"USE YOUR WORDS" - or else

This short drama was a stunner. I have completed 412 dramas, this was the 16th that I scored at least 10/10. That means fewer than 1 drama out of every 25 I finish scores as highly as this one did. There was effectively nothing wrong with it.

I started it for Bang Minah, and expected a lightweight romcom-ish kind of short. Ms Bang did not disappoint, she's come a long way since the goofy cute of Beautiful Gong Shim. But this was not a romcom. It was a really thoughtful, really intelligently written short drama about relationships and the importance of communication. Part way through episode three reference was made to "Before Sunrise", the Delpy/Hawke classic which is part of a talking trilogy. All three of those movies focus on the leads talking, with very little else happening. Where this drama excelled was in showing what happens when the characters don't "use their words".

At one point, I was angry with this drama because it looked like a central character who was NOT "using their words" would get away with it. They did not. No one did, and that's why this drama gets a 10. The emotional weight and impact in the final part of episode three and much of episode four particularly comes from the middle-aged couple, who turned out to have very significant communication issues of their own. Their story arc left my eyes damp and left me convinced that the Drama I had been about score 9 deserved 10.

Whenever I am blown away by the intelligence and thoughtfulness of the dialogue that I read as subtitles, I am left wondering just how good the actual dialogue is. From my experience of watching films in languages that I know enough of not to need subtitles, I know how very much is lost in translation. That's one of the reasons why I scored this drama a 10, because the dialogue I did see was THAT good, which leads me to think the dialogue I couldn't follow must've been so much better.

This drama also shows how really really good K dramas can be when they are short. The core elements of this four-episode drama have been used as the core elements of dramas 4 to 5 times as long. Those dramas are bloated and suffer from huge excesses of padding which serve no purpose except to fill up the specified time. Check out the event is like the distilled essence of those K dramas served without any excess baggage. It really is very worthwhile to check out the event.

Read More

In love with work

Watching this Drama was a conflicting experience for me. It was very well-written and well-acted, but I just couldn't like or sympathise with the lead character, the eponymous "Hataraki Man".

The reason I didn't like her or sympathise with her was not because the only two things she loved were work and herself, in that very specific order. I have no problem with characters who absolutely LIVE for their work, making it not just the central element of their lives but the ONLY element, as she did.

My problem was that she spent 8 of the 11 episodes trying to have it both ways. She had a long-term boyfriend of four years but EVERY SINGLE TIME there was a choice between him and work, work won - every time, no matter the time of day or night. Then when the inevitable happened, she felt aggrieved. Copious tears and emotional anguish but to me it was simple the inevitable reality that actions have consequences. Had she been more honest about her priorities, she might not have suffered as much.

Read More

PARFAIT

The word "parfait" means "perfect" in French, and refers to a sweet dessert in English. This means it fits this very short, VERY sweet Drama "perfectly"

There was really NOTHING wrong with this Drama. Even the length was right. Seven super short episodes was just right for such a frothy, sweet, cute Drama, one with no "drama" in it. No angst, no bitterness, no clouds of darkness, just a sweet cute couple being sweet and cute together. I was originally going to rate it around 8/10 but upgraded it to 9.5 because it is a basically perfect example of a "dessert Drama". If you need a sugar hit, and want one free of toxic chauvinist tropes like tsundere ML gods, this one is just what the doctor ordered

Read More

The eponymous central character in this Drama is something you NEVER see in Korean Dramas - a FEMALE genius. I was predisposed to like it for that reason alone, but the show went beyond that with a fascinating mix of characters, telling interesting stories.

There were some inconsistencies with the way the lead's character was presented in terms of her metereological education and experience, but overall the show was very enjoyable. In terms of the human relationships, kept hoping for one outcome at the end, yet the way the Drama went was the way I expected it to, precisely because it was the less conventional, less neat and tidy option. That raggedy unfinished feel persisted right to the very last frame it seems.

I did love that the female lead was shown to be superior to the male lead, but that he was also shown to have his own strengths, including a goodness and decency of character which it could be argued went not only unrewarded but was actively punished. Another episode would have been nice, I think.

Read More

I started this ONLY for Kim Yeon Seo, and because her character and arc were well-developed and she did a good job, I'm ok with the rest of it. It's insubstantial fluff, but has some good lines, and the Ha Rim/BaDa story in particular seemed quite intelligent. I just hope that if a future series exapnds their story the writers leave her sharp, clear-eyed, cynical character intact.

There's nothing to dislike about this piece of Xmas fluff, even the Xmas setting was low-key, a plus for a devout hater of Xmas like me. Overall, an inoffensive timepass, and another step forward in the development of a young actor whose work I plan to keep an eye on

Read More

I'm WAAAAY outside the target demo for this web Drama but as a longtime fan of Do Hee's acting, I was keen to watch her first real lead. The fact that it also has Jin Ye Ju (Kim Yeon Seo), whom I really like in My Only Love Song, was a delightful bonus.

The story is nothing earth-shaking, but I was impressed with Do Hee's performance as THOROUGHLY unlikeable character. Selfish and UTTERLY self-absorbed, her character also showed zero growth in terms of maturing and getting half a brain until basically the penultimate episode. She treated her mother despicably, consistently so, and even managed to provoke her somewhat implausibly tolerant boyfriend to rage by her thoughtless self-absorption. That's why I was impressed with Do Hee's performance. In the first 12-5-12 episodes, there's really not one thing about her character that evokes sympathetic approval. She's just a whiny, self-obsessed spoiled kid who truly has no idea about the real world or how incredibly easy she has it. And Do Hee nailed it, well done.

Happily, there WAS a character to like and root for, and that was Jin Ye Ju's Ha Rim, the BFF of Do Hee's character. Ha Rim was sharp, cynical, insightful, and clear-eyed, and a perfect foil to Do Hee's Da Mi. She made the show fun, even when Do Hee's great portrayal of a selfish slob was so good as to be vexing.

Read More

This entire sequel was built around a character I despised in the original, and he was just as pathetic, contemptible and stupid in this one. All four episodes featured EXACTLY the same basic plot, him being setup and exploited by people who knew how vain and stupid he was. The two leads from the first series had much reduced interactions, and the interesting moral ambiguity raised at the very end of the first series was not even touched on once. I raced through this one on massive FF, only watching the sadly brief scenes where the two leads were working together. They saved this sequel from getting dropped and are why it scored as high as 5 from me

Read More

High octane and highly satisfying

This Drama hit every sweet spot, I think. A true team cop show, the two leads were especially good together. I absolutely love that that there was ZERO romance between them and that both really learned from each other. The action sequences were awesome, especially the driving, and the resolution of the central mystery was satisfyingly "imperfect". Not EVERY villain got what they deserved, which was a pleasing nod to reality. As someone who does not like K Dramas that do not wrap up in one season, the highest praise I can give this Drama is that I would be happy to see a Season 2

Read More

Romcom done right

First of all, the one thing I absolutely HATED about this Drama: The setup. The disappearing twin and the agent literally KIDNAPPING the Fl was just aaaargh! For the duration of the Drama, I FF'd the agent, couldn't stand his character.

In the end though, the positives outweighed the negatives. Romcom is a portmanteau of "romance" and "comedy", and this Drama delivered both in spades. So many times I was laughing out loud, and the romance between the teo leads was one of the best I've seen. As CDramas become ever more skinship-averse, this one was a rare treat, with no shortage of osculation.

I also loved the dialog. CDramas tend to be plagued with toxic patronsing chauvinism, but both the ML and SML were given great dialog that they backed up with action.

Some reviewers have complained about the separation of the OTP but that was not so much of an issue for me because it happened so VERY late in the Drama. We were not left wading through multiple episodes of misery before a platonic reunion. I found the ending perfect, especially since the final frames were the opening frames.

Read More

Flawed, irritating at times, but worthwhile

This Drama had a lot of really good points to it. I had been waiting for it for more than a year, after seeing Zhou Yu Tong's great performance in Begin Again, and it did not disappoint. Her performance her as a very realistic character was impressive. As someone with a congenital disability, I enjoyed watching her character's arc from that perspective. It was also great that there was no trace of maudlin sympathy for her or excusing/grlorifying her personality flaws because of a 'she's disabled, let her off' kind of approach.

That lack of maudlin sympathy though was taken to extremes in the many scenes related to death and mourning. The "we're all gonna die, suck it up don't cry" mantra was megaphoned too often for my tastes. Others have accused the writer of doing a sloppy job, and that may be true, but having seen the dead hand (ha!) of SARFT at work for a decade now, my first reaction to such unsubtle preaching is to suspect state-mandate.

The other thing I really, REALLY hated were the constant references to the virtue of being fair-skinned. In a Drama that kept preaching against prejudice, to hear many characters including the FL repeatedly spouting THIS prejudice was really irksome

Despite that, there was a lot of very real and relatable human emotion on display. The leads were very flawed and complicated and that was great, as was the delivery of those characters by both leads - they totally nailed it. The show also surprised me with its repeated messages about gender equality - chauvinist misogyny is the norm in moden C Dramas, so this was very refreshing. I was REALLY surprised at what seemed to be a VERY clear "I'm gay" moment for one character. Given the crackdown on BL Dramasa either SARFT missed it or they decided to let it pass.

I absolutely LOVED Wan Peng' role as the FL's BFF and the young actor playing her little sister was superb. Given the realistically open ending, the more extreme ending that was teased at the beginning of the final episode would not have been out of place either.

Read More

80% great, last 20% awful

This Drama started well and held up well until around episode 26/32. Wu Qian's FL was genuinely independent and self-assured, and the character grew and matured well. Tha'ts why I stuck it out and ended up still giving it 7/10 when I came VERY close to dropping it.

The reason I nearly dropped it was not the ridiculously OTT flag-waving propaganda about Beidou. I'm used to zoning out and FFing through that kind of bakvass - did through beoth times I watched Go Go Squid. Nope, it was the controlling and childish ML, and the way the final few episodes hammered home the message that in the end, ONLY a man can save things and EVERY woman MUST have a man to fix things for her.

The ML says at one point "the most important thing in a long-distance relationship is trust. Let's not ever keep secrets" and then repeatedly tells the FL NOTHING about stuff going on his life, like when he loses someone dear to him or nearly gets seriously injured and yet AFTER that he's thumping his fist on a door demanding to know why she didn't tell him the company she's running is in trouble. VERY disappointing after a promising start. To eventually have the final 3 paint him as the saviour of both the FL and her company was ghastly

Read More

S1 tanked at the end

As late as ep 11/12 of 16 it was heading for 8-8.25 but I'm punishing it for the AWFUL final quarter. 12 eps of entertaining OTT buddy-cop fun with a nicely nuanced growth in the lead characters' relationships and perceptions of each other, then makjang madness meltdown.

Paradoxically , the risible final quarter has made me MORE interested in checking to S2. If the makjang is all done, S2 MIGHT return to what S1 did best. S!'s final 4 it abandoned any pretence of the merest shred of credibility or internal coherence. It's very sad that it's opted for a traditional makjang "resolve" and utterly abandoned the entertaning OTT buddy-cop formula that worked so well for the first 12 eps. The finale is the stuff of weekenders or even worse, dailies. BUT, with the makjang family bakvaas out of the way, S2 might save it. Especially if there is NO romance between the leads

Read More