r/KDRAMA challenge 2024

1. A drama that shares a filming location with The Heirs. (Hakrim Dabang café) Very good all around!!

2. A drama chosen by the wheel of chance: Tropes (A drama where a character holds over/ shares an umbrella with another person) The very leisurely and understated vibe won't be for everyone, but I really liked it.

4. A drama chosen by the wheel of chance: PPL (Tourism) - My heart has been opened once more to tropey romcoms, and also the lovely city of Busan

6. A drama chosen by the wheel of chance: Number of People in Drama Poster (0).  I really liked the slow moody vibe of the first 4 or 5 episodes, and I didn't hate the reveal towards the end, but this is another drama where the payoff ultimately felt a little disconnected from the setup for me. (Using the initial poster for this challenge, not the main one featured on MDL.)

7. A drama that started airing in your birth month. This felt a little insubstantial to me like a lot of BL web dramas do, but it was a pleasant watch.

8. A drama with a title that includes a character's name. I love Kim Tae Ri and I love 1900s period pieces and I was really impressed by the final scene....if you feel differently about these things you may not like this drama as much, but I quite liked it!!

9. A drama with a character who is an artist. A few tonal issues/plot holes + didn't live up to the full potential of what could have been explored with this premise imho! Still manages to scratch that Squid Game itch while also being its own thing I think.

10. A drama in which a game is played. The pacing/tone got a little iffy in some places imho, but for me by the end it was one of those dramas where you just enjoy spending time with the characters no matter what is actually happening.

11. A drama where a character wears a sports team uniform or jersey and/or watches a sports game. For the scene in episode 1! Really enjoyed this one, even the final episode!! Very sexually explicit but in a way that I found refreshing and funny and emotional, depending on the scene. Love both the leads. <33

12. A drama that revolves around a group of friends and features their friendship as a key part of the drama. This was one of those dramas that doesn't really have anything majorly wrong with it, but it ended up being kind of a different thing than what I was hoping it would be.

15. A drama with childhood flashback scenes. I was digging the really cheesy cutesy first few episodes of this and I don't think there was anything like...objectively bad about the rest of it? I just literally could not tell you what happened for the last 1/3 or so of this drama because I did not care lol.

16. A drama with a character that is a part of the LGBTQ+ community. It saddens me to say that everyone was right and the last few episodes fell off. :( Still generally a fun drama I did not regret watching, but could have been a real classic if it had nailed the landing. It's exciting to see a kdrama with a major gay character even though he pretty much faded into the background for a lot of the show.

17. A drama title that is not a direct translation of the Korean title. Yet another Netflix original thriller that looks very gorgeous and intriguing but didn't fully live up to my expectations! :(

19. A drama in which characters take a trip. It took me a little bit to get into the groove with this one, but I ended up being glad I stuck with it.

20. A drama chosen at random from your plan to watch list. The best vampire medical ethics hospital drama u will find!

21. A drama set in a rural/non-urban location. This was fine. 

22. A drama with a character who is a chaebol. This was good! I was gobbling down all the plot twists lol.

25. A drama where a character wears a long wool coat. I think I genuinely need to watch this one more time before I decide what I think about it lol. I think I maybe liked it though?

23. A drama with a character who works for the government. Not really anything especially memorable, but the writing and performances were all good enough to keep me coming back each week. Lots of twists! 

27.  A drama with a main character that is over 40. This one is really more like....8.75? to me, but I round up for Be Melodramatic propaganda.

29. A drama from the sageuk drama. Some parts in the middle felt kind of slow/repetitive, but overall really enjoyed this one.

(I counted both parts of My Dearest as one drama for challenge 29)

30. A drama with an episode which received more than 10% overall viewership ratings from Nielsen. A good story executed well, especially good FL.

32. A single episode drama. Simple but fun watch + good 2000s boy band nostalgia.

36. A drama featuring a Truck of Doom™.  This drama fits multiple challenges, but the Truck of Doom was a real classic Truck of Doom lol. I was living for all the drama!!