One of my best friends from college was a huge fan of Bae Doona and was an even bigger Kdrama fan than I back in the day. I remember how she would try and convince me, subtly, to check out some of her stuff. I feel kinda bad because until this very day, I have yet to watch "Someday" and "How to Meet a Perfect Stranger" like I said I would, hahaha.
My memory is a bit hazy, but I think my first time seeing Bae Doona was either in the drama "Master of Study" or in the Japanese movie, "Linda Linda Linda", which I can't recommend highly enough. She was great as this awkward exchange student. And she had this one scene with Matsuyama Kenichi, which was truly iconic.
Anyway, thank you so much for writing this and spreading the love :D
[ENG SUB!] I tried to sub for the first time, so it takes me much more time I expected. Don't mind to correct…
A thousand thank yous! Mackenyu looked so young here I almost feel like a cradle-robber, but who cares--I'm watching it anyway. Again, thank you so much for subbing this and sharing it with us :D
Thanks for writing this review. Haven't watched the finale yet, but so far I found myself agreeing so much with what you said. As someone who has fond memories of the 1990 version, I'm surprised myself at how much I like this version more than the old one. It fleshes out the characters more and in that way gives us, the viewers, more understanding about why they chose what they did. Plus Ishibashi and Ishii are simply better actors than their counterparts in the 1990 version.
"My favourite episode is the one focusing on Tsuboi and Ukyo who accidentally end up getting handcuffed." Why did it make me laugh so much? Thanks for writing and sharing this, Ebisuno92. I think I'm going to skip the 2013 version and just try the original instead.
On another note, Esumi Makiko was everywhere in the 90s and then she was nowhere to be seen. It's such a shame because she really was a good actor. I vaguely remember that she had some contract dispute with her agency?
Sure, no problem! :) I ma glad to hear you liked it. I saw on your list that you watched 1987 already. What did…
I liked it, but strangely, the part that made the biggest impression on me was the military intelligence (?) guy who was originally from North Korea. His intense hatred of anything "commie" almost borders on parody if it's not so terrifying in its consequences.
I'm not a crime drama connoisseur, to be honest, but I think I agree with your general assessment of what makes crime dramas from those two countries differ. I might be wrong and I might be generalizing here, but I feel that Kdramas have more--apologies if this sounds cringey--"class consciousness". There's this awareness that as long as rigid hierarchy and great disparity of wealth exist, injustice is inevitable.
In contrast, I think Japanese dramas do seem to accept that the "system" is simply a matter of course, and as such, they are more interested in exploring the points of tension between, say, individualism and groupthink, or fairness and justice, within the said system.
Anyways, thank you so much for the article. I had fun reading it and it really did give me some interesting food for thought :D
Mwahahaha, thank you for the hilarious article. Seriously, these people are my people. I would love to wear Hawaiian shirt with cargo pants everyday for the rest of my life. Alas, I'm not entirely shameless. Yet :p
My memory is a bit hazy, but I think my first time seeing Bae Doona was either in the drama "Master of Study" or in the Japanese movie, "Linda Linda Linda", which I can't recommend highly enough. She was great as this awkward exchange student. And she had this one scene with Matsuyama Kenichi, which was truly iconic.
Anyway, thank you so much for writing this and spreading the love :D
Thanks for sharing this, Jeana and Minarii
On another note, Esumi Makiko was everywhere in the 90s and then she was nowhere to be seen. It's such a shame because she really was a good actor. I vaguely remember that she had some contract dispute with her agency?
In contrast, I think Japanese dramas do seem to accept that the "system" is simply a matter of course, and as such, they are more interested in exploring the points of tension between, say, individualism and groupthink, or fairness and justice, within the said system.
Anyways, thank you so much for the article. I had fun reading it and it really did give me some interesting food for thought :D