Thanks for writing about this topic as I always wondered if I was the only one to drop dramas for various reasons. The main reasons for me to drop dramas are: excessive makjang (mostly in long Korean family type dramas) with lots of shouting, bullying (and slapping!!) towards weaker characters (males towards females, females towards females and parents towards their children). Lately I have also been dropping dramas with cheating going on between husband and wife. In general I tend to drop dramas that either bore me to death or make me feel unsettled for one reason or another. So far I dropped 46 dramas (wow!!).
I can finally have the pleasure of rating a Korean drama of 2015 with a 10. This was an absolutely amazing drama with great acting, filming tecniques and a very convincing and realistic plot. I had never seen Kim Young Kwang before and I was extremely well impressed with his acting here (it will be difficult to see him as anything different from Dr. Lee from now on) as well as with Jung So Min and the remainder of the cast. The story in the first half of this drama was filmed particularly well with spectacular special effects that gave the viewer a realistic feel to the disaster that was going on. I will not easily forget this drama.
This was the first time I completed a web drama and I have to say that I definitely don't enjoy this kind of format. The episodes are too short which somehow makes the story disconnected (at least to me). The only reason I watched this was because I thought that the idea of joining Korean and Japanese actors was very original and I hope they will pursue it also for traditional dramas. Personally I felt that Ueno Juri's acting talent was totally wasted here (I had never seen TOP before) as the plot itself was really nothing to write home about. I will certainly keep well away from future web dramas. I am rating it with a 5 only because the cast was good.
Thanks for this great guide!! I am a big fan of Eita as I think he is a great actor. Out of his dramas I have seen Nodame Cantabile, Lucky Seven, Sunao ni Narenakute, Saikou no Rikon and Wakamono tachi. I really didn't remember he was also in Orange Days. Thanks to this guide I will have the choice to watch more of his dramas...first on the list will certainly be Soredemo Ikite Yuku. :)
This is the second Asadora I completed after Massan and I was glad I did as the setting was more or less in the same time period (Showa era). I enjoyed it immensely as the story was moving and warm hearted. I always appreciate so much how the Japanese can describe real life in such a poetic and refined way and the story of Hanako's life was absolutely fascinating all the way through. I know I will miss all the characters and I strongly recommend this fantastic drama.
The word I would use to describe this drama is 'warm' as throughout the whole story I felt this warm fuzzy feeling mostly because the interactions between all the characters was almost always relaxed and easy going. Unfortunately the plot was interesting and involving for me only for the first two thirds of the drama as towards the end it started dragging and focusing mostly on lovey dovey cheesy situations which is why my rating is not as high as I would have liked. What was excellent here was the cast and in particular the four main actors. I am now definitely ready to see PSJ in something different and more involving than a romcom.
I enjoyed the first half of this drama much more than the second half. I particularly felt that the last 10 episodes dragged on far too much (so many flashbacks were repeated over and over again) which was unpleasant and I actually couldn't wait for it to be over at one point. In any case the cast was good and I am relieved I made it to the end. What I always appreciate about Chinese dramas is that they face hardships and misunderstandings in a calm and realistic way without being overdramatic and exaggerated like in Korean dramas (with absolutely no face slaps, phew!!). This drama is fairly good although not one of the best that I have seen so far.
My first drama was Long Vacation (Jdrama) which got me hooked to Japanese dramas for a while. I then moved on to Kdramas and the first one was Coffee Prince which will always hold a special place in my heart. :)
Thanks for this article. I have seen this great actor in Liar Game (for me his best drama so far), Goddess of Fire and Angel Eyes. I am keeping an eye out for him in future dramas as his acting is indeed pretty good. It was interesting to read how he became an actor just by chance and that he studyied physics so is a cleverbrain.
I enjoyed this drama until about 9/10 episodes from the end as indeed at that point it became over dramatic. As always with Chinese historical type of dramas I enjoy their settings, costumes and acting very much indeed and most of the times their stories seem more like tales. It is a pity that the good aspects of this drama didn't balance the quite bad last episodes. I appreciated the cast here which was very good.
Thanks so much for this great article. I was already waiting for Oh My Venus and Reply 1988 to start however your list sparkled my interest on other two dramas Madame Antoine and Sweet Family which I will certainly keep an eye on (starting with the comments and then on to the real dramas if they are favourable).
This is such a useful list!! Thanks so much for writing it...I have only seen The House of Flying Daggers so I have a long way to go. This will be a great way to spend my winter Sundays! ;)
Great guide, thanks for writing it. I don't know much about this actor as I have only seen him in Scent of a Woman (fantastic drama) and Hotel King. I am waiting to see him in Bubblegum and get to know him more. As I am a saeguk lover I will definitely see him in Mandate of Heaven.
Again another great Chinese drama for me. I totally loved the settings, the costumes, the acting, the story and the music...and the fact that throughout the many episodes it was impossible to predict how it would end. Some parts were a little unrealistic but they didn't matter as I felt like I was watching a romantic and adventurous tale the whole time. I might rewatch this in the future as it was so beautiful.
I really enjoyed this article as I rated with a 10 three of these dramas which are Cruel City, Bridal Mask and Healer. I will make sure I watch Kurosagi too if it is at the same level.
This drama started out like an action/medical drama and then carried on mostly as a revenge/power struggle plot. Unfortunately I was not too fond of the female lead (both the actress and the character) and I could feel very little chemistry between the main couple, so I mostly appreciated this drama for the great acting skills of Joo Won. I watched it till the end for his sake but the story was very unrealistic in many parts so I can't rate it with more than a 6 .
I am enjoying the funny and lighthearted aspect of this drama but I totally hate the subtle message that it is giving about appearance which seems to be the most important issue in life. I agree with all the negative points you listed in this article and I just hope that somewhere in this story finally the message that what is inside someone is more important than what is outside will come out. I will still watch it as the cast is brilliant but I hope the screaming and exaggerated situations will be toned down a notch.
What made this saeguk special was certainly the great cast. In the first 30 Episodes Cha Seung Won did a great job in portraying a very insecure and tormented King and the remainder of the cast in the last part of the drama contributed greatly to the success of the story.
Certainly the title here is very appropriate as the plot is mostly about politics and power struggles and I couldn't find any feature that made it special or different from other saeguks seen before. In any case, being a lover of this genre myself I enjoyed it and appreciated the story but I would not recommend it to viewers who don't like political and/or historical types of plots.
1 
Certainly the title here is very appropriate as the plot is mostly about politics and power struggles and I couldn't find any feature that made it special or different from other saeguks seen before. In any case, being a lover of this genre myself I enjoyed it and appreciated the story but I would not recommend it to viewers who don't like political and/or historical types of plots.