Popcxqueen

This was fantastic on all levels and the rating needs to be way higher than it is.

He shouldn't be called an idol actor anymore - he has proven himself to be a phenomenal actor in his many dramas and movies. He's most certainly an "authentic" actor. Have you actually seen anything he's been in?

The song from Reply 1988, "Don't Worry", is phenomenal.

One of my favorite recent OSTs is Where Are You, by Katie, for the Undercover soundtrack:
What's wrong and right?
My hidden memories haunt me
Hard to decide
Don't wanna face the old, past me

And then later: "My lie was perfect until it was not" which is my favorite line from the song and fits the drama perfectly.

I think you're right, @TalkingWithYou.

I'd heard about that controversy when it came out, but I hadn't seen any of the drama yet...

Thanks! I was getting ready to start River Where the Moon Rises even before your recommendation but that's extra validation. :-)

Depending on where you're moving, you could probably get the movie on VOD or the equivalent - lots of countries have something like that. If someone bought the DVD in the US and sent it to you, unless you're taking along your Region 1 Blu-Ray player, you won't be able to play it (much of Southeast Asia and SK is Region 3.) I'm sure that it will play in Korean theaters but it might be dubbed into Korean? (It could happen and does a lot of places but hopefully it will just be subtitles.) Maybe just ask around when you get there and see what they recommend.

And YES to Black Panther 2 in 2022!! (Rest in power, Chadwick.)

Excellent question....I have many favorites! :-) On my profile I have a list of my favorite dark and/or mature J-dramas and a list of all the J-dramas I've seen so far. I don't, however, have a list made yet for those new to J-dramas or my overall favorites. I will say that depending on what you like, probably my favorite J-drama is Alice in Borderland, on Netflix. It's quite violent in parts though, in case that bothers you.
One of my absolute favorites that's not dark or violent at all would be Kikazaru Koi - I co-wrote an MDL article about it:
https://mydramalist.com/article/kikazaru-koi-niha-riyuu-ga-atte-a-reason-for-love

I'll have to make up my top ten list and send it to you!

No worries - I'm an avid J-drama fan, so I was just curious. We each have our preferences for sure. I peeked at your profile and see that you like historical C-dramas, which I don't much, (although I have seen a few.) For me it's the dubbing and the amount of episodes that throws me off every time. Luckily there are enough dramas from enough countries to go around! :-) Do you have a favorite?

As a fellow American, I know what you're talking about, unfortunately. I haven't been to the theater in a lot of years, and I certainly won't start again anytime soon. I'm hoping that they'll release this on a couple of platforms as well as in the theaters, but that has had mixed success this past year.

There are many excellent J-dramas! What are you interested in?

Which J-dramas have you tried watching and couldn't get past the first episode? I'm just curious.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing a Marvel movie now! :-)

Oh FFS. Don't like it? Don't watch it! But your outrage about diversity in casting, directing, and representation hits wrong when you use dog whistles like woke, and progressive social justice warriors.

That was the only one on this list that I had watched as well.

I disagree with the premise that J-dramas have a lesser production quality than C-dramas or Thai dramas. I've seen enough poorly planned and executed C-dramas with terrible dubbing and awful special effects to last me for a while. That's not to say I don't enjoy C-dramas, because I've found some that I really like. But they also produce SO MANY dramas in a year and many of them are just carbon copies of the drama that came before. Also, J-dramas have been able to say a lot with fewer episodes than any C-drama I've ever seen - packing an emotional punch into six or eight episodes instead of 36 or 56. (I do agree with you that anime is still more popular world-wide than dramas though.)
Just a few years ago, K-dramas were very low-budget as well, but Korean media companies have entered into production contracts with giants like Netflix and others and that infusion of cash and people helps to up the production quality, no matter where it's from. (This isn't making a statement on the quality of the writing/acting, but simply the production value of the drama or film.)
And I predict that with the huge success of Alice in Borderland that we'll finally start to see more J-dramas on Netflix. That was a drama with a spectacular set, incredible writing and acting, and excellent special effects.

I just got a whole bunch more dramas to add to my watch queue - thanks for the article! And I love love love that they're mostly J-dramas!

I was just thinking this too!!

Six subbed episodes have been released so far with the last three coming in three days.