Ok, this is long overdue, but I just want to put some thoughts down before I forget everything. Also, having stressful assignments just somehow make me watch more dramas. Go figure -_____-
Alchemy of Souls (2022)
I didn’t want to live-watch anything initially, but the recaps seemed really interesting, and now I’m hooked by the fun banter and worldbuilding. Set in Daeho, an imaginary kingdom in the days of yore, Naksu, a feared mage assassin, has soul-shifted into Mudeok (Jung So-min), a blind girl who seems to have a secret past. Now indentured to Jang Uk (Lee Jae-wook), whose murky parentage has restricted him from practising magic, she embarks on a symbiotic teacher-student/servant-master relationship with Uk in a bid to regain her previous powers. It reminds me somewhat of the Jin Yong wuxia stories (The Condor Heroes《射雕英雄传》, Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre《倚天屠龙记》), where the naïve hero serendipitously meets eccentric martial arts masters like Hong Qigong or Zhou Botong who impart sought-after skills to him. The female lead, Naksu/Mudeok, is also reminiscent of the unorthodox heroines in these stories. However, our protagonist, Jang Uk, has more bubbling beneath the surface and a chip on his shoulder like Yang Guo in The Legend of the Condor Heroes《射雕英雄传》. Slated for 20 episodes this season, and possibly another 10 the next, I really hope the Hong sisters will be able to craft a spectacular epic, and not go round in circles (My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, You’re Beautiful), end with a whimper, become absolute boring (Warm and Cozy), or end in a hot mess (Big, Hwayugi). Fingers crossed!
Run On (2021)
It’s an easy watch where Ki Seon-gye (Im Siwan), a runner who’s never been first, meets a translator trying to survive, Oh Mi-joo (Shin Se-kyung), and both grow even as they retain their cores. The second couple, Seo Dan-ah (Sooyoung), a chaebol heir with a chip on her shoulder and a hole in her heart (not really, but it sounds better =p), meets art student, Lee Yeong-hwa (Kang Tae-oh), and develop the weirdest and most bittersweet romance. Recommend!
7/10
Prison Playbook (2017)
I was interested because it was done by the same people who had done Hospital Playlist 1. Kim Je-hyuk (Park Hae-soo) gets sent to prison after defending his sister against an attacker, thus derailing his promising baseball career. Luckily, he’s got his high school bestie, Lee Joon-ho (Jung Kyung-ho), a prison warden on his side as he tries to navigate and survive in prison. We meet a host of quirky inmates and prison staff, not all of whom are on the hero’s side. While not everyone gets the chance to have their story fleshed out, each becomes more humanised than a serial number or a statistic. Again, issues such as drugs, corporate scapegoating, doxing, and prison violence are explored amidst amusing prison mischief. Some of the supporting cast are familiar faces in K-dramaland, but I’ve come to recognise some of these actors in other works as well – Lee Kyu-hyung (Loony), Jung Hae-in (Captain Yoo), Choi Moo-sung (Min-chul), and (Kim Sung-cheol (Jailbird).
Frankly, I could do with a shorter run-time per episode, and without the romance, but I guess they had to shunt in some X-chromosomes to flavour the otherwise all-male plot.
8.5/10
Happiness (2021)
When I first watched it, I didn’t really like it. I found the female lead too reckless and some plot points too convenient. Upon rewatching, I really enjoy the understated relationship between Yoon Sae-bom (Han Hyo-joo) and Jung Yi-hyun (Park Hyung-shik). Set in the near future during a zombie pandemic, the show explores different facets of human thinking, behaviour, and relationships – how one can be corrupted, and how one stays steadfast. At only 12 episodes, it’s a pretty easy watch, though there might be some bits that scare the chicken-hearted like me.
9/10
Sell Your Haunted House (2021)
Hong Ji-a (Jang Nara) is a realtor specialising in exorcising then selling haunted properties. Coming from a long line of shamans, she locks horns with Oh In-beom (Jung Yong-hwa), a charlatan who uses technology to scam gullible homeowners into fake exorcisms. Eventually, they uncover their shared traumatic history as they deal with Do Hak-seong (Ahn Gil-gang), an unscrupulous property mogul whose unethical actions reverberate over the years. Although the ghost-of-the-week stories were fairly predictable and deliberately designed to be heart wrenching, Jang Nara’s nuanced acting really sold me the unresolved trauma she was carrying. Fun banter between the supporting characters and some exploration of issues affecting Koreans today also made the series fairly robust. The only quibble I had was the uneven characterisation of Chief Heo’s (Kang Hong-seok) girlfriend – is she flirty, scared, or what? It would have been better if the underwear PPL she was a part of had been dropped into the drama in a different way.
8.5/10
Healer (2014/2015)
Healer is not drama crack for nothing. It’s pretty well plotted (except for the rushed ending) and the leads have got AWESOME chemistry. Chae Young-shin (Park Min-young) is a reporter at a third-rate gossip rag whose path crosses with Healer (Ji Chang-wook), a shady night courier that is part City Hunter, part Spiderman. As they team up to investigate secret organisations pulling strings in politics and media, their shared past is uncovered (again – what is it with Korean dramas and their childhood connections – just because you liked some kid when you were 7 doesn’t mean they will be the perfect match for you when you are 27). Also, can I say, like Yougn-shin, I miss Boon-sookie too!
Given how successful this series is, it’s sad that Ji Chang-wook has not been able to parlay his success here into other memorable roles since and Park Min-young has also been stuck in iterations of the stylish office lady (What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, Her Secret Life, Forecasting Love and Weather).
9.5/10
18 Again (2020)
Adapted from the 2009 film, 17 Again, about a middle-aged man’s regret in how his life turned out after accidentally getting his high school sweetheart pregnant, 18 Again is a more sentimental and heartwarming take than the Hollywood original. On the brink of divorce and after being denied a well-deserved promotion, Hong Dae-young (Yoon Sang-hyun) reverts to his 18-year-old self (Lee Do-hyun) after some accidental wishery. As he enrols in high school under an assumed identity, he understands his teenage children, Shi-ah (Roh Jeong-eui) and Shi-woo (Ryeoun) better, and realises how much he’s eff-ed up. He tries to make amends with his soon-to-be ex-wife, Jung Da-jung (Kim Ha-neul), who’s struggling to develop a career even as romance looms in the distance. The show tackles serious problems like bullying, stalking, ageism, parental struggles, and school bribery among others even as it remains light. Most supporting characters add to the hijinks and shenanigans, with Hwang In-youp (who was 29 at the time of filming) in a breakout role as an antagonist school bully who develops believable relationships with the Hong siblings and Dae-young. The only sub-plot that was not well-developed was that between the teacher with a hidden geek side and Go Deo-jin, Dae-young’s flamboyantly nerdish CEO BFF. Even so, most episodes were well plotted and acted.
9/10
Dali and the Cocky Prince (2021)
An interesting premise of how the worlds of art, food, and commerce could collide fizzled out as it fell back on the overused tropes of murder, coverups, and adoption. What a waste of interesting characters like the noveau riche self-made food entrepreneur, seemingly abrasive cop oppa, poor little rich girl with surprising depth. Sigh…
5/10
Hospital Playlist 2 (2021)
No, just no. After a successful first season, the story takes a boring turn by overly focusing on relationships. Lee Ik-jun (Jo Jung-suk) and neurosurgeon Chae Song-hwa (Jeon Mi-do)’s feels forced, pediatrician Ahn Jeong-won (Yoo Yeon-seok) and resident Jang Gyeo-ul (Shin Hyun-been)’s feels unnatural, cardiologist Kim Jun-wan (Jung Kyung-ho) has manufactured conflicts in his LDR with Major Lee Ik-sun (Kwak Sun-young), and the only bright spot is gyneocologist Yang Seok-hyeong (Kim Dae-myung)’s interactions with hardworking resident Chu Min-ha (Ahn Eun-jin). There’s also too much focus on Ik-jun, the biggest name in the show. More restraint is also needed in editing the bloated episodes (72-121 minutes). Argh.
4/10
Racket Boys (2021) and Move to Heaven (2021)
These feature Tang Jun-sang, the innocent noob North Korean soldier in Crash Landing on You. Personally, I found them to be too obvious in their attempts to tug heartstrings, but then, they will appeal to those who are looking for heartwarming fare. Racket Boys is about high school badminton, and Move to Heaven deals with the more sombre subject of an autistic teen running a death cleaning company with his ex-convict uncle after his father (the yummy ahjusshi Ji Jin-hee) passes away.
Navillera (2021)
A retired septuagenarian (Shim Deok-chul) diagnosed with Alzheimer’s grasps at his last chance to pursue his boyhood dream of becoming a ballerino and inspires a disillusioned dancer (Song Kang). Yes, it deliberately attempts to tug heartstrings, but my personal experience with Alzheimer’s (grandma’s) makes it a tearjerker.
Drama Bin 