Twinkling Watermelon is absolutely the best drama of the year for me.

Main Actors—Ryeo Un (Secret Romantic Guesthouse) and Choi Hyun-Wook (Twenty five Twenty One, Weak Hero Class 1)

Twinkling Watermelon Youth Music Life Romance is a great concept drama.

A hearing little boy has deaf parents and a deaf older brother. He speaks to them through sign language. When they move to another neighborhood, the boy begins to be mentored in music by a music shop owner. The boy is uniquely aware of sounds, living in his family’s deaf world and he uses his hands to communicate. The shop owner chooses to teach him the guitar. This is a perfect match, because the boy must use his hands with the guitar to speak the language of music, the same as using his hands to communicate with his family. The shop owner discovers that the little boy is a musical genius. You get these rare finds of a drama which concentrates on a unique story. Twinkling Watermelon is a concept drama about Youth, Music, Life, and Romance. This is a youth driven music drama, but it will appeal to all ages. I am totally impressed. It is a high Yes to add this drama to your drama list.

There is a huge plot redirection in the drama, Twinkling Watermelon. I am totally surprised that no one has blabbed and let the secret out. The redirection knocked me for a loop. I will have to write up a spoiler later on. This can’t stay a secret long. I am watching real-time. For bingers, I would suggest to start this drama ‘Twinkling Watermelon’ and view the 5 episodes posted already, then you can binge episodes 6-16 later. It appears that no one was given advance notice, by what I have read so far. However, some want to be the first to tell the secret. With 5 episodes posted, many won’t keep the secret long. In addition, so many others do not understand what a spoiler is. Twinkling Watermelon may tap out to be one of the best Music Life Romance Korean Dramas ever.

The boy is a coda. That means that he is the only one in the family who can hear and speak.

Quote: Music is the only legal drug.

Sign hung in the father’s restaurant: No need for words.

Cast

Choi Hyun Wook—This role is in his wheelhouse, playing a creative dare devil who falls for the rich chick. He is so good in this drama. He overwhelms his scenes. Many have touted the acting talent of Choi Hyun Wook and I am one of them. He will not disappoint you.
Ryeo Un—He gives a breakout performance, which many will be talking about.
Seol In A—She is a veteran talented Actress and once again gives a great performance.
Shin Eun-Soo—This actress is a newcomer and she is a little shinning star. Shin Eun-Soo is given a difficult role, which I will not spoil.

Is it acceptable to use the word ‘Deaf’? Yes, most of the Deaf community do not shy away from this word.

Citeste mai mult

Almost trope free, and the drama has a female CEO

Imagine a world where meat is biotechnologically generated and cultured. This eliminates the need to slaughter animals. Of course, such an advancement could solve world hunger. BF Company has hopes that in the near future all food will be cultured using biotechnology. Blood Free does not have many of my usual circle of acting friends in it. However, since it met my “Love it or Leave it” 15 minute criteria in 2 minutes, I thought it best to investigate further. Blood Free has a high technology driven plot-line. CGI and cinematography are through the roof.

I love a great romance drama. This ain’t it. However, the intelligently written story will keep you in suspense. Therefore, some should try to get out of their comfort zone and add Blood Free to their shopping list. Now for the guys. You have been asking for this Korean Drama. I think that you will enjoy Blood Free. For the girls. I know that actor Ju Ji Hoon starred in Kingdom, a drama I did not see, but wow, where did he come from?

The ML is Ju Ji Hoon (Jurisan, Kingdom) and FL is Han Hyo Joo (Moving, W:Two Worlds, Happiness).

I am excited about this drama Blood Free. The drama does not follow the usual Korean Drama tropes. The story is innovative and exciting. That acting and action are great.

A company has learned how to culture fleshly meat products and this company is poised to take over the world market. Can life be that easy? Not in a Korean Drama. I like Blood Free a lot. This drama is a total change of pace. The use of video gaming tools and drones to fight the bad guys is sure to please. CGI and Cinematography are great, with a great OST

Citeste mai mult

What type of time travel drama is Marry My Husband? How good is this Korean drama?

Marry My Husband is a time slip (Time Travel) drama.

This is a story about a woman in her forties. Her husband in Marry My Husband is a real loser, a real piece of work. Her best friend is having an affair with her husband and she is dying of cancer. The heroine of the story then is killed by her husband. Right before her death, she time slips into the past, back ten years. This information is not a spoiler, because all this action takes place in the first 15 minute. (Time Slip: Having no apparent means of traveling through time).

Quote: “The living should go on living. You are going to die anyway”. Best girlfriend explaining why she cheated with her with the husband of the heroine.

Marry My Husband is a great time slip Korean Drama, which is from a web novel and serialized Webtoon by the same name. In this drama, the Time Slip (Time Travel) is not just used as a cab ride to the past. Marry My Husband is trying to observe present assumptions about time slip (time travel). Our heroine is thrust back in time. While in the past, she attempts to change small details about her future miserable life that leads to an untimely death. However, she is not succeeding at making even very small changes. Her course for the future seems fixed and doomed to repeat itself. The heroine appears to have entered the crack of a parallel universe where changes to the future is not possible. The events keep readjusting itself to preserve the original outcome to preserve the past. This eliminates paradoxes. Changes to the future is assumed only possible when entering the open time loop section of the past or the open time loop of the wormhole. When changes are made, this sets up an alternative universe in the future which is different from before (A wormhole is a shortcut through time).

Even though the heroine may not be able to change her future, she reckons that she might be able to get someone else to substitute into her misfortune. Maybe she could get someone else to marry her no good husband, before it is time for her to do so. That way she will change her own time vector, because hers is now occupied by someone else. WOW! Whether the idea follows the science or not, this unique idea tries to address what to do if you don’t fall into the correct wormhole.

This substitution concept idea of Time Slip (Time Travel) is uniquely different from any time slip (time travel) ideas which I have explored thus far. As the Korean drama Marry My Husband progresses, we will see if she is successful with the time substitution idea. I am surely good for the ride though. It is a go for me for the Korean Drama Marry My Husband. Our heroine gets a second chance at second chances.

I think that Marry My Husband is going to be a major hit.

Cast
Multiple Baeksang Arts Award winner Park Min-young (Marriage in Contract), Na In Woo (River Where the Moon Rises), and Lee Yi-kyung (Welcome to Waikiki).

Citeste mai mult

This is a bonafide discovery

I am watching Perfect Marriage Revenge real-time.

Perfect Marriage Revenge is a drama which is really outside of my comfort zone, but I thought that I would give it a try to expand my horizons. The actors are not my usual circle of friends either. However, the opulent life style and the Blue Plate fashions on display alone seemed worth the price of the time commitment. The drama is about marriage and revenge (go figure) and being clueless in Korea. Also, it is about marriage musical chairs. Nonetheless, I did find this drama enticing on a gossip worthy level. However, just when you think you have this drama all figured out, Perfect Marriage Revenge dramatically jumps into hyperspace. The drama becomes a whole other animal. It is very sexy (in a PG13 sort of way) and complicated, with a drama twist.

Don’t forget to take time to explore the fashions on display. The reason for revenge, however, will floor you. Based on a web drama, Perfect Marriage Revenge is a Romance Marriage Drama. Personally, I would call this a melodrama. While Perfect Marriage Revenge may not win awards for writing, it may win for inventiveness and acting. Right now, there is lots of Head Talk (Talking to yourself about the drama) with this one. You betcha.


Cast

Jung Yoo-Min (Celebrity)

The actors in the posse are tall.

Sun Hoon (My Secret Romance) 6’1”

Oh Seung-yoon (Blind) started as a child actor. 6’1”

Citeste mai mult

The Perfect Family is most certainly above to crowd. Intriguing.

The Perfect Family is a well written Suspense Thriller Drama that may leave you breathless, similar to Atypical Family.

The Story

The Perfect Family is a brilliant drama, my kind of story. Hopefully the story does not collapse along the way. It is about two girls who use to be best friends. Something tragic happened to one of the girls and the misfortune of one appears to be the fortune of the other. Or is it? The details given by me must be sparse here, lest it ends up being a spoiler, the way the story is writing. The Internet is ablaze about this drama. The Perfect Family has invoked much thought and conversation all around.

The story is a contrast between someone in whose life nothing goes right with someone who has everything a person could want. Who is better off? One has a loving doting family, teen popularity, riches, opportunity, and a boy who truly loves her. The other has none of this, but whose life should this be? Was the trajectory incident the fault of the one? Not really. Should it be the guilt of the other to own? Probably. The girls reunite as teens and that is where the story begins. The Perfect Family would be a perfect Watch-Party drama.

Stars Park Ju-Hyun (as Choi Sun-Hui) and Choi Ye-Bin (as Lee Soo-Yeon)

How the story is written is important

The Perfect Family has a unique way to tell its story. One can tell that this story comes from a very complicated mind. Normally, I can take the facts presented after three episodes of a drama and tell you in a write-up exactly where this story is going. That is impossible with the story The Perfect Family. Its writing style is layered and complicated and I will need to write a spoiler follow-up just to keep it straight in my own mind. This story of The Perfect Family also is compelling and profound, invoking much deep thoughts around the issues presented.

The drama The Perfect Family is written in reverse chronology. You get the foreboding end of the story in the first four minutes of action. This is a flash-forward scene foreshadowing what is to come. This is a writing technique that is not often used and less so in Korean dramas. Using this technique throws the viewer into a quandary about the characters, because you have not yet grown an attachment to these characters. However, you are immediately drawn into caring about their fate.

Next, the writer layers the action like an onion, to establish how the foreboding opening incident happened. In continuous motion, the writer gives you the opening scene several times from several different points of view of each of the players involved. This keeps you in your chair waiting for the total reason why this foreboding outcome occurred, as you continue to establish a relationship with these characters. The writer is using foreshadowing, as the writer gives you portions of the complete puzzle, spoonfuls at a time. This is how the story is accomplished, but what is the true story?

The Perfect Family is such a profound Korean drama. I thought that the Korean drama Atypical Family was profound, but this is too. Whether it is your taste, is another story. However, is it profound? Yes.

(My mind is reeling like it was when viewing the drama Atypical Family)

There is a stacked cast in the drama ‘The Perfect Family’. The Perfect Family reunites the two principle leads of the Korean Drama ‘Forbidden Marriage’, Kim Min-ju and Kim Young-dae. While Forbidden Marriage was a RomCom, The Perfect Family is a Suspense Thriller.

Citeste mai mult

Blossoms in Adversity

Blossom in Adversity is a woman-positive Chinese drama that is very well written and acted. There are so many females who are positive role models in Blossoms in Adversity. The main protagonist is portrayed as a young intelligent female who can figure out how to survive and thrive in spite of adversity.

A strong teen pulls a politically ostracized former noble household of 35+ women and children out of poverty, by using good business sense and radical thinking. To get the indentured servants among her entourage to work happily in the household, she sets them all free and makes them a social equal and equal business partners in her thriving newly formed business. Having no money and just a roof over her head, she uses what some people would throw away and makes good business profit.

There is a great ending to Blossoms in Adversity as the ruler of the Kingdom, trained through adversity and deprivation, ascend to the throne. Thrilling.

Blossoms in Adversity has such young Chinese star power leading the cast. The Female and Male Leads are actress Zhang Jing Yi (Lighter and Princess) as Hua Zhi and actor Hu Yi Tian (Hello Sharpshooter). Adapted from the web novel "Xi Hua Zhi". Enjoy.

Citeste mai mult

Family friendly

Cutest little button of a Japanese series. This series is as cute as the Chinese Drama ‘When I Fly Towards You’ and very child friendly. Soya Kurokawa plays Nishikata. This young actor is kicking up a storm in the acting world, so remember his name. He has two support roles and Teasing Master Takagi-san is his first lead role. Soya Kurokawa also stars in the Movie Monster. None of these series scored less than 8.0/10. Heavens, I wish that he could speak Korean. He would make a huge crossover star. The female lead is Rui Tsukishima as Takagi. She gives a great performance too. Please don’t view this drama if you are allergic to sweetness overload.

Citeste mai mult

Some of the best acting ever.

Move To Heaven (2021) is about a cleanup business run by a father and his savant Asperger son, who takes loving care of the last remaining earthly belongings of the deceased. So much loving care is taken with the belongings of the deceased that the work assignment begins and ends with prayer, as the deceased “moves to heaven”. The loving father meets with tragedy and the young brother of the father (and uncle to the mentally challenged but high functioning son) is asked to be a caretaker to the son and help him run the business. This uncle should not be trusted even with a dead dog, let alone a mentally challenged human. However, somehow they need to make this work.

Quote: I can’t believe we’re rummaging through garbage to find garbage.” Reckless young uncle trying to find in the city dump the belongings of the deceased he carelessly threw away.

The young boy knows how to read the life story of the deceased from what others perceive as trash. I can not express how good the young actor who plays the mentally challenged youth is doing in Move To Heaven. Sometimes, you get these performances which are so good (Leo Di Caprio in the American movie ‘What’s Wrong with Gilbert Grapes’) that at no point in time do you see the actor as anything other than mentally challenged. This neat and ordered youth goes up against the abrasive slob from destruction. The drama covers the back story of each deceased character. This drama is so good. (I have a Note To The Sensitive at the end)

Actors Corner


Tang Jun-sang (Racket Boys) as Han Geu-ru just keeps on surprising me with his great performances in his dramas. He is a Baeksang Arts Awards Nominee for Move To Heaven.


Lee Je Hoon (Taxi Driver) as the young uncle Cho Sang-gu. He plays the irresponsible young uncle who only became the guardian of his mentally challenged nephew to get control of the money from his inheritance. There is a great human interest backstory for the uncle. Lee Je Hoon won several Best Actor Awards from various awards shows for his performance in Move to Heaven.


Hong Seung-hee (Navillera) portrays Yoon Na-mu, the best friend and interpreter for Han Geu-ru. She is his defender to the end. Hong Seung-hee gives a great performance.

Move To Heaven won the Asian Academy Creative Awards in 2022 for Best Drama.

Note To The Sensitive

Occasionally, there is amounts of strong cursing from certain guest characters and smoking in the drama. There are occasional boxing scenes. I will try to include Note To The Sensitive to my drama reviews.

Citeste mai mult

Learn to take care of “me”.

What does your mental health look like?

Quote: “All of us are standing on the border between normal and abnormal”. Female Lead from A Daily Dose of Sunshine.

Quote: “Psychiatry is for those whose mental immunity has been weaken. Anyone of us can find ourselves in a weakened mental state”. A Daily Dose of Sunshine

The Story

A Daily Dose of Sunshine is about a psychiatric ward nurse with a different approach to psychiatric therapy, being kind and showing empathy. I am just now getting back to finish this drama, which debut at the end of 2023. For my taste, A Daily Dose of Sunshine was stellar. The story centers around the life of a nurse in a Hospital psych ward and the many story arcs of the many patients who pass through its halls. This drama is the closest drama to another stellar Korean Drama, Chocolate (2020). A Daily Dose of Sunshine asks you to take a good look at your mental health. Before it is to late, give “Me” a little attention.

One of the most poignant scenes in the whole drama for me was when and overworked overstressed mom was admitted to the psych ward, because of pseudo-dementia caused by being overworked and over stressed. The head nurse of the psych ward is also overworked and overstressed and is facing a failure as a mom and wife. It was not until the overworked nurse had to sit down and listen to the evaluation of the overworked and overstressed out patient and the overworked and overstressed patient observed the overworked and overstressed nurse at her work that they both got it. They both finally understood their problem. When you view this part, look at the faces of each woman. Priceless. The camera shots in this scene has the patient’s face darkened out at times, so as to allow the viewer to put their face in that image. (Episode five, A Daily Dose of Sunshine).

Every story arc of A Daily Dose of Sunshine was written with great emotions and contained well researched information. The script is stellar and the acting was too. Each arc will touch your heart deeply. A Daily Dose of Sunshine get a high recommendation from me.

Quote: “Mom, why were you late?” Little daughter. “I had so many sick people at the hospital.” Mom. “But mom, I am sick too, and you are a nurse. Why wouldn’t you nurse me too?” Little daughter on A Daily Dose of Sunshine.

Quote: “That person who was always smiling . . . His smile was pitiful to me. And so my heart ached. Hurting words have a way of hurting you, no matter the occasion”. Lead Female tries to calm her heart. A Daily Dose of Sunshine


Quote: “Life’s problems are like a public train, the longer the time of travel the more passengers you take on”. Me

Actors Corner

Yeon Woo Jin (Good Doctor), Park Bo Young (Strong Girl Bong Soon), and Jang Dong-Yoon (Flowers in the Sand). All gave great performances.

Citeste mai mult

Tang Dynasty Tour (2018) Period RomCom Chinese Drama with a serious ending

The main character is Yun Ye (Played by Wang Tianchen)—Wang Tianchen’s personality is so perfect for this role in Tang Dynasty Tour. Most will fall in love with this actor.

Tang Dynasty Tour (2018) Period RomCom Chinese Drama is a Chinese drama which acts as a tour through history, like the American Movie Forest Gump.

Tang Dynasty Tour is a Time Travel drama, which takes you back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). This is a Time Travel drama instead of a Time Slip, because there is a definite mode for Time Travel. It is an ancient ornamental hairpin.

Quote: “Water carries a boat, and yet water can overturn it”. Tang Dynasty Tour.

The Story

A radical young smart archaeologist named Yun Ye (Wang Tianchen) is warned to be careful while in an archeological dig, as they combed through buried ancient Chinese artifacts. Yun Ye ignores the warning and falls down through a compartment which seems to have no way out. Using his ingenuity, he finds an opening that opens with a woman’s hairpin. Nevertheless, Yun Ye is unaware that he falls through a time warp, which takes him back to the Tang Dynasty. He decides to stick around for a tour. Along the way, he falls in love. Since most of the Royalty in this drama are historical figures, it is fun to see how Yun Ye touches bases with history, ancient culture and artifacts, and events, like in the American film Forest Gump. Since I study history in general, I picked up most all of the references to Chinese History. Tang Dynasty Tour is scoring a 9.2 on the Chinese Streamer iQIYI, even with a very bad translation Team. The Chinese are going to get the historical references more so than most others cultures. In the same way, Forest Gump would score higher in America, because the central theme has American History.

What is unique about the drama Tang Dynasty Tour is that Yun Ye can use his brilliant mind and his vast knowledge of the future to control and guide him through, and invent different ways to live in the past. I truly enjoyed this drama immensely. There are the most complicated love triangles in Tang Dynasty Tour than in any other Asian Drama I have seen. This drama has all the bells and whistles for my taste.

The following is a quote from Emperor Tang Taizong:

“If one uses bronze as a mirror one will be able to adjust one’s dress and hat properly. If one uses the past as a mirror, one will be able to learn the principles of the rise and fall of a dynasty. If one uses a person as a mirror, one will be able to discern one’s own achievements and mistakes.” The Zhenguan Zhengyao
(贞观 政要)

Specifically for one homage to history, look for the green Chamber Pot (toilet) of Emperor Gaozu, the Grandfather (Father of the Emperor Li Shimin and former/first Emperor of the Tang Dynasty). Yun Ye is granted any gift he wants by former Emperor Gaozu. He asks for the chamber pot (toilet) of the retired Emperor as a gift. While everyone laughs at the request, Yun Ye quips that it will be of great value someday. Along the way Yun Ye introduces or “invents” a game called Mahjong, a very popular Asian game today. The Tang Dynasty was long gone by the 1800s, when the very popular Mahjong was introduce to the world. However, we get to see Chinese people circa 600 CE play the game. Yun Ye also introduces Scandinavian furniture into the Tang culture and it becomes a hit. Come to think of it, Chinese furniture at a point in time in history does suddenly modernize and takes on a seeming European look. Okay, I am over thinking things a bit.

The time period of Tang Dynasty Tour is the Tang Dynasty (618-907CE), during the reign of Emperor Tai Zong. He is a real historical person who reigned over the Tang Dynasty 626–649 CE, of the period of Zhengguan. Because Yun Ye knows how to make granular table salt, Yun Ye becomes valued and protected, like a commodity. What salt did to food historically radicalized eating. Also in the past, salt was the same price as gold. Imagine a world without salt. With his inventiveness and future know-how, Yun Ye becomes the MacGyver of the ancient Tang Dynasty world.

Quote: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Lord Acton (1887)

Set decorations, costume designs and shoe-ware are exquisite and so Tang Dynasty These are a literal feast to the eyes. Cinematography is off the charts and the drama has a great OST. Hair and makeup are divine. There is lots of Court Intrigue and thrilling action in this drama, women in distress, valiant swordsmen, it is all there, making Tang Dynasty Tour a fun delicious adventure. The plot line of The Tang Dynasty Tour Drama does get incoherent in some spots in the back half, as a few Chinese Dramas do. Over all, Tang Dynasty Tour is a Chicken Dinner Winner. (The drama is available on Amazon Prime Video and iQIYI in 2024).

Viewer Note: Be aware that there is a bad translator for this drama, Tang Dynasty Tour.

The Rules of Time Travel.

Somehow, because of his time travel to the past, Yun Ye has thrown off the original historical timeline. It becomes disordered. Yun Ye creates a grandfather paradox. The man who should have fathered his nation in the future (being the only male left in the clan) died because of the time travel insertion of Yun Ye. If Yun Ye does not agree to father the nation of Yun, as the last man, he does not exist in the future. He must become his own ancestor if he is to go back to the future. This is a modified grandfather paradox. The paradox entertains what would happen if you went back in time and killed your own grandfather. If in time, you always killed your own grandfather, you would never have existed in the future to go back in time to kill your own grandfather. That is a paradox similar to what Yun Ye faces. To correct the paradox, he inserts himself in as his own “grandfather”.

In Tang Dynasty Tour Time Travel drama, Yun Ye changes time events. Therefore, Yun Ye is in an alternate universe where events are correctable.

Citeste mai mult

What is all this hype about, with WWWSK? Did a kiss make this a Kdrama classic?

“What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?” (2018) stars Park Seo Jun as Lee Young-Joon and Park Min-Young as Secretary Kim Mi So. The drama is taken from a Webtoon by the same name.

Each person can have their personal opinions about any drama. I am good with that. However, the Korean Drama “What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?” is about more than that ‘top five kisses of all times’, in the back half of this Korean Drama. “What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?” is one of the deepest Korean Dramas of all times too, in spite it being a RomCom. This drama is about a mental and emotional promise which one abused child (Lee Young Joon / Lee Sung Hyun) made to another abused child (Kim Mi So). That promise was to always be her protector, in spite of the mental and emotional hits he took in life to be there for her. While the child abuse was a shared experience of two young children (kidnapped by the same abuser), the young boy just took it upon himself to handle the abuse while shielding the little girl from it. Consequently, he took on the damage this experience would eventually cause in life while he hide her eyes from the potentially bad consequences.

WWWSK does display the comedic genius of Park Seo Joon, one of the top Korean Drama actors. However, the drama also delves into what made his drama character in WWWSK become the egomaniac which he became. The drama character Lee Young-Joon was a huge egomaniac and narcissist [having Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)]. Even though his NPD produced the most laughs in the drama, some may not know that egomania and NPD can be caused by childhood trauma. The beautiful love story which emerges out of WWWSK becomes a healing process for all, as the now “grown little boy” (Lee Young Joon / Lee Sung Hyun) can finally keep his pinky swear he made with the now “grown little girl” (Kim Mi So) so long ago.

What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim? is a play on words. Is this exclamation a question or a discovery? Is something wrong with Secretary Kim or let me tell you what is wrong with Secretary Kim. Nonetheless, this Korean Drama is a must see for every Korean Drama devotee, in my opinion.

Personal admiration: For me, this drama (WWWSK?) has one of the top five drama performances by children. The child stars are actress Kim Ji Yoo as Kim Mi So (Eun Dan Oh [Young] from Extraordinary You) and actor Moon Woo Jin as Lee Young Joon / Lee Sung Hyun [Young] (It’s Okay Not To Be Okay, Castaway Diva). Kids don’t stay kids. Go figure. Watch for the great performance of actor Moon Woo Jin playing another abused child in Castaway Diva (2023).

Citeste mai mult

The writer made a conscious effort to avoid standard tropes. Great filmmaking.

Intelligently written fresh material from the mind of a great filmmaker.


The Deal Crime Thriller Mystery

Great acting, inventive and realistically raw story about two childhood friends who on a whim kidnaps another childhood friend, who is the son of a Chaebol. Everything goes downhill after that. The drama has great information about life in Korea as a male, after leaving a mandatory stint in the Military. This ordinary life is contrasted with the life led by the rich son of a Chaebol, whom the youths kidnap. In addition, The Deal Korean Drama explores the struggles of the poor youthful friends who feel forced to commit a crime.

The Deal is on the order of the great Korean Crime SyFy Drama ‘Signal’ and the Crime Thriller ‘Through the Darkness’. The Deal engages the brain to contemplate what is moral behavior? Does the quest for money allow you to forego acting with human kindness? Does criminality only reach into the neighborhood of the disenfranchised uneducated poor? My brain did not stop working from start to well after I finished viewing.

Off the bat, the writer of The Deal made a conscious effort to make this drama (The Deal) trope free. Miraculously and remarkably, you will be hard pressed to find one trope. This in and of itself sets this Korean Drama ‘The Deal’ above the crowd of Korean Drama usuals. Besides having poor youths and a son of a rich Chaebol, the action tries hard to avoid tropes by making different choices in the action outcomes, the backgrounds of its characters, how woman deal with bad situations, and who gets their just deserts in the end. It would take its own post to explain it all. The scripted material is fresh and thought provoking. The scriptwriter for The Deal is award winning and prolific filmmaker Hong Sang-soo, who is a writer and Director. There is some cursing and some violence in this drama.

I had thought that The Deal Korean drama would be a comedy, but this drama is serious filmmaking. The Deal is a Crime Thriller Mystery. The kidnappers keep making one bad choice after another. What is the right choice to resolve this dilemma and why does greed stand in the way? As a side matter, one thing that The Deal Korean Drama makes apparent is that all who think that they have privacy in this world are sadly mistaken.

The Deal stars two accomplished young actors, Baeksang Arts nominee Kim Dong-hwi (In Our Prime) and Grand Bell Awards winner Yeo Sung Ho. The drama also stars Yoo Su-bin (DP 2). The drama is listed as PG 14. At times, there is strong language and two violent scenes that push the boundaries of PG 14.


Intelligently written fresh material from the mind of a great filmmaker.

Citeste mai mult

What societal or political messages are expressed in "Arthdal Chronicles"?

Firstly, you must know that the writers built different societies that don’t exist in our natural world for Arthdal Chronicles. These societies have totally different belief systems. One has an unusual language (Think Klingon), and each of these societies have different religions, hierarchies, customs, and metric systems for success. When I say that the writers have built these societies from the ground up, I mean it. Thus, you will have to think to watch Arthdal Chronicles, because the action is presented from the point of view of the new societies. What these new societies would think and how they would react to each situation is how the action is driven. This is not your regular Joseon adventure fantasy. Secondly, if you don’t like to think when you watch a Korean Drama, you want a simple format served in a simple way, then you need to skip this one. Thirdly, Arthdal Chronicles has a very interesting storyline.

What many of the different Clans mirror from our society in this drama is prejudice, and a readiness to destroy persons they don’t understand. Ambition is in any society, because you can’t get rid of competition. Also, what is mirrored is that technological advances give some societies greater advantages over other societies. This mirrors real life. Are you going to choose to be benevolent or do you seize the opportunity to subdue and rule? The need for land expansion is always a cause for war, historically. This is a political message presented in Arthdal Chronicles.

Let me associate some of the societies with things we might know and understand.


Nweantal Clan—A Clan with persons of extraordinary strength and speed. One Nweantal can take down 15 men. This clan is peaceable and just wants to be left alone. You don’t bother them and they won’t bother you. They have blue blood thus their mouths are blue. They have cat eyes and are born with a funny scar on their backs. Their language sounded like they weren’t speaking Korean. It sounded like a made up language similar to Klingon. If I were to associate this Clan with something I know, it would be the Klingons from Star Trek.

Arthdal Clan—From what I could see, the Arthdal Clans (Saenyeok Tribe, Hae Tribe, and Hwinsan Tribe) are the more advanced Clans. In espisode 1, these Clans commits genocide of the Nweantal Clan after a failed alliance. They are aggressive people and use their power to wield authority to achieve submission. If I would associate these Clans to something I know, it would be Mongols or (with great sensitivity meant) Caucasian conquest of new worlds.

Yiareukeu (Wahan Tribe)—These are people of the earth, who are not looking for a fight. They just want to observe their ways, express their religion, and stay away from trouble. A very superstitious lot, these are a less developed people. The Yiareukeu thought it strange when someone thought to learn to use a horse for riding. This was something they did not do. If I were to associate them with something I know, think early American Native Indians, with their closeness to the soil and the natural earth.

Our main protagonist is Eun-Sum (Song Jong-Ki). He is half Nweantal and half Arthdal. His blood is purplish blue as a half-bred. Separated from his mother early on, Eun-Sum is raised by the Yiareukeu Clan (Wahan Tribe). One interesting scene is when he came up with the idea to ride a horse. Horses weren’t used like that. Eun-Sum has a twin brother (Saya) who was stolen by a warrior of the Saenyeok Tribe. He lives among the Saenyeok Tribe. Amazingly, Joong-ki plays twin 20 year olds, Eun-Sum and Saya, and he is pulling it off, even in his late thirties.

I love this storyline in Arthdal Chronicles, as it dares to be totally different from what I have ever experienced before in Korean Dramas. If you are adventurous, like puzzles, don’t mind thinking deeply, you might enjoy Arthdal Chronicles.

Side Bar—If you are not a Star Trek Fan, you won’t know what a Klingon is, so Google search it.

Arthdal Chronicles is a great Action Historical Fantasy Drama.

Citeste mai mult

The “Good” Bad Mother or The Good “Bad” Mother. Life has its turns.

The word has been out for a little while, that The Good Bad Mother is a super hit. I will just add my voice in affirmation. This drama is a must see, especially for parents trying hard to master this parenting thing, and having to listen to their children tell them that they are not getting it right. You become “the bad mother” in their eyes of misunderstanding. Anyone with kids knows that children never see the real you, the real parent, while they are growing up. Children just misunderstand the protective you, the parent who tries hard to sanitize their world. And yes, at times as parents we can be overbearing and we don’t get it right. This drama gives you the prospective from both points of view and how both parent and child are forced to recognize each other, through a shared misfortune. The “Good” Bad Mother is appropriately titled.

The Story

The Good Bad Mother is about the struggles of a mother to raise her child on a family run pig farm, after the murder of her husband. It is a story of a mother’s revenge on the perpetrators of the death of her husband, as she recognizes that power brings results. Therefore, she strictly raises her child to be powerful, so that he can be the one who gets justice. She becomes The Good “Bad” Mother.

Nonetheless, her son faces adversity, because of a car wreck which leaves him with the intelligence of a seven year old child. She is left to start all over again raising her son. Through this adversity, both parent and child come to recognize the full intentions of the other. The story is well intended, but at times the story becomes predictable, even following illogical paths. That is a writer’s issue. However, this will in no way take away from two of the most outstanding acting performances of the year for 2023 for the mother and son.

Note: In the drama series Extraordinary Attorney Woo, we got Whale Moments. Be on the lookout for our cute Pig Moments in this drama series.

Quote: “Pigs use to roam free, keeping clean bathing in mud. People started to lock up in tiny pigsties. The pig could not bathe in mud anymore, so they began to rub their bodies in their own excrement. That is how they grew dirtier and more aggressive. However, what is really sad is that pigs cannot lift their heads, so they live their entire life staring at the ground. There is only one way for a pig to look up at the sky and that is to fall down”. The “Good” Bad Mother.

Acting Corner

The Mother—Ra Mi Ran (Black Dog) is outstanding as the misunderstood mother, whose sole aim is to protect her child. It would be no surprise to me if she gets a nomination for a Baeksang Arts Award (Korean Oscar) for 2023 for Best Leading Actress in a Drama Series.

The Son—Lee Do Hyun (The Glory) is the son who balks at the tiresome drilling of his mother, as she tries to produce a powerful man. After the accident, this powerful intelligent man is reduced to the mind of a seven year old. This character has super range, from acting as a seven year old to assuming the power behind revenge. Lee Do Hyun gives another outstanding performance. Again, it would not surprise me if Lee Do Hyun gets a nomination for a Baeksang Arts Award (Korean Oscar) for 2023 for Best Leading Actor in a Drama Series.

The Love Interest—Ahn Eun Jin has become an A-List Actress. I picked her up in her early years in the drama series ‘More Than Friends’, recognizing this acting potential. Ahn Eun Jin has two super hits in 2023 in The Good Bad Mother and My Dearest. Her star is being planted in the sidewalk.

The Good Friend and Second Lead— Ahn Eun Jin (Alchemy of Souls, The Uncanny Encounter Season 2) is the scene stealer, with his big personality. Ahn Eun Jin is a rising star.

Be prepared to have a solidly fixed smile on your face, because of the two outstanding child actors, Park Da On and Ki So Yu. The whole acting posse is stellar

Citeste mai mult

One of the best Time Travel dramas, Korean or Chinese.

Shining For One Thing (2022) is a Time Travel School Life Romance Drama (contains no spoilers).


Qu Chuxiao (Wandering Earth) and Karlina Zhang (Tang Dynasty Tour)

Short Review

Sometimes you pick up your next drama by following a favorite actor from the previous drama that you watched. I followed actor Qu Chuxiao from ‘Wandering Earth’ to ‘Shining For One Thing’. This Chinese drama is a Time Travel Drama which is very technical and science rich in story construct, but very romantic. The Chinese are often sticklers for technically sound plotlines. The writer was very careful to try to stick to the modern Scientific constructs of time travel/displacement thinking. I have covered the different modes of Time Travel in the past, like the differences between Time Travel, Time Slip, and Time Blend as a writing style for a story. ‘Shining For One Thing’ goes one step deeper, to try to explain Time Placement. It covers which timeline you are breaking, the possibilities of where you end up and the consequence possibilities when you travel into different Time Displacement zones. While this may sound too scientific for some, ‘Shining For One Thing’ really breaks through by making the explanations uncomplicated and informative, producing a very entertaining Time Travel drama. Shinning For One Thing is a “Time Travel” drama, because the mode of traveling through time is a definite object, an outdated phone. Great OST! Great love story. Although many time travel dramas use time travel only like a cab ride to the past, Shining For One Thing uses great writing, great concept, and a great use of time travel itself, to produce a great time travel story.

The female protagonist in this drama uses time travel to go back and forth in time to change her dismal future/present. Through it all, she gets hooked up with a young male student whom she knows (in the opening segments of this drama) dies in the past. She then makes it her mission in time travel to change her future/present, but also try to save this boy too. Along the way, she falls in love with the boy. The story is complicated, but totally intriguing. It progresses very slowly, I suppose this is so that the viewer can keep up with the action and the science. You have to sit with this one. However, there is a grand payoff in the back half of this drama.

Time travel is a modern construct, which is not believed to be naturally occuring. It has been given meaning by humans who believe that time travel is a definite possibility. In Shinning For One Thing (2022), the time travel was caused by the inexplicable use of an old phone and by deleting the messages to cause time travel to that point in time of the deleted message.


Extended Review

The female protagonist traveled to a new past each time she attempted to go back in time. She kept failing to enter an open loop of time where changes could be made to the future. To fix the future she needed to enter the right alternative universe.


Quote

Scientist in the Drama—We can go back to yesterday or even the distant past. But it is unlikely for humans to open the wormhole. Most travelers who claim to go back to the past did not enter the closed structure of the wormhole universe. Instead, they enter the crack of a parallel universe. The crack of a parallel universe takes place in every time and space, without affecting or changing each other.

Female Lead—So I did not travel to the past. I went to a new time and space (parallel universe). No wonder nothing changed (when she traveled through time).

Unquote

At the end of the Korean drama ‘The King: Eternal Monarch’, the male protagonist had to search through many alternative universes to find the right one which held the right circumstances and the woman he loved. This became necessary after his mode of time displacement (That family heirloom) was broken. The Wormhole had to be manipulated manually in The King: Eternal Monarch. In Shining For One Thing, the girl knows the outcome, the death of her schoolmate. We find that out in the opening minutes. She makes several attempts to enter the right time wormhole universe, which would allow her to change the past, but she keeps failing. She needs to enter the time and space where changes are possible. She must find the open time loop, instead of the closed time loop where changes can not be made to what has happened already. Along the way, even with all her course corrections, she finds romance.

This is time travel with a definite mode of travel, the outdated phone. With some travel, you are just an observer and can change nothing (closed time loop). With some time travel, you can change the outcomes (open time loop).

The female protagonist keeps failing, because she is not entering the open time loop section of the time wormhole. She is entering the crack of a parallel universe and is not able to change anything in that future. Same with the Chinese Drama Someday or One Day (2019), you must find the right time wormhole with the right set of circumstances, before change is possible. With the Korean Drama A Time Called You, the right time wormhole was entered on the first try in this time travel Korean drama, using a Song Cassette and Walkman as the means of time travel to the right alternative universe.

Cast

Qu Chuxiao (Wandering Earth) and Karlina Zhang (Tang Dynasty Tour), and Caesar Wu (Meteor Garden)

Citeste mai mult