kura2ninja

I know next to nothing about Japanese brand of Mahayana Buddhism, but as far as I know, some priests are celibate and others are not (as in, they're not required to). Mahayana Buddhism has many branches, so it makes sense to assume that each has different tradition and interpretation.

Maybe a "Buddhist priest" would be more appropriate, since he's not celibate and all?

Wow, these sound interesting. If they are subbed, I'll probably check out all of them except Glorious Temptation (not a makjang fan) and Reply 1988 (not a follower of the Reply series).

"But the main characters' endings seemed pulled out of nowhere". Actually, this was how I felt watching the ending of Lost in Love. I was thinking of watching Renai Jidai, expecting a better execution (as far as the ending goes) this time around, but apparently that wasn't the case. Thanks for making that clear in your review.

What, only three commenters? This drama needs more love! Thanks for writing this, DBSK. I agree that the writing and plotting are very good and tight; almost everyone plays their respective part competently; and the characterization pretty convincing (even the over-the-top ones, like the avatar guy. I'm not Korean, but in my country, we had a parliamentarian who was exactly like him). If there's anything to complain about, it's Park Young-gyu's acting--his hamminess doesn't match the tenor of his character!

Slightly off topic, but I bought Non-non Biyori manga ages ago and has yet to read them. So thanks for actually reminding me of that!

I don't know what's the "official" definition is, but I always think of "slice of life" as a subgroup in the drama genre that either tries to give emphasis to a particular social problem or seeks to depict the story it tells in a realistic way. (Yeah, I realize how vague it sounds.) You don't need to take my word for it, though :). Sometimes it's just difficult to put a story into a neat category!

When in doubt, go with "slice of life" :)

The teacher and his former student, the girl who had a crush on him, you mean?

I think that, based on what Gyu-hwan saw of how Sang-pil worked and interacted with people, he concluded it's impossible for someone like Sang-pil to willfully betray a colleague for personal gain.

That Gorira-pan song is surprisingly catchy

First of all, I'd like to thank Ceki91 for writing the article and everybody who has shared their opinions on the comment section. I agree with the basic premise of the article, that the normalization of violence is more than a tad problematic, so is the depiction of violence/abuse in any form as something romantic or educational. It's okay to enjoy the dramas we enjoy, but it's also important not to condone or excuse the reprehensible stuff--I think that's the least that we can do as a drama viewer.

Does it get low rating in Korea? I thought it's quite popular in its time slot. Yeah, I think people are put off because of the whole "politics" aspect of the drama. And I agree with you, Jung Jae-young is always good no matter what role he's playing :)

Gosh, so many recs to peruse. Thanks, Ajummas!

Talking about quirky dramas, I enjoyed Shikatoko Aoniyoshi (http://mydramalist.com/1509-shikaotoko-aoniyoshi), which is a comedy-fantasy, and Tamagawa Kuyakusho of the Dead (http://mydramalist.com/11422-tamagawa-kuyakusho-of-the-dead), which is a comedy, but the most interesting thing about it is that the protagonist actually sought to rehumanize zombies instead of beating them senseless.

As for dramas with a good guy as the main lead, I'd recommend Yoona's Street (http://mydramalist.com/9618-yoo-nas-street) and Ruler of Your Own World (http://mydramalist.com/1933-ruler-of-your-own-world), whose protagonist is former pickpocket, but he's basically a nice guy and not pushy like so many Kdrama leads.

"Yoo Ah In and Byun Yo Han are also going to be in a drama together." Thank you for telling me this. You just made my day :D

Nasi goreng (a.k.a. fried rice)

Ah, now I understand what you mean. I agree on that point.

I'm kind of wondering about the two-year gap, though. How important will it be to the story? Hopefully we'll get the answer in subsequent episodes.

I thought it was the other way around?--the kid's death made her cancel her resignation (even though technically she's still a police at that point, because her resignation has yet to be processed). She handed over her letter or resignation after his colleague got hurt and her daughter stole from that neighborhood shop; and then went without her badge to that hotel(?) after an info about the serial killer, taking that kid with her

If you like cop drama, you might want to give this a try. My suggestion is to try watching until episode 4, and then decide whether to continue. Be forewarned that this drama has some flaws, such as inept police officers and over-the-top villain(s). For me, the interaction between Young-jin (the protagonist) and her family and colleagues makes up for the bad points, though.

I agree with what some of you guys are saying. It feels like the writers is using the kid's death as a plot device, an incident so horrendous that Young-jin would be compelled to back out from her earlier decision of quitting the police. But I like Kim Hee-ae and I'm enjoying the drama so far despite its obvious flaws, so I'll keep watching for now.