shin Se Kyung in Tree with Deep Roots, but it's such a different character and drama, that I can't take anything from that, and while I like Yoo Ah In, I am not one of his fangirls. I am utterly unfamiliar with the rest.

Plus - fashion. There are few drama topics I find as boring - maybe medicine and sports.

So, pretty much the scale was weighed before I started this.

After the first episode, my impression is that this is fairly solid so far, but I am just not motivated to watch more. There was nothing that grabbed me and made me curious or invested enough to continue. I guess I am just going to have to admit any fashion-centric story is not for me. If this was a period drama or a revenge story, I'd probably stick for a few more eps because the very type of the story would be my thing. But professional success in the world of fancy clothes is about as far from my thing as I can imagine. Maybe if there will be makjang birth secrets or some damaged protagonists, I'll come back in, but for now, there is nothing to hook me at all.

Nor is there anything else that grabbed my attention - like a fascinating character or two, except Yoo Ah In and his performance (he is really excellent - when he's on screen, everything gets automatically more interesting, and his chemistry with SSK is good). But it's still not enough to draw me in - I see no dramatic hook, no character to hook me (not even YAI - it's a good performance, excellent even, but I am just not particularly interested in his character).

Just as well, I have 4 more new dramas to check out.