Can someone make an article and discussion about the weird bandwagon hate of some kdrama fans towards Netflix…
I think people also say that because the dark dramas you're talking about tend to do better OUTSIDE of Korea (from what I've heard, though that's probably not ALWAYS true), which could mean they're becoming kind of an export of Korean entertainment and not targeting Korean audiences but instead trying to reach non-Korean audiences (kind of like what's happening with Kpop).
This could also mean that the target audience for Kdramas in Korea does not find these types of shows to their taste, as Netflix is trying to reach a "wider" audience with their dark dramas. It seems they've succeeded, but I think the "purists" have tastes more aligned with the target Korean audience.
Also, I think the "purists" like Kdramas over other types of entertainment because of the predictable formula. So when shows experiment significantly with the formula, tropes and cliches (I've heard this is why many who like Kdramas don't like Jdramas), they don't care for it, because they didn't sign up for an experiment. Netflix will do whatever they think will make them money, so while they call a 16 episodes series that's completely different from a traditional Kdrama a "Kdrama," I think "purists" would say it's really just a TV series that happens to have 12 to 16 episodes like a Kdrama series would. These TV series are spoken in Korean with Korean actors in them and are almost always set up for a 2nd or 3rd season (unlike with Kdramas, but just like all of Netflix's other series, and just like in America (aka a country in the West). Ever heard of a popular American TV series that had only one season?), and that's largely where the "Kdrama" resemblance to experimental Korean Netflix shows ends.
I also don't think "dark dramas" are outside Korean audiences or "purists" tastes (Flower Of Evil, Signal and Tunnel are all good examples of dark dramas that did well in Korea and on MDL, I believe), but rarher the dark dramas that break the Kdrama formula (like those you listed).
I’m still 99% sure this will be a happy ending having watched this writer’s previous work. Maybe a bittersweet…
If it does have a sad ending, people will riot about the phrasing in all the promotional materials, blurbs and trailers that talked about how this married couple overcomes a crisis "miraculously." That word is too misleading if it's a sad ending. 🤨
The only way they could say the word "miraculous" applies to a couple overcoming a crisis AS A COUPLE is if: 1) Hae In survives and 2) our MC can be happily free from Hae In's family mess and get rid of the baddies.
Any other endings cannot be called "miraculous" in any accurate sense.
I enjoyed this on my first watch and was quite satisfied, but I watched it again recently now that it's on Netflix…
I also really liked that we didn't know for two whole episodes that Seung Tak could hear and see Cha. I loved the reveal, too, as it makes you want to rewatch all their previous scenes to interpret them with what you know AFTER the reveal.
I enjoyed this on my first watch and was quite satisfied, but I watched it again recently now that it's on Netflix in the U.S., and it held up really well under a rewatch. It's such an enjoyable drama!
Rain and Kim Bum absolutely steal the show. I also always enjoy veteran actor Sung Dong Il, and the FLs are sweet, too.
Seung Tak (Kim Bum) has to be one of the most endearing MLs ever (he's just SO CUTE), as he is just brimming with compassion, tenderness, selflessness, resilience and pluckiness. When he gets squashed he just bounces back and comes back for more because of his natural love and compassion for those experiencing hardship. He reminded me of a puppy. Dogs never hold grudges, and neither does Seung Tak. He just loves to bring joy to the people around him, and delights in helping them. I can't tell you how many times he rushes to a patient's side who wakes up from surgery or a coma (a big part of the plot) with a huge grin of expectant excitement for them to be "back." He always welcomes them with, "Hi!" (in English) and the adds, "Welcome back to the real world!" (And Kim Bum is perfect for Seung Tak because he has the most adorable smile of all time; I remember it even from BOFs 😭).
Dr. Cha's arc is also a pleasure to watch and Rain plays him with aplomb (though he does shout a lot 😅).
The MLs' friendship is what makes this a must see. I couldn't bring myself to like any other ghost dramas besides this one, even the famously fantastic ones, so if you're like me and don't usually jive with that genre, never fear, Ghost Doctor is very light on the after-life and ghost elements. They don't look ghost-y one bit (nothing like the ghosts in Hotel De Luna, and more like Missing: The Other Side).
For any religious folks wary of the "possession" element, don't be. These ghosts feel like guardian angels and/or characters that live life like normal humans in a dimension the real world just can't see, and it feels completely not-spiritual (kind of like magic in Harry Potter, how it's a part of the way the natural world works in that fantasy universe, and doesn't operate like spiritual "magic" in the real world). This "posession" is more like the stuff of folk tales, where fairies make mischief with humans.
If you like the trope of mentorship than you'll probably also like this, as it reminded me at times of Dr. Romantic, but goofier with a more flawed mentor. :)
It's a decent show and I really liked the performance of all the cast. I think it's the second drama, I've seen…
There were definitely some slower parts, but I actually thought the pacing was pretty decent considering how simple the plot was. Rain and Kim Bum hands down stole the show. My only complaint was that they didn't have more time to develop Dr. Cha mentoring Seung Tak in his surgical skills. But I still was happy with how they ended everything. Episode 16 was so cozy.
Oh, I didn't notice the director was the same! Yes, now that makes sense. Also, both are TvN, so I'm sure that helps with crossover stuff, though the music directors are different. Both dramas have the best of the best in terms of music directors/composers, though (Nam Hye Seung and Park Sejun). 😊
And it looks like our wire-tapper/North Korean eavesdropper from CLOY will be falling for our crazy aunt Beom Ja. 🤞
I thought it was kind of heartbreaking the way she asked Hyun Woo where he must have met his mistress. She's so used to her husbands cheating on her with other women, that she couldn't fathom another reason why he'd want a divorce. Her husbands probably just wanted her money. 🥺
Now, she IS kind of nuts and a wild hair, but apparently she didn't fall for guys who were of enough quality stuff to see past the crazy to find the gem underneath. Poor thing!
just the sudden twist and him bringing her family in that white van to live in the countryside I died lmao I need…
Never seen anything like this twist in a Kdrama. So curious to see how it pans out! (And to all those who say this is a makjang, a makjang would never pull THIS kind of plot twist on the audience (of sending the Queens family to the country 😂); I still think this genre is more like satirical makjang writing).
The screenwriter's using so many tropes and cliches but then somehow still does things we've never seen with them before.
Like Hyun Woo, for instance; he is the most ML of MLs in the way he's portrayed. He's smart, cares for the FL more than himself and willing to to go to Hell and back for her, handsome and we know he is/will be good at fighting (he's checking all the boxes for ML cliches of a "perfect man"), and yet he feels like a fresh take on an ML at the same time because he's clearly not perfect while still being perfect. 😅 This way we can root for him but be interested in his arc because he still has so much room for growth (as a person and in his relationship with Hae In). He's not a character we've seen in Kdrama before, but at the same time, he is.
Got to hand it to Park Ji Eun; she knows how to set trends in Kdrama writing!
I'm surprised by the low number of watchers for this on MDL, considering how much I've heard people rave about this sageuk for years as one of the best sageuks of all time (alongside Moon Lovers, of course, which I don't ever think I can bring myself to watch). Curious! I wish it was on Viki so I could finally try it for myself (I don't do unofficial streaming sites). 😔
This could also mean that the target audience for Kdramas in Korea does not find these types of shows to their taste, as Netflix is trying to reach a "wider" audience with their dark dramas. It seems they've succeeded, but I think the "purists" have tastes more aligned with the target Korean audience.
Also, I think the "purists" like Kdramas over other types of entertainment because of the predictable formula. So when shows experiment significantly with the formula, tropes and cliches (I've heard this is why many who like Kdramas don't like Jdramas), they don't care for it, because they didn't sign up for an experiment. Netflix will do whatever they think will make them money, so while they call a 16 episodes series that's completely different from a traditional Kdrama a "Kdrama," I think "purists" would say it's really just a TV series that happens to have 12 to 16 episodes like a Kdrama series would. These TV series are spoken in Korean with Korean actors in them and are almost always set up for a 2nd or 3rd season (unlike with Kdramas, but just like all of Netflix's other series, and just like in America (aka a country in the West). Ever heard of a popular American TV series that had only one season?), and that's largely where the "Kdrama" resemblance to experimental Korean Netflix shows ends.
I also don't think "dark dramas" are outside Korean audiences or "purists" tastes (Flower Of Evil, Signal and Tunnel are all good examples of dark dramas that did well in Korea and on MDL, I believe), but rarher the dark dramas that break the Kdrama formula (like those you listed).
That's my theory!
The only way they could say the word "miraculous" applies to a couple overcoming a crisis AS A COUPLE is if: 1) Hae In survives and 2) our MC can be happily free from Hae In's family mess and get rid of the baddies.
Any other endings cannot be called "miraculous" in any accurate sense.
Rain and Kim Bum absolutely steal the show. I also always enjoy veteran actor Sung Dong Il, and the FLs are sweet, too.
Seung Tak (Kim Bum) has to be one of the most endearing MLs ever (he's just SO CUTE), as he is just brimming with compassion, tenderness, selflessness, resilience and pluckiness. When he gets squashed he just bounces back and comes back for more because of his natural love and compassion for those experiencing hardship. He reminded me of a puppy. Dogs never hold grudges, and neither does Seung Tak. He just loves to bring joy to the people around him, and delights in helping them. I can't tell you how many times he rushes to a patient's side who wakes up from surgery or a coma (a big part of the plot) with a huge grin of expectant excitement for them to be "back." He always welcomes them with, "Hi!" (in English) and the adds, "Welcome back to the real world!" (And Kim Bum is perfect for Seung Tak because he has the most adorable smile of all time; I remember it even from BOFs 😭).
Dr. Cha's arc is also a pleasure to watch and Rain plays him with aplomb (though he does shout a lot 😅).
The MLs' friendship is what makes this a must see. I couldn't bring myself to like any other ghost dramas besides this one, even the famously fantastic ones, so if you're like me and don't usually jive with that genre, never fear, Ghost Doctor is very light on the after-life and ghost elements. They don't look ghost-y one bit (nothing like the ghosts in Hotel De Luna, and more like Missing: The Other Side).
For any religious folks wary of the "possession" element, don't be. These ghosts feel like guardian angels and/or characters that live life like normal humans in a dimension the real world just can't see, and it feels completely not-spiritual (kind of like magic in Harry Potter, how it's a part of the way the natural world works in that fantasy universe, and doesn't operate like spiritual "magic" in the real world). This "posession" is more like the stuff of folk tales, where fairies make mischief with humans.
If you like the trope of mentorship than you'll probably also like this, as it reminded me at times of Dr. Romantic, but goofier with a more flawed mentor. :)
There are actually a lot of crossovers in this with, and references to, CLOY, Vincenzo and IOTNBO.
I thought it was kind of heartbreaking the way she asked Hyun Woo where he must have met his mistress. She's so used to her husbands cheating on her with other women, that she couldn't fathom another reason why he'd want a divorce. Her husbands probably just wanted her money. 🥺
Now, she IS kind of nuts and a wild hair, but apparently she didn't fall for guys who were of enough quality stuff to see past the crazy to find the gem underneath. Poor thing!
The screenwriter's using so many tropes and cliches but then somehow still does things we've never seen with them before.
Like Hyun Woo, for instance; he is the most ML of MLs in the way he's portrayed. He's smart, cares for the FL more than himself and willing to to go to Hell and back for her, handsome and we know he is/will be good at fighting (he's checking all the boxes for ML cliches of a "perfect man"), and yet he feels like a fresh take on an ML at the same time because he's clearly not perfect while still being perfect. 😅 This way we can root for him but be interested in his arc because he still has so much room for growth (as a person and in his relationship with Hae In). He's not a character we've seen in Kdrama before, but at the same time, he is.
Got to hand it to Park Ji Eun; she knows how to set trends in Kdrama writing!
Just more evidence that Grandpa Hong's in denial about a lot of things...