There are many hidden gems in this hidden gem.
Spice Up Our Love (2024) is a wonderful farce of a Korean Drama. You really got to get in tune with the creativity of its writer.Spice Up Our Love is your Kdrama ticket to a special Kdrama game. In each story arc in episode one, there is a homage paid to various beloved Korean dramas and Korean Drama Actors. See how many of each you can identify as the storyline goes forth. I will get you started.
To do this however, I need to give away small details which will occurs in the action only in the first episode. So they really are not spoilers. Some may want to try to identify all the great K-Drama homages and tributes to former Korean Dramas and Stars on their own. These persons can bail out of this write-up now. You can always save the write-up in Bookmarks and revisit this article after viewing the first episode of Spice Up Our Love. If you want a little help, I will give you what I have recognized so far. This game was a lot of fun. Spice Up Our Love is a Korean drama which has Korean dramas hidden all through the storyline in episode one.
Spice Up Our Love is a spin-off from No Gain No Love (2024). The Male Lead is Lee Sang-Yi (Bloodhounds). It stars Female Lead Han Ji-Hyun (Penthouse) as a Spicy Fantasy Writer, and there is a transfer character and love interest Lee You-Jin (Do You Like Brahms?). All three are prominent characters in No Gain No Love as well. Spice Up Our Love has uniques story embeds. This will be similar to the the short guest appearance of Song Jong Ki in Queen of Tears and his five Korean dramas and movies paid homage to in the action of his arc. I may miss some. If you catch one I missed, let me know. Spice Up Our Love is spicy and sometimes a little too much so. There is occasional foul language as well. Here we go.
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🌟The opening arc in Spice Up Our Love is clearly an homage to My Secret Romance (2017). The drunken rendezvous of the female lead with the guy who turns out to be her new boss makes this evident. She is even the nutritionist in the cafeteria of the Company in the storyline, as was the case in My Secret Romance. Within the story arc you also get an homage to No Gain No Love, where the CEO said that he never ate in the Company cafeteria before, but would start doing so.
In addition, to satisfy her boss, the nutritionist has to make the same dish over and over and the dish keeps getting rejected. That is Business Proposal. Even the Company Badges are the same as those in Business Proposal.
🌟Can anyone think of the Korean drama of the guy who was looking for the nostalgic taste of food he had as a Kid? I can’t remember that one. It was mentioned in this arc. Okay, I think it was the Korean Drama Chocolate.
🌟Seeing her Boyfriend at a restaurant with another woman and then he suggests that they break up, could this be Something in the Rain?
🌟The Male Secretary in the fantasy was named Kim Do Gyeom. Gyeom (겸) in Korean means something or someone who can act as two different things at the same time. The transfer character that the fantasy writer in the story had a crush on in No Gain No was a Secretary. The Secretary in Spice Up Our Love is named Secretary Kim. They may or may not be tapping into What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?
🌟The fantasy writer in Spice Up Our Love gets sucked into the story she is writing. This is W: Two Worlds.
🌟Suddenly, everything around the fantasy writer morphs into the man from whom she is running away.
🌟An homage is made to Song Joong Ki on a billboard, as the writer makes her way home. It is a Korean drama thing now to have Song Joong Ki make a quest appearance in your Korean Drama. It is a little ironic that the Song Joong Ki turns into the male lead in a Korean drama which gives homage in a story arcs to memorable Korean Dramas? Is this not what Queen of Tears did for Song Joong Ki?
🌟Homage is paid to Cha Eun Woo (pronounced Ta Eun Nu) from True Beauty.
🌟The Ghada Chocolate is made by the modern day rich Chaebol Family Lotte. Lotte buildings are prominent everywhere in South Korea. This is a major Chaebol Family.
Also the owner of the Convenience store in No Gain No Love keeps popping up in Spice Up Our Love, as a Doctor, a Bus Driver, and taxi driver.
🌟The Korean Drama where the Webtoon characters had no control over their bodies or action for period of time. This is Extraordinary You.
🌟The purposeful “Leap From The Roof and being saved by your savior” scene reminded me of Tale of the Nine-Tailed.
This is all I found. End of Episode 1. What did you find?
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The Road Least Taken
In the 1936 Summer Olympic Games held in Germany, most Americans know about the Track and Field specialist Jesse Owens, a Black athlete. He won four Gold Medals in Track and Field in front of Hitler. Some say that Hitler protested and refused to greet Jesse Owens and others say that he did not. Nonetheless, Koreans know about another controversy at these Summer Olympic Games held in Germany in 1936. This controversy involved Korean Marathon Gold Metal Winner Sohn Kee-chung, who ran under the Japanese name Son Kitei. Although Korean, Sohn Kee-chung’s country of origin was recognized as Japan, because Korea was occupied by Japan at that time. (Japan lost occupation over Korea during World War II in August 1945, ending 35 years of rule over Korea).A True Story
The Korean movie ‘Road to Boston’ is about Marathon runner Sohn Kee-chung and his fight to get a Korean representative in the Marathon in the next Summer Olympic Games after War II. The road to that goal had to go through Boston, Massachusetts, USA. This is a true story. The movie is an emotional story, with great storytelling involving the political fight necessary to accomplish this goal. The movie has great acting and a great music score. The backstory is very moving, as it highlights one of the Marathoners coached by Sohn Kee-chung for the Boston Marathon in 1947, Suh Yun-bok.
Quote: “What is the most important quality a marathoner needs to have?”, Sohn Kee-chung Nam
“Endurance”, said a Marathoner.
“The most important quality a Marathoner needs is talent.” , said Sohn Kee-chung Nam.
To get to the 1948 Summer Olympics to be held in London, Korea had to establish a record of wins in International competition. Korea had no record since its wins in the 1936 Olympics were accredited to Japan. In order to compete in the 1948 Summer Olympic Games, Korean needed an International win of some sort. 1947 Road to Boston is about this struggle.
My dad was a Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Track coach, plus a Math Teacher. He taught me the Xs and Os of these Sports. I appreciate great runners. For an actor, Im Siwan is a lovely runner and I can see why he was picked for the part of Suh Yun-bok in the movie ‘Road to Boston’ and for the TV drama ‘Run On’. Look at him run alongside world class athlete Suh Yun-bok. One of the most beautiful things to watch with runners is when they achieve flight. Both feet leave the ground. Runners say that this is the closes thing to feeling like flying. In the movie, Im Siwan runs and in periods both feet are totally off the ground. When I look at movies and dramas, I do look at how the actors run. Some get is right or come very close (Kang Ki Yong from Atypical Family, Byeon Woo-Seok from Lovely Runner). Im Siwan is the best.
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A movie to watch
Monster is a movie which is written by celebrated Japanese writer Yuji Sakamoto. However, Monster is a little more gritty. This film won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screen Play in 2023. Also, it’s star and female lead Sakura Ando won The Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actress for Monster. In addition, youth actor Soya Kurokawa from Teasing Master Takagi-san gives another great performance. He was nominated for Best New Comer from the Award of Japan Academy. This kid is going places.While I think that Monster was well written, I have a huge issue with using (supposed) ten year olds with some of the subject material for this movie. It would have set better for me if 16-18 year olds were used. Could 10 year olds make these kind of choices?
Monster was nominated in 11 categories for the Japan Academy Awards.
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Destined is my joy. Bai Jing Ting is my enjoyment.
Destined (2023) is a Woman in Business Period RomCom Drama. This is one of my favorite Chinese dramas of the year.Apart while together. Destined hones in on a comedy while being a serious drama. The star, Bai Jing Ting, tries his hand at comedy, while reeling in the serious aspects of this story too.
The Story
A pampered son of the richest Costume Drama Plutocrat, has a spat with the daughter of a modestly well off Merchant. The differences are irresolvable. As with happenstance, the two end up in a arrange marriage. He is a bon-vivant and she is prim and proper. This is great fodder for laughter as the two try to cohabitate peacefully. Destined stars Song Ye as the prim and proper Liu Yu Ru and Bai Jing Ting as the spoiled but kind-hearted Gu Jun Si. He begins to teach her business and she pushes him to the highest scholastic achievements. They both “better” each other has walls are broken down to expose love.
Destined is a refreshing Costume drama change. Few things produce more of an anachronism than a Comedic Costume Chinese Drama. I have not seen Bai Jing Ting in a RomCom yet, but this seems to be the year that many Asian dramatic actors are challenging themselves to try comedy. Bai Jing Ting has never given his audience the same acting performance in his dramas and this extends to his attempt at comedy. I found myself laughing a lot. Bai Jing Ting, as Gu Jun Si, utilizes body language and gestures to aid in his comedic performance and his comedic timing is spot on.
Song Yi as Liu Yu Ru plays the straight part in this Chinese drama series. She gives some of the most endearing dialogue about women in business and love, sending goosebumps up my arm. Song Yi’s demur sweetness was so right for this part. Her character, Liu Yu Ru, is portrayed as a high intellectual and a quick learner, becoming the asset to her husband and the longing of other men.
Quote: This business is about Military supplies. Confucius said, “To rule a country of a thousand chariots, there must be reverent attention to business and sincerity; economy and expenditure and love for men; and employment of people at the proper time”. Husband teaching wife what the client needs to hear. From Destined
This RomCom is a high Yes! from me.
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Watch this one for date night.
OMG! What did I fall into? This drama is exotic, provocative, and alluring. I really like this short drama. The Chinese put out short vignettes of 6-12 episodes of 12-30 minutes each. This is the testing ground for potential stars to make an acting drama statement. The drama is 8 episodes of about 30 minutes each. Does the premise make sense? Not really, but the plot-line is tied into such a neat knot, you may be willing to forgive certain shortcomings. One star of ‘A Familiar Stranger’ is Ryan Cheng. He got snatched up in a quick Chinese drama minute to more meatier parts after this good showing. Ryan Cheng also went on to star in the Chinese drama hit ’My Journey to You’ (2023). There is a wonderful posse of drama characters, which adds depth to A Familiar Stranger’. Ryan Cheng leaves Super Star dust behind him as he walks past you.The time commitment is so short, you might enjoy this short drama detour.
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A movie for those who miss someone.
A mom and her young teen daughter looses the dad of the family in death. The whole world of the young teen girl is changed, new town, new school, new people. One boy at her new school seems to annoy her. He is free to cut up, be a slacker. He has no clue why she is shy and very reserved. He learns to be patient with her. He wants to be patient with her.For those who miss someone or need a little push to cry, try this movie and know that people are willing to help, even if they really don’t know how. Please Don’t Save Me is a simple story that is built upon a Mom and her daughter and a boy who learns to give of himself.
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Great concept drama
I ended up liking this drama a lot. There seems to be no rush with the Korean drama ‘Thirty, But Seventeen’. The storyline, while being somewhat complicated, creeps along very slowly. It is about a violin prodigy who is in a horrific bus accident at the age of 17, which puts her in a coma for 13 years before she wakes up. Life moved forward in time, but she did not. I found that I did not get fully invested in the characters till past the fifth hour (or tenth episode) of the standard episodes (Each episode was 30 minutes for this drama. An hour of drama time was two episodes). The slower pace will appeal to those who like great character building. The Romance is terminally paced slowly as well. This is in keeping with the natural build up of the drama character, an eccentric, off-putting loner Male Lead who suffers from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) and a Female Lead who has been in a coma for 13 years. She skips over from a world where she was seventeen to a world where she is now thirty. I will say that once I was invested the slow pace did not bother me at all.There is great acting in Thirty, But Seventeen, and two of the oddest characters emerge. The young curmudgeon Gong Woo Jin was perfectly played by Yang Se Jong. He nailed his portrayal and reaped the benefits by winning three post production acting awards for his efforts. Another character that was an oddity was the monotone speaking house servant, Jennifer, played by Ye Ji Won. She will be added to my list of most unusual characters in a Korean drama.
Shin Hae Sun as Woo Seo Ri and Yang Se Jong as Gong Woo Jin
Shin Hae Sun (Mr Queen) gives a great performance as the thirty year old teen Woo Seo Ri. Ahn Hyo Seop from Business Proposal was truly a standout as Yoo Chan. Most will love his portrayal of a teen falling in love for the first time. Some will fall victim to Second Lead Syndrome.
Ahn Hyo Seop as Yoo Chan
The slow character building did not hinder the story, powered with lots of flashbacks, which were very consistent and congruent with the future/present story. The many characters tell their individual stories, which all converge neatly in episode 28, where all questions are answered.
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A Gift Given Through Time
Yeo Jin Goo (Hotel Del Luna) and Cho Yi Hyun (All of Us Are Dead)In this Time Blend, two College students attend the same University and get to know each other, while using a Ham radio. One wants to interview the other, but the two can’t seem to quite meet up. It will be discovered later that the reason that they can’t meet up is that one is in 1995 and the other exists in 2021.
This is a charming Time Blend type of time travel drama. There is a definite mode for the time displacement (A Ham Radio), but there is no movement through time in the movie Ditto. Two times are blended or shared, as there is communication across time. There will be lots of head talk about the gift one person can gift to another across a time barriers. Ditto is worth the time commitment.
Talking across a divide of time.
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Even ‘Ole School Korean Dramas’ can entertain you.
The Emperor: Owner of the Mask (2017) is a period drama and will remind many Korean Drama devotees of another period drama, ‘The Crowned Clown’ (2019). There are 40 episodes of 30 minutes each. This Korean drama is well worth that commitment time of 20 hours. This commitment is a slow boil, as it builds to a loud crescendo in the back part of the drama. At times this drama becomes a little melodramatic, but by episode 20 the pace is allegro (quick, fast) as action builds to a burst. This is an ‘Ole School’ type Korean Drama.Emperor: Owner of the Mask has court intrigue, twists and turns, and several great love triangles. “To whom does power really belong?”, that is the question. It belongs to The Owner of the Mask. How that plays out is slow but great storytelling. The drama received post awards for screenwriting. Emperor: Owner of the Mask started off in Korea at a viewing audience rating of 10% for episode 1, which starts off this drama as a hit drama (10% is considered a hit drama). The drama reached a rating of 16% by the finale, with some of its episodes as high as 20% of the viewing public. The last two episodes have some issues, but these can be overlooked.
Cast
Kim So-Hyun (Love Alarm, My Lovely Liar)—She is a beast of an actress, who started off in the industry as a child actress.
Kim Myung-Soo (Royal Secret Agent, Angels Last Mission:Love)—Kpop band member from INFINITE and an actor. He does a great job in this drama
Yoo Seung Ho (Memorist, My Strange Hero)—He is also a child actor, reaching heartthrob status by age 18 years old in his memorable Korean Drama Warrior Baek Dong Soo.
Yoon So-Hee (Ghost Doctor, The Spies Who Loved Me)— She does a great job in her role.
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A fantastic epic ‘War at Sea’ movie
Hansan: Rising Dragon is a thriller movie and is near perfect all around.There have been great historic war battles which have been fought throughout history. One such war battle took place near Hansan Island in Korea, during the Joseon era in 1592 CE. Two great tacticians of War went up against each other in a chess game of wits. They were Admiral Yi Sun Sin of Korea (Played by Park Hae-il from Decision to Leave) and Admiral Wakisaka Yasuharu of Japan (Played by Byun Yo-han from Six Flying Dragons). While the Great Battle at Hansan Island was replayed out on the big screen, a great acting battle was wonderfully delivered by these two great actors playing their prospective Admirals. Those looking for the quintessential offerings of Korean Film and Drama do well to follow the movies and dramas of these two gentlemen. (Fans of Ok Taec-yeon from Vincenzo, see if you can spot him in this movie)
This decisive Battle at Hansan Isalnd took place during the invasion of Korea by Japan, and it was a Naval battle. Of course, liberties were taken with history to produce this nail-biting cinematic experience. However, from the imaginations of writers Kim Han-min and Yun Hong-gi and direction of Kim Han-min, the viewers see a perfect chess match played out at sea, accompanied by a great movie score. The movie is written from the prospective of both men and it imagines the challenges they might have faced to try to obtain a victory at sea. Hansan : Rising Dragon was a movie that took my breath away as I observed the chess match depicted in this strategic battle. It’s beautifully recreated miniature sets, cinematography through the roof, and gorgeously loud sound effects added greatly to this high quality movie. With any war victory, one pauses to recognize the loss of life as grunts are sacrificed for glory, however, this movie takes a behind the scenes look at the cost of victory.
An important quote paraphrased from the movie is “They prepared themselves for offense, but they neglected to account for defense too”.
‘Hansan: Rising Dragon’ is another movie from 2022 staring Korea actor Park Hae-il which garnered many post production accolades and awards, as did his second film ‘Decision To Leave’, which won the Baeksang Arts Awards (Korean Oscars) for Best Film for 2023 (Competing against Hansan: Rising Dragon). In addition, Byun Yo-han (Mr Sunshine) won the Baeksang for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Admiral Wakisaka Yasuharu. Much of the movie was delivered in the Korean language and the rest of the movie was delivered in Old Japanese. Byun Yo-han had to deliver all his lines in Old Japanese and he did an award winning job.
Admiral Yi Sun Sin of Korean from Bansan: Rising Dragon (Played by Park Hae-il from Decision to Leave)
Admiral Wakisaka Yasuharu of Japan from Bansan: Rising Dragon (Played by Byun Yo-han from Mr Sunshine).
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Managing Work and Home
Doctor Cha did not pass my 15 minute “love it or leave” test. However, this barometer does not account for dramas which have necessary set up time and/or are slow burns. Nonetheless, there was enough there to keep going with this drama. There was her husband who was a true piece of work and her mother-in-law, whose chippy son honestly fell close to tree. I found by the end of episode 1 that Doctor Cha was an undiscovered gem. Also what helped me to stick with this drama was the fact that although episode 1 only got 5 % viewership nationwide in Korea (10 % is considered a hit drama), Doctor Cha tapped out in episode 16 with a 19 % viewership in Korea. This would make it a mega hit. To be noted, Doctor Cha is one of the most melodramatic melodramas with over the top performances by most of the cast. With touches of dark humor, there is enough to entertain all in this Medical; Comedy Family drama.Women, we all know Doctor Cha. She is that woman who unselfishly sacrifices her career and life to stay at home with the kids and slave for a thankless mother-in-law and a two-timing husband. Well, after a near death experience, now she realizes that the kids are grown and nothing is stopping her from realizing her dreams. You go girl! Fighting! I invite all to cheer on Doctor Cha, as she learns how to be empowered. It is a go for me.
Quote from Doctor Cha
Mistress of two-timing husband, upon hearing the his wife was in the emergency room with acute liver problems, which is about to cancel their secret get-a-way, “If you are that worried then just go to the hospital”.
Two-timing husband, “It’s not like she is a kid. I have a sense of decency, you know. How could I just leave you here and go (to her)?”
Actors Corner
Uhm Jung-hwa as Doctor Cha Jeong-suk—One of the founding K-pop Artist, she has been an Actress since 1990, appeared in Our Blues. Uhm Jung-hwa is a nine time Baeksang Arts Awards (plus Grand Bell) winner. She would be our Meryl Streep.
Kim Byung-chul as Doctor Seo In-ho (Baeksang Arts Award Winner for Best Supporting Actor for Skycastle)
Min Woo-hyuk as Doctor Roy Kim is a Singer, Actor, and Model (If You Wish Upon Me).
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This was a brain twister and deep SyFy Fantasy Movie and a must see for me.
Here is a quick Korean or Chinese drama downtime moment that will only take an hour and one half of your time, but will stick to you with afterthoughts for several days after viewing. This is the Romance Fantasy movie 0.1% World. Personally, I could loop this movie over and over and not discover all that is there to take in. 0.1% World is the story about a girl and boy living on different continents. Inexplicably, they get linked to each other’s brains. They can hear each other, talk to each other and at times even move the body parts of the other. Because they live in different time zones and on different continents, it becomes a challenge to live and fashion life under these circumstances of a mind meld. Neither one wants to know the identity of the other at first. They just need to placate the problem by learning how to live with each other, sharing lives as they do, and not get in each other’s way, until they figure out how to fix the problem. Ultimately, what does this shared experience do for them? This Chinese SyFy Fantasy movie blew my mind. It invoked such deep thought surrounding their dilemma and how they chose to resolve certain issues.The stars of the Chinese film are Zhou Yi Ran from ‘When You Be Me’ (2022) and Patrick Shih from ‘Someday or One Day’ (2022). I recommend both works by both actors in addition to their collaboration in 0.1% World.
These two travel through Discovery, Compliance, to Discord in 0.1% World.
Actor’s Corner
Both actors give dynamic deliveries in 1% World. Taiwanese actor Patrick Shih often has been compared to Park Seo Joon by Netizens. He speaks fluent German in this movie, 0.1% World.
Zhou Yi Ran is also a great young Chinese actress. Her acting abilities and range of acting are fully on display in ‘When You Be Me’.
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An absolutely delightful brain twister
Be With You is an delightful, esoteric, charming movie that will totally move you emotionally. It is about the love of a man for his wife, the love of a boy for his mother, and her love and sacrifices she made for the both of them. Because this is a 2 and one half hour movie, to say any more would spoil you enjoyment and experience. This movie is surprising and deep, and well written, with lots of twists and turns. It will create a lot of head talk in you for days. You do not want to know any more advance information on this movie. Please do not look. I am so glad that I knew nothing about this movie. I picked it at random because of the Star power.Kim Ji-Hwan did an excellent job playing the son Jiho. This was the first and only acting role for Kim Ji-Hwan. Hopefully, it was not his last. Park Seo Joon makes a guest appearance.
It stars So Ji Sub as the husband Jung Woo-Jin and Son Ye-Jin as the wife Soo Ah. These two actors were a dream match from acting heaven. Both performances were so polished. The quiet moments when the two of them were together without speaking lines, really gives you a chance to study why So Ji Sub and Son Ye Jin are considered two of Korea’s best actors. ‘Be With You’ is worth your Korean drama downtime.
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Effervescent Historic RomCom turns serious at times. Great use of ancient Korean Law.
In the second half of the Korean Drama season of the year 2023, Woo Do Hwan starred in the hit Korean drama Bloodhounds and displayed his newly sculpted fighting body. His new look is also on full display in a Korean Drama season first half sleeper “Joseon Attorney: A Morality”. It stars Woo Do Hwan and K pop Idols Kim Ji-yeon (Bona) and Cha Hak-Yeon (N).MY RAW NOTES 💫🧲
Hot brass-sounding music is smoking in a great modern OST, which in addition has super edgy beats and great songs.
The Joseon Attorney (Woo Do Hwan) has a photographic memory when it comes to the Law Codes and he is on a course of revenge.
The open courtroom law is presented like Extraordinary Attorney Woo, but Joseon style.
The LAW highlighted in Joseon Attorney: A Morality are ancient Korean laws. Although no longer applicable in Korean law annals, you get finely tuned applications of these ancient laws being used in creative ways in the storyline. This will remind some of how this was done in the modern day Korean Drama ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’. Production hired a great historian to pull this off.
There is some great cinematographic risk-taking in this K-drama, exploring black and white stills and shots and stop action.
The Joseon Attorney wins cases by hook or crook to get the bad guys for his revenge. The female lead falls in love at first sight.
Joseon Attorney: A Morality, heads into a whole other intense direction in/after episode 7.
The drama starts off very good and manages to get better over time.
Woo Do Hwan is such a good actor. It is the little reflexes, facial expressions, all these little things that he does to expand his acting range.
You will definitely see the goofy side of Woo Do Hwan in some episodes. It is cute and unexpected, as he interprets his comedic lines.
Quote: “Ultimately, the law must rule over the people, not the King (ruling over the people)”.
Quote: “Are you giving me the illness and the medicine at the same time?” (Are you causing the problem and giving me your cure or solution?).
Some had been calling me about Joseon Attorney: A Morality, but I had this drama on the shelf. I decided to check the ratings and saw that it was getting 4.5-5.0 out of five. OK, what is the hype? At least you can’t go wrong with Woo Do Hwan. Also, this drama stars K-pop Idols Bona (Kim Ji Yeon from Twenty five Twenty one) and N (Yoo Ji Sun from Bad and Crazy).
I am enjoying Joseon Attorney: A Morality. It is a go from me.
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She fell in love at first sight and he did not know what to do with it. . . . at first.
A Date With The Future is a Chinese Drama involving the interaction of First Responders with the public. The First Responders are Firemen. My profession is considered a First Responder. While not a Firemen, I found much attention being paid to minute details, showing how First Responders save the lives of people they rescue. Secondly, and once again, Chinese dramas are charming me with their precision of movement, especially when the story is about Military-like occupations, such as Firemen in their calls for lineup.In some dramas I just really love the couple, like in the Korean drama Twenty Five Twenty One. I adore this couple in ‘A Date With The Future’. Since this First Responder genre drama came out the same year as the Chinese drama Fireworks of My Heart (2023), this drama (A Date With The Future 2023) will be compared to that exhilarating fast paced drama with lots of action. ‘A Date With The Future’ is a no frills drama, but oddly enough, it works for me in this story rich more so in character studies than action. The concentration of the story is more on the love story rather than the action. I love the characters of the lead male and female. She has been crushing on this older man since this Firefighter saved her life in a devastating earthquake when she was a teenager. Now that she is old enough after ten years, she doggedly pursues the man she fell in love with at first sight ten years ago. He stays away from this female, who he thinks is weird, because she is pursuing him non-stop. Even though he is constantly making it clear that a relationship is a “no go”, she refuses to accept that answer. He has decided never to get married and to dedicate his life to his career. She had decided that she is going to make him love her. Throw in lots of dogs and training dogs for rescue and you have a simple, but impactful drama.
Most will be charmed by the courage of this young woman who just knows what she wants and is willing to do what is takes to get the love of her life and keep him safe. The stars of ‘A Date With The Future’ are C-Pop Artist/Actor William Chan (Swords of Legends) as Jin Shichuan and new comer, Actress Zhang Ruonan (The Glory of Youth) as Xu Lai.
‘A Date With the Future’ has the usual Band of Brothers.
Also, the signature of Chinese action dramas in particular is the cinematography, like this ladder rescue from a burning High-rise by Firemen.
Now, even with Chinese Dramas, there must be an umbrella scenes.
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