basta_cosi's r/KDRAMA Challenge 2021 List

Kdrama challenge #1, a Lee Min Ho feature, proved to be a real challenge. I slogged through
I Am Your Teacher and looked for the good, mostly seeing actors at the beginning of their careers or faces that are new to me.

It’s so fascinating to see Lee Min Ho in a support role before he exploded into superstardom. He doesn’t appear as often as I would have liked, but when he does, he oozes charm. He is a sweet, silly, pretty, cowardly, baby boy who later looks quite dashing in his military uniform.

Seeing T.O.P. and Park Min Young together is such a treat. They would appear a year later in the seminal BIGBANG MV Haru Haru (a must-watch!)

My favorite aspect of I Am Your Teacher is discovering the ML, Yang Dong Geun. I have a soft spot for beleaguered teachers (To Sir With Love, anyone?), and YDG plays his thankless role well.

A drama from r/kdramarecommends community official recommendation lists: I chose Cheese in the Trap from the Dramas With Terrible Titles That Are Totally Worth Your Time list, though I actually think the title is perfect because the characters would snatch the well-laid out bait.

I was rooting for Park Hae Jin’s Yoo Jung from the get-go. I have this thing for twisted revenge in drama. I felt a lot of satisfaction for some of his machinations, and some left me quite sad. I really wanted to explore this character much more.

This drama is Kim Go Eun’s first drama and she does a great job as a young woman learning to get some bit of a backbone. I felt so sad for her for having to hold up her dysfunctional family.

From what I have since learned, the drama switched tracks and changed the focus to the second male lead, Seo Kang Joon’s Baek In Ho, a character who reminded me so much of Junho’s character in Just Between Lovers (2017). In Cheese in the Trap, I didn’t experience second lead syndrome—I was just amazed at how antic Seo Kang Joon’s face was as compared to his robot character in Are You Human Too?

The ending of Cheese in the Trap is definitely problematic, but it worked for me in some respects. It wasn’t a pat trope and I felt it was hopeful. I took a quick look at the webtoon to delve into the ML’s character. 

A drama off the r/KDRAMA or r/kdramarecommends banner

A drama that begins with the first letter of my user name:  B

Bread, Love and Dreams (aka King of Baking, Kim Tak Goo) (2010)

I'm on episode 26/30. I quite like this old drama, but it's sometimes hard for me to plow through it. The drama is much more melodramatic than what I expected, a fluffy bakery story. I feel pained when the poor are pooped upon so frequently. The Power of the Powerless will come through, I believe.

Yoon Shi Yoon is a charming and sincere ML underdog. The actor playing his character as a little boy was terrific. A weak part of the show was an extremely odd time jump to the older character. Once I got past that, I was able to carry on.

The FL is a well-coifed, well-dressed, well-made up villain that I scream at a LOT. Her miserable son needs a good old fashioned country ass whooping IMHO. But this guy is a product of a distant father and a narcissistic mother—he was doomed emotionally from the get-go.

Well, let me go on and finish. I NEED a happy ending.

Okay: The show sure ended with a satisfying 빵 ppang!!! 

A drama that references a real historical event in Korea

For Challenge #5, I watched When My Love Blooms (2020) set both in the 90s and present time. The leads were student protestors in their youth; there were a couple of rallies in remembrance of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, the protest against the imposition of martial law. The other event referenced was the Sampoong Department Store collapse on June 29, 1995, which deeply affected the FL.

Edit: my thoughts. Hmmm. This slow-burn drama went back and forth well, but there were sometimes way too many flashbacks of the same thing. FL Lee Boo Young is riveting as a woman who suffers consequences as she holds onto her value system and integrity yet is able to affect change in her thoughtful, determined way. Yoo Ji Tae, the man who rivals Lee Sun Kyun for the sexiest voice in Kdrama land IMHO, plays a conflicted man rather decently. Nasty spiteful villains tend to get their comeuppance, thank goodness.

A drama featuring character(s) who speak in dialect

Let's see. Dialect. I have two shows that I've watched that fit this category: My Husband Oh Jak Doo 2018 and Diary of a Prosecutor 2019 (which I will use for a drama set outside of Seoul).

The contract marriage and fish out of water tropes in My Husband are fun. I enjoyed the leads and liked being introduced to the traditional Korean instrument called the gayageum.

Uee plays the Seoul-based FL who makes a contract with Oh Jak Doo (Kim Kang Woo), a mountain man who speaks dialect with his halmoni buddies. A side character mangles English in his silly pretentious way—not quite dialect, but pretty funny.

A drama that takes place in a location other than Seoul

I watched Diary of a Prosecutor (2019) (aka War of Prosecutors on Viki). This show works for the no romance, adaptation (novel), and dialect challenges, too. It is also a delight for foodies because the colleagues are always chowing down together.

Although the drama is about prosecutors, not many scenes take place in the courtroom. The drama is more about the interpersonal relationships and rivalry in the office. It also covers topical subjects such as domestic violence, school bullying, and political cronyism and corruption. Couples living apart for work purposes is also depicted.

Lee Sun Kyun is a pleasure, as always for me. I have a new-found interest in Jun Ryeo Won, who I had only seen in Wok of Love.

A drama that features one of the top 10 locations in 2020 on KDL (#2 Forest of Wisdom)

Honestly, I wouldn't have registered the locale if it wasn't mentioned. LOL

I watched Into the Ring (#2 on the list: Forest of Wisdom) and fell for our smitten stone-faced ML and his characteristic puff when he exhaled! Nana was delightful.

Edit: alternate title Memorials

A drama that is an adaptation or a remake (adapted from a webtoon)

A drama where the main story doesn't involve romance

My choice was Zombie Detective. I thought it was going to be my "outside my comfort level" drama because zombies spook me, but Choi Jin Hyuk was delightful as a hot, introspective emo zombie! He has a sidekick, though romance does not take place, so that's my pick for challenge #10. LOL funny show, too.

Edit: great support cast. I especially liked the screenwriter character played by Ahn Se Ha.

A drama featuring great friendships: the tenants – great team, great friends, great family

I mean, c'mon. Look at them recreate Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People."

A drama with a lead actor/actress you haven't seen in a leading role before: Lee Sang Yoon

For Challenge #12, I watched the handsome Lee Sang Yoon in Twenty Again. The drama hit home for me because I returned to college late, just like the FL.

A drama written by a renowned screenwriter: Noh Hee Kyung

Charmed by Jo In Sung in Dear My Friends (written by the esteemed Noh Hee Kyung and my pick for the Baeksang award winning drama), I went looking for another of his dramas and ended up with That Winter, The Wind Blows by the same screenwriter.

I had avoided it because I didn't like the title (petty, I know). I was also afraid the FL might be menaced like Audrey Hepburn’s blind character in Wait Until Dark, which I had seen as a kid. I was pleasantly surprised by That Winter, The Wind Blows. I really enjoyed how ML Jo In Sung's extremely dapper gangster bad boy opens up the blind overly protected FL Song Hye Kyo's world.

A drama directed by a renowned director: Shin Won Ho

A drama by a writer or director whose works I haven't watched: 

Romance fans! I watched the drama special four-episode You Drive Me Crazy (2018) starring Kim Seon Ho (¡yay!) and Lee Yoo Young. The drama is the first effort for screenwriter, Park Mi Ryung, and director, Hyun Sol Ip. You Drive Me Crazy is short, sweet, and refreshing.

A long-format drama (at least 50 hours)

I tried quite a few and realized I needed characters I could live with for the long haul.

Seo Yeong, My Daughter (2012) was my choice because I wanted to watch Lee Bo Young and Park Hae Jin as siblings. Chun Ho Jin (so good in Dong Yi) played their problematic father. Lee Sang Yoon is terrific as the ML.

FL struggles immensely to carry the load for her family, yet manages to succeed on her own terms. The drama is worth the watch.

A short-format drama (under 10 hours)

My pick: To My Star (2021), a short sweet BL drama with the forced cohabitation trope I like... opposites attract... nice.

A drama in a genre outside of my comfort zone

I used Mine for this category. I'm not a fan of makjang, but found it fun to watch with the weekly group. 

A drama with a rating less than 7.5 or with less than 5000 viewers on MDL

A drama featuring a profession or lifestyle different from my own: chaebol designer, bartender

A Baeksang award winning drama

A pre-2010 drama

A drama I have been putting off watching

A rewatch of a drama I have previously dropped

Bonus challenge: A drama that is not Korean (Chinese)