Lmao then you can read Minarii's thoughts on it and skip mine. After all, we have both positive and negative views…
I do agree with you, however, on Mr. Sunshine and The K2 - I loved both of them. I haven't seen Cruel City or Remember, but I loved the rest of the dramas here. Maybe I'm easy to please when it comes to dramas, but I don't think so - you all just picked some of my favorites. :-) Honestly though, it would have been all over if my absolute favorite dramas had been written about: Stranger, Just Between Lovers, and Tunnel - I actually feel angry when I read criticism about those three....humans are funny. LOL. I enjoy reading your articles - keep them coming. As an aside, in my real life I research and write about trauma, and Thirty But Seventeen's characters react extremely appropriately to the trauma they've suffered, all of them in their own way. From memory loss in the FL (which is very, very real - not always to this extent, but definitely present and a serious issue) to the shame spiral and excessive avoidance behaviors (fleeing) of the ML to the secondary exposure to trauma for the nephew. While trauma is waaaaay overused in dramas and they often don't get it right, I have used scenes from four K-dramas in my lectures on trauma: Just Between Lovers, Thirty But Seventeen, Forest, and Life.
This is not a romantic comedy or a farce - it's an emotional punch to the gut. While there might have been a few plot holes here and there, Takahashi Issei is just brilliant here.
Yeah, your first sentence turned out to be true...I started reading and realized that some of my most favorite dramas are getting low ratings and I was like, "And...I'm done with this." LOL. I liked the concept of the article but I'm having a hard time reading anything negative about Thirty But Seventeen and Goblin...
Wow. You have lots of good dramas in your list. Have seen many of them. Although there are instances that I disagree…
I need to update this list now. I've finished Just Between Lovers and it will be number 1 on any melo list that I create from now on. There aren't enough words with enough emphases to explain how I feel about that story, the characters, the music, the themes, etc. Almost perfect.
Probably the biggest pet peeve for me: the complete and total overuse in casting the SAME DAMN PEOPLE every time the script calls for an English-speaking character. I've lost track now of how many times I've been like, Oh, here's this f***ing guy again, I just saw him in the last five dramas I watched. Like honestly, and I mean this, are there literally NO other English-speaking actors living in or near S. Korea that could be utilized in a drama?! We see the same four or five all of the time, and they are often not that great of actors. (The absolute worst acting of English-speaking actors I have ever seen was in A King 2 Hearts - like it was torturous to watch, and I finally just fast-forwarded all of their scenes. I loved so much about this drama....except this.) Another related pet peeve: casting someone who's supposed to be from the U.S. and they are very much not American - like they have a clear Australian or Austrian or somesuch other accent. (This also is a huge cautionary tale for anyone who casts someone in a show or movie in the US or Europe just because they sound "Asian." There are huge differences in languages, in accents and dialects, and folks really should put the extra effort in to be authentic. Also to not be offensive...see again, A King 2 Hearts - their accents didn't fit their characters. See also The K2 and the "Iraqi" woman who just happened to speak Korean and who was in no way Iraqi. Again, I loved this drama...but not this part.) I do understand budgetary and other casting constraints - that would be a hard job, for sure. But an average K-drama budget has grown exponentially over the years and you'd hope that the talent and accuracy of the other-than-Korean actors could grow too...
I honestly don't get the love for Subway, but maybe it's a cultural thing. It's strange enough when incredibly fit characters act like eating fast food is just no big deal, but is Subway in S. Korea even that good? The scene in The K2 where the gorgeous and incredibly fit ML and his FL were practically giddy at getting to eat fast food in the park. It was weird.
And it's gotten better over the years, but dramas that feature 30-somethings that have never even kissed anyone, and seem to be frightened of physical contact - even after dating someone for a long time. I don't know everything, for sure, but even in more conservative societies, humans still long for and seek out another's physical touch and intimacy (sexual and otherwise) - sometimes in secret if that needs to happen, and often in defiance of cultural norms. Touch happens (and often starts happening in the teen years)...but some K-dramas make it seem like that's a concept unknown to many humans. And there's a long way to go from portraying realistic skinship between monogamous couples (and even couples who aren't in a relationship) and porn - I get tired of commenters who think that if K-dramas start to show more touch, then they've gone down the slippery slope to pornography in one fell swoop. Not the case. I appreciate J-dramas and TW-dramas for their often-much-more-accurate portrayal of physical intimacy than K-dramas (and again, I don't mean porn.) Which is a strange way to end my comment, but there you are. :-)
If you referring to Ryu Jin in 'Was it Love?' I could make out some of what he was saying but the other parts…
Would turning on English closed-captioning work (instead of English subtitles)? On Netflix you usually have that option and those are subbed more fully than simply subtitles.
Just Between Lovers is one of the best dramas I have ever seen. To say that I loved it doesn't even come close…
I forgot to add that Gang Doo's relationship with his "Grandma" is one of the best intergenerational friendships/deep loving, trusting relationships I have ever seen on screen.
Just Between Lovers is one of the best dramas I have ever seen. To say that I loved it doesn't even come close to the depth of feeling that I have towards the writing, the acting, the musical score, and the emotional places that the viewers are taken to. It's beyond stunning in moments - I honestly wept like a baby in some places and laughed out loud in others. The characters are just so unlike many K-drama cliches and stereotypes - they're real and human and flawed and they hurt themselves and others - but they find healing, too. There is not another drama that has affected me in the same way - not that I haven't loved other dramas, (I certainly have) but there is just something really, really special about this one.
There is no such a website because Japan has no interest in international market, their home market is very strong…
Which surprises me since S. Korea (and to some degree Taiwan and China) is the exact opposite. But they are all different countries with different intentions and preferences.
My favorite j-drama is Kimi Wa Petto, (the 2017 version with my fave Shison Jun), and I will watch just about anything that stars Dori Sakurada, Saito Takumi (you all need to see his movie Ramen Shop!), Takeru Sato, Yamazaki Kento, and/or Sugino Yosuke.
One complaint I have though is that it seems harder to find subtitled j-dramas in my region of the world. Thank goodness for Viki, (and occasionally Netflix and Amazon.) YouTube is unreliable and I don't want the computer viruses that go along with a lot of the other sites. I would honestly pay for a streaming site like On Demand Korea for subtitled j-dramas - why isn't there one yet?
What a great article!! I have been obsessed with both K-dramas and Outlander for years now, so this was a fun exercise. First let me say that I TOTALLY agree with your choice of Yoo Ah In to play Jamie. I have read from different sources over the last few years that he's considered the best actor in S. Korea currently - not just that he's a really good actor, but that he just might be the best of this generation. He's that talented. He works well in all genres - melodrama, romance, historical, thriller, arthouse, etc. He's not scared of looking beautiful on screen, but he's not scared of looking not beautiful either. He could be rugged and strong like Jamie, but also be vulnerable and hurt, like Jamie often was when he was young. He would be fine with the sexy bits of a K-Outlander, and he could certainly pull off the battle scenes. And very importantly, he has the acting chops to handle the horrible awfulness that happens to Jamie at the hands of Randall. If anyone is still wavering on this choice they need to watch Yoo Ah In's vast body of work - his movie Burning is a masterpiece, and dramas like Secret Love Affair and Sungkyunkwan Scandal have shown us what he can do. But honestly, it's the kiss scene in Chicago Typewriter that sealed the deal for me. The man is an artist. I also love your choice for Roger Wakefield, (Yang Se Jong is a favorite of mine), but I could also see Lee Jun Ho playing Roger - from the beautiful singing voice all the way down to the suffering Roger goes through - Junho could handle that role well. (Also, Park Hae Jin could make either a great John Grey or Roger Wakefield...)
Now, there is one place where I'm going to differ with your choices, however. I think instead of Song Hye Kyo as Claire, I would cast Seo Ye Ji. There's nothing at all wrong with Song Hye Kyo - she's gorgeous and a very good actor. But Seo Ye Ji has a few things going for her. First, she exudes a steely toughness that not many other actors can emulate. It's like she has a granite layer underneath her skin that she can pull out when she needs to. For examples, see: Hwarang, Lawless Lawyer, and her new drama. (I couldn't stand her character in Hwarang, but we weren't supposed to like her. ) She can also be incredibly soft and loving (see Lawless Lawyer again), and she's already proven that she can play both historical and present-day genres well. But honestly, it's THAT VOICE she has - that authoritative low rumble that is one of the most expressive voices out there. Her voice actually reminds me of Cate Blanchett's voice in The Lord of the Rings and Elizabeth - the power behind it, the way Seo Ye Ji can modulate her vocal tone - that's Claire's voice too, in my opinion. Anyway, thanks for the much-needed diversion!
OMG!!! I am on episode 29 and I hate her mother so much. This drama had me obsessed with it until this point.…
Take a very short break if you need to, but go back to it because there's some good stuff coming soon...Sae Woo is going to come into her own here very shortly. Thank you for your comment!!
I loved this drama!! It makes you crave sweet and sour pork like crazy. Junho is SEXY AS HELL here and he shows off his superb acting chops again and again. He isn't an "idol actor" - he's an actor. Period. The FL was completely adorable and grew into a fierce, opinionated, and talented woman and partner for the ML. I loved loved loved them as a couple. I also loved how the bromance developed, and how much love and trust there was between the men. I'm not sure why commenters are saying there wasn't adequate character development - we must not have been watching the same drama. The characters at the beginning were not at all where they ended up at the end. There's not really a spoiler here to say that the gang turned into real chefs at the end, because that was a main point of the drama to begin with. The secondary romance was also sweet and a pleasant surprise. No spoiler here either, but there was a twist in the middle that was heartfelt, sweet, and extremely touching. I loved the supporting cast and we could clearly see growth in all of the characters...except one. I hated the mother with the fires of a thousand suns. She was a Horrible. Selfish. Person. I actually found myself screaming at the tv whenever she came on. She started the drama selfish and entitled, and ended up being selfish, entitled, bratty, dumb, and just plain mean. She wasn't evil like other K-drama mothers, but that didn't make her meanness and selfishness any less easier to take. Gah, I hated her. Sure, this drama wasn't perfect. I wished for a wee bit more of a resolution for one of the main characters at the end, and it's hard to fathom ex-spouses as ridiculous as the ex's of the main characters'. (I've already mentioned the mother.) There were a few plot holes, but let's be honest, what K-drama doesn't have a few plot holes or characters who drop out of sight? That said, any time you get three main characters who all sparkle on screen, a passionate romance without too much melodrama, some amazing-looking food, some very satisfying payback, and the CUTEST KITTEN EVER...I've got all I need.
I hope you enjoy those dramas that you picked. They were amazing..Let me know if you like LDIC, maybe I can give…
To each their own - luckily we all have lots of dramas to choose from. I'm only now finding Japanese dramas that I really, really like, after slogging through a lot that I didn't. I just needed to find the right ones. :-)
This might be the rudest, most pointless comment I've read in a long time.
Seriously, I have the dumbest name on here? That's the argument you're leading with? Wow. that's desperate. Also, just because I'm new here doesn't make you any less rude, and I don't think bragging that five whole people liked your comment is the right way to go either. But whatevs.
1 
As an aside, in my real life I research and write about trauma, and Thirty But Seventeen's characters react extremely appropriately to the trauma they've suffered, all of them in their own way. From memory loss in the FL (which is very, very real - not always to this extent, but definitely present and a serious issue) to the shame spiral and excessive avoidance behaviors (fleeing) of the ML to the secondary exposure to trauma for the nephew. While trauma is waaaaay overused in dramas and they often don't get it right, I have used scenes from four K-dramas in my lectures on trauma: Just Between Lovers, Thirty But Seventeen, Forest, and Life.
Another related pet peeve: casting someone who's supposed to be from the U.S. and they are very much not American - like they have a clear Australian or Austrian or somesuch other accent. (This also is a huge cautionary tale for anyone who casts someone in a show or movie in the US or Europe just because they sound "Asian." There are huge differences in languages, in accents and dialects, and folks really should put the extra effort in to be authentic. Also to not be offensive...see again, A King 2 Hearts - their accents didn't fit their characters. See also The K2 and the "Iraqi" woman who just happened to speak Korean and who was in no way Iraqi. Again, I loved this drama...but not this part.)
I do understand budgetary and other casting constraints - that would be a hard job, for sure. But an average K-drama budget has grown exponentially over the years and you'd hope that the talent and accuracy of the other-than-Korean actors could grow too...
I honestly don't get the love for Subway, but maybe it's a cultural thing. It's strange enough when incredibly fit characters act like eating fast food is just no big deal, but is Subway in S. Korea even that good? The scene in The K2 where the gorgeous and incredibly fit ML and his FL were practically giddy at getting to eat fast food in the park. It was weird.
And it's gotten better over the years, but dramas that feature 30-somethings that have never even kissed anyone, and seem to be frightened of physical contact - even after dating someone for a long time. I don't know everything, for sure, but even in more conservative societies, humans still long for and seek out another's physical touch and intimacy (sexual and otherwise) - sometimes in secret if that needs to happen, and often in defiance of cultural norms. Touch happens (and often starts happening in the teen years)...but some K-dramas make it seem like that's a concept unknown to many humans. And there's a long way to go from portraying realistic skinship between monogamous couples (and even couples who aren't in a relationship) and porn - I get tired of commenters who think that if K-dramas start to show more touch, then they've gone down the slippery slope to pornography in one fell swoop. Not the case. I appreciate J-dramas and TW-dramas for their often-much-more-accurate portrayal of physical intimacy than K-dramas (and again, I don't mean porn.) Which is a strange way to end my comment, but there you are. :-)
One complaint I have though is that it seems harder to find subtitled j-dramas in my region of the world. Thank goodness for Viki, (and occasionally Netflix and Amazon.) YouTube is unreliable and I don't want the computer viruses that go along with a lot of the other sites. I would honestly pay for a streaming site like On Demand Korea for subtitled j-dramas - why isn't there one yet?
First let me say that I TOTALLY agree with your choice of Yoo Ah In to play Jamie. I have read from different sources over the last few years that he's considered the best actor in S. Korea currently - not just that he's a really good actor, but that he just might be the best of this generation. He's that talented. He works well in all genres - melodrama, romance, historical, thriller, arthouse, etc. He's not scared of looking beautiful on screen, but he's not scared of looking not beautiful either. He could be rugged and strong like Jamie, but also be vulnerable and hurt, like Jamie often was when he was young. He would be fine with the sexy bits of a K-Outlander, and he could certainly pull off the battle scenes. And very importantly, he has the acting chops to handle the horrible awfulness that happens to Jamie at the hands of Randall. If anyone is still wavering on this choice they need to watch Yoo Ah In's vast body of work - his movie Burning is a masterpiece, and dramas like Secret Love Affair and Sungkyunkwan Scandal have shown us what he can do. But honestly, it's the kiss scene in Chicago Typewriter that sealed the deal for me. The man is an artist.
I also love your choice for Roger Wakefield, (Yang Se Jong is a favorite of mine), but I could also see Lee Jun Ho playing Roger - from the beautiful singing voice all the way down to the suffering Roger goes through - Junho could handle that role well. (Also, Park Hae Jin could make either a great John Grey or Roger Wakefield...)
Now, there is one place where I'm going to differ with your choices, however. I think instead of Song Hye Kyo as Claire, I would cast Seo Ye Ji. There's nothing at all wrong with Song Hye Kyo - she's gorgeous and a very good actor. But Seo Ye Ji has a few things going for her. First, she exudes a steely toughness that not many other actors can emulate. It's like she has a granite layer underneath her skin that she can pull out when she needs to. For examples, see: Hwarang, Lawless Lawyer, and her new drama. (I couldn't stand her character in Hwarang, but we weren't supposed to like her. ) She can also be incredibly soft and loving (see Lawless Lawyer again), and she's already proven that she can play both historical and present-day genres well.
But honestly, it's THAT VOICE she has - that authoritative low rumble that is one of the most expressive voices out there. Her voice actually reminds me of Cate Blanchett's voice in The Lord of the Rings and Elizabeth - the power behind it, the way Seo Ye Ji can modulate her vocal tone - that's Claire's voice too, in my opinion.
Anyway, thanks for the much-needed diversion!
The FL was completely adorable and grew into a fierce, opinionated, and talented woman and partner for the ML. I loved loved loved them as a couple. I also loved how the bromance developed, and how much love and trust there was between the men.
I'm not sure why commenters are saying there wasn't adequate character development - we must not have been watching the same drama. The characters at the beginning were not at all where they ended up at the end. There's not really a spoiler here to say that the gang turned into real chefs at the end, because that was a main point of the drama to begin with. The secondary romance was also sweet and a pleasant surprise. No spoiler here either, but there was a twist in the middle that was heartfelt, sweet, and extremely touching.
I loved the supporting cast and we could clearly see growth in all of the characters...except one. I hated the mother with the fires of a thousand suns. She was a Horrible. Selfish. Person. I actually found myself screaming at the tv whenever she came on. She started the drama selfish and entitled, and ended up being selfish, entitled, bratty, dumb, and just plain mean. She wasn't evil like other K-drama mothers, but that didn't make her meanness and selfishness any less easier to take. Gah, I hated her.
Sure, this drama wasn't perfect. I wished for a wee bit more of a resolution for one of the main characters at the end, and it's hard to fathom ex-spouses as ridiculous as the ex's of the main characters'. (I've already mentioned the mother.) There were a few plot holes, but let's be honest, what K-drama doesn't have a few plot holes or characters who drop out of sight? That said, any time you get three main characters who all sparkle on screen, a passionate romance without too much melodrama, some amazing-looking food, some very satisfying payback, and the CUTEST KITTEN EVER...I've got all I need.